Freestyle or carve board for beginner?

[mo_writer]

I'm finally getting my daughter out to snowboard, and it has been about four or fives years since her last time. She's never gotten off the bunny slope, and I still have her freestyle board (I took it over until I got into hard boots last year). Now I have three carve boards and two freestyle boards, and I'm wondering what to have her use this weekend, assuming I can find some liners for my second pair of hard boots.. If she goes with soft boots, I have a pair of 1st generation Flow bindings she wants to try. I bought almost everything used (two older Burtons and an Oxygen board), and nothing is high-end.

[Guest]

How old is your daughter? I vote softboots for now. She needs to learn basic skidding stops and turns and I think those are easier to learn and teach with softboots. You could make an argument for starting her on hardboots if that was her goal, and just use really low angles, but I think it's probably unnecessary. Used equipment is good :)

[slopestar]

My 10 year old daughter prefers softies but likes the angles. 21/9. Still easy for her to turn but stable and directional. As she gets older, I plan to get her on a Hardboot setup

[Steve Prokopiw]

Definitely soft boots. If she's actually interested in following in your foot steps(alpine carving),then using forward angles like slopestar's daughter would be a great start even if she's an adult or teen(which I gathered from your statement that you took over her board). If she happens to already be a proficient skier,then hardboots might not be too difficult a transition,but as a beginning boarder she would be better set up for success with some well fitting, supportive soft boots and mildly forward angles on a freestyle board to start with.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Steve Prokopiw

[mo_writer]

Thanks for the feedback. My daughter (age 24) tried out a freestyle board that I think will work well for her, but she had problems with her boots and only got a few runs in. We figured out the problem (one liner wrapped the wrong way, causing a bruised shin - also may be too big) and will try again next year with a different pair of boots. It was too late for her to try a different pair yesterday because her shin hurt so bad, and she was disappointed because she was feeling more confident. I thought the few runs she did were a great start.

I may also be riding with my brother at A Basin in June and will take an alpine board for him to try, so I appreciate the comment about a proficient skier. My daughter is not a skier, but my brother is an expert skier who couldn't get the hang of snowboarding. I thought an alpine board might work better for him, and he has a pair of AT boots, which I understand will work with an alpine board and bindings.

For my part, I tried out a pair of snow blades, and those seem like they might be fun, but definitely not a replacement for my alpine snowboards.

Definitely soft boots. If she's actually interested in following in your foot steps(alpine carving),then using forward angles like slopestar's daughter would be a great start even if she's an adult or teen(which I gathered from your statement that you took over her board). If she happens to already be a proficient skier,then hardboots might not be too difficult a transition,but as a beginning boarder she would be better set up for success with some well fitting, supportive soft boots and mildly forward angles on a freestyle board to start with.