How to pick a snowboard...

... always by its looks, of course! I know the hard core riders out there are shaking their heads at this, but you cant take the priss out of a priss. Seriously though, my technical preferences are quite simple but the graphics have to appeal to me. I am in the market for a new board- after nearly a decade together, my Burton Feather and I are going our separate ways. Besides, I have a wellness spending account to blow and I can't think of a better idea to use it!

I found five boards online that made my short list. Here they are in the order of most to least favored:

1) GNU B-Street BTX in the French graphics series. By the same makers of top of the line Lib Tech snowboards, GNU can "borrow" the same technology for their products. This all mountain freestyle board won the Snowboarders Best of Test Awards 2012. The reason it's at the top of my list is because it's good for intermediate riders. So there is hope that I can maybe progress with it? :) Besides, I love the purple leapard print!

www.gnu.com

2) Never Summer Pandora. Handbuilt in Denver, Colorado, these boards are known to be light. The Pandora is a good beginner's board and has the high flex meant for the half pipe and snowpark. Not that I spend much time there, anyways... every landing is more painful than the next :)

www.neversummer.com

3) Burton Restricted Nugget. You can never go wrong with a Burton, and this is board is agile and easy to handle (so the specs say). Unfortunately, it is only available at Restricted dealers and that requires effort to find.

www.burton.com

4) Burton Social. Now, you can't get any more frilly than flowers on a snowboard! This is another super flexible board from Burton and apparently has won awards.

www.burton.com

5) Rossignol Zena. This is another beginner's board that is an older season model. Despite being quite pretty, I may not be able to find this in a 140 cm.

www.rossignol.com

So wish me luck on my hunt! Everyone knows the thrill is in the search... Have a great new year's and happy snowboarding!

(If any petite gal out there wants my ol' Burton Feather or anyone with a kid who can ride a 139 cm, please let me know!)

Update: This is what I ended up bringing home...