Snowboard Boots: What You Need To Know

Burton Sl9 Boots

So you’ve bought your snowboard (or planning to) and now you need a pair of snowboard boots to go with it? Or maybe you’re in the market for a new pair and need a refresher on what to look out for? I know the feeling and coming from someone whose semi-claustrophobic tendencies always got in the way, finding the perfect pair of snowboard boots is crucial. So what do you need to know?

A boot’s function is to transfer your (the rider) energy into the board, protect you with support, and keep your feet warm. You’ll want snowboard boots that have a good fit and flex, with minimal heal lift(i.e. when you walk in the boots, your heel/ankle area should not shift out of its place).

There are 3 types of boots:

• Standard (soft) boots are by far the most common. The boot doesn’t physically attach to the board, but instead, the binding holds the boot firmly. This is the type of boot that you should buy.
• Step-in boots have a metal clasp on the bottom which attaches physically to step-in bindings. These became popular, because they were much more convenient to use. I don’t recommend these boots to anyone, because they are no where near as responsive as a soft boot / standard binding setup.
• Hard boots are similar to Ski boots and are used with Alpine snowboards – Alpine boards are not for beginners.

What to look out for:

• Comfortable ‘snug’: You want boots that comfortably fit tightly. You’ll want some toe wiggle room, and when bending at the knees, your toes should barely touch the boots toecap.  Forget abiding by numeric sizes, because they won’t help much across different brands. Also keep in mind that snowboarding boots WILL expand after sometime of use and you’ll want to take that into consideration.
• Boot stiffness: Generally speaking, the more speed you want snowboarding, the stiffer of a boot you’ll want. In any case, don’t go for super soft boots.
• No heel lift: When you tilt forwards and backwards when you’re riding, the less ankle/heel movement there is, the more responsive your boot will be. More importantly, the less movement, the less energy you’ll need when you carve. It’ll be difficult to get absolutely no movement, but anything more than 0.5-1 cm is no good.
• Lacing styles:
  • Traditional Laces: while replacing the laces is easy, they’re not recommended for two reasons: 1. very difficult to tie while wearing gloves or with bare hands when its cold outside, and 2. they loosen up often.
  • Quick-pull Laces: I love these, because they are very easy and convenient to lace up (even with gloves on), they offer better ankle support, and they don’t loosen up that often.
  • Boa System: These laces are actually pretty cool. You twist a dial to tighten the boots, or you pull back the dial to loosen the laces, so they’re pretty convenient. However, most boots come with 1 dial so you can’t separately tighten the upper and lower parts of the boot, which might prove uncomfortable. They’re also more expensive given the dial technology needs to be licensed by the boot maker.

You should not rush when buying snowboard boots.  Take your time and find the pair that is going to meet your snowboarding needs.  You want to find boots that are comfortable and will keep your feet warm.  You must also find a pair that will perform well.  Your snowboard boots and your snowboard bindings connect your body to your board.