Thu, 01/14/2010 - 2:40pmEverything you need to know about buying a snowboard: bases

Find out some basic essentials before you head to the store

Base

In contact with the snow, the biggest factor controlling the overall speed of your deck. Here’s a few things to consider when looking for a new board;

Extruded base

The most cost effective, simple type out there. Made by melting down polyurethane granules and then forcing the material through a die, creating thin sheets that become the base.
This type of base is cheap and easy to produce, they’re not the quickest bases in the world, but are easy to repair. This is pretty useful when in a jib board as you’re likely to ding them up a bit. Also not particularly good at holding wax in.
Usually found on jib and beginners boards.

 
Sintered base

Made by heating polyurethane granules under pressure and forming a big block. Thin strips are then skimmed off to create the base. By altering the size of the granules used, manufacturers can alter the hardness and speed of the base. The higher the number a sintered base has, the harder (and faster) it will be.
Much more porous than extruded bases, they hold wax and are a lot faster although are also more difficult to effectively repair.
They are used right across the spectrum of boards these days, with higher number grades used on the higher performance (and priced) decks.

Stone Ground

As you might imagine, this is when the base is ground using grinding stone. This creates a series of tiny grooves in the base which helps to channel snow backwards, reducing drag. This works particularly well in wet spring snow. Good for hard charging boards as the grooves help keep the board straight and true, not necessarily great for buttering and jibbing.

Triple Base Technology

Bataleon were the first brand to come up with this idea. The theory stems from the idea that you very rarely run your base flat on the snow. As a result they created a bevelled edge to the base, where only around 19% along the centre of it is actually truly flat. The rest gradually slopes towards the edge. The result is a board that can be ridden flat at speed and won’t hang up so easily on rails.
 

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Related stories:

Snowboards

• An intro to buying a snowboard
• Jib snowboards
• Freestyle snowboards
• All mountain snowboards
• Freeride snowboards
• Backcountry snowboards
• The shape
• The topsheet
• The base
• The sidewall

Boots

• Buying a set of boots

Bindings

• Buying bindings

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