The best powder and backcountry snowboards for 2018

These boards are built to handle the most difficult terrain. Many have positive camber profiles for solid edge hold and powerful carving, with deeper sidecuts for more agile turns. Their directional shapes and stiffer flexes offer sharper performance and an aggressive feel, making them more challenging to ride.

Check out our buying guide and jargon buster to find out more about how we tested this season's models and what the key terms mean.

Best for cruising powder

Endeavor Scout

£350

The Scout has a cambered profile from front foot to tail and a rockered nose. This allows the tail to sink, giving a very surf-like feel. A slightly tapered shape speeds direction changes, while a softer flex lends playfulness. Squidgy urethane sidewalls run all the way around the board, improving durability and giving a comfortable ride. It carves exceptionally well.

+ Forgiveness, powder, stability, pop, durability
- Jibbing/park
Lengths: 152, 156, 160

Best for attacking big terrain

Jones Lone Wolf

£559

The all-new Lone Wolf is built for charging. Its long nose and swallow tail make it pretty much unsinkable, while the spoon-shaped base gives super smooth direction changes. It’s cambered underfoot with rocker at tip and tail, and this, along with the long effective edge, gives solid grip and stability. Wavy breadknife-like edge serrations further help grip.

+ Powder, response, grip, precision, glide, stability
- Jibbing/park, forgiveness
Lengths: 162, 168, 174

Best for charging around the mountain

K2 Simple Pleasures

£410

Short and squat, the new Simple Pleasures is shaped to combine a short board’s manoeuvrability with the float and stability of a longer one. The length has been trimmed and it’s really wide in areas that don’t affect edge-to-edge performance. A wide nose and blunt, short tail keep it afloat, while its cambered profile and rockered tip and tail mean it’s grippy, responsive and playful.

+ Stability, grip, powder, response  
- Precision
Lengths: 151, 156

This season's best snowboard boots

Best for surf-style playfulness

Never Summer Maverix

£559

Fully directional and highly tapered, the Maverix delivers a remarkably flowy surf‑like feel. It features a playful, rockered profile, with aggressive camber underfoot to add grip, pop and response. A special elastomer material absorbs impact and chatter, helping to finesse heavier landings. The result is smooth, fun, stable and fantastic for pow or piste.

+ Powder, pop, grip, response, precision
- Jibbing/park
Lengths: 153, 157, 160, 163

Best for doing it all

Ride Berzerker  

£450

The signature model of American freestyler Jake Blauvelt, this versatile all‑terrain ripper really gives confidence. It has a snappy and responsive cambered profile, with rocker at the nose for improved float in powder. The slightly squidgy sidewalls absorb chatter, while X-shaped carbon strips at the tip and tail add masses of extra pop and responsive torsion.

+ Precision, response, pop, powder, grip, glide
- Forgiveness
Lengths: 153, 156, 159, 162, 165, 160W, 163W, 167W

Best for top-speed charging

Rome Blur

£530

Responsive and stable at speed, the Blur is one for the hard chargers. Stiff and directional, it has a powerful cambered profile for solid carving and snappy ollies, with rockered tip and tail sections that bring extra float and marginally more playfulness. Heavy-duty impact plates protect the core from big landings, while the high-grade base is fast and tough.

+ Precision, grip, response, powder, glide, stability
- Jibbing/park, forgiveness
Lengths 156, 159, 162

Best for tricks into powder, best value

Salomon First Call

£370

Salomon’s all‑new First Call is a powder board built for freestyle riders – an easier‑handling version of their legendary Sickstick. It has a softer flex but the same tapered shape and twin‑tip profile, meaning it’s quick, nippy and floats like a dream. With camber underfoot and rocker towards tip and tail, it combines stability, grip and pop with buttery feel.

+ Response, forgiveness, powder, stability, pop
- Precision
Lengths: 151, 157, 162

Best for deep snow floatation

YES 20/20

£595

Thanks to a scooped tip and tail profile borrowed from surfboard design, the 20/20 provides next‑level buoyancy despite its short length and twin-tip shape. This results in an appealing oddity that’s somewhere between a floaty powder board and a jib board. It even carves well! Three layers of fibreglass laminate give responsive, snappy torsion, while the lightweight core makes popping ollies a breeze.

+ Powder, forgiveness, response, pop   
- Precision
Lengths: 150, 154

Snowboard buying guide and jargon buster

Best for women

Best for precision freeriding, best on test

Burton Story Board

£525

Stiff and responsive, the all-new Story Board is one for advanced freeriders. Its cambered profile gives solid grip and snappy feel, while the directional shape helps with fluid direction changes and delivers masses of float in deep snow. Super sturdy and chargeable, it has a layer of carbon to stiffen up the flex for rail-like carved turns and extra pop.

+ Precision, grip, response, powder, glide, stability
- Jibbing/park, forgiveness
Lengths: 147, 154

Best for effortless turns

Jones Hovercraft

£459

Along with its long, blunt nose and swallow tail, the cambered construction of the Hovercraft, with rocker at tip and tail, gives oodles of float in powder. It also helps keep turns flowing, as well as giving stablity when carving at speed. This year’s model has a redesigned core so it’s easier to turn, and despite a highly directional shape it’s even easy to ride switch!

+ Powder, stability, response, glide, grip
- Jibbing/park
Lengths: 146, 150

Thanks to Spring Break

We put these boards through their paces at Spring Break, the annual product test, party week and end-of-season gathering held at the Kaunertal glacier, Austria. Spring Break 2018, open to all, starts April 29, visit snowboardspringbreak.com for more info. To view images from the event search  #snowboardspringbreak on Instagram