New Women’s Snowboards for 2018

It's only February, but is it ever too early to start daydreaming about a new snowboard? We think not. Here’s to five top-tested, brand new 2018 women's snowboards hitting the deck next season. 

1) Jade | Marhar | 144, 148, 151

Jade is an all-mountain board on the stiffer side with a camber profile that ends just outside the bindings before it flattens until an early rise at the tip and tail. Embedded carbon fiber adds damping in the back and nose creating extra stability for steep, fast lines. Its paulownia and poplar mixed wood core makes the board both super lightweight and stiff.

Marhar co-founders, Nathan Morse and Josh Skiles made it their mission to collect women's feedback to create a performance-oriented board specifically designed for her—not just one with an attractive face. “Go back five years, and [the selection of women’s boards] was more about the pretty graphic…the women’s market got pinched from a performance standpoint, but women still want a high performing board,” said Morse. Grassroots and Michigan-based, Marhar launched in 2008 and builds their sticks local in the U.S.A. This will be the third shape they add to the ladies’ line.

Review: Sturdy and stiff for a solid, fast run: for the speed driver.

2) Spruce | Weston Snowboards | 144, 148, 152

Weston is jumping on the debut train for designing 3 boards for their first-ever women’s line. Among the trio (which includes a splitboard), the Spruce is an all-mountain, hybrid-camber ride that’s built for versatility from pine laps to jibs runs in the park. No matter where you steer it, the board maintains a concrete grab. “If you look straight down the board you can see the edge has three diameters: There are multiple contact points for a solid edge connection,” explained Weston co-owner and board designer Leo Tsuo and pointed down the board’s nose.

Review: Playful and poppy on rollers, quick edge response while jamming down tight trees, and absolute edge control for straightlining.

3) Maverix | Never Summer | 145, 150

This surf-inspired ride (modeled after the current men’s version) features a Fusion Rocker Camber profile: traditional rocker to camber at the nose and tip—but with twice as much camber in the back than the front, giving you much more turning power. NEAT! The board is a medium flex, all-around, go-anywhere type. And a tapered shape (a wider nose and narrower tail) enables better float in pow. “The Maverix can be ridden short or long because it’s surfy and still responsive…we thought about how the board should ride all over the mountain and kept the sidecut traditional,” said Everette Simmons, the Never Summer sales and marketing rep.

Review: Elegant, fluid, long turns on the groomers and steeps; great tree weaver. Bummed it wasn’t a powder day during the test session!

4) Free Spirit | GNU | 143

Short and wide, the new Jamie Anderson freeride board for GNU has a predominantly camber profile with Magne-Traction—of course!—plus fiberglass dampening to reduce chatter through chop. There’s a slight rocker between the feet and small taper from nose to tail, which aids powder turns.

“Jamie lives in Tahoe and rides at Sierra, so this is exciting for her: this design is stable and powerful for all-mountain riding, and still maneuverable for spinning and hitting jumps into powder and plowing through very variable terrain,” said Barrett Christy Cummins, the Mervin Manufacturing women’s product and marketing manager.

Review: Playfully poppy, quick transitions through tight turns, solid edge control on steeps, and bites through variable chop. Skeptical of the size? I usually ride 148 and ‘43 was great.

5) Dream Catcher | Jones | 148, 151, 154

Modeled after the men’s Jones Explorer, the Dream Catcher is the new ladies’ all-mountain directional freeride shape sans tug of war (have you ever ridden a strong board that nearly snags you a face stomp?) This catch is super stable while also having a friendly flex between the feet. The rocker profile includes camber underfoot and Magne-Traction on the edges plus a spoon nose that is beveled up for improved turning power. The tail’s edges are likewise beveled for less catch.

Review: Charged with confidence through and over variable terrain: total heaven for big mountain lines. Not the fastest edge-to-edge maneuverability in trees (I tested the 151, which isn’t out of my wheelhouse.)