Almost all riding properties of the snowboard depends on its construction, and that is why it is worth checking what is hidden inside. Igenious designers invented 3 basic types of snowboard construction: CAP, SANDWICH and SEMICAP. These are bases, on which a lot of more ingenious solutions are based.

CAP
It’s a construction intended for beginners or for recreational purposes. All art consists in that most of burden during the ride is seizes by “closed profile”, not by the core(3). The core was closed in the crust made of fibreglass laminate (1,2- depending on the producer, material will be different), what in practice looks like this: upper layer of laminate on the board sides coveres the core and joins with a carve; this carve joins with the other carve through the slide (6). Stiffness, springiness, reacting ability- these properties, in this system, results directly from the “profile” quality, not from the kind of a core. It is generally considered that this construction transfers very well the strength directly on carves (5), but it’s quite sensitive for damages (when the damages are big we can say”goodbye” to our snowboard). It is less stiff across in comparison with sidewall.

SANDWICH (SIDEWALL)
It’s a solution for freestylers first of all. This kind of construction assumes the core straining directly by all forces which result from the riding or from jumping. The other layers are just protection: upside there is a laminate made of fibreglass (1), in the bottom ther is a fibreglass again (2) and the slide (6). On the sides core is protected by walls made of ABS material- therefore this construction is called sidewall. In this kind of construction the most important thing are materials, from which the core is made (3) (I will tell about it later)- both stiffness and the way of transfering strains on carves depends on the core. It’s an item for those riders who enjoy snowparks- more thick, middle part of te board allows making a bold tricks on rails, jumps or in halfpipe without the fear of damaging your equipment.

The board should be choosen carefully for your personal preferences (height, weight, boot size and obviously the riding technique which we prefer).

CORE
One of the most important parts of the snowboard- it is responsible for the weight and stiffness. After years of experiments it was discovered that the best features- both riding and endurance- demonstrates the wood. But the “wood” is a very wide conception: there are many kinds of it, different methods of sticking, slimming by drilling microholes, reinforcing with carbon, kevlar or titan inserts. The knowledge about this part of the snowboard is huge and almost every company has its own recipe for core constructing. Depending on the snowboard producer the core name is pointedly changing (Powercore, lite rail core, premium core and many others). In Snowboards in which the construction and destiny (CAP for light people, who don’t ride dynamically, e.g. for children) don’t demand using very expensive and also very heavy wood, it is used core made of a foam PE. You should pay attention for “no name” snowboards- very often their cores except 90% of a foam have also 10% of a wood and a very lofty inscription “WOODCORE INSIDE”. The best cores, in which te wood is on the whole lenght of the snowboard- tip to tail; unlike models, in which the core ends before the nose and tail of the board and approximately it corresponds to the lenght of the effective carve.

SLIDE
Evolution of the technology caused, that there are many kinds of material, which don’t cover the previous clasification. So here I place an easy draft which, I hope, will tell you something about it.

• Graphite Electra- ultra-slides made of the best materials which have amazing riding properties- exceptionallly fast, used almost only in stiff snowboards. But it isn’t very easy- in order to use all these properties totally, these slides must be professionally prepared- practically every time when you go on the slope. And what is more- even when we don’t want to ride we must wax the slide all the same, because the dry slide is oxidizing. Unfortunatelly materials in this kind of slides are very difficult to repair. But if you ride very well, if you devote a lot of time to your snowboard, if you have a lot of money and if you think that you are able to make use of all advantages of this kind of slide then this option is just for you.
• Extruded slide- they aren’t as fast and hard as previous one, but they don’t require frequent waxing and it is easy to repair them (90% of repairing processes you can make on your own- particular actions to prepare your snowboard for the season are characterized in the other articles).Technological progress causes, that very large group of slides doesn’t associate only with mediocre properties.Producers year to year try to improe this kind of slides in order to make it better and better. It’s a very good news for those, who wax their slide just 5 minutes before the ride.
• Sintered slide- it’s an attempt of compromise for ambitious riders; there will be quite often work with a wax and problems with repairing on your own, but the properties are much better (harder and faster slide).