Best Alpine Snowboards: Reviews of Burton, Gnu & Volkl Racing Boards

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Discover the best Alpine snowboards for racing down groomers & busting through crud as OutdoorEquipment.com reviews Burton, Gnu & Volkl alpine snowboards!

Alpine boards aren’t exactly easy to find. The relatively tiny cross-section of snowboarders who like alpine rides doesn’t create enough demand for companies to make a large variety of them.

Even companies who used to sell several models of alpine rides–like Burton Snowboards and Nitro Snowboards–have all but discontinued their manufacture and sale.

That being said, alpine snowboarding is still an active sport in the world today, and if you’re really interested in learning the ins and outs of that niche, there are certainly some boards out there for you. A little later on, we’ll take a look at three of the best alpine models in the world.

But for now, we should probably get something out of the way first. We should probably address the question that is on many of your lips…

Alpine Snowboards: Why They Tear It Up!

Alpine is its own category of snowboarding, just like freestyle, freeride, and backcountry. It’s concerned mainly with carving groomed slopes, while heading downhill in a particularly fast fashion.

Unlike other types of snowboarding which allow you to wear soft boots, the alpine snowboard requires a hard boot. This is why alpine snowboarding is also referred to as hardbooting in some places.

Most alpine boarders today are those who compete in downhill races, though there are still some others who do it for fun.

Basically, there are three different types of alpine snowboards:

• Race — These are sticks designed for incredibly fast speeds and precision carving. They are stiff, ultra responsive, and incredibly durable boards that are capable of delivering you down the mountain in record time.

• Freecarve — Designed very much like race boards, freecarve models are meant for recreational use. They work the best on groomed runs, when speed and precision are key ingredients to you having a good time.

• All-Mountain — These are wider than race or freecarve boards to allow for use on all of the mountain’s terrain. They are still much narrower than freestyle or freeride boards, but they have wider tips to help you navigate powder and crud.

Most snowboarders aren’t concerned with alpine boards these days. They like the softer boots, looser feel, and ability to tear it up in the park. This only comes with freeride or freestyle snowboards. But there are still those out there who like to go as fast as they can and get down the mountain in as few turns as possible. Whether they’re doing it for pleasure or for competition, these alpine snowboarders are speed demons who wouldn’t trade their hardbooting ways for the world.

Are you one of those people?

Best Selling Alpine Snowboards: Reviews & Ratings

If you’re on the lookout for the best alpine snowboards on the market–whether that’s of the first- or secondhand variety–then you’ll want to give the following models a bit of your time. Here are three of the best alpine snowboards made in recent years.

Burton Prime Snowboard Review

When the Factory Prime came out in 1999, it was one of the best-reviewed alpine sticks on the market. Today, it’s sadly nowhere to be found except in places that sell or trade secondhand goods. Now that’s a sad state of affairs.

The Factory Prime is for full-throttle hardbooters who want to get to top speeds in no time flat. One of the most important features in any race board is stability, and the Factory Prime is as stable as they come–or, rather, came.

Some of this board’s features include:

• Wood precision core
• Triax glass laminate
• Full-wrap edge protection
• UHMW sintered base

Learn more about Burton Prime Snowboard

Gnu Billy Goat Snowboard Review

Gnu is one of those companies that is still making alpine snowboards, improving on old designs and creating innovations for the future. The Billy Goat’s latest incarnation is the 2012 model which is going to be used by some of the world’s greatest freecarve and all-mountain alpine boarders.

What is it that makes Gnu so special? The Banana Technology featuring a unique rocker and camber system is just one of the many reasons.

Some other great Billy Goat features include:

• Magne-Traction
• Sandwich construction
• Sintered 9900 alloy base
• Eiss 9 UHMW sidewalls

Learn more about the Gnu Billy Goat Snowboard

Volkl Coal BX Race Review

Like Gnu Snowboards, Volkl continues to put out new alpine snowboards, and that’s a very good thing for boarders.

They may not be so hot with the freecarve or all-mountain crowd, but Vokl racing alpine snowboards, like the Coal BX, are some of the best in the business.

The Coal BX Race model features a longer effective edge and Pin-Tail shape for the smoothest, fastest, and most controllable ride possible.

Other great Coal BX features include:

• Volkl Race Lab split base
• Supreme wood core with Cellcore inlays
• Anti-Vibrations System (AVS)
• Slim-tip construction

Where Do You Find Alpine Snowboards?

As previously mentioned, new alpine snowboards are fairly difficult to come by today. Many companies that used to be on the forefront of alpine manufacturing have simply given up those models because the consumer base has dwindled.

But if you are interested in the sport, there are still ways you can go about finding the best alpine snowboards out there.

• Online — The easiest place to research which alpine snowboard may be the best for you is right here on the internet. There are also a number of web-based marketplaces and auction sites that may provide some really nice deals on good boards. Don’t be shy about checking out every web page you can to find a lead on your perfect alpine stick.

• Ski Swap — Obviously, these aren’t as readily available as the online marketplaces, but you can often find much better deals at these regional ski swap meets. And unlike eBay or other auction sites that are Internet-based, you can actually see the products in person at these events.

There are, of course, still some manufacturers who continue to make fantastic alpine sticks–like Gnu snowboards, for instance–but if you want the best of the best, you may have to try the Internet or ski swaps, because they just aren’t made much anymore.

Ride on back from Alpine Snowboards to Outdoor Equipment.com