Snowboard Sizing

Question
Hey Johnny,

I'm thinking about buying the K2 Playback wide 2013 snowboard. I looked up the dimensions of the board:

Effective Edge (cm) 125.38
Tip Width (cm) 30.75
Tail Width (cm) 30.75
Waist Width (cm) 26.4
Sidecut (m) 8.6

and I was wondering if my boot will hang over a lot/at all? I have a used pair of Rossignol boots size 12.5(don't know model), but it is an old boot and I know they used to make them bigger than todays sizes. I measured the boot length and it came out to be approx. 13inches give or take a millimeter. Would this hang over the board enough to cause a toe drag problem and if so is there anyway I could set up my stance a little differently to reduce this? I really want this board but I don't have enough money to get a new board and boots so I really need to try and make it work. Thanks - Josh

Answer
Hi Josh,

While there is not a lot you can do, purchasing a wide snowboard was wise and should help. Most people will setup their bindings with an angle between 10 and 30 degrees in the front and the same or negative in the back. Experiment with what feels good for you're body and comfort and what prevents too much toe or heel drag. And see this page:http://snowboarding.about.com/od/howto/ht/stance.htm for help with setting up your stance. I recommend playing around with it and seeing what feels best. Personally I ride about 20 inches wide with 25 deg up front and -15 in the back nearly centered on the board.

Additionally, your choice of binding will have an effect. If your boot is a good fit for the binding, the heel of the boot should be snug in the heel cup of the binding and will be what drags in the snow when you carve hard. If your boot fit isn't ideal, the binding will stick farther out than your boot and will increase the amount of drag you have.

Finally, many bindings will allow you to adjust positioning towards the toe or heel so you can make sure that you have equal drag on either side.

If you still have a lot of heel or toe drag one last option would be to use palmer plates: http://www.palmerproject.com/menu1/snowboards-and-skis/power-link-system/ While these are not widely used, they lift your binding higher on the board and will help with reducing boot drag.

Hope this works and you carve some deep turns!
Johnny