The Best Park & Freestyle Snowboards


Photo by Parilov
Tl;dr: Not all freestyle boards are one size fits all, and your ability level, budget, and riding style will all play a role in determining the best freestyle board for you!
I've been snowboarding for more than half my life, and I've been a Curated Snowboarding Expert for the past several years. I've been lucky enough to snowboard all over the United States, from icy East Coast resorts in Vermont and Massachusetts to true powder havens like Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska. While I enjoy pretty much every aspect of resort riding, I've always been drawn to freestyle snowboarding; thus, I find myself spending a lot of time in the terrain park. If you're anything like me (and I bet you are if you’ve found yourself reading this article), you want every advantage you can get to ride better in the park and be able to perfect your tricks.
This is why I want to cover the top freestyle boards on the market. I’ll be dividing them into five categories: best overall park board, best for jibbing in the park, best for hard-charging in the park, best for beginners in the park, and best budget freestyle boards. This list is a combination of my personal experience from the dozens of freestyle boards I’ve tested, input from fellow Curated Experts, and research from various sites that rank/review snowboards.
Every snowboarder is unique and has their own riding style, and while this list aims to cover all the different possibilities out there, if you don't quite find what you're searching for you can always chat with me or any other Snowboarding Expert right here on Curated, and we can give you unbiased, free recommendations and advice on different snowboards.
Best Overall Park Snowboards
These boards are going to be the ones you can take into any sort of terrain park and hit any sort of feature. They're well-rounded, so they're going to do well on jumps, boxes, rails, and anything else in the park. They're dependable, and they'll help you progress your snowboarding from total park noobie to freestyle god/goddess.
Best Overall Men’s Park Snowboard: CAPiTA Defenders of Awesome
I'll be the first to admit that it’s not original to have the CAPiTA Defenders of Awesome as the best freestyle men's park deck. Pretty much every forum, top 10 list, or YouTube video concerning freestyle boards is going to have the CAPiTA DOA somewhere.
However, there's a reason for that. The DOA has a very simple yet winning formula: It's got a true twin shape, so it's great for riding both regular and switch; it's got a medium-flex rating, so it's not overly intimidating but it's also not a wet noodle when you get some speed; and it features CAPiTA’s iconic Resort V1 profile.
This is a hybrid profile with camber between the bindings, flat sections underneath the bindings, and just a touch of rocker before the tip and tail. This profile provides a nice blend of pop and stability from the camber and also pressible, playful forgiveness from the small sections of rocker. Despite the small hike in price for the 2024 model, this board is still very much worth the value — you can use it on pretty much any feature you'll find in the park, as well as outside of it on groomers when the park just becomes too crowded with small ski racers.
Best Overall Women’s Park Snowboard: Never Summer Women's Proto Slinger
The Never Summer Proto Slinger is a very popular men's freestyle board from the brand, and they finally made it into a women's specific board several years back. This board has a soft/medium flex and a true twin shape, meaning it's on the more playful side and super adept for spins, butters, and presses riding both regular and switch.
With that being said, it still has a decent amount of stability and pop because of the shockwave rocker camber profile that Never Summer uses. This is essentially a profile that has rocker between the feet, which creates an easy pivot point for spinning and butters, and camber under the bindings, which provides that pop and stability lady shredders will need for going bigger in the park. It also has a three-year warranty from the manufacturer, while most brands only provide a two-year warranty. Overall, it’s a solid choice for the female riders who want to step up their park game.
Best Jibbing Snowboards
Jibbing snowboards are for the riders who like to get weird with it in the park. These are boards that you can flex and press to your heart's content that allow you to ride the park in a way that you might not be able to with other boards. They typically have a softer flex, and some have a rockered profile. They’re the best options for the park riders who like to keep it loose and playful out on the hill.
Best Men’s Jibbing Snowboard: Bataleon Disaster
The Bataleon Disaster has always been regarded as one of the best jibbing boards on the market because of Bataleon’s Triple Base Technology. Bataleon has pioneered and patented this 3BT, and they use it on all their boards, which look like the hull of a ship (check out this video if you want a more in-depth explanation). This is important for jibbing because it lifts the contact points of the snowboard off of the snow, making it incredibly easy to press, butter, and spin around until you're dizzy but without catching your edge on the snow.
All Bataleon boards are also full-traditional camber profiles, meaning that they have pop and snap. That camber, in addition to the 3BT, means you have the rare combination of a very playful board that also has lots of pop, so you can maneuver, press, and jib on this board in ways that wouldn’t be possible with other brands that don't feature 3BT. Other than the 3BT, the Battalion disaster is a fairly straightforward park board: It's a true twin, has a soft flex, and a rad graphic (in my opinion) for the 2024 model year.
Best Women’s Jibbing Snowboard: Bataleon Feelbetter
While not technically a dedicated freestyle board, the Bataleon Feelbetter is an all-mountain/freestyle board that excels at jibbing because … you guessed it — it has a 3BT base just like all of Bataleon’s boards. One notable thing about the Feelbetter is that it's actually a directional twin, so it has slightly better float in pow than many of the boards on this list that are true twins. While I wouldn't recommend it as a dedicated powder board by any means, it feels better (wink) than many of the other freestyle boards on this list if you want to venture outside the terrain park for a day.
Best Hard-Charging Snowboards
These are the boards meant for the most advanced park riders. The shredders who want to hit the biggest jumps, the biggest rails, and the gnarliest pipes. If you need a board that you know can hold up to any sort of feature you throw at it, these are the ones you should consider. However, these aren't for the faint of heart and are not suitable for beginner or even low-level intermediate riders.
Best Men’s Hard-Charging Snowboard: Salomon Huck Knife Pro
On paper, the Salomon Huckknife Pro looks very similar to other park boards. It's got a true twin shape and a profile that features camber throughout the length of the board with just a little bit of rocker in the tips. Where this board differs from other park boards the most is in how stiff the flex is. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's an 11! No, but seriously this is a very stiff board. You'll have to put a lot of energy into it, but if you can do that, you will get incredible pop, and you'll be able to take on even the biggest jumps at your mountain.
The aggressive camber and the very stiff flex also mean this board is going to have incredible edge hold when you're carving, so it's a board that is not only suitable for the park but also one that you can take on groomers and absolutely fly past that family of skiers.
Best Women’s Hard-Charging Snowboard: Burton Talent Scout
The name of this board says it all. The Burton Talent Scout is a board for talented female riders who want to push their snowboarding both in and outside the park. Burton actually markets this as a freestyle/all-mountain board, so while it's amazing for hitting big jumps and rails, it's also something that you can cruise the slopes with at high speed.
It's got a true twin shape and a very stiff flex, which gives it that stability and maneuverability that advanced-to-expert female riders are going to want. Also, since it's a Burton board, you know that you're getting something that has great durability.
Best Beginner Freestyle Snowboards
Whether you've never picked up a snowboard before but know you want to do tricks, or you've been a decent amount of times and you're ready to start dedicating all your energy to the park, these are the boards you want to start with!
Best Beginner Men’s Freestyle Snowboard: GNU GWO
While the name of this board may not be easy to pronounce, it is a very easy board to hop on and learn the basics of freestyle. This is a true twin board with a medium flex, making it quite versatile and therefore a great option for beginners who think they want to get into park but don't want a dedicated park board. GNU also has Magne-Traction edges on all their boards. These are essentially small serrations along the length of the board’s edge that provide extra grip in icy or hard-pack conditions.
Best Beginner Women’s Freestyle Snowboard: Rome Royal
While not technically a freestyle board, the Rome Royal is a board that is super easy to learn on and very inclined to take laps through the park if its rider chooses to do so. It’s so easy because while all the other boards on this list have either a hybrid profile featuring both rocker and camber or a full-camber profile, the Rome Royal features a rocker-to-flat profile, meaning there is rocker in the tips and a completely flat section from binding insert to binding insert.
This type of profile is much less prone to catching an edge on the snow accidentally and is very confidence-inspiring for beginners. It also happens to mean that the board is very pressable and playful, which is great for riding in the park. While it may not be the best park board, as it is going to lack some pop because of the absence of camber, it is a great beginner-friendly option for the female rider who wants to spend a decent amount of time in the terrain park.
Best Budget Freestyle Snowboards
It's hard to find a quality snowboard under $400 these days, much less a quality snowboard that is freestyle-specific. However, the boards in this category are under the $400 mark (albeit just by a few cents) and are meant for the rider who wants to spend more than 50% of their time in the terrain park.
Best Budget Men’s Freestyle Snowboard: Salomon Sleepwalker
The Salomon Sleepwalker has been a classic in their lineup ever since it was introduced. It's got a hybrid profile with camber underfoot and rocker in the tips, a true twin shape, and a very soft flex. While it's rated as an intermediate to advanced board because of its very soft flex, this is not a board you want to ride at high speeds or take on big jump lines. It can certainly handle small- to medium-sized jumps, but this board really shines on the jibs — getting technical on rails and boxes.
Best Budget Women’s Freestyle Snowboard: Salomon Oh Yeah
While Salomon markets this board toward more of the beginner to intermediate range, I would argue that this is essentially just the female version of the Salomon Sleepwalker. It's got all the same tech specs, and it has all the same benefits and downsides as the Salomon Sleepwalker. So if you're a female rider who's not worried about riding as fast as she can and wants a board that's going to do well in the park (particularly on smaller features), the Salomon Oh Yeah is an awesome option if you’re balling on a budget.
Find the Right Snowboard for You
Photo by Lorenzo Daveri
Hopefully, this list has given you some more insight into some of the best freestyle snowboards for different riding styles. However, don't feel like this is where your research with Curated has to end. Chat with me or one of my fellow Snowboarding Experts here on Curated about different snowboard options. We can help you narrow down which board will be the best for you, totally for free. If you find one you like, you can order it straight from Curated and have your new shred stick in a matter of days!