The mountains are calling and I must go. If this statement resonates with you, then this guide will help get you there. Previously, I covered the best clothing to stay warm and well-ventilated while hitting the slopes. Now, we’re keeping it going with the top-rated gear of the season.

Things To Consider When Investing In Snowboarding Gear

While style is a major part of snowboarding culture, it’s secondary to function. Snowboarding gear is a tool—so it’s important to have a firm understanding of your riding style, your goals in the sport, and where you spend most of your time riding. The wrong gear can not only turn snowboarding into a chore, but it can actively hold back your progression.

With that said, I’ve broken down this buyer’s guide into the following sections. Feel free to jump ahead to the section that’s most relevant to your snowboarding adventures:

• Gloves
• Goggles
• Helmets
• Boots
• Bindings
• Boards

The Best Snowboard Gloves

Hand protection is a crucial aspect of snowboarding, both on the way up (lift chairs can get pretty cold) and on the way down. The three crucial factors that make a good glove are warmth, durability, waterproofness.

You'll also have to choose between a traditional glove or a mitten. Mittens tend to be warmer, because your fingers are grouped together and therefore create more heat. Gloves, however, offer better dexterity, so if you're frequently unzipping zippers or handling gear in the backcountry, gloves might be the way to go.

Best for the Backcountry: POW Alpha GTX Glove

Made from a combination of goatskin leather and Gore-tex, the POW Alpha GTX glove excels in comfort, warmth, and durability for those cold days in the backcountry. It also boasts a lower profile for improved dexterity when handling gear, and a zip vent to help increase breathability when things start to heat up.

Best for the Park: Burton [ak] Clutch Leather Gloves

For max durability, leather is hard to beat. The Burton ak Clutch gloves are not only fully leather, but they feature a reinforced thumb and index finger that will stand up to those sharp edges, leaving you free to tweak your grabs without fear. More so, being a dedicated park rider means knowing your way around a shovel. The Clutch’s Gore-grip liner keeps your paws dry while you build that kicker. The only downside is that you may get a little warm while you do it.

Best for Your Budget: Oyuki Icho Gore-Tex Mittens

Combining clean Japanese styling with Gore-Tex weatherproofing, the Icho Mittens’ double layer of Gore-Tex membrane and polyester shell will not only keep you dry, but warm as well. Packing in features like a touch screen tip and all-important wrist loops for under $100, the Icho Mittens are hard to beat on a budget.

The Best Snowboard Goggles

From keeping your face warm and the snow out of your eyes, to helping you spot potentially dangerous terrain in advance, it’s hard to overestimate the value of a good pair of goggles on the slopes. You’re going to want to pay attention to basic elements, like the way the goggles fit your face (no gaps between your nose bridge or helmet) and comfort. Once you’ve found goggles that fit well, it’s time to take a closer look at the lens.

The two major factors that impact lens selection are shape and color. Shape refers to a lens’ overall curvature, which can be broken down into three categories:

• Cylindrical lenses curve horizontally and more closely follow the shape of the face. However, this design creates issues with glare, fogging, and UV protection.
• Spherical lenses curve both horizontally and vertically, leaving more space between the lens and a rider’s face, which helps prevent fogging and disperses glare. These styles tend to be bulkier.
• Toric lenses combine a horizontal curve with slightly less vertical curvature in order to reduce glare and fogging, while maintaining a low-profile shape.

Meanwhile, color impacts how a lens performs under certain light conditions, and corresponds to a goggles light transmission or VLT percentage:

• Black, red, or mirrored lenses block out the most light and are best for sunny days.
• Rose or yellow lenses filter the most light and are best for cloudier days.
• Blues and greens are usually mid-range lenses that are good for partly overcast days.

Best Overall: Anon M4 Toric MF1

While the Smith I/O Mag Chromapop goggles have arguably the best lenses in the business, it’s hard to beat the Anon’s M4 setup when it comes to versatility. With a toric lens providing great visibility, and the best magnetic quick change system available, the M4 is a best-in-class goggle in its own right. But it’s the seamless compatibility with other Anon gear, like helmets and facemasks, that really give the M4 the edge. It’s also available in a low nose bridge fit. However, those additions might not be enough to justify the high price for some riders.

Best Budget: Giro Revolt

For budget goggles, the Giro Revolt is a great choice over alternatives such as the Smith Range, despite being almost double the price. Why? That price includes a second lens: one clear, and one for sunny days. So, unless you’re fortunate enough to only ride in the sunniest of places—cough, Colorado, cough—the Revolt ends up being the most economical choice.

The Best Snowboard Helmets

Skis and snowboards have sharp edges to slice through snow and hardpack, and those same edges are more than capable of giving an unprotected head a nasty cut. Additionally, beyond protecting your head when you fall, helmets provide an extra layer of insulation on top of your beanie. So skip the concussion, and check out my top picks for this season’s best helmets.

Best Overall: Anon Prime MIPS

The Anon Prime combines the durability of a hard shell helmet with the impact absorption and lighter weight of an in-mold helmet to give you the best of both worlds. Add in a Multi-angle Impact Protection System (MIPS), and you get a helmet that’s hard to beat. With all the usual bells and whistles, such as magnetic chinstraps and compatibility with Anon goggles, it's easy to see why the Prime comes out on top this season. However, exercise caution when unclipping the chinstrap, as it is rather easy to break and a pain to replace.

Best Backcountry: Salomon MTN Lab

Combining a lighter weight with excellent venting, the Salomon MTN Lab is the helmet you want to keep cool during your ascent, and safe during the descent. The unisex in-mold helmet also boasts a removable liner for when you’re working up a sweat, as well as headlamp mounts for those early morning sessions.

Best Park: Giro Emerge Spherical

Sending it big in the park requires uncompromised protection. With MIPS and a hard shell construction, the Giro Emerge provides just that, with the durability to match. It can definitely stand up to the dings and dents that often go hand in hand with hard sessions in the park. However, that protection doesn’t come cheap, making the Emerge a pricier option when it comes to traditional hard shells.

Check out our Expert review of the Emerge here.

Best Budget: SPY+ Galactic MIPS

For a budget helmet, it's great that the Galactic comes with MIPS. Snowboarding falls can get pretty gnarly, and it’s nice to know that you can save money without sacrificing safety. However, you will have to sacrifice some of the bells and whistles that come standard on more premium models, such as built-in audio compatibility.

The Best Snowboard Boots

They’re not only more stylish than their ski boot cousins—snowboard boots actually serve a few critical functions. Firstly, they are yet another layer of warmth and weatherproofing in a sport where inclement weather is the norm. They are also crucial to the quality of your ride. An ill-fitting boot, or one that isn’t properly matched to your bindings, is going to cause all kinds of problems on the hill.

So, before we get into our top boot picks for the season, here are some factors to consider regardless of which brand you go with:

• Fit: Sizing can run differently between different brands, and relying on your regular shoe size isn’t always accurate. Get fitted professionally to ensure that your boots fit right. Too little room, and you’ll be in pain on the mountain. Too much, and you’ll have less stability on your board.
• Flex: Flex refers to the rigidity of a boot. Soft boots give riders a greater range of motion, increased comfort, and are generally better for freestyle riding. Stiff boots have less range of motion and can be less comfortable, but they transfer energy better, which can give you the increased control necessary for advanced riding.
• Compatibility: Some boot brands also make their own bindings, but many don’t. Make sure your boot fits well into the binding you’ll be riding, or your board control will suffer.
• Comfort: If the boot hurts, skip it. No amount of tech or brand loyalty is worth putting up with pain. Find a boot that better fits your foot silhouette.

Best Overall: ThirtyTwo Lashed

When it comes to performance at a decent price, it’s hard to beat the Lashed. As a medium/stiff all-mountain boot, it's responsive when you need it to be, without being unforgivingly stiff. I prefer its traditional lace system, as it allows for a greater adjustability without the risk of failure that BOA systems often run. And with heat moldable liners, the Lashed lets advanced riders take on gnarlier trails in relative comfort. The ThirtyTwo Lashed is also available in women’s sizing.

Best Backcountry: ThirtyTwo Jones MTB

Crampon compatible with a built in touring mode to release calf pressure when walking, the Jones MTB are seriously stiff boots designed to give you the performance you need in pursuit of powder. They do sacrifice some comfort to achieve that, and tend to run hot. However, the main downside to the Jones MTB is that they’re pricey—but if you do any amount of backcountry riding, you know that you can’t put a price on safety or performance.

Best Park: Vans Hi-Standard OG

With classic styling and an economical price tag, you really can’t go wrong with the Hi-Standard OG. A soft flex and heat-moldable liners make the boots comfortable to wear through extended freestyle sessions, and the traditional laces will hold up to bails and falls better than their BOA counterparts. These are also available in women’s sizing.

Best Budget: Vans Invado OG

It’s hard to find an affordable boot that can stand up to more advanced riding, but that’s exactly what the Vans Invado is. At just over $200 dollars, it’s not the cheapest boot on the market, but with a medium/stiff flex, hybrid BOA lacing system, and waffle sole to provide increased traction, the Invado is designed to keep you locked in on advanced terrain without breaking the bank. These are available in unisex sizing.

The Best Snowboard Bindings

Your bindings are the bridge between your body and your board, transferring the power from your boots to the edges of the board. And just like with boots, they range from soft to stiff based on the kind of riding style they’re suited for. It’s always a good idea to match your boots to your bindings, in size, fit, and in flex. Soft boots go best with soft bindings (and boards), and so on and so forth.

Best Overall: Burton Cartel X/Burton Escapades

There’s a reason the OG Cartel has been a cult favorite for many years. It does just about everything well. Responsive? Check. Comfortable? Check. Durable? Check. Park? You bet. Gnarly terrain? They’ve got that covered too. The premium model of Cartel, the X, offers an upgrade with increased stiffness, heel hammocks, and asymmetrical highbacks, while still being reasonably priced. While the X doesn’t come in women’s sizing, the Burton Escapades are everything the Burton Cartel is, but for the ladies.

Check out our Expert review of last season’s Cartel X here.

Best Park: Union Ultra

The Union Ultra is a no-frills dedicated park destroyer that manages to provide excellent boardfeel and rider feedback, while also excelling at shock absorption. With a medium/soft flex, the Ultra is also versatile enough to perform across the resort. But with no highback angle adjustment and overall adjustability, it might be best to stick to the park with these.

Check out our Expert review of the 2023 Union Ultra here.

Best Freeride: Jones Apollo

For backcountry aficionados that want that soul surfer glide, but need the responsiveness to bomb down more technical runs, the Jones Apollo delivers. The binding features Now’s signature Skate Tech, transferring energy directly to the edge of the board. The ankle strap position is also customizable, providing either a more loose or more dialed-in ride to adapt to different terrain on the fly. However, as a premium offering, the Apollo carries a premium price tag. And while the EVA foam footbed provides comfort, some riders might miss the lack of canting options. It is also only available in medium and large, which means there might be issues with sizing.

Check out an Expert review of the Jones Apollo here.

Best Budget: Bent Metal Joint/Bent Metal Metta

The Bent Metal Joint is a medium/soft flexing binding that excels in regard to boardfeel and customization for the snowboarder on a budget. With asymmetrical nylon highbacks, and an innovative forward lean adjustment cube, the Joint really provides a healthy balance between comfort and performance. While they don’t have the best shock absorption, the real draw is that Bent Metal sells the parts and accessories separately, allowing you to swap out broken parts without having to invest in an entirely new binding.

Check out our Expert review of the 2022 Bent Metal Joint here.

The Best Snowboards

When it comes to boards, every brand is going to have their own twist that will appeal to one rider or another. When board shopping, two of the biggest factors you should take into account are the board’s profile and flex. Profile can be broken down into the following four categories:

• Camber: The board bends towards the ground, providing increased edgehold, responsiveness, and pop. These boards are easier to catch an edge on, and sink more in deep snow.
• Rocker: The board bends away from the ground, providing easier turn initiation and floating on top of deep snow. These boards have less edgehold, and can skid out more easily.
• Flat: The board has no bend, which provides more stability on rails and a mellower ride, but less responsiveness.
• Hybrid: The board has a combination of the three profiles above, combining some of the pros and negating some of the cons.

While profile describes the shape of the board, flex describes how easy it is to flex or bend the board, on a sliding scale from very soft to super stiff. Soft boards tend to be better for beginners and riders who enjoy hanging in the park, while stiff boards tend to be better for advanced riders and those who enjoy steep technical runs.

Best Overall: Lib Tech Golden Orca

The Lib Tech Golden Orca is a great all-mountain board. A floaty nose and rocker between the bindings provides great float and effortless turning in pow. Camber underfoot gives you that extra bit of pop and edgehold when you need it. And a longer tail design makes riding switch out of spins easier than ever. That being said, the Golden Orca is on the stiffer side, so it’s not ideal for beginners. It’s also not available in as many sizes as the original Orca, so smaller, lighter riders might want to go with the OG variation at the cost of some freestyle versatility.

Check out our Expert review of the Golden Orca here, and our Head 2 Head comparison here.

Best Park: Yes. Jackpot

While not as soft as some other park specialists, the Yes. Jackpot has some features that I really value. First, its medium flex makes it stable at high speeds while providing plenty of pop. MidBite edges provide great hold on hard park, big kickers, and slick pipe walls. However, it’s not the best board for jibbing or buttering and, while technically unisex, smaller ladies might want to opt for the Yes. Rival which features similar flex, edgehold, and twin shape in a larger range of sizes.

Best Freeride: Burton Hometown Hero

When it comes to surfing through deep powder, you can’t go wrong with Burton’s Hometown Hero. Its medium/stiff flex allows you to cruise, while still being able to dial up the aggression on more technical terrain. Available in sizes for both women and men, and having both splitboard, step-on, and step-on splitboard options, the Hometown Hero line covers all the freeride demographics exceptionally well. However, all versions are a little on the slow side, so if fast charging is your thing, you’ll want to skip this one.

Best Budget: Arbor Element Camber

For riders that don’t spend enough time on the hill to justify the premium price tags of other models, but still want a board that won’t hold them back when they do ride, the Arbor Element is a great choice. A medium/stiff flex means it performs well across a variety of terrains, and the camber profile allows for snappy response and solid turn initiation. It’s a great all-around board for beginners looking to make the jump to intermediate, or those who just want to cruise around the resort.

Check out our Expert review of the Arbor Element Camber here.

Find the Best Snowboarding Gear for You

That wraps up my recommendations for 2024’s best snowboarding gear. Now you can get to the fun part: outfitting yourself for the slopes. But remember, while all our recommendations come highly rated, the best gear is the gear that’s right for your needs. If you need a little help working that out, our Experts are available to field any questions you might have. So chat with a Curated Winter Sports Expert for free, personalized advice on finding the best snowboarding gear for you. See you on the hill!