Snowboard Camber Explained – Which Style Is Right For you?

Last year spawned a myriad of camber styles from the Pres-Sure Rockqualizer to the Powder S Camber but most inquiring minds want to know how this will help them ride better and just what the hell does it mean. So in this article we are going to have a look over all of the relevant camber types and explain how they will impact you without having to go and ride each one yourself. Here goes…

Classic Camber
This camber we all know as it was on our original boards and remains the most commom style today. Many pro’s stilll rock this camber style. You can tell it by the gap in between the board and the ground when it is laying down flat.

Summed up: Great for riding all mountain riding, lots of pop in it with the charged tail yet is easy to catch an edge with.

Reverse Camber (AKA Rocker)
Newly developed out of the pacific northwest and is famous for its similarity to a banana in shape. The center of the board when laying flat is touching the ground. Makes it great for riding powder since there is no camber to fight with.

Summed up: Good for the park (rails) and powder days, surfy feel (easy to transfer from one edge to the other) with it being easy to press and float over powder, not as much pop as a cambered board and not as stable on edges.

Flat Camber (AKA No Camber)
The flat camber is quite similar to the reverse camber design above except that it feels less surfy and loose. Flat camber is a nice balance between the two as you still get good pop and less catching along the edges.

Summed up: Good all round shape with good balance between rocker and camber, less pop than regular camber and less energy moving between edges.

Pow-Reverse Camber
Think reverse camber supersized for powder riding. Comes with a more extreme rocker compared to more directional models.

Summed up: Made for powder riding, floats well in deep stuff with a nice surfy feel to it, doesn’t do well on hardpack.

Pow-Hybrid Camber
This spices things up for powder boards. Usually there is a camber in between bindings and then becomes a rocker before the front binding.

Summed up: Rocks in powder, gives a surfy feel with the nice addition of a slashy tail, can’t ride switch and makes it tough to land drop offs with shallow tail length. Your typical one hit wonder.

Hybrid Camber
Comparable to the pow-hybrid camber above except this mixes in camber and reverse camber along the board to give you a nice blend between the two.

Summed up: For all mountain riding, float on the pow and no edge catching with pop and stability to boot. Not many cons but should be demoed because you will either love it or hate it.

There you have it. As you can see each board has its merits and you should definitely demo the type of camber that you want to try before purchasing.

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