The Good Ride 2025 Top/Best/Favorite Short Wide Snowboards
Welcome to the Good Ride Top/Best/Favorite Short Wide Snowboards List. I’m James Biesty, and I’ve ridden over 800 different models of snowboards and about 1,000 boards if you count the different versions of the same models. I extensively test and compare boards. Literally, no one else does this. I’m no ripper, but I’m consistent, honest, and objective so hopefully this list of short wides helps.
This Is No Pay To Play Top/Best Of/Favorite Short Wide Snowboard List
These boards earned their spot by how they ride after extensive testing and comparing No brand has to pay to get their boards boards reviewed and I don’t require to keep any boards. I only ask for a return label.
What is A Short Wide Snowboard to The Good Ride?
This is everything from an almost twin to pretty tapered and directional shape but in a much shorter/wider package.
Check out our 2025 Freeride, Alt Freeride, Snowsurf and Powder Favorite Lists as well. Or if you want something less directional our All Mountain and Mtn Freestyle Rides.
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Here Is The Good Ride Best/Top/Favorite 2025 Short Wide Snowboards List (in no order of importance)
(Best Carver But Still Fun At Many Things)
Ability Level
AdvancedTo Expert
Positives/Swipe Right
Exceptional Carver, Great Pop, Great Grip, Super Fast Base
Negatives/Swipe Left
A Little Technical/Catchy
Key Specs
Shape
12mm to 13mm of Taper & Pretty Directional
-20mm back on sidecut at 20.86”
-4.5” back on board at 21.5”
Camber
Pretty much full camber
Flex Personality
Medium/Stiff, Great Pop and hard to butter. It’s a very Good All Conditions Ride
The Stranda Biru is a full camber hard carving, weight your turns any way you like, short wide with a fast base and 7×2 inserts for a little more mini-disc friendly set back for pow. This isn’t a pure carver but it’s about as good as it gets for a board that can still has an all rounder feel with a fast base, very competent grip and good float in pow for this much camber. I’d love to own this in a 150.
Telos Backslash
(A Fun, Poppy, lively, Turny Slashy, Little Ride)
Ability Level
Committed Intermediate to Expert
Positives/Swipe Right
Easy Pop, Fun To Turn/Carve and Good Chatter Absorption For its size
Negatives/Swipe Left
Can Buck A Little In Soft Uneven Snow. I wish they had 3cm per size instead of 5cm
Key Specs
Shape
-17mm of Taper with a much bigger nose vs. the tail
-25mm back on sidecut at I think 22”
-4.75” back on board at 22”
Camber
Directional Camber with a little early rise before the nose and some passive to slightly active bends.
Flex Personality
Medium bordering on medium-stiff/ Very Poppy/ Easy to Ollie/Ok to Butter/ Fun to Turn/ Good All Conditions Ride. A little chatter in the smaller size
The Telos Backslash is a very well-built, lively little quiver or short, wide one-board ride. This has exceptional pop, and while I did complain about the chatter and buckiness in the original review, this does very well for its length, and I just loved this poppy around-everything ride. It turns very quickly for its width too. I rode this in a 148 and 153 and would choose the 148, but I would love it if they made a 150.
K2 Excavator
(A Fun Somewhat Forgiving Charger)
Ability Level
Intermediate To Expert
Positives/Swipe Right
Good pop for such a mellow camber. Great in soft, uneven snow. Solid Float. Great For Straight Lining.
Negatives/Swipe Left
Slow Base. Cranky in hard, uneven snow.
Key Specs
Shape
-20mm of Taper and a Moderately Directional Ride
-20mm back on sidecut at 21”
-4.625” @ back on board at 21.75”
Camber
A mellow Directional Camber with a decent amount of early rise with a touch in the tail.
Flex Personality
Medium-Stiff/ Very Poppy/Good All Conditions Ride
The K2 Excavator is a board that made this 2025 Best/Top/Favorite Freeride List because it’s not the best at anything but easy and fun at everything. It’s an easy but fun board to carve, has easy float in pow, pops easy for it’s camber/flex, and can straight line well. Other than having a slowish base and more chatter than some in hard uneven snow this is a great board for a wide variety of riders.
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Lib Tech Orca
(Super Forgiving, Easy Riding, Easy Floating, Hard Gripping, Back Foot Weighted, Everyperson’s Ride)
Ability Level
Beginners To Experts
Positives/Swipe Right
Forgiving. Easy Float, Fun To Turn, Excellent Grip
Negatives/Swipe Left
Slower Base, Loose Feel Between The Feet.
Key Specs
Shape
-10mm of Taper and a Moderately Directional Shape
-2.5” back on sidecut at approximately 22”
-4.75” back on board at 22.6”
Camber
A Directional Hybrid Rocker with a long mellow elliptical camber on the front foot and short very pronounced camber over the back foot.
Flex Personality
Medium Stiff with Easy Pop. Good All Conditions Ride
The Lib Tech Orca gets over recommended and often over hyped but there is a reason this is such a high selling well liked board. It makes snowboarding easier and fun in a short wide package for almost any ability level. I’ve owned a 153 and 150 and other than the slower more thirsty base and loose feel between the feet, I had a blast on it. It has easy float in pow, excellent grip when you get it on edge and I had a lot of fun really leaning into that camber on the tail out of a turn. This is also a great board for those that see hard to icy snow.
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Salomon Dancehaul
(Low Cost Favorite. Mtn Freestyle Personality in a Tapered Directional Shape)
Ability Level
Intermediate To Expert
Positives/Swipe Right
Very easy switch. Easy to Butter. Great Pop. Fun to turn. More forgiving than it looks. Fast Base For the Price.
Negatives/Swipe Left
Not as fun for high speed carves.
Key Specs
Shape
-12mm of Taper and a Pretty Directional Shape
Centered on sidecut at 21”
-4.375” set back on board at 21”
Camber
Camber between the feet with early rise in the nose/tail that rises up more after you step on it.
Flex Personality
Medium Flex with easy pop, easy to butter and pretty fun in all conditions as long as you aren’t charging through chunder.
The Salomon Dancehaul made this Best Of/Top/Favorite Short Wide Favorites list because it really does give you a mtn freestyle personality in a tapered directional shape that you can set back and get decent float in pow with. Don’t let the tapered directional shape fool you into thinking this is like the other boards on the list. It’s easier than all to ride switch, springs off side hits, is fun to butter and it still has a really satisfying spring out of the turn.
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Gnu Gremlin
(Hard Snow Supper Poppy Medium Speed Carver)
Ability Level
Advanced To Expert
Positives/Swipe Right
Exceptional grip, Super fun to turn and carve. Great pop on an ollie
Negatives/Swipe Left
Base is slow/thirsty. Not the best float in pow for its shape/design.
Key Specs
Shape
-12mm of Taper and a Moderately Directional Shape with a hint of a swallowtail
-2” back on sidecut at approximately a 21”
-4” back on board at 21.5”
Camber
Pretty Much full camber with a passive bend in the middle.
Flex Personality
Prett medium flex but with exceptional pop yet still handles all conditions pretty well.
The Gnu Gremlin made this 2025 Best/Top/Favorite Short/Wide list because Its such a grippy but poppy fun board to turn and ollie. It’s the technical full camber counterpart to the loose but forgiving Orca. The base is not the fastest and the float isn’t the best but man is this fun in hard snow ride. This pops incredibly well on an ollie and springs you so hard out of a carve that it feels like its setting you up for the next one. I loved taking this out when it was hard and it made my day considerably better by doing so.
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