2024 Favorite Freeride Snowboards from The Good Ride
The Good Ride’s 2024 Favorite Freeride Snowboards is a real list from average objective riders who want to help.
Why Should You Trust This Best Of/Top/ Freeride Favorite’s List?
* THIS IS NOT A PAY TO PLAY Favorites list. These boards are here on their own merit by best effort objective reviewing.
* I’ve ridden about 800 different models of snowboards. More if you count different versions of the same models.
* I extensively test and compare more than anyone else. I often do same-day comparisons with the same boots and bindings.
* This is from an average rider’s perspective, along with input from other riders.
What is a Freeride Snowboard?
- More directional and set back than all-mountain snowboards.
- Have a decent amount of taper.
- Are a normal length and width vs. Alternative Freeride/Short Wides
2024 Favorite Freeride Snowboards
Not going to do a long intro here. Let’s get to it.
Jones Flagship $699.95
Positives/Swipe Right: Damp. Fast Base. Great for going Straight. Forgiving. Set Back Inserts for More float in pow. Can mellow out and get a little turny. Great grip in hard snow.
Negatives/Swipe Left: Set Back Insert’s stance width is too wide.
The Jones Flagship is a big mountain straight-liner for those who like to charge but still want a forgiving, versatile ride. This has a very fast base, great grip in harder snow and a great flex personality in all conditions. On top of that, you have set-back inserts for really deep days to get a little better float and a spoon nose for a very fluid turning experience in pow as well. There aren’t many freeride boards that are this versatile so that is why it made our 2024 Freeride Favorites list. If you want an even faster base, a stiffer flex, and more pop at the expense of a little dampness, you can go for the Ultra Flagship.
Where To Buy:
Amplid Souly Grail $899.95
Positives/Swipe Right: Unparalleled chatter absorption for this kind of flex and pop. Great Pop for air and carves. Drives hard on the front foot. Very fun but balanced turning experience. The lifted nose is great in powder but not washy at all on groomers.
Negatives/Swipe Left: Weird insert pattern and not as much float as some of its peers.
The Amplid Souly Grail has a mostly camber ride with a little early rise in this tapered directional shape. This is one of my favorite boards on this list to get air and carve with. It’s got an almost nontapered feel on groomers, too, that lets you carve front foot weighted, center-weighted, and back foot weighted. I absolutely love this board on anything except low-angle pow. Then I just like it. What makes the Amplid Souly Grail special and a 2024 Favorite Freeride Snowboard is how damp it is for having so much pop. Usually, you have to sacrifice one for the other, but with Amplid’s Anti-Phase tech, you don’t.
(We don’t have any links on where to buy so just go to Amplid Snowboards)
Burton Gril Master $749.95
Positives/Swipe Right: Excellent turning experience and pop. It has a really good directional float for being somewhat centered on board.
Negatives/Swipe Left: Edge hold, lets go too easy in hard snow. Big differences in length and recommended weight differences between sizes. The base is not as fast for most boards at this price point.
The Burton Gril Master has a directional camber from pretty much the tail going to a good bit before the nose and a pretty tapered directional shape. It doesn’t grip that well in hard snow but has a very special turning experience on groomers that really appeals to turny riders like myself. The pop on an ollie is special and so is the float in powder without being super set back near the tail. It’s not bad in low angle as well as steep angle pow. It’s a very versatile ride, and I instantly fell for this board. If their od sizing fits your specs, you could have a beautiful riding experience with it.
Where To Buy:
Weston Backwoods $624.95
Positives/Swipe Right: Fast Base. Damp. Turny/Slashy Big Mountain. Great in uneven snow. Solid Grip.
Negatives/Swipe Left: Good, but not amazing pop.
The Weston Backwoods is a pretty tapered and directional ride, but it isn’t too set back on board. It has a pretty medium directional camber ride with a little early rise before the tail and more before the nose. It has a pretty turny/surfy big mountain feel to it that I really like. The base is fast, the grip is competent, and it’s a very damp, fast ride. Very competent float as well. What helped the Weston Backwoods make the 2024 Favorite Freeride Snowboards list is how durable and consistent it feels underfoot in all conditions.
Where To Buy:
Jones Mind Expander $599
Positives/Swipe Right: Very turny/slashy. Fast Base. Solid Hard Snow Grip. Good Pop. Easy Directional Float. Great in soft/uneven snow.
Negatives/Swipe Left: Can be a little cranky in hard uneven snow.
The Jones Mind expander is pretty tapered, directional, and set back. It has camber from almost the tail to a little before the spoon nose. It’s pretty much the opposite of the Flagship, and it’s a very setback/turny ride while not being too turny to fight you if you want to go straight occasionally. There is good pop, great grip, and a very fast base. It can be a touch cranky in hard, bumpy snow, but it jams in soft, uneven snow. I don’t like putting two of any brand into the favorites list, but this earned it. Jones knows freeride. You can get a little stiffer flex, more pop, and a faster base with the Ultra Mind Expander, but at the expense of chatter reduction.
Where To Buy:
K2 Alchemist $749
Positives/Swipe Right: Very dynamic energetic flex. Great big mountain board. Excellent for going fast, straight, and getting air. Aggressive but still forgiving.
Negatives/Swipe Left: The Base is slow for this price point. Not great in low-angle pow.
The K2 Alchemist is a moderately tapered, directional board with a mellow camber between the feet, going to some early rise in the nose/tail. This is a more centered big mountain straightliner but it doesn’t shit the bed on you if you want to mellow out and turn. It’s stiff and likes to charge but is still forgiving. The base is a little on the slow side for this price point, and it can get cranky in hard, micro-bumpy snow, but in all other conditions, this lights up. It has a lot of pop on an ollie and out of a turn for having such a mellow camber. The base could be faster and the low-angle pow float isn’t that great but everything else is great about this ride.
Where To Buy:
YES PYL Uninc (Hard Snow Favorite) $649
Positives/Swipe Right:
Negatives/Swipe Left:
The YES PYL Uninc is a pretty tapered directional ride with a moderate setback on board compared to some. It has a slightly directional camber with a little early rise before the tail and more before the nose. This has a very disrupted sidecut tech that makes it very competent in hard-to-icy snow, but it is just not for that. It can float really well in powder and has a very slashy, turny feel to it. There is some slashy big mountain personality, but it does pretty well in low-angle pow, too. It’s got pretty good pop to it as well.
Where To Buy:
Decathlon Landscape (Low Cost Favorite) $399
Positives/Swipe Right: Super Cheap!
Negatives/Swipe Left: Medium flex might be a turn off.
The Decathlon Landscape has a somewhat set-back camber with an early rise still in the tail and more before the nose. I rarely come across cheap boards like this that ride this well so I thought I’d mention it as a Low-Cost 2024 Favorite Freeride Snowboard. Davey and I both found this to be a pretty fun all-around ride and were shocked at the price. The Landscape is a forgiving easy rider for beginners and intermediates but it is far from boring for advanced to expert riders. The only thing is the flex is pretty soft for a freeride board. So, if you like a stiffer flex this might not be for you.
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