Henrik Windstedt

Just Skiing Site

Best Snowboard Boots Guide for 2022 – 2023

Purchasing the best snowboard boots is one of the most important decisions if you are a true enthusiast and intend to pursue snowboarding seriously.

The right boots will give you the right balance, keep your feet warm during snowboarding and will last through many a season if maintained well.

Our list of the snowboard boots for 2022 and 2023 below will give you a glimpse the top snowboard boot options.

Buying Guide Best Snowboard Boots

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Best Snowboard Boots 2022 – 2023

The 4 Best Snowboard Boot Brands

1. Burton

Burton is one of the leading companies manufacturing top-quality snowboards and boots. The company has been in business for decades and Burton snowboard boots are known as the best that that can be got off the market. The company manages to stay ahead of the competition in the snowboard boots marketplace by regularly updating its boot designs with new technologies and features. In fact, Burton’s snowboard boots are considered synonymous with cutting-edge technology.

All the same, Burton snowboard boots carry the best of innovation and the latest in technology every year. Most Burton boots combined top performance, a solid amount of comfort and a good deal of durability with elegance and design, making them a stand-apart brand among the snowboarding community. And it is not for nothing that top snowboarding players as well as passionate enthusiasts tend to prefer Burton boots.

2. Flow

FLOW is a manufacturer of snowboarding equipment that has been in business for more than a decade. The company is quite famous for its incredibly high-quality and comfortable snowboard bindings. And it is building upon the reputation and success of these bindings that FLOW entered the snowboard boots business.

FLOW snowboard boots are considered among the most reliable boots in the marketplace. This is thanks largely to the consistency and quality of these boots as well as the regular improvements in their design which FLOW updates each year with new features.

The company meticulously designs its snowboard boots in detail, offering a premium-level comfort and a solid support system. Thermal insulation technologies inside these boots and Barefoot Technology on the exterior ensures that your feet stay dry and warm while offering you maximum control on the snowboard.

The company offers the right snowboard boots for beginners, intermediate riders and professionals alike. So you will easily find a top-quality snowboard boot with soft, medium and stiff flex from the FLOW collection. This versatility in the range of products and the ability to cater to the whole snowboarding community is what has made FLOW’s brand a household name in the snowboarding world.

3. Ride

Ride originally gained traction in the snowboarding world by making high-quality snowboards. These boards earned the company a stellar reputation among the riders. Ride eventually expanded the product line-up and started offering other snowboard equipment as well, including snowboard boots.

Ride snowboard boots are considered among the top snowboard boot brands. This is because of the company’s dedication to excellence in quality and innovation in design over the years. The company offers snowboard boots for both men and women.

The Ride snowboard men’s boots are considered among the best in the category of freestyle riding and offer an unparalleled high performance. Ride’s women’s snowboard boots are also well-known for their cutting-edge technology and their combination of elegance, performance and style.

4. K2

K2 was originally known as the top manufacturer of skiing equipment. But over the years, the company expanded and today it is known for the production of top snowboarding equipment as well, specifically snowboard boots
K2 snowboard boots are considered among the best in the market.

This is probably because K2 not only keeps the needs of the riders in view but also brings a wide experience of technology and innovation to the manufacture of every new snowboard boot model. To sufficiently appreciate the importance of K2 to the snowboard boot industry, you should know that the famous Boa Lacing system was first introduced by K2. This system has become an industry standard for most snowboard boot brands.

The company offers snowboard boots for every category of riders, letting it cater to the entire snowboarding marketplace. If you want to get your hands on top-performing snowboard boots that fit your size and style perfectly, you will certainly find one in K2’s collection.

How to choose the right Snowboard Boots?

Below are the things you should consider when choosing the snowboard boots

1. Your style of riding

For Beginner Riders: A beginner is someone who has only just begun snowboarding. If you are a beginner, the ideal snowboard boots for you will have a soft flex. A soft flex lets you master the movements of the board without transferring too much of them into the board. In other words, you can afford to make mistakes and learn with these boots on.

For Park or Freestyle Riders: The Park-and-Pipe riders want to dare the toughest rides and explore the most impossible spots. For such riders, having maximum control over the board is important. And so, the ideal boots for such riders should pack a lightweight profile together with a stiff forward flex. This helps them remain agile while maintaining maximum control of the board.

For All-Mountain or Freeriders: All-mountain riders tend to abridge many different types of terrain in their snowboarding passion. For such riders, the ideal boots will have a stiffer flex and a more responsive design. You can narrow this category further by determining what kind of all-mountain riding you prefer most, such as cruising, carving, snowboarding across the slopes etc.

2. Fit

Snowboard boots are typically slightly larger than your perfect fit. This gives you the option to adjust them accordingly in different situations. As a general rule, the more perfectly the boots fit your feet, the better will be your control over the board movements. To choose the right fit, simply test a boot by wearing it.

You should be wearing your regular pair of socks at this time. Once you slide in your foot into the boot, make sure it feels comfortable. And make sure that your toes touch the end of the liner without feeling too cramped.

3. Flex

Flex is one of the important aspects of the snowboard boots. A general rule-of-thumb is: the softer the flex is, the less responsive it is. And the stiffer it is, the more responsive it is, letting you control the snowboard better.

Ideally, if you are a beginner, you should go with a soft flex while if you are an intermediate or an advanced player, you should go with a medium or hard flex depending on your style. Aggressive mountain-riders, for example, tend to do better with boots having a pretty hard flex.

4. Lacing Systems

Snowboard boots from different brands are available with different lacing systems. You can, for instance, go with traditional Lacing, boots with Boa Lacing system or go with boots offering Speed Lacing. Here’s a quick breakdown of all three.

  • Traditional Lacing: As their name suggests, traditional lacing uses regular laces on the front which you can customize to fit your size. The great thing about Traditional Lacing is that you can get a perfect fit for your feet. But the downside is that if you are on a longer snowboarding session, your feet will grow hotter as the day passes and the laces will grow slack. So you may have to adjust them many times over the course of a single-day session.
  • Boa (single and double coils): Boa Lacing System uses one or two coils which let you cinch up the boots instantly and with a perfect fit. Single-coil boa system has the downside that it doesn’t let you adjust the boot differently on different levels. Double-coil Boa lets you adjust lower and upper zones differently and more accurately.
  • Speed Lacing: Speed lacing usually involved using a small handle or a lever to quickly snap and tighten snowboard boots. This system of lacing is incredibly snappy and effective. But like the traditional lacing system, you may need to adjust it frequently over the course of a one-day session.

5. Liner

Different snowboard boots with different types of liners. The liners, situated inside the boots, decide how warm, firm and stable your feet will feel inside these boots. The major types of liners include attached liners, removable liners and heat-moldable liners.

The attached liners come fixed inside the shoes while removable liners can be easily removed, modified as per your needs and dried separately after a snowboarding session. The heat-moldable liners, as the name suggests, automatically adapt to your feet and walking style once you wear the boots and walk in them for a while.

6. Size

To determine the right size of snowboard boots, the best method is simply to test out different boots while keeping in mind a few things. First and foremost, always wear the professional snowboarding-specific socks when testing out the shoes.

Next, when you test a shoe, stand in the snowboarding posture with knees slightly bent and your feet shoulder-width apart. While standing in this stance, if your toes only slightly touch the tip of the boot, then the boot is a good fit. If the toes feel even a little cramped, the boot is not large enough for your size. Try another until you find one that fits these requirements.

7. Compatibility with Snowboard and Bindings

When buying your snowboard boots, always remember that you are going to use them with your snowboard and the bindings of your board. So your boots should be perfectly compatible with them.

Typically, if larger snowboard boots fit your size better, you should go with a wider snowboard. And if your boot size is relatively smaller, a narrow snowboard will suit you better. Here are a few approximate measures. These are not exact and you may want to do your own research at the end.

8. Materials

The sole materials of snowboard boots varies from one model to another. This difference means that boots with different sole materials will offer different degrees of performance. For instance, boots with blown rubber or EVA material are better suited for freestyle and park-and-pipe snowboarding because they offer more cushioning. If you have a more aggressive style and tend to indulge more in all-mountain kind of snowboarding, boots with lugged rubber will suit you best as these offer better traction.

Difference between Snowboard Boots, Regular Boots and Ski Boots

Regular boots refer to regular snow boots which you use to walk in the snow. These boots are meant to keep your feet warm and dry in the snow. Snowboard boots refer to boots that are meant specifically for binding on to a snowboard and using for the snowboarding sport. And ski boots are similarly boots designed specifically for skiing.

Now you may regular snow boots for snowboarding, use snowboard boots for skiing and vice versa. But there are some very important differences between these three types of boots. And given these differences, you would be a better and more professional rider if you used the right snowboard boots. Following are the major differences between these three types of boots.

Snowboard Boots vs Regular Boots

Can you use a regular pair of sturdy boots to go snowboarding? Probably, but it is certainly not advisable. You may be able to snowboard in regular boots but these boots are not designed exclusively for snowboarding. Professional snowboard boots, on the other hand, are meant to be used for the sport and so, their design and overall construction is precisely geared towards that end.

As a general rule, regular boots are more flexible. This is because you have to walk in them and so, their extra flex lets you feel comfortable in these boots. In comparison, the snowboard boots are a lot stiffer and offer less flex. This is simply because snowboard boots are meant to give you a grip and control over your snowboard, so they have to be stiff. The stiffer these shoes are, the more traction they will offer, channeling your movements more quickly into the snowboard.

In a few words, if you want to do snowboarding using regular boots, this will give you a lot less control over the snowboard. On the other hand, if you are use snowboard boots which are made precisely for this purpose, you will be able to perform a lot better.

Snowboard Boots vs Ski Boots

Although both snowboard boots and ski boots are used for snow sports, they are markedly different from each other. A general difference between the two is that the snowboard boots are more flexible and less rigid when compared to ski boots. It is quite easy to walk around in snowboard boots but not as easy to take a walk down the street in ski boots.

Another notable difference between these two types of boots is the tightening mechanism. To fit up a pair of ski boots, you typically use a four-buckle system which comes with a power strap. On the other hand, when cinching up your snowboard boots, you use one of the many lacing systems that come with these boots, including Boa lacing, traditional lacing and sped lacing.

Finally, the outsoles of the ski boots are significantly hard and stiff. So when skiers want to actually walk around wearing these boots, they usually attach a softer sole guard to give the boots more flexibility. The snowboard boots, on the other hand, are not as stuff as ski boots. So they offer more flex.

There are overlaps between the two types of boots. Some snowboards with an aggressive style, who may want greater control over the movements of the board, may go with ski boots or boots which offers features similar to ski boots. And beginner skiers may use snowboard boots to give them a more comfortable start to the sport.

Conclusions

At the end of the day, finding the right snowboard boots depends entirely upon you. You need to identify your needs and preferences before you finalize a model. The key things to ask yourself before you do that include: Are you a beginner, intermediate or advanced rider? Are you a park, freestyle, all-mountain rider? Is your style more casual or aggressive? What is the range of your budget? These questions will determine what kind of snowboard boots will suit you perfectly.

Take your time with these questions and get to know your style before you decide to purchase your next snowboard boots. These boots are an important investment and you want to be sure that you get the ones that will serve you well.