Beginners boarding

I'm looking at getting into boarding again (its been a very long time)

I however have this problem, commonly known as size 14 feet. OK it's going to be hard to rent them abroad, so I'm looking to buy myself a pair before i go out - Cheapest pair I can find are £120, that sound about right?

Also board wise, due to also being 6ft and being fairly well built, I'm actually finding it hard to find a board that's long enough, as well as wide enough for the feet, any ideas on somewhere to have a look?

Good and bad really. If you were familiar with the fit of different boots, these extra large sizes often end up on clearance or ebay. The trouble is, very few places will stock them for you to try.

If i were you, I would measure my actual foot size in cm. Most snowboard boots are also sized (like ski boots) in mondo point (cm). This is a better gauge of fit than shoe size. Unlike ski boots, it is not so common that you go down a size for a good fit, but sometimes you can. Boots with separate liners can be a little tighter to start with as the liners will pack in. Boots with thermoflex or similar liners (fully heat moldable) will often allow you to go a size smaller or more. So anyway your true mondo size is the best way to gauge it. Many ebay sellers will allow you to return the boots if they don't fit (check first). You'll be out the shipping cost, but you may get a good deal.

Snowboards do come in extra wide models, Just do some research to find out which has the widest waist. Duck stance is favoured by many boarders now, so that helps a bit. Or you could go old school (I do) and set both your binding facing foreward (generally not more than about 35 degrees with a 5 to 10 degree splay for soft boots) which is great for free riding and helps with boot out.

Another option which will help with boot out, is to use riser plates under the bindings. Palmer and Burton make them and the approx 15MM lift makes a big difference.

If you get desperate, look at US online dealers. Yanks are generally taller than we Europeans and have larger feet, so the dealers are more likely to stock large sizes.


Trencher