Do I need a stomp pad for my snowboard?

Whether you need a stomp pad for your snowboard completely depends on your preference. Some people can just not get by without one, while others can skate around fine without one.

What are stomp pads used for?

Basically, stomp pads, or any of their varieties (studs/stickers/pads) are made to stick on to your snowboard, near the back binding, so that while you are skating around to get on or off of a lift, you can still grip on to the board with your back foot.

For people who are learning to snowboard, a stomp pad can help give you back some of the control you lose when you take your back foot out of your binding. It doesn’t give you much control, but it can help give you something stable to put your weight on.

If your snowboard has a shiny top sheet, you probably notice that it can get really slippery when there is snow on it, and without a stomp pad you would just slip and lose your balance,

I don’t want to put an ugly stomp pad on my board, what should I do?

Although there are some stomp pads that are huge, while they are really good at their job, they don’t look very good. One other option are studs, which are much less noticable but still give you grip.

If you are someone that doesn’t want anything on your board, learning to skate without a stomp pad is not too hard. Just remember to kick the snow off the bottom of your boot, kick it off your board and push your back foot back towards your rear binding, so that you have something solid to push against. The more you do it, the easier it will be. Have a look at some stomp pads.

Where is the best place to put a stomp pad on my board?

The best place is near your back foot, in a spot that is close enough to the back binding that you can push down on the stomp pad for grip, as well as pushing back against the binding to keep yourself stable.

This picture above is for a regular rider, if you are goofy just reverse it.

How to make sure that it sticks properly, first time

For the stomp pad to get a good grip on your board, it needs to be super clean. Some stomp pads come with a little alcohol wipe, which is really good at cleaning the surface. If your stomp pad didn’t come with one, you can just get some from amazon or a hardware store.

It isn’t a huge deal though, just make sure the board is really clean, and test out the position you want the stomp pad in. Try a few because you are only going to get to stick it down once. When you know the position, remove the back of the sticker and stick it down hard. If you have the time, put something heavy on it overnight – some bricks, books, something that will keep the pressure on. It might not be necessary, but it won’t hurt.

Search for stomp pads on this page, and it will show you a whole list of stores that are selling them, and who has them on sale.