What is a jib board? -

A snowboard made for jibbing (riding, bonking, tapping anything that isn’t snow) is generally a shorter, softer, twin shaped board.

Basically, jibbing a lot of the type of riding you see in the park (except for the jumps). Anything that involves, rails, boxes, barrels, rocks, trees etc can all be called jibbing.

Technically, you can jib on any snowboard, but it is a lot easier if you have something that is made for the job. Check out the top 10 soft jib boards 2015/2016.

In general, jib boards have a few things in common:

Twin shape

They are a twin shape, so they ride the same whether you are riding them in your regular direction, or backwards (switch).

Soft flex

They often have a soft flex rating, but can be rated anywhere from a 5/10 all the way down to the softest 1/10. The softer the board is, the easier it is for you to manoeuvre the board around, and the easier you can hold presses.

Rocker profile

Most, but not all jib boards have a rocker shape. This gives the boards a very loose, playful feeling which makes it easier for technical tricks, like complicated butters, 270s in and out of rails etc. Although a lot of jib boards are rocker, there are a couple of notable regular camber jib boards – the Lobster Jib Board and the Rome Artifact both use regular camber.

Bases

Most Jib boards are on the cheaper end of snowboards, and have extruded bases. Although the extruded bases are slower than sintered, they are tough and are easy to repair. Since jibbers are less likely to need to fly down the mountain carving, sticking to extruded bases is good as it keeps the cost of the board down, while also being easy to repair when they do get damaged.

Smaller size

Jibbers are looking to rid soft boards that are flexible, soft and forgiving. The easiest way to get that combination is to ride a smaller size board than you normall do. In general, you can normally downsize your jib board by about 5cm, which will give you a much more playful feel, and is a lot easier to spin and press.