The Most Popular Types of All Mountain Snowboards and Their Benefits

An “all mountain snowboard” is the most popular type of snowboard because it can be used to ride every type of slope at a ski resort.

• These types of snowboards are specifically designed to perform well in any type of terrain, from icy groomers to deep powder.

• An all mountain snowboard is meant to be the Swiss Army Knife of your snowboard quiver. When you can only buy one snowboard, you get an all mountain snowboard.

This article will cover the most popular types of all mountain snowboards as well as cover the advantages to each.

Finding the Right Type of All Mountain Snowboard for You

Before we begin, let’s learn a little more about you so I can steer you to the parts of the article you will be most interested in.

Popular Types of All Mountain Snowboards

There are several popular types of all-mountain snowboards.

• The All-Mountain Twin Snowboard
• The All Mountain Directional Snowboard
• The Volume-Shifted All Mountain Snowboard
• The All Mountain Freestyle Snowboard

All-mountain snowboards come in various shapes and camber profiles, the curvature of the snowboard when lying flat on the snow. Here are the primary types of all-mountain snowboards.

The All Mountain Twin Snowboard

An all mountain twin snowboard means that the board’s nose and tail are exactly symmetrical. Twin all mountain snowboards are intended to ride as well switch stance as it does regular. This snowboard style can also have either a centered or a slightly setback mounted stance. The centered stance will be better for doing tricks, while a slight setback stance will help the snowboard float in deeper snow by keeping your weight on the snowboard further back, allowing your nose to be pointed upwards.

The primary benefit of an all mountain twin snowboard is that the snowboard rides the same in either direction.

The All Mountain Directional Snowboard

The all mountain directional snowboard is a board that can be used anywhere at the resort. This snowboard is identified by having a different-looking nose than its tail. The directional shape is intended to ride the snowboard in one direction, or in other words, with the same foot forward the whole time you ride your board. Directional all mountain snowboards often have a slightly setback stance meaning your weight is closer to the tail than the nose. The primary benefit of having your weight closer to the back of the snowboard helps to keep the board’s nose pointing upward, allowing it to float on top of deeper snow.

The Volume-Shifted All Mountain Snowboard

The volume-shifted all mountain snowboard is a board that is both shorter lengthwise and wider width-wise than the average all mountain snowboard that you would select based on your weight and shoe size. Volume-shifted all mountain boards are intended to ride three to six centimeters shorter than your traditional size. The benefit of the wider and shorter platform is that the snowboard floats better in powder, feels stable while carving, and is more maneuverable than a longer board.

The All Mountain Freestyle Snowboard

An all mountain freestyle snowboard is a board that is versatile enough to ride all over the resort, and it leans more on the freestyle side of the riding spectrum. This type of snowboard has features that also make it perform well in the terrain park while hitting jumps and rails. Additionally, an all mountain freestyle snowboard is perfect for riders who enjoy doing tricks outside of the park, looking for jumps and natural features, like bent-over trees or logs, to jib. All mountain freestyle snowboards often have a symmetrical nose and tail with a centered stance.

All mountain freestyle snowboards share the highlighted symmetrical features of the all mountain twin category of snowboards with the addition of a reinforced sidewall and a medium flex rating. The durable sidewall construction helps prevent the snowboard from damaging if you accidentally hit it off a rail in the park. The medium flex allows the board to be pressable on rails and boxes while not overly flexible, where it doesn’t carve well outside the park.

Advantages of All Mountain Snowboards

All mountain snowboards are good for resort riding and having one snowboard that can “do-it-all.”

Here are examples of the types of riding you would do on an all mountain snowboard.

• Ride all slopes at a resort regardless of their experience level rating
• Carving through trees at the resort
• Hit small to medium jumps in the park
• Hit the occasional rail or box in the park

What All Mountain Snowboards Are Not Good For

Most all mountain snowboards are not great for the following types of riding.

• Snowboarding in powder or very deep snow
• Racing
• Backcountry snowboarding (riding in the mountains outside of the resort)
• Riding in the halfpipe

While an all mountain snowboards can technically be used for any of these types of riding. A snowboard designed for the type of riding you enjoy most will perform even better. When a snowboard is tuned to do everything, it does everything moderately well. However, when a snowboard is designed for a specific type of riding, like park riding, for example, it performs exceptionally well in that area and often compromises in other areas like carving or shock absorption.

Also check out our all-mountain snowboards buying guide to learn more.

The Most Popular All Mountain Snowboards

Every year we see a few new models get added to each brand’s lineup. However, for the past five years, the most popular snowboards have all seemed to be these three snowboards.

1. Capita DOA Snowboard (Men) / Capita Birds of a Feather Snowboard (Women)
   
2. Burton Custom Camber (Men) / Burton Feelgood Flying Snowboard (Women)
   
3. Jones Mountain Twin (Men) / Jones Twin Sister (Women)
   

I also recommend checking out our all mountain snowboards award list to see a few more options.

In Conclusion

Whether you love to carve groomers, launch off jumps in the park, or leave your mark in untouched powder, there’s an all-mountain board out there for you. With a little research and this guide as a starting point, you’ll be shredding every inch of the mountain with confidence and style.

Have fun out there.

-Steve

Related Posts:

• All Mountain Snowboards Buying Guide: Tips for Finding the Right Board
• The Different Types of Snowboards & Their Benefits: Finding Your Perfect Board
• The 10 Best All-Mountain Snowboards for 2026 (With Their Top Specs Reviewed)

Steve Weber

Steve Weber is the passionate snowboarder, skateboarder, and author behind Board of the World. He understands that most gear reviews focus on having the perfect snow conditions, but his testing methodology is different. Living in Pennsylvania, Steve describes exactly how a board performs when the conditions aren’t perfect. His reviews cover performance on ice, hardpack, and flat-out brick conditions. In other words, he reviews boards for the conditions that East Coast riders actually face.

Bringing 27 years of East Coast snowboarding and 21 years of skateboarding experience, Steve is a 42-year-old intermediate park rider. His recommendations are informed by decades of battling icy conditions, ensuring every review accounts for the board’s performance on the roughest of terrain.

For the last five years, Steve has poured his passion into writing in-depth, unbiased reviews that help riders make informed decisions about the gear they’ll use. He also works part-time at a snowboard shop in Northeastern Pennsylvania, which gives him a direct line to learning about the new gear tech months in advance. When he’s not writing reviews, Steve is often found riding at Montage Mountain and testing out new boards.

Steve’s goal with Board of the World is simple: to help every reader find the right gear so they can have fun outside from the first time they use it.