Snowboards come in several different styles, depending on the type of riding intended (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):

• Racing/Alpine: long, narrow, rigid, and directional shape. Best during machine groomed slopes. Most often ridden with a "hard" boot, but also ridden recreationally with soft boots, particularly by riders in Europe.

• Freeride: longer in length, and semi-directional. Moderate to stiff in flex. Used for long, fast turns in various types of snow from groomed hard-pack to soft powder.

• Freestyle: Generally shorter in length with a Semi-directional or twin-tip shape. Moderate to soft in flex. Incorporates a deep sidecut for quick/tight turning. Used in the pipe and in the park on various jumps and terrain features including boxes, rails, and tables.

• Park/Jib (rails): flexible and short, twin shaped with a twin flex to allow easy switch riding, wider stance, with the edges filed dull. Used for skateboard-park like snowboard parks.

• All-Mountain: A hybrid between freeride and freestyle boards. The 'jack of all trades, master of none.' Normally directional in shape with either a twin or directional flex. Moderate in flex for various types of terrain.

• Split: Not to be confused with the swallow-tail, the split board consists of a stable powder board that can be broken down into two touring skis, used when hiking in deep backcountry conditions.