What is a side-cut on a snowboard?

The side cut on a snowboard is essentially the curve along the side of the board. Every snowboard has an arc along the side (or else it would be rectangular) and this is known as the side-cut.

But not all side-cuts are the same. There are different depths/curvatures of side-cut and the way the side-cut is created on a board will affect how the board turns and performs.

Side-cut radius is a term used to explain the measurement of a side cut.

Essentially what a side-cut radius is, is the radius (half the diameter) of a circle that would fit into the side cut of the snowboard.

If the curve of the snowboard were to continue on to make a circle this is roughly the scale of what the circle would look like This is why the side cut radius is measured in meters.

It’s not important to understand this fully but essentially what the side-cut radius does is give you information about the way that the board is going to turn (other things like flex, camber profile etc also affect the way the board turns and behaves).

So how do we read this information?

A larger side-cut radius = a shallower side-cut

A smaller side-cut radius = a deeper side-cut

Side cut radius on snowboards usually range somewhere between 6 and 10 (this is measured in meters as that would be the size of the radius if you were to place the circle against the snowboard).

So, for example, a snowboard with a side-cut radius of 6.5m will have a much deeper side-cut than a snowboard with a side-cut radius of 9.5m.

What does all this mean for turns?

Typically speaking a board with a deeper (smaller side-cut radius) side-cut will turn sharper.

A snowboard with a shallower side-cut (a higher side-cut radius) will help the board to make longer smooth arcing turns.

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Last Updated: January 29, 2019 by Nate Snowboardingprofiles.