1. Venture Divide 161
TOURING
Ditch the snowshoes and grab the Divide, a backcountry-poaching split board with a sustainably harvested poplar-and-ash core—all part of the environmental bent of eight-year-old Venture. The bookmatched (read: symmetrical wood) core aligns grain, density, and stiffness edge to edge for a solid ride. The result: The Divide doesn't have the weaknesses of previous split boards, which tend to feel soft at the seam. It floated easily through waist-deep powder in the San Juans, thanks to its stiff construction and setback stance. Plus, with three available widths, there's one for every boot size. $1,200 (with skins); venturesnowboards.com

2. Nitro EERO 157 Tails Down
PARK & PIPE
With a new profile that slightly blunts and lightens the tip and tail, the 2008 Eero makes for smoother landings and easier spins than boards with more material at the ends. The ultralight poplar core provides ample pop and control for launching jumps, and the sidecut, with three different radii, keeps weight distributed evenly along the edges, so you can hold your line and maintain your speed in the pipe. Plus, a tridirectional fiberglass laminate stiffens the Eero, giving the rider quick turning without the worry of washout.
$470; nitrousa.com

3. Rome SDS Notch 158
POWDER
As quivers become rigueur du jour, a pintail fills the gap left by the ultralong, ultrawide powder decks of yore. The directional Notch quickly maneuvered through tight tree spaces to access powder stashes that few riders could reach, thanks to its shorter length and quick-turning radius. "She slashed up everything I could lay my hands on," one tester commented. Its low-density wood core and carbon-fiber strips at the tail deliver incredible longitudinal pop, while the tridirectional carbon layering keeps this powderhound torsionally stiff. Rome also kept the weight to a bare minimum by milling out any wood in the core not needed for strength. $500; romesnowboards.com