Armada Snowboards F/W 2026/27 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Snowboards F/W 2026/27 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Armada
Interviewee: Tom Kingsnorth, Commercial manager marketing and Sales, Europe.

How would you describe the 2024/25 snowboard season in terms of market performance and consumer demand?
We haven’t got any snowboards for sale until winter 25/26, so I can’t speak for our own sales. But, after visiting some key retailers in Europe, we were told that the 2024-25 season started in a good way. The snow has come early and there is a buzz about the new season. Two bad winters hasn’t seemed to have dampened the mood.

What major trends are shaping the snowboard market (pricing, consumer preferences, rider demographics, retail shifts)?
Quirky shapes are becoming less popular, and we are seeing a lot more traditional shapes out in the wild. People want less of a quiver and are more interested in one snowboard that can handle everything. They are willing to pay more for a premium product too. As in the past few seasons there are more women taking up snowboarding and there are a lot of youngsters taking it up too. Snowboarding is yet again a trendy thing to do in winter.

From changing consumer behaviour to tariffs and supply chain stress, what has been the biggest challenge for your brand recently?
From an outside perspective it looks like Armada is a ski company that is starting to produce snowboards. The reality though, is that Armada has assembled a completely new workforce to focus on the snowboard side of the company, whilst giving it an existing infrastructure and budget that can benefit retailers, consumers and ultimately the industry. That team behind Armada Snowboards has collectively, decades of experience in Snowboarding. The biggest challenge we have is to communicate what we want to achieve and that Armada can enter the space is a positive way.

BRAND FOCUS

What is your brand’s core mission or philosophy, and how does it influence snowboard design and development?
Snowboarding doesn’t need just another brand; it needs another good one.

How has your brand’s role in the snowboard market evolved in recent years?
2025-26 is year one for us.

Who is your target rider for the 26/27 season, and how has this profile changed compared to the past?
We have 8 professional athletes on Armada Snowboards, 8 men and 8 women. We have 9 boards for year one, 3 Women’s, 3 Men and 3 Unisex.

Which product ranges or categories do you expect to drive the most growth in 26/27?
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SNOWBOARD SPECIFIC

What trends or developments in construction, shapes, and innovation are guiding your 26/27 snowboard range
Our 26/27 boards were heavily tested and iterated to dial in the flex patterns, shapes, and constructions that best support modern freestyle riding—wherever it happens on the mountain. We put particular focus on independently tuning longitudinal and torsional flex to optimize each model for its specific purpose. We’ve also built out a fully balanced men’s and women’s offering, refining women’s-specific construction, flex, and shaping to deliver performance that’s truly tailored to female riders.

What new materials or material innovations are you using — inserts, edges, cores, sidewalls, resin, glues, base material, top sheet, wax, or others?
We focused on proven, high-quality materials that deliver a well-rounded ride and long-term durability. Our line features three tiers of core construction, using strategically placed poplar, paulownia, and bamboo inlays to fine-tune dampness, response, and overall board strength. We’re also leveraging a range of carbon layups to enhance pop and responsiveness across different price tiers. At the top of the line, our Bambooster technology replaces core material just outside the insert packs with a bamboo beam wrapped in unidirectional carbon. Positioned along the snowboard’s neutral axis, it delivers powerful pop without adding unwanted torsional stiffness. To protect against heavy impacts, we reinforce the binding zones with our impact-plate technology, available in both a composite version and a higher-end Titanal option.

How are you incorporating sustainability and ethical production into your boards (materials, processes, lifecycle, packaging)?
All of our boards are made with a bio resin derived from organic material, use recycled ABS sidewalls wherever possible, and come out of the factory with a coating of biodegradable, plant-based Wend wax. Additionally, our factory, SWS Dubai, is a fair-trade USA Certified factory, and use solar power for all production. Each year, this offsets roughly 596 tons of CO2. We’ve also implemented a packaging system that uses fully recyclable boxes and packing material when shipping boards.

What design directions are you taking — graphics, patterns, collabs, or signature editions?
8 of the graphics were produced by Josh Manoles, who has a wealthy of experience in producing work for both snow and skate. The other artist was Bella Jaynec, who produced a handmade scarf, which was photographed and became the graphic for The Do-Si-Do.

Are you focusing on particular rider groups (freeride, freestyle, all-mountain, women’s-specific, youth, beginner) for 26/27?
We are focusing on resort freestyle, park/street and natural Freeride shapes for 26/27

Key Products:

The Beatnik:
A directional twin, resort freestyle board and Danimals’ signature Snowboard. Danimals likes to ride a little of everything, so the Beatnik is built specifically to make side hits, rollers, berms, rope ollies, and top to bottom laps more fun.

Beatnik

The Do-Si-Do:
A women’s specific directional model, the Do-Si-Do is known for its freestyle-friendly shape, perfect flex and profound pop. Our team rider, Steffi Luxton, likes to ride pow in the morning and when that is tracked, she likes to head to the park on the same board. The Do-Si-Do is a one board quiver.

Do-Si-Do

The Sicko:
Alek Oestreng’s board of choice is the Sicko. A tapered directional, all mountain snowboard that is the perfect blend of response and board feel. The Sicko allows you to link creative lines, whilst providing additional float on those deeper days.

Sicko