Thirtytwo Snowboards F/W 2026/27 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Snowboards F/W 2026/27 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Thirtytwo
Interviewee: Ryan Bachman, thirtytwo Sales Director, Brian Cook, thirtytwo Global Brand Director, Brad Alband, Creative Director

How would you describe the 2024/25 snowboard season in terms of market performance and consumer demand?
The board category is still one of the strongest in the industry, with sell-thru outperforming the majority of other categories. Consumer demand has certainly shifted over the past few seasons, going from top sales in twin boards to directional and twin directional boards. Resort oriented boards are doing upwards of 80% of sales, which are usually directional shapes and volume.

What major trends are shaping the snowboard market (pricing, consumer preferences, rider demographics, retail shifts)?
Price points are certainly a way to get the board brand in the door, but the mid-level pricing tiers are seeing the best sell-thru, while high-end is moving to that specific customer, just at a slower pace. As stated above, the consumer demand has greatly swung from twin freestyle boards to directional resort boards. Safer graphics and colors have been doing best at retail, but retailers and consumers are now expressing the graphics/colors have gotten too boring and they’d like to see more vibrant colors and artist/graphic focused boards.

From changing consumer behavior to tariffs and supply chain stress, what’s been the biggest challenge for your brand recently?
The biggest challenge for our brand right now is price increases due to tariffs and consumers having tighter budgets to spend on their snow-hobbies. Also, the over-inundated inventory levels at shops have trained consumers to hold out until Spring to buy their goods at a nice discount. Though it does sound like most brands (due to tariffs and supply chain issues) are taking on less AO inventory to not put as much stress on their payables with factories.

BRAND FOCUS

What is your brand’s core mission or philosophy, and how does it influence snowboard design and development?
Thirtytwo has always been rider-driven, and that 100% influenced the design and development of the brand’s first snowboard line! The performance driven snowboard collection was shaped by the needs and attitudes of our team. These include the core demands that lead the way: unique shapes, bold graphics, true camber, precision flex and a faster base.

Who is your target rider for the 26/27 season, and how has this profile changed compared to the past?
With four collections built around distinct riding styles, there is something for every snowboarder that lives for days on the hill!

SNOWBOARD SPECIFIC

What trends or developments in construction, shapes, and innovation are guiding your 26/27 snowboard range?
Entering the first season of thirtytwo snowboards, NDK has invested in the brand to make sure thirtytwo enters the market with our own point of difference. This includes 12 custom shapes, 108 sizes, 66 next-gen molds, custom carbon construction and our brand team push to bring back more rounded shapes after listening to our riders.

What new materials or material innovations are you using — inserts, edges, cores, sidewalls, resin, glues, base material, top sheet, wax, or others?
The best way to put it, is we are getting a multi-generational board experience and expertise utilizing NDK best practices in our board line. All our boards will be made at SWS with Nidecker Group exclusive QC and thirtytwo technologies. This includes five different wood cores, three laminate options, four carbon stringers and one full carbon sheet option, 8.1m Sintered bases, 27% BIO-sourced Epoxy resin, ABS Sidewalls and Dura- Topsheets from Austria, Wend Wax and our Ultimate Flex with break-in at the factory.

How are you incorporating sustainability and ethical production into your boards (materials, processes, lifecycle, packaging)?
We have partnered with SWS Board Technology, a factory that is making big steps towards sustainability and ethical production. Highlights of what SWS is doing includes regular social accountability audits and SEDEX membership, which is part of their commitment to the highest standards in labor, safety, environmental care and ethical business. SWS has been a Fair Trade Certified factory since 2023 – their Dubai factory is powered almost entirely by rooftop solar energy and they support Protect Our Winters (POW). For these reasons and more, we feel that SWS Board Technology is the right partner.

What design directions are you taking — graphics, patterns, collabs, or signature editions?
We want to be the brand that makes snowboard graphics become wall hangers again when the customer is done with it. By choosing art that stands out and utilizing a global artist network for graphics rather than 1-2 in-house artists, we are creating a line where every board looks unique and has a graphic story. In a sea of clean and pattern-based graphics that are labeled “easy to sell”, we are hoping to connect with customers emotionally – who see a thirtytwo graphic and have to have that board. We are also promoting Signature Models with the first being Pat Fava’s, the XXX, and another to be announced Jan 1, 2026. We’re also already in development for a 3rd pro model come 2027. We are excited to also launch Volcom built by thirtytwo snowboards. There will be 3 adult and 1 youth board in the collection with upgraded cores and carbon stringers different from our inline models. For these we tapped into the heritage of Volcom and made it a goal to put out the best Volcom boards we have seen hit the market. This means really tapping into the Volcom DNA with art from over the last 30 years – cut & paste collage, y2k and then more rootsy hand drawn graphics. Volcom has meant so much to snowboarding over the years, and we felt internal pressure to make them feel special and collectable. Long term, we already have skateboard brands lining up to work with us, so we will have a skate collab every season from here on out. This will be more handpicking and rotating every couple years.

Are you focusing on particular rider groups (freeride, freestyle, all-mountain, women’s-specific, youth, beginner) for 26/27?
Thirtytwo provides products for all levels of snowboarding, and the new board line is a continuation of that ethos. That being said, the backbone of thirtytwo is freestyle. It’s where we made our name and what comes first when you think of the brand. As we enter the board market, we have the vision of being a well-rounded rider type brand. For the category launch, we segmented the line into three types:

Destroy: True twins designed for the street and park
Shred: Directional twins for resort and all mtn riding
Slash: Directional for freeride and side and backcountry

Key Products:

Reiki