2009 Good Wood Winner in Top Ten Men’s Under $400 category: The K2 Darkstar

2009 Good Wood Winner in Top Ten Men’s Under $400 category: The Gnu Carbon High Beam MTX

2009 Good Wood Winner in Top Ten Men’s Under $400 category: The Burton Hero

The Good Wood test is a men's and women's freestyle board test performed in the park at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

The Good Wood test is a men's and women's freestyle board test performed in the park at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

For the sixth season, TWS has organized and executed the most thorough, unbiased, freestyle board test in existence.

The results are in! Five years ago TransWorld SNOWboarding created the Good Wood Board Test out of necessity. At the time, many park boards stunk-there was a real need to distinguish gems from the junk.

Know what the subject of countless high-powered snowboard-company design meetings is every year? You. That's right, board brands around the world put tons of energy and cash into trying to figure out exactly what it is you want out of a board-and of course, some pull it off better than others.

What's new with women's snowboards? This year we're looking at a new round of big-name brands on the Board Test podium, with more of an emphasis on all-around action than strictly freestyle. The top-five winning boards all have deep roots in snowboard history-a sure sign that practice makes perfect when it comes to board construction. The big ol' crew of female pro riders behind the development of this year's boards allows women to be discriminating consumers and ride away with an awesome stick.

Last spring TransWorld testers took 50 of the freshest boards of '04, and rode them all until they found the top-ten men's boards. We've got the results right here. Before you buy a new snowboard be sure to read this.

You can't keep a good woman('s board) down.

Eight testers, 65 boards, five days. The board test is more madness than method, but certain ground rules apply. Product is delivered with a tune from the manufacturer (or not); the topsheets are then masked, and each board is given a code number by TransWorld's weekend shift to limit biases-in order to cheat, testers have to make a pretty big effort.