Selecting a board.

Board selection depends on a lot of things. Your height, weight, foot size, ability and personal preferences will all effect your choice in boards. However, to simplify this discussion I'll just go over the basics.
LENGTH:
a good place to start is a board that stands from the floor to your chin. If you are heavier than the average person your height, go a bit longer. Lighter, go a bit shorter. If you live in a place like Utah that gets a lot of powder you will want to go much longer than chin-high. (you may find it easier to learn on a shorter board first, though) If you plan on doing a lot of halfpipe and freestyle tricks you may want a much shorter board. Here in the Northeast US, where we don't get much powder, but we've got great pipes and parks, it's not uncommon to see people riding boards that are barely shoulder high.
WIDTH:
Simple. you don't want your toes and heels to overhang the edge of the board by more than 1/2 an inch or so. otherwise they will dig into the snow on fast turns and cause you to spill. If however, you have very small feet, you may need a narrow board to make sure your toes and heels are close enough to the edges to get enough leverage and power for turning.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
an average woman may weigh quite a bit less than an average guy even though they are the same height. A board that works great for that guy may be way too stiff and tough to control for the lighter woman. fortunately, many board makers are now making women specific models that have a softer flex and narrower waist to accommodate smaller feet and lightweight riders.
BOARD TYPES:
the basic board types are as follows.
  • Freestyle
  • Freeride
  • Freecarve
  • Alpine.
Freeride boards are what most people on the mountain ride and probably the type you should get if you are new to the sport. They are do-everything, go-anyplace boards.

Freestyle boards are designed for halfpipe, spinning off jumps and doing tricks. these boards don't always handle quite as well as other boards for general mountain riding.

Alpine boards are very narrow, very stiff and designed for very high speeds. (i.e. RACING!) the boots of an Alpine setup are stiff plastic and quite similar to traditional ski boots.

A Freecarve board is a cross between a Freeride and Alpine board. They are a bit wider than a true Alpine board, so they will float better in powder but, they are much stiffer than a Freeride board for high speed carving control.