The right pair of snowboard boots may be the most important piece of your riding equipment. A good pair of boots will give you the ability to ride with better control, comfort, and style. But with thousands of options, how do you choose one and feel confident that it will be the best fit for you and your feet. The style of a boot is often the first thing people think about, but the key things to consider are function and fit. First, narrow your selection by thinking about what type of riding you'll be doing. The purpose of a boot should fit the flex of the boot. Beginners often prefer a softer boot because softer boots can be more comfortable, and they can be more forgiving while learning to make turns and while pulling out of sketchy landings. Also, park riders often prefer the softer flex while balancing on rails, doing presses, and tweaking grabs. But if you are a more confident rider, a stiffer boot will help you quickly find and hold your edges and spend more time on big kickers or out of the park on steeper terrain at greater speed. Like a ski boot, these boots will hold you in a rider’s stance with your knees bent forward. While this stance helps with carving and control it can also fatigue your legs over a day of riding. The flex of most boots is usually the middle ground between soft and stiff. This mid flex can go all over the mountain from the backcountry to the park. Ultimately, it's up to you to choose what feels best for you and your riding style. You can find many styles of lacing systems. Some boots will have a traditional boot lace. These allow you to adjust to how tight or lose you like your fit, from the width of your toes to the top of your ankles. But these can take time to lace and for some riders, it can be hard to get them as tight as they may like. Many brands feature a Boa system. This features a ratchet and cable. These will tighten with a few turns of the dial and can be easily done with gloves on. They also release simply by pulling and releasing the ratchet. These are becoming a more popular option for many people, but they can be hard to repair if they're broken and only a dual boa system will allow for micro adjusting between the ankle and toes. A speed lacing system combines both approaches of the BOA and the traditional lace and gives you a faster lacing system while also allowing for micro adjusted tightening between both the toe area and the ankle area. Find the boots with the features that apply best to your riding style and then select a few to try on to see which has the best fit. The biggest deciding factor for any boot should be the fit and feel. Once you have a few boots in mind, have a boot fitter measure feet. Not only the length but also the width and general volume of your foot is important to consider. It is also important to measure both feet as many people have size differences between the right and left feet. It is important to know how high or flat your arch is, as well as your heel shape. A good boot fitter will help walk you through these measurements and help guide you toward appropriate boots for you to try on. Keep in mind that your measured size is only a guide since many boot companies will size their boots differently.