So 2011’s freeride boards are looking fantastic, but I know what you guys are waiting for! It’s all about the freestyle park boards. So what’s new for 2011 and what trends are going to be big. I strolled around ISPO picking out boards that bound to sell like hot cakes next season.

Firstly, I don’t know what Forum are doing these days, but it seems to be working! This year’s Scallywag with the Chilly Dog rocker was a monster success thanks to the immediately recognisable SCALLYWAG base graphic. This year’s Scallywag is looking gggrreeaaaattt (said in a pirate accent) and the Pirate’s plank graphic is a nice touch. Another Forum board to look out for is the Forum Holy Molly, no doubt you’ll be seeing the flouro topsheet in lift lines worldwide by December, but I was particularly intrigued by the toe and heel riser at the bindings, I can only assume the ramps are for improved edge hold and response… on a Forum? Surely all they have to do is reach the street furniture you’re sliding?

Stepchild haven’t grown out of their teenage angst stage yet, so their graphics are political, poking fun at the USA’s puppet presidents and out-right controversial with the Whale Dick… yep a cartoon of a whale with an enormous Johnson. It’s not just Stepchild upsetting grandparents worldwide, the Capita Horrorscope returns next season with a mad collage of alien shaped colour, and there’s a new release in the line-up, the Extreme Party Goer… naked Panda’s with boobs adorn the topsheet.. I’m just glad I’m not growing up with these visions in my head!

Demir at Imperivm has been busy readying his legion for another seasonal campaign. Hot graphics throughout the line, the introduction of some rocker boards and the fastest bases in the world (10,000 grade sintered base on the DJVI!!!), I don’t know why we don’t see more of Imperivm, definitely one of my tips for 2011. It’s not just Imperivm who are giving riders what they want, at long last Amplid have released a jib deck, it’s what the kids have been screaming out for and now it’s here. Loaded with Amplid’s new Jib rocker profile (maximises board rail contact between and under the bindings, with a buttery rocker tip and tail), some dope (excuse the pun) graphics, Amplid’s new environmentally friendly recycled Polywood core and the usual high end materials and construction you’d expect from Amplid, the Dopamine is on my test list for May, big time!

I bumped into Max Jenke from Endeavor who was busy readying his merchandise and chatting to the various journalists meandering around Endeavor’s 2011 line. Max has got an eye for graphics; every board he put’s his brand’s name to just look incredible. Whether the Russian cosmonauts on the Hi5 series is my favourite graphic of 2011 remains to be seen, but for now, I’m definitely digging it. On the other hand, a look I’m not feeling is the K2 WWW, obviously conventional topsheet finishes aren’t doing it for K2 so they’re using Ptex for 2011 the first thoughts that spring to mind is excess weight. I’m sure K2 is banking on the all new Fastplant to bring home the bacon. With it’s ridiculously soft flex and mind blowing durability, the Fastplant is set to bring home the Bacon in 2011. On the subject of graphics, Hampus Mosseson’s ride on Omatic, The Sweet get’s a new lick of paint, yep, it is in the form of a neon green Key-tar, damn that guy is too trendy for his own good.

1)Forum Holy Moly. 2) Forum Holy Moly. 3) Stepchild Corporate. 4) Forum Scallywag. 5) Capita Horrorscope. 6) Capita Extreme Partygoer. 7) Imperium First Legion. 8) Amplid Dopamine. 9) Forum The Honeypot. 10) Endeavor Hi 5. 11) Endeavor Colour. 12) Omatic Sweet. 13) K2 World Wide Weapon.

Continue reading ISPO Preview - 2011 Freestyle / Park Snowboards.

The big release of the year Jones Snowboards, Volkl’s all new powder inspired Soul Surfer, a very limited edition 2m Rad-Air Tanker complete with retro 20 year anniversary graphics and a cool leash detail. 2011’s freeride snowboards have got it going on, Snowboard Review checked out ISPO to hunt out the hottest powder rides for next season.

The first stop on my Whirlwind tour was a quick catch up with Arno from Rossignol to find out what’s going on with the Experience since Jeremy Jones’ departure. Essentially the Experience will remain largely unchanged from this year. With a little input from Xavier De Le Rue they’ve made a few tweaks to the design, like extending the nose and tail for improved stability on bumpy terrain. They’re also exaggerated the lift of the rocker from the bindings to the tip and tail to provide extra float and increased manoeuvrability. To be honest, why would the guys at Rossi want to change something so spot on just for the sake of changing it?

1) Jeremy Jones and the Jones Flagship. 2) Harry Gunz and the Rad-Air 20Yr Anniversary Tanker. 3) Lib Tech Banana Hammock. 4) Rad Air Tanker surf leash detail. 5) Rad Air Tanker graphic. 6) Endeavor Next. 7) Rome Notch.

Continue reading ISPO Preview - 2011 Freeride Snowboards.

With their recent alliances with the YES. crew and Mr Jeremy Jones, Nidecker Snowboards have exploded back into the public conciousness. Snowboard Review’s head of testing Tom Ewbank took out three of Nideckers big releases for 2010, to see if they live up to the hype surrounding Switzerland’s favourite snowboard factory.

You may have noticed on the website that not many Nidecker boards have been tested, and with so many new brands developing boards at the Nidecker factory SB-R wanted to see what all the hype was about. Being the inquisitive people we are we loaded the car with a small crew of riders and SB-R’s resident photographer Jimbo, and headed to the Nidecker board test at Le Crosets in the Portes De Soliel. An afternoon spent sessioning the park and making the most of the previous days deposit of fresh powder made for perfect test conditions; even though the light was a bit flat at times. Six hours, three boards and five Snickers bars later the test was over, below are our findings:

Continue reading Brand Test - Nidecker Legacy, Advanced and NDK Random Snowboards Reviewed.

There are plenty of old favourites and new editions alike in the 2011 Burton Snowboards line-up. From the flying-V version of the ever faithful Custom to the ‘so now’ release of the reggae styled limited edition Damien Marley Whammy Bar and the all new retro shaped soul surfing powder shredder the Steller.

There nothing like the Burton stand at Ispo. For one, it’s enormous, dwarfing the next biggest including the likes of the Ride and K2 setups. Secondly it’s right at the centre of the snowboarding hall and the main focal point of the show. And thirdly, it doesn’t half make the boards look good. Enough about the stand, I’m sure you just want to know about next years boards.. well Burton are notoriously good at keeping their boards under wraps until the start of the season. As a result, I can only talk you through the range from a broad perspective; what decks are looking tight, which 2010 boards are missing from the 2011 range and then leave you to browse through some pics of the highlights.

Continue reading ISPO Preview - Burton Snowboards 2011.

Polish new boys Contract Snowboards have been attracting a lot of interest in their boards no doubt due to their unique Snake Transition technolgy. I managed to get hold of two of next seasons boards and caught a ride to Westendorf Austria to see if the radical designs live up to the hype.

Munich’s a fantastic city; friendly people, more pork than a pig sty, a historic Bavarian beer haus on every corner and the beautiful snow laden mountains of the Austrian alps within an hours drive. Flying into Munich on the Friday evening I had a day to kill on Saturday before the start of ISPO, Europe’s biggest winter sports trade fair. Fortunately this snowboarding lark makes you friends in all sorts of places, so I hooked up with my main man Phil, arranged to pick up some test boards from Magic at Contract Snowboards and we drove down to the Austrian border in Phil’s Chevy gas guzzler to spend the day shredding in Westendorf.

Westendorf packs a punch for a small resort, plenty of vertical, an efficient lift system some nice tree runs and a well shaped park with some nice features. Throw in some untimely whiteout conditions and enough fresh snow to close the big jumps and you’ve got a good excuse to tear of the shrink wrapping and test some new boards.

Continue reading Brand Test - Contract 3D Swell and Cobra Snowboards Reviewed.

We just got an email from Mikee C at FBBB. He wanted Snowboard-Review readers to know that FBBB have got a few places left in their chalet for the weeks commencing Sunday 14th and Sunday 21st of March.

Continue reading Room at the Inn with the FBBB chalet trip 2010.

Rich, the editor of Snowboard-Review.com, has always been a massive fan of Rossignol snowboards, due to their solid construction and great value for money. As a consequence, when the opportunity arose to test three of this seasons most impressive Rossi decks, Rich thought it be best that somebody without a biased opinion should put the aforementioned boards through their paces. One week in Verbier, three brand spanking new decks courtesy of Rossignol Europe, a nice dump of powder and a freshly shaped Thyon park… good times indeed!

Rossignol Angus 157

The Angus is currently Rossignol’s only freestyle specific board with an Amptek (rocker/camber) profile. Before taking the Angus out for a spin I’d heard a lot of positive things about it, including being recognised at the 2009 Transworld Goodwood awards as the best deck for under $400. So, what were my first impressions of this highly commended shred stick? Well, I’m not going to mince my words because if the truth be told ‘I absolutely loved it’.

This is a board of impossible contradictions, it shouldn’t make sense but it does; it’s playful and flexible yet poppy and powerful; it’ll press and bend like a jib specific board but carve and hold an edge like an all-mountain board. Torsionally and longitudinally it’s pretty stiff and powerful thanks to carbon/kevlar reinforcements and camber between the bindings, but because of a slightly softer nose and rockered ends this board is fun to jib.

One of the things that I loved most about this board was the ridiculous amount of pop when riding kickers, I’m sure this is thanks to the Amptek profile. The pop wasn’t particularly noticeable at low speeds but when I cranked-up the pace and started spinning off the bigger kickers in the park it seemed to send me a lot higher than I was used to.

If there is anything that this board slightly falters on its rails. Having ridden a zero camber board for the past season it seemed like the Angus didn’t lock on to rails quite as well when in a boardslide. In fairness it performed similarly on rails to any cambered board I’ve ridden but had the added bonus of allowing me to press very easily. Despite this small criticism the Angus is a great board that performs exceptionally well all over the mountain; it carves surprisingly well and is probably the best performing board I’ve ridden over red and black kickers. So, if you’re looking for a board to hit big jumps at mach 10 on this board is definitely worth a look…….I want one!

Continue reading Brand Test - Rossignol Angus, One and Experience snowboards reviewed.

Officially credit crunched? Don’t know where your next ride is coming from? Fear not, Snowboard-Review and Contract Snowboards have teamed up to find an unsigned rider to sign to Contract’s SYS sponsorship program.

Continue reading Contract Snowboards Launch ‘Battle for Britain’ Sponsorship Competition.

Snowboard-Review recently cornered Xavier de le Rue, Aline Bock, Cyril Neri, Géraldine Fasnacht and James Stentiford; five of the best freeriders in the world, currently competing on the Nissan Freeride World Tour. The mission? to find out a little about the tour and to get some pointers on backcountry equipment from the pros who are rocking it day-in-day-out. Make sure you check out what they have to say about what mountains they rate and the essential equipment you should never leave home without.

Continue reading Snowboard Review & FWT Backcountry Snowboard Guide.

Smuggled out of Rossignol HQ on the back of a remote control pigeon, Snowboard Review managed to steal a preview of next season’s Taipan and Circus snowboards. Aimed at the intermediate rider we reckon these boards are going to clear up the progressive snowboard market place over the winter of 2010/11.

Continue reading Exclusive Preview - Rossignol Snowboards 2010/11.