What is your Boardology?

They say you can tell a lot about a man by the car he drives…unfortunately I only own a 20 year-old push bike so I’m not entirely sure what that says about me. Anyway, the same conclusions can be made about snowboarders and their snowboards. Tom, our head of testing, delves into his parent’s garage to unveil which snowboards he’s owned over the past 12 years…you can draw your own conclusions!

If you’d like to share your ‘boardology’ with Snowboard-Review.com’ readers please email a photo of you and your boards, with a few words, to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and I’ll put together a reader’s boardology over the next couple of months.

1998 - 2002 Morrow Dimension 157

The first board I ever bought was a Morrow Dimension; I bought it because the guy in my local Snowboard shop recommended it and at the time Andrew Crawford, Todd Richards and Danny Wheeler were riding it. Although it isn’t much to look at now, cap construction and boring graphics, it was a serious bit of equipment back then. Back in the 90’s Morrow were one of the most innovative and popular brands, due to its 100% composite construction the Dimension is still the lightest board I own! If I’m honest it was a bit stiff for learning on but then again jibbing wasn’t anywhere near as popular back then and I don’t think I’ve ever hit a rail on it.

2002 - 2003 Original Sin Team FS 157

This was a bit of a random purchase. After arriving at University I needed a new board to go on the annual University ski trip with. Unfortunately the base of my Morrow had melted, falling victim to the evil ways of Dendex (dry ski slope). As a friend of mine distributed Dynastar ski’s he had this board knocking around his house and offered it to me for £100. Although it was an Original Sin, a brand forever associated with cheap rental equipment in the French Alps, I kinda liked it. It was fairly stiff and responsive and as you can see the graphics were bright and a complete contrast to the graphics on my first board.

2003 - 2005 Atomic Hatchet 156.5

After a year of riding the Original Sin on Dendex the base was beyond repair. As I was spending most of my time on dry ski slopes during this period in my life I decided to buy a board with an easily repairable extruded base and a softer flex for hitting rails. This particular model of Hatchet was Atomic’s first attempt at creating a jib board and was very popular with jibbers around Europe. Fortunately this board lasted me to the end of University, due its bombproof construction, after which time I’d never ride Dendex again.

2005 - 2006 Capita Photo Fetish 157

I bought the Capita Photo Fetish from my local shop ‘Big Dreams’ for my first season on snow; it was a stiff directional twin that I felt would give me the stability to ride the whole mountain at Mach 10. Benny, the owner of the shop, sold it to me for a bargain price so I flew out to the French Alps with a wallet full of cash and a cheeky grin on my face. Unfortunately, although I loved how understated the graphics were, it was an absolute plank; possibly the worst board I’ve owned. Although it was great for bombing around the mountain it was terrible for jibbing and hitting kickers because it was heavy and too stiff longitudinally and laterally. As soon as the season had started I was eyeing-up boards for the next season.

2006 - 2009 Gnu Riders Choice 157.5

It was about this time in my life when I was good-enough at snowboarding to know exactly what characteristics I wanted in a snowboard. The Riders Choice back then didn’t have half the technology it has now, no rocker or Magnetraction, but it was a well-made mid-flexing deck that could be ridden comfortably all over the mountain. Maybe it was because I was spending my second full winter season on snow but I felt like the Riders Choice did wonders for my kicker riding and off-piste. Unfortunately after four years of abuse it lost its camber and as a result had less pop than a two-week-old bottle of Coke. I’ll never forget this board as it got me comfortably through my first few BASI snowboard instructor exams.

2009 – 2010 K2 Believer 157

I’d heard great things about the previous seasons K2 Believer and wanted a board that would be solid all over the mountain but in particular help me progress on rails and boxes. I rode the Believer for almost 8 months over the course of a year; from shredding very sketchy conditions in Argentina to mega-booters in Thyon, Switzerland, and slashing 4ft of fresh in Austria. It was always a pleasure to ride, I‘d compare it to a comfortable pair of old slippers, and most importantly it really helped improve all aspects of my riding, especially jibbing.

2010-2011 Stepchild Headless Horseman 157 (the board I’m holding)

After 8 months of shredding it was time to retire the Believer; small hairline cracks had started appearing along the edges and I didn’t want the complication of replacing a board while away in New Zealand. I’d ridden the Headless Horseman at the 2010 boardtest in Austria and found that although it was a rocker it felt; unbelievably stable at high speeds, it carved nicely and had great pop thanks to Bamboo reinforcements. Unfortunately I only had four days of ‘proper’ riding on it before I overshot a jump and dislocated all the bones in my wrist. Needless to say it gripped well on The Remarkables icy slopes and in hindsight probably had a bit too much pop on the big kickers! I’ll be taking the Headless Horseman with me this season to Tahoe where I’ll hopefully have a little more luck in the park.

2010-2011 Rossignol Experience 163

After demoing the Rossignol Experience on some serious backcountry in Verbier last season I was adamant that I needed one for Tahoe this coming season. If you ever get the chance to ride a Rossi Experience down some serious terrain you’ll realise how responsive and dependable it is……most other boards would cower and break under the same pressure. As Tahoe is due in excess of 10m of snow this season I thought I’d treat myself to last season’s model as it was a bargain price and is exactly the same board as the 2011 model.

Posted by Tom Ewbank in Features.