Snowboard Review Blog + Features (Archive)
I can’t believe it’s the end of 2010, I’ve been riding since 1997 and on Tuesday I had my first experience of riding a Burton Custom X. With so much history and nostalgia behind the Custom X it was inevitable that I was going to ride one at some point, and the fact that it has consistently appeared in the top 10 most popular board on our site out of the 500+ listed is testament to its universal appeal. When I got a list from Philipp at Blue Tomato detailing that they had a 156 Custom X test board in the Schladming shop I was there in an instant. Hey and what do you know, the only bindings they had in stock that would fit my boots were a pair of Carbon Fibre C60s, my luck was definitely in. However, there was something slightly un-nerving about carrying around a setup worth 1100 Euros the equivalent of two month’s rent and bills.
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Tested - 2011 Burton Custom X 156
Firstly, I must apologise for the delayed posting of this review. Since finishing the video for the Supermodel review Austria has had one of the best early season dumps for some time so I’ve been away from my computer making the most of the epic conditions. Four thigh deep powder days before Christmas isn’t bad going! If I sound smug, it’s completely intentional.
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Tested - 2011 Burton Supermodel 164
Here’s a little bit of news about freeriding madman Xavier De Le Rue’s latest project. The three times Freeride World Tour winner has teamed up with his sponsors; Swatch Watches, The North Face Clothing, Rossignol Snowboards, Relentless Energy Drink and Nissan (deep breath) to give us feeble mortals a window into Xavier’s life throughout the winter season. From business and product meetings with the North Face to photo shoots for Rossi’s 2011 ISPO stand and filming death defying cliff drops in Verbier’s backcountry the “Timeline” series documents the lot and is definitely a series worth keeping an eye out for.
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Swatch Timeline with Xavier De Le Rue
Another quick press release from the guys at Rome Snowboards. As well as giving away free posters and iPhone apps Rome have, for the second year running, created a limited edition Artifact Rocker for the kids working in the board stores. Who knows how you become eligible to get hold of one of these very limited boards, but I’m going to hazard a guess that you have to be a “kid” and work in a snowboard shop that sells Rome. So if you like riding super soft noodles and you spend every saturday working in your local board store to pay for your lift tickets it’s definitely worth looking into the Artifact Rocker SK.
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Rome Artifact Rocker Shop Kid Edition
Back in 2005, a couple of months before my first snowboard season in the French Alps, I was bought a Rossignol Todd Richards 157 as an early Birthday present. The graphics were ok and the spec was pretty comprehensive but it was a Rossignol so I had reservations. Within a couple of weeks of riding my Burton Dominant had taken a back seat and I was riding my new Rossi day-in day-out for absolutely everything on the hill. Two whole 100+ day seasons later I had to retire the TR because I’d decided to jib some rock faces with it. Since then the brand I’ve returned to is Rossignol. I’ve since owned a JDub 158, Twilight 164 and an Angus 157. With every board I’ve owned I’ve been impressed with the durability of the boards, the quality of the materials going into the boards, the build quality and most of all the way the boards deliver great performance. Sorry this is beginning to sound like a sales pitch, I guess the point I’m trying to make is that Rossignol is a brand that has always been a little bit of an outsider in the snowboard game, those that have tried the boards on the most part have only good things to say about them, and there are those that despise the fact that Rossignol has been producing skis for decades, they feel that Rossignol has no part to play in the industry. Isn’t the saying ‘It’s where you are going, not where you have come from”?
I met Arno one of the big men behind Rossignol Snowboards at ISPO in February, he took tons of time to show me through the boards, chat about the brand and the company he works for, definitely one of the nicest people I’ve met in the industry to date. It occurred to me that it would be nice to humanise Rossi and let people decide for themselves whether Rossi is a brand they want to buy from or not, so I put together an interview for Arno.
Perhaps after reading the interview you’ll have a better or just a different opinion of Rossi, perhaps you won’t, but at least you’ll know a little bit more about Rossignol Snowboards and you can make your own mind up. At the very least you’ll get a little exclusive on two boards being put together for the coming seasons!
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Brand Focus - Rossignol Snowboards
