Brand Test - Contract 3D Swell and Cobra Snowboards Reviewed

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.

Contract 3D Swell 2010/11

My first board for the day was the 3D Swell, Contracts flagship board for next season. Featuring Contracts patent pending Snake Transition technology (a 3D form which travels between the bindings, kind of like corrugated aluminium), Contract claim Snake Transition tech increases the torsional rigidity of the board without stiffening up the longitudinal stiffness. The Swell also features a zero camber profile, honeycomb inserts and T.R.I.P. tech.

The first thing I noticed about the Swell was how incredibly light it was, the second characteristic I noticed was the slightly limited stance options which meant I could run either a small, medium or full on gangster stance, of course gangster was the only real option. Strapping into the Swell you immediately notice how lively it is for a zero camber deck. Long sweeping carves were effortless, no doubt thanks to the radial sidecut which at 12m is almost twice as large as your standard all mountain board. The long sidecut also helped with straight line stability, and the super fast sintered base had me flying like sh*t off a shovel. For the benefits of the long sidecut, I felt that tighter turns were a little dead, something that boards with progressive tri-radial sidecuts (longer entry and exit radii and a tighter central radius) manage to retain. Taking the Swell in some powder, the extra width through the length of the board and moderate longitudinal flex worked well together, giving you plenty of float even on a centred stance. Funnily enough the long sidecut doesn’t seem to impede tight, responsive turning in the powder, it works quite well with the bouncy powder riding properties of the zero camber profile.

In the park the Swell was stable off jumps and landings were forgiving, especially on under rotated rail landings, the zero camber and T.R.I.P tech worked well to butter me round to a clean ride out. One of my first worries about the Snake Transition tech was that it’s 3D wave might create pressure points on the leading edge when boardsliding. I was pleasantly surprised, actually I was massively relieved to find that even without detuning, rails and boxes were a doddle without a hint of sketchiness.

Contract have packed a lot into the Swell. It’s incredibly light, grips hard in all conditions, rides buoyantly in powder and is plenty of fun playing about in the park, even though it isn’t particularly soft. However by using a 12m sidecut, Contact have created a board that riders who like to dance between edges and aggressively initiate tight turns should probably avoid. On the plus side, stable run-ins to big jumps have never been so easy!

Contract Cobra 2010/11

Because of the building traffic on the main road back into Munich and tiring legs I was only able to take the Cobra out for a couple of runs. 10 meters into the first run, I knew the Cobra was the standout board in the Contract line.

Light and punchy, the Cobra unlike the Swell uses a more traditional camber and 7.7m sidecut radius combination. Like the Swell the Cobra features Contract’s Snake Transition and T.R.I.P. technologies. Combining these four key features, the Cobra powers into turns, with incredible confidence on an edge even on disguised icy patches. Pop off the tail on rollers and natural lips was ridiculous and sketchy run-outs were easy as pie, I was particularly surprised how chatter free the Cobra’s nose was, considering how light it is. Despite the slightly directional shape the Cobra turned and carved easily switch.

From my experience on the two board, the Snake Transition technology works best paired with the tighter sidecut offered by the Cobra, and if I’d had the opportunity to ride this board in the pipe, I’m sure it would have absolutely dominated. Intermediate to advanced riders looking for a board to lay waste to park, pipe and piste should get on the Cobra, it’s a top performer.

Posted by Rich Ewbank in Features.

Next entry: ISPO Preview - Burton Snowboards 2011 Previous entry: Room at the Inn with the FBBB chalet trip 2010