ISPO Preview - 2011 Freeride 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.
Next stop on my slightly hungover stagger around Europes’ biggest wintersports tradeshow was a catch up with the biggest man in freeriding right now, Mr Jeremy Jones. Jeremy is in so much demand right now, that trying to catch 5 minutes without a disturbance from someone interested in the boards with the man was actually impossible so I had to get Jeremy to blast through his brands new line in under 3 minutes… like a 1980s quiz show but less fun. The first board Jeremy introduced was the aptly name Flagship. Jeremy’s main ride and the board you’ll have seen gracing podiums the world over for the last couple of months. Undeniable based on Jeremy’s Rossignol pro model the Jones Experience, Jeremy was keen to tell me the Flagship is an evolution of the Experience’s design. Convinced that the Experience’s Magnetraction edges were too aggressive, Jeremy toned down the Mag edges, the result ‘Mellow Mag’ edge confidence without too much bite. The Flagship also utilises a stiffer nose than the Experience for reduced twitchiness in sketchy snow. A directional camrock profile and blunted tips and tails (designed for reduced drag) come as standard with a wood veneered topsheet which looks extremely classy close up. Other boards include the Hovercraft, a short length, high volume powder board with a slight swallow tail designed for agility in the tightest of trees and tons of float in the deepest pow. There’s an all-mountain twin, the handy work of ex-Rome rider Jonaven Moore and of course the latest backcountry craze is prevalent in the form of ‘The Solution’ split board, for those bored of the lift line. You can find out more about Jeremy’s board line at http://www.jonessnowboards.com .
Buried in the depths of hall A2 was the Rad Air Stand. Hidden from the mainstream since the mid 1990’s and the crowds at ISPO, Rad Air have been quietly doing their freeride thang. Their latest big release (used in the literal sense of the word) is the enormous 2m limited edition 20 year anniversary Tanker. Longboarding is seeing a serious revival and the Tanker is the board of choice for those in the know, the uber chilled Harry Gunz was extremely proud to show me the 2m monster and it’s fantastic little touches like the surf leash plug.. very cool! At last I managed to catch a glimpse of the Lib Tech Banana Hammock, yes it really does have a reverse sidecut and warning label. Snowboard Art curator Max Jenke has created another sterling line of board graphics this season, the Next Series, Endeavor’s freeride offering is definitely a standout, with a cool high gloss Bamboo veneer and a the graffiti style silhouette of Vancouver running between the bindings. Rome’s affordable swallow tail the Notch makes reappearance, along with the retro styled Nitro Slash with it’s 80’s neon graphics.
Both Volkl and Never Summer are adding boards to their freeride portfolio. Volkl’s Soul Surfer is designed to bridge the gap between the powder slashing Selecta and the piste munching Coal, I really liked the black gloss finish topsheet with it’s surfboard inspired wood stringer through the centre and it’s pintail tapered shape is bound to make it a hit with those who like terrain steep and the snow deeper. The Never Summer Raptor looks like a bit of a handful. With the stiffest flex pattern in the 2011 NS range, the Raptor takes the place of the now obsolete Titan. The tasty Carbonium topsheet isn’t just for aesthetics, combined with the RC camber/rocker hybrid technology, this board will carve like its on rails! Peter Bauer has made the big decision to drop the ever popular Equity from the Amplid range… don’t worry Amplid fans, Amplid have created the Icecreamer to take the Equity’s place; with a new midrise rocker profile and the world famous Amplid build quality, you can be sure the Icecreamer is going to fly out of shop board racks worldwide. Last year Eric Themel’s hard work took the form of the Head AK, the AK returns in 2011 with even slicker cosmetics and a strange new rocker profile, which looks a bit like Burton’s V-Rocker profile and last years 20mm taper. I can definitely see Head’s Intelligence reactive fibre technology working well with this new profile to reduce chatter, this board is on my hit list to test in May. It’s also nice to see that Head have sorted out the graphics on the Holster, the Intermediate’s price point gun.
8) Volkl Selecta. 9) Volkl Soul Surfer. 10) Volkl Coal. 11 &12) Nitro Slash. 13) Volkl Cashew. 14) Head I.CT Intelligence. 15) Head AK. 16) Head Holster. 17) Amplid Icecreamer. 18) Never Summer Raptor
Posted by Rich Ewbank in Features.
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