Tested - 2011 Salomon Burner 166

Sods Law dictates that whenever you plan a video review to coincide with good weather you get freezing and overcast weather instead. Last weekend I headed up to Obertauern one of Austrias higher less tree lined resorts to put a 166 Salomon Burner through its paces. With a thin blanket of snow in the backcountry I didn’t dare venture off the groomers so I found myself riding faster and faster to try and find the Burner’s limits. Having ridden every snow type under the sun (except for powder), at every possible gradient I can safely say that the Burner has no speed limit, but I do.

All the product literature I’d read from Salomon about the Burner insisted that it was an animal of a board, the kind of board that would quite literally rip you apart limb from limb should you make the slightest mistake. With this in mind I strapped into my cushy Drakes and braced myself for a warp speed ride into oblivion. Conditions up at Obertauern were typical of early season in the Alps, windblown and rock hard in places with small and treasured build ups of soft powder and choppy skier hardened moguls littering the steeper runs. Like any snowboarder with a freeride gun under their feet I aimed the Burner down a steep red and held on for the ride. If there is a snowboard on the planet that handles charging like the Burner I’m yet to ride it, this board is in the same league as the Palmer Crown LE when it comes to straight line speed. The 25.7cm waist and 9.4m sidecut combine perfectly if you like to keep turning to a minimum and need the stability for variable snow conditions. The nose on the burner lifts up a little earlier than other cambered boards this makes dealing with chop that little bit easier and I can imagine if I’d ridden the Burner in any powder other than the windblown powder that had found its way into a few nooks and crannies I’m sure the nose and taper would have provided plenty of float.

For me the most exciting property of the Burner was its incredibly snappy longitudinal flex, pop from the Burner was absolutely immense off rollers and out of carves but if you’re under 70kgs and looking at the burner you should maybe go down to the 163 because I had to pump the flex on the board to work the Burner into tighter carves and I’m 74kg on a good day. Although the Burner boasts X and Y Carbon reinforcement I could quite easily torque the board between the bindings so it didn’t feel like I was riding a plank, I felt like I had plenty of foot control for a stiff board and the capacity to react quickly to avoid rocks and moguls. When it came to getting airborne the Burner offered a really stable platform for sticking landings; so if you can find a roller with an infinitely long landing, go for it, you’ll be safe as Fort Knox on the Burner. Another characteristic that surprised me was how good the damping was on the Burner when I was locked into carves, the Burner literally ate-up any conditions I could throw at it.

To be honest there isn’t much I can criticize the Burner for. Sure it’d be a terrible board for any inexperienced rider and I can’t imagine somebody who wants to freestyle in the park and jib around the pistes would have any fun on the Burner, but if you get your kicks from riding as fast as you can down groomers or in the backcountry on serious terrain then the Burner is one of the best boards out there. It’s light, snappy and punchy off lips and out of carves and more stable than an Oil Tanker when you are charging flat out. Even with it’s fairly wide waist it feels reasonably responsive edge-to-edge, not lightening quick but not a slouch either and the elongated nose and dampening took care of sketchy conditions. If you are looking at boards like the Palmer Crown LE and Arbor A-Frame but can’t afford the hefty price tag, the Burner is an absolute steal.

Posted by Rich Ewbank in Features.

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