need advice on a board and running out of time! please gimme yer 2 sense..

Posted: 17 December 2011 09:51 PM

Been having trouble deciding on a board for this year… times running out and so are the boards..

Looking basically for an all mountain board that can REALLY handle the powder. I have a traditional cambered board for non pow days so looking for a board can stay a float in the powder and handle the backcountry. I’m an east coast rider with passes for Jay Peak, VT and Whiteface.

I have looked at and am pretty torn between the Never Summer Lotus, Ride Farah (which I think is sold out everywhere), K2 ecopop and Gnu B Nice. Also looked at the Arbor Push

If anyone has furthur suggestions on different boards or think one of these would be best please reply I can’t seem to make this decision on my own!

THANK YOU and HAPPY SNOWFALL! =D

Also… I am 5’1, 110lb and am currently riding on a 144. Down to go up in size not more then 148.

Posted: 19 December 2011 12:04 AM

Check out Contract Snowboards, heres a link to there USA website: ContractSnowboardsUSA.com.
They have this sick technology called 3D Snake Transition which makes the boards lighter, gives em better pop and keeps em flexible but still super stable at high speeds, they are just all around SICK!!!
heres a website where you can get 25% off! which is a sick deal, and there is a link on this site to a page that explains the snake tech better, and the other tech they have (http://acstoke.com/Quality-Snowboards-Skis-On-Sale.html)

If your looking for a powder board, i would get a zero camber board, dont go rocker unless the only thing your doing is powder, jibs and butters, there not any good for jumps or going fast, camber is the best for that, but wont float as easy in powder, so a zero camber board would be the best bet for killing powder and still be useful for every other type of riding.

if you ride one direction only and dont ride switch much, just set your stance back so you have less tail and more nose, that will put your weight on the tail and float you effortlessly in pow.

also a quick tip on size, if you ride only powder you can go big, but if you ride everything, go chin height or less.  if your riding trees and you need to turn quick, go really short.  i ride everything and my boards shoulder height, just remember; quick turning, or spinning fast = you need a short board. going fast and carving long=get a longer board, i personally would never go higher than chin level.

Posted: 21 December 2011 11:41 AM

Hey

I have the EcoPop in a 145, and can vouch for it’s edge hold on piste, speed, stability and the fact that it’s a pretty stiff women’s board. I haven’t had the chance to ride it in powder yet, but I would imagine it will hold up well. I think it will depend on how wide you like your stance as well though - if you ride wide you may find you haven’t got room to set back your bindings as much as you might want to. (I’d class wide for a girl at 22-23”, i think the reference stance on the 145 is 21”).

The Lotus should be just as capable as the EcoPop - I considered it when buying mine. The dual camber will keep you afloat in the pow and should carve really nicely.

The Gnu B Nice is a lot softer than both of these. I had a B Street and didn’t find that it handled the piste as well as the Burton Feelgood I also had at the time, which is also softer than the EcoPop. I think if you tried this, you’d find it wouldn’t do what you wanted it to. The banana profile is good for float, but can be a bit more unstable on piste if you’re used to a camber board. If you wanted something in the banana range, I’d look at the B Pro.

I looked at the Ride Farah too - but I’m dubious about edge hold on women’s Ride boards. I have a Fever Pitch from a few years back (which I love and would never part from), but it’s edge hold in hardpack conditions is rubbish. It slides over everything rather than gripping it, which can lead to face planting.

You may also want to consider the Salomon Idol (I would actually like to demo this at some point). It looks like it has a really interesting profile and would handle anything.

I don’t know if that helps! :-)