old dog needs new stick

Posted: 13 February 2012 03:07 AM

blah, blah, blah…i need a new board. (and help finding one, duh)
I’m 5’10 170lbs, size 10 boot.
consider myself an expert, riding for 16 years, but definitely no expert with all the new companies and tech advances etc. I prefer powder, who doesn’t, and my days in the park are well behind me, love speed and control, ride switch when i need to…
i’d like a one-for-all stick that is extra floaty, but not too much rocker ‘cause i wanna rail turns on icy groomers when i have to.
prefer the OG brands like burton, salomon etc. nothing against the hype new brands, but we’ll talk when they’ve been around 30+ years….

have been looking into the barracuda, mans board, custom-v and would like some first-person info and recommendations on those and similar boards.

thanks

Posted: 16 February 2012 04:01 PM

Hi - I own a Barracuda, and while it’s an amazing ride in powder, and really good on a fresh piste, I found it to be a bit of an animal on very cut up runs or runs where there’s been a lot of traffic that’s created powder humps. You have a lot more nose than tail (even setting up using the centre reference points), and you also have taper to contend with, the combination of which can make the board feel very nose heavy. Due to the short, tapered tail, there’s really no option for riding switch on this either. However, it’s edge hold is great, and the base is nice and quick. In short, although it’s an awesome board, it’s definitely something you should have in addition to an all-mountain board.
Re the Custom V - my other half has one of these and on the 09/10 model the edge hold was dire, and he has basically never ridden it outside of powder. He does however have a Custom X, which he rides everywhere and is his go-to board for almost every condition. It’s stiffer than the Custom, but if you’re just up for cruising the pistes with a bit of slack country thrown in the mix, this will handle it easily and will be a more stable ride at speed than a softer board.