First buy, always hired…

Posted: 11 March 2012 03:06 PM

A popular question I know…

Am an intermediate boarder who is looking to buy a board after years of hiring.  Spend most of my time just off the piste and looking for some fun in the powder.  Have explored playing around on (small!) kickers etc and would like to get a bit better at that but parks, rails etc are not a high priority or expectation for my future boarding experience!

Average height, average build, average boot size etc. Very confused about cambers, reverse cambers, rockers etc so would appreciate some help/guidance there.  Otherwise my head at the moment says All Terrain, Directional Twin board, beyond that I’m open to ideas.

Cheers

Posted: 13 March 2012 09:45 PM

Have done some trawling and come up with the following options/ideas (in no particular order) as a purchase - would appreciate some help/guidance/tips/advice (please):

K2 Lifelike
Ride Berzerker
Nitro Team Gullwing
Amplid Paradigma
Never Summer SL

I’m 5’10, 80kgs and UK boot size 8 and ski mainly in Europe (Alpes).  In terms of use I’d say 50% groomers, 40% off piste, 10% park.  Not great at switching but would like to get better so don’t want to eliminate from choice.  Not agressive - like tooling around rather than charging top to bottom.

Chars

Posted: 13 March 2012 10:39 PM

All nice boards… I think a flat or hybrid board is going to be the right choice.

If you are spending most of your time off piste, I would probably discount the more twin shaped boards i.e. the Team Gullwing and Lifelike.

If you want durability and power then the SL is probably a good choice. Want lightweight construction and medium flex all-mountain performance then the Paradigma… the Berzerker… I’ve not ridden it, but I gather it’s an all-mountain board designed for big mountain freestyle so it’ll probably be on the money too.

Posted: 13 March 2012 11:18 PM

Thanks for the feedback - really appreciate it.

Great site too - have been very impressed and will return as well as recommend.

H

Posted: 15 March 2012 08:56 AM

Cheers, glad we could help :)

Posted: 21 March 2012 11:29 PM

Sorry - one last question - any thoughts on length?  e.g. looking at the following:

Never Summer SL 155 or 158
Amplid Paradigma 156 or 159

What’s going to be the best combination for me to progress with a single quiver board and does a 4cm swing between all of these boards really make a difference!?

As mentioned, I’m not interested in smashing speed records top to bottom but favour tooling about, learning to hop around - on and off the piste.  Should I go short end, but is 155 too small?

As ever, thankful for thoughts/help/guidance

Posted: 22 March 2012 10:33 AM

Because of your height and weight and your orientation towards more all-mountain riding, I would go for the 159 Pardigma or 158 SL. If you want to ride a shorter board, then go for a more twin shaped board like the Nitro Team Gullwing which you could probably ride at around the 155 mark.

For speed stability, edge hold and flotation in powder, a bit of length is a definite advantage. You only really need a shorter length for jibs and rails. You’ll notice weight more than length and the Paradigma is considerably lighter than the SL… but less powerful and damp as a result.