Powder board advice?

Posted: 06 August 2010 06:01 AM

Hi

I’m a late convert to boarding after 30 years of skis with three seasons on boards now. I board mainly in Japan, a three week trip every year. After three seasons, I’ve got my boarding to where my skiing used to be - strongish, but not super charging. I’ll go flat out down the intermediates, and pick my way gingerly down the steeper blacks. Not really into the super steeps (although something that made these feel less sketchy would be good). Not into tricks, switch, etc, either - just like carving big radius turns. I’m 52, 6’0”, 90 kgs (200lbs). Boot size is 42 euro (8.5 US).

This year we’re heading up to Hokkaido into pow heaven, and it feels it’s time to upgrade to a more powder specific board.  I’m looking for something that will float and handle easily in deep dry stuff but will be manageable if not fun on groomers on the way back to the lifts.

So after researching this heavily (this sire been great), I think I’m looking for a tapered, s-rockered board like say a Malolo or similar - Prior Khyber, Nidecker Megalight, Nitro Slash, Arbor Abacus? Do these make sense? If there any other better ones?

Very confused about the best length for this sort of board as well. 160? 165? More?

Your thoughts appreciated

Posted: 06 August 2010 08:50 AM

Hi there and welcome to the snowboard-review.com forums!

Reading your post, it immediately came to my mind that you have to check out Jones snowboards!
You probably heard about snowboard legend Jeremy Jones who now started his own range of decks being powered by swiss snowboard factory Nidecker (same as e.g. YES).
They are specifically designed for freeriders who dig the pow and slash around like there’s no tomorrow.
You get the point.. just make sure you check these babies out =)

Other than that you could have a look at the Head Intelligence AK (no 2011 reviews on head decks, yet) or the regular Head I.CT.

Actually I have to admit that I do not know if these boards are a match to your skills as they might be a bit too stiff for strong intermediates (except the Head I.CT).

Looking at your stats and having in mind that you are almost only riding piste and pow you could, in my opinion, go with a 165 without any problems. Just like in bed, length kills it in pow (haha.. yeah.. it’s funny because.. nevermind, sorry for the bad joke) and I’m sure Rich is going to confirm that.

So yeah.. let me know what you think!
Cheers, Tobi

P.S.: as a last thought: Prior are making excellent freeride decks, I am just not really informed about them so maybe Rich or someone else can tell you more about them.

Posted: 06 August 2010 02:51 PM

Hi Grazza,

I’m so envious that you get to ride Japan… that’s my all time snowboarding fantasy to ride the trees in Niseko.

I’ll write a long reply this evening, in a bit of a rush at the minute.

Needless to say you are definitely along the right lines. A tapered fish is going to be the best for riding Japan’s uber powder and trees. Lots of volume in the nose and a short tail. i’ll write a list of boards in a bit, but if you’re feeling a bit flush, you should check out Gentemstick’s, custom freeride boards made in Japan.. the shapes are insane.

http://www.gentemstick.com/en/stick/catalog09-10.html

Big reply in a bit.

Rich

Posted: 06 August 2010 06:33 PM

Now for my long reply…. not much of a delay.

As i mentioned earlier, the best option is going to be a fairly heavily tapered board with a lot of nose and a tail with a slightly tighter sidecut for snappy rear foot turning and slashes. I also think the S-rocker is a good plan, in my opinion keeping camber in the tail is essential for explosive turning and rear weighted landings… i rode the Lib Snow Mullet at the test which uses taper with the banana rocker. I really didn’t like it, I couldn’t throw it into really tight turns and there was no camber to snap me out of carves, it felt unresponsive and boring. S-rocker isn’t essential just make sure the nose is eliptical i.e there’s plenty of length to the uplift at the nose, this will help you from getting any nasty nose catches.

With regard to length. A lot of brands say you should stick with your all mountain board length or go slightly shorter. My normal board length is 158… my tapered powder board is 164 and it’s ideal. i rode the Atomic Banger in a 158 and it was great, but I didn’t get any negative side0effects from riding a slightly longer 164 and the float and long carve capability was much better.

The boards you’ve mentioned are all perfect for the job. Burton malalo is class, Arbor Abacus… again perfect. You’ve also got the Capita Charlie Slasher which has got an amazingly colourful base which against the white overcastness of Japan will look amazing in Photos. There is the Atomic Banger which I spent a day riding in Austria last winter (check the review) - this board is amazing value for money, it’s easy to ride, light, floaty and so agile edge-to-edge, perfect for Japan… did I mention it’s a steal. You could look at the Jones Hovercraft like Tobi mentioned, that’s going to smash Pow and tigh trees. Personally I’d avoid the Head ICT, I think it’s more of a piste blaster and open bowl charger and this coming years incarnation of the AK I’m afraid is one of the worst boards I’ve ridden for a considerable amount of time.. I’ll be posting a review on it in the next week or two, needless to say their take on a Pivot rocker is not designed for turning.

THose are my thoughts, here’s the check list:-

* Buy a board with around 20mm of taper.
* A tri radial sidecut with progressively tighter radii are the best for energy out of carves and easy entrance. (e.g. 9m entrance radius to 8m centre radius to 7m exit radius).
*Length wise 164-168 will fit the bill
*Make sure it has S-rocker or Camber… rocker shape doesn’t work with taper
*Get a board with a sintered base, it will help with the flatter sticky snow areas of the mountain.
*Enjoy yourself and take lots of photos… then post them here!

Rich

Posted: 07 August 2010 11:43 AM

Wow, thanks so much, very very helpful - you are both very generous with your expertise. The Atomic Banger is one that I hadn’t considered at all - it looks particularly good value. Any significant difference between the 2010 and 2011 models? cause there’s 2010s around for very low prices…

The Jones look very nice, but hard to find them for sale online. As for the Gentemsticks, wow… They are boards of great beauty. Will definitely check them out when I’m there.

Posted: 07 August 2010 12:56 PM

You’re more than welcome… I could talk about powder sticks all day long.

I don’t think there is much difference between 2010 and 2011’s Atomic Bangers. I’ve seen some insane deals on this year’s model too. Definitely a board worth the investment, you’ll love it!

Be sure to let us know when you’ve made a decision.

Posted: 07 August 2010 03:37 PM

I’m checking out the 2010 Banger 164 at evogear.com for 270, which seems like a very economical way of kitting myself out. Especially compared to the Gentemstick!

Posted: 07 August 2010 04:13 PM

Yeah I saw the Banger on Evo… Certified bargain! Definitely snap that up.

Posted: 07 August 2010 11:23 PM

Hey guys,

Just to throw a spanner in the works; you can buy the 2010 Rossi Experience for $329.90 at Evo Gear. Having ridden both the Experience and the Banger I have to say that although the Banger is a good board the Experience is probably the best big mountain snowboard ever built. Have a look at my review on the site and check this link to the bargain of the century: http://www.evogear.com/snowboards/rossignol-experience-mtx-snowboard-2010.aspx?utm_source=Become&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_campaign=Become

Tom

Posted: 08 August 2010 12:27 AM

So the Rossi Experience is kinda last years model of the Jones Flagship? It does look sweet. Being as how I’m not driving down mega steep couloirs, not too over engineered? Also, there’s no taper so far as I can see. Is that an issue? The fishy style was really appealing to my surfing roots. On the other hand MTX sounds pretty cool.

Being as how I’m in Australia, and Rossi is one of those brands that Evo only ship to the states, that makes things fiddlier, but there are ways around these things, I guess.

Posted: 08 August 2010 12:58 AM

Hey Grazza,

I ended-up buying the test board off of Rossignol because I liked it so much. The tail is actually slightly tapered and the nose is really rockered, like a spoon, so the board floats ridiculously well in powder. I took this on a week-long off-piste guiding course and I didn’t fall over once, it’s super cruisy and slashing powder is just like slashing the top of a wave…...but better and easier! The difference with this board is that it performs very well in all conditions, including crud and sheet ice. It also has the Rossi Amptek profile which is probably the best camber/rocker profiles on the market, in our opinion, which means that the board benefits from the qualities of rocker and camber.

I’m not sure what you can do about Evo Gear but if you have a mate in the States maybe they could purchase it on your behalf and send it on to Oz. Or you could buy it in Oz or Nz; I know that Outside Sport in Queenstown has one sitting in the window because every time I walk past I tell everybody that “I own that board”......but I think it’s about NZ$1000. On the other hand you could contact the Australian distributor, Rob Fuleky at the Phoenix Group (robf@bigpond.net.au), at the end of the Southern Hemisphere season and ask whether he has any 2010 models he wants to sell you on the cheap.

Posted: 08 August 2010 09:16 AM

After much deliberation, a sweet looking 167 Rossi Experience is winging its way to me. Thanks heaps for the advice - so much choice is a bitch for the indecisive.

That leaves bindings, of which I know sweet FA. I have a set of Ride LX bindings from 3 or 4 years ago that I can recycle. Would these do the board justice or should I upgrade?

Posted: 08 August 2010 09:53 AM

Hey Grazza,

Great news with the board; if you’re wanting a board that absolutely devours the piste and off-piste in all conditions then the Experience is unparalleled. With regards to bindings I’d suggest getting something a little stiffer and more responsive, I know it’s more money but the Experience is a serious bit of equipment. Have a look at the following bindings which are at the stiffer end of the freestyle/freeride market:

Union Force
Salomon Chief
Drake Radar
Ride Double Agent
Burton P1.1
Flux Feedback

Hope this gives you a good idea of what you should be looking for.

Tom

Posted: 09 August 2010 08:17 AM

Thanks again. On that advice, I’ll get something a little better suited, and I’ll post a photo when I get back next year. Cheers all.

Posted: 09 August 2010 09:33 AM

That’d be sweet….........enjoy!!!

Posted: 28 January 2011 05:55 AM

Hi All

Just returned from 20 days riding on the Rossi Experience in stupidly snowy Hokkaido. It worked an absolute treat, and I wanted to thank you all for pointing in this direction. It’s a very versatile board, and I enjoyed immensely. We had 5 days of pretty average snow (by Niseko standards) at the start of the trip, which proved a bit of a blessing. It was a great chance to get the feel of the board and get my style in shape after a year away. The surprising thing about this stick was how confidently it handled big carves on groomed. Very well behaved, when I was a bit nervous about whether it would be too much board for me. I had gone into this thinking that I might need to keep the old board as the groomer model, but the Rossi coped fine with everything I want to do

And then it started snowing. Over 2m in three days was pretty insane, and then the Rossi really shone. I’d never boarded bottomless before, so it was a learning experience, but with the bindings set all the way back it was gorgeous and floaty.

The last 10 days riding was at a smaller inland resort called Tomamu, which was stunning. 8 days of 10 were fresh powder at calf deep, and the last day we had 30 cm fall during breakfast, and another 40+ while we were having lunch. And no one there. Untracked on piste powder runs for the last run of the day, and heaps of cool tree runs for when the on piste pow ran out.

Took your advice also about bindings, and married this with a much stiffer set of Salomon Chiefs. Also upgraded boots to Burton Ions, so all round a much more responsive, lively feel. Honestly, I’m not really how much of the improvement in feel was down to the boots and bindings rather than board. A healthy proportion I suspect.

Thanks again for your help. This site was the single most useful source of knowledge and advice about gear choices. You are generous with your time and knowledge, and it’s much appreciated.