freeride board

Posted: 04 October 2010 11:01 PM

Hey there,

So I m 1.91 and around 80 kg with boot size 12. Started riding in ‘91, went through a bunch of sims boards (anyone remember the 93 palmer? why did I ever sell that board?) and ended up with the ‘95 salasnek 153 which i rode until 2000 (still got it). Then I moved to a really flat crappy country which meant practically no riding for 8 years or so but ended up doing quite a lot of surfing. Last year I moved to Switzerland and loved the idea of riding again. Without thinking too much I bought a last season’s supermodel 159. I rode that board every chance I got (i live 1h from verbier), recovered my previous riding level and significantly improved. I really liked the stability at high speed compared to the salasnek and i found it handled well the icy patches showing up at the beginning of the season, at least when it was properly tuned. I also discovered a deep love for powder which unfortunately the board did not handle as well as I would like. This surprised me at first since it is supposed to be a freeride board but it is obvious now that it was too small and mainly not wide enough (correct me here if i m wrong). I m riding mainly the groomers but get out of them every chance I get. I m also planning a heli trip for this season. I dont really do park, rails or pipe, but I like to butter and do simple grabs and small spins when I cant get out of the piste. I m also quite curious in trying the new hybrid rocker/camber boards since I ve only tried classic camber. I ve been looking at the custom flying v 162w. What do you guys think? Any loss of grip? Will it be better in powder than the supermodel? Am I looking at the correct size? What other boards would you propose? For some unexplainable reason I like burton, libtech, gnu and jones boards but without absolutely excluding other brands.

Thanks and keep up the great work on the site

etsi.

Posted: 04 October 2010 11:33 PM

Hi Etsi,

Thanks for dropping by. It’s a shame that you bought the Supermodel in such a short size with too little width as it’s an epic snowboard.  I’ve got a couple of quick questions for you, just so I can help you a little easier.

* Are you looking for a freeride snowboard that you can do the odd grab and jump on, or are you looking for an all mountain snowboard that works in the park and in the powder?

* How much are you looking to spend?

* Do you already have Burton ICS bindings? I’m guessing if you do you’ll want to stick with them, so you’ll need a Burton snowboard.

* Lasttly what’s your budget? And will you be buying it within Switzerland… if so I’ll try and suggest boards that are Swiss made, might cost a little less as they won’t have the import tax.

Rich

Posted: 05 October 2010 12:20 AM

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the quick response.

I spend most of the time in the groomers going really fast, black runs are no problem. I usually ride together with expert swiss skiers who ve been doing it since birth. Whenever I can I go off piste and this is the kind of riding I enjoy most and want to improve. I ll do a trick here and there but certainly dont need a park board. E.g. last season out of 50 days on the mountain I spent 1 hour in the park, getting old… So lets say I m looking for a board with better powder performance, equally good at carving the groomers but also a bit more playful than the supermodel. I hope this makes sense.

I have the Cartell ICS bindings but since i ll sell the supermodel to a friend I m not really limited in that respect. I really liked the system though and I ll prob stick with burton if i find a board that fits what i want.

As for the budget, its not a major concern (within reason, i will not consider boards in the method or vapor range). I ll support the helpful guys at the local board shop if they have the model i want, otherwise i ll shop from blue tomato or similar european online retailer.

Thanks again.
Etsi.

Posted: 05 October 2010 03:13 PM

Ok there are a number of boards that fit the more freeride focused element of your riding. If you want out and out freeride performance in a board that isn’t too stiff, echeck out these boards:-

Jones Flagship - Initiates turns easily, felt stable and was just a pleasure to ride, plus floats like a cloud.

Nidecker Megalight - Nidecker make Jones boards too, and they’re swiss, as I’m sure you know. The Megalight is a high spec, slightly tapered freeride board which comes with the option of Ultragrip for riding ice and a freeride camrock profile (same as the Flagship). Also available in a wide. Despite the spec of these boards, they’re not particularly stiff, probably fairly similar to the Supermodel except the fact that it uses a camrock profile will make the nose and tail feel softer and more forgiving.

Ride Slackcountry - more for powder than icy piste charging, surprisingly fun for a powder boards

Now for the directional all mountain boards that would work:

Atomic Alibi Renu - A damp all mountain snowboard that works best being ridden fast and aggresively. Uses pressure loaded early rise tips which mean the board still carves hard and but floats a little better. You can freestyle on this board.

Arbor Element - Soooo easy to ride. Fast as lightening edge to edge and floats better than nearly every board I’ve ever ridden. Has a kind of magnetraction along the edge which helps deal with ice. you might miss the camber kick of your supermodel. This is a smooth cruising board than an aggressive riders dream.

Never Summer SL - I would have suggested the Raptor but you wanted the board to be softer than the supermodel… this board is probably on par. Like all NS boards it’s damp and powerful, grab it by the horns and rip hard!

Rossignol One - Hard charging do it all board that now has Amptek (same as camrock) which makes it a bit more playable. You can take this board in the pipe, off jumps and in the pow, it is a great all round board.

Burton Sherlock - A directional twin with a similar profile to the Custom Flying V. A bit more suited to freeriding, but If I’m honest the NS SL is probably better for your riding level as it’s damper and will deally with twitchy chop riding that little bit better. Still good all mountain freestyle / freeride board.

Rome Anthem - Wicked graphics in another board with early rise tips. Lots of tech in this board, you know it’s designed to be ridden fast in pow and on piste. Definitely worth looking at.

Capita Black Snowboard of Death - Stiff fast and responsive (although it might be a bit narrow for your feet) Something a bit different, but this year they’ve added Freeride FK profile which again is like Amptek and Camrock. Maybe a touch stiffer than the Supermodel.

Let me know your thoughts.

Rich

Posted: 06 October 2010 10:54 AM

Wow! That is one long well researched answer! Thanks a lot. I really appreciate the time you put into this.

It’s a good selection of boards, I ll have a thorough look into them after work and get back to you. In the meantime, can you tell me your opinion about sizing? Do you agree that a wide board around 162 is the right size considering weight/height, boots and needs?

Thanks in advance.

Posted: 06 October 2010 11:17 AM

It kind of depends on the shape of the board you choose. Agreed you need a wide or mid-wide board.

For the directeional freeride specific boards I’d look around the 164-167 mark, these boards are designed to be ridden longer.

For Directional all mountain boards around the 160-164 is going to be ideal.

For directional twin style boards like the Burton Sherlock there’s no point in going any bigger than 161 as these boards aren’t designed to be ridden too long, it’s not really the point of the board design.

In my opinion freeriding on longer boards is more fun, it’s like riding on an oil tanker… your skier mates won’t be waiting at the bottom of the hill for you, you’ll be spotting them from the chairlift on the way up the hill.

Posted: 08 October 2010 08:45 AM

Ok so I did my research and it looks like from the freeride specific boards the Jones gets my vote (didnt manage to find one bad thing written about this board) and from the all mountain category the One sounds like a great choice. The jones attracts me more between these 2 but I m a bit skeptical. Both your review and others consistently mention that its a stiff board. I m pretty convinced that i ll be getting a pow and carving dream machine but it has me wondering. I mean look at the guy’s riding style! If its tailor made for JJ I m afraid it will ride me. Have you ridden the supermodel so as to be able to do a direct comparison mainly regarding stiffness and playfulness? I get that its not made for tricks but is it really prohibiting fooling around the piste when it hasnt snowed for a while? I d say that the supermodel was quite average in this respect but I could live with it. On the other hand, off piste is what i wanna do most and it looks like this year my dream of heliboarding will come true. One day out on the heli is gonna cost me almost as much as the board itself so may be having the best board for the job is gonna be worth it. Also the most memorable days of last year were when I was in Super St. Bernard, incredible steep freeride paradise, and had promised myself to go more often. If you have the chance you should definitely try the place. Lets hope they get over their financial problems and open for this season. If only every day on the mountain was jones worthy…

Other boards that seemed very promising were the arbor element and the yes optimistic but I m afraid they re both too narrow for my feet. Thats a shame particularly for the yes since it seems to have very similar tech and even shape to the jones but its softer. It may have fitted perfectly… The pointy travis also seems like it would fit very well, but its heavier than average, doesnt have wrap around edges and damn that thing hurts my eyes.

Anyway, I m starting to believe I m overthinking things and trying to nitpick small differences between really great boards solely based on reviews online. A demo would be great but its rather unlikely. What’s your take on all this?

Thanks in advance.

Posted: 08 October 2010 11:03 AM

Yeah, you are probably over thinking it a little, but it’s always best to do your research.

Regarding the stiffness of the Jones Flagship, it really isn’t that stiff. Although JJ is a super aggresive and powerful snowboarder, he’s not a big man. When I met him at ISPO in February I thought he’d be a big burly looking man but he’s like 5’7”-8” and maybe 65kg so it’s not like his boards are designed to handle a super heavy rider. Secondly, the joy of the Camrock / Amptek profile is that it limits the stiffness of the board to between the bindings, this means the board carves really hard, but the nose and tail stay forgiving so if you ride full speed into chop you won’t have to worry about catching your edge. It also initiates turns a lot easier than standard cambered boards like the Arbor A-Frame and Burton T7.

Honestly, you will love the Jones. Just be sure to wipe it down when you have finished riding for the day and store it at room temperature in a dry place (not near a radiator) the wood topsheet can get damp really quickly and might crack if dried out. You might be able to treat it with a Tung oil to keep it in tip-top condition.

Rich

Posted: 08 October 2010 11:11 AM

Also, if you want a test ride it would be worth finding a local shop that stocks Nidecker snowboards with a test centre, give them a telephone call and find out if they have a jones Flagship at the Test Centre.

You can find out which shops have a test centre on the Nidecker Dealer Page on their website.

Posted: 08 October 2010 11:39 AM

Hah! I also had the same impression. I imagined him being built like Farmer. Isn’t there a rule that says all big mountain riders should be big and heavy anyway?

Thanks for the clarifying remarks, you put my mind at ease regarding stiffness. I ll have a look around to see how I can get my hands on one.

Is the topsheet really “naked” wood? I thought that it had some transparent film and you were seeing the woodcore?

Thanks again for your help. I ll make sure to do a follow up in a month or two once I ve ridden it to share my impressions.

Great site! Keep up the nice work. Looking forward to your binding buying guide.
etsi.