Trying to decide between park and freeride board

Posted: 22 October 2010 09:36 PM

So here is the deal,  I’ve been riding for awhile, and I consider myself advanced skill level in free riding and intermediate in the park.  I am a 25 y/o male, but only 5’7”, 125 lbs.  I ride in the NY/CT/VT area, so it is mostly groomed snow.  If it were just up to me I would ride park a lot more, but I tend to ride with family, so I don’t spend that much time in the park. 

I want to get a board that is decently damp so I can freeride with speed and still feel in control, but also light/poppy enough to mess around in a beginners park and the sides of trails.  Should I lean more towards a park board or more towards a freeride board?  The free ride seems a more obvious choice, but I’m worried it will be too heavy/damp for me to mess around with.  My current board is a 2003 Never Summer Evo, which I have really liked. but its feeling less and less damp, and harder and harder to carve.  I’m assuming this is just because it is getting old, but has also caused me to be wary of just going to an all park board with no damping again.  I’ve also pondered getting a womens freeride board, but I have no idea if that would be a good/bad idea.  Any suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

Posted: 22 October 2010 10:42 PM

It sounds to me like you want a feestyle snowboard with a bit of all mountain capability. There will of course be a compramise but I reckon there are definitely some boards that would hit the spot.

In my experiences, I’ve always found Never Summer to be some of the dampest snowboards on the market and the Evo to be one of the most versatile true twins out there. With its new RC profile it’s a pretty different snowboard to the cambered version and could be a dood choice, if you still want that park focus.

Did you want a firmer flexing board, or are you happy with a mid-flexing snowboard? Have you tried reverse camber snowboards yet, and how would you feel about trying a board without a camber profile? When you say you hit the park, is that everything from kinked rails to pipe?

Rich

Posted: 22 October 2010 11:20 PM

i’m happy with mid-flex.  i’m only been riding my 2003 board, so i haven’t tried anything else.  Yeah, I try out pretty much everything in the park