Looking for a freeride board. piste, powder, glades.

Posted: 15 December 2010 05:50 PM

Hey guys,

I’ve been boarding for 6 years (intermediate?) and I’m looking to upgrade this year.  I’ve been doing research for a couple of weeks now, but I’m just feeling overwhelmed. Half of my mountain buddies are skiers, so I spend a lot of time doing runs on groomers and going through glades.  I spend very little time in the park, but do like to hit kickers on the side of runs, etc. Here’s a percentage breakdown:

piste (sometimes icy)/powder - 75%
glades - 25%

I’ve always had a cambered board (never ridden on a rocker), but it looks like a lot of the great all-mountain boards are rockered (K2 TB, Rossignol One MagTek, etc).  Does it feel much different carving and in transition?  Around $550 is my upper limit.  Any suggestions? I’m fully inexperienced at picking boards (as I enlisted the help of more experienced boarders when I got my last one) so let me know if I’ve forgotten important details that could help.

Cheers!
Nate

Posted: 17 December 2010 06:54 AM

Rockered boards feel 180 degrees different to a cambered board.

That being said most high-end freeride boards are still cambered…  you cannot beat that profile for edge control in those tricky life-and-death lines that some of those shred heads take.

Personally I am a rockered rider.  I cut my teeth like everyone else on camber but just getting back into the sport last season I totally love the playfulness of a rockered board.

Out of the boarder half of your buddies someone is bound to have a rockered deck…  try it and see or look to find a local demo day (Burton is great for those).

Outside of that you are looking at a directional board…  probably something stiffer to run-and-gun.  If you want to get into the steep and deep powder a tapered board will help (Rossignol Experience, Salomon Sick Stick).