2011 K2 Raygun - Good first board?

Posted: 19 September 2011 03:31 PM

Hey guys,

So after 2 years of using rentals at my local mountains I finally decided that this year I want to pick up my own board so that I can really start getting progressing at the sport. I would say that I have gone about a dozen times or so now and am pretty confident on blues and have recently started hitting the parks as well.

My normal setup that they rent out to me is a Burton Cruzer 159W. Not a bad board but the places I go to don’t maintain them that well so some you get are in pretty bad shape

I plan on spending about 75% of my time on trails and about 25% in the park. After a lot of research I’m fairly sure that I want to go with the 2011 K2 Raygun. I’m looking for a board that can pretty much do everything and is just a good all around board. Easy and fun to blast down the mountain but still have the ability to hit up the park as well. I live on the east coast so most places are either groomed or icy, with not that much pow. Do you guys think this will be a good choice? I don’t mind if its a bit challenging to ride at first but from everything I have read online this sounds like it’s a pretty solid ride all around.

Also, as far as size. I was thinking either the 157W or 160W since I wear a size 11. What would you guys recommend? I was leaning towards 160 since I will probably spend more time on trails than in the park, but is the 160 going to be too long for the park (I’m 6’0 190lbs.)?

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

Posted: 20 September 2011 06:37 AM

Welcome!

The Raygun is a fun board, no doubt about it.  A little soft on the flex but that will help with mellow cruises and park laps for sure.

One thing is though riding on the east coast is a tough go, you might want to consider a board that has magnetraction tech in it.  It’s basically like teeth that bite into the hard stuff to hold an edge better then a standard straight edge.  I’ve been on it and it does work surprisingly well.  Boards that pack that tech are Lib-Tech, Gnu and Rossignol.

A size 11 for sure is a W so you don’t get hung up on hard carves.  Buy your boots first if you don’t have them yet and then you can use them to assist with getting a proper sized board.

Hope that helps, let us know how you make out. :)