Arbor 2012 Snowboard Reviews

The Arbor Draft is the weapon of choice for the new crowd of jibbers learning their buttery trade at Bear Mountain, Southern California. If you watch Nick Visconti and Scotty Vine destroy the jib line, you’ll know what this snowboard is capable of. The Robusto tips have been developed to limit the amount of damage you’ll cause with a head on rail ding.

Read full review of the Arbor Draft 2012 Snowboard.

Strong female freeriders who like to work a directional cambered snowboard and enjoy the rewards ought to check-out the Push. The Push has a cool Bamboo topsheet complemented with Oriental art and a thick glossy laquer which will keep it looking tip-top throughout its lifetime.

Read full review of the Arbor Push 2012 Snowboard.

If you’re looking for an all-mountain snowboard with a heart in the backcountry the cambered Element CX is right up your street. Arbor say the Element CX’s flex is medium but this board is stiffer than most and suits strong riders who like to work a firm, directional, cambered board through all sorts of carves and speed tuck into monster rollers.

Read full review of the Arbor Element CX 2012 Snowboard.

Aggressive and heavy all-mountain snowboarders with bigger feet looking for a powerful, directional and cambered snowboard need look no further. Straight-line down double diamonds or launch off 30ft cliffs into bottomless pillow lines the Roundhouse CX has got your back.

Read full review of the Arbor Roundhouse CX 2012 Snowboard.

For all of their recent success as a re-born freestyle brand, Arbor haven’t forgotten that it was the pure unreserved brutality of the A-Frame that made a name for them. If you are after a snowboard to ride some of the most extreme terrain on the planet then the A-Frame is a contender. A stiff flex, only very slightly profiled core, deep powerful camber, carbon A-Frame reinforcement and long entry and exit radius to the progressive sidecut mean edge hold and stability are the A-Frame’s bread and butter. The pretty inlaid wooden topsheet does a great job of eliminating unwanted chatter.

Read full review of the Arbor A-Frame 2012 Snowboard.

For girls that like directional snowboards and the feel of camber under the feet, but who don’t like their boards to be stiff, the Arbor Poparazzi is a perfect match. The Poparazzi is a modern do-it-all snowboard.

Read full review of the Arbor Poparazzi 2012 Snowboard.

It wasn’t going to be long before cambered snowboards became the fashion again, so many pros are switching back that it’s becoming an epidemic. And the reason? They all want a piece of that lively ride and predictable edge hold. The Relapse is catering for all those people never managed to beat that camber addiction. Its mid-soft flex and true twin shape make it ideal for the park and the mid-wide waist keeps it exclusive to those with bigger feet.

Read full review of the Arbor Relapse 2012 Snowboard.

The Swoon is another new addition to Arbor’s 2011/12 season’s line-up. Based on the shapes of the men’s boards in the Roots collection this beautiful reverse camber, directional twin shaped snowboard is designed to attack all types of terrain and snow conditions. For intermediate to advanced female snowboarders.

Read full review of the Arbor Swoon 2012 Snowboard.

Last year we were surprised by how well the Element RX performed in powder when ridden only a little longer than our normal all-mountain length. It was damp, powerful and fluid. The moral of the storey is, if you are after an all-mountain snowboard to take in the park then make sure you don’t go too long as the Element can feel a little unwieldy and heavy, in fact it’s probably best to downsize a couple of centimetres. However, if you’re after a stunning freeride snowboard and you don’t want to ride a really long or directional snowboard the Element RX is a beauty.

Read full review of the Arbor Element RX 2012 Snowboard.

The Arbor Coda is the stepping stone between the mellow fluid feel of the Element and the punchy high performance ride of the Wasteland. All three boards use an identical shape and profile so it’s just about which spec meets your ability and needs.

Read full review of the Arbor Coda 2012 Snowboard.

Based on the Element RX the Roundhouse has been created a little wider to accommodate bigger footed snowboarders. Designed as an all-mountain snowboard, if it’s anything like the Element RX, the Roundhouse RX it will excel in powder.

Read full review of the Arbor Roundhouse RX 2012 Snowboard.

The Wasteland is the Flagship snowboard in Arbor’s range. With a directional twin shape and parabolic rocker you know the Wasteland is designed for all-terrain and particularly powder day missions. The medium Shadow Flex core profiling between the bindings keeps the Wasteland torsionally stiff enough for railing-out carves but soft enough for popping big ollies and Carbon and Kevlar reinforcement from under the bindings to the tips add extra life and pop and arm the rocker profile wit enough guts to stomp tail or nose heavy landings.

Read full review of the Arbor Wasteland 2012 Snowboard.

The Formula is a surprisingly adept piece of equipment considering its entry level status. With a directional twin shape and rockered profile the Formula will float in the powder and skip across packed pow and chunder, when the slopes get icy the Grip Tech edges should provide plenty of edge hold and the Fusion extruded base offers a good blend of performance and easy maintenance. As with all of their boards, the Formula benefits from Arbor’s two year warranty.

Read full review of the Arbor Formula 2012 Snowboard.

The Cadence takes features and design elements form the successful Westmark and Draft men’s boards and fine tunes them narrowing the waist for female snowboarders. Riders who like to ride the park will enjoy the soft flexing reverse camber profile but appreciate the Grip Tech edges when the temperature drops and soft slushy conditions transform to rock-like hardpack.

Read full review of the Arbor Cadence 2012 Snowboard.

One of the original freestyle snowboards in the Arbor range, the Westmark has nothing left to prove. This year’s incarnation is almost identical to last years, it has a soft flex and nice easy pop making easy work of ollieing onto jibs and rails and the rockered profile makes all manner of presses easy-peasy. The default jib snowboard for those that think the Draft is too soft.

Read full review of the Arbor Westmark 2012 Snowboard.

Arbor has added to its successful range of reverse camber freestyle snowboards this season with the Blacklist a mid-wide version of the Westmark (approximately 1cm at the waist). Featuring Arbor’s “Park System” the Blacklist has a parabolic rocker profile meaning the transition to reverse camber is more severe at the centre of the board and Grip Tech edges which create an additional contact point under each binding along each edge, the Blacklist is soft and buttery but holds a good edge.

Read full review of the Arbor Blacklist 2012 Snowboard.