Freeride-all mountain board advice for expert rider

[jimster716]

Not sure if you can get Venture snowboards but take a look.

Venture Snowboards

I've never used one personally but I've heard they're super solid for back country type riding.

[BsMcluvinBeach]

If I was you I would def take a look at Never Summer. You can order from the factory and they will get their closest retailer to send it to you. If you dont like it or the size you can send back for the price of shipping. Never Summer offers a 3 year warranty and in my opinion their Legacy is one of the best wide board out there for big mountain POW POW. The Proto CTX, also a wide version, would be a nice choice as it is a hybrid between their Legacy (wide pow board) and their Revolver (wide park board) This allows for good pow runs and some park. Also the Proto has the carbonium top plate. Basically a carbon fiber weave it is going to allow the top plate to look sick for a longer period of time. Also you can sport the Proto about 5-8 cm shorter than your normal board because it has very long edge. Hope this helps.

[KIRKRIDER]

Not sure you have it in your list...but I love mine: (I'm 46...been riding for 6 years)



Fast, stiff and stable. Good performance on powder. Unbeatable for carving on groomers.

Arbor A-Frame.
Arbor

Originally Posted by mr.moon

Hi guys, hope not to bother you, as I look for some board advice.

Found this site with great website while googling around... Well done!

I'm 1.81 - 6ft / 87Kg [198Lb - shoes 11.5US - 11UK - 46...], been riding in the last 5 years mainly a Burton Baron ES 168 (wide), which I like but I'm moving more to powder-only zone now and more extreme stuff...

I look for a surfy feeling on powder, stability at high speed and on landings too ;-)

Rocker, camber or hybrid... mmm a little confused on this one (reading your other post too) and not too sure about the flex level that I need if stiff or medium.

I'm not a teenager, I'm an older rider who looks for a comfy soft smooth ride with NO vibrations AT ALL as I got a very weak front knee... especially on groomers.

The selection so far is:

BURTON
BARRACUDA 169 (it would have been the Malolo, but is now out of production, shame), it looks like exactly what I look for from the brand I know, but I'm not married to it and don't mind to change... especially after hte die cut bottom sheet fell apart (out of warranty of course), and it was a Series13.
FISH 164 Love the shape and I know it'll do the job on powder, for sure. But how about the groomers? And... can you actually land on that tiny little tale? not sure about that.
MALOLO 166 (2010)
Found one on the web at a ridiculous price, graphic's horrid though! Is it dated?!

PRIOR
KHYBER 170 Love this brand and board, nice taper great powder weapon, can ride both directions and looks like it's also a tree super killer! Graphics amazing and you can even have your own..
SPEARHEAD 172 Here another nice option from Prior, probably more all mountain then the Khyber, dying to test these boards!!!

DUPRAZ
D1 6' (178)
Here come the French, always different and ever so cool! This is the pure old school mountain surf board, won't miss the sea for sure, but hey it's a gamble to take as it'll be so different from everything else I've ever tried before... Probably great second board?

I'd like to know what do you think about it and if you have personal experience to pass on.

Might need more than one board at stage of my boarding life, so advice on quivers are also appreciated (would be a 2 board quiver to start, where I can use one of them also for snowkiting).

Many thanks for reading this post, any advice much appreciated, especially if you own one of the above

[mr.moon]

Originally Posted by BsMcluvinBeach

If I was you I would def take a look at Never Summer. You can order from the factory and they will get their closest retailer to send it to you. If you dont like it or the size you can send back for the price of shipping. Never Summer offers a 3 year warranty and in my opinion their Legacy is one of the best wide board out there for big mountain POW POW. The Proto CTX, also a wide version, would be a nice choice as it is a hybrid between their Legacy (wide pow board) and their Revolver (wide park board) This allows for good pow runs and some park. Also the Proto has the carbonium top plate. Basically a carbon fiber weave it is going to allow the top plate to look sick for a longer period of time. Also you can sport the Proto about 5-8 cm shorter than your normal board because it has very long edge. Hope this helps.

Do you know what? It sounds real good their policy. I love their range except from the graphics (not into black snowboards). My favourites are the RaptorX, the Premier F1 and the Summit. They seem to talk about a good dampening technology and stability at high speeds, which is what I'm looking for. Do you know if they do custom graphics?

[Old School]

I have the Prior Khyber and love it, one of the best powder boards I've ever rode. The 170 your looking at seems a bit long, I'm 6'1" and the 160 does a great job for me. Keeps it manueverable but still floats great in the PNW snow.

Good luck and enjot the BC, glad to see your move to venture out of the resort and toward the more extreme stuff... welcome to your new addiction. Once you ride true backcountry, you'll never want to ride the resort again.

[SHREDDER97]

Look, a lot of people else where pull their reviews out of their butt especially on website that sell boards. There are many people on here that demo 100s of boards a year and know whats up. WHile your choses so far will do you OK the boards being recommended to you will blow you away. I would say the k2 slayblade, ns raptor , or the arbor element rx would suit you extremely well. You might also like the slackcountry.

[Nolefan2011]

If you're a free rider, don't get a Proto. You would regret that decision. No offense McCluvin. Heritage is a ton of fun, and the Raptor is a step up from there in the free riding direction.

[mr.moon]

Originally Posted by Old School

I have the Prior Khyber and love it, one of the best powder boards I've ever rode. The 170 your looking at seems a bit long, I'm 6'1" and the 160 does a great job for me. Keeps it manueverable but still floats great in the PNW snow.

Good luck and enjot the BC, glad to see your move to venture out of the resort and toward the more extreme stuff... welcome to your new addiction. Once you ride true backcountry, you'll never want to ride the resort again.

Originally Posted by SHREDDER97

Look, a lot of people else where pull their reviews out of their butt especially on website that sell boards. There are many people on here that demo 100s of boards a year and know whats up. WHile your choses so far will do you OK the boards being recommended to you will blow you away. I would say the k2 slayblade, ns raptor , or the arbor element rx would suit you extremely well. You might also like the slackcountry.

KIRKRIDER:
I like your Arbor!

OLD SCHOOL:
The Khyber is probably my favourite powder board so far, together with the Fish. I might consider two boards: one all round freeride which is going to be my first purchase, then if I got the cash I'd go for a Khyber split as a second board. Love the Prior splitties!

SHREDDER:
I appreciate your point. Saying that the K2 slayblade is not going to fit in my list. The NS Raptor X is certainly more appealing. I do like the Slackcountry, but I'm not sure whether it's going to be wide enough for me and also doesn't seem to have: enough taper for powder or a bigger nose: not too sure about the float here for heavy blokes. I thought the Malolo was way better than these anywhay, according to the reviews of course, I'm not defending the brand..

I know for most of you the design is not an important feature to consider (or probably we have a different taste), but being a designer myself: I also look at it. I'm not into this black trend for powder boards (K2, NS and others)... sorry, I'm an old school kid, not into teenage designs. Saying that I'm not going to buy just what I like for the sake of the look, othewise I'd go for Arbor or Jones. In this respect I think Khyber offers a good compromise between skills and look, and also lets you design your own board!

[SHREDDER97]

the slackcountry doesn't really need to be tapered. It is a powder board and designed to float in powder regardless of its shape. And hey since it isn't extremely tapered you could start throwing some spins off cliffs if your into that.

[KIRKRIDER]

I Adore that stick. But it is not a pow board. It performs well ...even in deep one. The A Frame is set back already. I rode it all the way back and felt like surfing really. All good in deep pow. Less on groomers with that kind of setback.
If you leave it as is... and like riding not too deep pow and groomers after...it is perfect. At least for me.

But I do want to get either a JJ Hovercraft or a Ride Slack-country. A pow specific board and keep the A frame for everything else.

Originally Posted by mr.moon

KIRKRIDER:
I like your Arbor!