Pow Board

[collaboration]

I'm 5'10 and 175 pounds.

I'm looking for a pow board to ride in Niseko... As I have never ridden in pow, I can't decide what size I should get.

I currently ride 154 park and 158 all mountain.

Should I be looking at 160-162 range or can I go shorter?

[ETM]

You cant have too much board in niseko

[Nivek]

Originally Posted by collaboration

I'm 5'10 and 175 pounds.

I'm looking for a pow board to ride in Niseko... As I have never ridden in pow, I can't decide what size I should get.

I currently ride 154 park and 158 all mountain.

Should I be looking at 160-162 range or can I go shorter?

Depends on the board. In something like the Fish probably like a 156 or something as its super tapered and setback. Something like the Charlie Slasher do like a 158 cause its less tapered and setback.

The more setback and tapered a deck is the more you can size down if you want to.

If you're looking for suggestions I would say check out the 160 Salomon Powder Snake or a 158 CAPiTA Charlie Slasher.

[linvillegorge]

Love my Charlie Slasher, especially for the price.

[Sick-Pow]

Tapered boards (cambered) are fun because you can lean forward a bit in the pow, and not worry, as much, about the nose diving. With a highly rockered board ( lots of prominent) reverse camber), taper may not be as important (unless you are a big guy), and rocker can slow you down, (ie. fish surf shape).

Some taper, (maybe 5-10mm) may work the best with rockered boards, ( 156 Jones Hovercraft) Again, unless other factors (like weight) exist.

Sidecut plays a big role too. Straighter sidecut will make longer turn, whereas a deep sidecut will be good for shorter turns and control (trees).

The Burton Fish is a great option as it was designed for similar terrain in Japan. Super tapered, so you personally could go down to a 150 Fishcuit, it would be awesome. There are a few on Ebay.

Other options in IMO are,
Sherlock 154-58
Never Summer Summit (smallest size they make for you)

[Nivek]

A note on rocker in pow being snow, the right amount is going to be faster than anything else. If you have too much you do get a plowing effect and with camber you're kinda always having to "push" through it with your tail. With the right camber style you will just plane over the snow. You'll hear more about this effect as companies really start to perfect their pow sticks, what you'll see is lower and lower front kicks. This is why CAPiTA's FK is great in pow. That flat kick does very little plowing and more planing. That combo'd with the flat camber all the way through the tail means a fast floaty pow stick. The Pow Snake has an elongated tip that the rocker blends into. So again, planing over pushing.

This is also why the Sherlock kills it as a freestyle pow stick. Though they don't tell you, the flying V in it is much less aggressive than say the Custom. Enough rocker to keep you on top, but not so much it pushes snow out of the way to do it.

Surfy: More rocker, smaller size
Fast and nimble: less rocker, normal size
Power: Camber, bigger size.

[donek]

I'm a similar size..5'8" 180lbs. I spent a day on a cat trip in Aspen last year on a 200 (Hazelwood) and a couple days doing trees and Loveland pass on a 164 (Nomad). Both boards are very differently designed and optimized for different types of powder riding and styles. Personal length preference/comfort and what you're riding will dictate a lot. A big long board will be more difficult to manuever in the trees, but can make transitioning to powder for a novice powder rider almost effortless. If you are going to spend more time in tighter situations with lots of trees, then a board with a lot of taper will make things easier for you as the board will tend to seek the surface and be more flickable when you need it.

[kctahoe]

I have the capita Charlie slasher, it's great, floats great, and I also enjoyed it just riding groomers and getting to and from the pow.

[danm]

If you can find a Lib Mullet on discount, I would recommend it! The Charlie Slasher is a better value when comparing msrp but the Mullet is the superior board if you can get it for the same price...

[WasatchMan]

Originally Posted by Nivek

If you're looking for suggestions I would say check out the 160 Salomon Powder Snake or a 158 CAPiTA Charlie Slasher.

POWDER SNAKE rules all!

Just picked this board up, sooo much fun. I liked it better than capitas charlie slasher, although I rode them both on groomers but the powder snake ruled the mountain, slithering from stash to slash. I like the sizing options on the salomon better too, the charlie is good, but the pow snake is great. and how can you beat the price!?


Powder Snake > Charlie Slasher