Need a charging board for next season

[I need a name]

With the help of you guys, I've been able to narrow it down to three choices.

Bataleon Enemy
Neversummer Raptor
Lib Dark Series

About me:
-I do everything from charging steeps to cruising greens. Steeps, catwalks, jumps, natural features (cliffs, etc), and essentially everything besides rails.
-Been on the slopes since before I could walk. I consider myself an advanced rider.
-I like a board that is snappy, responsive, stable, can handle short/tight turns, and wide across bowl carves.



Here's how I view each board. Your thoughts would be appreciated


Lib Dark Series
-Only one of these boards that I have actually been on. I had it for a day when I was at Big Sky and had a love/hate relationship with it. It was stable, could handle every type of turn that I threw at it, ripped up the steeps, but seemed slow. The edges dug in too much and resulted in any edging slowing me way down. I liked everything else about it though.


Neversummer Raptor
-Seems to be stable, lightweight, and perfect for what I need. I'm afraid that with all the dampening it will feel a little bit "dead" though.


Bataleon Enemy
-Looks like a great choice for a little bit of everything. TBT is fun on my Airobic, but a pain in the ass to have repaired/stone ground. I also wish Bataleon would actually list the actual materials used with the board instead of saying "This board is fucking fast, fucking light, and fucking sick". Sure, their description sounds like a perfect board, but there is almost no information available anywhere for it. Hopefully someone here has been on one and can give me some feedback.



Any suggestions as to what board to go with would be highly appreciated.

[Argo]

Smokin snowboards kt-22 is what I have ridden for 3 years. Very solid charging board. Rocker/camber with magna traction, they call it clash rocker. It floats powder better than any other board I have and charges down groomers well too. I use it as my primary all around board... it's a stiffer board for sure but so are all the others you listed. It's very light too. I'm 280 lbs and ride hard but it has been indestructible so far.

They have a 3 year warranty and an "OOOPs" warranty.......

KT22

[Kwanzaa]

I have the Lib Tech Dark Series and i love the thing. My only problem with it is that riding switch is kind of awkward since its a directional twin. As for being slow that simply isn't true, perhaps it was waxed poorly. I've gone 100km/hr on it, no speed wobbles, was able to still hold my edge on a sharp turn on ice at that speed. It takes jumps like a champ and if you have the leg power you can get 3 foot ollies if you load it right.

As for saying the edges cut to deep and slow you down, don't turn your board uphill so much. Also learn how to carve properly, you should accelerate out of a proper carve, not slow down.

I highly recommend it.

[I need a name]

Originally Posted by Kwanzaa

I have the Lib Tech Dark Series and i love the thing. My only problem with it is that riding switch is kind of awkward since its a directional twin. As for being slow that simply isn't true, perhaps it was waxed poorly. I've gone 100km/hr on it, no speed wobbles, was able to still hold my edge on a sharp turn on ice at that speed. It takes jumps like a champ and if you have the leg power you can get 3 foot ollies if you load it right.

As for saying the edges cut to deep and slow you down, don't turn your board uphill so much. Also learn how to carve properly, you should accelerate out of a proper carve, not slow down.

I highly recommend it.

Is not that I don't know how to carve, it's that the magnetraction seemed to grip/bite in too well and slow me way down. However, I really did love the boards stability.

[oefdevilvet]

I bought a Raptor at the start of this season and so far I love everything about, it's certainly a damp board but not so much that you lose the feel of the snow, it's probably the best board I've ever had for the purpose of charging especially in the deep shit. I got to try out a Dark Series this year too and I know what you saying I definitely noticed a little drop in speed in my carves with the magnetraction but it wasn't like I was loosing acceleration coming out of my turns, but still a great board. Honestly though giving the choice between these two boards I would take the Raptor any day, the 159 would probably be enough for you but if you really like a longer board get the 164.

[Kwanzaa]

Originally Posted by I need a name

Is not that I don't know how to carve, it's that the magnetraction seemed to grip/bite in too well and slow me way down. However, I really did love the boards stability.

It takes more than a day to learn to ride it. I know what you mean, I do it often to slow myself down. Its just a matter of learning where to apply pressure to turn the board effectively. Usually I exit a turn with more weight on my back foot and it does not slow down.

Never the less its an awesome board and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

[lernr]

100 km/h on ice and sharp turns at that - I call bs.

Of these boards, I rode the 2010/11 Raptor 159 (was probably 170-180 lbs then) for a week in Big White. Double blacks, trees, bumps, groomers, medium jumps and drops - was hands down amazing. Wasn't dead at all to me, but I have large boots so this may have helped. I wouldn't take it to the park, and good luck pressing it, of course

I was very tempted to buy this year's Raptor - but eventually decided to go for something more versatile as I don't want to have too many boards. I am a one-board quiver guy and already have a dedicated bc board (NS split) and another 'whatever else non-bc" board, so I couldn't justify buying a dedicated freeride machine because I like to hit the park too, especially on crap snow days

I only have a Mervin snowskate - c2btx. It's fun, but I wish it had a full metal edge. While there are no major issues so far, I do have a couple of small dents in the tip. Very minor but I haven't had big bad crashes either, and I don't think they would have been there if it had a full metal edge

[Kwanzaa]

Originally Posted by lernr

100 km/h on ice and sharp turns at that - I call bs.

Your right I should rephrase that. It was 96.8km/hr according to Ski tracks and the turn began gradual and I snapped the board around once I felt confident I had a good edge in. I'm in no way bragging, it was one of the more sketchy moments of my life. I doubt I've gone any faster than 65 since then.

[I need a name]

Thanks for all of the help. I'm still really interested in the Enemy though. I absolutely love how bataleons ride and the Enemy looks perfect. Lightweight for spins, but stable for charging.