I'm an advanced rider in the Pacific NW. Don't ride the park...just groomers, glades and looking for pow. Don't ride mach speed with straight lines, either.
I'm intrigued by the K2 Turbo Dream, but not a fan of the graphics and not a fan of my current K2 board (Disciple 155cm from 2006).
Some main questions:
-What's the big difference between the Gnu and the Lib aside from the Gnu's asymmetric cutouts?
-Size recs? Seems like 157-161cm based on what I've read
-Any of these I should NOT be considering?
-Binding recs?
I think you'd be happy on any of those boards, you have a lot of twins though, do you ride switch a lot?
I'm pretty sure K2, like most companies, has changed a lot since 2006. A lot of people are really stoked on their boards lately. Have you considered the Ultradream? It's like the turbo dream but like....more.
Also consider the Capita DBX or the Black Snowboard of Death, both are made for all mountain crud busting.
I don't ride a lot of switch. Hadn't really thought about twin vs. directional.
Does anyone have a good explanation for what differences I'd see between the camber/rocker/camber (NS, C2-BTX) and rocker/camber/rocker (Jones)? Is one going to be more squirrelly? More float? More control?
I used to ride at Crystal and Snoqualmie often. Everything about those mountains says to me go with the NS Cobra. Built with pow in mind, but not powder specific. Directional, so better than the Heritage/TRS if you don't ride switch often. Good compromise of stiffness and flexibility. Not a park board but not a super stiff freeride board either. If you are riding at Baker though, you might want something a bit more powder specific...
Based on what I've demo'd, I like the camber/rocker/camber setups on NS and Lib better than the rocker/camber/rocker setups on other board lines. The former has more grip near the tip and tail (which I like better for carving), the latter has more grip in the center, which kinda rides more like a skateboard a little bit.
Did not ride last season outside of a few days at Big Sky (have 2.5 year old twins that take up a lot of time).
What advantages will a directional twin give me over a true twin?
Guys in the shop were steering me towards the Riders Choice/TRS...discovered the Mountain Twin and Cobra/Heritage through these forums. Hadn't really considered K2 or the Rossi One Magtech either until reading some reviews.
And I ride Stevens Pass 98% of the time (1% Baker and 1% Crystal) in the area. Annual trips to a resort somewhere (Tahoe, Big Sky, Colorado, Utah, etc)
I rode stevens tons for years, and worked there too before i moved to montana. Stevens is full of short steep pitches with flat meadows between them. Mix this with lots of heavier powder means it demands a lot from a board. Here is my opinion about a good board for stevens. You need length for float to carry you over the flat areas, and a long rockered nose to keep you on top of the snow. If you sink in the heavier snow you quickly come to a stop. And you need a stiffer board to bust through the crud when the powder becomes chopped up while exerting a lot less energy.
A stiff directional freeride board will take you places at stevens that just arent fun to ride on other boards. It also make carving the groomers when it is empty at night lots of fun.
only reason to get a softer twin is if you want a board to just cruse around with the family, or if you looking to get more into freestyle and park.
too bad the only time i get to ride stevens anymore is over Christmas and the place is a shitshow. I do miss the night pow
True twin rides switch easier since it is completely directional. Directional twins can be different across different board lines. Some just have set-back stances but twin sidecuts. Some have slightly directional sidecuts, but nothing SUPER directional like a racing alpine board or a powder only board.
Only reason to get a twin is if you like riding switch/landing switch when spinning.
Directional or directional twin will give you a bit more float in pow and are made for shredding one direction..
I think the TRS is true twin... you should look at the Mark Landvik or Jamie Lynn Phoenix Lib tech boards.
Just go up to Baker do a performance rental at the lower lodge and you can switch out and demo a bunch of boards for the day. I know they have lib, gnu, ns and pretty sure k2.
out of those i'd pick the cobra,
my buddy has the lando and its a fun board and i love the sidecut (close to 9m) but its has the least rocker of any of the lib tech boards and it just doesnt pop out of the snow when you want it to like some other boards. Dont know a whole lot about the jones other than it isnt that stiff. The extra carbon in the cobra will make it a more responsive ride compared to the much damper heritage. I prefer a lively board to a damp one, i like to feel whats going on.
The Lando is pretty much the same as the Jamie Lynn Phoenix, yeah? Seems the only difference is the setback. Its also a parallel to the Billy Goat, no? Seems like those are more or less the same thing in different graphics (I said Lando cuz I like those graphics better...as a family man, I can't have a nipple on my board!).
The chariteristic that sets both the lynn and the lando apart is from the other lib and gnu boards is that they have a longer than normal side cut, 8.75m in longer versions, where most boards are close to 8. this works well with a high speed aggressive riding style hitting natural features. It also seems to help in steep sketchy sections as it grips great even though it has mellow mag.
the lando has the org throttles from the darkseries, a little torsionaly stiffer than the lynn and more setback. I would call both the lando and lynn, directional twins, with all mountain freestyle in mind. The billy goat has a little less sidecut, and is built as a directional freeride board, with the shape, sidecut, core all directional. Its also damper than other lib/gnu's. I've never rode a billy goat, but if you search snowolf has a review of one.
Matty....I looked long and hard at the Riders Choice/TRS, but as someone who doesn't ride switch, I've been leaning towards a directional/directional twin board (NS Cobra/Heritage, Lib Phoenix/Gnu Billy Goat).
fwiw...i don't ride much switch...but there are times, in the tight spots at Baker that a twin is useful. Haven't ridden it yet, but got a billy goat split and iirc snowolf just picked up a splitty.
The whole "you need a twin to ride switch" is bs. I can switch carve the shit out of a directional boards. I had never rode a twin untill a few years ago. I learned cab fives on my snowmullet, 1.5" setback and taper. Unless its something like the hovercraft with a flat tail, and even then I'm sure you can make it.
Trs and riderchoice are softer than the lynn and lando.
As for bindings in my opinion they matter the least out of any piece of equipment. I used to ride step in and baseless bindings, now I have some old bent metals with metal highbacks, wtf I know. They work and the don't ware out and they are stiff as hell with out being restrictive. Id rather spend my money on good boots or a new board.
I'm riding mostly backcountry so ill be on spark r&d binders most this year.
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