New board...

[jchaison]

Sorry to post again...trying to narrow this down.

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 5'9", 185-190 lbs, size 9.5 boot.

I think I've narrowed it to:

-Gnu Rider's Choice
-Lib TRS
-NS Heritage
-NS Cobra
-Jones Mountain Twin

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?


Thanks for your help...hoping to purchase soon.

[KungMartin]

if you don't ride park, why don't you go for a pure pow board like birdman?

[mtw]

Why not consider the NS Raptor if you are only doing pow?

[jchaison]

Not doing only pow...we don't get a lot of pow up in the Cascades. Mostly thick, chunky stuff.

Hoping to get a great all-mountain board that can handle the pow when its here (or when I am lucky enough to be in CO/UT and find it).

[Nivek]

Don't discount the Turbo. It's a great board.

And personally my first choice would be the Flow Drifter. Or if I wanted a twin the Rush or K2 Happy Hour.

[phony_stark]

Originally Posted by jchaison

Not doing only pow...we don't get a lot of pow up in the Cascades. Mostly thick, chunky stuff.

Hoping to get a great all-mountain board that can handle the pow when its here (or when I am lucky enough to be in CO/UT and find it).

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.

[jchaison]

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?

Any recommendations on bindings?

[walove]

Originally Posted by jchaison

Not doing only pow...we don't get a lot of pow up in the Cascades. Mostly thick, chunky stuff.

Not a lot of pow in the cascades? Did you ride last year? I'll take 6" of heavy fresh, over a foot of rocky mountain blower on top of ice.

For your type of riding I would be looking into a stiffer directional freeride board,
Gnu billygoat
Ride highlife
Smokin kt 22
Ns cobra/raptor
Any thing from venture

[BigmountainVMD]

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.

[walove]

I like rocker between the feet, like lib or ns. Its quicker edge to edge, and its easier to transfer weight front to back in pow.

Lib tech la nina would be great too, or the gnu eco genetics