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Powder board

7K views 36 replies 12 participants last post by  colec23 
#1 ·
Can anyone recommend a good board for powder? Im around 5' 9", I weigh 135lb, and Im not too experience with powder. I would appreciate any help possible
Thanks!
 
#5 · (Edited)
I'm 5'9" 145-150 lbs. So where do you live? (New England? Colorado? Utah? BC? Quebec?) If you aren't in a place that has more than 2 feet of fresh powder regularly, I would just stick with a hybrid camber directional deck like the Never Summer Cobra instead of a dedicated powder board.

I've ridden several dedicated powder boards... and there are a couple of styles (I'll include a list of board I've personally ridden in those categories).

Tapered boards - these are boards with a big nose and a narrow tail which makes the front of the board go up and the back of the board go down (due to the difference in surface area). The taper causes the edge to release easy, making them able to make very short, slashy turns when you want to navigate between tight trees. Drawbacks are while they can be ridden switch, it is not ideal... and they are can of a little on groomers.

Burton Fish 1st Gen - super, super floaty, wants to stay pointed down the slope with slashly fishtail type turns. Nose was too big and tended too get hung up sometimes. Was terrible on firm, windpack/icy traverses. Note I rode the 1st gen from like 2003... the newer ones are probably much better.

Prior Khyber - more moderate taper, like the Burton Malolo. Very good float, damp... decent on groomers - a little heavy.

Never Summer Summit - very light, snappy tail (more than the Khyber), excellent float... even fun on tiny amounts of soft snow (such as piles of scrappy snow that builds up in drifts on the groomers). I would recommend this board if you are riding 2+ feet of powder often.

Boards you probably should avoid until you find some REAL DEEP POWDER.

Big Boards - the Rad Air Tanker 200cm Radical Surf 222cm being the gross examples of this class, these boards have a ton of surface area.Prior makes a Spearhead and Fissile boards.
Rad Air Tanker 172 - surprisingly easy to turn in all but the tightest of trees, extremely light (Rad Air Tanker 172 was actually lighter than a Burton Vapour 160). Still, I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone but an expert rider

Video of people riding Tankers and Radical Surfs over 170 cm


Swallowtail/cutout boards - even more float than tapered... completely directional. Jones Hovercraft is in this category... Kirkrider has one, but hasn't ridden it. Google it to find reviews. Rome Notch and Prior Swallowtail.

Osin 4807 - big, floaty... needs a lot of space like big open bowls, damaged easily.
 
#8 ·
I grew up in New England. There are a few places in New England that can get powder (Jay Peak, Stowe, Sunday River), but they tend to be remote and powder is not regular like it is out west.

For going on backcountry/sidecountry trips with your dad, I would lean towards a directional board that is powder friendly... instead of a powder specific board. There are dozens of boards that match this profile.

While I haven't ridden the Never Summer Cobra... I have ridden the Never Summer Evo, Proto CT, SL and Summit models... and since the Cobra is a hybrid of the Proto, SL with a tiny dash of Summit, I can imagine what it would be like. That is why I am recommending it.

Again... many other boards out there. I'm just suggesting the ones I have personal experience with.
 
#30 ·
So I did some more research, and I found that a splitboard would fit what I need, but they're expensive and I havent had any experience with them... I reallllllyyyyy want to avoid fish tail, so wether or not you can ride switch with them I don't really want to go there
 
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