Nukka

Hello all! Looking for some feedback and any suggestions you guys might have.

Background: I've been boarding for ~6 years on the same board (which was a hand-me-down from my brother who used it for 3+ years) and I've decided that I owe it to myself to purchase a new board.

I would say I'm better than most riders as I can ride almost anything, but not quite at the expert level. I'm 5'9" and ~130 pounds (yes I am a manlet) and won't be getting much bigger as I'm nearly 22.

I'm looking for a board tailored to all-mountain boarding in B.C. (mostly the big white, sun peaks, silverstar, baldy area) If there's powder, I'll spend all day in it however if the conditions are sub-optimal I'd like a board that isn't going to suffer too heavily. Percentage wise I spend 70% of my time in powder and tree glades and 30% getting there ^^

I have no interest in park, rails, or boxes, but terrain jumps and drops are always fair game and I'd like to get better at my switch riding and spin tricks (although it isn't imperative).

Some boards I've been researching:

Never Summer:
SL
Cobra
Proto
Heritage

Lib-Tech:
TRS
T.Rice Pro

I have Burton Freestyle bindings, they're non-EST so no channel boards (your loss burton) for me.

I've been riding a 152 as I said earlier, but finding boards in the boardshops around that size is difficult and I think I may just have to order online.
Right now I'm leaning towards the Cobra or SL as the cobra seems to be better for all-mountain and freeride but the SL is a little more flexible and might suit my weight better.


What do you guys think? Any other boards you would recommend? I'm not opposed to a directional board either. If I were to buy a larger board, maybe 155 or 157 what difference can I expect (harder turning?)

I'm open to any critques or suggestions you have, thanks!

cd21

You can actually mount any binding on the Channel now...you just need the proper hardware(check Google)
I would recommend this board in this size
Custom Flying V Snowboard | Burton Snowboards
I just ordered my own or
K2 Happy Hour Snowboard | Snowboards | K2 Snowboarding 2012-13
I do the same type of riding- Freeriding- IMO best kind of riding, the faster,the more powder, bigger jumps the better

Nukka

I've been looking at some retailers that sell the cobra/heritage/SL and the shortest cobra and heritage I can find in Canada is 155, compared to a 151/153 SL there shouldn't be much difference in terms of float and handling should there? I mean, its only 2cm.

MeanJoe

That is correct, in my opinion. 2cm is not that big of a deal in overall length. One thing to look at is effective edge on the NS boards. For example, I upsized from an old SL 155 to a Proto 157. One thing I did not account for is the newer NS boards that have the blunted tip/tail allow for a longer effective edge than the overall board size would normally indicate. Simply put, they ride bigger than their size. Although I only went up 2cm, it "feels" like a bigger change. I do not think this is really anything to get hung-up on, just make sure you are looking at apples to apples when evaluating sizes.

Nukka

Seeing as how you've ridden an SL before, how would you rate it in terms of a freeride board? Given my size I think a 153 should fare pretty well as I haven't really gotten into back-country snowboarding yet and shouldn't be in and more than a 2 feet or so of powder

cd21

what retailers

Nukka

I used this thread: http://www.snowboardingforum.com/boa...e-tailers.html

JHeagz

YES. SNOWBOARDS » Pick Your Line

Just got mine yesterday...nice fat nose/tapered tail for float in pow, but camber between the bindings so it can cruise down groomers alright too. I'll be up in Whistler end of Dec, hopefully you save some of that white stuff for me.

cd21

I still stick by this leaning towards the K2 for you...even though I bought the Burton for freeriding

Nukka

Pretty much settled on getting a 2012 SL for ~400 (1$170 off from retailer price). Just going ask if there are any last words before I pull the trigger on this thing.