All mountain board for intermediate/advanced

[mrm2083]

I've been snowboarding for 10 years now but usually take 1 trip per year out west and ride for about 5 days. I own my own boots but I've always rented a board and have decided to buy one. I'm looking for something under 300 but i'll go up to 350 for a great board. I've been looking at mainly left over 2012s. I want an all mountain board that is great on groomers, can handle the occasional pow day and just a little bit of use in the park.
My stats are:
- Int/adv. rider
- 5'6, 145lbs
- 10 boot

I'm considering
- 2013 Capita NAS 153
- 2012 K2 Raygun 153
- 2012 Ride Machete 152

These are all under 300. I'm completely open to recomendations and have no clue what to get. I'll be going to the Canyons in march so want something fast as I heard there are a lot of flat spots but I know the Capita and K2 are extruded bases.

Thanks

[triumph.man]

I have the 12 Machete, and love it. You can flat base it and bomb the whole mountain, if you're looking for speed. I was able to maintain an edge even on icy conditions at a good fast pace...nothing like a cambered board, but good enough to have control at high speeds.

Starting to learn to ride switch, and definitely much easier than on my cambered board. Pop, just learning to make jumps, but definitely can feel a huge difference next to my old board.

[Leo]

Out of that list the Machete. The Raygun is a great board, but you might get board of it after a while. It's an extruded base as well vs the Machete's sintered.

Machete is going to be fairly stiff though so that's something to keep in mind if you hit jibs.

Lots of pop, super stable, and mellow rocker profile. One of my favorite Ride boards for sure.

[m0rph3us]

+1 for the 2012 Machete. First board I bought (I'm intermediate/advanced) and it has been great both on hardpack/icy stuff at home (New Zealand) and medium pack and powder in BC. Learning some freestyle stuff now and it's excellent for that too.

The best thing about it - every time I screw up, I can point to something I did wrong. Never feels like the board is the problem! It's been able to handle pretty much everything I've thrown at it so far.

With a size 10 boot you may want to consider the 154W. I'm size 12 and ride the 157W.

[EatMyTracers]

Machete, I really wish that is what I had gotten instead of my Rome reverb rocker, which is currently for sale and I'm buying a Never Summer raptor. Not that the reverb rocker is bad, it is just way to soft for me since I don't do park, I tried to get into park which is why I bought it but park just isn't my thing

[mrm2083]

Thanks for the quick responses! I think I'll be going with the machete. Does 152 seem like the right size for 145 lbs?

[m0rph3us]

Ride Snowboard Size Chart 2012 - Men's | evo

At 145lbs, and size 10 you'd be in the sweet spot for the 154W I would've thought (125-175lbs and size 9.5-11). Whereas for the 152 you're at the top of the weight range and above the boot size range.

I tend to put a bit of emphasis on the boot size aspect. But maybe because that's I have size 12 feet and I really don't want toe drag!

[Leo]

He won't need a wide with size 10 boots. I had a couple size 10 boots and currently use a 9.5. I've never needed a wide board and always hated them when I had to ride them at demos.

[mrm2083]

Ya I think I'd rather avoid wide. I've always ridden normal width boards and a 10 is a pretty normal show size. Now should I go for the 152 or 155? I'm short at only 5'6 but I do very little park.

[m0rph3us]

Fair enough, wish I didn't have to worry quite so much about my big-ass size 12 feet!