dcpowpow

I am looking for a good big mountain board. I currently am using a Never Summer Premier F1-R 168.
Great board, but a bit heavy and I was just looking for other ideas.
This board has a few seasons of AK big mountain turns on it and even though most of the lines are deep pow, sometimes you get on a steep face of weird crusty snow and need more than just a big banana shaped board. Technical big mountain riding is the idea.
I was thinking about the Raptor 169-X
Thanks

danm

What are your stats?

dcpowpow

Stat wise, I am just under 6 ft tall, 170 lbs, Aggressive rider with about 25 yrs experience under my belt.

danm

Foot size?

poutanen

Sounds to me like you might be on WAY to long of a board... I know people like big boards for big lines, and I'm usually one of the proponents for going big, but that seems about 10 cm too long to have much manoeuvrability in tighter situations, glades, tight chutes, etc. I'm 175 and I ride a 160 for hard freeriding.

How much are you willing to spend on a board? For some really advanced technical freeriding there are some exotic options but they aren't cheap.

Otherwise I'd be tempted to get a good old Burton Custom X for most hard charging including powder. The jones flagship looks like a nice board, but I've never tried it. Prior freeride is another big mountain option.

I've been riding 21 years and do mostly freeride, with some groomer carving and the occasional trip through the park mixed in. I bought an advanced freeride board that I love, but it was over $1200 by the time all was said and done.

dcpowpow

Foot size is 10.5 street shoes and I use a Burton 9.5 DriverX Boot.
I am using fairly stiff bindings.. Ride Capo.
Stance width, ~21".. I ride 18 deg front and 0 on the rear.
Sorry, not sure how to get all my stats in my profile yet.....

poutanen

Yeah no need for a wide board then. I'm on a size 8 Driver X and ride narrow boards fine, you'd be fine on a regular width. (The Raptor "X" is the wide model I'm pretty sure)

dcpowpow

I do have a Never Summer Premier F1-R 165 cm also and I think it might be good for almost everything except AK.
The runs there really require more speed than normal and at the bottom to out run your slough sometimes you are going 35-40mph.
Never any trees in AK and the steep technical faces are a bit rare also as mostly your trying to figure out how to get away from all the snow that comes down the mountain with you after each turn.

Edp25

I love my Jones Flagship. Lots of folks use them in AK hell runs. I did last April and it was awesome.

poutanen

Well I got a Virus Avalanche FLP AFT... virus

It comes in 160, 168 and 176 versions. There's plenty of graphite, kevlar, and quadraxial fibreglass to give the thing pop and dampness.

It's not cheap but it's quite the big mountain board.

Otherwise I'd say look at:

Kessler The Ride (available in 163, 168)
Prior Freeride (various sizes including 165, 168 and 172)
Venture Odin (available from 160-174 in various sizes)
Donek Incline (available in 160, 164 and 168)
Jones Flagship (available up to a 164)