A lot has been said about the 25. Vince has been nice enough to let me take out the 25 splitboard version. I have a handful of days on it and it has proven to be a performer.
It comes in one length, 162. It also has the new Hex Tech top sheet was does appear shed snow better than it's predecessor.
Flex seems to be slightly softer than the Prospector, but it still has enough chops for riding the firm stuff. The more forgiving flex is actually a positive in really choppy spring conditions, which I ran into a few times already this spring.
Where does it excel? Well deep powder for sure. I was lucky enough to take it out on a 40 inch day at Berthoud Pass. By far the biggest day of the season. The set back and short tail really made that board pop up on top of the deep snow. Turned out it was the board of choice that day. I was getting moving much easier than just about anyone else on a board that day.
Overall for riding, this board so far has had full season range. I have yet had a chance to do the big peak riding on it, but I am not worried about it. Hopefully I will get the chance in the next week or so. Life is conspiring against me at the moment.
Skinning wise. It does not have the flat spot under the bracket like the Prospector. I believe the camber sections were designed to bring more contact of skin to snow while skinning. Traction was good, and I was able to get to fairly high angle terrain on firm snow before having to switch to booting for a summit. Which I would have had to do with any board at that point. Snow build up on the top sheet was mostly knocked off by just slapping the ski down on snow.
Attaching the skins with the tail design is not as secure as it could be with Spark clips or Voile versions. They do work, so don't get me wrong, it is just not that pull tight fit you get with a rounded edge. I suspect the G3 twin tip connectors might work better with this design. Also, if you are attaching a tail kit for the first time on your skins, I suspect you do it in a fashion that make the attachment work like any other skin. I was using skins made for a more regular shaped tail. If we get into more discussion on this point, I'll try to put up some pictures to give a clearer idea as to what I am talking about.
Just some of my quick thoughts on this ride. I will try to get some pics of it in it's natural environment on my next outing and post 'em up here.
It comes in one length, 162. It also has the new Hex Tech top sheet was does appear shed snow better than it's predecessor.
Flex seems to be slightly softer than the Prospector, but it still has enough chops for riding the firm stuff. The more forgiving flex is actually a positive in really choppy spring conditions, which I ran into a few times already this spring.
Where does it excel? Well deep powder for sure. I was lucky enough to take it out on a 40 inch day at Berthoud Pass. By far the biggest day of the season. The set back and short tail really made that board pop up on top of the deep snow. Turned out it was the board of choice that day. I was getting moving much easier than just about anyone else on a board that day.
Overall for riding, this board so far has had full season range. I have yet had a chance to do the big peak riding on it, but I am not worried about it. Hopefully I will get the chance in the next week or so. Life is conspiring against me at the moment.
Skinning wise. It does not have the flat spot under the bracket like the Prospector. I believe the camber sections were designed to bring more contact of skin to snow while skinning. Traction was good, and I was able to get to fairly high angle terrain on firm snow before having to switch to booting for a summit. Which I would have had to do with any board at that point. Snow build up on the top sheet was mostly knocked off by just slapping the ski down on snow.
Attaching the skins with the tail design is not as secure as it could be with Spark clips or Voile versions. They do work, so don't get me wrong, it is just not that pull tight fit you get with a rounded edge. I suspect the G3 twin tip connectors might work better with this design. Also, if you are attaching a tail kit for the first time on your skins, I suspect you do it in a fashion that make the attachment work like any other skin. I was using skins made for a more regular shaped tail. If we get into more discussion on this point, I'll try to put up some pictures to give a clearer idea as to what I am talking about.
Just some of my quick thoughts on this ride. I will try to get some pics of it in it's natural environment on my next outing and post 'em up here.