dreampow

Mine is finally here so I will do a review, hopefully with a nice powder day as we still have more to come.

Also I will be the only guy on the mountain with that board. Have never seen one here in Japan. Doesn't bother me if many people have it though as long as it rides well.

In Japan there is a saying which says 10 different people will like 10 different colours 十人十色.

Each to their own is what it means and its definitely true for board graphics.

03SVTCobra

Comparing the SL to the Heritage how much stiffer is the Heritage?

Raines

Rode the smokin superpark 159 and the raptor 2013 164 this weekend...

I am 1.86m , 95 kg , 10,5 foot

I have a 158 SL and i dont find it so stiff for my weight

I love it for all mountain resort


Tried the superpark and is a bit similar but a tad softer. great board, great edge hold and speed.


The raptor is a beast board... Even at my weight is a demon to ride. Super fast, likes to go straight forward

Stiffer than all the other boards it takes more "work" to handle.

Not my choice for resort riding. Floats and handles superb in powder.


Dont know if is worth keeping for someone that doesnt like to go super fast or see a lot of big mountain

pdfac

Thanks for this review... It was great seeing pics of the 2013's and having them all compared in one place by one rider!

ckang008

Great review. Wonder how sketchy will it be pointing a Raptor down the Skyline course in Nozawa! I rode uninc / trice / summit in nozawa and never have a board that i'm confident in riding skyline course straight!

Cam

Hi Guys,

I would love to throw in my 2 cents

Here are my specs
Weight: 270-295 lbs (123-134 kg – played football and rugby prop)
Height: 5’11” (180 cm)
Shoe Size: Size 12 stuffed into a 10.5 to reduce toe and heel drag)
Surefoot custom orthotics
Riding History: Riding 17 years, instructing & Racing 16 years, Coaching 15 years
Average 100 days on snow per season
Results: 8-10 (sorry I can’t remember) time medalist at USASA Nationals in GS and SL
Personal History: Studied Mechanical Engineering at University till I dropped out to become a full time Snowboard Coach (specialty Alpine and SBX)
Qualifications: CASI Level 2 & Carving Instructor, Canada~Snowboard Comp Intro Advanced Certified, Development Trained and Intro Learning Facilitator

Boards I Ride
Freestyle (FS): Never Summer ProtoCTX 160, Flux DMCC Bindings, Celsius Opus 6 Boot (modified)
Freeride (FR): Never Summer RaptorX, Bomber Power Plate Riser system, Technine LM Pro Binding (modified), Celsius Opus 6 Boot (modified)
SBX: Donek Saber 170 Custom -can’t ride any more as it breaks every binding ever put on it including:
- Burton C60 – 1 run (they refuse to warranty anything for me anymore)
- Flux DMCC – 2 days
- Neidecker Carbon 900 – 2 weeks
- Head PX10 & PX5 – 2 Days
- Technine LM Pro - 2 days
Powder: Never Summer Summit 172, Flux DMCC Bindings, Celsius Opus 6 Boot (modified)
Slalom: Custom Coiler NSR2 166, Vist Plate, Bomber TD3 Sidewinders Binding, UPZ RC10 Modified boot (lasts half a season)
GS: Custom Coiler NSR2 189, Bomber 5 mm Custom Boiler Plate, Bomber TD3 Sidewinders Binding, UPZ RC10 Modified boot (lasts half a season)

I am a big fan of the RaptorX 169 for all around freeriding. It took a little getting used to the Rocker-Camber (RC). I found narrowing the stance just a bit and riding with slightly wider knees really helped; I was able to engage the tip and tail more and get the responsiveness and stability most think is not possible without traditional camber. Sorry the YouTube video isn’t as good as I would like, the hill was too flat to really get the Raptor up to speed and carve aggressively at the same time. When i am out in Colorado i can really push the board and it answers.
2011 01 07 Squeeky Cam F 02 - YouTube


For float in powder I tend to just grab the NS Summit 172. The wide and more pointed shovel tends to promote more float, and I don’t have to spend time taking the riser plates off, or setting my stance back. I find that bigger guys can ride smaller boards in powder if you set your stance back a bit. The tail will sink, it’s a bit of a trade off, and I find it helps relieve stress on an injured back knee. And the shorter boards are a lot more maneuverable around rocks or in tight trees. If you don’t spend much time riding switch (less then 15% I don’t think the set back is much of a loss). But with the large soft shovel the effective edge suffers. So carving on Groomer is not as fun as the Raptor (duh it’s a Powder board). With this board I don’t need to search for a 180 cm plus board or a swallow tail (I have a bad habit of snapping off split or swallow tails).

For a fun toy I have the Proto, it can do everything regular and Switch. See my previous post.

I tend to like the NS boards as they use a pre-tensioned pre-impregnated glass and carbon fiber. This means as soon as the board flexes the tension is take up by the glass. With wet laid glass the initial tension is taken by the resin, then the cloth. This leads to a lot of resin fatigue (my experience with Burton, Rossi, Nitro, Lib Tech, and Winterstick), creating a soft or noodle-ie / dead / unresponsive feel a lot faster. In demoing other boards I ended up going over the nose at some really inopportune times – where if I was on an NS I would have been fine. I also found NS boards give back what is put into them. On groomed runs I could hammer the Raptor into any carves and it wanted more. The Summit was looking for powder as much as I was. And the Proto just put a smile on my face.

Here is a quick shot of me on the RaptorX 169

Attached Images

Cam NS RaptorX - 2.jpg (79.1 KB, 151 views)

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Cam
Why can't it be -5 or colder and snowing every night of the year. With Blue Bird days.

snowklinger

FUCK YEA MAN!



Welcome!

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is it late october yet?

dreampow

A welcome 2 cents indeed.

I live in Japan and bought a proto last year, have been hugely impressed with it so far and thoroughly intend to get more NS boards (maybe a summit for the japow) .

With all your experience, the fact that you ride mostly NS says a lot about their quality.

Look forward to seeing some more video footage.

I also played some rugby, at 6ft and 78-80 kilos I ran the wing as much as possible avoiding hits from guys like you.

snowklinger

Ha! I played rugby as well for about a year and half in college, at 5'6" - 160lbs...you guessed it - I played hooker

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is it late october yet?

biocmp

Hey Cam, are you happy with the DMCCs on the proto? I just ordered them, should get em early next week.