Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

Marhar Lumberjack Reviewed

15K views 26 replies 7 participants last post by  david_z 
#1 · (Edited)
My everyday board is a 163cm Never Summer Legacy. This weekend I had the chance to spend a lot of time on the Marhar Lumberjack, it was the first chance I've had to get some quality time on a board other than my own, so here are my thoughts;

Rider Stats
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 225 lb
Stance: Regular, 22", 15/-15
Bindings: Rome 390 Boss

Board Stats

Size: 152cm
Shape: True twin, zero camber, "sideways rocker"

Conditions: 45 degrees, low visibility, heavy and wet slush snow




Going in I knew that the board is designed as a freestyle powder board, we didn't have powder but I wanted to try my limited freestyle on it to see how it compares to my all-mountain board.

The first thing that I noticed was the flex and poppiness of the Lumberjack. It's ridiculously easy to press, and the loading the tail gave me a nice pop up and forward when I rode. I'm new to freestyle, so this was the first time that I felt like I was really getting that pop sensation from a board. My ollies were more consistently ollies instead of "hops", more effortless. On the other hand, the combination of the softness and shortness of the board caught me off guard and I took her too far back on one tail press and flopped right onto my back. It was just a learning curve moment, and it helped me know where the sweet spot on the tail was located. Again, presses were effortless and stable with little to no drift that happens with my butters at times.

The board has a low swing weight, I really noticed it when popping 180s on wallsides, the spins were more natural and effortless. Sometimes I feel like I'm muscling the spin on my longer board. I was also impressed with the stability that I felt when landing jumps. The wide nature of the board gave me a nice platform to land on, and I managed to get my first indy grab. I was stoked to finally move beyond straight airs.



I also noticed that the Lumberjack has a shorter turning radius. On average it's listed as a 6.6m sidecut (7.6/4.5/7.6), and I noticed that difference on my first few runs. I would imagine that this helps the board to manage trees very well.

I didn't like the Lumberjack for charging the heavy, chunked out, and slushy snow. The board was getting knocked around pretty good in those conditions, while my Never Summer Legacy plowed through with a surfy ride.

TL;DR

Super playful, pop city, easy to spin, stable on jumps, and likely good in the trees and pow. It wouldn't be my first choice in heavy, wet, and choppy snow if your goal is just to charge it.
 

Attachments

See less See more
4
#2 ·
Thanks for the review! I've been really eyeing this board up recently and I'm pretty dead-set on it being my next deck. I have a Flight Attendant 162 for charging around but I really want a shorter playful board to have fun with in trees and for spinning/buttering.

Next step is to find the damn thing. Marhar's website is sold out and finding a dealer which web presence isn't exactly a piece of cake. Maybe I'll have to wait until next year, but oh well!

Thanks Again!
ThatsNotFennel
 
#4 ·
First things first.... Awesome grab Brah!! :cheer: You must be Stoked that you got such a great pic of it as well! :grin:


....Again, presses were effortless and stable with little to no drift that happens with my butters at times......
By "Drift" do you mean a tendency to turn or slide to one side or the other while pressed? And if so,.. does it drift to the same side fairly consistently?

I have a tendency to do the same thing,.. especially now that I'm trying to get all my pre-injury mojo back. My drift or spin direction seems to be consistently heel, or frontside! Not sure how to correct for that. But I'm wondering if we're having the same issue. Be nice if someone could tell us what was responsible for correcting for that on this ride. ;)

....I didn't like the Lumberjack for charging the heavy, chunked out, and slushy snow. The board was getting knocked around pretty good in those conditions, while my Never Summer Legacy plowed through with a surfy ride....
On this issue,... you may have just been riding too short a board. I know you lost a ton of weight! (...no pun intended!) :laugh: Even so... My very first thought upon reading the board specs you posted was, "DAMN,.. that's awfully short deck for a guy your size!!!"

I noticed the same thing in chunky spring conditions when riding my 157 Proto. I was getting bucked, thrown around and completely frying my thighs trying to blast thru that stuff.

I switched to my 163W Arbor and just plowed up, over or thru it with ease! The longer board was stiffer & more stable plowing thru those conditions without needing near as much work from my legs. Whereas the shorter, softer Proto was flexing and bucking me around going thru the chop!

If you have an another opportunity this season... maybe try it on a longer version of that deck for the same conditions. See if the ride improves.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Hey Chomps, thanks for the comments on the grab. I was stoked man. @david_z caught it for me.

The Lumberjack is designed to be ridden up to 10cm shorter, but I'd opt for the 155cm if I pull the trigger on it- but I don't think the extra inch would make much difference in this case. It seems to be related to the softer flex of the ride versus the stiffer all-mountain, but you might have a point that the overall shortness of the model contributes.

The drift- Yeah if I'm not using proper technique then my tail presses drift toeside. It's not a "turn" so much as a slight drift like you'd get with a bad alignment on your car. It's because I'm weighting my toe slightly when pressing. It's just a matter of us leaning slightly during the press.
 
#9 ·
Has anyone called them? I called Marhar with some questions about the Archaic and afterwards decided to go with a 154. They told me that my local shop had it in inventory.... when I got to the shop, it wasn't there. I was totally bummed out, but the shop said they would try to order one. Got a call 3 days later saying none were available to order, but Marhar offered to build one for me.... Boom! I should have it by the end of this week. Marhar even called me to confirm, said that if it wasn't done by the time I took my trip early February, that they would send a Demo so I had something to ride. Maybe they just happened to have the materials around for the Archaic and I got lucky, but worth a shot if you really want the board.
 
#10 ·
Has anyone called them?
Great advice & definitely worth a shot -- Nate & Josh are pretty cool guys and they may be inclined to build one if you contact them directly.

This board was a fairly limited release, first year of this model and they had a tough time pre-selling it to shops on account of such a shitty winter last year so I know they did not make very many of them.
 
#23 ·
Got it out for a half day at Loveland today. Conditions were very variable. They got a couple inches of fresh last night, but it was pretty tracked out and chopped up by the time I got up there. Conditions ranged from a couple of inches of tracked out pow to windblown choppy hardpack.

Overall, wow that's quite a different experience. You can definitely feel the width. I can see how some people wouldn't like this board. You have to be very comfortable with the feeling of flat basing and very comfortable with really laying into your edges to ride these short fatties. If you're not comfortable with that, you're not gonna have a good time. Plenty of edge hold if you're willing to lay into it, but there's a lot of board between the edges to play on. It's a very different ride. Kinda like getting on rocker for the first time. It just feels sketchy and weird at first. But after a run or two I settled in. The stability of the board is pretty surprising. No issues losing an edge and it ate up chunder a lot better than I thought it would.

The lifted edges make buttering a dream. You can just spin circles on this thing with no worries of catching an edge.

Curious to get some more time on this thing.
 
#24 ·
Sick board. Still really enjoying it.

The only real knock I have on this board so far is that the topsheet is awfully fragile. Easily chipped and marred up. Not a big deal unless you're one of those people who panics every time their board gets a nick, but do realize this board is gonna suffer from those lift line dings. Other than that, it's great.
 
#25 ·
One other caution: it's definitely not the best on icy conditions, you need to be comfortable riding high edge angles otherwise it's just too loose. Had it up at Stevens Pass on Sunday and while not icy per se it was a weird, wet/compressed hardpack that was borderline ice.

Soft, too, and some people prefer a stiffer, damper board, so that's something to keep in mind also.

Next winter they're coming out with a very directional Woodsman, offered only in one size (145cm). It's got a similar base profile but rides a bit more damp and sturdy. Slays powder, and rips groomers as well. I rode it last Thurs at Mt Baker in about 6" of hot pow on top of the previous day's mixture of 12" snow + 1" rain and it was unsinkable. Like, literally never had to think about keeping the nose from submarining. I should've put another slush day on it at Stevens but I was worried about ice so I took my Lib that day instead...

Here's a quick vid of the Woodsman in action and keeping in mind I'm a stout 225 lbs right now :(

https://www.instagram.com/p/BShWaN5hkVd/
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top