Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

Freeride/Pow quiver board selection and size?

17K views 71 replies 20 participants last post by  Seppuccu 
#1 ·
Hi all, I'm looking for a powder board to add to the quiver, and with huge amount of choice out there I'm really starting to get a bit lost. I'm an out and out Freerider, only using piste to get to get off it - though I won't claim to be the best rider ever for sure, especially I never realy spent the time to learn tricks and big jumps or anything! But I do live near enough to the alps to ride at weekends, rather than being the one or two holidays a year type.

However this year I'm planning to spend 10 days riding in Japan for some real pow and thought it's time I add a genuine Pow board to the quiver - but I've not had many snowboards in my life and struggle to choose, nor ever ridden a true pow board, but want something for this trip, as well as those rare pow days in Europe. Bearing this in mind, it should be something that is eipc in pow, but can also be ridden across crud and rubbish to get to it - in Europe that's a necessity, and especially as what pow there is tends to get used up very quickly!

Mostly I currently ride a 2012(ish) Arbor A-frame 162 - pure camber charger, I like its stability, and though it's not bad in pow, it is still quite hard work on the back leg, and needs a LOT of speed to really start floating. That might be due to my weight though - kitted out I'll get up to 110kg (which at 5'11 is pretty hefty), which is a bit over most boards recommended range!

I also have a Rome Anthem SS 159 hyrbid, also a reasonably stiff board, but more towards all-mountain.

SO I've narrowed to a few choices - (and open to others)
1. Jones Hovercraft/Ultracraft 160 - I like the idea of camber between the feet for power and the rocker nose/short tail. seems a senible solution for me, but anyone have experience with them, or which to recommend of these two very similar boards? I'm told the Hovercraft is a bit soft - but It's been many years since I rode a softer board... I just dont know really how much difference it makes! I know these boards ride longer than they are, but will it be big enough for effortless float with rider weight in mind?

2. Jones Hovercraft 164 - extra size for added float, but would it turn into a bit of a barge - effectively riding more towards a 170 than 160??

3. West Six Carro 160 - a small swiss company that I found in a local shop, the board has a similar idea ot teh hovercraft but with a more pronounced camber between the feet, and slightly wider at its widest. It's stiffer than a hovercraft, and the guy in the shop says its a good board - paticularly to punch through crud and ice, but the hovercraft has been perfected over the years by a much bigger company with better research budgets!

4. Arbor Cosa Nostra/Shreddy Kreuger 162 - meant o be good, though will its rocker profile be a good idea compared to the Jones? how big a handling differeence will they give?

5. Capita Spring Break - 165 thingy witthe hole in it - looks great, any ideas how it will actually ride when compared to say the hovercraft or Arbor?

I'm really trying to get an idea of how they compare to each other to actually ride in teh deep stuff, as well as getting to the deep stuff - and most reviews tend not to say much in terms of comparisons.

Shoud I be looking at something bigger, with my over-average rider weight?

Thanks in advance
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Dupraz D1? You could get a stiffer than standard flex on the 5.5 or jump up to the 6.0. I haven't heard anything negative. My wife loves her board, including freeriding in Austria last year. When we got back I picked up a very similarl board - Prior Fissile - that I am getting to know now. Great float and stability, but with significant sidecut it also carves beautifully.
 
#5 ·
164 Hovercraft sounds just like the ticket for you. Will float amazing and keep in mind that it is basically the same size as your current boards.

Don't know the West, but it looks like a Hovercraft clone so could be good too. Has quite a bit more taper.

The Arbor decks could work but with thi full rocker profile will be a very different ride from what you are used to.
Spring Break boards are one trick ponies. Great float for powder cruising but not for hard riding and suck in crud and chop.
Dupraz not recommended for Japan and what you are describing.
 
#11 ·
Spring Break boards are one trick ponies. Great float for powder cruising but not for hard riding and suck in crud and chop.
Dupraz not recommended for Japan and what you are describing.
not true, at all they blast through the crud and chop. And they ride hard pack fine unless crazy steep. Def not a one trick pony. 420 and 20/20 are the worst rides I've ever been on in chop and crud felt like i was riding bucking bronco.
 
#10 · (Edited)
5. Capita Spring Break - 165 thingy witthe hole in it - looks great, any ideas how it will actually ride when compared to say the hovercraft or Arbor?
I have many powder boards and ridden many and the capita spring break powder wolf 165 is by far the best powder boards i've ridden. It rips in the deep I rode in waist deep on monday and it rips on groomers too. Just make sure you have plenty of base down so you don't get caught on a root or log. Super fun board. Its gonna be hard to grab anything else on a pow day. That huge nose with 92mm of taper its unsinkable.

I've only ridden the hover craft out of the boards on the list you have. The springbreaks are way more lively and fun surfy. The hovercraft in my opinion is missing that fun factor kind of stale ride to me. But haven't ridden one since 2012 or so. I'd recommend any of the capita springbreak decks or the nitro quiver decks. I'd stay away from yes 420 or 20/20 I didn't like them they don't float like the Pow Wolf or tree hunter.

Also don't get last years powder hole to save money it doesn't have a sidecut which is useless on groomers.





 
#24 ·
i'm around your weight, although about 5 inches taller. also love the pow and have been riding with that in mind most of the time ...

having been to japan at the beginning of 2016 i have a few points to consider :

- japan slopes, on average, a mostly pow board will be super fun
- doing the gates (technically offpiste, but super accessible for people not going for the full backcountry experience) at the various resorts (hirafu & co) having a nimble board seemed to be important
- where i went there were trees everywhere, not that many tree wells (surprisingly)
- didn't do any full backcountry so no idea, although some of the runs had some long hikes back out

that being said, i rode a 156 bataleon magic carpet ... it was amazingly fun (got a 159 this year as the only gripe with it was it was a tiny bit too short). this board was super fun on piste, but way prefer my riot 159w if i'm doing mostly charging/on piste.

have a great time in japan, the snow even on an off year is amazing :)
 
#29 ·
Hi again all - so I've been reading all this with great interest, thanks so much for the great response. I'll try to add my thoughts to as much as possible -

- firstly I think the suggestion of 180cm board is overkill. Boards still function outsid their suggested weight range, but it would handle like HMS Ark Royal in europes tight trees or beat up slopes. Also, no idea where to get one here - they would be very rare, as they just don't suit europe at all.

- Dupraz have strangely never quite appealed to me, lot's of posts about them here, and I have been told before they are great, but I think they are a do-it-all design initially made for carving (actually I know this as they had set up a stand in Verbier when Dupraz were still quite new). I could be wrong...

- to SGBoarder - thanks for the recommendation, I'm inclined to agree and cross the Arbor Cosa Nostra off my list due to the full rocker system (that I am not used to). The West is of course a similar idea to the Hovercraft, but it's a bit stiffer, has a deeper sidecut, and is slightly wider at it's shoulder, only comes in 160 though. The shop tell me it's really good, 1 guy told me it's more fun than the HC, the other just preferred the stiffer flex for the added grip it gives.

- Flow Darwin and Korua Stealth - both actually look good! potentially adds another to the list, but anyone can compare them to the HC? No idea where o get the Korua, its sold out on the website.

- Very interesting debate on the Capita - it's exactly my worry, its a love/hate sort of thing. I might adore it... I might not. I definitely need something that still functions in imprefect conditions though, beaten up chunder etc... but how does it cmopare to the HC?

- HTFU, thats really good advice, glad to hear your experience. I'm actually going to several resorts in 10 days with fully guided off-piste and backcountry, hopefully a couple of days with ski-cats, so it should be epic! Relatively little on-piste I hope, as always, but interesting to hear that you ride such short boards!

So... what can I gleam from all this? firstly - it seems the consensus is I would be better off with the 164 rather than 160 if in Hovercraft guise? if so that would exclude the Ultracraft. Will the stiffness be that important even? The short tail will help it steer through trees but still with float... which sounds nice. Is the Hovercraft fun however? any finger pointing at it saying it's just not that fun to ride worries me, it's why I never bought a burton all-mountain board (sorry Burton owners) several years ago when I actually tested several boards, and went for a Rome instead (the rome's I tested were just more lively and fun to ride - though the test was a long time ago, and I'm a much better rider now!).

I'm even more curious about the Capita now, yes its gimmicky but could be fun! I want to spend more time comparing the West/Korua/Darwin/HC now.. of course function is extremely important but will any of them stand out above each other for any reason?

One thing I do think is a gimmick however are many hybrid camber boards claiming to have rocker in the nose. Sorry to my Rome Anthem - it's one such of these boards, but compare the nose to my A-Frame (pure camber) there's just no real difference. The West and HC however, have rocker starting much further in and longer, which seems a good solution.

I would be curious to buy a board there (Gentamsticks are meant to be great) but I'm doubtful that I shall get the time/chance to, ans will spend half the holiday testing boards...
 
#33 ·
I had a swimming out experience at Sunshine 2 days ago. There's some great flat spots off the sides of the runs that no one ventures into...I often do. Bomb the groomers, carry enough speed, and it's all golden. After some very consistent, super dry, super cold snowfall, totally untouched off the sides of those runs, I hit my usual line bombing the groomer to line up for some nice powder turns before cruising back out to the lift. Except I only got half as far as I usually do, while leaving a ditch behind me twice as deep as I usually do. I literally had to swim out on my board, I tried walkiing/crawling out and I was over waist deep, not a nice feeling when you've got 40-50m to travel. Took me a at least 7-8 minutes of struggling and a lot of sweating to get back onto something even remotely solid.

Only other time I've experienced powder that light was a freak storm we got back in NZ that dumped 45cm (very unusual) unfortunately I was working on 80's day, one of our busiest in the season. Finally got out around 2pm and went to find something untracked which was no where near steep enough to keep up momentum. Here's the vid, 200lb on a 162 Flight Attendant literally set all the way back. Had zero tail, and you don't see my board once in this clip.

 
#35 ·
We have a giant 80s dress up closet at one of the old homesteads, I had to pull rank to make sure I got my mullet wig again, that was the 3rd year running hah. Looking forward to the 4th in August!
 
  • Like
Reactions: F1EA
#37 ·
A couple weeks back I went to EVO in Seattle and seen the Korua 163 stealth, I'd never heard of the brand but after taking a really close look at it checking the flex pattern, sidecut, camber, price $540 and overall build (not to mention being Swiss built), if I hadn't already bought the Landlord I would have pick it up.
 
#39 ·
Great discussion!

My spontaneous reaction is that a big hole in the tail of the board is about the last thing you want when you're riding in a place where there are birch trees and bushes lurking at an unknown depth beneath you - but what do I know?

The Jones homepage places you firmly at the upper end of the Hovercraft 164, and like 15 kgs over the top recommended weight of the 160 - but then again some people just prefer riding a (relatively speaking) smaller board and you seem to be one of them. In any case you could check out their sizing guidelines.

Not sure if anyone else here owns a Hovercraft. I haven't ridden my (2014) 160 yet, but I'm planning to try it out a bit in non-optimal conditions (corduroy, perhaps 5 cm of fluff if we're lucky) this weekend and I can get back to you on the fun part. Two disclaimers on that: 1) I'm way less experienced than you, and 2) it's an old model and doesn't have the hull of the new one.

Also: What kind of Japow are we talking about? Fluffy Hokkaido pow or heavier Honshu pow?
 
#40 ·
Neni- is that a hovercraft in the pictures? How do you find it? What size are you riding?

Anticrobotic - I'd be very interested to hear how you get on with your hovercraft this weekend. I'm sure that eh character of the board has remained largely similar over the years, Jones seem to like making marginal tweaks rather than redesigning boards from the ground up. Somehow also totally missed the Jones sizing guide, which seems to be saying go 160cm... unless you are seriously big then 164... which leaves me at the same dilemma!

Will be Hokkaido Fluffy stuff!! Though obviously future use after that is not!
 
#41 · (Edited)
Neni- is that a hovercraft in the pictures? How do you find it? What size are you riding?
Naw, it's a Jones Flagship, on those pics men's 154 or women's 156 (@~115lbs); as I'm a one quiver freeride girl, the Hovy doesn't fit my bill. I've only trued men's Hovy on groomers and it's not my cup of tea. Maybe the women's would not feel like a boat as much, but I never felt the urge to steer away from my known n loved Flags :)

BTW: while in '13 till '16 they haven't chaged tremendously, the this year's model does ride differently, probably mostly due to the spoon (you'll find details in the women's boards review section). IIRC, the Hovy comes with spoon as well.
 
#42 ·
On the topic of pow vs "blower pow", I had a day on very low angle slopes a few weeks ago. the temps were hovering around zero degrees Fahrenheit all day and it was hard on the lungs/throat to breath that air in while exerting on the climbs. But the snow was some of the most "blower" I have ever experienced. It matches what I imagine neni was describing in Japan, but it's hard to know for sure. The snow just sort of blew around like fine dust..

We could not shoot up big rooster tails here because it wasn't steep enough to get speed for that, but the snow was super light.
 

Attachments

#43 · (Edited)
Sweet!
Yeah it's a rare beast, especially here in the PSW. It's awesome even when you get 30-60cm like that; I can't imagine how mind blowing would be a full base depth made out of such fluff..........

Here's a little japanese dude ripping a 6'3" Dupraz taller than him. And it wasn't even "that" deep...


Cant get enough of this one:


Ohhh this one is a bit deeper :D
 
#44 ·
nice pow day shots in this thread!

@op... where in hokkaido are you heading to and what kind of riding are you planning to do there? i was there for two months in 2016 during the storm season and the most popular boards i saw foreigners on were the jones', especially in niseko (lots and lots of hovercrafts). having said that, many of the locals (and mostly outside of foreigner-driven niseko) tended to ride powsticks with much more pronounced shapes and you could tell they were having MUCH more fun in the trees :) scoopier noses, bigger taper & near nonexistent tails. a lot have similar shapes to the kreuger but with less rocker. i love all the capita spring break shapes but with the amount of time spent in the woods there, i think that hole in the powder wolf will latch onto something sooner than later.

blower pow there is indeed, true blower pow. i spent everyday dealing with pow blasting through my goggle vents which was super frustrating had it not been so fun lol. i've had 60+cm days in whistler with temps around -15-20 and it's not even close to japow quality... i'm stoked AND jealous that you're going!. even with 20cm overnight, you'll likely be up to your thighs (if not deeper) on turns. if you're going to be there in feb when the dumps are coming, i think a 160 at 240lbs is on the small side and you'll likely get buried. for reference, i was setback a tad on a 156cm fish @ 145lbs. i would stick with camrock/s-rocker as well which will be much more useful once you bring it home.
 
#45 ·
Ok so... (not trying to create jealousy here but I'm super excited!) it's actually a Hokkaido Freeride Road Trip starting around the city of Asahikawa to visit nearby spots as Kamui, Asahidaki and Teine - then a transfer to the Niseko area to pick the best spots there! All fully guided, and will be doing 1-2 days of Cat-boarding too. Basically playing powder hounds!

So if I was to go Hovercraft then worth upsizing to the 164 by the sound of it! I'm still open to other shapes too, but I don't want to get a board that is useless to me in Europe - whatever I get has to be able to deal with cut up snow and bumps and worse conduitions that are found in Europe, as here you a) rarely get more than knee/thigh deep pow and b) it gets tracked out before you can even start half the time! And many of the larger surf style pow boards I think likely would be!
 
#46 ·
sweet! asahidake with a guide is how you wanna do it! sounds like you have an amazing trip coming up. if you can squeeze in a day at rusutsu since you're around the niseko area, i highly recommend it. teine also surprised me; an amazing mountain with some steeps that i'm sure your guides will treat you to.

i don't know much about the european terrain but what i will add is that when i looked for a powstick, i was really worried about how it would hold up on groomers and traversing when i came home but i've been pleasantly surprised at how well i can hold an edge and carve. when you watch the locals ride their spoon noses in waist deep AND lay down euro carves, it makes you realize that boards are capable of a lot more than we give them credit for (ie: labeling them as one-trick ponies). have a sick trip!
 
#48 ·
i don't know much about the european terrain but what i will add is that when i looked for a powstick, i was really worried about how it would hold up on groomers and traversing when i came home but i've been pleasantly surprised at how well i can hold an edge and carve.
Out of curiosity, which pow-stick(s) did you get? or test? I'd be curious to hear your feedback on something specific.
 
#47 ·
Yeah Rusutsu is also in the itinerary, I dare say we will not spend that much time in Niseko itself, but go to the other neighbouring resorts, as far as the guides see fit depending on conditions!

jjj - actually I think you've nailed the point a bit - and though I've not changed my mind about anything I am going to re-prioritise slightly with my selection!

Just as before, taking into account the future uses of the board in europe, but really thinking through that more fully. To explain if not familiar to Alps snow, its relatively wetter/heavier usually, but the mountains can be steep too. Thigh deep pow is rare, I've probably had waiste-ish deep once. ANY powder stash that exists gets ridden out in minutes, as all resorts are so busy, so true fresh tracks are a distinct rarity or just really short! Also the pow will settle on top of beaten up bumpy pistes/on top of lesser mogul'd (or just totally mogul'd) side-country. That means underneath the fresh stuff you still have to cope with usually still pretty bumpy terrain. Then for 75%+ of the day you will be re-using lines or finding new less heavily ridden lines of chop.

That's why I need something that is a pure pow board but also must ride a bit of crud and most importantly the bumps and chop really, really well! Carving ability after that I think is a bit secondary, as actually thinking about it I nearly always avoid the piste, and certainly don't touch them enough to really matter as long as the board will function ok on it! Afterall, when there is not really much in the way of deep fresh pow, I still have an A-frame to carve with and pile down the mountain on.

This is meant to be a quiver board, and not my daily-rider (which will still be the A-frame). I've been looking way too much at the all-round qualities of these boards so far. This fact is really is making me reconsider the Capita Spring break offerings of various shapes, and possibly some slightly more pointy pow boards - I don't care if they aren't the best on-piste - provided they can deal with bumps! In that though a battleship 170+ swallowtail is still not ideal (great for first 2 runs, crap for the rest of the day).

Why do I say this? I yesterday I had a mostly boring piste-day to get my legs working whilst there is a lack of snow (riding the Rome 159 i haven't pickup up for a couple of seasons now as a comparison), and realised I haven't spent that much time truly on-piste in years, no do I enjoy it all that much. Piste's here are hugely over-used and rubbish anyway - my cousin (who was sued to BC pistes) never understood what I meant about bumps on piste (we even had firey arguments about it!) until he rode with me in Chamonix!

I also went to a shop to look at boards and discuss what they had. The shop ower pushed at me the Korua Trenchdigger 165 he had in stock telling me how great a powder board it is but also carves perfectly. He seemed to love Korua, but actually I went home after and looked it up only to find it's truly a Carving board (that is decent for pow too). He should have suggested the Stealth or Pencil, except of course he didn't have those in stock! But alas there is the problem with these dodgy french-swiss shops in resorts around here, you can rarely trust a word they say as they rarely put the customer first. It's a common problem here - though I can test a few of the boards they have there if I return next week. But he's angered me enough that I probably won't go back!

So I think I'm going to spend a bit more time looking at other shapes. Certainly the Capita series have bumped up my list a couple of notches, as has the Korua Pencil particularly, and to some extent the Stealth. Hovercraft and West still on the list... should I reconsider the Arbor cosa Nostra and its rocker!? probably not in that I'v never riddenone, but maybe it will be exactly that different board I am looking for...

What a life!
 
#54 ·
Yet the hovercraft does seem rather the "safe" option doesn't it!

In the back of my mind I'm almost even rethinking the Arbor... though probably camber between the feet is still teh way to go, and certainly looking closer at the Capita's after my previous post.
 
#56 · (Edited)
By a bit of chance (or pure luck!?) I've managed to rent a jones hovercraft 156 from a local(ish) shop for tomorrow, which happens to be anticipated to be a big pow day here! Yes it's certainly smaller than I want, but will hopefully give me a good clue as to how these things ride - I'll report back how it turns out, though first thing i noticed (other than its a short-arse) isthe nose is a little wiuder than my 162 A-frame still!
 
#57 ·
So, rode a 156 Hovercraft today for a test, thought I would repor what I found... was a powder day in the alps, not all that deep as I had hoped but still a decent chance to test smoething like this.

So first thing to state, was that it reacted perfectly predictably in all situations I put it in, and I found it easy to ride - nothing terribly unexpected here. I didn't really notice much or any difference with the magnatraction, edge hold was fine, the only time I noticed it was one time leaning theboard over on the piste and it bit somewhat suddenly and unexpectedly.

Next there was the float - bearing in mind this was a 156, whcih should be too small for me, and particularly the weight range - it still floated really well considering, though on the whole the pow was not deep today. Better than I had expected, and possibly slightly better even than my A-Frame 162! Also sitting on that stubby tail is great to pivot around, and once I got used to riding after a few runs, got less and less back-leg-ache.

The stubby tail also helped in terms of handling the chop and bumps nicely, in essence allowing me to sit on it and keep the nose in the air whilst plowing over all. The flex of the board was not too soft (though one could argue it could have been slightly more responsive), but I didn't need it to be a much firmer, though I'm sure its feel is affected by the shorter size in this case.

When the snow got harder I did fnd it clattered a bit over the bumps, the A-frame feels it has a bit more damping perhaps in this situation, despite being the stiffer board. And that surprised me. I perhaps the feel was due to the length? I'm used to haveing a bit more board underneath me. The width of it made it slower edge to edge than the A-frame, a touch sluggish if picking hairs, but overall I found it's on-piste performance to be just fine - and I don't need it to be better. I did struggle a little to get it into a proper arcing carve especially compared to the A-frame, but I'm not used to the deeper sidecut it has either.

My overall opinion would be to give it 8/10. I enjoyed the ride and found it started coming to life when the pow got deeper, and I enjoyed riding it, but nor did it wow me (though no reason it should mind you!). It was fine on-piste, and great off, entirely predictable in handling, dependable, and nicely manouverable, made much off-piste riding easier in some respects. That said, if nitpicking, I would say the board lacked a touch of excitement (though to be fair, when I did hit a fresh patch, I still whoop'd and giggled like a child!). I also would need to take into account the size. I'm not entirely sure if a 160 or 164 would suit better... perhaps the 160 so as not to get too utterly massive! I'm veering in that durection.

I'll also give it some better consideration if this si the board for me, though my instant reaction is not to instantly jump at it.
 
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