Yes Optimistic 156 - First Impressions - Snowboarding Forum

boarder27 · 12-12-2010, 11:41 PM

There seems to be a serious lack of info out there for many of the Yes boards, so I figured I'd put up some first impressions after finally putting my new board to use...

Conditions:

Wet snow... They got a ton of snow up in Ontario over the past week and the weather got up to 2 or 3 degrees over night before I got there. I started snowboarding around noon, so the runs were very tracked up and far from ideal.

Ride:

The board held up very well in the sloppy snow. On my old board, this kind of snow would feel sticky and heavy, but the Optimistic cut through the chop much better than I was used to. The ride was very damp and felt really solid. The base was very fast! I had no problem picking up speed in the wet stuff.

Pop felt nice... even though the park was closed, I was able to get a little air off of some natural features. It felt really lively and fun to play around with. I still need to adjust to the different shape of this board with the rockered tail, it seems to give it a different feel, but once I got used to it, the board had some really nice spring to it.

Carving:

Edge hold was fantastic on the Optimistic... I have been snowboarding for 14 years on different traditional cambered boards, and I am really sold on the camrock profile. My old board was stiff as hell and had a very long effective edge, yet I felt like I was able to power out of turns even better on this profile. It never washed out on me and really felt nice when I would put my weight on my rear leg coming out of a carve.

The rockered tip and tail allowed for some incredible turn initiation too... you could really just press down over the toe edge of my board and the aggressive sidecut would take over. Laying out some really quick tight radius turns was a breeze for this board... pretty nice considering the conditions I had to deal with.

Overall Impressions:

I came away pretty stoked from my first day out. I'd say this is an all mountain board, but from what I've read, it's bread and butter is freeride and powder. Still his board handled crappy conditions very nicely.

Fast, good edge hold, great turn initiation, nice and lively... I would recommend this board to any experienced rider looking for an all mountain deck.

DaveE · 01-06-2011, 07:43 PM

Glad your enjoying the board. I road last years 162 YES in Whistler and loved it. It seems to handle every condition. Unfortunately i lost the board and im looking to replace it with either a GDOH or optimistic. Give us more info on future rides if you don't mind. How is it for the park? Too stiff?

boarder27 · 01-09-2011, 10:09 PM

I took it out on a better day, but still at Blue. It holds an edge really nicely and the turn initiation is effortless. It's pretty damn stable at top speed too. I had the chance to try out my friend's Salomon Special II and I have to admit that his board locks in a little better as a pure camber freeride board, but it is a little bit more effort to get edge to edge and it wont float in powder like the Optimistic will. I'd say that the Optimistic is what I was looking for... it can handle bombing it on groomers no problem, is great in the pipe and of kickers and it will be ideal for my trips out west where it'll just be non stop powder and trees.

I'd say its a little too stiff for jibbling Dave. I took a couple of kickers on it and it picks up speed well and pops great. Will be excellent for pipe riding too, but they didnt have it open yet when I went last.

12-12-2010, 11:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
boarder27 Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 70	Yes Optimistic 156 - First Impressions There seems to be a serious lack of info out there for many of the Yes boards, so I figured I'd put up some first impressions after finally putting my new board to use... Conditions: Wet snow... They got a ton of snow up in Ontario over the past week and the weather got up to 2 or 3 degrees over night before I got there. I started snowboarding around noon, so the runs were very tracked up and far from ideal. Ride: The board held up very well in the sloppy snow. On my old board, this kind of snow would feel sticky and heavy, but the Optimistic cut through the chop much better than I was used to. The ride was very damp and felt really solid. The base was very fast! I had no problem picking up speed in the wet stuff. Pop felt nice... even though the park was closed, I was able to get a little air off of some natural features. It felt really lively and fun to play around with. I still need to adjust to the different shape of this board with the rockered tail, it seems to give it a different feel, but once I got used to it, the board had some really nice spring to it. Carving: Edge hold was fantastic on the Optimistic... I have been snowboarding for 14 years on different traditional cambered boards, and I am really sold on the camrock profile. My old board was stiff as hell and had a very long effective edge, yet I felt like I was able to power out of turns even better on this profile. It never washed out on me and really felt nice when I would put my weight on my rear leg coming out of a carve. The rockered tip and tail allowed for some incredible turn initiation too... you could really just press down over the toe edge of my board and the aggressive sidecut would take over. Laying out some really quick tight radius turns was a breeze for this board... pretty nice considering the conditions I had to deal with. Overall Impressions: I came away pretty stoked from my first day out. I'd say this is an all mountain board, but from what I've read, it's bread and butter is freeride and powder. Still his board handled crappy conditions very nicely. Fast, good edge hold, great turn initiation, nice and lively... I would recommend this board to any experienced rider looking for an all mountain deck.

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01-06-2011, 07:43 PM	#2 (permalink)
DaveE Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 19	Glad your enjoying the board. I road last years 162 YES in Whistler and loved it. It seems to handle every condition. Unfortunately i lost the board and im looking to replace it with either a GDOH or optimistic. Give us more info on future rides if you don't mind. How is it for the park? Too stiff?

01-09-2011, 10:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
boarder27 Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 70	I took it out on a better day, but still at Blue. It holds an edge really nicely and the turn initiation is effortless. It's pretty damn stable at top speed too. I had the chance to try out my friend's Salomon Special II and I have to admit that his board locks in a little better as a pure camber freeride board, but it is a little bit more effort to get edge to edge and it wont float in powder like the Optimistic will. I'd say that the Optimistic is what I was looking for... it can handle bombing it on groomers no problem, is great in the pipe and of kickers and it will be ideal for my trips out west where it'll just be non stop powder and trees. I'd say its a little too stiff for jibbling Dave. I took a couple of kickers on it and it picks up speed well and pops great. Will be excellent for pipe riding too, but they didnt have it open yet when I went last.