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Is Burton really the "top dog" anymore?

9K views 96 replies 37 participants last post by  Justin 
#1 ·
So this last Saturday was the opening day for our hill. During our rest stops (or when I had to stop and wait for my much slower friends) I would take a look around and check out what everybody was riding/wearing this year. I kept kind of a mental note and came up with some pretty interesting results.

It seems like all I ever hear is everybody hates Burton because they are the "top dog" of the snowboarding scene. Well from what I saw on the hill it doesen't seem that way. I would say at least 30-40% of the hill was riding K2/Ride boards. I also saw a bunch of Never Summer boards. Other companies that had good showings were Forum and Lib Tech. Even Rome had more boards then Burton. I only saw just a handfull of people on Burton boards.

As for the jackets/pants of what people were wearing, Burton severely lacked in that department too. I saw a ton of 686 and Sessions. Northface had a good showing also. Once again I only saw a handfull of people sporting Burton gear.

So with all this being said I don't see how Burton can be the top dog anymore. If I was a newbie snowboarder and just looking around I would think that Burton is one of the least popular brands. If anything it looks like K2/Ride is taking over the scene.

Is it that people have wised up to Burton? Are people no longer going to pay ridiculas prices for equipment when they can go with a different company and get just as good of equipment for a fracton of the price?

The next time you are on your hill take a look around and keep a mental note of what you see. I am wondering if it is like this everywhere? And if so, I don't understand how Burton can still be the "top dog"...


Comments on what you think....
 
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#41 ·
That's mostly because your in Mervin's backyard.

I think I will stick out like a sore thumb this season on my Revolver (in a good way). Barely anyone I talk to knows of them, except for the local longboarding scene.

From what I have heard talking to people, a lot of people are getting Ride boards this season. But being near Rome and Burtons HQ's in Vermont, they are probably the most influential brands here. I did see a lot of Skate Bananas last year, and I saw multiple people pick them up at the Ski-Snowboard Expo a few weeks back. An acquaintance of mine I saw there got a Burton, but I did give him flack because of that :laugh:
Another friend of mine bought Burton boots and bindings there, but that was partially because they were a steal. The other part is that he probably is not very aware of the hate on the brand.
 
#14 ·
You can really tell NS's marketting(Vince, etc) are getting some good results because i too am seeing a lot more NS boards than i did last year. I saw like 4 people carrying new 2011 NS boards while waiting for the first chair of the season to start...and saw several more with people on my chair throughout the day...

Or maybe im just more aware of NS product designs now than last year lol...
 
#22 ·
Do you own ANY Burton product? Lets not forget what they did for the sport.
On the other hand, I think its awesome that there is still some soul left in this sport and the community self polices. Burton is being hated on because they try edging out the competition these days with cut throat type marketing and proprietory technology.

Just a guess, but I think the Burton reps (shops) make the least amount of money on Burton products. Know what I'm saying?
 
#26 ·
BA is right about some of the tech. And besides that $500+ is on par with the industry for higher-end boards. NS is a high-end manufacturer.

The other thing is that NS boards have been hovering around the $500 mark for the last few years - and I think 2011 models is the first time in 2 or 3 years that they've actually raised prices on their boards to keep up with their costs.

You're not going to get a Cadillac for the price of a G6 :)
 
#28 ·
So yes Burton is still the top dog and you really cant judge that based on a particular mountain one rides...
Exactly what I'm saying, sure you do it over the season and maybe a few others join in you might get a little more detailed information; but the actual process of just glancing around is rather cursorily done.

Plus as someone noted before "An individuals burton gear makes it out at least one to three times a year" :laugh:
 
#31 ·
I wasen't really focusing on the rental fleet of resorts. I was looking at more of the boarder that owns their own gear. However, I can see if a bunch of resorts use Burton as their rental gear how their sales would stager the other companies. All those rentals add up in overall board sales.
 
#30 ·
Just for the record, I am not a Burton hater or a Burton supporter. I am fairly neutral. I will acknowledge they have done great things for the progression of the sport (especially in the early years). I look at snowboard brands kind of like alcoholic drinks. Everybody has their favorite. Doesen't mean one is better then the other. It's all personal taste and the end result is the same, you get drunk! Just like snowboards, it's all personal taste and the end result is the same, you get on the mountain and shred.

I just happened to make a casual observation which sparked a curisoty. Hence why I decided to run it by all you guys to see if it is the same everywhere? I hear all the time how Burton is the top dog but it just wasen't present during my observation. Which is also why I asked to see what you guys are noticing on your mountains.

This was by no means a serious study. If it was I would have taken samples from different mountains and at different times of the year.

All this was was a light hearted question sparked by curiosity during a casual observation.
 
#32 · (Edited)
I am still waiting for the day that people get over this whole Burton thing. Where's Snowolf and his dead horse pictures?

Fact of the matter is, there is no way for you to make a fairly accurate estimation based on that one day, one mountain, a few stops, and just glancing. Burton is a Global brand. As others have stated, there are just too many variables involved. Burton remains on top by far regardless of what you personally saw.

Also, I work for a retailer and am an avid Burton outerwear fan so my knowledge of their outerwear is pretty extensive along with decent knowledge of other brands' outerwear. With that said, even with my experience I can't sit and watch people ride by and be able to tell what brand they have with 100% accuracy. Of course, there are exceptions with models that plaster the brand name in big lettering or big ass brand symbol. Nothing personal, but when you say you only saw a few people riding in Burton outerwear, I take it with a grain of salt. How can you possibly tell the difference between solid color outerwear without the above mentioned exceptions? How close are these people riding by you? How fast were they going? Were you able to notice the pocket and zipper arrangements? What about a black Burton Cargo pant and a black Bonfire Spectral pant? Were you also able to see their boots? Was everyone riding with their pants above the boot tongue so you can see the type? Even if they were, what about the factors I mentioned about the proximity and speed?

Many people who dislike Burton hardgoods, like their softgoods from my experience.
 
#33 ·
How can you possibly tell the difference between solid color outerwear without the above mentioned exceptions?
I wasen't looking at their outerwear as they rode by. As you said, It is nearly impossible to tell what they are truely wearing (unless you recognize the print pattern) when they are screaming by you. My outerwear observation was made in the lift line when I could get a close up look. And when I say outerwear I mean jacket and pants. I didn't look at boots because it was too hard to tell what brand of boots everybody was wearing. My board observation was made while sitting under the lift (while waiting for the rest of my crew to come up) where I could see the underneith of everybodys boards. 90% of boards have the brand name or the board name on the base.

I can tell that this subject (for whatever dumb reason) brings out a lot of emotion in people. All this was was a casual observation and a question. I am by no means saying that Burton is not the top dog. I'm just saying it wasen't prevelent when I was on the hill. LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE!!!!

If you are seeing different at your hill, awesome! Then describe what you guys are seeing.
 
#35 ·
I agree with all the previous statements...it was opening day which is definitely core riders and much more chance of them riding something other than Burton because we all know you can't be "core" and ride Burton Lol. Here in the North East Burton still definitely dominates the market with Ride being a close second and Rome and K2 also showing a big presence. Lib and Gnu have started making some inroads but I rarely see a NeverSummer or Dinosaurs Will Die, Unity etc here in the east. In fact if you were to go to my local ski mart on LI you're pretty much limited to just Burton, Ride, K2 and Nitro. They just started carrying Gnu stuff last season but are very limited in the selection. A couple of shops sell the Lib stuff and NeverSummer stuff but again in very limited quantities. I find that where you are definitely makes a big difference in what type of equipment you see on the hill.
 
#38 ·
Here in the North East Burton still definitely dominates the market with Ride being a close second and Rome and K2 also showing a big presence. Lib and Gnu have started making some inroads but I rarely see a NeverSummer or Dinosaurs Will Die, Unity etc here in the east.
+1. I was in my big, local, hardcore snowsport shop on the weekend snooping around. Hardware was Burton, Ride, K2 with a sprinkling of Rome and K2. One model of Gnu and 2 Lib Tech's boards. Forget NS, Batelon, Atomic, etc. Outerwear was your choice of Burton, Sessions or Ride.

Demo days around here are Burton...period.
 
#47 ·
I used to also think that the east cost was craptacular, but lately I am starting to appreciate it. Maybe it was because I wanted to blame the ice here for my riding problems, or maybe because in the last couple of years there has been more light shed on our mountains, but it could be worse. Don't get me wrong though, I'm still planning on moving to Colorado in three years.
 
#51 ·
I'm going boarding again this weekend. And seeing how it is a holiday weekend that should bring out more of the weekend warrior boarders. I'll take another look around and see if the numbers change at all.

I can completely understand about newb boarders riding Burton. For a newb boarder the only place they know where to get a snowboard would be from a multisport store i.e. REI, Big 5, Dicks, etc. And yes, those stores are always packed with Burton gear. However, with the plethra of information that can be found on the internet, I'm surprised that more newb's are not more educated in snowboarding gear. Call me stupid but if I was getting ready to drop $1,000 on a full set of gear you would think I would want to be a little bit educated instead of just excepting whatever BS the salesman at the store (who probably doesn't even ride) told me.

Thats probably why I didn't see very much Burton that day. Opening day brings out the die hards which are more educated in snowboarding gear. But like I said, we'll see how it looks this holiday weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!
 
#53 ·
I still see a lot of Burton boards (based on market share this is to-be-expected) here in Michigan, but definitely over the last few years there has been a change away from the other "mass market" companies like Rossignol etc., and I've noticed a lot more Arbors, Never Summers, and (this surprised me) Bataleons on the slopes. Lib is fairly well-represented here but mostly with the Pickle but I did see a T-Rice at the bar this evening, parked right next to an NS Evo.
 
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