[WigMar]

Well, Korua Shapes seems like an obvious option.
Dart if you want a super responsive board in any type of powder (imho it's even to agile sometimes, and you have to be gentle with it), or Cafe Racer if you want more stability and a less nimble board. Didn't try Pencil but due to swallowtail, it should be good in trees too)

Here you have some examples.

High speed treeriding (middle part)

Denser forest and much worse snow conditions (uneven terrain, a lot of tracks already and bumpy as hell)

Imho most boards with volume shifted and swallowtail will give you what you're looking for. I'll be testing Nitro Dropout in the next few days in trees.




Volume shifted doesn't mean it's obligatory good in trees. Nitro Squash isn't the best option, slow, like a tank, works ok, but it's way slower in turns than Dart i.e. My buddy had Squash and he couldn't keep up with me in trees. I rode Superpig a few times on piste, and tbh I wouldn't use it in trees riding high speeds, not enough control/agility to make quick corrections.

Super jealous of those tree runs. Things are usually tighter over here.

I agree, not all volume shift boards are good in the trees. Some of them are too torsionally stiff. That 144 Cool Bean is a little stiff to throw around even though it's the shortest of the bunch.

 

[snow & pow adventures]

Super jealous of those tree runs. Things are usually tighter over here.

I agree, not all volume shift boards are good in the trees. Some of them are too torsionally stiff. That 144 Cool Bean is a little stiff to throw around even though it's the shortest of the bunch.

One is from Slovakia, the other from Austria. We miss places like that in Poland too, just a few well know spots, or hard to reach areas where you hike 4h to ride 10min. That's not my style

 

[Phedder]

Agree you don't want the Nitro Squash if agility in trees is a priority. Super stable at speed and floats very well though. I'd actually look at the Banker for you instead of the Squash. Plenty of nose for float still, narrower and tighter sidecut for trees and moguls, camber and stiffness for stability. Just gotta know you want full camber in the board.

But if you want stable and agile with good float, I'd put you on the Archetype.

Burton one hitter could work? Never ridden it but specs would suggest a decent fit. Hopefully an easy one to Demo. Yes Hybrid seems a good option too. I'm very curious about that Nidecker Mellow as well...

 

[Yeahti87]

I dig the Archetype if you can sacrifice some float.

Amplid Surfari is also very recommendable.

Haven’t been on the Hybrid but I’ve ridden several Yes boards and similar shapes from other brands and looks like a great choice (the weakest point should be big steep groomer lines but it should still handle well enough). PYL should also be a great contender.

 

[Seth_theY]

Howdy all!
Thank you such for the amazing advice, I really appreciate all of your help! After looking into the options and what I can try out around me I will be hoping to demo the Dart, Camel two, hybrid and archetype. There were others I’d like to try but none of my local shops have them in stock so I wouldn’t be able to test them.
Weighing as light as I do about 135-140, I would assume I’m looking for the 150 in the Dart, the 153 hybrid and the 150 archetype. For the Camel Two it looks like 149 or 153 would work, 153 being a bit more stable and the 149 more agile. Does that sound about right for sizing?
Cheers!

 

[Phedder]

Those all sound way too small, except the Dart and Hybrid as they're quite wide. You ride real mountains with big terrain and plenty of snow, those are park board sizes, not freeride... 154 Archetype and 153 Camel Two for sure.

What size is the Signal Omni you're currently riding?

Also, obligatory it's worth checking your boot size comment. If size 9 is your street shoe size, it's likely you can get down to an 8 or at least 8.5, head to the boot forum and measure your feet. I say this largely because the Archetype and Camel Two are quite narrow across the back foot, might not be an issue for you but if you like hard carving as well you'll boot them out. That taper helps make them agile and float well, but has the width drawback for carving.

 

[Seth_theY]

Those all sound way too small, except the Dart and Hybrid as they're quite wide. You ride real mountains with big terrain and plenty of snow, those are park board sizes, not freeride... 154 Archetype and 153 Camel Two for sure.

What size is the Signal Omni you're currently riding?

Also, obligatory it's worth checking your boot size comment. If size 9 is your street shoe size, it's likely you can get down to an 8 or at least 8.5, head to the boot forum and measure your feet. I say this largely because the Archetype and Camel Two are quite narrow across the back foot, might not be an issue for you but if you like hard carving as well you'll boot them out. That taper helps make them agile and float well, but has the width drawback for carving.

My omni is a 154, and I’ve just spent the entire Christmas season finding a pair of boots that fit without pain or numbness so I am fairly certain I have the right boots for my feet. I thought the archetype and Camel Two were wider than normal boards as well which is why I downsized slightly, if I’m wrong on that aspect, good to know. I will readjust my sizes accordingly
Cheers

 

[Nivek]

For the Archetype I would go up a size, the 54 as that is a pretty nimble and not demanding flex, and the Camel Two definitely the 53 if not the size up from there. You gotta remember that these have short tails. So whipping them around isn't that hard, and you're talking freeride too which usually works better on longer boards with more effective edge. I only have maybe 10-15lbs on you and my freeride/pow boards are the 59 Ride Alter Ego, 58 Rome Ravine, 57 Signal Wow, and 59 Zoid. In the Camel I would be looking at the 57 minimum and the 61 if I wanted something for more open terrain. I rode the Hybrid in the 57 but that almost big for my taste in that board, so 53 is probably good for that one. I assume you mean the 52 in the Dart? Which would probably be good.

 

[Seth_theY]

For the Archetype I would go up a size, the 54 as that is a pretty nimble and not demanding flex, and the Camel Two definitely the 53 if not the size up from there. You gotta remember that these have short tails. So whipping them around isn't that hard, and you're talking freeride too which usually works better on longer boards with more effective edge. I only have maybe 10-15lbs on you and my freeride/pow boards are the 59 Ride Alter Ego, 58 Rome Ravine, 57 Signal Wow, and 59 Zoid. In the Camel I would be looking at the 57 minimum and the 61 if I wanted something for more open terrain. I rode the Hybrid in the 57 but that almost big for my taste in that board, so 53 is probably good for that one. I assume you mean the 52 in the Dart? Which would probably be good.

I will make a note of this when demoing and buying the boards thank you for all the help!

 

[Phedder]

They are wider in the nose and waist, but they have quite a significant taper (narrower tail than nose) so that has a large effect on the width under your rear foot.

I had and loved a 162 Archetype, 263mm waist and from memory it measured only 266 or 267 under the backfoot. So that 154 at 257mm waist will likely be 260-61 under the rear foot. Could measure across the base of your Omni to see how wide that is and if you're giving up a lot of width there, you simply won't be able to lean it over into carves as hard. For pow and nimbleness in trees, it's a non-issue.

 

[F1EA]

Howdy y’all!

Long time lurker, first time poster here. I had some boards that I’d like to get, but can’t afford more than one new board atm. For background I’m about 5 foot 9, 140lbs and I wear a size 9 boot. Currently I’m rocking an older signal Omni, and a pair of Now Pilots. I am looking for a powder freeride board. I mainly shred at Whistler and I’d put myself at the intermediate to advanced level. Mainly I go off piste, steep tree runs, big open bowls, small cliff drops, mogul fields and the like. I’m currently working on taking my double blacks faster and harder and I’ve come to the realization that my current board doesn’t really cut it anymore.

I am looking for a stable freeride board with lots of agility for steep and low angle trees, and that is stable and damp enough to pile through mogul fields and chopped up PNW snow. Some things I’ve thought about and looked at are the Bataleon Camel Two, PW+, Nitro Squash, Yes Hybrid, Ride Superpig and Lib Tech Orca. I plan to demo the top 3, once I decide what they are. So I am currently looking for people who have experience with these boards and recommendations, or other awesome boards to look at. (I’m having trouble finding much on the Party Wave +, so if you have ridden that please let me know!)

Cheers!
Seth

For what you said you want... and for Whistler.... look at (in no particular order):

• Yes Optimistic
• Wired Vantage
• Burton Deep Thinker
• Jones Stratos

 

[ridethecliche]

Jones just dropped the mind expander twin as well.