Burton Show Stopper Snowboard Review.

❄ Burton Show Stopper Snowboard Review (Part 1).



❄ Brand: Burton,
❄ Model: (Family Tree) Show Stopper,
❄ YOM: 2022,
❄ Size: 162 (321.6/270/309.6) mm,
❄ Profile: Directional Camber 12mm,
❄ Shape: Freeride directional with centered sidecut on stance,
❄ Terrain: Park: 4/10, All Mountain: 9/10, Powder: 6/10
❄ Taper: 12mm,
❄ Core: Super Fly II™ 700g with Dualzone EGD™,
❄ Base: Sintered WFO,
❄ Fiberglass Structure: Triax™ Fibreglass with Carbon I-Beam™,
❄ Sidecut Radius (m): 7.0,
❄ Flex: Medium-Stiff (7/10),
❄ Edges: Frostbite Edges, and Infinite Ride™,
❄ Effective Edge: 1177mm,
❄ Running Length: 1130mm
❄ Stance Location: -38mm,
❄ Weight Range @162: 180-260 lbs+ / 82-118 kg+,
❄ Price: $Au749.99 RRP ($US579.95) @2022,
❄ Rider: 192cm (6'4") 95kg (210lbs),
❄ Rider Outerwear: Giro Range MIPS® helmet / OT Chips 2.0, Anon M4 goggles, Burton [ak] Swash Jacket, [ak] Hover pants, [ak] Powergrid base layer, [ak] Guide gloves, [ak] Endurance socks, Burton SLX boots, Quiksilver TR Platinum 24L riders backpack,
❄ Bindings: Burton Genesis EST™ (Large),
❄ Location: Perisher/Blue Cow/Guthega, NSW,
❄ Camera: GoPro Hero 7 Black/Smatree S2C carbon pole/Samsung Galaxy S8.

Well due to the tragic Covid shut down of the Australian Alpine resorts in NSW last year I sadly missed our snowboarding season for the 1st time in over 3 decades. So truly being emotionally depressed I thought to myself that I needed some kind of psychological therapy to address my shattered mental state and really is there any better way to remedy this than "Going shopping?" Now, probably the only single benefit contained from last seasons Winter lockdowns was the ton of retail snowboard/ski gear left unsold and was now available at massively reduced EOS sales. Consequently I researched a fair few boards that I thought would be sweet in having a closer look at. One that immediately attracted my attention having a lot of positive wraps was Burton's Family Tree Straight Chuter which sort of markets itself as the Freeride version of the Custom X. I ended up snapping one of these in a 162 to add into my quiver. Shortly after, I also discover that there were a few Burton Show Stoppers still hanging around retail down to an insane $Au415 (US$295). The pin tailed outline and profile of the Show Stopper has a lot of similarities with the iconic freeride nature of the Burton Landlord and Branch Manager. However the Burton Show Stopper comes with a lot wider footprint running a 270mm waist width @162, which is absolutely perfect sitting under my US13 SLX. So I also ended up grabbing the 2022 Show Stopper 162.



Over the last weeks riding down here in Australia, I've been alternating between both the Straight Chuter and Show Stopper and mate..., I'll say this straight away, there's one of these two boards that clearly stands out far more than the other. The Straight Chuter is the more expensive option and designed as a hard charging Freeride board running with Burton's high performing lightweight 600g DRAGONFLY™ core similar to what's mated to the Custom X and subsequently I've found it also wants to ride like that.


However instantly, with only a few minutes hillside on the Show Stopper you're instantly saying to yourself, "Mate, this board is really, really good". I was running the Show Stopper with Burton Genesis EST™ in a (+18°/+6°) forward stance and slightly dialed back at -10mm to F&R reference.



Well let's firstly have a closer look at the specifications of what the Burton Show Stopper has got going on to make this such a joy to ride. The Show Stopper has got that usual Burton Freeride directional camber profile. It's manufactured with Triax™ fibreglass enhanced with a central carbon I-Beam in the lay up creating a moderately stiff 7/10 flex with 38mm of a set back camber underfoot. It runs with the Super Fly II™ 700G Core and Burton's high performing Sintered WFO base for absorbing wax and generating speed. The Burton Show Stopper has got a very short 7.0m sidecut radius going on for a 162 board length which gives it an amazing ability to make tight turns. Having that reduced 12mm of taper in the tail also assists with its ability to change directions and for you to ride more centrally stacked in powdery conditions.



So most importantly...., let's talk about how the Burton Show Stopper performs on the mountain. Like I said above, it only took me a few minutes from dropping off the top station to know that the Burton Show Stopper is a super board to ride. The 162 felt perfectly sweet for my 192cm/95kg platform and I felt anything smaller in length might lead me to easily overpower it if aggressively ridden.



Burton have the Show Stopper categorized as primarily an All Mountain, Freeride to Powder snowboard. Fortunately we had around 10cm of snow fall overnight and I was able to get the Show Stopper floating across some, if you can believe me, very, very shallow pockets of Australian powder.



As can be expected with that much of a longer nose and heavily directional camber this makes the Burton Show Stopper ride superbly across powdery terrain. The rockered nose has no problems in keeping its head above the surface and feels more lighter if that's even possible in the pin tail.



However.., and this is where the magic lies, the most noticeable characteristic that's instantly revealed when riding the Burton Show Stopper is its amazing ability to change directions. I'll say this right up front now....., the Show Stopper is the most "turny" maneuverable board I've ever ridden. It feels so much like a nimble racing slalom machine. You can make lively controlled turns instantly and so effortlessly with the Show Stopper. This is truly where all the joy lies when riding this brilliant board. If you want a snowboard to describe what that so called "Surfy" feeling is in a snowboard...., this is that board. I found with my riding style the Burton Show Stopper can sweetly lock in an edge but you find that as it turns so damn sharp you're often tending to deliberately over drive that short pin tail, smashing it sideways under power. And I'll add..., it's sort of really hard not wanting to always ride it like this.





The Show Stopper with Burton's Sintered WFO base is also reasonably quick as well. The larger volume of this board gives you plenty of area underfoot and you'll notice its pretty easy to fly past slower riders across the flats. At speed the Show Stopper feels pretty rock solid underfoot and never appeared squirrelly whilst charging hard.



I've also noticed the Burton Show Stopper is a reasonably damp ride and pretty much absorbs most undulations in the terrain. The nose on the Show Stopper feels reasonably stiff thanks to the central carbon I-Beam and I was unable to see any tip chatter going on at all when cranking hard along trails at high speed.



So folks the Burton Show Stopper is a truly superb snowboard. It can ride All Mountain to Freeride conditions with ease. Its big trump card is its amazing ability to quickly change directions with just the slightest level of input. The Show Stopper really rewards you as one of the most stably maneuverable snowboards you've ever ridden. Absolutely love this board.

Truly Showing an amazing experience. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐