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Powder board recommandation

32K views 137 replies 37 participants last post by  deagol 
#1 ·
Advanced rider 6’5” 175lbs 12 boots based in Salt Lake City.
Looking for a bord that best suits the following:

  • Can handle deep powder with EASE (ride Utah all season, occasional trip to Japan). Some serious float needed.
  • Handles tracked powder really well (let’s face it, after 2 hours the entire resort is tracked).
  • Nimble enough to not be a chore in trees.
  • Can carve well on piste.
  • Can charge with enough stability yet be fun.

Ideally I would like the float of a Mind Expander, carving of a Korua, charging ability of a Jones Flagship, and fun/agility of a short board. That board does not exist but I am looking at the best compromise.

Had a 164W XV: too big and stiff to be fun, and not nimble but great for my other criteria
Had a Salomon Super 8 160: more nimble, good charger and carver, but definitely not enough float
Currently have a Salomon HPS Taka 158. Love the tapper and set back, driving it from the back foot. Great float, nimble and fun. But carving is passable, and it’s a little too soft to be stable while charging.

Looking at replacing the Taka with something similar in spec (mid-wide to wide, on the shorter side with tapper and setback) but with a little more carving and charging capability without taking away the fun and agility.

What I look at:
  • The new K2 Excavator in 154 or 158
  • Lib Tech Orca in 153 or 156
  • Rome Stalefish 157 (might be just exactly like my Taka meaning a tad not enough agressive to charge/carve well)
  • Dart 160. Looks great for pow and carving, but can it charge through tracked snow being a swallow tail? Thegoodride says it needs to be riden from the front, I like to ride with the backfoot.
  • Salomon Dancehaul 157 but not a fan of centered stance.

Opinions?
 
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#99 ·
Have you tried it? Angry review says it’s less stiff than one thinks… So I guess I will see. One of the reason I am changing my Taka 158cm which I love in pow is it’s a tad soft and not great at high speed in tracked snow. So I wanted something a bit stiffer, but I don’t want a 8/10 stiffness either. Let’s see… If this is too stiff or does not work for me I’ll try the Orca or the Rome Stale Fish those are the next 2 on my list.
I might also get a Dancehaul because I can get that one for very cheap, just to see if I like it. I just don’t like that there is 0 setback on it.
 
#103 ·
OP here. 1st day on the Excavator 158 in Utah.
First impressions the day after 24in of fresh pow:

Medium stiff a good 7/10, definitely not as stiff as other freeride boards I have riden. Stiffer than the Taka 158, about the same as the Super 8, less stiff than a Rossignol XV, slightly stiffer than an Assassin, on part with a Weston Backwoods. Just to give you a comparison with boards I have riden a lot.
Torsional flex is less stiff, so it’s easy to turn the board despite the width.
I overall really liked the flex and it was PRECISELY what I was looking for. A bit stiffer than my Taka workhorse but still fun and playfull.

Carving was absolutely perfect. Best board I have ever ridden for carving. It just works and is effortless.

I did a lot of going through tracked snow and happy to report it does well in that regards. Better than my Taka. Great stability yet again easy to turn. Again, it was what I was looking for and my research paid off.

So if you remember I was trying to get a board for powder that does great in tracked snow and carves well. Like I said, groomer, tracked snow and carving perfect.

Now the powder is where my concern is. You see my Taka is 158cm, with 30cm tail width and 31cm tip width, this Excavator 158 is 30.4 tail and 32.4 tip so you would think it floats even better. The issue is compared on a table, the Excavator is pretty much full camber with a bit of rocker in the nose where the Taka is a light camber with large rocker in the nose.
Most of the powder was tracked out, but I had the opportunity to go in 24in deep powder for lenghts of 50ft or so. My test was limited but my initial feedback is that if my weight is in the front: cartwheel. If weight is centered, board still dives a bit, and if weight is on back foot it’s perfect.
NOTE: I WAS ON REFERENCE STANCE. Obviously next time I will set all the way back and my impression could change in powder.
This Excavator has enormous surface, decent setback, large taper but misses the rocker. It floats much better than the board listed above and most freeride board out there. But it floats less than the same board with more rocker.
I will have to do more test and experience a powder day from the beginning (not the day after it snowed) and with proper stance set back to confirm.

One thing I did not like: the base had deep scratches and peeling off after lightly touching a couple rocks. It looks worst than my Taka after 2 entire season and hundreds of touching with rocks. Hard to believe but true.

So early conclusion:
Excellent carving board with almost the stability of a stiff freeride board yet more playfull and with more float. However so far less float than a real powder board (Mind expander, storm chaser, Japow, HPS Taka). But for most people and most places in the world it can and will exceed their expectation in floatation.

Again, that’s the early feeling. I lacked speed in the powder fields I could hit so powder is what I did not test enough today + I was not set back. If I find out that it’s perfect in powder when I can do a real test in powder, then it will be my perfect board cause everything else is perfect. If it ends up disappointing in pow, then my quest continues.
 
#104 · (Edited)
I haven’t taken my excavator out of the plastic yet. I am looking for more reviews like the above one. I want something that will float pretty effortlessly in pow.

I have a ‘21 BSOD as a daily driver and I asked Avran if he thought the BSOD and Excavator would have too much overlap. He said no. But now I am second guessing that. They both seem to have fairly similar camber profiles up front. I’m now looking at possibly returning the Excavator and possibly picking up something like a Surfari, assuming it has more rise in the nose.
 
#105 ·
I haven’t taken my excavator out of the plastic yet. I am looking for more reviews like the above one. I want something that will float pretty effortlessly in pow.

What size did you get and what is your weight? I am 210 and got the 162.
I wrote the size twice in the above review which is 158 and my weight in OP which is 175lbs.

The best is for you to try it. I have seen dozens of people online saying boards like Super 8 or Salomon Sick Stick had great float. They don’t and suck in powder. People can only relate to their own experience. Someone riding an all mountain for 2y then switching to a super 8 of course will say it floats. Someone who has a Mind Expander and tries a Super 8 will say it sinks like a tank.

Most boards that will float better than this will buck you around in tracked snow or won’t carve well.

If basic twins are a 1/5 in pow, basic directionals a 2/5, directional freeride boards with some taper (super 8, PYL…) a 3/5, and a mind expander a 5, this would be a 3.5-4 so far. With my Taka being a 4-4.5.
Again that’s with reference stance.
 
#108 ·
Have you had a chance to try the Excavator in this recent powder with the stance set back? I asked Avran why he considered the Excavator a "pow" board and the Surfari a "freeride" board and of course got a smart ass answer. I was really curious if there is more early rise in the Excavator.
 
#109 ·
I'd assume it has a lot to do with the width and sidecuts, as well as length. Freeride runs the full gamut of conditions, which could mean icy refrozen push mounds from hell. In those conditions, short-fat style boards suck. Their width means they get pushed around by the uneven snow, and it's harder for you to leverage the board and keep it on your intended line. The tighter sidecut means when they do get bucked around and put you on edge, that's going to force you into a tighter turn, and when you didn't intend to make a turn at all, the tighter it is the more it's going to surprise you/throw you off.

Surfari would be ridden longer than an Excavator, it's not as wide, and has a larger sidecut. It's going to ride through and over choppy conditions better than the Excavator, increased length helps a lot on steeper terrain, and the narrower width helps it cut through and around the chopped up snow where the widest point of the Excavator may have connected with the chunk of ice just to the side of your intended line, potentially bucking you.
 
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#111 ·
For me the Excavator is a mix between a freeride board and a powder board.
It keeps the more camber / little rocker of freeride board, and their stiffness and dampeness but with the tapper and setback on board (not on sidecut) of powder boards.
That’s exactly what I was looking for. Most pow board suck on piste or in tracked snow, and most freeride board are not effortless in powder (from a float and manoeuverability perspective) thus why I wanted a combination.

I confirmed in my review on the piste / tracked snow / carving it does the job exceptionally well even better than some freeride decks I have had.

I have yet to have been able to test it in deep pow with proper setback so I have yet to answer how well does it compare to a proper pow board there.
Needless to say if it checks that box (of being 95% as good as a proper pow board in deep pow) then it would be the perfect board for me and anyone looking for the same thing.
Stay tuned.
 
#117 ·
More testing today. We got 40" of pow however due to work schedule I arrived after the party. So I still could not get in deep pow properly but being set back, from the few turns I could make in pow it was better than last time. I can feel it's gonna be good. Still too early for proper pow judgement though.
A dream on piste. Powers through anything, stable but comfortable to ride all day. Carves better than any board (freeride board like Super 8 and XV included) I have tried.
I got a LOT of moguls today. I hate moguls. But it performed beautifully in 158 and set back I could turn in moguls very well.

So far super happy with the purchase. I just need one first chair run in deep pow (20+ inches) to confirm deep powder performance and if it performs I am all set.
If it doesn't I will maybe end up buying an Orca. I don't see how any other similar board (like the Stale fish) would perform better in pow considering specs. Only the Orca thanks to the big rocker (at the detriment of carving) could do better in pow. Then the Orca has much less tapper so I am not even sure it would be that much better in pow.
 
#118 ·
More testing today. We got 40" of pow however due to work schedule I arrived after the party. So I still could not get in deep pow properly but being set back, from the few turns I could make in pow it was better than last time. I can feel it's gonna be good. Still too early for proper pow judgement though.
A dream on piste. Powers through anything, stable but comfortable to ride all day. Carves better than any board (freeride board like Super 8 and XV included) I have tried.
I got a LOT of moguls today. I hate moguls. But it performed beautifully in 158 and set back I could turn in moguls very well.

So far super happy with the purchase. I just need one first chair run in deep pow (20+ inches) to confirm deep powder performance and if it performs I am all set.
If it doesn't I will maybe end up buying an Orca. I don't see how any other similar board (like the Stale fish) would perform better in pow considering specs. Only the Orca thanks to the big rocker (at the detriment of carving) could do better in pow. Then the Orca has much less tapper so I am not even sure it would be that much better in pow.
Looking forward to hearing your final thoughts on the excavator after you ride it on a fresh pow day. How far did you set both binding back for your last pow day? ( relative to reference stance)

I’m eyeing it out to replace my Mindexpander. ( loved the float, but it stank on piste and whwn the piste got icey it was terrible)
Currently have a Burton Hometown hero. That I use for pow/freeride. Hoping the Excavator can be the replacement for my HTH and ME.

Got a Capita Mercury for my general piste /resort board.
 
#119 ·
Ok so we got decent powder days recently and I was able to have fresh tracks top to bottom on the Excavator 158.

Set all the way back, it’s much better than in reference stance. I did not get the same feeling as last time and powder performance was great.
I could float effortlessly. A friend bought it in 154 at 170 lbs, he rode the same day same place and loved it as well. Said it floats as much as his 159 Japow which is one of the best floater around with the only difference being the Japow more effortless in pow turns with the non existant tail.

note: the powder was dense for Utah. This makes it easier to float despite some slopes I had chest deep powder.
I would imagine in chest deep super light powder the float would be less so I still need to test those condition.

But so far I m happy to report this board is the perfect combination of a freeride resort destroyer (jones flagship, yes PYL, … for carving and tracked snow performance) and a pow board.

That reminds me of the Korua Pencil and Dart which most people say excel at carving but can be dedicated pow boards as well.

If you want to carve on piste, destroy the resort, perform well in tracked snow, have the ability to go steep, yet have a pow board all in one this is the board.
If you are more into the same as above but more slow speed cruising playing around on lower angle (and therefore don’t need the stability) I would look at the Dancehaul and Stalefish, or the Niseko Pleasures. All 3 are reputed to carve well, have similar measurements and specs but are softer than the Excavator.
The excavator is not soft. It’s not super stiff either. It’s a true 7/10 medium stiff board with a little more give in torsional flex. I have been overwhelmed with too stiff boards before (XV) but not here.
 
#120 ·
Had my Nidecker Mosquito out in an unexpected pow day (at the start of current storm cycle) and was super impressed. Snow started off kinda dense but got really deep and lite as it kept dumping. I wasn't expecting any upper mt lifts to open or I would have been on a wider board. It was amazing doing high speed untracked turns in 2-3' powder. Never even thought about float. Made me rethink width and stiffness for powder.

Excavator sounds like something I would like for mid width pow board.
 
#122 ·
I posted the full review including new thoughts after a deep pow day today here

 
#128 ·
+1 it ain’t easy to get on the same page when there are so many variables. Even with the same tastes folks ride different conditions, have different skill levels, different body shapes, absolutely no fear to total cowards, stingy to open checkbooks, different motivations like looking cool vs actually caring about how their equipment works etc.

Luckily there is a crew here that has sort of aligned so they can speak to one another and get somewhere.
 
#138 ·
A board (and brand, for that matter) that I never see mentioned here is Venture. I have a Venture Storm (splitboard) and it's great in powder. I also like the Never Summer Swift, but that board gets plenty of attention (these are the only powder boards that I have experience with). The Venture Storm deserves some, IMO. Looks like Angry Snowboarder has a review video of it.
 
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