I moved to the mountains two season ago and bought my first board (after learning to snowboard twenty years ago). I'm looking to get into something with full camber that can rail carves. I've watched a lot of the videos coming out of Japan with their style of riding and it really speaks to me. I enjoy ripping big carves and honestly enjoying playing all over the mountain without just straight-lining and bombing. There's a place for it, but I feel that the magic of the turn is what really gets me. My first step is experimenting with double positive binding angles (never tried them) and seeing how that effects my riding. I do ride a bit of switch, and prefer a board that can at least do it when the need arises (landing switch, easier route through the trees switching over, etc.) I think the perfect board for me would be something that you size down, can still handle speed, can really hold an edge, has a large sidecut that can rail turns, a bigger nose and maybe some early rise to still handle some pow, and can handle a bit of switch riding (buttering/screwing around too). I tend to enjoy shorter wider boards in my limited experience, but I'm not married to them. I don't have enough experience to be sure, but I do know I don't want some super hard charger that is only happy at 50mph.
Stats:
5'9" - 155lbs - 9.5US Boot - Adv. Intermediate / Advanced
My current quiver is:
Never Summer Proto Type II - 154cm (Ripsaw Rocker Camber) - First modern board I rode since old-school camber boards twenty years ago. Seems pretty solid all around but doesn't really wow me. I think I would have preferred the 157cm. It gets a little squirrelly at very high speeds. Still solid and would recommend to someone progressing.
Capita Thunderstick - 155cm (flat w/very mild camber) - First experience with softer park type boards. Solid ride, but I'm not getting into park much as I thought I would. Falling on hard pack from up high sucks in your late 30s. If I'm good enough at some point to huck a method off of some natural features that's enough for me. That being said, I still take a ride through park once and a while w/friends.
Never Summer Swift - 157cm (Fusion Rocker Camber) - To be honest, I haven't loved this board as much as I'd thought I would. It isn't quite as maneuverable in the trees as I'd hoped (compared to shorter boards), and it's not great on the chopped up groomers on the way to good snow. It slays pow though so it would be a great option if you constantly find yourself in wide open pow fields, but my local resort (Park City) has a lot more pow in the trees and less open bowls than some spots. It does pretty well on groomers, but my board experience is fairly limited so hard to say. If this thing was better in chopped up resort snow I think I'd like it a lot more. I'm realizing that while having a quiver is nice, a dedicated resort pow board still needs to rip sloppy groomers and handle chopped up snow and chunder really well. I would sacrifice *some* float in deep pow for that.
Ride Warpig - 148cm (flat w/very mild camber) - I really enjoy this board, but I don't love it when the snow is hard. I think with some more camber this would be my board of choice, but the edge hold in sub-par conditions leaves something to be desired. It can definitely rip though and I do enjoy it. It definitely does better at speed and would be nice to find something that was still as much fun going 20mph as it is going 35mph+.
Below is my short list which I'm sure I'll add to with your responses, please feel free to comment on any and all if you have experience with them. What other boards would you guys recommend I look at? I know that a Gentemstick or Moss Snowstick would probably be ideal, but they are a LOT of money. Unless a swallow tail significantly adds to the ride, I'd prefer a non-swallow for better switch (if that's a thing).
- Elevated Surfcraft Goldfish / Redtail Hawk (love the idea of these, but a little pricey if I can't find one used)
- K2 Simple Pleasures
- Korua Shapes - Cafe Racer / Tranny Finder
- United Shaped Cadet
- YES Optimistic (may be too aggressive for what I'm looking for?)
Any and all advice would be great in regards to what I'm looking for.
BTW I have a pair of Union Stratas and a Ride Vice bindings if that matters and I'm trying to break in a pair of ThirtyTwo TM-3s in the off-season.
Thanks!
Stats:
5'9" - 155lbs - 9.5US Boot - Adv. Intermediate / Advanced
My current quiver is:
Never Summer Proto Type II - 154cm (Ripsaw Rocker Camber) - First modern board I rode since old-school camber boards twenty years ago. Seems pretty solid all around but doesn't really wow me. I think I would have preferred the 157cm. It gets a little squirrelly at very high speeds. Still solid and would recommend to someone progressing.
Capita Thunderstick - 155cm (flat w/very mild camber) - First experience with softer park type boards. Solid ride, but I'm not getting into park much as I thought I would. Falling on hard pack from up high sucks in your late 30s. If I'm good enough at some point to huck a method off of some natural features that's enough for me. That being said, I still take a ride through park once and a while w/friends.
Never Summer Swift - 157cm (Fusion Rocker Camber) - To be honest, I haven't loved this board as much as I'd thought I would. It isn't quite as maneuverable in the trees as I'd hoped (compared to shorter boards), and it's not great on the chopped up groomers on the way to good snow. It slays pow though so it would be a great option if you constantly find yourself in wide open pow fields, but my local resort (Park City) has a lot more pow in the trees and less open bowls than some spots. It does pretty well on groomers, but my board experience is fairly limited so hard to say. If this thing was better in chopped up resort snow I think I'd like it a lot more. I'm realizing that while having a quiver is nice, a dedicated resort pow board still needs to rip sloppy groomers and handle chopped up snow and chunder really well. I would sacrifice *some* float in deep pow for that.
Ride Warpig - 148cm (flat w/very mild camber) - I really enjoy this board, but I don't love it when the snow is hard. I think with some more camber this would be my board of choice, but the edge hold in sub-par conditions leaves something to be desired. It can definitely rip though and I do enjoy it. It definitely does better at speed and would be nice to find something that was still as much fun going 20mph as it is going 35mph+.
Below is my short list which I'm sure I'll add to with your responses, please feel free to comment on any and all if you have experience with them. What other boards would you guys recommend I look at? I know that a Gentemstick or Moss Snowstick would probably be ideal, but they are a LOT of money. Unless a swallow tail significantly adds to the ride, I'd prefer a non-swallow for better switch (if that's a thing).
- Elevated Surfcraft Goldfish / Redtail Hawk (love the idea of these, but a little pricey if I can't find one used)
- K2 Simple Pleasures
- Korua Shapes - Cafe Racer / Tranny Finder
- United Shaped Cadet
- YES Optimistic (may be too aggressive for what I'm looking for?)
Any and all advice would be great in regards to what I'm looking for.
BTW I have a pair of Union Stratas and a Ride Vice bindings if that matters and I'm trying to break in a pair of ThirtyTwo TM-3s in the off-season.
Thanks!