[Toadkiller Dog]

Allright, long time reader, first time poster. Here goes...

For years I rode an old Burton cambered board (circa 1996!), and now I've finally got the time and money to feed my snowboarding addiction. Last year after doing some demo-ing I bought an Arbor Element rocker, which I love. Awesome in the powder, and turns effortlessly. But it has trouble with icy days, crud, and higher speeds.

I'm looking to add a complementary board, something that is good in icy/cruddy conditions and but retains that all-mountain rideability. I'll probably get something that is hybrid rocker because I love the easy turn initiation, and I love magne-traction for the edge grip. I've been eyeing Lib's T Rice Pro (157 or 161.5? Not sure), but also considering something like the Rome Mod Rocker.

I'm picturing myself hauling ass down the blues and blacks, while throwing in tree runs and some out of bounds terrain. Some jumps but no real park as of yet (if I ever get into that I will probably just get a park-style board).

About me:
Ht/Wt: 5'10", 160 lbs
Shoe: 11, wearing DC Judge boots for now
Level: intermediate, looking to become advanced
Style: All mountain. Love trees!


Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

 

[Toadkiller Dog]

Oh yeah, and I live in the NW US. Fairly decent snow, but varies widely. Some great powder days, some icy when it doesn't snow for 2 weeks, sometimes wet and slushy.

 

[Nivek]

Rossi One, Jones Mtn Twin, or a Yes PYL. I would take any of those three over the Rice.

 

[Toadkiller Dog]

I demo-ed the Rossi One Magtek last year. I held an edge like crazy even in icy conditions, and it was pretty dang fast, but it was took too much effort to turn quickly. Felt too clumsy to take into the trees. Maybe I'm just lazy. I've looked at (not ridden) the Yes PYL but suspect it would feel much the same way. Don't have any experience with Jones boards.

Those are all straight camber boards, I believe. I'm thinking a hybrid rocker/camber with tight turnability, maneuvers reasonably easy, and holds a decent edge.

Last year's Mod rockers are on sale for ~380 at evo....

Also looking at Gnu Impossible, and some of the Never Summer boards? Too dang many choices!

 

[hktrdr]

I demo-ed the Rossi One Magtek last year. I held an edge like crazy even in icy conditions, and it was pretty dang fast, but it was took too much effort to turn quickly. Felt too clumsy to take into the trees. Maybe I'm just lazy. I've looked at (not ridden) the Yes PYL but suspect it would feel much the same way. Don't have any experience with Jones boards.

Those are all straight camber boards, I believe. I'm thinking a hybrid rocker/camber with tight turnability, maneuvers reasonably easy, and holds a decent edge.

Last year's Mod rockers are on sale for ~380 at evo....

Also looking at Gnu Impossible, and some of the Never Summer boards? Too dang many choices!

No, they are all hybrid camber boards, like you asked for.

Also, you need to understand that turning is more about (torsional) flex, waist width, and sidecut than about the camber profile. As a result, all of these boards have much better turn initiation than the T. Rice.

 

[Mystery2many]

I can vouch for the Never Summer SL, Heritage in your case (size 11). My SL was absolutely amazing all over the mountain. Quick heel toe transfer on groomers and fucking awesome in the trees. Even hit exposed stumps and rocks and the board showed barely and signs of damage. Plus very stable at high speeds.

Just thought I would share.

 

[Toadkiller Dog]

No, they are all hybrid camber boards, like you asked for.

I stand corrected. I looked it up, and you are absolutely right.

Interesting, I just read the the Good Ride's review of the Yes PYL, and they rate the turn initiation as a 2/5 ("semi-challenging"--one of the lowest rating's I've seen them give), yet in the written description they rave about how easy it is to turn. WTH? Just goes to show you that it does depend on the rider. Would love to get my hands on one to demo.

I've heard good things about the Never Summer SL as well, mainly about how easy it is to ride.

On another note, just booked and paid for my week long vacay in Feb at Whistler Blackcomb. Stoked! :yahoo:

 

[Mystery2many]

On another note, just booked and paid for my week long vacay in Feb at Whistler Blackcomb. Stoked! :yahoo:

I can't lie I'm jealous!!! I've always wanted to ride Whistler Blackcomb. And in February WOW! Heaven

 

[hktrdr]

Sounds like you want something more aggressive than the SL - and NS does not have Magnetraction anyway.

Mervin boards that could work: Impossible or Eco Genetics if you want a bit more rocker, Beast or Jamie Lynn for more camber.

 

[Nivek]

I haven't ridden the Eco, but the Impossible was terrible. Less snap than a jibstick and not as maneuverable. And Gnu's full pickle tech is just not right. No one has trouble initiating their heelside turn, it is in fact harder to push into your heelside. A softer heelside core is counter productive to the real problem.

Interesting, I just read the the Good Ride's review of the Yes PYL, and they rate the turn initiation as a 2/5 ("semi-challenging"--one of the lowest rating's I've seen them give), yet in the written description they rave about how easy it is to turn. WTH?

Precisely why you should never read any of their "reviews" again. The only thing they know how to do is pander for free boards as that is all the Good Ride is to them.

Your issue with the One and your comments on your Element are leading me to believe you have missed the part of your skills called fine edge control and board manipulation. There is no reason why Griptech should be having problems on icy hardpack and your sluggish feel on the One is just technique. Try to ride cambrock like full reverse like on your Arbor and yeah, it's gonna feel sluggish. You have to manipulate the board more. The benefit to it needing a little more work is it has the potential to give more back to you. Your lack of grip on your Arbor is due to sloppy edge work. Go ride pipe for a while then get back on your Arbor. You won't have any grip issues as you'll have learned how and where you need pressure to hold your edge.

I would rather ride Arbors griptech than Mervins Magne any day. It grips just fine (the bumps are right where you need them, under foot) and doesn't direct your turn for you like Mervins can. The beauty of Rossi's Magne is that it's on Camrock. With that bend profile you aren't locked into a turn as much as you are like on C2 from Mervin which means you can actually twist and bend the board to use the sidecut as you see fit instead of how Magne wants you to twist and use the sidecut. On top of that when it comes to actual edgehold you have more with camrock than you do with C2 cause again, the most pressure is directed to under foot and not between your feet. I had to recheck the Trickstick when I rode it to make sure it didn't have Magne cause it had so much bite in a turn.

If you're looking for a board that does a fair amount of the work for you with little effort then a Mervin suits you. Look into the Attack Banana, Gnu Eco, or maybe the Dirty Pillow.

 

[Toadkiller Dog]

Your issue with the One and your comments on your Element are leading me to believe you have missed the part of your skills called fine edge control and board manipulation.

I am absolutely certain you are correct. Not sure how to correct this problem. I might say that I need to ride a really crappy board with no edge for a while, but then again, that's what I've been doing for the past several years!

If you're looking for a board that does a fair amount of the work for you with little effort then a Mervin suits you. Look into the Attack Banana, Gnu Eco, or maybe the Dirty Pillow.

Truthfully, I've never ridden a Mervin board. I've only read about them, and my daughter (age 12) owns a Gnu with magne, and the only place she out-races me is on the ice! I don't want to magnify my sloppy riding by providing myself a "crutch" with the wrong board, but I DO want to take it up a notch in my riding.

Sounds like you have a lot of experience riding different boards. Perhaps that's what I need. Unfortunately, not too many places around doing demos on snowboards. Local mountain (Schweitzer) only has Arbor and Rossi. Maybe when we go to Whistler....

 

[Nivek]

I am absolutely certain you are correct. Not sure how to correct this problem. I might say that I need to ride a really crappy board with no edge for a while, but then again, that's what I've been doing for the past several years!.

Ride pipe if you have one. Most of the techiest and strongest riders rode a lot of pipe at some point. Jed Anderson, Chad Otterstrom, Terje... it teaches edge control better than anything else you can do.

 

[Toadkiller Dog]

Sadly, all of the mountains nearby have taken out their pipes. Your world made better by lawyers. Most of the terrain parks have been pretty massively toned down as well.

In their defense, a family down the street has a kid who's a quadriplegic after breaking his neck in the terrain park.

Maybe next time I go to a park that has one, I'll cough up the dough for a lesson on the pipe. You all have definitely given me food for thought.

 

[nmk]

Allright, long time reader, first time poster. Here goes...

For years I rode an old Burton cambered board (circa 1996!), and now I've finally got the time and money to feed my snowboarding addiction. Last year after doing some demo-ing I bought an Arbor Element rocker, which I love. Awesome in the powder, and turns effortlessly. But it has trouble with icy days, crud, and higher speeds.

I'm looking to add a complementary board, something that is good in icy/cruddy conditions and but retains that all-mountain rideability. I'll probably get something that is hybrid rocker because I love the easy turn initiation, and I love magne-traction for the edge grip. I've been eyeing Lib's T Rice Pro (157 or 161.5? Not sure), but also considering something like the Rome Mod Rocker.

I'm picturing myself hauling ass down the blues and blacks, while throwing in tree runs and some out of bounds terrain. Some jumps but no real park as of yet (if I ever get into that I will probably just get a park-style board).

About me:
Ht/Wt: 5'10", 160 lbs
Shoe: 11, wearing DC Judge boots for now
Level: intermediate, looking to become advanced
Style: All mountain. Love trees!


Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

I am in same situation. I want powder fun, hold on hard pack, easy turn. Sorry to say but rocker between the feet isn't fun in hard pack, icy conditions. I demoed the NS Cobra on a nasty ice day and that was some wild ride! Exciting as hell, but not something I would want to do again.

For me, I narrowed down to 3 boards, Burton Landlord, Rossi XV Mag and YES PYL. All camber between the feet and rocker on the outside. In the end, I bought the Landlord because it is a bit softer, easier turns, more surfy and still ok on hardpack. I read great stuff about the edge hold for the XV and PYL, but on those nasty days, I still have my SuperModelX.

Oh if you love tree runs, you might want to look for a Burton Con Artist 2013.