Okay, so I realise that I might very well be in the minority, as the PW is getting some pretty rave reviews / much love.
I dunno - I wanted to like TBT, the idea just seemed so RIGHT for someone like me who's looking for one last shot at the best riding years (re: freestyle) of my life.
I had both a Global Warmer and a Party Wave, a couple of seasons ago.
Yes, both incredibly playful, and honestly a LOT of companies could take a leaf out of Bataleon's book, when it comes to build quality.
However, I think what disagreed with me (re: Party Wave), was the massive upsweep in the nose (compounded by Upkick or whatever they call it), the bigger sidecut, and yeah... at the end of that particular season, Between the Global Warmer and the Party Wave, I found myself thinking that the upsweep in the PW just lacked too much control for my style of riding. I felt the GW was better in this respect, and yet still lacked that fine edge control that I'd taken for granted must have been built into me.
Upon reflection, part of me thinks that whilst new tech is good, perhaps there are some elements of board design that simply might not gel with someone who grew up riding full camber, and whose best years in the park involved plenty of concussions and injuries whilst learning to tame stiff, carbon loaded, full camber Option decks.
Don't get me wrong - I had great days on those two fantastic decks, and for general carving / riding around the hill, I love 3d shapes - currently my Rome PD Moontail, and my Marhar Lumberjack are decks I love.
But I wouldn't go much past that, as far as aggressive upswept 3d shapes. Indeed, when sitting back, looking at the sales that are going on in Aus, and saying to myself "I want a LJX 152 - shipped to Aus is about $1150Aud, and even spending $600aud on a board on sale here, is TOO far into what it would cost to get an LJX into the country"... After much deliberation, there was only 1 deck that I could think of (across Aus sites), that WOULD come in under my acceptable threshold, vs just shelling out to get a 152 LJX in.
So I bought it - K2 PP 152 2021 model. Flat heel-toe profile, camber, contacts in the snow the moment I'm on edge, and all.
If you have a Party Wave or are eyeing one up, take this with a grain of salt. I'm a Stupid Snowboarder - buy shit because we can't demo here in Aus, move on to the next thing, only to realise that I wish I didn't sell that deck / ignore the fact that I grew up riding stiff camber for 17 years, and now I'm complaining that aggressive TBT doesn't give me the control I'm used to?? 😋
