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New board advice

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi All,

I am searching for my next board. I'm looking for fast powder board with good turn initiation that works fine on grooms also. If it can feel a bit surfy, that's great but not the first priority.

About me : 32 years old, height: 5.9 (181cm), weight: 155LBS (70KG), foot size: 12(46), good shape, 10 years experience . For the past five years, I have been riding mostly powder when conditions are right Smile

I thought of buying Jones Flagship 159W, what do you say?

1. Is 159 is the right size for pow?
2. Do you have other recommendations based on my needs?

Many Thanks!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I know nothing of boards but what ones do you have at the moment? And what do you like dislike about them?
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
The flagship isn't a powder board, it's a freeride deck that'll work in powder. It's also fine on fresh groomers but hard work in moguls, with size 12 feet you'r gonna want the wide version. Personally you'd probably be better off looking at something like the ride warpig, jones hovercraft, salomon powdersnake, rome mountain division.
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Why do you want a powder board? Do you really ride powder that often? The only season I used my powder board (Jones Hovercraft) 50% of the time was in Hokkaido. For European seasons I'll bring it out a handful of days a season.

Would you be better with a freeride board, and then renting a powder board if ever you do get a serious powder day?
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
jiagedaping wrote:
Why do you want a powder board? Do you really ride powder that often? The only season I used my powder board (Jones Hovercraft) 50% of the time was in Hokkaido. For European seasons I'll bring it out a handful of days a season.

Would you be better with a freeride board, and then renting a powder board if ever you do get a serious powder day?


This is good advice. Realistically how many Powder days do you expect to ride each season? Powder boards are great as part of a quiver. However, if you are going to have just one board a freeride or all mountain board makes more sense as it will handle the powder days while doing the non powder stuff better. So something like the Jones flagship could be a good choice.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Thanks guys for the tips.

One of my dilemmas is whether should I buy a powder board or a freeride board.

On the one hand, If a good freeride board will work in powder , I'm cool with that. That's why I thought of the flagship.

Now I'm riding NS Raptor X 165W. It works great in powder days but it feels too darn big.

On the other hand, I would like to start chasing powder on weekends instead of one vacation.

In that case, maybe I need something like the YES Optimistic / Jones Hovercraft / (else?) , What do you think?

My key factors - I want it to work well in powder,trees, can turn fast and run well in grooms just in case.


Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sun 19-03-17 17:56; edited 1 time in total
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Get a hovercraft then at your size the 156 would be more than long enough, it's better in powder than the flagship works well in trees and on steeps, and it's a great carving deck on groomers because of the width. I loved mine and as long as your not bothered about riding switch it sounds like it'll do exactly what you want.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Tell us more about yourself tzachi. Where do you ride? How often? How many weeks of riding do you have? How technically proficient are you - how much instruction have you had/studied yourself? Describe a perfect run for you - would it involve hucking anything over a meter? Any spins? Is this going to go in a quiver or be your only board? Are you experienced with mountain safety? How interested are you in seeking powder - interested enough to go for a split? When you say you like riding powder, what do you mean? Deep powder, where if you dropped into it in your boots you'd sink in up to your waist? Or 10cm of fresh snow on top of old snow?
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 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
*Where*
I ride mostly in Europe .
*How long*
I have around 100 days of riding.
Roughly, I ride 12 days a year.
10 days Europe and +- 2 days at local resort.
I'm aiming to change that go for 2 weekends in Europe with good snow and +- 2 days at local resort.
* I surf at home on weekly basis.*

*What I'm riding right now*

Union Atlas Binding
Flow TALON Boots
NS Raptor 165W Board
Rome Slash 156W Board

*Technique*

I like to ride fast on grooms and up to knee height of fresh pow. I would like to run faster on powder days though.

I have an old Rome Slash 156W board. When times are tough I mostly ride switch on this one.

Currently, I'm not doing any hucking over a meter.

I know a bit about mountain safety but usually I go with a guide.

*What I'm looking *

A - More maneuverability, responsiveness. With my 165W NS raptor It feels heavy.
B - Good float on powder (knee high)
C - Run fast on grooms and works well on hard snow
D - Style. More surfy turns would be nice but not top priority.

My best run would be something like the attached photo with +-30cm more snow Smile
You can add a nice wide tree run to the list.

ATM, I'm looking for one board and not a quiver deck.
I think that a split will be a bit too much right now.


[img]http://bit.ly/2n6gPMp[/img]
[img]http://bit.ly/2mkAXvF[/img]
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Cool - good stuff. Only thing I forgot to ask is your height - 5'9" = 175cm, but you said that you're 181cm above. At 70kg you're quite light though, so we can go off that.

I'd be cautious about a Hovercraft or similar. It's sweet in deep snow of all kinds, and yes, it rails well edge to edge on-piste. It's very wide though, and kinda catchy once things get variable, and stiff. I'd be concerned that you'd be unable to supply it with enough good snow to get what you want.

I think you're after a board more suitable for variable terrain, so I'm not even sure I'd go for the flagship from the Jones range - a bit stiff and pointy. Mountain Twin/Ultra would be more my shout - 158w if you really have UK size 12 feet, but test it first. If you can get away with the standard you should.

Otherwise, francium put a really nice list here:

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=128052

from which I'd say only the Yes Standard is too piste-orientated for you - anything else on there would be sweet.

Finally, from Burton:

Custom
Custom Flying V
Gate Keeper
Landlord
Flight Attendant
Barracuda
Modified Fish

From that list, the Customs might be a bit too pisty but you could certainly use them for what you're after. The modified fish might be a bit too powdery. The Barracuda looks really interesting and would be the most surfy board I've listed along with the fish, but I'm not sure it would be as sweet on piste as I'd like - depends on how you feel about flying V. For me, flying V is only interesting in a quiver board, not as a do everything board.

Try and demo before you buy, and definitely don't rule out anything not specifically mentioned above. Don't rule out instruction either - there's loads of techniques that can help you get the most out of what you buy.

Enjoy!!!
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Well you weigh about the same as me. I've not ridden the Jones stuff, but I've ridden all the Burton boards, previous seasons and this, in deep powder including some which is so deep that penetration is an issue. Opinions will vary: it's a personal choice.

I ride standard powder boards at their recommended length which is generally around 156cm these days. On huge (over the head) days with serious avalanche risk I will size up - this year I've been using the Capita Spring Break as my "huge days" board. That's a bit of a plank, but if it's deeper/ flatter than that you can't have fun riding it (been there, done that).

Of the Burton boards listed... I'd ignore the none powder boards.
  • Branch Manager - I wanted to like it but it was a bit mediocre for me and not a big board particularly. You could ride it big but then it would perform badly: you need the right size.
  • Landlord - my current favourite of these, slashy and floaty, but not huge unless you oversize. it's basically a Malolo, but the Malolo sizing didn't work as well as this for me (they were either too big or too small: it matters).
  • Flight Attendant - didn't think much of that, can't remember why.
  • Fish - standard "day saver" board and an easy ride without limits, but not good in huge days. The old Stella was the logical upgrade on huge days but they don't make it any more.
  • Skipjack Surf - wide rather than long, not particularly responsive, works ok as a no-board, not for huge days. I don't particularly like the feel of the wide tail, although some may like that.

The Barracuda was released between the Malolo and Landlord and was I think the rockered Burton big-day board - they don't make it any more and I'm not too bothered about that; both other boards are better in my view.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Thanks for the tips guys. Much appreciated.

The Landlord seems great!

What do you think about YES PYL / Never Summer 25 / Rossignol XV Magtek (maybe this one is a bit too much powder oriented) ?
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
XV looks cool - comparable to the flagship in many ways. You can ride a flagship or XV as an everyday board, my thought is that you'd be better off with something a little less freeride focused though. Just one notch down.

PYL looks like the Yes flagship/XV - for me choosing between those 3 would be down to which I could get my hands on to demo. Landlord would again be somewhat similar to those.

Barracuda has been re-released by Burton this year as a limited edition colab and has the same rocker profile as the 25 - rocker between the feet. The Barracuda has a lot more setback on its rocker though. I took a Barracuda out for a day in Japan in chopped up pow and really enjoyed myself - out of all the boards mentioned I'd say that the Flying-V profile gives it the surfiest feel. You can turn on a sixpence around that back foot - very manoueverable. For me, that makes it unacceptably loose on piste though, and that's why I'd not consider it as a do-everything board.

I think you've got a good list of boards now and a few good opinions on what type of board you're looking for. What I'd do next is get out to resort and demo a few, and ideally buy the one you like best. A lot of good board shops will offer this spec of board as a premium rental, and give you the rental price as credit towards a purchase. I've ridden a lot of boards over the years, and I think there's only one or two that I just wouldn't want in my quiver. The rest were just different from each other. Up to you to decide which one you like most Smile Have fun!
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Oh - and lastly, demo a powder board too. On the one hand, you might agree that they're a bit of a handful in the terrain that you normally ride. On the other, maybe you'll love it and end up buying it Smile
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Thanks man. Really helpful tips.

I really dig the NS 25. I'll try to find a good deal on it or wait for next season and try a demo.
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