Apex Gecko Stealth and Cross with Winterstick

[powdahbonz]

Had a great opportunity yesterday to ride the new Gecko Stealth and the Gecko Cross using two Winterstick Seth Wescott 160's. Preface by saying I have no affiliation, bias or skin in the game for either Apex or Winterstick. I had a hunch and wanted to experiment. I have not yet had the opportunity to weigh in yet on the Gecko Carve. Henry of Apex and Tom and the Winterstick team are super responsive and great ambassadors for our snow passions.  Kobi, Winterstick ambassador, met us early to set-up and get out by 9am. We had a SW156, plateless, 160 with the Gecko Cross and SW160 with Gecko Stealth. Took laps, repeating the same terrain and run choices while flipping sticks to compare the rides, gaining three sets of rider inputs. I had ridden the SW164 last season and enjoyed it right away. I rode it in softies and also on TD3's. I preferred the softy ride but the board was capable, fast and fun in plates. The analogy I provided to Henry was that the Gecko Cross felt, IMO, like an Audi A8L in its handling on the SW. It's performance with luxury feel. Easy initiation to turns, very auto-pilot and comforting ride and the interface just "worked". Smooth, no chatter, the effective edge felt longer, tipping the edge into turns faster, holding it longer on toe side and heelside's. The additional lift, dampening and edge pressure was appreciable and comforting. I did not notice a dead spot underfoot but noticed the footprint was extended with the gecko fingers. Very enjoyable and smooth. The Cross would work well in the BX environment but BX riders are looking for something more subtle and "stealthy".

 

The Stealth is all business. Much smaller footprint than the Cross and the elastomers/bumpers are the hardest version, Black, made of Delrin whereas the Cross bumpers are urethane(ours was equipped with Red-hard vs. Orange-soft). Henry's rating scale was Black=120a, Red=95a and Orange=65a. For reference, the Stealth plate plus the black Delrin elastomer measure the same stack height as one red, urethane elastomer. IMO the design is subtle, footprint negligible, there is lift, dampening was tough to assess but I felt the edging and initiation was much more responsive and faster than the Cross. It was not abrubt or harsh. The board stepped up another notch. It's like asking someone to raise their hands above their heads. When their arms are up, you ask them to stretch further and they give you another inch of stretch-that's what the Stealth did for me. This was like comparing the Audi A8L to a McLaren. The conditions were machine packed powder, progressively thinning as the day progressed but even on the thinnest and iciest of East Coast ice, the board/plate interface gripped and ripped through the ice. Big smiles from all three of us. Kobi's background, self-described, was more free-riding, park venturing, spinning, jumping enthusiast and coming from Colorado, terrain riding much different than what Sugarloaf Maine is offering with our conditions. I spend 70% in alpine, 15% on skis and 15% on softies, usually on deeper, powder days. Aaron is a free rider who dabbled and alpine and went back to free riding. I do not know what Kobi used for his bindings-my gaff there. I used Burton Missions while Aaron used K2 Cinch's.

 

If i had to choose one over the other, based on this set-up, I would lean towards the Stealth. My hunch before the test was that the SW60 or 64 could really excel at speed and carving which is what many of us are most comfortable or used to. When strapping into a soft boot set-up, that first run, I find myself trying to stretch the turn and test the boundary of what the board will allow. Without the plate, I quickly found a limit that the board was not comfortable with. The Gecko's allow the board and rider to do more with that interface. I'm hopeful to apply this same test to the ST or Severe Terrain soon as the build is more stiff than the SW. Henry is offering a Demo by mail program and if you're in doubt, it's a great opportunity to try the Geckos. Additionally, if you're not sure about Winterstick, they will mail you a demo as well. I've seen and handled the new models-the quality is excellent from the Roundtails, to the ST's to the Splittys and the couple swallows I saw. Send them an email and find out where they'll be. They will be with us for ECES as well as Apex.

Ride on

Bonz

[slopestar]

Great review. Thanks

[powdahbonz]

Back out for some more testing on a Winterstick ST162 and Winterstick Crazy Horse 152, older pro model. St162 with Gecko Cross and CH152 with the Stealth's. East Coast firm ice and hard pack with an inch or two of fresh dust on top. Both boards performed very well on windswept hardpack. My previous assumption that the ST would be stiffer than the Wescott was incorrect. The ST was a bit softer, for me, but still an enjoyable ride.  

[svr]

Powdabonz, have you ridden the Bomber Power Plates and if so how do you compare them with the Apex/Gecko Stealth?

Cheers and thanks for the great reviews,

Sandy

[Gossamer]

Great installation video, I love the part at the end.

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Edited February 13, 2016 by I_LOVETT

[powdahbonz]

svr-

 

I have not ridden Bomber's power plates so I can't compare the difference in cnc aluminum vs. apex composites . My experience has been positive on both plates on various lengths of rides and models. I have not had the opportunity to ride the softer orange bumpers/spacers as compared to the red urethanes and black delrin's on the stealths. That said, my gut tells me the Gecko Cross would be softer than the Bomber power plates because of the interface being the Trenchdigger base plate plus plate. The Stealth is very minimalist in its footprint and depth. Much different performance characteristics over the Cross.