Boardercross boards in pow?

[dano]

I've seen quite a few of these boards like the F2 eliminator, Oxygen Supercross and that cool Madd whatever it's called. Short and wide, but stiff with 10m sidecut.

Can anyone give me an opinion of how this type of board is in powder/trees?

[lonerider]

I've seen quite a few of these boards like the F2 eliminator, Oxygen Supercross and that cool Madd whatever it's called. Short and wide, but stiff with 10m sidecut.

Can anyone give me an opinion of how this type of board is in powder/trees?

BX boards are stiff compared to a freeride board, not to other alpine boards. So compared to most alpine boards they are shorter, wider, and softer with a shorter turning sidecut - all of which are beneficial for riding powder in the trees (compared to most non-powder dedicated alpine boards).

Just my opinion.

[AndyYT316]

I ride the Burton Frontier 164x for bx, and it does fine in powder and trees. Still just have to lean back a little so you don't sink in too much. I'd go with a fish if you want to ride powder and trees!

[Mike T]

My only personal experience with a stiff BX board is a Salomon FRS 165. It was fun in both soft and hard boots on groomers. I found it a lot to handle in trees in softies but great in trees with plates. YMMV of course.

[terekhov]

my BXers which I ride for many days. in powder:

santa cruz tbx 167'00: very good, like almost all other usual FR boards

f2 elim.ltd 167'02: REQUIRED to shift binders back, not possible to go full warp in usual centered stance

f2 elim.ltd 167'04: too..

f2's is very stance-centric boards: they're really bad on groom with set-back stance, and also considerably bad in powder with centered (by the stance-marks on board) stance.

my verdict: f2 elim.ltd is rather bad powder board, but excels and outrides almost anything in mixed/icier condition (high-altitude backcountry), with light set-back. it is - in other words - an widish SLALOM deck, by all means: it can be ridden recreationally, but there's no fun in this - it requires to be pushed hard, and pays with HUGE fun for that.

hope this helps

[Algunderfoot]

Hey Dano,

For 3-4 years I road a 163 Burton Coil all mountain carver for pow and tree riding, and carving when I traveled (one stick pony) but in hindsight is was wasn't exceptional at either, more all purpose vertical than anything. I would struggle in depths beyond 2 feet or so. My girlfriend is on it now and it should suit her fine for the next few years, as she develops her skills. I ran a Renn Tiger 168 and now a Prior WCR 186 for slicing up groomers. Last Spring I opted for a new '07 prior POW 176 and I am extremely impressed. Aside from being an effortless pow board, running trees, rocks like gates is my new jones. I have had the stick in 4 ft freshies, OB as well, no stopping it. My personal ability barrier has been moved again (damn-it), and now needs to be re-determined. The Pow actually carves great, despite it's softer flex. The cool part is the stance is set back so you can hammer the steep and deeps in your normal neutral stance, thus continuing to build on your overall technical skill set for both diciplines.

I guess my overall point is to pick a stick that is designed for the riding you have in mind, even if that means 2 or 3. Besides that money would just get spent on beer and chicks, if it isn't spent on gear.

Ride on!

Al

[Mr. T]

I spent an unbelievable day at last years SES at Snowmass on th Madd BX board, in soft boots no less. While others seemed pretty unhappy with the overcast and windy conitions I spent the day doing laps of the hanging garden area and was wowed. The Madd handled the steeps, trees and pow glades like a champ. Stiff and responsive with quick edge to edge, yet lighter than most pow boards. I have size 12 feet so my ideal freeride board would be a bit wider but I think the tortional ridgidity helped it feel firm underfoot. In hind sight I should have also tried it with hard boots just to get the feel but I have little doubt it would be a great all arounder. tom

[Wisconsin Lover]

I myself have 2 Prior MFR's. 1 is a 168 stock set up so it is a little bit softer while the other is a 172 custom super stiff BX machine. I am a bigger guy, 6'4" & 205 so I can throw it around pretty aggressively in a BX course, that is why I opted for a longer board.

Anyway, my point is this. I have ridden both in BX & both in pow-pow. The 168 is way better in powder because of the softer flex. It floats better & flows through the powder more smoothly. The 172 is way better on groomers & the BX course because of it's stiff flex & longer edge length. It also has more snap to bounce in & out of the turns faster.

So, with that being said, I believe a softer flex & something without so aggresive of an edge is better for the pow-pow.

Good luck!

[dano]

I'm going out to Breck for a week in feb ( yeah I know... it's Sept.)

with the Wife and kids, and I was thinking that a BX stick w/ plates and a race board would cover all conditions and not be so bad to lug around.

Or maybe I'll go surfstyle and just bring the Maverick...

I can't wait! We have relatives with a ski in/out place on peak 8.

[philw]

I've seen quite a few of these boards like the F2 eliminator, Oxygen Supercross and that cool Madd whatever it's called. Short and wide, but stiff with 10m sidecut. [...] Can anyone give me an opinion of how this type of board is in powder/trees?

No, I've never seen anyone ride in a heli or cat with that type of board. If your'e just going to veer off piste a bit and ride resort powder (the stuff with the base to it) then you can just ride your piste board. But for powder... well you don't see people wasting premium powder turns with anything other than powder boards in truth.

[bobdea]

or another long board, BXers sink, I like to float

the long boards will go everywhere and float in the soft, BX rides are great for softboot carving and thats where it ends

[dano]

Pow boards good for pow you say? ;)

If I had heli or cat backcountry planned ( and I wish I did ), I'd get an osin 4807 178 swallowtail...And strippers...

I really want to travel somewhat light ( 3 boards including the wife's) and I expect a few "resort freshie" days. I don't want to lug around a dedicated powder board. I've been looking for an excuse to buy a little bx board to try and freeride/freecarve it with plates, and use my race board for groomers.

PS

I just got sniped on the supercross w/ td1's I was after, bx boards seem a bit rare...maybe next time.

[Dave*]

I have an older ( around 2001 vintage I think ) F2 eliminator limited ( the 69 wide) and it is a personal favorite of mine for in bounds powder.

Great flex pattern for both powder and for the groomies, although a bit of a pig to get on edge on harder pack conditions as I run my hard boots with some underhang secondary to the board width.

Way more versatile for inbounds than my trio of swallowtails , undertaker/2 4807s,

My Priors that also get the nod for inbounds west coast are , 179 4x4, 171 atv, 167 playas bx (proving to be indestructible), and an old one off Byzik ,

I posted a pic of these on a 4x4 thread a while back. Will probably get Chris dust off the jig for a new Byzik this year,

For my body weight( 100kg) not so powder friendly have been the 165 palmer channel ti, 165 FRS, 164 oxygen supercross ,

[mr_roboteye]

I ran across some untracked while riding my burner 188 one day and thought "what the hell". It was great, if I went heli boarding, I would not hesitate to bring that board and ride it FAST in some untracked.

Dave R.

[Kirk]

I ran across some untracked while riding my burner 188 one day and thought "what the hell". It was great, if I went heli boarding, I would not hesitate to bring that board and ride it FAST in some untracked.

Interesting. Rode one day (first half of the morning) on my 197 last season in some semi-tracked up fresh - Uh, NOT optimal

My BX deck seems to do just fine. There are other tools out there that are no doubt better, but this is working for me for now.

[Guest]

I rode my Oxygen SX in pow one day and it sucked BIG time. No nose, no float, just a lot of diving. Never again...

[tufty]

I rode my Oxygen SX in pow one day and it sucked BIG time. No nose, no float, just a lot of diving. Never again...

It's an interesting experience running an alpine (or, to a lesser extent, BX) board through powder, and although I wouldn't recommend it for doing trees due to the massive speeds you need to maintain just to keep afloat it's worth doing once or twice just for laughs and to improve your technique; an alpine board amplifies all the flaws you have when powder riding, and makes them (often painfully) obvious.

Of course if you want to go out and float the powder, you need a powder stick. Duh.

Simon

[Ladia]

I put a lot of powder days on MADD BX last winter and I love it. This board does everything.

[Guest]

Of course if you want to go out and float the powder, you need a powder stick. Duh.

That's not necessarily true. I used my 181 Prior WCR as my everything board this past season, and I rode it during a ton of pow days, which it handled beautifully.

[philw]

Well it all depends what people mean by "powder". I've seen people ride Fish in my local indoor slope. They presumably think Zamboni shavings are powder, but their style is fish out of water.

In the real world, most heli or cat operators would try very, very hard to dissuade people from laying down their money if they don't have suitable gear. With a cat it's not so bad as worst case you can sit in the cat and cogitate on your folly all day. With a heli the logistics are more complicated and you may incur significant cost, so you'd not be allowed to share a heli if you don't have sensible gear. I don't know any operator who wants to take money off people who are ultimately going to have a bad time.

BX boards: I haven't ridden one. I would guess that the tail is unlikely to be suited to powder. I would expect it to be too stiff. In general the Salomon boards I have ridden tend to have fairly stiff tails in general. That doesn't make them un-rideable, but it affects the way you manage the tail in steep trees, for example. It's less relevant for fast glacier stuff because you're not using the same techniques there.

Ya need to be very sensitive to your tail in powder. That's one reason that my slalom boards are crap in powder. They are however ok in resort powder, because that has a base, and so you're nothing like as deep in it as you can get in the back woods. Resort powder: it's very nice, but it's a different deal.

So back to the original question... well you could ride them for sure, but if you're looking for a board for a lot of this type of use, or if you intend to go into the back country, then get something better suited to the purpose.