mrjamie Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I've been in Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan for the past 5 days (3 of which have been blizzard conditions) riding a 2007 burton Malolo on 2004 Catek Olympic plates. Last Thursday I put on snow shoes and hiked from the base to the peak, taking only one ride down. On Friday I spent the whole day over on the Annupuri side and the 3 backcountry bowls, natural half-pipe formed by a ravine, and a mountain-sized portion of powder. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday the high winds kept the top lifts open and I played around in trees and powder, but as much powder as there was the limited access to other parts of the mountain resulted in what good snow there was being tracked out relatively fast, and I retired earlier finishing with some runs on packed freshies. On open powder, steep or gradual in gradient, the board whose name means 'flying fish' in Hawaiian kicks up not powder, but magic fairy dust. Or at least that's what it feels like riding this board on the deep steeps and the not so steep deeps. Turns -- short, jumpy turns or long, carved turns -- are effortless. Leaning back to pop a wheelie on the tail of the board is simple because of how pliable the tail is. The confidence this board inspires in turns makes bombing the runs without turning that much easier, and I quickly picked up more speed down the steep powder runs than I have ever felt comfortable with (in the powder) on an all-mountain board or carving board with plates. The malolo turns quick enough in powder that riding through the trees is a blast as well. Thanks to some of the advice I got on these forums about riding plates in steep, tight powder I was able to cruise down between thick copses of trees with no worries about the board being unwieldy or too long. Meanwhile, lower down the mountain, the powder has been packed down by everyone else while I'm busy riding back country, and it's hard-pack/ice conditions. On the former the edge hold isn't amazing, but it's decent and if you want to you can throw out extreme carves on this board. On ice though, I had to carve much wider turns because I couldn't keep the edge. Bombing the hardpack/ice steeps continues to be much more frightening on the Malolo than on an all-mountain/carving board. The flexibility and lightness that pay off so much in the back country and powder are bullied by the hard snow and the ride is very jittery. I'm looking forward to bringing out a prior 4WD after the powder that the blizzard brings us has been tracked out. As for jumps, I went off as many bumps and natural kickers (as well as some smaller hand-made kickers) as possible, and as long as I didn't mess up with the edges or back-forward balance, the board did a great job of landing. Which brings me to a conclusion of sorts. For powder and back country, the Malolo is an incredible board that will take _anywhere_ you want in comfort and with ease. On the groomers it holds an edge well, but on hard-pack, mush, and ice, I'd recommend a stiffer board that's a little more damp. enjoy the rest of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpyride Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 My sentiments exactly on the Burton Fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebu Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Sounds good. I just wish we had some of that backcountry/pow here in michigan... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Sounds like a good place, and a good summary of the board. I've been riding a Malolo (as opposed to my Fish) and your experiences chime with mine. I was going to write a web comparison at some point, although if you look at the two boards then the differences are kind of apparent anyway. The Fish is still the dominant board at Wiegele's. At Powder Mountain they carry both Fish and Malolos and I think the Fish get more use. The Malolo is as it says on this year's boards "more slashy". I turn boards in some sort of way which makes their length irrelevant, so that's no issue for me. I can't decide which I'd carry if I had to make a choice: I'll just have to keep on checking until I can be sure ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamie Posted March 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 I got a chance to ride on nice groomers today after more hikes to the summit... 120 cm in 3 days, hooray :-) anyways, I was angulating all the way down, looks like the board doesn't matter for EC after all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoltan Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Do you'all ride your Malolo on the base stance settings, or do you the bindings moved back from base? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamie Posted March 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2007 Do you'all ride your Malolo on the base stance settings, or do you the bindings moved back from base? I ride my catek plates with screws in the following spots: o = empty x = screw front plates: o o o x o o x o o o o o x o o back plates; o o o o o x o o x o o o o o x it's a pretty centered stance, which is what they recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.