best pow ride?

[bobdea]

what do you think is the best pow ride

long boards for example lib tech dough boy or rad air tanker

swallow tails like rossi undertaker

or extreme taiper board like the burton fish or prior kyber

what do you think is the best

[Guest Randy S.]

I'm a big fan of swallowtails in the powder. My first snowboard was a swallowtail back in '86. Last year I picked up an O-sin 4807 178 and ride that in pow now. Its a great way to go. I haven't ridden the Fish, but have heard good things (it seems way to small to me). If you ride a race board or a big twin tip in pow, be sure to move the bindings all the way to the stern. That way you'll get some extra float for the nose.

[bobdea]

it is a board that rips in most condition liked it much better than my dough boy it floated just as well due to the extra width and was way more managable in the trees

the canyon 173 was great as well for the tighter east coast trees

I now have donek sasquatch 170 great for higher speeds than the average board of its size it feels bigger than it is but I fear in the deep stuff I will need somthing bigger and a bit softer

how big do the 4807s come?

do you think the big rossi undertaker would be a good choice I am 250 lbs and 6 ft tall?

[Guest dragonfly jones]

Man I have a tanker 192 with 10 meter side cut that rides through crud, junk and muck and POW. If you have the means I highly recommend picking one up.

[nils]

Bob,

The undertaker is by far the best "industrial" swallowtail on the market today. The Osin isn't a real one ( fish tail) and is way too short, same goes with the Fish (my opinion of course)... Am 6.3 weighting 150-160 pounds, and ride a 196cm that I find a bit too short! Powder asks for length!!

I am ordering a 215cm next season!

You have two models of Undertakers: the good old 198> i think its the best model, and the new 185 or 188... Both have stiff flex and ride nice as hell!

I guess it mostly depends on where you want to ride it....

If its steep, open space: get as much length as you can. If its trees you want to turn around all day, get a smaller board like the O'sin, the Fish or whatever else!

You have more info on my www.swallowtails.org page, and boardspecs from 2001-2002 season. Most boards have not changed since...its just missing the new 178 O'sin (now dynastar)

and a few Japanese / german makers that you can only get there.

Hope this helps

Nils

[Guest JohnSch]

The characteristics of an average powder day change a good bit geographically. For the east coast, even OB at northern VT resorts even good powder days can involve variable snow, crust underneath fresh snow, and obviously very tight trees, snags, etc. So, the best pow board is going to depend on where you are among other things, as well as how you want to ride.

Bob, the Fish was in effect designed to excel in tight trees, while working ok elsewhere. Lib Tech has a 172 in their Snow Mullet with a wider waist, a fish-style design, that may work better in your range. As for the Donek, why not try it in trees/soft snow first before deciding on other options? I don't think you'd need something bigger, and Inclines at least plane pretty nicely in my experience, I assume the Sasquatch would too. You might ask Sean for advice re: optimal setback for powder, etc., in your case, he's pretty generous with his input.

For pure, bottomless pow: I haven't ridden one of the rockered designs, but definitely have this on the to-do list. The Volant Spatulas certainly have been getting incredible reviews from skiers, and a similar snowboard design should be a very different ride.

[Guest thomas_m]

Never tried it but when I was ordering my 4WD I noticed Prior has a Tree/Pow board too, the Khyber. It looks like it would be pretty cool for variable conditions. They also have a split tail pure pow model:

http://www.priorsnowboards.com/frameset.php?page=boards.html

T.

[utahcarver]

My favorite board to ride IN powder is a Winterstick swallowtail. Too bad all mine broke years ago. The new WSST's look a bit more sturdier. Now, once I got the right 'sweet spot' dialed in, my Undertaker 198cm is very nice for Wasatch powder.

[Guest Matt D]

I agree with both Nils and JohnSch.

I guess it mostly depends on where you want to ride it....

The characteristics of an average powder day change a good bit geographically.

Its really going to depend on where you live/ride the most, the terrain that is available to you, and how much pow you've got to ride. One thing that I've noticed about riding pow, is that the longer your board, the harder it is to turn. Also, the shorter the board the faster you must go to be able to float.

I got to spend 6 days @ Whitler-Blackcomb this winter (March 1- 6 2004) and I went riding 4 of those days. The first 2 days I rode my Prior MFR 168XW. Conditions were soft in the higher elevations, and icy crud at the bottom. I took the next day off and went to the Prior factory. Chris wasn't there but a demo Khyber 160 was. So I went riding Thursday after we got about 15-20cms (3 - 4") and had a blast.

What I noticed about the Khyber was that I did't need a lot of speed to float because of the generous amount of setback and the hugh fat nose on the thing. On top of that, the board turned on a dime whenever I wanted it to. The flex was what I would call average, but I think thats what made it ride so nice.

Long story short... after getting to ride it for a day I'm hooked and I will be adding 1 to my quiver. Burton is coming out with a very similar model for 04-05 called the Malalo. Some thought the Malalo was the new Fish, but the Fish will be back for 04-05 as well.

[bobdea]

when I say pow ride thats exactly what I mean here in the east a jib stick ( my sasquatch)is all I need in the wet fluff but when it get deep and dry like say in UT something esle would be more fun

what I am really asking is those of you have ridden long boards and other stuff like swallow tails who can give a fair comparison of different types of these specialized rides

I have had a long board(dough boy 193) and ridden a few more tankers and the big glissades liked the glissade the best

how does a ST compare?

[gdboytyler]

I bought a Burton Fish 156 MD at the back end of this season and got to ride it in a foot of fluffy pow at Mammoth.

Although a foot of fresh is just barely a powder day, the Fish worked great. The ride was almost effortless. I only had to put a little extra weight on my back foot and never felt the board bog down even at slower speeds. I can't remember the last time I used so little energy to ride powder.

The Fish also carved decently in the packed-powder-groomed runs. However, I thought the board sucked on hardpack. On hardpack, it felt like I was going to catch an edge at any second, unless I was constantly turning. Also, on hardpack, it took a lot of effort to keep the board turning - most likely due to the width of the board and my size 25 mondo boots.

I bought the Fish for a possible catboarding trip next season. I can't wait to try it in some deeper snow.

[C5 Golfer]

Either my Arbor Munoz 170 or my Salomon 450-171 - either is a great board, problem is i hardley ride them - love the hard boot boards.:D

[nils]

thus the interest of the Swallowtail: most of them are riddable in hardboots: the undertaker especially works fine with them ( better with softer shells like the SB121 of course), the O'sin wasn't designed for hardboots so its not that good with them ( something I don't like is wrong with the torsion of the nose). On the higher range: the pogo ST, the swellpaniks also work perfectly great with HB, most were designed by a shaper that was riding them with plates !

This pic from 94 shows the exact same ST they build today ( few outline changes, and mostly flex refining) both using plates and SB121.. Believe me they are fast, and the playground is nothing but fast as well!

Riders on ST with HB

Playground! Notice the straight path of the ST rider compare to the regular guy's path... A ST handle much more speeds with confidence than a board with a normal tail, shall it be designed for powder.

As for the Fish not beeing a good board on hard pack: it has so much taper/pintail, that it can NOT really go straight on the edge: wants to turn around its nose! That is in my opinion why its more a big turn back in history.. The winterstick St is also a great powder board, but why today ride a board that works only good in powder, when you can have a modern ST that does both, carving a bit on hard pack, excel in powder etc...

Using too much pintail might be great for powder, but it does limitate the groomed/hardpack, or even ice performance!

N.

[sic t 2]

Nils,

That photo gallery was absolutely breathtaking. What a great thing to wake up to at 6:30 A.M. in New York City on this warm spring morning.

"just 1 of the 48"

Thanks for that !

Sic t 2

[nils]

more info:

pan de rideau begins at a good 55°, couloir Y is something like

58°!! The three trifides in the 50°+...kind of steep ;)

The local boys ( all on the pics are locals ) kinda know the place by heart, they pionnered la Grave before the skiiers came there!

Funny because must be the only place in the world where people look at you strangly when you don't have a swallowtail! Even girls ride them ( 175 usually).

Damn snow falls everywhere gotta drive there soon!! ( 2-3 hours hehe)

Nils

[Guest Pre School Rider]

I'm a big fan of Swallowtails! Boards like the Nitro do very well as do "A" boards,able flow very smoothly with little effort.Wintersticks are very nice,especially in dry+light pow,just be aware that crud and windpack are not a Winterstick's fave place to be... In tighter areas,I've come to really respect the O-Sin/Dynastar 4807 boards,as they have really good low-speed manuverability,and keep a nose-Up attitude where other boards get bogged down. The 'boat-hull' nose does very good things in keeping one's speed up while turning deeply as well,and it kinda just effortlessly moves snow outa the way with no discernable drag,making this a good board even in flatter powder areas. I've bought the smaller 168cm version for the tighter woods we have in New England,but I'd go with the 178cm for out west. The Rossi Undertaker is just a big hog,totally unable to turn when needed,but it is fast,and floats well,good for freshies in large,open areas. Still,my favorite powder boards are two old standbys that are Not Swallowtailed. In Softies,the nod goes to any of of the larger (171cm) Craig Kelly boards,but in particular,the "Screaming Tree" (from '95) just is awesome in powder.Very playful,good float,can go switch if needed,and just zips between trees with an agility that's very rare these days. In Hardboots(also good with softies),my vote goes to the Rad-Air Tankers.Just pick the size you like and GO! I own five,btw,so like the sizing thing is really just a matter of how tight you want to turn on a given day! The 200 takes a bit of planning ahead,as does the 182,so freshies midweek are when I like to break these out . I'm usually on the 172 once I'm looking for untracked snow the day after.Flex in the nose is a key thing,as is having a tail you can stomp on and boost off of.Lots of Taper,like what the Fish uses is good,but it's worthless if the board dosen't flex right(yeah,like on an '89 Gnu Antigravity).Burton has a bit to go to get the Fishes right,but,hey,nice try anyway! I'd love find out how the Prior does. I have pretty fond memories of riding a "Sammy Surfer" a few years back,so I'd be inclined to think Prior might have it figured.

[P06781]

I vote for the radair tankers on hardplates. I ride a 192 and 200. Get a 02 or newer since I pulled the inserts out on an older one. I took mine to BC to ride powder in the monashees on a snowcat trip and I can tell you they rip. I could float out areas better than the guides on pow skis. They couldn't believe it , nor have they ever seen a 200cm snowboard with catek stepin's .

Jim

[jason_watkins]

What would be the best bet for a pure powder ride for a lightweight. I'm considering buying a 4807 for next season, wondering if I should go 178 or size down to the 168. Being able to float flatish stuff and make tight slow turns would be important to me. If I were to go with a tanker, what would be a good size?

[Guest Pre School Rider]

Jason,if you're under 155 lbs.,then go with the shorter 168cm model 4807,or a likely Tanker under 177/172 cm.Tankers come two widths,btw,denoted by either being a 'skinny' with a '2' at the end of the length,or a 'fatty' with a '7' at the length's end.You'll want at least size 10 [u.S. sizing,or Mondo 28] feet for the wider Tankers.Tankers get longer sidecuts to match their length,so the 182cm [at a 10M arc] and bigger feel pretty long,but aren't really too hard to turn quickly in freshies. If you're heavier than 160 lbs, then the bigger 4807 (the 178cm) is good,and/or pick any ol' Tanker above the 172 cm size.Oh,and I forgot one other 'big board' company I like (though they're rare back East), Glissade, which are Northwestern boards in the finest tradition.They're heavier than Tankers both in heft an feel underfoot,but they have a sweet flex to them,and come in Big and Bigger sizes (like 185 + 195 cm ,I think?).It's been awhile since I got on one,so...

[Neil Gendzwill]

Just had to mention that an old Tanker 200 showed up in the mail for me last week. I think it's a 2001, it's black with the simple carve-line design on it. Anyways, it will have to sit until next season but I'm looking forward to it. Should be good for a couple of raised eyebrows if I take it out for a test ride at the local hill (300' elevation).

[Justin A.]

I ride a burton amp 153 in the powder. And yes, I'm in the east, but Jay Peak (where I do my pow riding) dosent have eastern snow. Just so you know, Im 6' and 220, and I ride a 153 in the soft stuff, so size dosent matter in this case. If you can find one, pick it up, I got mine for $50 from a shop in Salem, brand new.

-Justin

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