David Kirk Posted April 11, 2022 Report Share Posted April 11, 2022 About 2 years ago I got frustrated with my everyday board (Tanker 187 Wide) because the radius was so short (11m) that it felt hooky in trees and bumps and it folded up like an accordion when pushed hard on a groomer. I’m 6’4” and 185# and I wanted something with a longish effective edge and a longer radius so it would have a higher comfortable speed on a groomed run and not feel busy off groomed. What I really wanted was a board that would handle a shallow powder day (6”) and then lay trenches when I left the powder and pulled out on the groomed trail. It was then that I bought a used Oxess 170 cm boardercross board with a 17 m radius. The 17m Oxess was a revelation. Smooth and damp and happy off the groomed and fun at mach II on a groomer. It was nearly perfect….nearly. The 17m radius was long enough that you needed to be on a fairly steep run for hard carving to make sense. I felt I needed something with a slightly shorter radius that would carve hard at medium speeds. At the very end of last season I took delivery of a custom Oxess X-1/14.5. I asked the good folks at Oxess to make me the same board but with a 14.5m radius to allow hard and deep carving at something less than warp speed. I got one day in last year and it was a wonderful tease at Big Sky. It was very firm and the board had such great edge hold it was hard to believe. But a more well rounded test had to wait for this year. This year I rode it a lot. On any day that we got enough snow for full-on alpine race boards to not make sense I rode the Oxess. It would carve the piste like a race board and then I could pull off into the trees or the edge pow and float around….and then do ass-draggers back on the groomed. It was of course never intended to be a powder board but it handled that very well (keeping the Tanker 187 for truly deep days) and it carves as good as most race boards I’ve ridden. Our season ended today at Bridger Bowl. The off groomed was 1” of fresh over corral reef. Not good. The groomers were a mix of near bullet proof to awesome hard chalk depending on the aspect and sun exposure. The Oxess carved conditions that many would think of as unusable gave great feedback as to how much grip was left at any given time. I could have ridden a race board today but those I was riding with would be popping in and out of the trees and a narrow race board would blow for that. The Oxess was totally in its element. The edge hold is frankly shocking and it took some time this year to trust it. As long as your body is stacked up over it well, it will hold. I could not be happier with this thing. It’s fun and playful and has the edge hold of a full-on race board. It will skid and pivot and float off-piste and then dive in deep and hard on corduroy…..and then carve seriously hard conditions well enough that your slalom ski buddies can’t figure out how you are carving when they can’t. Fun. It makes nearly all conditions fun. It’s going to be a long summer with this thing in storage. Dave 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunslinger65 Posted April 12, 2022 Report Share Posted April 12, 2022 Great review, I to am the proud owner of an Oxess BX and couldn't be happier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortcutToMoncton Posted April 16, 2022 Report Share Posted April 16, 2022 Hello Dave, great review. What waist width are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted April 16, 2022 Report Share Posted April 16, 2022 @David Kirk nice review. Isn't the X-1 one of the Oxess freecarve series designed for softboots?https://oxess.ch/en/content/87/56/snowboards/freeride-softboot-carver-freecarver Is yours a different model? Any additional info/specs would be welcomed, thanks! Mahalo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kirk Posted April 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2022 2 hours ago, lonbordin said: @David Kirk nice review. Isn't the X-1 one of the Oxess freecarve series designed for softboots?https://oxess.ch/en/content/87/56/snowboards/freeride-softboot-carver-freecarver Is yours a different model? Any additional info/specs would be welcomed, thanks! Mahalo. I think the CX and FX are different boards. The X-1 is the boardercross board. Mine is a 169 and I think the waist is 25.9. dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubiid1k3 Posted May 20, 2022 Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 (edited) useful information Edited May 20, 2022 by rubiid1k3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowburn Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 Dave, I have seen you on this board, It looks like it's a serious all around contender for an all mountain shedder. My daily driver has been the Thirst SF 162 this year. It's amazing in the 6" powder range along with chalky groomers. But still in the hunt for that elusive all in one board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kirk Posted March 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2023 On 2/26/2023 at 7:41 PM, snowburn said: Dave, I have seen you on this board, It looks like it's a serious all around contender for an all mountain shedder. My daily driver has been the Thirst SF 162 this year. It's amazing in the 6" powder range along with chalky groomers. But still in the hunt for that elusive all in one board. I'm sorry that I didn't somehow see your post... The Oxess really does a great job of allowing for hard carving and powder floating in the same run . It doesn't carve as well as a narrow race board and it doesn't float as well as a powder board but it does both things well enough that I don't have FOMO for a different board that day...and its really fun! dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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