New shape for the Prior PowStick

[Mark.Andersen]

Anybody need a kidney? I got to get one of these...

2007 Prior PowStick

[nils]

like the shape... wonder why chris still maintains so small radiuses on ST ! I think he should go bigger too 181 is too short as a bigger board! 200 area is the way to go, with a 15-16 m radius if you want to ride big faces quick and straight!

Nils

[Guest]

Or how about the the 167 with a 23ish waist?

[lonerider]

Its suggested size is 70kg minimum, I'm just below at 68 kg (150 lbs). I know I probably could stretch the recommended limits but it would probably me that the board is on the stiff side for me. Ah well, I try out my Tanker 172 tomorrow!

[Jon Dahl]

I'm no where near as tempted as you! A certain 178 Nitro Pow has an excellent home, with no plans of being divided by a saw blade.

[Pow]

nice improvement! the rounded tip used to be a big turn-off for me, now im actually considering one... of course, the east coast doesnt get nearly enough of the fluffy white stuff to put it to good use

[philw]

I saw one of those at the "Future Snowboarding" powder board test last week. They had a couple of other STs there too - one was a "winterstick". I'll have a look for some images, although I'm not sure I can post them. The boards were covered with plastic to disguise the graphics, but it was still pretty clear which was which. The Burton ones were particularly easy to spot ;-)

The magazine will have to publish their results, but I doubt many will be surprised to find that by the end of the five-day test the STs were left in the board rack. Pretty specialist tools, those.

The Prior seems neither Fish nor fowl to me, but each to their own. Just don't buy one without trying it first.

[refried]

I've had one (a 176)for about 6 weeks now, real nice board, the nose flexes and stays ontop of everything. got to ride it in some deep powder the last few weeks and have no complaints, but it's kind of funny watching the nose flop around on groomers. A lot more flexable than my Undertaker, better in powder, but the nose flexes a little too much at times on hardpack. Don't know what to ride tomorrow, guess I'll have to bring both.

[derm75]

refried- is yours one of the new pointy nose ones or the old rounder nose? I got a Prior Swallowtail Splitboard about 2 months ago (with the round nose) and absolutely love it. The new nose is kind of a turn-off for me, the old nose never wobbled near as much as my O-Sin 4807. I have been considering getting a Pow Stick as my main resort board because of how well the split handled the groomers, but now with the longer nose and decreased effective edge, I'll probabally see if I can get one of the old ones.

Future Snowboarding magazine was testing powder boards and the swallowtails got left in the rack? Specialist tools? Yeah, for POWDER wtf?!

[420calvin]

i rode my Undertaker yesterday in about 7" on 20", pretty deep in sections that had been closed for 2 days prior to the storms. it is an amazing ride. in open, deep bowls there's just nothing like it really. you are free from having to lean back and firmly over your feet. it is quick to plane and extremely fast. the nose is on top floating or busting crud, as the case may be. you can scream huge powder-pluming turns at very little speed sacrifice. the feeling is totally euphoric.

Future Snowboarding magazine was testing powder boards and the swallowtails got left in the rack? Specialist tools? Yeah, for POWDER wtf?!

well those who have never tried a swallow will never know. the fish/malolo/khyber boards are fun in deep and treed and the maneuverability is great when things are tight. but they're too short. i think the basic aversion people have to snowboard length is partly what keeps them from the longer swallows.

personally, i'm all about the right tool for the job. there are times when a short, highly tapered board is perfect. a few seasons ago we were stuck cat skiing in steep trees after 8 feet of snow fell in 3 days, making open slopes avy prone. a tapered, shorter board there was perfect. but later on the trip when things consolidated and we ended up in the open pow-filled bowls, the swallowtail allowed me to go about twice as fast and have twice the fun.

but on a heli trip in the Chugach i needed a long effective edge and shorter running length to minimize swing weight for the steep gnarly stuff. a 166 w/ a 10m sidecut was the choice, directional w/ only slight taper and stiff to allow for the high speeds that are a function of Alaskan lines. all about the right tool for the job, at least that's how i rationalize my quiver of boards! :)

[philw]

Future Snowboarding magazine was testing powder boards and the swallowtails got left in the rack? Specialist tools? Yeah, for POWDER wtf?!

You really need to read what I actually said, not what you thought I said.

The reason the boards were left in the rack by the end of the test was that all boards had been tested and the riders were just using whatever boards they liked best.

I suggested that based on that evidence from a bunch of pro riders, STs would appear to be fairly specialist tools, if they're so specialist as not to be the board of choice for general BC cat riding. Whatever.

[derm75]

First of all, I'm not dissing you, I'm dissing the magazine testers. But you did say, and I quote, "The magazine will have to publish their results, but I doubt many will be surprised to find that by the end of the five-day test the STs were left in the board rack. Pretty specialist tools, those." You were talking about them testing powder boards, and my take on your comment was that ST's are too specialized for general powder riding, perhaps not what you intended. Your last post mentioned BC cat riding, which to me conjures up an image of untracked powder, which IMHO is the perfect place for a ST. You mentioned pro riders, who have been known to huck cliffs and kickers in the BC, something I am not likely to do. Perhaps that makes an ST unappealing to them. Different strokes for different folks. You seem to agree with what your preception of their opinion is, what is your BC board of choice? I labored over the choice between the Prior ST and Khyber, and in the end I chose the ST. In a perfect world I'd have both.

[refried]

derm75- I have the new pointy nose one, It's a great powder board, but the nose is pretty soft. Maybe the later production boards are stiffer ( mine is a "test" board), the old boards were fairly stiff if I remember corectly. right now I have the Prior and my 4807 side by side and the nose of the Prior is stiffer, but not by much. I know Proir had a couple old style boards left, but I dont know what sizes.

I looked at a friends old Pow Stick, and the nose is much stiffer than mine. I rode it again this weekend, and the nose feels a little soft for a resort board.

I also spent a lot of time on my Khyber 165, and I think it would be a better everyday board than the ST, but the ST is much more fun in powder.

Tom

[Jim]

Refried, I am curious about your weight versus board length. I am 170# and ride a 156 HD Fish.

I also spent a lot of time on my Khyber 165, and I think it would be a better everyday board than the ST, but the ST is much more fun in powder.

Tom

[refried]

Refried, I am curious about your weight versus board length. I am 170# and ride a 156 HD Fish.

I weigh about 210, The Khyber feels a little short for light powder(I usually ride a 170 or 172), but it works well for a tree board. I'd like to try a 170 Khyber to see how it feels.

[philw]

I labored over the choice between the Prior ST and Khyber, and in the end I chose the ST. In a perfect world I'd have both.

I'm sure they'd both be good, but although those guys described the various STs under test as "fun", they ended up choosing Khyber/ Malolo boards by the time they were through with the formal test.

As you say " Different strokes for different folks". It's just when I hear a lot of enthusiastic equating of powder with STs, I feel obliged to squeak a tiny bit and to point out that those boards do not appear to be well suited to the sort of powder riding I'm familiar with, which is specifically BC cat and heli terrain.

This time I used the "Future" test as an example, but I've no shortage of those. Hence my recommendation is just to "ride before you buy". Failing that, most people who don't know precisely what they want and why would do better with [depending on terrain] a Khyber/Malolo or Fish for powder riding in the conditions I'm familiar with. This is why those boards are the default "rental" boards at Wiegele's and other places. As it happens they also work excellently for experts.

[Jim]

Thanks Refried, I was at the Prior demo last month in Tahoe, but no pow that day. I could have demoed either board all day. The 167 Khyber may be the one for me at 170#.

I weigh about 210, The Khyber feels a little short for light powder(I usually ride a 170 or 172), but it works well for a tree board. I'd like to try a 170 Khyber to see how it feels.

[rugger]

I'm sure they'd both be good, but although those guys described the various STs under test as "fun", they ended up choosing Khyber/ Malolo boards by the time they were through with the formal test.

As you say " Different strokes for different folks". It's just when I hear a lot of enthusiastic equating of powder with STs, I feel obliged to squeak a tiny bit and to point out that those boards do not appear to be well suited to the sort of powder riding I'm familiar with, which is specifically BC cat and heli terrain.

This time I used the "Future" test as an example, but I've no shortage of those. Hence my recommendation is just to "ride before you buy". Failing that, most people who don't know precisely what they want and why would do better with [depending on terrain] a Khyber/Malolo or Fish for powder riding in the conditions I'm familiar with. This is why those boards are the default "rental" boards at Wiegele's and other places. As it happens they also work excellently for experts.

Phil:

Rumour has it that the Dupraz was in great demand and the testers were jostling over it.

As for the rental thing, that could be a marketing hype. I would not put it past Burton to donate the boards free and for Wiegeles to make easy rental money! Got the picture! In fact Burton is known for this behaviour. The smaller companies like Prior, Dupraz, Donek cannot afford to give boards away.

You need to see through these things by now my friend. Take a Kyber for a run or the Dupraz.

Maul Rucker

[Guest thomas_m]

Thanks Refried, I was at the Prior demo last month in Tahoe, but no pow that day. I could have demoed either board all day. The 167 Khyber may be the one for me at 170#.

Hi Jim. I'm 175lb and have been riding the LibTech Snow Mullet 166 this season for steeps/trees when I didin't want to ride the Dupraz. It's got a template somewhere between the Fish and the Khyber/Malolo but not quite as much setback. The 166 length has worked great for anything except really low angle stuff but I'd reach for the Dupraz or Tnaker for that stuff anyway.

T.

[Jim]

Thanks Thomas, My friend just picked up a Mullet (not sure of the length) last week. Time to do a demo run.

[gdboytyler]

Or how about the the 167 with a 23ish waist?

I ALMOST bought a Pogo D-Day 169 swallow tail with 23.5cm waist. But bought another alpine board instead. It was such a close call.

I used to own both the Fish 156 and the O-Sin 4807 168. I thought the O-Sin handled open powder and carved on groomed runs much better. So I sold the Fish.

I'll hang on to the O-Sin until it gets too beat up. Then it might be time for a true swallow tail.

[Jim]

I ALMOST bought a Pogo D-Day 169 swallow tail with 23.5cm waist. But bought another alpine board instead. It was such a close call.

I know what you mean. I bought a 178 Nitro Powder Gun (soft) that rides like my 156 Fish...go figure. Now I have two powder boards that I rarely ride.

[lonerider]

I ALMOST bought a Pogo D-Day 169 swallow tail with 23.5cm waist. But bought another alpine board instead. It was such a close call.

I used to own both the Fish 156 and the O-Sin 4807 168. I thought the O-Sin handled open powder and carved on groomed runs much better. So I sold the Fish.

I'll hang on to the O-Sin until it gets too beat up. Then it might be time for a true swallow tail.

Or you can pick up another 4807 from me for cheap... it has a few war wounds that have been patched up (check out TC forum for photos). As for me... I've ridden the Fish 156MD, the OSin 4807 and the Tanker 172. The Fish is superior in the tight trees, I stopped worrying about floatation or making quick turns to avoid trees... I started worrying about whether I could fit my body through the gaps I was shooting at full speed! The Fish isn't as good in open powder and on carving on groomed runs , which was what led my to try out the 4807. The 4807 does this lot better (a little mushy to respond, but carves nicely once you have it high on edge) and also soaks up chunky and choppy snow really well, but it is heavy and a little cumbersome to swing (that huge nose) My Tanker 172 is easier to handle (superior materials/construction) and has a very nice smooth carving entry and then holds on even at higher speeds, the nose soaks up a lot of chop, it floats well (not as well as the 4807 or the Fish at speed, but plenty enough). It is not as nimble as the Fish, but you can snake it through arm-width trees at speed without a problem (jump turns on steeps are easy too). What I really like about the Tanker is that it handles like a regular snowboard, but with great float... whereas while you are riding a Fish or a 4807 you "know" you are riding a powder board - while this is awesome for a full day of powder - as the powder gets tracked out... I would like to be able to do regular runs as well (the 4807 carves well, but doesn't like to be flat or slightly on edge, the nose bounces and twists a lot...). For me, if I were riding all tree powder, it would be the Fish. Bowl powder/groomers its' the Tanker. Note that both of these are with softboots.

[philw]

Rumour has it that the Dupraz was in great demand and the testers were jostling over it.[...]

As for the rental thing, that could be a marketing hype.[...]

You need to see through these things by now my friend. Take a Kyber for a run or the Dupraz.

No, that's incorrect: I was there and what I saw is what I described.

I don't see the relevance of my personal experience to any of this, but if you're going to take a pop then you might put some effort into it. If you could actually spell "Prior Khyber", then google would have shown you my review of that board from last year. Ridden at Wiegele's as it happens, using a Wiegele board. And no, it wasn't there because of "marketing hype" from an evil small company.

[rugger]

Phil:

I am not sure you understand this industry very well. The buyers get wined and dined; they get tons of free gear; they get flown into upscale resorts for board tests with all expenses paid, etc. It is like politics. Please pay attention to the bold texts below.

Burton's marketing is unparalleled. You understand that spending so much money on advertising and building a strong team that does not ride stock boards translates to market share. There are the Burton camp folks and the others. Used to be in the B camp but no more. :p

On the test, I do not doubt what you saw but I got the inside scoop on the test. Funny that Prior was not even asked to participate in that test and just heard because it was taking place in his backyard. I hope you catch that one. We just have to wait for the results.

By the way, the folks at Couloir also had their test and we know what the results has been for the last four years at least for split boards. Interestingly, Burton has finally thrown in the towel and changed to the Voile system and we shall wait for that test results, also. I will bet that the conclusion is that overall Dupraz rock and Prior splits still hold its premier position.

The maul rucker