Demo day snowboards quick thoughts
What were the problems you have encountered?
The dye cut splits apart or sections pop out. Can be due to stress or poor construction. Also if you hit a rock in the wrong place it can tear out the dye cut, and some damage can make it difficult to repair well.
There’s no need to dye cut these days really. K2 are huge fans of making dye cut boards with it even being a selling point.
I do like the ptex top sheet on my K2 2011 www however. The 2010 wasn’t so good as the top sheet started pulling off complete sections due to being ptex dye cut. But the 2011 cut has improved and is actually quite a good idea.
Weird that guys find the C2 difficult to bomb straightline, that was one of the best things I noticed about the C2 vs full rocker although I have detuned the contact points pretty heavily. I did have the edges done in the US and whoever did them took em a bit further to the contact points than I would have liked and it made the board feel catchy so I promptly detuned em again and happy days.
Mizu: the board was definitely in need of a wax haha
def… i was so proud when i cruised past finney on my snowboard, (yes it was a flat.)
Well now that finney and ricco made a comment guess i might as well lay down my knowledge on what i rode for the demo days.
So guess ill start off with a bit about me. Im roughly 75kg and approx 5’11. I normally ride with a stance ranging from 22.5” to 24”.
So first board of the day i tested was the YES 2012/2013 156 Greats (Peter Line) with the prototype NOW Bindings with a medium flex. I chose this board as its pretty much just an updated version of my current Yes Tasman(iac) and i thought would be the best way to test out the NOW bindings. The first noticeable difference is that the new yes greats has a chopped off tip and tail to suit the asymmetrical design. The nose and tail cut is actually at a roughly 45” ancle, its the first thing your eye goes to with this board, its quite a distinctive feature, but i was told by the rep’s that i shouldn’t have any effect on the ride of the board. Strapping on the NOW bindings and heading down the upper fantastic green run the board felt great. Very poppy, i didnt know if this was just the combination of the bindings and the board, as it almost felt like the bindings and the board were loading up alot more pop than normal. The Asymmetrical edge felt natural and unforcing when switching from edge to edge. The pop of the cam-rock felt really nice as well and shot me a good foot or two higher than usual on a few of my usual side-hits, this is more than likely due to how new the board. The only negative thing i wasnt too happy about was the fact that it has a die cut sintered base, which is what my previous youngblood had, and with age my youngbloods base started to “stretch” apart with waxing.
Board number two was the YES 2012/2013 151 Public with again the prototype NOW Bindings with Medium Flex. This is a new board to the YES line and says its more of a park/rails board. First impressions is that yeah its probably alot shorter than im used to. Riding along the groomers the board felt like a nice cruisy board, not too aggressive of a sidecut as the asymmetrical edges of the Greats. Switching from regular to switch, the public felt responsive and poppy, also felt really easy to pop and spin with possibly due to the well rounded nose and tail. Its felt really light and not at all a drain to lift. It has a slightly more lifted tail and nose which felt like it was riding more like a 154 than a 151.
Board number three was the Battaleon 153 Disaster with Switchback bindings. After riding Finney’s Bataleon Evil Twin i knew what to expect outta the TBT. Honestly i am not the biggest fan of TBT, it feels alot less responsive and feels like ur forcing the edges to actually carve and washy. the Disaster is the bataleons primary park board, and this feels like it while riding. The board felt heavy under foot and felt like it couldnt pop back after loading up the tail for an ollie. This would probably be great if hitting rails. With the TBT the board felt like it couldnt dig the edge in even if u tried.
Board number four was the YES 2012/2013 154 Tadashi Fuse with prototype NOW Bindings with Medium Flex. This board is the pro model of Tadashi Fuse and i have been lookin forward to trying this board for a while now. I have seen Tadashi cruising around whistler with this board all season long and really really wanted to give a go. The board comes i rode had a flat rocker, although apparently production of the board is set to have a cambered bottom. The board is a really tight/slim board with a very straight shape. The waist width is really slim and the board felt heavier than most yes boards. After hitting a few side hits the board felt really stable in the air and stable on the landing. Really nice for stomping. Although it did fell like with the lack of an aggressive side cut that my tightly carved turns felt like i needed to be forced.
All in all i am way too stoked with my Tasman(iac) and if i had to change my current board i would be grabbing a greats, and switching to Now bindings. They just seemed to work the best for me. But this is just my personal opinion based on my riding style and what works best for me here in whistler. More Demo days are on this weekend coming up, and i wanna test out the Rossignols and a few capita’s. Will let u guys know what i try out and what i think.
Sweet info, marc!!!!!
Do the greats have poprock or camrock????? (At work, can’t be bothered, yadda yadda yadda)
The Greats have CamRock Mizu
@ntnbeaches: I didn’t find it weird to straight light with C2 but just straight gliding with 1 foot felt squirelly
So the following weekend they had another demo day again. This time a few brands didnt show up i.e. Yes n Now, but a few brands i wanted to test out did i.e. DC and Stepchild. The day was a pretty awesome day on the hill, riding with Shane for most of the morning and then jeremy made it up in the arvo. First thing i went straight up to the DC tent, i’d been wanting to seriously try their boards out for a while, since they have switched to the ELAN/Stepchild factory, same place as the yes boards will b coming outta next year.
Started the day off on a 153 Louri with my K2 Hurrithane bindings, This is one of their mid flex boards, with a flat between the feet camber profile and rocker in the tips. First impressions had me thinking it had such a nice all round shape and after talkin to the reps they said the same thing, its like an everyday board, the only thing is a 153 with that camber profile for me just wouldnt handle well in deep pow, definately not a japan board, but a high contender for an aussie everyday board. Took it for a quick shred down to emerald chair along ego bowl, good area to play around in first thing in the morning. Big wide areas to carve, but also some steep to get speed and a few lill rollers off the side. It was such a nice board to ride, it popped and floated really well over the rollers and didnt seem to try and hold back at all. I really liked this board. Rode down to red chair along the hit run. Everyone seems to know it, its probably the best run on whis to test out a board, was such a shame i was there so early in the morning though cause alot of the hits were still really icey. The louri managed to handle the ice in not the best fashion but thats probably due to the de-tuned edges that were on it. Rode red up and handed back the Louri
Next was the Mega Tourstein 153 with my K2 Hurrithane Bindings. This one is a new range to the dc’s their basically making one of their old boards the PLY slightly stiffer and giving it a nice wood grain top sheet which actually looks awesome. This was a board i was kinda lookin forward to riding, its supposed to be a traditional camber board but when i was looking down it actually looked the same as the louri flat between the feet but this board also looked like it was despeate for some wax and a de-tune. First run i took it through was following shane through the park, hit the first littler jumps on the left, front 180, cab 180, then a little tail grab off the last. Felt good in the air stable on the landing, but then trajedy struck, caught an edge, got flung and impacted on my unhealed bruised rib. Now this could b me being biased but that fall really turned me off the board and then i started to feel the edges, razor sharp, and then it felt like the board was kicking me all over the place. Time to take the board back. Think the fall soured my review, i was liking the board but after the fall i turned hate on this board.
Took the mega back and this time grabbed the board i wanted to try from the get go, Torstein 150. Yeap a 150, way to small for a man of my height and weight but my buddy who rides the current 2012 Torstein 150 swears by it. Now this was an interesting ride. Set my stance up at 23’ and straight away this board instantly felt like an old pair of shoes or like hopping onto an old couch. Super comfy and ready to rock and roll. Even though i was still feelin the pain from the fall on the Mega, took this torstein straight down hit run which by this time had softened up and was ready to play. The board felt super poppy and playful, and spun like a dream. Think the first hit i went for a nice 180 and landed a 360. 3 awesome laps later i had to take the torstein back. And decided to give the DC guys a break and hit up the Never Summer Tent.
Straight to the Never Summer tent and picked up a 154 EVO with my K2 Hurrithane bindings on. I like the Never Summer brand, they really have come outta nowhere and are making some real nice boards with good tech. First impressions the boards this is Never Summers park board, its got another one of those weird rocker camber hybrid, rocker between the feel then camber after the feet, compared to my yes and the other boards ive ridden this is the one where just looking at the board u can see the camber/rocker through the board, most boards it looks subtle and u gonna look up close to see the different transitions of camber this one u could straight out see. Honestly when i first started riding it didnt feel that right to me, the board itself feels alot heavier under foot and with the camber profile it almost felt like it was trying to catch an edge. The board felt poppy and easy to load up for buttering and popping, it also had a really nice side cut which felt like it would make for a decent carving board, but u can tell this is made for park and felt like a real rail slaying board. took it for a run through the park with shane and jeremy and then took it for a lap down hit run then was cutting it close to closing time and had to take it back.
So million dollar question if i had to get a new board outta all the ones i tested over the 3 demo days, i’m pretty torn between the DC Lauri or Torstein and the Yes Public. The 3 boards were my favourites to ride, all felt like really fun rides and felt like they would fit in with the rest of my boards.
So well thats my reviews on the demo days. Gotta say pretty stoked checking out the graphics for next year, love the new boards, bindings and goggles. So much new tech coming out seems like every board company is trying to outdo each other with their camber/rocker profiles, carbon inserts, bindings with crazy hinges, highback-less bindings. See what ends up working and what ends up not.
i have been keen to try dc boards for a while now. hopefully get to demo some this season somewhere.
Many people write off DC boards for some reason, but I love my old HKD!!!!!
And nice indepth write up once again marc!!!!! 
@Marc: So you tried the 2012 Torstein and 2013 Torstein Marc?
I wish you had the chance to demo some of the Rossi boards (Templar and One Magtek), a lot of people write off Rossi just because they’re a ski company but they make awesome boards.
. . . a lot of people write off Rossi just because they’re a ski company but they make awesome boards.
It’s good for snowboarders to support snowboarding companies, run by snowboarders, for snowboarders - but that’s not the main reason I would never buy Rossignol:
The Macquarie Group (through its government contracts) make a lot of money from speed camera revenue.
Speed cameras are just extortion masquerading as ‘safety’ measures - and they do more harm than good, because they divert the focus of many drivers from safely watching the road to dangerously watching their speedometers. If you object to this kind of extortion, you should BOYCOTT The Macquarie Group and all the companies it owns. The company that owns the Rossignol Group is owned by, you guessed it, The Macquarie Group.
Therefore, if you object to this government sanctioned extortion, and want to promote safe driving by putting drivers’ focus back on watching the road, not their speedometers, these are the companies you should BOYCOTT:
Rossignol
Dynastar
Lange
Show you care, and DO NOT support these brands. Every dollar you spend on these brands indirectly goes into funding speed camera extortion. Sure, it may not make much difference to the Macquarie Group’s bottom line - but it’s the principle that counts. Speed camera extortionists are the scum of the earth, and do you really want to do business with people like that?
Skip - They were both 2012-2013 Torstein’s but there are a few different signature graphic models coming out this year for him, he has a ply, mega and also there is another one but i cant remember which one it is. Yeah i really wanted to try out the rossi’s too but they werent there on the second weekend, i like the look of the rossi’s and i learned to ride on a rossi.
Mizu - thanks mizu, the dc boards i think had a few dodgy ones a few years back and thats what made alot people get turned off em, but since they moved to this new factory their coming out mint. definately worth giving a look at if you/i ever get turned off yes boards.
Skip - They were both 2012-2013 Torstein’s but there are a few different signature graphic models coming out this year for him, he has a ply, mega and also there is another one but i cant remember which one it is. Yeah i really wanted to try out the rossi’s too but they werent there on the second weekend, i like the look of the rossi’s and i learned to ride on a rossi.
Mizu - thanks mizu, the dc boards i think had a few dodgy ones a few years back and thats what made alot people get turned off em, but since they moved to this new factory their coming out mint. definately worth giving a look at if you/i ever get turned off yes boards.