Splitboards

Soooo, who’s got one/tried it/thinking about it?

I’ve been umming and aaahhing on this one for a while, but yesterday it came to a head when I realised I have a practically brand new Burton Fish that I bought in Canada 2 years ago and have hardly ridden. Anyone chopped one of these up? It’s a 156, is this too short to be easy to ski in split mode?

If I cut it, will it ride close to or just as well as a purpose-built splitty from Voile or Neversummer etc? I’d take the easy option if I had the coin but no chance of that - unless rider wants to send a cheque for photo of the week!!! 

I’ve been told splitboards are a waste of money, but chopping up a fish sounds like an interesting idea. Always wanted to try a fishboard.

My good friend in Whistler chopped up his snowboard and made it into a splitboard. I remember seeing it and it looked really solid and well built. I just sent him a link to this thread so hopefully he’ll pop in with a bit of information and photos.

bliss - 03 August 2011 05:22 AM

I’ve been told splitboards are a waste of money.

how so? i think they are very functional…

waste of money if your just riding park…..

deanobruce - 03 August 2011 05:48 AM

bliss - 03 August 2011 05:22 AM

I’ve been told splitboards are a waste of money.

how so? i think they are very functional…

Same Deano! Faster and less effort than snowshoeing, and 100x better than bootpacking everywhere. There ain’t no getting on a sled in Aus. The only other real option is skiing, and as much respect as I have for my friends that ski - I’d rather be on a board for the down any day.

rider26 - 03 August 2011 05:29 AM

My good friend in Whistler chopped up his snowboard and made it into a splitboard. I remember seeing it and it looked really solid and well built. I just sent him a link to this thread so hopefully he’ll pop in with a bit of information and photos.

Yo buddy, happy to share what i can.  Splitboards are the shit, for ~350 plus a board to saw in half you can be finally free to go exploring (and to spend even more money on avi gear)  Last winter here in Whis i made my own split out of a 2008 lib tech travis rice i didn’t need any more- best idea ever.

Attached photo of my board (hopefully), honestly as long as you or someone you know has a circular saw, some clamps a drill set and a straight line you’re all good.  Very easy to do, highly recomended to check out these two youtube videos linked at the bottomn.  Its a very comprehensive how to with good attention to detail.  The kit from voile has changed a little bit so you don’t have to drill as many holes for the puks which is a bonus.  There are however two things worth pointing out:  (1) Make sure you cut the template in two and center the touring bindings relative to each “ski” **(see bottom)  and (2) When you’re boring out the holes with the wood-bit make sure you do make them deep enough, don’t be too afraid that you’re going way too deep and end up with not enough of a hole and try and bang them all the way in.  That said don’t sink it all the way through, the base and the fiberglass both cut pretty slow but when you hit the wood it’ll go like butter so be ready.  oh and (3)  Fiberglass will go EVERYWHERE, if you don’t want to be itchy have a plan, ive never been one to worry about gloves and all that shit but yeah the topsheet is bad for you so don’t do this in your living room and wear something you dont care about.

Apart from that i’d say that if your fish rides well in the pow for your weight then you’re split will be great.  You only get one chance with binding locations and angles (roughly) so choose wisely- i have my 57 trice set up almost twin (23 inch, 27&-21) and it rides fine, little setback and a bit closer would have been nice but yeah just ride it how you would before you chop it up and you wont notice a hell of a lot of change.  You’ll lose some torsional strength but it doesn’t really matter for what you’re doing.  Thats why they tell you to use a stiffer board to begin with though.  Ive heard people say stay away from reverse camber boards but i don’t see why and i think mines fine.  Gotta be wood core though, any of those carbon rods/pop sticks/lightning bolts/whatever else people wanna call extra crap in ur base is going to get in the way and become a weak spot so not the best idea.  I’ve heard that ICS boards are not desirable as you get a funny inside edge which is tricky to properly seal which makes sense so might be a miss on that one though i don’t know through experience so who knows.

Use a good quality epoxy and be liberal, you’ll be surprised how much seeps into the t-nut holes and you want to have a lump that you can sand flat rather than a hole that you gotta fill with wax.  I think i have some more photos but really just watch the video a bunch of times and you’re all good.  If you’ve got any questions don’t hesitate to ask though, there’s definitely things i’d do better the 2nd time but overall i’m stoked with it.  One thing though which is kinda a bonus is that you’re never going to care about hitting rocks or other stuff with a board cause once you’ve dropped something at speed on a board that you cut in two a few days earlier and it doesn’t explode on you, any concern of core shots somehow being the end of your day is completely gone.

videos: 

Something funnys going on with the links by the look of things so feel free to edit this J but they link atleast as far as i can tell.

**seems obvious i know, but if you aint a skiier and it comes as one template you might just center it together and end up with wonky placement of your touring bindings.  Its done in many (good quality) how-to movies and i did it myself without thinking at 3am many beers deep so yeah don’t fuck that one up or it’ll piss you off though doesn’t seem to affect performance at all which im pretty happy about.  Checkout the picture of mine, you’ll notice the toe/heel brackets of the touring binding are not centered on individual skis.

Splitboarding is the Answer!!!!!!!

http://www.splitboardingistheanswer.com/

If your short on cash mate we have some older model Voile splitty’s that we can sell you for $700 if you send us an email and we could even pair it up with some Voile or Spark binders for $1000 total.

Thanks a lot, Nic! Appreciate the info. Fixed the image for you. Hope to see you in November! 

Yea buddy see you in a bit, lookin for new roomies too though september not nov.

Awesome! Thanks for all the info. Somewhat creeped by the fact I’m a Nic too…

cornicestore - thanks for that also. I’ll have to think about it. Planning on studying Sport and Outdoor Rec next year, so will be in the market for x-country gear, I don’t know yet if I can be a bit cheeky and mix it up with a splitty. I’ll definitely keep your store in mind!

splitboard.com has all the info you need.

fishes have been split before, but the 3d hole pattern is trickier to split than 4x4 since you have to cut right through the insert. Also, if you’re riding the fish short, like you’re supposed to, it won’t be as good for ascent as a regular sized board. The 30mm taper might cause some overhang if you switch the halves in ascent mode to get a solid inside edge.

deanobruce - 03 August 2011 05:48 AM

bliss - 03 August 2011 05:22 AM

I’ve been told splitboards are a waste of money.

how so? i think they are very functional…

Thats what I thought! Worst feeling when your in back country and you enjoyed a asshole of a hill thats covered in pow haha

here is mine i did 3 or 4 years ago

unfortunately my cut wasn’t 100% straight - i have another board i might cut sometime in the future

the only benefits i found of the split is that the board weight is off your back and on flat or slightly down hill sections i could move a bit faster than snow shoes

on the uphill i have found snowshoes to be faster

i found traversing in ski mode uncomfortable, maybe cause bindings were too high on the pucks

i wanted to get a set of these bindings, but ran out of cash