POW Gloves - El presidente raps about gloves and horny underwear

2010-06-08 23:19:43

In January, Dana and I decided to become a major nuisance at the SnowSports Industries of America trade show in Denver Colorado and we recorded most of it on video. Since the snow season is effectively over for me, and I have a little bit more spare time on my hands, so I decided to go through that video to see what we got. I came across a few nuggets which I thought would be good to share with the public at large including a few peaks at some of the stuff that's slated to come out for the 2010/11 snowboard season, including POW Gloves.

Dustin, el presidente at POW, was nice enough to give us a walk through of a few of the gloves that will be coming out next winter. So I took that footage and put it together in a neat little package for your viewing enjoyment.

I've been using POW gloves for quite a few years now (CASI pro-deals for the win!), and I like them a lot. I've been using the High-Five gloves for the last two seasons now and I keep getting new ones each year. Not because they aren't durable, mind you, snowboard instructors are hard on gloves; I'd probably go through a pair of gloves a year even if they were made of indestructium.

The gloves featured in this video are the Photog, the Sniper, and the Royal. I could probably go on about them, but it's probably better if I leave that up to Dustin since he's probably more interesting than I am. So without further ado, here's what Dustin has to say about the 2010/11 POW Photog, Sniper, and Royal. Enjoy.

Categories: Gear, SIA, Shred Labs | 0 Comments

Time To Split? - Walk the plank.

2010-03-22 17:35:00

In the “Blown In” column of the February issue of Backcountry magazine, Colin Whyte wrote about the recent growth in popularity of splitboarding. Fueled by significant advances in gear, and the impending release of Jeremy Jones' new film Deeper, splitboarding seems to be benefiting from an increase in public visibility. When I was in Denver in January to attend the SIA tradeshow, I decided to do an informal survey to find out if this growth in visibility would also translate into an increase in participation and/or sales in this sub-market of snowboarding.

This year at the SIA trade show in Denver, more companies than ever before have presented new splitboards and splitboard accessories including Jones Snowboards, Lib-Tech, Atomic, Burton, Never Summer, Venture, Spark R&D and Voilé. I've taken a particular interest in splitboarding this year, due to my upcoming trip to Valdez for Tailgate Alaska which led me to visit these company's booths to get a sense of the state of splitboards as it was in 2009/10 and what the prosects look like for 2010/11. Here's what I found out:

Burton

The core of Burton's business will always be traditional boards. In terms of volume these will account for the bulk of sales (you're average New Englander is not interested in the backcountry). Although some companies will say that split board sales are on the rise, these are generally percentages: even if 60% of your sales are splits, if you only sell 60 boards, in the grand scheme of things it's not that significant. However, considering how vast Burton's line up is, and that they only have a single splitboard, Burton is not exactly the de-facto model for this segment of the market.

Atomic

Although Atomic has significantly pared down their snowboard lineup in recent years to rediscover their roots, they've introduced a splitboard with the Poacher. What makes the Poacher special is that they have a patented system for attaching the bindings to the board. This system eliminates the need for a base-plate, which allows the bindings to be mounted that much closer to the board. This is significant because one of the biggest complaints with splitboarding is that the use of the mounting plates for the bindings makes the ride less enjoyable. Having the split bindings mounted that much closer to the board makes it ride more like a solid snowboard, which is key to getting Johnny Groomer-Runs to want to skin anywhere to earn some turns.

Venture

Venture Snowboards has been in the business of making splits for a long time. They are strong proponents of an environmentally sustainable business model which fits well with the idea of earning your turns with your legs. In keeping with this environmental message, this year Venture is using a pine based, rather than a petroleum based, epoxy called Supersap for gluing their boards.

I spoke with Lisa Branner from Venture to find out what the overal trend seemed to be. In 2009, Venture's sales were devided about equally between split and solid boards. But the share of sales of split boards has been on the rise. In 2010/11, she expects that split-board sales will rise to 60% of their total.

Venture Snowboards has been in the business of making splits for a long time. They are strong proponents of an environmentally sustainable business model which fits well with the idea of earning your turns with your legs. In keeping with this environmental message, this year Venture is using a pine based, rather than a petroleum based, epoxy called Supersap for gluing their boards. I spoke with Lisa Branner from Venture to find out what the overal trend seemed to be. In 2009, Venture's sales were devided about equally between split and solid boards. But the share of sales of split boards has been on the rise. In 2010/11, she expects that split-board sales will rise to 60% of their total.

Venture is also now hiring their first canadian rep, and expect to be expanding north of the border a lot more next season. They have also recently launched their new Venture Webstore, so it is now possible to buy snowboards directly from them. They aren't turning their backs on their authorized dealers, however, who get first dibs at fulfilling your order. If no nearby authorized dealers have your board in stock, but Venture does, they will step in and fulfill your order themselves.

Prior

Prior Snowboards has been in the business of making snowboards since 1990 when Chris Prior started pressing snowboards in his garage in North Vancouver British Columbia. In 2000, the factory moved to Whistler and they introduced their first Backcountry Splitboard models and they have been making custom snowboards by hand in Whistler ever since. Prior continues to be driven by a singular goal: “to make the best performance snowboards – as determined by its customers.”

Although I didn't get to meet with anybody from Prior at SIA, I did have a brief e-mail conversation with Dean who informed me that, even though the split market is quite small, they have been seeing growth in it for the last 10 years (so basically since they started making splits). The growth in splitboard sales has out-paced the growth in solid board sales which has also seen a moderate growth. Although he was reluctant to give out any ratios or precentages, this seems to be clear evidence that there is in fact growth in the splitboard market.

Lib Tech

Even Mervin Manufacturing is getting into the split board game. I called it more than a year ago that Mervin should turn a skate banana into a split-board and call it the Banana Split (you read it here first). Maybe Pete Saari reads my writing, or more likely he listens to Travis Rice, because Lib Tech officially unveiled the one of a kind Viola. This split feature's Lib Tech's Magna Traction on the outside edges, C2 banana technology which provides rocker underfoot and powder-friendly camber on the tip and tail. The Viola also carries Travis Rice's sustainability message: fiberglass is not employed in its construction, eco-farmed Columbian Gold wood is used for the core, and a BEANS biopolymer is used on the topsheet to show off the sick Mike Parillo graphic. Even though the Viola will likely not be a big part of Mervin's overall sales, the fact that Lib Tech is getting in on the splitboard action is a sign that interest in the sport is growing.

Splitboarding definitely seems to be a growing market of the overall snowboarding industry. I, for one, bought my first splitboard this winter (A 156 Prior AMF with hybrid rocker in case you were wondering). Plus with the upcoming release of Deeper, we may be poised to see an even bigger growth of the sport in the next few years. Especially when you consider that, aside from Jeremy Jones, Tom Burt, and Bryan Iguchi, Travis Rice – who spent a fair amount of time working with Jeremy Jones in the AK backcountry for Deeper - may be the most recognizable backcountry splitter. With a name like that endorsing splitboarding, we may be about to see an shift from the urban, back to the mountain. That can only be a good thing, after all, snowboarding was meant to be done on mountains in the first place.

Categories: Snowboarding, Gear | 0 Comments

2009/10 Burton Supermodel - Shred Labs Board Test (by Dana)

2010-02-19 22:06:55

The Burton Supermodel is one of those boards that everyone has heard about, its been around for a long time. However, I'm not certain a whole lot of people have actually ridden it... I decided to take her for a ride and see how she felt (wow, apparently I'm just as dirty as I am polite...)

• Location: Mont Cascades, Cantley, Quebec, Canada
• Snow Conditions: We hadn't received much in the form of precipitation since some freezing rain a week or so before the test. The slopes were hard packed with some loose groomer snow on the surface.
• Rider: Dana
  • Height: 5' 10"
  • Weight: 175 lbs
  • Boot Size: 10.5 (US)
• Setup:
  • 2009/10 Burton Supermodel, 159
  • 2009/10 Burton Cartel EST bindings (M): 19 degrees front, -9 degrees back, 27 inches wide.
  • 2008/09 Burton SLX Boot

First Impression

My first impression of the Supermodel was red. This board is very... red. Decently lightweight, graphics were pretty flashy, looks like you are riding on a lava board or something. The Supermodel looks like your average traditional snowboard.

Construction

The Supermodel is pressed in Canada (near Cowansville Quebec), which is a huge eco-bonus for us Canadians, the board won't be travelling very far from the factory to under my feet.

Tech

• Dual Zone EGD: The wood grain is positioned along the toe and heel side edges, perpendicular to the rest of the wood core, this adds strength and gives superior edge hold.
• Pro-Tip: The thickness of the tip and tail of the snowboard is tapered which is supposed to ofer a better swing weight and more playful flex in the tip and tail. I didn't really notice the more playful flex, but the swing weight was pretty good.

Cost: At 559.95USD, the Supermodel is a fair priced solid, all around freeride board.

The Ride

Beginner/Intermediate Turns: Turns were pretty easy to initiate with this board. The stiffer flex made the board rather stable, however a little harder to manoeuver than your standard freestyle deck. This board would be ideal for a heavier beginner who is looking for a solid all around freeride board that should last a long while.

Advanced Slider Turns: Being a traditional cambered board, I found the Supermodel to deliver a lot more performance in short radius turns than any rocker board. The Supermodel is also quite snappy, which makes the quick edge transfers really easy and fast.

Carving: Carving was pretty natural on the Supermodel. This board was pretty much built for freeriding and carving. Getting on edge was really easy, and keeping the board on the edge was effortless. Throwing some hard carves was no challenge on the Supermodel, euro-style carves were pretty awesome!

Switch: Riding switch didn't feel unnatural at all; many freeride boards feel kind of weird when going backwards, but not the Supermodel. The twin flex probably came into play to help keep the feel consistent from regular to switch. However, I wouldn't mistake this board for a true-twin board.

Park: The Supermodel isn't really your jib slayer, its pretty stiff and pressing on boxes wasn't really it's strong suit at all. However, having a stiffer flex means bigger jumps are smoother! I also found the spin weight of the board to be really good, probably attributable to the pro-tip shape. When I tried to spin 5s on the jump, I found myself over rotating and getting 7s around. This really surprised me, and made me really happy! However, I did notice that I was catching my edges on the landings, pretty much at the same spot each time, a downside of having a stiffer cambered board.

Overall

The Supermodel is a great traditional cambered freeride board. I would feel confident throwing some turns on any terrain, especially steeps. Although Marc's speed test didn't go so well due to punter ski patrollers being in the way, I'm pretty sure the board would feel great at high speeds. This isn't your park slayer board, however spinning on bigger jumps would probably be pretty dang fun, especially cause you can pick up some solid pace without any sketchyness like those squirrely freestyle noodles. I found this board to be a refreshing ride, making me really enjoy the traditional cambered board once again, the high performance is quite addictive, and I love euro-carves!

Categories: Snowboarding, Gear, Videos, Shred Labs | 0 Comments

2009/10 Burton T6 - Shred Labs Board Test

2010-02-07 08:59:40

Burton was at my home mountain recently to allow people to demo this year's gear. While they were there, Adam let us take some boards out to do some tests. One of the boards that we tested was the 2009/10 Burton T6. I've never actually ridden the T6, although a few years ago one was offered to me as a loaner when I found pressure cracks on my APO Family 58. My APO lasted the weekend, however, (and incidentally the rest of the season) so I didn't get an opportunity to try out the T6 until now so I was looking forward to seeing what it was all about.

• Location: Mont Cascades, Cantley, Quebec, Canada
• Snow Conditions: We hadn't received much in the form of precipitation since some freezing rain a week or so before the test. The slopes were hard packed with some loose groomer snow on the surface.
• Rider: Marc
  • Height: 5' 10"
  • Weight: 135 lbs
  • Boot Size: 9.5 (US)
• Setup:
  • 2009/10 Burton T6, 162
  • 2009/10 Burton Cartel EST bindings (M): 19 degrees front, -19 degrees back, 27 inches wide.
  • 2009/10 Burton Ion Boot

First Impression

The first thing that I thought when I picked up the board was “wow, this is big.” When I strapped in, I knew right away that I wasn't going to be messing around. The board was very stiff, especially when compared to the Custom V-Rockr that I had been riding earlier in the week. The T6 definitely felt like a freeride board.

Construction

The T6 is pressed right in Burlington Vermont. Therefore if you live in the Northeast, this board does not have to go far to go from the factory to your feet. Because only the higher end boards are actually manufactured in Burlington, you should be able to count on the manufacturing quality.

Tech

• Pro-Tip: The thickness of the tip and tail of the snowboard is tapered which is supposed to ofer a better swing weight and more playful flex in the tip and tail. I didn't really notice the more playful flex, but the swing weight was pretty good.
• Stainless Steel Pressure Distribution Edges: The edges on the T6 are upgraded from the regular line of boards by using stainless steel. No fuss, no muss, no rust.

Cost: The T6 is definitely a high end board, and its MSRP reflects this. According to the Burton website, the T6 should retail for $829.95.

The Ride

Beginner/Intermediate Turns: I found it difficult to initiate beginner turns with the T6. The stiffness makes it easy to catch an edge, however, it also makes the ride quite smooth. Intermediate turns were actually easier than beginner turns. I wouldn't recommend this board for beginners or novices; it will probably frustrate them.

Advanced Slider Turns: The T6 is very grabby. As I was trying to do ASTs, there was very little sliding in my turns, I felt more like I was doing advanced carved turns. Although the board was quite large for me, I had no problem linking turns in a narrow corridor; the T6 is surprisingly quick edge to edge.

Carving: This is definitely one of the strengths of the T6. The more I rode it, the more I wanted to rip down the hill doing high-speed carves. Dana, who was filming, was having a hard time keeping up on the Flying V.

Switch: Although the T6 is a directional freeride board, it never really felt squirrely while riding switch. In fact, I found switch beginner turns to be easier than regular ones... weird. I didn't try riding the T6 switch at high speeds, I was too busy having fun ripping down the hill as fast as I could.

Park: Although it is possible to ride park with the T6, I wouldn't recommend it. The T6 is too big of an investment to be slaying steel with it. It was very smooth on jumps, however, owing to its stiff flex profile. It was also surprisingly easy to spin considering its length and my weight. Butters were difficult if not nearly impossible on the T6.

Overall

The Burton T6 is a freeriding beast. While doing the “Flux Capacitor” straight line test, I hardly felt that I was going fast at all. The only indication of my speed was my jacket flapping in the wind and my hood acting as a parachute (when I realised how fast I was going, I thought I might actually go back in time... 88mph FTW!!) If you're into park riding, the T6 is probably not a good board for you. However, definitely consider it if you like to a) go fast, b) like the feeling of doing turns on a cambered board, c) want to throw yourself over huge booters at max speed, and d) have a lot of extra scratch for a snowboard because the T6 ain't cheap.

Categories: Snowboarding, Gear, Videos, Shred Labs | 3 Comments