After four days of riding pow at Whistler, I can say that this thing rips. It's gonna be a while before I'm good enough to take full advantage of this board, but compared to the other boards in my quiver (a YES Libre 2020 and a Rossignol Sushi 2022) this feels like the best of both, and I'm definitely keeping it as a daily driver:
- Floats a lot better than the Libre, but not as well as the Sushi, obviously.
- It's way more stable than either of those two. It was able to straight line tracked out pow runs like a proper freeride board.
- It's fast. This thing wants to haul ass, and really rewards you when you push on the throttle, without forcing you to bring you A-game on every run. It's not a plank at lower speeds, but it's not going to do you any favors either.
- Unlike other freeride boards I've tried, this one has a good amount of torsional twist, and responds very well to more subtle knee and ankle initiation, which is actually something I've been working at, the last few days.
- For how directional it is, it has a very good amount of rebound. I suck at riding freestyle, but I can pop an ollie better and easier on this, than I ever could on the Libre, which is a directional twin. Not as poppy as the Mercury or the DOA, but for a freeride-ish deck, really solid.
- Haven't been able to carve much on it yet, but what little I've done, has me thinking it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun carving on groomer days. I've been having trouble with the tail washing out a little, but it's probably the conditions and that I'm still not fully used to it.
Conditions are going to be warm-and-freeze the next couple of days on Whistler, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of chances to test it in slush and ice.
