United Shapes

[benjinyc]

I'm looking for a new powder board that does well when it gets choppy once it's all tracked out but still has that glide in lower angle fresh. So while I love camber, I want enough rocker or flat in the board up front too.

what about the Experiment. I have a Cadet (54) and it did fantastic on my last trip to Jackson Hole after a 2' dump (enough snow that the resorts closed for a day)

[peruna]

I'm looking for a new powder board that does well when it gets choppy once it's all tracked out but still has that glide in lower angle fresh. So while I love camber, I want enough rocker or flat in the board up front too.

what about the Experiment. I have a Cadet (54) and it did fantastic on my last trip to Jackson Hole after a 2' dump (enough snow that the resorts closed for a day)

Interesting idea! I bet it's a fun ride in the right conditions, but on paper I don't love the sidecut, it'd be a demo first board. In my head the Experiment wouldn't be ideal in chop or messy in bounds pow.

[SJF_NH]

I picked up this guy last week and rode it a ton this past weekend in Maine, where there is still very good coverage considering how late in the seaon it is. I found it absurdly fun, not too stiff, not too soft, super nimble, great edge hold, etc. I had three other boards with me and rode them all against each other, and the Cadet was the clear winner in terms of just plain fun, regardless of the terrain. Admittedly it was just a half-assed tryout in soft spring snow, but it was great in everything from slush to frozen, to steep tits-deep moguls. Can't wait to ride it next season in normal conditions, it's definitely earned a place in the quiver. I was reallly pleased with the base too, I had fresh wax on my other boards but I rode the Cadet right out of the wrapper and it still had noticeably better glide than my waxed decks. If this board has any deficiencies at all, I would say that it's not the dampest board in the world, but I'm coming from Koruas, Banked Country etc, so I'm sure it's damp enough.

I've purchased lots of boards over the years that I had high hopes for that turned out to be disapointments, but I'm super stoked on the Cadet.

[Spenser]

I'm looking for a new powder board that does well when it gets choppy once it's all tracked out but still has that glide in lower angle fresh. So while I love camber, I want enough rocker or flat in the board up front too.

what about the Experiment. I have a Cadet (54) and it did fantastic on my last trip to Jackson Hole after a 2' dump (enough snow that the resorts closed for a day)

Interesting idea! I bet it's a fun ride in the right conditions, but on paper I don't love the sidecut, it'd be a demo first board. In my head the Experiment wouldn't be ideal in chop or messy in bounds pow.

That's what I was thinking.

I think the deep reach is your board from US, for what you want.

[benjinyc]

quick trip to Utah, have I said how much I love the Cadet. I would be happy shrinking down my 16 board quiver to just this and 2 other boards now.

[SJF_NH]

I had another super fun day on the Cadet at Killington in Vermont, with any luck I hope to get another 6+ days over there until they shut down around June 1 or so. Yesterday was a sunny cloudless day, but with temps in the thirties and a light wind, the snow was firm enough to have a complete blast with no soft slush at all really.

I'm with @benjinyc, I just love this board. It's not soft, but it flexes into any kind of turn smoothly and efficiently without having to drop a nut. Down the line turns, wide GS type carves, super-tight turns, it does it all while also staying lively and snappy. Popping off rollers and moguls is effortless. The edge hold is stellar and throroughly predictable, and I'm blown away by the base. I don't know if they use some kind of higher end sintered material or if it has some kind of weird base structure to it, but when you drop into the fall line it just bolts. I'm actually kind of shocked at how much I like everything about this board, it's easily moved into the #1 spot as a daily for me.

It's not perfect though... the topsheet is slippery as fuck, so I'm only giving it one snowflake for one-footing off the lift.

[Spenser]

What size are you guys on? I like stiff boards (orbit+) and the new 62 I rode felt a lot stiffer than the old one. A little stiffer than my koruas, probably like the orbit really. Wonder if it's stiffer than the other sizes. Definitely wouldn't call it a 6, but the old one is around there

[SJF_NH]

My Cadet is a 158, and I'd say that in terms of stiffness it's on par with the Koruas I've owned: Dart, TF, Otto, Pencil, CR (my CR was super stiff and an outlier though, so that doesn't really compare). Having said that, the Cadet feels like it flexes easier than the Koruas, if that makes any sense? It may just be that it feels livelier or springier, giving the impression of the Cadet being maybe being a smidge softer than my Koruas or Banked Country. It is by no means "soft" though.

If I lived out west I'd probably have a 162, but that's a big jump from a 158 so I'd guess that the 162 would certainly be stiffer. How much stiffer is anyone's guess. For reference I'm 185 lbs, and the flex of the 158 is about perfect for me.

[benjinyc]

I rode a 154…I’m 5’8 and 165lbs. I also have a 158 NOS tho. I’m so impressed that I want to get a Covert, not sure how similar it is but will give US the benefit of the doubt

I have a korua CR 59, hard to compare the flex between the two, I feel that the cadet is torsionally stiffer

Also, I’m gonna prob hit killington Sunday

[SJF_NH]

I’m so impressed that I want to get a Covert, not sure how similar it is but will give US the benefit of the doubt

Lol I've been thinking the exact same thing... A little more taper for pow, plus hopefully the US magic in a split, seems like a pretty safe bet.