Ride 2017 Hidden Valley
Recently, we had a chance to check out the 2017 RideSnowboards product line up. It was a great opportunity to get on snow and check out some new products. We, here at The Boarding House know, that not everyone gets to ride a board before they buy it. We ride everything that we can, so that we can help you make an informed purchase… Even if you didn’t get a chance to ride it. We try to ride all models, so that if you are a beginner, or a seasoned rider, we can help you get on a board that works for you.
So let’s get down to it:
We pulled up early to Hidden Valley and met Tom from Ride Snowboards. It was a crisp cool morning. It was about -12c plus wind chill. No new snow, but plenty of man-made snow. The grooming was fresh and untracked, and had set up nicely with the cold weather.
I flipped through the line-up of boards that Tom had brought with him, I first chose the Machete 157cm. this board is advertised as an all around, hard charging, with freestyle in mind. Big booters, solid landings. This board has all the bells and whistles, Carbon Array 5 laminates, Cleave Edge, Hybrid glass, fusion 4000 base and the performance tuned core. And it shows, the Hybrid camber zone is rock solid on the man made crusty snow. Edge to edge, this board was amazing, the carbon fiber gave back everything that you put into it. But still wasn’t twitchy when it was flat based, due to the rocker. Amazing for long fast in-runs to big jumps. With just enough camber at the contacts points to be a bit forgiving, if you didn’t quite stick the landing. The construction of this board makes it lite, fast and responsive. Definitely a high end exotic performance. This one might find its way into my own personal collection.
After riding one of Ride’s flagship models, I figured that I would hit the other side of the spectrum. Going from one of the most expensive, to the least expensive. This is where the Agenda comes in. I grabbed a 156cm model (it is offered in 147, 152, 156, 159cms). Me being on the shy side of 200lbs, I was a little skeptical that this 156cm, price conscious board, was going to hold up to what I was going to do to it. I was very surprised. With LowRize rocker, Foundation Tuned core, and Biaxial glass. This board impressed me. Getting it up to speed, it was very stable. No twitches, this is due to the Lowrize rocker, keeping the contact points just above the snow. Once I picked up some speed, I hammered it into a toeside turn and took it straight across the hill. Tonnes of edge control, no wash at all. This, was attributed to the “Stable Zone” in the Lowrize rocker system. Very predictable on the edge change to heelside, and again edgehold was not an issue. I think the same things that make this an intermediate board, also make it a great second board to ride just about anywhere within the resort. From groomers, to the terrain park, this board will surprise you, and keep you on budget.
After riding the Machete, and the Agenda, I choose to step out of the box. I grabbed the Alter Ego in 162cm. Just looking at it, you will see it has a vintage shape. Directional, blunt nose… and a split tail. This was another board that blew my expectations out of the water. The tail on this board has a locking mechanism that locks the tail in, groomers all day. Then you unlock it, and any powder day, just got better. Lots of float from blunt nose, and surfy butter turns from the unlocked split tail. This is another amazing “resort board”. At a resort, the conditions can change a lot from the top to the bottom. This board tackles them all really well.
Life is short, go ride,
Jeff
