Posted December 16, 2009 | Filed Under American Made
Written by Mike Horn | Comments: 2
Shred America (Shred White and Blue)—Yeah, winter is finally here and we’re back on board with another round of decks made by fellow shreds in the U.S.A. There’s been a lot of Colorado coverage, I know, but home is where the heart is… and where lots of killer snowboards are made.
Never Summer SL-R Snowboard
$499.99
Sizes [cm]: 151, 155, 158, 161, 164
neversummer.com
Made in Denver, Colo.
Never Summer’s Colorado-crafted SL-R features rocker & camber (R.C. Technology) and Vario Power Grip sidecut. It’s an extremely agile, all mountain freestyle deck that offers quick edge-to-edge response and maintains a forgiving tip and tail for smooth takeoffs and landings. NS retained the bomber construction but buttered things up with the right amount of rocker and a medium flex. This board excels from the park and pipe to the steep and deep.
Testers’ Take
• “Classic Never Summer battle-ready construction, great flex for freestyle.”
• “Floats in pow surprisingly well for a freestyle board.”
• “Freestyle? I call it fun-style.”
Venture Storm
$985
Sizes [cm]: 148-182.5
(available as a solid version or a split)
venturesnowboards.com
Made in Silverton, Colo.
Emblazoned on the Storm, as well as the rest of Venture’s boards is a photograph of an actual snow crystal taken by Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley. That is the only delicate component of their bomber-built boards, handcrafted in Silverton, Colo. Buttressed by p-Tex sidewalls and a poplar / ash bookmatched core (Venture slices vertically laminated blocks of wood in half and reassembles them to make full cores with consistent edge to edge density and stiffness) the Storm is available in a split and solid version, and waist widths from 24-27cm.
Testers’ Take
• “Very fun to ride—be the star in your own slasher film—REE! REE! REE!”
• “This board moves like a disc jockey’s hands at a rave; super quick.”
• “Don’t be too pushy or you’ll end up on your ass.”
Voilé Mojo
$895
Sizes [cm]: 154, 161, 166, 171
voile-usa.com
Made in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains
Sized for men and women, the Mojo cast a spell on testers this year, dominating in powder and earning high marks for ease of turn initiation with the same directional shape, dimensions and traditional camber as last year. Testers of both sexes succumbed to the Mojo’s magic.
Testers’ Take
• “Springy, sprightly; picks its way down steep slopes and is most responsive to short radius turns.”
• “Gets the Mojo flowin’ in wide-open pow.”
• “The Mojo is light underfoot and has a smooth torsional flex; it’s tough to beat for technical terrain where quick, reliable turns are a necessity.”
Comments
2 Responses to “3 Cheers for Powder (& More American-Made Decks that Scorch the Soft Stuff)”
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These are all great boards and all designed specifically for the kinds of conditions that real riders find in the West. All-mountain crud, pow and sun-baked glop are real conditions and not like that halfpipegroomed crap you get at resorts. Go skateboard if you want perfect pavement but if you snowboard you want a board that rocks in real conditions. The kind of conditions that you find in the west!!!!!!!!!
Happy New Year, shred nation! Thanks for all your support this year, with special thanks to Alex, Colin, Mike, Josh, JBK, Super C, Mim-os, Diesel, Nate, Kent and the CO, Boston and Crystal Mountain crews!
Big ups to Zeke for the interview on The Ski Channel as well! Happy 2010 everyone.