Winterstick Roundtail 168 Snowboard Review 2018-2019

TESTER: Olaus Linn

BOARD: Winterstick Roundtail 168

OVERALL IMPRESSION FROM  1 TO 7:  5

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS BOARD?: Bomber board – just wants to go so fast!

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS BOARD?: It’s so big and stiff that I had a hard time handling anything bumpy or tight-radius on it. Not a great board for riding trees, and tree-riding is a lot of what I do, especially on The Run (Gondi-Toads-Casper Woods-Campground-Surprise-Easy Does It-Ashley’s Ridge-Supercat-Bronco Terrain Park).

OVERALL COMMENTS: The Winterstick Rep (who won the Stoke award and whose name is escaping me at the moment) was so excited for me to try out this board that I just couldn’t say no. I am absolutely glad that I did – it wasn’t my favorite board of the test but on the right kind of day with fresh legs I think it could have been. It’s a charger – meant for going downhill in a hurry. It’s easy on the eyes too – I really enjoy the natural wood look of the Winterstick boards.

RATE THE SHAPE FROM 1 TO 7:  6

SHAPE COMMENT: AT THING OF BEAUTY

ADDITIONAL SHAPE COMMENTS:  The roundtail with a long, wide, and tapered nose is rapidly becoming my favorite. I would have liked a bit more sidecut on this to improve the short-radius turns but it was cool overall.

RATE THE FLEX FROM 1 TO 7:   3

FLEX COMMENT:  WAY TOO STIFF

ADDITIONAL FLEX COMMENT:  I rode this late on the third day of the test and unfortunately it was just too much board for my tired legs to push around. It’s such a tank that it was throwing me around even in pretty minor chop.

RATE STABILITY THROUGH TURNS FROM 1 TO 7:   RADICAL

STABILITY COMMENT: ROCK SOLID- AS GOOD AS IT GETS

ADDITIONAL STABILITY COMMENTS: This board was really stable, no doubt about that. Rock solid.

RATE THE POP/ PLAYFULNESS FROM 1 TO 7:  OK

COMMENT ON PLAYFULNESS:

ADDITIONAL COMMENT ON PLAYFULNESS:  I was struggling with this board so I didn’t do too much jumping off stuff with it.

RATE FLOAT IN POW FROM 1 TO 7:    RADICAL

COMMENT ON FLOAT IN POW: EFFORTLESSLY FLOATY

ADDITIONAL COMMENT ON FLOAT IN POW: There were a few good pow turns to be had still when I rode this board and those were absolutely my favorite moments with it. Great pow board.

RATE THE GRAPHICS FROM 1 TO 7:  RADICAL

GRAPHICS COMMENT: AESTHETIC AND INSPIRING

ADDITIONAL GRAPHICS COMMENTS: The natural wood aesthetic with just a clear-coat is really gorgeous. There are lots of shapers showing the wood in their boards these days but this treatment is a cut above, for sure. I really enjoyed the look of this board.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY: I hope to get to try out some of the other Wintersticks – I particularly had my eye on a smaller version of this same shape. I think I might be able to bend the smaller one to my will a little more and really get to feel the joy that I know gets put into the Winterstick boards.