Winterstick Roundtail 168 Snowboard Review 2018-2019
Description
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.
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