The shred test
A driving rain has turned Snow Summit’s Westridge Freestyle Park into a slush bowl. On slopes as firm as a Slurpee, several dozen soaking wet, half-frozen snowboarders are riding on despite the conditions.
Atop Westridge, three boarders begin their first run of the day. They carve past the park’s jumps, raised rails and fun boxes and then launch an attack on the Zzyzx Halfpipe, a U-shaped snow trough the length of a football field with 10-foot walls.
They’re trying to get air and perform tricks, but they can’t get lift and speed. “These are the worst conditions possible, next to a blizzard,” groans Kris Campos, on a K2 Disciple 161, a board made for speed that’s proving none too quick on the soggy run. “It feels like someone’s putting on the brakes.”
Bryant Benitez, on a Volkl Squad Flex 3 159, disagrees. He’s ridden in a blizzard. “This,” he says, “is worse.”
It’s another day at the field office for Campos, Benitez and Dan Law. The three salesmen test snowboards for major sporting goods chains. Their findings give them first-hand facts to pass along to snowboard shoppers. Today they’re testing six boards at a reporter’s request -- the K2 and Volkl ($599 and $635 respectively), Nitro’s Darkhorse 162 ($699), Arbor’s A-Frame 162 ($519), Rossignol’s Jeremy Jones 162 ($499) and Burton’s Malolo 162 ($500). The testers supplied boots and bindings.
Law, 34, and Campos, 21, hail from L.A. and work for Sport Chalet. Benitez, 20, of Chatsworth works for Chick’s Sporting Goods. They’ve ridden more than 50 snowboards this season.
Back on the mountain, despite frustration with the conditions, the men soon fall into a routine, taking three rides on each board, swapping models and answering questions at a table set up for equipment adjustments. Not surprisingly, the trio has strong opinions on their preferred mode of transit.
Benitez offers some props for the Volkl: “I like it inside the park. It’s reactive. It’s poppy. It’s good on jumps, good on rails and boxes and holds good edge.... It’s an all-around good board.”
Law amplifies on “poppiness.” “Like when you’re coming off of a jump or even coming into really sharp turns, the board wants to recoil real easy or give you a lot more pop in your jump.”
Gotcha. Sort of.
Talking shop helps the testers forget the misery that comes with every run -- half an inch of slush on each chairlift and a drenching most of the ride up. In action, the guys operate methodically as they put the boards through their paces. They try wide- and short-radius turns to see how the boards pull and release. They also check how the boards roll in and out of turns and how quick each model is edge to edge. They track pop and rebound while carving turns and doing jumps, rails and boxes.
Law is quick to speak up after a ride on the Volkl, his voice firing at machine-gun speed.
“It hooked up well, held an edge well, was fun to park [take jumps, etc.]. It had a lot of pop to it. It rolled very nice.... Overall, a good board.”
Benitez, switching out of the A-Frame, is jazzed with the Arbor product. “It held really good at high speeds. It was quick in the turns. I liked that board a lot.”
Campos, who has ridden the Volkl and Arbor, adds: “I would go with the Arbor because it’s stiffer. I prefer a stiffer board because I’m not really a park person.” Stiffer boards are better for groomed slopes.
By day’s end, Law and Benitez agree that the top board was the Volkl Squad Flex 3 159. Campos ranked the Volkl second-best behind the Arbor A-Frame.
“Before today, I didn’t even know that Volkl made a board,” says Campos. Neither Law nor Benitez had ridden a snowboard by Volkl, a German company known for skis.
The results surprised them all and exposed a glitch in the $12-billion-a-year U.S. ski-snowboard industry. Despite the testers’ raves for the Volkl, the company has not been able to get a single Southern California retailer to carry it. And the firm may not be able to, says Volkl rep Sue Killoran, until the company makes skateboards. Yes, skateboards.
“The snowboard market in Southern California falls in with the skateboard market,” she says. “Most dealers carry brands that offer both skateboards and snowboards” but seldom snowboards alone.
Word of mouth is a mighty thing with the snowboard crowd. A crew of happy Volkl testers could be the start of a local retail ride for the German boards.
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Note: The speed merchants tested these models on local slopes.