Revel 8 EMP review

[Mark]

I probably put these boards through the paces this weekend at vermont. Sunday we hit up smugglers ice notch


Saturday night was bolton valley amid freezing rain. we were completely coated in ice and alot of the trails were icy as well.

These boards held a nice line on carving even on some ice. They are extremely stable at high speeds and on some of the more mushy areas they floated extremely well.

there was a bit more effort to get on edge then my earlier boards (lame mnp) but carve nicer once you are there.

Of course I had to hit up the terrain park as well. My first hit on a long box actually had ice covered on it so I felt like a snowplow and it jerked me a little but I didn't lose control. wish I got a photo there


overall I would reccomend these boards to anyone 5'8" and above, anyone under that they may be a bit cumbersome until you get used to them.

[Mark]

.

[Daniel]

nice boards, the conditions look unfavorable.

[Mark]

they were awful bro

one of the lift operaters was hitting each chairlift with a pole to knock all the ice off. on the way down the mountain they would just refreeze. if you weren't careful you would slide right off the seat.

:eek:

[SkaFreak]

Another EMP review: I just got back from my first day out on them with bomber bindings, and they are really nice boards. The conditions today were kinda weird, and the only things that I didn't really get to try them out on were slush and really choppy snow. They held a fairly good edge going across the solid ice that didn't even show tracks, they carved amazingly on the groomers, they tore up the thigh deep powder in the upper glades. I still did have to work with them in the thigh deep powder, but even my friend who was on 160 skis was having to work really hard in this stuff because it was so soft. They did however work much better than my M7's did in similar conditions (even though the m7's worked in the powder, I didn't have to work quite as hard to stay up with these). I also too some smaller jumps (probably nothing more than 3 or 4 feet) and never had a problem with the landing. I also hit a box a few times, and they rode smoothly and were easier to butter on than my M7's were (at least when it comes to the whopping 90 degree turns I can make on boxes so far, but I'm more into the steeps than the park). On top of all of that, while riding the thigh deep powder glades I hit a fair number of rocks, but only two of them did anything even slightly significant to these boards, and both of those were just really shallow gouges that won't affect the ride and could be easily ptexed anyways. Nice job on these G

[adamlynam]

hey mark.....


ive hit that box many a time already this season... my pass is to jay and bolton... when i first looked at that picture i didnt even put two and two together that that was the bolton box...

hopefully with the new snow and cold temps in the forecast they will get a nice park up and running... they do have the only lit terrain park in vermont which is cool!!!

maybe we can meet up there sometime later this season????

-a

[Mark]

sure thing bro! It's less then an hour from my uncle's house up in montpelier so i'll heading up there alot. also planning on some smuggs trips when they get some more snow.

[airdonut41]

Did you hot wax your EMPs before taking them out?
I just got some, and I don't have wax or that kit. Just wondering if it's necessary....

[Mark]

It's not neccesary. I did for some reason.

[airdonut41]

WOW..... The first word that came to mind when these things arrived. They are beautiful, and I can't wait to take them out. Unfortunately, I live in PA and I think most people are aware of our snow situation presently. I'll update with a bit of a noob review after I do get to try them out.

Dan

[SkaFreak]

Over a couple of days of riding I have only gotten even better impression than my earlier review. As I'm getting used to riding again I can push them farther and farther, and am no where near the limit I can tell. The other great thing about them is one that I'm sure Greco is very happy about. These things can not be mistaken for snowblades. It used to be that everyone saw my M7's and asked if they were "those snowblade things" or "mini trick skis", all the usual assumptions. The first day I went out I was surrounded by beginners on snowblades, and a guy behind me looks at my boards and says "what are those things, I've never seen anything like them before." Today I was standing at the top of a glade run that goes through knee deep powder with a skier and a snowboarder who I didn't know but we had struck up a conversation. The skier asked what the "wide things" that I was riding were, and told him about sbol. He said he really wanted to try some...a skier on top of a powder run saying he wished he could be riding skiboards. It is great seeing everyone realizing that these aren't just snowblades, but something different.

[Greco]

word!

[Mark]

Ska it's funny you mention that because I had this little kid the other day ask me


" Why are your skis so big? "

I thought that was incredible. I didn't even know how to respond.

[taimos]

so what did you say, if anything?

[Mark]

I said bigger is better or something like that. I think he started to cry at that point.

[taimos]

result!

i suppose to him a ski would be about 80cm....so he thinks that you should really be on 80cm skis and not those wierd 105cm things, i mean, arn't they made for ski jumpers or something?

[Mark]

omgwtfbbq

he was referring to the width i think.

[taimos]

my bad.

[RISE]

i would love to reveiw these boards but there isnt much snow im thinking of jumping of my roof mayb ill tape it!

[Mark]

Originally posted by RISE
i would love to reveiw these boards but there isnt much snow im thinking of jumping of my roof mayb ill tape it!

defintiely.

[SkaFreak]

Every day out on these I get even more to say about these boards. Today I was at Angel Fire riding on hardpack down a steep blue run, perfect for trying to get as much speed as possible. I also had brought my gps because it will keep track of your top speed. My first speed trial down, it clocked me at 43.7 mph. My second try I was at 51.3 mph. I was amazed at how fast I was going, I didn't think there could be any chance that I would be going that fast. The EMP's were stable as fast as I could possibly push myself. The main thing holding me back at that speed was the wind resistance. Someday when It's warmer and I can shed my bulky coat I'll see if I can push them a little bit farther with less wind resistance. I also got some questions from a guy on a pair of Line 5-0's with FFCams that was looking to upgrade. I referred him here, so if whoever you are happen to read this, send me a pm.

[valmorel]

51mph? Boy, that must have generated a lot of wind noise. Does your nose run when you are going that quick, or is it just me? :-)

[SkaFreak]

It wasn't yesterday, but yeah, I know the feeling you're talking about. And yes, there was a crapload of wind noise.

[airdonut41]

Rather than go straight down and go for maximum speed, I prefer to just go around dodging snowboarders at high speeds. It's really funny to watch them watch me, and then fall over when they catch an edge while watching me fly by. But that's just me.

Dan

[valmorel]

This is what snowboarders do mostly in Europe. Block the whole freakin trail while they light up!

[Mark]

same thing as in america

[airdonut41]

Just tried out the EMPs last night. They were incredible. Conditions weren't the best; there was a light coating of powder on top of ice. These things handled it beautifully. On skis in conditions like this, I would get crazy bouncing from the skis. These held true and gave me nice smooth "slides" across the ice spots. I was able to go so fast and feel like I was in total control. I had never skied backwards before last night, but with the EMPs I could do 360s all the way down the mountain (or at least until I got too dizzy). Amazing boards. Done deal.

Dan

[airdonut41]

Second day out on these, never hit a rail before in my life. I was hitting boxes like it was my job and doing grabs off picnic tables. The boards made it all possible and increased my confidence.

Dan

[Greco]

word.

[Manlenium]

Originally posted by valmorel
This is what snowboarders do mostly in Europe. Block the whole freakin trail while they light up!

Thats when you pull a nice hockey stop, cover em in powder, still have enough speed to turn, ride fakie and wave back........

I hate when they sit like that or near chair lift.