CrazyBoy-1
12-07-2008, 01:23 AM
Ok, so I realize that everyone is excited to see the reviews on the new 09 boards, but one of my goals this season is to ride each kind of board I own and write at least a bit of a review of it. I will understand if people aren't that interested, but for what it's worth here it is.
Last evening was my first time out this season. I went up to Blue Moutain with a few friends and decided to go with the CT8's mounted with Bomber Elites with the medium bumpers. The conditions were a bit icy but not too bad. The snow was about 95% artificial and quite sticky.
From what I'd heard from others, I really expected the CT8's to feel very stiff. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they actually flexed fairly easily, and I was even able to crank them back into some slight tail butters. They are definitely stiffer than my EMP's, but not as wooden as I thought they might be. I'm thinking my weight (185lbs) might have been a factor there. At 15cm wide, the boards have a very planted feel to them. The few small jumps I went over were landed quite easily with a solidness reminding me of the KTP's. Other than those few jumps though, I didn't really get much time in the park.
On groomers they are quite easy to get on edge and to spin with. The stiffness means that they hold a carve very well, but I did notice that they seem to get slowed down by interuptions in the snow. They plow right through chop and bits of powder, but they slow down a bit with each hit. I was able to find some small areas on one slope that had a couple inches of loose powder to go through. The boards definitely have decent float, but again, the stiffness seemed to slow things down. Where my EMP's will pop right up and over powder, the CT8's dove right in and lost momentum
On the steeper icy slopes, the boards were very stable, but they did skid a good bit. I will note that I didn't tune the edges at all before heading out, so sharper edges might have helped them bite a bit better. All of the skidding was very predictable though, and I never had them chatter on me like my flexier boards have done at times. While many of others on the slope were either gingerly making their way down or just bombing with wild abandon, I was able to get down at fast but very controlled pace.
Overall, I was very pleased with how the boards performed. I was thinking that they width and stiffness would make them a bit ungainly, but instead I found them to be very easy to ride. I'd like the opportunity to get them into the park some more and see how they do on rails and landing some bigger jumps. I'd also like to get them on some steeper groomers that aren't so icy to see how well they perform during agressive carving when there is good coverage. I'll update if/when I get the chance to get them into those situations.
Last evening was my first time out this season. I went up to Blue Moutain with a few friends and decided to go with the CT8's mounted with Bomber Elites with the medium bumpers. The conditions were a bit icy but not too bad. The snow was about 95% artificial and quite sticky.
From what I'd heard from others, I really expected the CT8's to feel very stiff. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they actually flexed fairly easily, and I was even able to crank them back into some slight tail butters. They are definitely stiffer than my EMP's, but not as wooden as I thought they might be. I'm thinking my weight (185lbs) might have been a factor there. At 15cm wide, the boards have a very planted feel to them. The few small jumps I went over were landed quite easily with a solidness reminding me of the KTP's. Other than those few jumps though, I didn't really get much time in the park.
On groomers they are quite easy to get on edge and to spin with. The stiffness means that they hold a carve very well, but I did notice that they seem to get slowed down by interuptions in the snow. They plow right through chop and bits of powder, but they slow down a bit with each hit. I was able to find some small areas on one slope that had a couple inches of loose powder to go through. The boards definitely have decent float, but again, the stiffness seemed to slow things down. Where my EMP's will pop right up and over powder, the CT8's dove right in and lost momentum
On the steeper icy slopes, the boards were very stable, but they did skid a good bit. I will note that I didn't tune the edges at all before heading out, so sharper edges might have helped them bite a bit better. All of the skidding was very predictable though, and I never had them chatter on me like my flexier boards have done at times. While many of others on the slope were either gingerly making their way down or just bombing with wild abandon, I was able to get down at fast but very controlled pace.
Overall, I was very pleased with how the boards performed. I was thinking that they width and stiffness would make them a bit ungainly, but instead I found them to be very easy to ride. I'd like the opportunity to get them into the park some more and see how they do on rails and landing some bigger jumps. I'd also like to get them on some steeper groomers that aren't so icy to see how well they perform during agressive carving when there is good coverage. I'll update if/when I get the chance to get them into those situations.