Every year there has to be one board built that is more than likely to kill you. Rome gets the honors two years in a row with the CrossRocket. We thought 2014’s model would change enough to not warrant a death defying ride, we were wrong. Here’s the 2014 Death Sled award winners review.
Board: Rome CrossRocket
Size: 154
Camber Option: Camber with NoHang Ups. Tried and true traditional camber coupled with a base shape that elevates the contact points.
Bindings: Rome 390 Boss
Stance: 22.5 Wide 18 Negative 15 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 175lbs
Resort: Breckenridge
Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies with spring temps in the mid 40’s making the snow very slushy and hero like.
Flex: Really playful in the tips stiffening up between the feet. I view it as a playful all mountain freestyle flex. There is a fair amount of torsional give which helps when you want to carve.
Stability: If you’re riding flat based the tips chatter real bad, seriously look down and watch that sucker wave to you. All the stability is between the bolts when the board is loaded. On edge the tip chatter can cause the edge to wash out.
Ollies: The board is built to boost. The carbon rod in the tips gives a great rebound when you load it up allowing for exceptional snap.
Pop On Jumps: So the squirrely nature of this deck makes it a little sketchy when going off jumps. The pop is there and not something you need to worry about but the flex with that NoHang Ups base is what makes it weird.
Butterability: Soft tips, butter out transition zones, and NoHang Ups it was just a match made in heaven for spinning around on the snow. The stiffer between the feet flex gives you support when you’re up on the tips.
Jibbing: The sweet spot is in the weirdest area for locking into presses. It’s more in towards the bindings than out towards the actual up-kick. This makes for a board that you have to be on point for when pressing. Camber is nice for locking into board slides. It’s familiarity is solid.
Carving: This has the weirdest turn initiation I’ve ever experienced. It took me the better part of the day to figure this out, but the way to do it is to center flex the board by pushing the back knee towards the front knee and then shift your weight back over the tail so it drives the board through the arc. This elevates the tips but locks in the sidecut under foot. The only reason I can think for it doing this is that NoHang Ups shape elevates the contact points on a cambered deck.
Rider in Mind: Someone that wants to play around with their board and isn’t afraid to have their traditional camber be effected by an elevated contact point.
Personal Thoughts: Last year this board almost killed me with how uncontrollable it was. This year there’s some slight changes to how it rode, but it’s still a death sled. With traditional camber you can’t take the contact point away as abruptly as they do with the NoHang Ups. There’s something about that combo of camber and base shape that just doesn’t work.
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Disclaimer: This board was loaned to us for review from the Rome Snowboards Rockies rep.
5 Comments
I have last years 56 and while the board is certainly loose, I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a death sled. My thoughts on it are that its a great all mountain freestyle board that is loose and buttery when you want it to be and has the edge hold you need when you tip it over and lay one out. I was also surprised at how well it floated for a 56 in the deep snow we were getting at the Love this spring. Personally, I like how surfy and loose it feels in tight spots in the trees, and thought it was one of the more fun boards I’ve ridden in 20 years of snowboarding. I figured I’d offer up my .02 since you kinda tear this thing apart and I for one think its a super fun ride that is surprisingly versatile.
Definitely a death sled. I was excited to check this thing out again. Super disappointed. When I try out a board, I like to get at least 3-4 runs on it. I only took one. I couldnt strap out of the thing fast enough. Last year, I too almost died on this POS. Sorry Rome, but you have it all wrong here..
Honestly, I have to say I’m not sure why you think this is a “death sled”. Rode it all last year and had no problems at all with it – its lots of fun for buttering and ollies, yet when you are all-mountaining you can easily control your ride simply by pressing with your toe or heel and letting the side cut of the board bite into the slope.
The only thing this board wont let you do is ride down the mountain fast with your board flat on the snow. In that case the board’s contact points in that case are just two “spoon” shapes in the front and back of the board. So, yes, if you are an 8th grader who thinks pointing straight down the green slope passing all the newbies is the ultimate in cool, this is not your board. For just about anyone else this board is great fun and easy to ride.
I have the 014 model crossrocket and I’m comming off a captia horrorscope. the board is slowly growing on me. my major complaint is that when i go to ollie i feel like the 3D base causes me to not pop square. as in it will curve me left or rightin somewhat of an arc. is this a common complaint or lack of imput on my part? Also how might i correct it. thanks
It’s the board. There’s no hope for this thing.