Board: K2 Cool Bean
Size: 144
Camber Option: AT-Baseline. Flat middle section with a mellow rocker in the tip and tail.
Bindings: K2 Lein AT
Stance: 21.5 Wide 18 Negative 15 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis size 10
My Weight: 177lbs
Resort: Breckenridge, Loveland, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin
Conditions: Everything and anything. From sunny bluebird slushy early season days to steep and deep pow laps with it nuking snow. This board has seen some days with me.
Flex: This board is stiff, don’t let it fool you with its short stature. There’s a little bit of torsional give with it but being that it’s so wide you won’t really notice this if you try to center flex the board.
Stability: I’m pretty sure you could run over exposed rock in a quarry and not notice it with this deck. The added width gives a lot of stability. It doesn’t matter if you’re slow turning or hard charging either with this board.
Ollies/Pop: You lost a lot of tail to initiate pop off of. With that gone it relies more on the riders ability to snap off their back foot with minimal rebound from the board. Not exactly the best for pop, but if you’re a confident rider you will get the job done.
Butterability: High speed and only on the nose in either deep or soft snow is the only way to butter this thing. You can do little skid wheelies on the swallow tail if you want, but it’s not going to give you the desired effect you think it will.
Carving: Now here’s where a lot of people have it wrong with this board. You can carve on it, but it takes more effort than normal due to the width. I’ve railed Euro-carves with this board, but they did not look pretty. This board is designed for surfing the mountain and as such you have to take that approach with your turns.
Rider in Mind: Someone that wants to drastically downsize and ride a short wide deck in pow or slush.
Personal Thoughts: I rode this board for a half a day at Loveland then proceeded to buy it. Why? Because it was so unique and fun. I had a field day with it and have had many more with it since. Whether I’m ripping a groomer with friends or slashing deep pow and jumping off things this board is a blast.
Check out the past review of the 2016 Cool Bean.
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This board was loaned to us for review from K2 Snowboards marketing department.
22 Comments
Hey,
Thanks for all the extremely helpful reviews.
I’ve been snowboarding in Japan for about 7 years. My old Neversummer has served me well but I’m ready to spring for a fun pow board which I’ll be using pretty much full time. Turning in the trees, floating and micro shredding powder is what I do. Almost no time or effort spent on groomers. No great urge to carve unless it’s part of a big surfy line (or I’ve just watched a video of Josh Dirksen).
I’m on a budget and looking for a new board to use for many years to come. My shortlist is still pretty long. I was wondering if you had any recommendations to help me shorten it down. Cool Bean? Party Platter? Stormchaser? Branch Manager? 420? (pricy but looks like fun) Weston Japow? Nitro Quiver? Salomon Derby?
(btw I’m 5’10”, about 183lb)
Thanks,
Joel
Get the best bang for the buck, Salomon Derby.
Thanks for all your helpful reviews, this website is my go to information source for shopping for a new Winter quiver….
I’m looking to build the two board quiver starting off with a ripping Powder Board first……
So if you weren’t on a budget which of the (Cool Bean? Party Platter? Stormchaser? Branch Manager? 420? or Derby) would you get?? I’m 165lbs, 5-8″ and to old to be jumping off cliffs doing Ollies & Pop’s but quite capable of ripping tight trees, shredding powder and chunder all day long…..
Thanks for your insights….
Branch Manager for what you’re describing.
Weston backwoods one of transworld a powder boards of the year. Awesome dropping cliffs and tight trees
Weston japow is such a blast! And at 159 it rides like a 152 super fun floaty shape feels like no board at all in pow.
Hey Avren, have you ridden an 87? Already own a cool bean for pow days but love the way it rides and want something similar for the now so deep days to muck around on groomers. Seems like the 87 fits that bill a bit better than the party platter but there is alot of overlap. 144 cool bean = 155 87?
Haven’t ridden an 87 yet, trying to get one here soon.
Hello sir,
Thanks for the straightforward reviews. I have a Rossignol One with Union Atlas bindings, US11 Adidas ADV boots. I was looking to make a quiver of two, One for fast groomer days with my friends and a short fat powderboard for tree runs when it dumps/when I have to slow down for the family. Currently looking at the ’17 Cool Bean 144 paired with K2 Lien ATs as both are available online on discount. I weigh 150lbs.
A few questions came to mind. Is there a better option for what I’m looking for? I was also considering the Party Platter, but that’s going to be hard to find/I’ll have to pay full retail for my quiver board. Does the swallowtail/added girth make the Cool Bean more surfy/buoyant in deep powder? Also, any other recommendable bindings to pair with this board? Thank you!
Regards, Jared
There’s a few boards that are great in that short and fat surfboard shape that are super solid. In all honesty the buoyancy comes from the width of the board, the swallowtail doesn’t really do anything at all. It’s pretty much non functioning except in really deep wide open snow where you can get a little rooster tail out of it. The Party Platter is designed to be softer and more playful, something you can really butter around and go in the park with if you want. If the price is right, there isn’t a better option.
As far as bindings go it comes down to what you want, I run the Lien AT’s on my Cool Bean because they’re designed to be paired together and it helps give it that surfy feel, plus you can pull the gasket off the bottom and run it on the pods to really get it to be super surfy.
Thanks for the sound advice, looks like I might pick this up. I was curious though, a review on teton gravity mentioned that it plowed through deeper snow (didn’t float well) and turned sluggishly (I believe this was in Colorado). Did you notice this when the powder was deeper? I was looking to take this board through the deep days in Japan. I suppose the lighter fluffier snow there might suit the ride better, but that review made me uncertain of its performance in deeper snow.
Sounds like the dumbasses at TGR need to learn how to ride pow. The thing with CO pow is that it’s so light that even if you sink you’re going to plow through it. I’ve had this board out on firm hard groomers to 2 plus feet of snow. Also heavy pow in CO is rare, so that means they probably hit some real late season pow. My .02 avoid reading reviews by amateurs and be prepared to have some solid fun on this deck.
Hell yeah, looks like I came to the right place to ask about this. Love the reviews btw, I binge read them when I’m bored. Will drop some Patreon love soon. Thanks again and keep shredding sir!
Hey Angry,
I’ve found a 2016 Cool Bean for about half the price of this one, but the review from last year seems lukewarm, whereas this on gets me hyped. I spend my time at resorts trying to stick to whatever powder I can find, in the trees, and a fair amount of groomers as well (for days less experienced friends come out) It sounds like the 2017 Cool Bean would be able to rip both, would I lose out on some fun going with the older model?
Thanks!
It’s pretty much the same board.
In the market for a fun, short powder board for the east coast when we get our so-called “powder”. Now I have the option to pick up a party platter at a decent price but was originally considering a cool bean because of the stiffer flex and the swallow tail. Chances are I wont venture into the park much on this setup but still want something to rip trees, hardpack, and a fair share of sidehits when it needs too with an emphasis on powder riding. Do you think it would be worth an almost 200 dollar premium to hold out for the cool bean? or should I just pull the trigger on the party platter at a good deal and stop overthinking it?
Thanks in advance! Love the reviews
Party Platter is a lot softer than the Bean. I will say this, the PP is better in tight trees due to the softer torsional flex and knowing that you’re riding east coast trees which are tight I would say it would be better.
Thanks for the input. I pulled the trigger on a party platter. Excited to run some laps on it this season!
I’m about your size (170 lbs, 6 ft). Cool bean seems like the board for me based on yours, and other reviews. I normally ride a 157, should I have any worry about downsizing to a 144? Did you also try the 150 by chance?
Thanks!
I’ve tried the 150 before, it’s too big for me. You should be fine on the 144.
Hi Angry,
Thanks for all the awesome review. This site is one of my go getter for review. I wanted to ask is 138cm good for my height 5’11” and weight 155lbs? Or a 144 fits better?
Should be fine.