Board: K2 Party Platter
Size: 143
Camber Option: Directional Rocker Baseline. A flat middle section with a mellow rocker in the tips.
Bindings: K2 Lien AT
Stance: 21.5 Wide 18 Negative 15 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 177lbs
Resort: Arapahoe Basin
Conditions: Overcast skies with a bit of sun poking through, mild wind, firm to chundery snow, and every now and then it would drop some dipping-dot-like snow.
Flex: This board is very playful and loose. With the rocker profile and core profiling you get a lot of play in the tips, a bit more stable underfoot, and then an abundance of torsional flex.
Stability: The wider frame of this board is where its stability derives from. When charging around the moguls, variable terrain, dropping a few small cliffs, and playing in the park this board only bucked me once and that was more a result of riding in flat light and not seeing a little rut than the board itself.
Ollies: This board had some serious spring to it when popping off rollers, side hits, cliffs, and everything else I could find. Load it up and boost, be skatey and boost.
Pop On Jumps: While I normally wouldn’t recommend a 143 at my weight for hitting jumps, this thing made it seem like I was launching a Mega Ramp on a skateboard. I wouldn’t go hit a 70 foot booter of death, but I think you could probably do it if you really wanted to.
Butterability: The rockered tips are super playful and really let you get over them and press into the snow. Lets face it the damn things called a Party Platter, it’s designed to butter your muffing all over.
Jibbing: This board is playful yet snappy on jibs and that’s nice for when you really press into a rail or box. The loose feel of it aids with not hanging up.
Carving: The sidecut on this lets you drive hard while it also rails through aggressive Euro-carves. I could really get low and lock this board in while leaving a trench in my wake. Over all whether it’s short quick turns or deep aggressive ones this board does not disappoint.
Rider in Mind: The guy that’s going to downsize his deck, ride the mountain like a skatepark, and not give a fuck that his girlfriend rides a bigger board.
Personal Thoughts: Owning a Cool Bean I kind of regret not holding out for this board. It’s a blast if you want to surf the mountain or get really intense on some butters or making the hill into a skatepark. It’s one of those boards that came out at the right time, because a few years ago this would have been dismissed as being a Nug knockoff.
Comparable Boards: Yes Optimistic, Ride Warpig, Venture Euphoria
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This board was loaned to us for review from K2 Snowboards marketing department.
*Disclaimer this board did not change for 2018 so we carried the 2017 review over.*
2 Comments
I tried it today and had fun with this short board, but I also tried a salmon super 8 which I enjoyed as well.
Any opinion on what to get off those two boards, I mainly do grooming but love those times I get to go of piste with loose snow. The sales guy said both are good for groomers and of piste.
I’m 5’11 , 170 lbs, way too old, I’ve had an Extrem eline board (camden, swedish manuf) that have served me for a long time. I don’t do jib or is a park guy, but I enjoy jumps sometimes. It seems that the salmon is most similar to my old board, which has felt like an extension of my body….
Salomon for sure.