Board: West Cpt. Achab
Size: 163
Camber Option: Cam rocker. It’s a very mellow camber section into a more pronounced rocker in the nose and a mellow rocker in the tail.
Bindings: Rome Black Label
Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 200lbs
Resort: Loveland Ski Area
Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies, warmer temps, zero wind, and basic preseason conditions.
Flex: This board is softer than you would think looking at it. It comes in slightly and I mean every so slightly below a middle of the road for all mountain freeride flex almost boarding on all mountain freestyle flex. There’s a lot of play in the tip then it mildly gets stiffer under foot and through the middle of the board to the back foot, and then its got a similar flex in the tail. There’s an abundance of torsional give to this board which really lets you twist it.
Stability: This board is stable through the camber section to a point. In really rutted out terrain you’ll really feel it. The nose has the most flap in it due to the rocker section and that thing looks like an Albatross ready to take flight at speeds, it’s just flopping around. You will notice some micro vibrations resonating back under foot.
Ollies/Pop: That camber zone coupled with the tail rocker gives an actuation point that lets you get decent snap. A little speed goes a long way with this board and helps it shoot further. While still not the snappiest board out there it’s got enough to get the job done.
Butterability: This board is so soft in the tips it makes it easy to lock into a press, just get your weight way out over the tip or tail. It locks in and has minimal fight which is beneficial if you’re playing around.
Carving: The softer flex of this board can limit how hard you drive this board into a carve. You almost end up over powering it and it starts to get hooky. This is also due in part to where the rocker and camber meet as it’s not the most conducive to driving this board through a carve. What I will say is mellow and medium carves are its strong suit. On ice it does an OK job of gripping but it could be better.
Rider in Mind: The more freestyle focused freeride guy that wants a board that’s a little softer.
Personal Thoughts: This wasn’t a bad board but I didn’t love it. It gets the job done and I like the shaping of the nose as that would give it optimal float in pow. What I didn’t like was the way the sidecut and camber profile come together it made the board seem a bit sloppy at times. It just didn’t initiate the way you would want it to and it didn’t lay over on edge as much as I would have liked.
Comparable Boards: Niche Maelstrom, Endeavor Clout, Wired Vantage
No Comments