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9 ea r:: TEXT: ROB REED now oar 5 R-d- P d ling ower SNOWBOARDING'S HOLY GRAIL FOUR WAYS TO SIP FROM Three th ings make snowboarding what it is. First, powder. Next, powder. And last, pow- der. Groomers and terrain parks are fun, but it is the days with a foot or more of powder that fuel longings to ride bottomless waves of crystalline whiteness. Whether you dream of dropping into a virgin face or mining fresh tracks through the trees, everything else in snowboarding is incidental and anci llary. So why all the esoteric musing? Because snowboards are designed for specific purposes. Those who go after all conditions with equal passion typically have a quiver: one board for riding the halfpipe and park, another for casual all-around riding, a third for pow- der days and perhaps another for big-mountain shredding- like Alaska 's Chugach Range. Th is review covers all-around boards, powder boards and big-mountain boards. If you're a minimalist, the powder board-also known as the freeride board- is all you really need. They're acceptable in less-than-memorable conditions, and when Mother Nature turns up the volume, you ' ll lean back and float to the surface, thankful you've cho- sen the right too l for the job. Once you've narrowed down your choice of selections, length becomes the next question. If it is powder you ultimately seek, go big. At first a long board fee ls clumsy and awkward, especially on groomers. But once you're used to it, you'll bask in the benefits: more edge, more control, more stopping power, more flotation . * 4 TOP PICK FOR DEEP POWDER RIDING ORIGINAL SIN 4807 On a purely aesthetic level, no board can touch t he 4807. Manufactured in t he true spirit of surf ing mountains, it is handcrafted with a design that is both highly progressive and heart-warmingly nostalgic. Its " fishtail" V is less dra- matic than a typical swal low, digging just enough in deep powder to keep the nose up while not undermining its per- formance on hard pack. The board's most original feature- and one of the few new breakthroughs in snowboard tech- nology t his year- is its uniquely shaped shovel. Like the hul l of a boat , t he 4807's progressive f ish bone in the cen- ter of the tip allows it to stay above the contact point in hard pack. In the goods it cuts through powder and break- able snow like no other, throwing up a wake like a surf- board. Without compromise, the board also featu res a graphite base for maximum velocity. Lengths: 168 WW'W.(lrI" nalsin.com, $679 NITRO POWDER 3 92 Snowboards are l ike politicians. In t he process of t rying to please all , no one ends up with what they want. The Nitro Powder, on the other hand, has a specific agenda: big mounta ins and deep powder-the bigger and deeper t he bett er. The Nitro's ret ro, swal lowtail design has met with modern core, base, and sidecut technology to create, perh aps, the ulti mate Alaskan art illery. Whereas standard designs force you to fight to keep your rear foot weighted and your front foot up to avoid "going over the bars," the Powder's rad ical tail digs deep, allowing the nose to come up natura ll y. A full - length wood core and double wrap cap construct ion make it st iff yet snappy with rock-so lid resilience to abuse, while a rad ical sidecut yields fast, hard turns. Lengths: 178, 195 Nitro, www.nitrousa.com. $499 1 TOP PICK FOR ALL-AROUND POWDER RIDING RIDE TIMELESS While some people feel snowboarding technology has stag- nated, others attribute the minor progress in the past few years to a state of near perfection with regard to materia ls and ride quality. So whi le a board like the Timeless has been around for a few years, it is a "must mention" when ta lking of riding powder. If you're looking to cross over to a big gun, th is could be the ideal bridge. Tapered tips and tails keep the swing weight- which is one of the hurd les in tu rning a lengthy board-to a minimum. Moving below the surface, the proprietary M2 core is also extremely lightweight, while the M2 cap helps distribute weight more evenly along the edge, rather than heavily over each foot, giving it a more con- sistent turn radius. Lastly, the base is a fusion of P-tex pieces, instead of die cut, saving even more weight. Lengths: 143, 148, 152, 155, 158, 161, 164, 167, 177 Ride, www.ridesnowboards.com. $470 * 2 SANTA CRUZ MAVERICK Bowing to the mass-market demand, many companies don't even offer board s longer than 167. Thanks to the hardcore, nonconformist in ner rank at Santa Cruz, the com- pany is produci ng a board that bucks the norm. Much li ke the reasoning behind Nitro's Powder, t he Maverick is built with pigeonhole purpose. It is the master of a single trade: bombing down big peaks with vigor. Unlike the Nitro and Original Sin , though, its forte is powder interspersed with billy-goat li nes and big drops rather than simply open fie lds of freshies. Maverick's poplar wood core run s the length of the contact area, while t he tip and tail are a synthet ic, reducing both weight and excess chatter. Lengths: 173, 183 Santa Cruz, www.scsnowboards.com. $460