Snowboard Review: 10-11 Burton Ration

Location: Breckenridge, CO

Snow Conditions: Hardpacked to icy conditions on the mountain.

Setup: I rode the Burton Ration with Burton lexa bindings and Vans Veil Boots size 8.

Size: 155cm.

First Impression: Wow, I’ve actually found a board that’s meant to go straight and hit rails.

Weight: Average

Flex: The ration was medium flex from tip to tail and a stiffer torsional flex so it was difficult to engage on edge into turns and every turn felt skidded on the mountain.  The flex wasn’t as playful as I was expecting for a park board.  I usually always enjoy going back to camber boards but this was one example where the camber didn’t make it a stable ride nor a board I’d want to keep riding.

Turning: It was very sluggish edge to edge and every turn felt like it never wanted to remotely turn, it was pulling teeth to get it on edge and I couldn’t even carve with the board.  I was really disappointed with how it turned because it felt like I was riding a toboggan down the mountain and I’m not Mikey Leblanc on a toboggan.

Stable: It was the least stable board I’ve been on, not because of the flex but how much of a struggle it was to get a turn out of this board.  It wasn’t consistent and it was a really difficult snowboard to ride because it didn’t make turning easy, it made me feel like I was a beginner again with no control/no stability on the mountain.

Pop: This is the one thing that the ration had going for it, when I did point it straight and ollied it had good pop. I took it on a couple boxes in the park where it felt better on the actual boxes than the snow but it didn’t feel as fun as other boards in the Burton line up like the Hero or Custom.

Switch: Twin board with twin flex, so felt the same riding regular as it did switch.

Overall Impression: The ration was my favorite board to look at but the relationship ended when I took it to snow, it was so sluggish edge to edge and hard to get a real turn out of that I immediately felt uncomfortable the whole time on snow.  In the park it was fine when I pointed it straight and on boxes but anything on snow wasn’t as much or felt capable.

Shay’s Honesty Box: Of all the 10-11 snowboards I’ve ridden, this was the least favorite by far but it’s my favorite graphic…I like the plain simple colors they did this year for it. Maybe I’m not pro level park rider but I thought it rode like a door down the mountain.  It could barely hold an edge or carve on the board…I find it hard to believe there is a board out there just meant to go straight and hit rails…but this was it.  I had a friend with me who saw me ride the other Burton boards all day and then get on this one and just struggle with it.

Ready to buy? Head over to evo for the Burton Ration or shop their full line of Burton snowboards

On Snow Photo

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Burton Ration description

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Review Disclosure: I rode this board at a demo day.