Snowboard Review: 11-12 Salomon Salomonder

[singlepic id=12333 w=150 h=181 link=”http://www.shayboarder.com/2011/08/shayboarders-2012-top-picks.html” float=right]

Location: Winter Park, CO

Snow Conditions: Hardpacked to softpacked to powder.

Setup: I rode the Salomon Salomonder with Salomon Absolute bindings and Vans Veil Boots size 8.

Size: 154cm.

First Impression: Salomon’s created a fun park board that you could ride out of the park.

Weight: Average

Flex: It’s on the soft side like the park urban board but it’s described to be but it’s not a complete noodle.  The flex to me seemed very consistent across the board.  Longitudinally and torsionally very similar in flex pattern and the flat profile gave it more stability for the soft flex.

Turning: I was expecting a sluggish board due to the waist width but the equalizer wasn’t a joke on this board. It was exceptionally quick and aggressive into turns, easier than imagined and I didn’t believe the ww after riding it in turns.  Quick carving once you intiate the turn and held on edge on the terrain just fine.

Stable: I believe it was the wider waist width that made the salomonder a more stable ride for me than expected.  I wore size 8 women’s boots on a 25.6 waist width with noticeable space between the binding to the width of the board.  That being said, despite the flex described as a 1/2 on the 1-5 Salomon scale, I didn’t find the Salomonder to be a noodle like other noodle park boards but it was rideable outside of park for me.  It handled turning and carving on hardpacked, I didn’t feel it fold while riding and while speed isn’t what this board is meant to do, it could handle the bursts when you needed it.

Pop: Overall a pretty poppy fun playful board that would hold presses and butters without doing the typical soft park board butter to fall back.  The easy press core seeemed to do the job it’s meant to and not let it buckle or go head over heels in a press.

Switch: Didn’t notice any difference in how the Salomonder rode for switch riding. Handled just like a true twin would, exact same whether regular or switch riding.

Overall Impression: The Salomonder is meant to be an urban destroyer from Salomon but they created a board with a softer flex that’s just meant to have fun on. If you want a softer noodle that won’t disappoint when the conditions aren’t park, this board could handle the hardpacked and make it down the mountain.  The wider width for me gave me more stability than expected but the equalizer was impressive, it rang through to the description and made turning very capable.

Shay’s Honesty Box: The Salomonder’s been requested a lot and for good reason, it’s a very fun board to ride but I wasn’t sure how it’d perform for me with a 25.6 waist width combined with my women’s size 8 boots. I ended up taking it out for the last laps of the day when the snow was hardening up again and it outperformed for the day, it didn’t feel like I was riding a wider board than I should have been. It made the last tiring runs so much fun, so playful and a blast to end the day on.  The only bummer I had was the binding combo with it but I was bummed to return the board.

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

 

On Snow Photo

[singlepic id=11592 w=500 h=281 float=]

Salomon Salomonder description

[singlepic id=11591 w=1000 h=1277 mode=watermark float=]

Review Disclosure: I rode this board at the SIA on-snow. Please be aware boards may change, this review was done in  February through April 2011.