RIP: Black Snowboard of Death

If I ever found the perfect snowboard that was ideal for me…it was the Capita Black Snowboard of Death 2003-2004 season. It really deserves its own blog because I loved it.

In the summer of 2003 I worked at Gregg’s Greenlake Cycles in their little tiny itsy bitsy snow board shop/skate shop. It was a really fun job while I was still living in Seattle and I met some really cool people during my time there. They knew about Capita as an up and coming company with this killer board that was going to rule all.

After hearing about this awesome board coming out called the Black Snowboard of Death and seeing it in the upcoming product catalogs…I contacted Capita and inquired about instructor discounts (proforms) to be able to purchase the snowboard. After a couple emails back and forth, I received the okay to go to the Capita office and pick it up.

My first time to Capita in late 2003 was trying to find the office hidden behind the old Drake office far back in the industrial district of Seattle. When I got there, I met Jason who took me into the office and got me the Capita BSOD. I was stoked, it was my first time in a snowboard company office and I was getting this awesome board. I got some stickers and left the office a couple hundred bucks lighter but very happy.

 

By the time the mountains opened in November 2003, I was ready to take out my BSOD and get shredding…but I soon came across a problem with my Ride Vxn’s working with the BSOD freedom Groove system. Blue came to my rescue by meeting me up on Stevens Pass in the parking lot where he spent the time to get my bindings set up on my new BSOD. Talk about customer service to have the owner of a company help you out with setting up the board. It was my first time meeting Blue, he was a stellar guy back then and still is. I turned down the opportunity to ride with him that day which I regret because damn it would have been awesome.

I spent 10 days with my Capita BSOD before I tore my ACL in early December 2003. It was an awesome 10 days of shredding. When I landed short on the jump with my weight forward, the board survived but my knee didn’t. It was one damn tough board. After knee surgery, I had to wait to keep riding the BSOD into the 04-05 season. From then on, it was me and my BSOD for the next 3 seasons of year round riding. I rode it everywhere that I possibly could, terrain park to the powder…it excelled.

One of the things I loved about the BSOD is the graphics. I know it’s a lame thing to say, but this has been the only board that I have ever rode where I seriously loved the graphics. There is nowhere on the board that it says the brand and the only recognition is the skulls on the base. Other snowboarders would inquire what board I was riding because there was no way to tell what it was. Looking at my BSOD now it’s pretty beat up, some good gashes, scrapes and p-tex fillings but damn it still looks good.

The freedom groove system I always liked, it offered unlimited stance options and you knew once your bindings were in…they were in. Once I put on my bindings and took the board out for a spin, I could flex the BSOD and ride it into the ground. It was poppy, fun and could lay over carves on a dime. I’ve always liked capped construction boards, just how well they grip the snow when your carving.

Here’s my original review I put of my BSOD:

The Black Snowboard of Death is an all mountain slayer of a board. It is one of the best freeride boards i have encountered in riding many boards and demo’ing even more. It’s stiff but forgiving, you will never get any chatter on this board…the absorption is beautiful. It is not for a beginner rider but a intermediate to advanced rider because it will take you for a ride and show you what snowboarding is about. You can lay a dynamic carve or just have fun hitting kickers in the park. I’ve rode rails, pipe and jumps with this board and it was slayed all of them. I am sad because after riding this board 150 days each year, it is finally losing its camber and needs to be rode less but i’m still keeping it around because of how epic it is. If you can get your hands on a BSOD you won’t regret it, it’s a great board for a great rider.

Now back then I had never rode Never Summers so my idea of a freeride board has changed just a bit since then. But I do place the BSOD as an all mountain freestyle board that easily is in my top 10 favorite boards ever.

I retired my BSOD this season in Colorado. The camber is gone and I wanted to keep it without breaking it.

This is the first board in my entire 13 years of riding that I will never sell or get rid of.

I liked the board and company so much that when it came time to name my dog, she became Capita the Black Snowdog of Death. But I just call her Capita.