A couple weeks ago when I heard about the Shop Demo coming up at Loveland…I knew I’d want to be there to try out as many boards and bindings as possible. So I made sure to get my name on the list and got the days off work. It was the best two days of demoing boards, having fun and snowboarding when I should have been working.
I got up early Wednesday to make the drive down to Loveland. It was just me coming from Steamboat so I got to crank the tunes and rock out. Unfortunately we had freezing rain the night before…so the roads were slick and the drive took a bit longer than I wanted. I made it to Loveland around 9am to check in and get ready for a day of demos.
I had originally made a list of boards/bindings I should try…but I completely forgot the list and had to go off memory.
With every board I took 3 runs, mostly 2 runs on chair #1. Chair #1 is a shorter chair but I like the cat track for buttering and the wall for pretending it’s a pipe wall plus a couple nice kickers on the side of the run. Then I would take 1 run on Chair #2 the longer run with more free riding, speed and some flat terrain. Each board I took through the same runs, same conditions and tried to do the same tricks with each board. Basically butters, nose or tail presses, the wall ride, 180’s and small ollies. I’d also ride switch with each board to see how it handled.
Conditions were hard packed groomers with some slight powder areas on the side of the runs. It was beautiful sunny bluebird both days.
Since I didn’t take a lunch or take any breaks…I managed to go from one board to the next until 4pm. I was also hopped up on Red Bull all day long which helped me not notice that I hadn’t eaten anything all day.
Wednesday’s List of Boards/Bindings I rode:
- Burton Uninc with Burton Triad
- Burton Supermodel with Burton Lexa
- Santa Cruz Duo with Flux Titans
- O-matic Awesome with Flux Titans
- K2 Duchess with K2 Virtue
- Unity Origin with Rome Struts
- Lib Tech Skate Banana with Rome Struts
- Sapient PNB1 with Rome Struts
- Lib Tech Trice with MTX with Rome Struts
After demoing boards on Wednesday there was a nice after party at the bar where lots of beer was present and giveaways. I managed to win a Lib Tech T-shirt which rocked!
That night I was lucky enough to crash down in Golden. Nothing beats sitting around with a cute guy drinking PBR after a day of snowboarding. I did manage to pass out and get a great nights sleep.
Thursday was a lot more mellow and less crowded during the demos. I was there by myself so just enjoyed riding the different boards.
Thursday’s List of Boards/Bindings I rode:
- Rossignol Jdubb with MTX with Rossignol Ambers
- Rossignol Jeremy Jones with Rossignol Ambers
- Rome Design with Rome Targas
- Flow Infinite WX with Flow Primas
- Flow Quantum with Flow M-9’s
- Venture Zephyr with Salomon Poisons
- K2 Zeppelin with K2 Cinch Cameos
- Burton Custom with Triads
- Burton Custom X with Lexas
The reviews of the snowboards and bindings will be found here in my 07-08 Snowboard Review and my 07-08 Binding Review
