Snowboard Review: 09-10 Burton Malolo

Location: Keystone, Colorado

Snow Conditions: Overcast with hardpacked groomers.

Setup: I rode the Burton Malolo with Burton Scribe EST bindings and my Rome Vamps size 8.

First Impression: Impressive on groomers

Size: 158cm

Weight: Didn’t notice the weight at the time

Flex: I’ve seen that you should ride a smaller size in the malolo, I rode my typical all mountain size and it was perfect for me. I could however see riding this same size in powder and having it hold up which would mean the smaller size recommendation. The malolo is still a stiffer board, stiffer tail, softer nose (hello nose buters) and with the S-rocker the nose is already up, making it easy to float and easy to butter. I found like 3 inches of crusty powder to take it in, not much but I know this board floats and with the S-rocker just a bit more fun.

Turning: The Malolo for 09-10 features the S-rocker, Burton’s rocker on the powder specific boards but still capable of handling groomers. The best turns were really long drawn out S turns, really smooth and solid. The best part was it was early morning and I had runs to myself with the malolo and could really just go fast making long S turns on it. The shorter radius turns were still do-able, I could get the board into quicker response but the longer turns were the bread and butter on this board.

Stable: I never felt unstable with this board on the hardpacked groomers, held an edge and stable during going faster. It was the first board of the morning which meant no one on the runs and I could go faster with it than other boards, it did fine. I wasn’t able to ride this board through choppy conditions to get a taste of how it handled there.

Pop: Didn’t even try with the malolo.

Switch: The malolo is set back, still rideable switch but definitely noticeable when riding. I just made a couple turns with it switch and rode back to normal. Not a board I’d want to ride switch all the time.

Overall Impression: I was impressed, best word to describe how I felt about the malolo. Overall a really good riding board and I knew it could handle powder so I didn’t worry about having to find some, just enjoyed the groomers with this board. The best riding with it was arc’d out really long S turns, you could really lay out each turn and hold an edge.

Shay’s Honesty Box: The reason I rode the malolo was because I’ve had a lot of people ask how this board does on groomers…obviously a board for powder but is it worth it to buy when the powder turns are done, can I hit up groomers and my answer is yes, it handles groomers. Finally I rode the men’s malolo which comes in more sizes, the women’s malolo comes in a 149cm and 154cm, offering up a powder board for the smaller women or women that want to size down on it like recommended.

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

On-snow Photos

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Burton Malolo Description