Snowboard Review: 10-11 Capita Black Snowboard of Death

Location: Winter Park, CO

Snow Conditions: Hardpacked to icy conditions on the mountain, flat-light riding conditions.

Setup: I rode the Capita Black Snowboard of Death with Union Flite bindings and Vans Veil Boots.

Size: 156cm.

First Impression: The BSOD is back, 10 years later and charging the mountain like the badass board it’s meant to be.  It felt like coming home, coming back to a board I loved and what made me a better rider.

Weight: Lighter than average

Flex: I found the Black Snowboard of Death (BSOD) to be torsionally softer, easier than I was expecting to turn and be able to get quick response edge to edge from it.  Longitudinally it felt stiffer in the nose and tail so while it was easy to maneuver when you pointed it straight, it charged.  Overall it’s a stiffer board but with 10-11 more forgiveness than in previous years. The BSOD is reverse camber freeride FK so positive camber between the outside inserts and then reverse camber from the inserts to the contact points, then flat kicks up on the nose and tail.  The feeling is a stable cambered ride with reverse camber to help lift the contact points, float in powder and not impact the freeride capabilities of the board.

Turning: The BSOD has always been a more advanced freeride board but I found the freeride FK version a bit easier to handle than previous years.  It was less catchy and easier to put on edge than what I remember from the past BSOD.  I found it quick responsive edge to edge, torsionally softer so you could really lay it over into turns short or long radius and it handled them all.  The new sidecut grips the snow without feeling locked into a turn and the camber between the feet still has the powerful ride.

Stable: The most noticeable stability from the BSOD was the edgehold, it gripped the snow very well for the first board of the day on some icy/shitty areas of the mountain.  There were moments where the forgiveness saved me with the flat light conditions and I could have wrecked but didn’t.  When I took it into the pipe, it surprised me by just how well well it rode the walls and never slipping out.  On the hardpacked, when I took it faster and through some bumpy areas I didn’t feel flopped around on it and felt stable riding down the mountain especially when going fast on it…it loved being fast.

Pop: I didn’t play with the pop on the BSOD, flat light conditions and my own riding waking up meant cruising fast with it and not playing with it.  I took it in the halfpipe where it was held an edge, easy to rotate 180’s and felt comfortable but no big pop tests on this board.

Switch: Easy to manuever into switch riding and being directional was possible to ride switch but not what the board is meant to do all the time.  I made a couple turns switch and was stoked to be back to charging regular on it.

Overall Impression: Capita re-introduced the Black Snowboard of Death for their 10 year anniversary and this revamped freeride FK version continues with the qualities that made the original a legendary ride but with an increased better ride for today’s technology.  The freeride fk doesn’t lose the freeride focus, the bsod continues to charge the mountain but now lighter and faster than before.  To be frank, it’s still a badass board.

Shay’s Honesty Box: If there’s one board that I knew I’d be tough on at the on-snow demos, it was this board because it has a lot to live up to in my opinion and I still own this board so I know how good of a ride it can be.  The expectations were upheld and I found myself riding a better improved BSOD with reverse camber, that doesn’t lose the freeride board that is meant to charge the mountain with.  I ended up spending the morning riding this board and taking my time enjoying it again, it was like coming home to the BSOD and we enjoyed the ride together.  My only complaint was the early morning conditions and the wax on it, made it slow in the flat areas but everywhere else the board did fine.

Ready to buy? Head over to evo for the Capita Black Snowboard of Death or shop their full line of CAPiTA snowboards

On Snow Photo

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Capita Black Snowboard of Death description

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