Snowboard Review: 10-11 Salomon Popstar

Location: Winter Park, CO

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

Setup: I rode the Salomon Pop Star with Salomon Celeste bindings and Vans Veil Boots size 8.

Size: 153cm.

First Impression: So far this is a good all around mountain ride and enjoying being back on camber.

Weight: Lighter than average

Flex: The first thing I noticed was the stiffer nose and tad softer tail and overall the flex isn’t insanely soft but not a stiff board.  It’s on the lower end for flex, you can play with it but also capable of holding turns and freeriding.  I was surprised at how it handled for freeriding, overall the flex on the board was consistent with the exception that I thought the nose was a tad stiffer than the tail .

Turning: The pop star made turning a consistent ride, the edgehold was good for the conditions and each turn I had control over how the board played out in the carve.  If I wanted a deeper carve, I could lay it over and really ride it.  If I wanted a mellow more easy turns, the board handled that just fine.  I didn’t feel if the shorter or longer radius turns were better than the other, they both felt fine.

Stable: Despite the lightweight factor, the flex felt good for freeriding and charging even through some of the bumpier cat tracks I enjoyed just hauling on it and it could handle the speed very good.

Pop: I should have played with the pop more but it was a charging kind of morning on this board and when I did play with it, it wasn’t difficult to throw ollies and pop from the board but I also wasn’t able to ride it in the park to get a fun playful test in.

Switch: The popstar is a directional twin and I didn’t spend too much time riding switch with it to get a good feeling on how it handled.

Overall Impression: It’s refreshing to get back on a traditional camber board because it’s consistent and you know how it’ll ride, the Popstar was ideal for that.  A good mix of all mountain riding, cruising and still a fun poppy board that you could enjoy without any surprises.  It was light and fast, but never felt thrown about when riding.

Shay’s Honesty Box: I wasn’t expecting to ride the popstar since it’s a cambered board but it’s one of those boards where you enjoy the ride because it’s consistent and you know how it’ll ride all day.  I’d love to get on it again to play more in the park and goofing around with it to see if it holds up to it’s name better.

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

On Snow Photo

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Salomon Pop Star description

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