Snowboard Review: 11-12 Zion Wonk

Location: Mammoth, CA and Boreal, CA

Snow Conditions: Mostly hardpacked conditions with some soft spots.

Setup: I rode the Zion Wonk with my Union Team bindings and Vans Veil Boots size 8.

Size: 152cm.

First Impression: The Wonk’s full of fun without paying a ton.

Weight: Average.

Flex: The Wonk is built for all mountain jibbing so it’s on the softer flexing side of the spectrum but it’s not a noodle in any means. The flex felt evenly throughout the board and with softer nose/tail so presses were easy. Torsionally softer with the thinner between the inserts so it engaged quickly but still a tad stiffer underfoot to handle the rest of the mountain. The Wonk features a negative camber profile between the bindings and a slight camber from the bindings out to the contact points.

Turning: Easy to engage on edge thanks to the reverse camber and a multi-radius turning that helped keep the board engaging through carved turns. It was fine on both short and long radius turns. The edgehold was great, the hardpacked icy conditions didn’t stand a chance against this board and it held better than I thought it would.

Stable: I can now see my mph on the slopes while riding and my top speed with the Wonk was 32.9 mph, pretty good for a jibbing board on the rest of the slopes. It did better than expected on stability. Over bumps, there wasn’t as much dampening so you would get bounced around a bit but it still held an edge on icy/hardpacked spots.

Pop: It was very playful on the mountain and fun in the park. I took it through Boreal’s smaller size park to play on the boxes. I did not detune the board and was stoked to see how the reverse camber did on the boxes without catching. On the mountain, played with ollies on the groomers and the board did fine.

Switch: The Wonk is a twin board and rode exactly like a twin board on the mountain. Easy to initiate into switch turns and felt the exact same for handling.

Overall Impression: The Wonk is Zion’s all mountain jibbing board. It’s built tough despite the softer flexing jibber attitude it’s designed for. This is a great option for those wanting a all mountain freestyle board that isn’t overpriced. It’s quality built and it shows in how it handles.

Shay’s Honesty Box: I wasn’t sure what to expect when the Wonk showed up but definitely stoked to see how Zion compares to major brands. The end result was a board, designed for all mountain jibbing in the pricepoint range that rode like it was worth more money. It handled the mountain, made for fun park laps and gripped some hard early season conditions.

Ready to buy? Head over to evo for men’s snowboards or shop their full line of snowboards

 

On Snow Photo

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Quick Video

Zion Wonk Description

Review Disclosure: This board was sent to me by Zion Snowboards to test and review. It will be returned to them.