Board: Telos Mike Ranquet

Size: 156

Camber Option: Directional Camrocker. You have camber through the insert packs and then rocker in the nose.

Bindings: Rome Black Label

Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy

Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10

My Weight: 200lbs

Resort: Copper Mountain

Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies, average temps, 4 to 10 inches of fresh pow with pockets of older pow, perfect corduroy, and just general all around great conditions.

Flex: This boards a little softer than I thought it was going to be. It comes in at more of a middle of the road park flex than a slightly stiffer all mountain flex. It’s ever so slightly directional in nature which just means softer nose progressively stiffening up to the tail with a lot of torsional flex in it.

Stability: Now with this board being softer it’s still relatively stable. That nose does get chatter at high speeds and you’ll feel that in your front foot, that’s just the name of the game. But inside the front insert pack back to the tail is where it stiffens up and gets more stable. The big thing to note is this board is lively so you will feel a tad bit more chatter than on other boards but it’s not one of those decks that washes out or wants to get bucked around.

Ollies: There is some power out of this board. The load is easy to engage but highly reactive and just lets you boost. Whether you’re loading up to power ollie something or you’re just looking for that last minute skate style quick hit it gets the job done.

Pop On Jumps: It’s fully at home on a jump, but more at home hitting Peace Park transition features. It snaps and loads with ease but just gets you in the air and lets you maintain what you’re doing. You want to spend the day in the jump line, go for it and don’t hesitate hitting most features. Mega booters might have some issues but I doubt the guys buying this are going to something in the big line.

Butterability: The nose locks in perfectly for butter and just lets you balance perfectly over it sliding sideways as you kick it out. With the tail it takes a little more work but still does what you want. This board feels stable and locked in when you butter but retains the pop to snap out of it.

Jibbing: To some it might be a little weird jibbing on a board that’s directional, don’t sweat it. You can nose and tail press with the best of them and stay locked in but still pop out of the feature. Going sideways it cradles the feature perfectly and slides effortlessly.

Carving: With the abundance of torsional flex in this board you can twist it and drive it in and out of turns. This board swoops in easily on a carve and then lets you drive from the center back. You like laying it over? Awesome, do it. You want to be more mellow? Go for it. This thing carves with the best of them but doesn’t force you to stay on top of it to drive it.

Rider in Mind: Someone that wants a playful throwback style shape with modern tech.

Personal Thoughts: This may be my new favorite board. It’s powerful if you need it but not domineering and lets you drive it how you want. You can butter and play with it but still retain the ability to drive hard through a turn or charge down a groomer when flat basing. In pow this thing is a blast to ride and while it is camber dominant it doesn’t cause leg burn.

Comparable Boards: Burton Deep Thinker, Wired Vantage, Rome Ravine