Board: The West La Hache Plus

Size: 158 Wide

Camber Option: True Traditional Camber.

Bindings: Rome Black Label

Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy

Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10

My Weight: 200lbs

Resort: Loveland Ski Area

Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies, cooler temps, preseason chunder ice and man made snow with a little bit of fresh on top.

Flex: It’s your standard middle of the road all mountain flex. More play in the tips then about half way back to the insert pack it stiffens up to the middle where it gets a little softer. There’s a lot of torsional flex to it which really lets you twist it and helps with the drives of this board.

Stability: It’s not the most stable thing I’ve been on but it’s not a floppy limp noodle that gets bucked around. You’ll notice that it bends with most contours in the snow and doesn’t wash out. At high speeds there’s a little bit of flapping in the nose of the board and some of that chatter does reverberate back under foot.

Ollies: Being that it’s camber it has pop. You load this board up and you will pop. Is it the snappiest thing out there? No, but it gets the job done.

Pop On Jumps: As it was preseason there weren’t any, but I wouldn’t hesitate to hit a jump with this thing it’s got enough pop to get you off the lip and to the landing just fine.

Butterability: So I checked the base of the board with a flat edge and it’s actually beveled up which makes this board loose and playful. As such you can swivel and sizzle with minimal effort. You want to get sideways and slide, go for it and don’t worry about catching an edge. It’s playful where it counts.

Jibbing: Once again preseason riding so no park at this time. But judging by how it locks into butters I wouldn’t worry about this thing pressing on a feature or even getting sideways.

Carving: With finding that the base was beveled you lose edge bite out at the tip and tail contact point and steer more under foot. Think of it as riding some boards with 3BT or some kind of scoop. This changes the dynamic of how it carves. It never feels fully locked in on firm or icy snow but in softer snow it sets an edge fine which is to be expected. When you do get it on edge you can center flex the board and get it to spring into and out of carves, but the second that snow goes icy or super firm you lose that edge bite and it starts to wash out. Over all I would say this thing is set up for short quick carves or medium ones. The long hard drawn out ones it just doesn’t have enough hold to keep locked in.

Rider in Mind: All mountain freestyle rider with an emphasis on the freestyle.

Personal Thoughts: On paper I should have loved this board, but riding it was a whole different experience. It’s looser on edge than I thought and that was after seeing that the base is concave. This isn’t mentioned in the marketing so maybe it’s a fluke with the deck I rode or maybe it’s something they don’t advertise. The flex pattern is on par for other all mountain freestyle boards.

Comparable Boards: Rome National, Yes Typo, Capita Mercury