Board: Ride Smokescreen
Size: 157
Camber Option: Directional Hybrid Rocker. It’s directional camrocker meaning more rocker in the nose and less in the tail with the vast majority being camber.
Bindings: Rome Black Label
Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 200lbs
Resort: Arapahoe Basin
Conditions: Sun, grey haze, blue skies, clouds, some wind, cold temps, ice, chunder, and perfect groomers with a little dust on them.
Flex: This board starts out stiff till you break it in after a few laps then it settles into being just past a middle of the road directional flex. That means more flex in the nose and less in the tail with the mid section being stiffer but not as stiff as the tail. The torsional flex is there but not overly abundant so you notice that you’re spending more time twisting the board when steering it.
Stability: There’s a little chatter in the nose but most of that dissipates before it hits the front insert pack. Through the mid section this board is super stable and does a great job of killing off chatter. The tail is the most stable section and when you really push off of it in variable terrain you pretty much don’t feel anything.
Ollies/Pop: This board shines with its pop. That camber section is easy to load up and it activates that rocker in the tail which gives this board some spring. You will find yourself boosting further and higher with little effort off any natural feature in your path.
Butterability: This takes more work than you would think. For having a ton of rocker in the nose you really have to leverage your weight out on it to get it to engage. When doing anything on the tail you’re using all your muscle to lock it in and even then it wants to set itself back down on the snow.
Carving: This is where this board gets a little unique. Off the front foot this board is quick to engage, but when you’re transitioning to driving it off the back foot there’s a little delay right in front of the rear insert pack. You notice that it isn’t as smooth and fluid as it could be. This will make you change the dynamic and steer more off the rear foot which is fine. This is due in part to the sidecut and the camber profile. So if you’re a back foot dominate rider you won’t notice an issue, if you actually know how to steer off the front foot when prepare yourself for some changes. When on edge it locks in and holds a carve well enough. I will say that this board does require a bit more space to get the carve you want out of it. Sure it can do tight set up turns, but it’s those long hard drawn out ones that really struggle to let you apex the turn the way you want.
Rider in Mind: All mountain freeride guy.
Personal Thoughts: They classify this as their all mountain directional board that can handle everything from park to pow and groomers. I wouldn’t waste your time with it in the park, it’s not what it’s good at. I tried. It’s really a freeride focused deck and that’s fine. It’s also a highly under marketed board from Ride, I’ve seen 0 marketing on this thing or any push but it’s basically a more approachable Berzerker and that makes it fun. It’s got good snap, a decent sidecut, and has a feel that you only get from Ride Snowboards.
Comparable Boards: K2 Manifest Team, Salomon Super 8, Telos DST
Recommended Bindings: Ride A-8, Rome DOD, Union Falcor
