Board: Signal Sierra

Size: 156

Camber Option: Traditional 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: Sunny bluebird skies, warm spring temps, chop, chunder, slush, and perfect hero snow on the groomers.

Flex: Since the last time I rode this it’s gotten softer. It’s more middle of the road all mountain freestyle and less stiffer all mountain freeride. This means more play in the tips then a stiffer mid section with a comparable amount of torsional flex.

Stability: For the most part this boards stable, especially underfoot. You do get a tiny amount of chatter in the tips but nothing unmanageable. In really rutted out terrain it plowed through almost everything in its path, every now and then it would find something that would jar it and cause it to start to slip out.

Ollies: Overall the camber profile feels super easy to engage, you’re not putting a lot of effort into it to load it up. But you do get some nice rebound out of it which makes this board a little poppy, not overly poppy, just a little bit poppy. Sure you can send a sidehit, roller, and cat track gap with ease but it’s not going to be mind blowing.

Pop On Jumps: Unfortunately there just weren’t any great jumps at A basin, so what I did hit I can tell you this board will handle anything from small to large. It’s probably more suited to medium and up just based off the flex and camber profile.

Butterability: It takes a little more effort to press into the sweet spots in the tip and the tail as they aren’t that big and this board does have rebound. It’s not enough rebound to fight you but it will let you know it’s there. Very basic butters are really what it’s going to do so prepare yourself to wheelie.

Jibbing: A little speed and some effort go a long way on this board. It locks in and holds basic nose and tail presses but has snap out of the end of the feature. When going sideways you feel it cradles the feature a little but it’s not overly hugging it. Basically it’s a deck that can handle jibbing when you occasionally jaunt into the park.

Carving: Here’s where this board stands out. You have added contact points that are mellow with their Directional Quad Side-cuts. Basically 4 added mellow points that keep it locked in. This board has a smooth edge to edge transmission and you notice how little effort it takes as you can just ankle steer this board onto edge. When you decide you want to power through a turn it lays over with precision and lets you drive it off the tail with relative ease to give you some snap back up out of the carve. Short tight mellow carves, medium to long hard carves, and deep aggressive Euro-carves it has you covered.

Rider in Mind: All mountain freestyle guy that does some freeriding.

Personal Thoughts: They’ve softened this up since the last time I rode it, then again the last time I rode it they were still making them in California at their factory. This isn’t made there. The sidecuts traction tech has been mellowed out a little bit which actually makes it easier to engage and not keep you locked in through a death carve. Overall it’s a predictable board for the most part and never feels over powering or under performing.

Comparable Boards: Lib Tech E-Jack Knife, K2 Antidote, Rome National

Binding Recommendations: Ride C-8, K2 Formula, Union Strata