# About to pull the trigger



## nzboardlife

No brainer, unless your a miniture person, go 164.

im going all out my next split, 175+, screw this 160 shit, my 165 prior is mint but longer boards are sooooo much fun


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## killclimbz

Depends on the type of terrain you are mostly going to ride. Here in Colorado, due to the avalanche conditions we are forced to be tree rats for most of the winter. Tight trees that make the bad ass east coast tree riders cry. So I tend to shorten it up a little so I can be more nimble in that stuff. Also, with rockered stuff, you can go a little shorter if you want.

Either way, I think you are making a great choice with that Solution. Certainly can't go wrong with it.


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## ShredLife

or your riding style.... personally i wish i could ride like Lonnie Kauk in the BC. i'm 5'10", ~145#/150 and my split (old burton S) is a womens 157! yea i said it.

getting new split this summer (and gonna cut a couple boards down) and with a rocker i'll go down to 155. yes this is for powder. i want 7s off of cliffs next year.


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## Zee

Our snowback is very similar to Colorado.. which makes it lighter requiring alonger board, but also forces us to ride trees all the time, where a shorter board is nice.

This is a tough one.


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## Guest

Looks like the Solution come in 164 or 168W. I thought that was a mite curious that JJ was going to put out only 2 sizes that are only 4 cm apart. Honestly, with that small of a jump I don't think one will be much different than the other. Unless you at the extremes of height. I wish there were a few different sizes. I've been thinking about the Solution but living in Utah I'd prefer something a little longer. 172 maybe?


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## The Chairman

Zee said:


> The store near me will be carrying the Jones Solution, so I am thinking of pre-ordering it.
> 
> Still deciding between the 164 and 161.


I'm surprised Zee. that you aren't considering one of our Split's or maybe you already have. You said the SL-R is the best all mountain board you've ever been on and I believe we make the best splitboard too. I know the Solution is going to be a great board, I sold Nidecker for 10 years and rode Megalights/Legends for 3 or 4. As you already know we are onto something special with our Rocker/Camber/Vario and this technology carries over to the Splits. No one can match our durability, full wrap P-tex sidewall on each half! Your going to hit rocks, especially in the backcountry. Just ask killclimbz how many days he has on his NS split. Each one is handcrafted and kits installed by the Blaho Bros who have worked here for 15 years and made 150 splits. We are committed to splitboarding and are adding a new model, The Raptor 159, 164, 169 and 165 W. The Summit-R carries over in 157, 160, 164,169.

Don't want to be pushy or anything just surprised


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## killclimbz

To be honest I was kind of curious about that one myself. 

I know the Solution and Jones boards in general have been getting a lot of good word on Splitboard.com. I also haven't had an opportunity to demo any of the Jones models, so I can't chime in on my thoughts on the boards. 

I can say my Neversummer split has certainly taken all the abuse I can dish out and then some. The board is way over 100 days on snow at this time. My Voile Split Decision has less than 60 days on it and it's beat. Cracked rails and tons of core shots. My Summit has one core shot.


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## ShredLife

i wish there was a Heritage 155 split...

the 157 summit will probably be the one


Lib has a T-Rice split coming out his year, but its $800 with no inserts... you gotta DIY, which i think i pretty lame for a production board. if they ever get it together to where they can sell a fully built system it could be a really sick setup - Libs tend to be lighter weight then alot of other boards.

i hate long boards. its easy to get a 165+ split....theyre everywhere... i want rockered 155-157s


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## Cr0_Reps_Smit

ShredLife said:


> i wish there was a Heritage 155 split...
> 
> the 157 summit will probably be the one


they can split any board for you for a price i believe.


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## ShredLife

that's pretty sick, i just hope the price doesn't get any higher than the $1200 for the Summit, because that is FOR SURE the ceiling of what i would pay...

i wish NS would sell the boards "raw" without skins and voile hardware (maybe they do, but they don't advertise it). the steep price tag includes that stuff, but alot of folks already have it... or may have ways to get skins cheaper, may not want to use voile hardware (karakoram Split30 system coming soon), etc...

i also hope that they are "forced" to bring the price of these boards down by competition from other companies. now we have NS, Jones, Voile, LibTech, Burton, Sentry, Prior, Venture, and a host of smaller independents as well as Monk's custom boards

i love my SL-r tho.... not complaining really


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## The Chairman

ShredLife said:


> i wish there was a Heritage 155 split...
> 
> the 157 summit will probably be the one
> 
> 
> Lib has a T-Rice split coming out his year, but its $800 with no inserts... you gotta DIY, which i think i pretty lame for a production board. if they ever get it together to where they can sell a fully built system it could be a really sick setup - Libs tend to be lighter weight then alot of other boards.
> 
> i hate long boards. its easy to get a 165+ split....theyre everywhere... i want rockered 155-157s


I think a 155 Heritage would complete our Split offering. The only thing we would be missing is a shorter women's model. With the float of the RC I believe you can size down on the newer splits. By going shorter you reduce so much weight and gain mobility. It's hard for me to pitch getting everything made to add additional sizes. We are selling plenty of other boards though so we'll be able to expand and continue making splitboards in the future. Also use materials and advances we made in other categories to cross over into the splits. Like our the new Carbonium Series.

T-Nut a T-Rice???? Break out the drill press, tape, epoxy, hole punch etc., and don't drink a bunch of barley pops while your doing it. Make sure all the touring brackets are right and screw lengths, install hooks and tip/tail clips. I know the Blaho's here spend considerable amount of time doing this even with their expertise. R U Kidding? You might as well just split an older 155 rocker.

The Summit with RC/Vario is completely transformed. Better edge hold, float, spring (way more nimble), less drag ( for touring), quicker edge response and more forgiving.


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## The Chairman

Cr0_Reps_Smit said:


> they can split any board for you for a price i believe.


Not anymore. This was a side project of Justin and Bentley Blaho for a long time. As our business has grown so have the Blaho's workload and responsibilities. Every board of ours you have owned has passed through the brothers hands; Justin oversees the presses and Bentley oversees the finishing. We needed this right and left arms of NS to keep up with the growing production.

So we took over the Split's. The advantage to us doing this is that Tim Canaday (owner/engineer of NS) took over and redesigned the Summit Split. New tooling and die was specifically made for this board. Each half is individually layed up and the core blocks are custom made for the split. The block is cut and inner and outer P-tex sidewall attached and then cut again. Tim personally cuts the cores since it has to precise. The Blaho's still oversee the whole process mounting hooks, clips, touring brackets and finishing the boards.

By the way Cr0 I see you all over the web. I recognize the Carinthia logo and the kids. I'm stoked to have someone like you on our boards, thanks for the support!


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## The Chairman

ShredLife said:


> that's pretty sick, i just hope the price doesn't get any higher than the $1200 for the Summit, because that is FOR SURE the ceiling of what i would pay...
> 
> i wish NS would sell the boards "raw" without skins and voile hardware (maybe they do, but they don't advertise it). the steep price tag includes that stuff, but alot of folks already have it... or may have ways to get skins cheaper, may not want to use voile hardware (karakoram Split30 system coming soon), etc...
> 
> i also hope that they are "forced" to bring the price of these boards down by competition from other companies. now we have NS, Jones, Voile, LibTech, Burton, Sentry, Prior, Venture, and a host of smaller independents as well as Monk's custom boards
> 
> i love my SL-r tho.... not complaining really


We can sell then without the Voile kit/skins. It would be inserted for the kit, but you would need to install the hooks/clips. They come with the kit and we don't have the parts. We would definatly do the install if sent the parts. Also the screws for the touring brackets always have to be grinded down ( They're sized for the thickness of a Voile board). That's an advantage of getting a NS split is our experience and craftsmanship. That is why the raw Travis Rice split would be such a hassle.

Glad you love your SL Shred. Thanks for the support!


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## ShredLife

Vman said:


> I think a 155 Heritage would complete our Split offering. .


maaaaaaan DO THAT shit!


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## Cr0_Reps_Smit

Vman said:


> By the way Cr0 I see you all over the web. I recognize the Carinthia logo and the kids. I'm stoked to have someone like you on our boards, thanks for the support!


thanks! thats nice to hear. i always try to spread the NS love around carinthia and get more people to start riding them. i see more and more every year. you should be hearing from me around pro-form time for my next evo ha.


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## Zee

Vman said:


> I'm surprised Zee. that you aren't considering one of our Split's or maybe you already have. You said the SL-R is the best all mountain board you've ever been on and I believe we make the best splitboard too. I know the Solution is going to be a great board, I sold Nidecker for 10 years and rode Megalights/Legends for 3 or 4. As you already know we are onto something special with our Rocker/Camber/Vario and this technology carries over to the Splits. No one can match our durability, full wrap P-tex sidewall on each half! Your going to hit rocks, especially in the backcountry. Just ask killclimbz how many days he has on his NS split. Each one is handcrafted and kits installed by the Blaho Bros who have worked here for 15 years and made 150 splits. We are committed to splitboarding and are adding a new model, The Raptor 159, 164, 169 and 165 W. The Summit-R carries over in 157, 160, 164,169.
> 
> Don't want to be pushy or anything just surprised


I haven't pulled the trigger yet. One of the challenges is that we get killed on shipping and duty when ordering from the US. 

That being said, I am still on the fence between the Solution and the NS Raptor. Another consideration is that I may want to try out the Karakoram set-up rather than Voile... I'm still a big Never Summer fan.

I'm really not hearing anything on the durability of the Solution, that is a concern. So I could be ordering an NS anyway...


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## Zee

Karakoram...

Karakoram- Split30 Splitboard System


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## fattrav

Vman said:


> thanks for the support!


Could you tell me the setback on your new SL's? I have a 155 on order through the rep out here, but haven't been able to get to many specifications off of him.


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## The Chairman

fattrav said:


> Could you tell me the setback on your new SL's? I have a 155 on order through the rep out here, but haven't been able to get to many specifications off of him.


Sure, sorry for the super delayed response. The set back on the SL is .5" on effective edge .75" on material


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## fattrav

Vman said:


> Sure, sorry for the super delayed response. The set back on the SL is .5" on effective edge .75" on material


Ok, so the set back on the front bindings is .5"?, im not sure what youve said about the effective edge though...


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## The Chairman

fattrav said:


> Ok, so the set back on the front bindings is .5"?, im not sure what youve said about the effective edge though...


Yes, on the effective edge it is .5" back. How's your snow so far this season?


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## fattrav

Vman said:


> Yes, on the effective edge it is .5" back. How's your snow so far this season?


Cheers, I can adjust my bindings to centre stance it then. Season here is still arriving. Im in the North Island and the season starts next? weekend (the mountain is still quite lacking in snow). The South Islands season has started from what I can gather. A friend has already boarded twice down there.

Will probably start boarding in at the end of the month once there is a decent enough cover on the mountain. Waiting for my SL to show up (this coming week hopefully)...the stoke is slowly building


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## nzboardlife

im going for a tour on my splitty up turoa on wednesday, its pretty bare at the moment but i hear theres been a bit of snow over the last 48 hours and it looks like theres enough coverage up top to get a good day in.


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## fattrav

Hope you've got plenty of p-Tex


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## Zee

I can't make up my mind :s

Jones Solution+Skins+Karakoram ~$1600
Voile Mojo RX + LRS - $1100 (pretty cheap)
Never Summer ... I have no idea how much this will cost because of shipping/duty  But I really love my SL-R


I really think the Karakoram is worth the extra couple of hundred. 

Decisions... Decisions.


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## InfiniteEclipse

Zee said:


> I can't make up my mind :s
> 
> Jones Solution+Skins+Karakoram ~$1600
> Voile Mojo RX + LRS - $1100 (pretty cheap)
> Never Summer ... I have no idea how much this will cost because of shipping/duty  But I really love my SL-R
> 
> 
> I really think the Karakoram is worth the extra couple of hundred.
> 
> Decisions... Decisions.


I *hear* some people using a shipment forwarding company so that the package is sent as used gift with low value. I hear thats how they got their NS EVO for cheap USPS shipping and 0 duty. Hearsay is all.. cough..


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## Zee

InfiniteEclipse said:


> I *hear* some people using a shipment forwarding company so that the package is sent as used gift with low value. I hear thats how they got their NS EVO for cheap USPS shipping and 0 duty. Hearsay is all.. cough..


I could use Montana Shipping Outlet, but it's 3 hours from here.

The Jones Solution is available just up the street. The Voile is available at MEC. Karakoram ships USPS.As much as I wnt a NS,I really have to see how much shipping/brokerage will factor in.


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## InfiniteEclipse

good luck

checkout forwardit.us ...it helps for items that wouldn't normally ship to Canada as well


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## Zee

Pre-ordered teh Karakoram kit... got Never Summer on the brain.


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## Zee

So, now I can't decide whether to get the Summit Split, or to get the Heritage... :dunno:


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## killclimbz

Depends on what you are doing. If you are just a powder rider the Summit should be the ticket. It'll do cliffs, pillow cases and such. If you like to throw more freestyle in there, the Heritage would probably be a better choice. If it was me, I'd probably do the Summit.


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## Zee

My only concern is that I've never really liked a really long nose on a board, although I can see how it will help with float. 

That being said, I may be able to get away with a 161 in a Summit (5'10 185) rather than a 164 because of the 19mm of taper and aggressive setback. If I did a Heritage, I'd probably get a 162 and bias the stance slightly to the rear.

Heritage are probably not shipping till January, which means I'll miss some nice touring in late December.


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## killclimbz

Well you might not want to be touring on your split yet anyway.

You could totally go smaller with the Summit. It does have rocker after all. The long nose boards are just a hoot in powder imo. I love my Summit for that very reason. The extra float can make a big difference getting past flats, slight uphills, and that sort of thing. You'd be fine with the Heritage too though. So get what your preference is. Beg Vman to get you in on the first run of the Heritage so you can get a December or first week of January delivery.


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## killclimbz

Oh yeah, and make sure Vince knows you are using the Karakorum system. Jeri ran into an issue with the Karakorum interface on his Neversummer split. Evidently the inserts were set a little too wide to work with the system. The spacing worked fine with the Voile set up but no one knew this would be an issue with the Karakorum interface. I am 99.9% sure they are aware and make their boards to work with it now, but it's worth mentioning.


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## ShredLife

personally, if it was me - Heritage... but it's all about riding style.

and i'm 5'10" ~145# and if they made a 155 i'd get it. with rocker boards i can ride a 155 with a .5-.75in setback in 4ft. of pow no problem. rocker boards have so much more float regardless of if it has the Mahalo/Summit/Jones style nose. with my 155sl i can actually pump the nose or lean downhill IN POW to gain speed... sure it might bog in the flats more than a big boat would, but...

for me, i'd much rather have the versatility that a smaller twin offers - spinning, landing and riding switch, jibbing, shorter turn radius, lighter; than the advantages of a bigger pow board - more float, more speed & stability on the straightline, more float, more float, bigger slashes 

that's just my twocents...


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## Zee

I mentioned the spacing to Vince, he knows about it now.

The summit is one heck of a board though, and looks like pow slayers are winning pretty handily on the poll at splitboard.com

This is a tough decision, a lot of money.


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## killclimbz

Again, I think it's about your personal preference. The Heritage is still going to slay pow, no doubt. If that is the shape you are more comfortable with vs the tapered longer nose on the Summit, I'd say go with it. You need to get what you like, not what I or anyone else likes.


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## Zee

Pre rocker it would have been a no brainer... last year I took bth my Mullet (non rocker) and SL-R cat boarding, rode the Mullet one day, and the SL-R the next. The SL-R floated surprisingly well for a FS board.

Float is *still *a concern though, I do like not having to lean back on a pow board, and I hate going over the handlebars. That hasn't happened on the SL-R yet... but I've done it on 

I've also found that as much as I play around at the resort, I don't do spins or ride switch when in the backcountry wearing a pack, so if going in only one direction in powder 80% of the time, the Summit might be the better option.


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## killclimbz

It's a killer board and you'll love the feel of it when you're ripping turns in thigh deep powder on a 40+ degree slope.


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## Zee

Looks like it's going to be a Summit, I might be able to get away with a 160 at 175 lbs, but I should probably go with a 164.


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## snowvols

I bought a handmade split off Craigslist tonight. Stoked to try it out this weekend. I figured I would go cheaper for the first split. Something to give hell to.


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## killclimbz

You could totally get away with the 160 at 175lbs. I can get away with it and I've got another 60lbs on you. You'd be fine with it.


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## Zee

Summit 160 it is! I spoke to Vince, and with the taper/rocker it will float no problem, plus the shorter length is easier to control in trees and in technical terrain.

I had a Salomon Fastback that I loved back in the day in a 160, so I need to get over the whole bigger is better thing, no matter what all the women say... :laugh:


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## killclimbz

Grats dude! You'll love the new ride.


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## Zee

Yeah, snowshoes are not fun. 

This was a tough choice because I really like my SL-R, but I realize that in the BC I don't ride switch, don't play around as much and really just stick to cliff drops and straight airs, and the Summit seems to really be the better board for this. Plus, there is nothing more frightening that the thought of going over the handlebars in a couloir, thats just less likely to happen on a tapered pow board.


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## linvillegorge

Yeah, I looked hard into the whole do it yourself split thing, but by the time you buy the hardware and skins, you're halfway toward a pretty decent used split anyway.


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## Zee

The guys I'll be touring with (skiers) say I'm crazy to go with a 160... Kill, do you ride a 167 or the 164? I weighed myself and I'm closer to 180...


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## Zee

I'm definitely leaning 160, the tradeoff is float/speed in the mellow terrain vs. maneuverability in the trees. I guess the big question is how much harder the 164 will be to handle. I had a 165 reg camber, and it wasn't great in the trees, but wasn't all that bad. It was nice in the bowls though.


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## ShredLife

dude, that nose is gonna give you all the float you need at 160cm... "short" is better. rocker is the way.


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## killclimbz

Again, I said I'd rock the 160 and I weigh about 240. Rocker really lets you shorten up the board. It's a concept that took me a while to get used to. I've always ridden at the shortest a 164, typically in the 66-68 range. You'll have tons of float, don't worry it'll be fine.


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## Zee

Spent a bit on the phone with Vince, he strongly recommended the 160 as well, so that's what I ordered. It's tough to get my head around, it really seems you gotta go big in the BC, but the rocker does change the game. Vince made a good point, the 164 might be slightly better in powder, but you will lose in other places that matter just as much, steep technical lines, trees, spring conditions etc.

So I've ordered a 160.


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## ShredLife

you'll be so good man. 

when you think about it, most of the BC riding you'll do is just steeper than the average resort terrain... its a large reason why we're out there to get it (besides the solitude). in steeps you don't need length to stay afloat cuz your speed and the natural nose-up-tail-down orientation of the board (in pow) takes over. you DO however need quick edge to edge transitions and a quick turning radius in that stuff, especially tight chutes. you also need to be able to easily and quickly hop-turn your board even with tired, worked quads: shorter = better.

most of the flat stuff you encounter in the BC (even out here in flat volcano land) is just that - flat. you're walking regardless.


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## Zee

It's hard to get out of that "backcountry = BIG BOARD" mentality... rocker has changed the game.


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