# Best board for Pacific NW?



## that1guy (Jan 2, 2011)

I live in Seattle and ride most of the local mountains with my family. We have very wet snow and it is usually hardpack or icey conditions. Even on most powder days it will get packed down really quick. I have a Ride Yukon 163 and love it for days with more than 6" of fresh...........but..............the rest of the time it sucks balls. (I am 5'11" and 245 lbs) 


I know that Lib Tech / Gnu are a local company and have magne traction. I hear that it really helps keep grip on crap snow. I really like the idea of a rocker board too, but have never had the chance to ride one. I am a very strong stout guy and I just don't feel that I can ride my current board on bad snow. 

I have done mass research and feel like a Gnu Park Pickle would be a good choice in a second board. Does anyone own one or have a different suggestion for conditions in the PNW?



ps, I will still ride my Yukon on pow day's, it is freakin fast on pow!


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## J.Schaef (Sep 13, 2009)

Firstly, board size is determined by weight, and shoe size. Height has little to do with it anymore.

Secondly, it is impossible to tell you what kind of board you should get without knowing what kind of riding you intend to use it for. You ride mostly groomers? Want to ride park? Hiking rooster comb? 

I have my almost every day board (bataleon riot) and a pow board (Burton Jussi)

I ride Stevens pass at least once a week, usually 3 days a week. I hike when we have no fresh snow.

Rocker is ok around here, I really like cam-rock boards for our terrain/snow. C2 Power Banana rides pretty well.


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## that1guy (Jan 2, 2011)

J.Schaef said:


> Firstly, board size is determined by weight, and shoe size. Height has little to do with it anymore.
> 
> Secondly, it is impossible to tell you what kind of board you should get without knowing what kind of riding you intend to use it for. You ride mostly groomers? Want to ride park? Hiking rooster comb?
> 
> ...





Yeah, like I say, I weigh about 245. I wear a size 12 boot, so I need a wide board. For the Park Pickle I was looking at the 159 W. I personally like to ride really fast. Lots of vertical drops and what not. If I take the kid then I am riding groomers all day. Our friends ride with us a lot but they are skiers. They like moguls. We do hike sometimes up to the Silver King. I am basically looking for something that will ride better on crap snow days. I am tired of trying to carve on ice and my board slipping out from under me.


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## walove (May 1, 2009)

im a northwest guy and have a park pickle, and i would not suggest it for the type of riding you do. Its a true twin freestyle board, that would rather be popping ollies over moguls then turning between them. The banana does help in the chunky conditions, but i am much more stable on my very directional 165 libtech snow mullet . Unless you are really looking to size down from your old board a 245lbs i would stay in the mid 160's length wise. The c2btx is also a more stable platform for carving then the normal banana. A skunk ape 165, a travis rice 164 gnu riders choice wides is what i would look into. I find the banana and c2 boards are quicker to turn then a cambered board so to me the larger sizes feel smaller, but have more float in the pow too.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

that1guy said:


> Yeah, like I say, I weigh about 245. I wear a size 12 boot, so I need a wide board. For the Park Pickle I was looking at the 159 W. I personally like to ride really fast. Lots of vertical drops and what not. If I take the kid then I am riding groomers all day. Our friends ride with us a lot but they are skiers. They like moguls. We do hike sometimes up to the Silver King. I am basically looking for something that will ride better on crap snow days. I am tired of trying to carve on ice and my board slipping out from under me.


Also pnw, I would look for something with c2btx, got a skate banana its fine and fun turns on a dime but is a tad squirrly at high speed blasting. However, last year had a gnu b-nice 2008, cambered mag (no banana) and it worked great on crap days and chop...could blast down and rail trenches on hard pack/ice groomers (more stable than the banana due to camber) and kept up with skier buds doing 50+ mph.


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## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

You're a wide dude, so you need to look at appropriately sized boards. You should look into the Lib Dark Series 164w or Skunk Ape 165w.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Even at 250 he isnt looking for floatation though. IF he gets a rocker/camber board with magnatraction it will significantly increase the edge he has available to help him stop/manuver on hard pack and ice. Im 290 lb/6'/12 boot with a big solid build also. I went with a rockered board with MT and it makes a huges difference when stoping on hard pack and ice. With my old traditional camber board I had two very small contact points in these conditions, with that amount of weight you just slide right passed where you wanted to stop. With the rocker/camber/MT you easily have 3-4 times the edge in contact with the ground. Lighter people do not realize this quite as much as people over 220-230 lbs..... I went with a 159W smokin snowboard KT-22 and love it. anything with some rocker or camber combined with the MT will make a great difference for you. I also noticed that the rocker helps floating on powder quite a bit too, even with a shorter board.... I will probably get a 166 W or 169 W in the future though.


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## that1guy (Jan 2, 2011)

Any suggestions for my wife? She's 5' 7, 140. All mountain rider, who likes speed but also the ability to occasionally ride some boxes/do jumps. She's looking for something as an upgrade from her old Jamie Lynn board. She's also looking for a solid binding...


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## Hodgepodge (Dec 9, 2010)

that1guy said:


> Any suggestions for my wife? She's 5' 7, 140. All mountain rider, who likes speed but also the ability to occasionally ride some boxes/do jumps. She's looking for something as an upgrade from her old Jamie Lynn board. She's also looking for a solid binding...


she should look at either the gnu park pickle for women or something like the b-nice. those are good all mountain decks with the park pickle being more focused towards the jumps and park aspect of her riding. as for womens bindings, all the girls i know ride burton lexa bindings and love them.


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## that1guy (Jan 2, 2011)

Ok, so I think I have settled on getting a Gnu Riders Choice 162W. The wife is going to get a Pink Park Pickle.

I talked to the owner of the board shop in my neighborhood (Sports X)and he recommended the Riders Choice over the Skunk Ape. I am a good size dude but he said that that board is designed for a little bit bigger guy than me. 

The shop is great. It's a family owned buisness. All they do is snowboards. The guy's brother owns the ski shop across the street LOL. He also gave me a great deal on the boards. $820 for both. (he has to order Holly's pickle but the factory is just a couple hours away) We are doing our taxes tomorrow so I can pay for the boards on Monday!!!!!!

I would like to thank uncle sam for taking $13,623 dollars to much out of my income this year. Now we get to get all new gear and go on a badass family trip to Colorado in March!!!


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## Hodgepodge (Dec 9, 2010)

that1guy said:


> Ok, so I think I have settled on getting a Gnu Riders Choice 162W. The wife is going to get a Pink Park Pickle.
> 
> I talked to the owner of the board shop in my neighborhood (Sports X)and he recommended the Riders Choice over the Skunk Ape. I am a good size dude but he said that that board is designed for a little bit bigger guy than me.
> 
> ...


thats sick dude great choices! have fun out there


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## supercollider (Feb 2, 2009)

I gotta say- I rode a good number of boards and to my surprise the Riders Choice ended up being exactly what I was looking for. Its just a really fun board all around. WAY poppy, great in powder and eats up crud. Go with it. And good on you for buying local. I liked the 157.5 so much I quivered up and grabbed the 161.5 as well.


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