Dave McCaul here, talking about Burton‘s best park snowboard they make, it’s the Burton X8 snowboard. What you’re looking at here is basically the highest end core they put into a park snowboard. It’s the Park Fly III core . They use lighter wood in the nose and the tail to lower the swing weight, and also make it press easier, and to lighten up the overall weight of the snowboard itself.
From there you’ve got the V-Rocker, which will have some rocker in between the snowboard bindings, and goes right to the pressure distribution edge which is a little bump out in the edge. It’s really hard to see with the naked eye. This gives you extra grip. Besides contacts at the nose and the tail we’ve got ones right underneath the snowboard bindings where all the pressure is, and it goes into a little more rocker right after the snowboard binding position. This one’s got the Channel. You’ve probably heard about that; if you’re rocking the snowboard you’ve got to do an EST snowboard binding, otherwise you’re only unlocking half the performance of the snowboard.
Moving into the sidewall, you’ve got the Pro-Tip construction. It’s really meaty through the center of the snowboard, and goes thinner around the nose and the tail. This one also will have elliptical nose and tail kicks; they kick up a little quicker than most of the other snowboards. This can help you power through the crud, allows you to get up and float on top of powder a little bit quicker, and gives it a little bit longer effective edge than you’d typically see in snowboards of this length. This one also has a scoop nose and tail going onto it, really good for flat ground and buttery madness and all sorts of mini biking and stuff like that.
Base on this one: you’re looking at Sintered N2O WFO, definitely the nicest base they put into their freestyle snowboards. Takes a lot of wax, only gets faster the more you wax it, and as it comes from the factory this thing’s ready to shred for a good five times out at least. Other than that, Infinite Ride built into most of the Burton boards, including this one: just puts it into a machine that simulates about three years of usage, so when you get it it flexes the same as it will three years down the road. Definitely the premier park snowboard: twin shape, twin flex, everything’s twin on this one. Super, super nice snowboard. If you’ve had experience riding park and are looking to step it up, this is a good one to take a look at. The Burton X8 snowboard.
My name is Chris and I’m looking to buy a snowboard for my daughter’s birthday in a few weeks. She is going to be 14 years old. She weighs 112 pounds, she is 5 feet 3 inches and she wears a size 7 1/2 shoe. She has only snowboarded about 3 times but she wants to make the transition from a skier to a snowboarder. After a few private lessons last year she was able to go to the top of the mountain and snowboard all day with not many falls. She can turn and completely spin around and go either way. She has used a few different boards and she really did the best on a Burton. I’ve watched all of Dave’s video’s to try and get an idea as to what I should purchase. What I want is a Twin, soft flexing Board Burton. Maybe one with a distribution edge to make the board more flexible. Dave mentioned a rocker board might be better for a beginner, since it is more forgiving, but I don’t think the Burton board she rented last year was a rocker. It looked more traditional to me. Can you please recommend a great Burton beginner board for me to purchase for my daughter?
Hi Chris,
One of the best snowboards for beginner/intermediate riders is the Burton Genie. It has a Flat Top Rocker Profile (which gives the rider a large steady platform) and Burton’s Easy Rider Technology which makes the board incredibly soft and forgiving and virtually impossible to catch an edge on. As for sizing you could go with either the 140 or the 145, Because she is still growing I would prob suggest going with the 145. If you have any more question feel free to give me (Dana) a call at 1 651 482 9995.