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Stores 1st try & ISPO 2018 | Snowboard & Splitboards

Splitboards, noboards, powboards - what's coming onto the market in 2018

by Patrick Wehowsky 02/06/2018
"ISPO in Munich is of secondary importance for the snowboard industry. The pulse of the industry beats at the retailer trade fair (Shops 1st try) in Alpbachtal."

From our point of view, there is little to add to this quote from the Kronenzeitung, the fine foil of established print journalism in Austria. If you look at the last few years, the number of snowboard manufacturers' stands at ISPO has visibly decreased. A trend that now also seems to be affecting the ski industry. If the mountain doesn't come to the prophet, the prophet must come to the mountain - so PowderGuide set off to Alpbachtal for you a week before ISPO to get an (almost) complete overview of the innovations for the coming season. This much can be revealed, it was worth it! Some of the really interesting innovations would probably have slipped through our fingers. Interestingly, microbrands in particular were on show at both ISPO and Shop 1st try. ISPO is not dead, yet.

Enough of the introductory words. As always, here is as comprehensive an overview as possible of the innovations for the coming season in the areas of solid boards/split boards, binding systems and boots.

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Snowboards /Splitboards

The powder shape trend for splitboards and snowboards has now continued for the third year in a row. This winter, the weather will finally suit the shapes. General developments include lightweight construction, 3D base elements and short-and-wide fish shapes.

Amplid has done a lot right in recent years, which every observer of the scene must acknowledge without envy. With the Miligram, they have raised the bar for other manufacturers in terms of weight-optimized, stable splitboards in the last two years. So far, other manufacturers have not really followed suit and Amplid is already preparing to send the Microgram into the competition next year with a fighting weight of 2.2 kilograms. That would be another 300 grams less than the Miligram. If the board's riding characteristics match those of their previous boards, Amplid will cement its technological market leadership for the time being, which doesn't seem like a bold prediction. Amplid is keeping the existing splitboards and is now using the Union Hooks to have a clean base.

In addition, after the success of the Surfari/Milisurf, Amplid is launching another, wider (280 mm) swallowtail called "Aloha Vibes". The name says it all, I'd say.

BuddyBuddy is a small snowboard brand from Dresden that has the potential to bring real innovation to the construction of snowboards and skis with its own core manufacturing method called "Anchor-core-Technology". In fact, BuddyBuddy has been around for two years, but they weren't on my radar until now, thankfully that has now changed. The technology mentioned is explained very clearly on their homepage and we may have the opportunity to present a board in a test at PowderGuide. In addition, we may even see a splitboard from their factory in the Erzgebirge next season.

After Burton has expanded its product portfolio in the splitboard sector in the last two years, they now want to gain a foothold in the lightweight splitboard sector with the Flight Attendant X Split. The split is to be built with carbon stringers at its core and weigh in at around 2.5 kilos. They have not yet reached this weight at Shops 1st stry, but what is not is still possible. We will be keeping a close eye on developments here.

Capita continues to offer the Spring Break collection, which attracts attention with some very wild shapes. In the splitboard sector, the Neoslasher remains their only split, which comes in four sizes (154, 158, 161, 164) and feels a bit lighter.

The Norwegian brand Furberg, whose first model we had already tested at PowderGuide, is coming next year with a new model called Pow Split, which will be available in sizes 156, 161 and 166 after this year's introduction of the third generation of the Freeride Split. As the pictures show, it is a powder-specific shape with a shorter tail and long early-rise rocker.

There are two key innovations to mention next year from the eponymous brand of big mountain legend Jeremy Jones . Firstly, they are rounding off their already impressive range of snowboards and splitboards by offering some models with additional variants in shorter lengths (sic!). For example, the complete length portfolio of the Mind Expander introduced last year now includes 10 lengths (130 - 162) in three different categories (Mini-Mind Expander, Women's M. , Mind Expander).

As if that wasn't enough, the Mind Expander is now also available as a split version in lengths 154 and 158. Once again introduced as a split version, the Mountain Twin is available in 3 sizes including a wide version.

Ben Dietermann, previously a developer and board builder at POGO, has set up his own brand konvoi which we can only support. Snowboards, splitboards and - his specialty - powder surfers will be available to buy. With a splitboard price of around 800 euros including skins, this is worth considering if you know what technical know-how is available here.

The development of the It brand of recent years Korua, which has made carving popular again, remains exciting. They are retaining their Korua + lightweight range and expanding it to include the Café Racer+ as a solid board and an additional length for the split version (159). They also added another model to their experimental range with the dud. However, they are quietly burying their asynchronous shapes, as neither the Apollo nor the Asytoni will be built next year. So if you still want one, you should grab it quickly.

Nitro is also launching a powder board as a split. The Quiver Squash is coming next year as a split version in sizes 152, 159 and 163.

Rome SDS is also launching a specific powder split alongside its existing splitboards with the Powder Division as a split version.

Salomon is drawing on the full range and renewing its 4-piece splitboard Premiere (159/165), which now runs under the Salomon premium label S/Lab. On the other hand, the Speedway Split is a promising split that should work well both on the ascent and on the descent. In addition to the well-known Sickstick Split, there is a smaller version called Pillow Talk. In general, the Salomon splits (2-piece) are rather light and really well made.

With Sandy Shapes there is now another small brand from Italy that combines perfect wood aesthetics with small production runs and colder pressing temperatures (good for the linking of the molecules). They have two splitboard models on offer. The Virtuosa is a directional freeride board, which will be available next year in sizes 159 and 169. The Zingara is their twintip split with a stronger rocker, which will come in sizes 154 and 159.

Stone Snowboards is another minibrand from France, which offers directly distributed boards similar to Stompede or Furberg. Stone has several splitboards and solidboards on offer and at absolutely competitive prices of 399 euros for the splitboards and 299 for the solidboards.

Finally, The Bakery is a small manufacturer from Munich that combines customizable designs with ecological production conditions. Production takes place near the Ostbahnhof. Media coverage is really taking off with articles in WELT and Pleasure magazine, and they say they are already working to capacity this winter. In addition to park and powdershapes, they also have a splitboard

Bindings / binding systems

Karakoram has not made any major changes to the bindings this year, but has used the time to optimize the binding system and expand the accessories for the splitboard bindings.

The binding system (pucks) is now available in two versions, a lightweight version and a normal version, whereby the normal version now has significantly more plastic surface, which should significantly reduce the icing problem. In addition, the pucks are designed to have a certain self-cleaning function. Just take a look at the photos in the gallery.

Furthermore, Karakoram now offers a complete footbed for people who want a little more cushioning.

When it comes to accessories, Karakoram has developed its own metal version of the Verts, which should be lighter and more stable than the original. There is also the option of attaching front points to the binding to create a binding/crampon hybrid. It is possible to use both the verts and the front points together, but that's a bit of a fiddle for my taste.

Like Spark, Karakoram also has new nose and tail connectors that allow the connectors to be tightened. With Karakoram, this is achieved with the small lever in the picture, which is used to tighten the hooks.

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K2 has no changes in the area of splitboards this year, but they now have their own splitboard binding on the market. The binding is practically a Voile Speedrail, only with a different highback and straps. K2 is thus bringing back an in-house innovation. The touring bracket on which the Speedrail is based was developed by K2 for their Kwicker system and has proven to be very reliable. The binding will retail for 399 euros.

There are two key innovations at PLUM . On the one hand, they now have their own hard boot binding called Sok, which weighs just under 500 grams per foot. On the other hand, in cooperation with SP/Flow, they have developed a rear-entry binding called DARI , which can be used both traditionally and via rear entry (flow system). It is therefore an SP multi-entry on a PLUM basis. This versatility is available for 100 grams more weight per foot.

Phantom, the small high-tech hardboot binding company from the USA, now also has its own hooks on offer. As always, Phantom is said to use state-of-the-art technology. Unfortunately, we are not yet able to judge this from afar.

The situation with Spark R&D is similar to that of Karakoram. There are no completely new models, but there are a whole series of smaller or larger changes. Spark is once again making significant changes to the weight and creating a new range of bindings based on their Arc and Surge models, but with lighter materials (highbacks, heelcups, screws). These bindings (Surge Pro, Arch Pro) are 150 grams lighter per pair than the standard models. There are also matching lighter crampons, which are almost 100 grams lighter per pair than the normal versions.

There are new touring brackets for all models, which no longer have copper sockets and are made from a plastic-fiberglass mixture. These are said to be more stable than the old aluminum brackets and at the same time the brackets are 40% lighter. The brackets are backwards compatible with all older pinless bindings.

In addition, weak points in the hardboot binding have been eliminated and there is now an in-house pin front jaw that can be mounted on the splitboard without an adapter. To complete the product range, Spark now also offers adapter pucks for solid boards in a normal and a canted version.

The new Heel-Lock, which appears in the catalog, was not yet on display at ISPO, but there is a video from the USA.

SP remains true to its multi-entry bindings and only presents new color variants of its splitboard bindings.

According to Union, the fitting accuracy of the pucks and thus the stability has been improved once again.

Boots

In terms of boots, everything has remained the same for Deeluxe, Northwave and Thirtytwo. K2 has made minimal changes to its Aspect. The inner boot now has one less Velcro strap, the laces have a better grip and there is a lock mechanism for the forefoot.

Salomon not only has something new to offer in terms of boards, but with the Trek S/Lab it has a potential innovation for soft boot tourers. The shaft can be moved or fixed using the Boa system and the company has tried to create an adaptation of the walking function of classic ski touring boots. The extent to which this works well and without material failure will be shown by use.

Photo gallery

This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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