The snowboard: a piece of wood with some impressive technology. The newest technological innovations of the season.

The trend over the last two years has been 100% freestyle boards. The shape is perfectly suited to fun little tricks on boxes, rails, flat, on small to medium kickers and is perfect for snow parks. You might have guessed that the Twin and 100% freestyle trend comes direct from the U.S. where the market has come down to that. Over there, multi-purpose boards are no longer really sold. Freestyle is growing to the detriment of the freeride and the multi-purpose market has dropped slightly, even though today boards can do anything, which was not the case a few years ago.

The best examples are the Burton Uninc or Salomon Prospect with their elliptical tips that provide greater flotation without adding length.

In the freeride, we are moving away from the longboard trend and moving towards sizes nearer to 160, but with pintails (boards that are larger at the nose than at the tail). Extreme models of this type include the Burton Dupraz and Fish.

What's New in Technology

Edges

Rome is going back to the idea of bronze edges, as bronze is a soft metal that perfect only for the jib. Bronze bends instead of breaking when it comes into hard contact against other surfaces.

The Lib Tech Magne Traction is coming to Gnu, Roxy and Rossignol. To visualise the concept, imagine a serrated edge like the blade of a bread knife. The goal is to generate better grip while reducing the length in contact with the snow and, therefore, increasing contact pressure. On a classic board, the pressure is on the wide points, at the nose and tail, as well as under the feet. With Magne Traction, pressure is distributed more equally.

Salomon has come out with the Equalizer system. The goal is the same as the Magne Traction, meaning it brings the pressure under the base plate so that the board is not steered only by the ends. Edges have three straight lines, one under each foot and one under the base plate, which distributes pressure more evenly. This provides better handling.

As for the tips, the brands have trimmed off some weight by removing some material from the nose. Ride is the leader in this field with very slim tips.

The biggest revolution of the year is from Burton. Their engineers have been working on it for five yearsand this year, they are unveiling two systems: the E.S.T. (Extra Sensory technology) and the I.C.S. (Infinite Channel System).

The E.S.T. is the new base system for fixtures adapted only for the I.C.S. which is, therefore, the new system on the board for attaching fixtures. Adios inserts. E.S.T. fixtures only work with I.C.S. boards, but I.C.S. boards can be mounted with any type of fixture.

The advantage of the E.S.T. is that the base is no longer rigid and the pad can be removed for baseless attachment. E.S.T. should provide a smoother ride, a more sensitive connection and a truer flex profile. In short, it allows you to become one with the board. There is no doubt that the system will be more widely adapted in the future and to other board models.

Also of note is the arrival of Quiksilver onto the board-making scene. Their Organica model was developed by Stéphane Radiguet (former Nidecker and Zag shaper). The model comes in 4 sizes: 150, 154, 158 and 162, with the first two designed for freestyle "jib/park" use and the other two more for FS/FR.

The Rome brand continues to grow. It has even started to overshadow some of the major brands in the U.S. This year it is coming out with a top-of-the-line fixture, the Targa. The brand has kept the hybrid fibreglass structure of the base for greater sensation with an aluminium foot strap (lighter) that provides both precision and comfort. A spoiler has been added with a reactive membrane for a bit of pop but that does not feel stiff, EVA heel dampening, adjustable straps and an accordion toe strap for perfect clamping of all boots. One way to make adjustments without tools.

Finally, let's not forget about Beyondsnow and its revolutionary fixture. We have not tried it out yet, and as such we are reserving judgment on that. The Strap In model was examined for its great easy-to-fit that is adjustable for all boot types and sizes. The second objective is to eliminate useless pressure.

Eurosport