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Alta Snowboard Team custom board pt. 2

Erik with board
Erik of RAWR art with his masterpiece.

There’s nothing like flying on a board you designed.  I can’t say enough good things about the builders and everyone who had a part in the construction of this one-off custom snowboard.  After some experimentation and mad-science we have a first-edition, custom Alta Snowboard Team snowboard.  I personally designed this board based on my riding style and preferred dimensions.  Best part about it: it works.  It works great!  I have been wanting to get the Alta Snowboard Team name on a board but have been hesitant to just pay to have a custom top sheet thrown any old no-name piece.  I can tell you this board could be flat black spray-painted and I would ride it every day because it’s my favorite.  Bonus!: it has a sweet, custom graphic on the top sheet as well a die-cut AST logo-adorned base to match!  As I stated in part 1, I measured my own quiver as well as consulted a shop manual for reference to popular board shapes and dimensions.  I decided on a tapered, directional board with stiffness that would make most frightened.  SUCCESS!  305 mm nose, 255 mm waist, 295 mm tail, powder-point nose, blunt swallow-tail because I like the aesthetics.  Here’s something I didn’t even plan on: a non-rounded tail makes for easier standing/leaning of your board.  “Just set it…….and forget it.”  The board performs better than planned.  The powder shape, slight taper, and rear-set stance keep the nose up and out of the pow as well allow the tail to release when needed for a good slash.  When the snow isn’t deep, I’ve set the stance a bit more forward and am having a great time laying into some groomers and carving the heck out of this thing.  The slightly wider nose makes for a very responsive high-speed carver.  Also, the taper seems to work like cruise-control on big, high-speed straight-lines.  The nose floats, the tail sits down in the snow to catch every so slightly to keep the tail behind you.  No more necessary edge riding for fear of catching.  “Just set it………and forget it.”  Utilizing a full sheet of unilateral carbon fiber plus strategically-placed carbon stringers keep that board solid.  I find myself hearing a lot more wind noise without noticing I’m moving faster.  It’s that good.  The pop out of the tail is a bit difficult because of the overbuilt stiffness of it but that’s how we built it.  More freeride than freestyle but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been spun or inverted.  Stay tuned for a production edit and check out some players that helped make this board possible.

www.dirtybirdskis.com

www.facebook.com/dirtybirdboards

http://www.rawrproject.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading,

Mica

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