Waterville Valley Resort

1 Ski Area Road
PO Box 540
Waterville Valley, NH 03215
Website: www.waterville.com
Twitter: @Waterville
Facebook: Waterville Valley Resort
P: 1-800-GO-VALLEY (468-2553)
F: (603)-236-4344
E-mail: info@waterville.com

General Mountain Information

Location

Waterville Valley is located in the White Mountain National Forest Area of New Hampshire. The mountain advises to check your GPS directions and to avoid Sandwich Notch Road and/or Tripoli Road Via Lincoln, NH. The roads are closed and non-accessible during winter months. Access the resort via Route 49/Valley Road off of Interstate 93. Travel about 11 miles on Route 49. You can then take a left and follow the ski area signage onto Tripoli Road to access the mountain village. The car drive is approximately two hours from Boston.

Trails and Snowmaking

The mountain claims 220 skiable acres of a total 500 acres on the resort. The summit elevation is 4,004 feet, with a vertical drop of 2,020 feet. The longest run is three miles. In total, the resort features 52 trails, 20 percent of which are novice, 60 percent of which are intermediate, and 20 percent of which are advanced. The mountain also boasts of having 5 glades, covering 4.5 acres for all levels, and six mogul fields. Snowmaking covers 100 percent of the 220 acres.

Lift Systems

Waterville Valley features 12 lifts, including two High-Speed Quads, two Triples, three Doubles, and five surface lifts.

The Valley Run High Speed Quad runs on the left side facing the mountain, and services easier green circle and blue square terrain. It brings riders to the Sunnyside Timber Lodge.

The White Peak Express Quad is the busiest lift and brings riders to what is typically known as the top of the mountain, covering more advanced and expert terrain. From there, the High Country Double brings riders another 370 feet in vertical, at a length of 1570 feet, to the official summit of the mountain. Few riders look to bother with the lift, however. It brings you to more open, less populated terrain, but the length of ride is not worth the modest 370 feet on blue square terrain.

Other lifts service pockets of the mountain, including a tow rope dedicated solely to the exciting Exhibition terrain park.

Terrain Parks

Speaking of terrain parks, the mountain boasts four of them.

The Exhibition Park, visible from the base of the mountain, is the most popular and the most expert, featuring some 30-foot booters, kickers and boxes. At the onset of the park, riders are challenged by a drop-down hit, and a ledge to 10-foot gap hit. The park also boasts challenging rails and ledges, many with kinks and also a C-rail. This park is where the majority of contests are held, and Waterville Valley boats one of the more challenging parks in the Northeast.

Intermediate park riders can still be challenged in the mountain’s South Street Park, a new addition in the 2011/2012 season. Located on the upper left if you are facing the mountain, off the blue square run Oblivion that runs from the White Peak Express Quad, riders can find moderate hits followed by several ledges and kinked rails. Some rails are ride-on, while others have a gap. At the end, riders are challenged by a three-foot wall ride.

As usual, the mountain has also built some fun hits in Psyched, a small terrain park located in the middle of the mountain on the Psyched Out black diamond trail that runs right alongside the White Express Quad. This year, the park only featured two hits, but they were challenging and fun.

The mountain also featured the Burton Progression Park, located at the base off the mountain, to the right if you are facing it, off the Lower Periphery trail. The park has only small features, and a recent visit showed it only featured a mini-pipe with no hits or rails. Still, it allows for some enjoyable free-styling at the end of a summit run. If Waterville does anything, it places parks appropriately for some quick fun in between free riding.

Also, skaters, check out the wooden half pipe located under the main lodge. Find the secret door.

Overall Review

General Review

I must admit I was a little skeptical of riding Waterville Valley, even though it boasts great spring skiing in early March. I had just come back from a trip to Colorado and the conditions I experienced there were going to be hard to beat. Plus, the Northeast hasn’t had the best snowfall this year. The mountain itself was saying only about 35 trails were open. And, a view of a ski report for New Hampshire mountains at a rest stop along Interstate 93 on the way there showed that conditions were loose, granular. Not quite the powder I was hoping for. Plus, on the first lift of the day on the White Peak Express Quad I could hear the sshhhhingg of snowboard edges ripping ice patches, plowing nothing. That said, I was there for the day and I was going to enjoy it. And enjoy it I did.

There were two of us, and we got on the mountain about 10 a.m. A little later than I had hoped. But luckily, the lift lines were quick. A coordinator at the main White Peak Express Quad, by far the most populated, was directing doubles to join with doubles, singles to join with triples, and so on. It expedited the lift wait to the point there really wasn’t one. We didn’t have to hear the New England classic “Front Row!” for instance.

We made sure to cover all of the mountain, every trail we could. Even when trails split off with a side track (and they tell you that’s two trails) we make sure to go back and hit them both. We weathered the long, tedious double up to the official summit of the mountain to hit that quick 370 feet of vertical drop. I haven’t done it in forever because I never wanted to wait. But you know what? I’m glad we did because it at least gave us a chance to hit some terrain we otherwise would not have. It was fast, with plenty of snow.

At around noonish we stopped for lunch. It wasn’t two hours of riding, I know, but we were hungry. Plus, we weren’t ashamed: with no wait in the lift lines, we got about five runs in already, from top to bottom. The workers at the lift lines were already starting to recognize us.

We stopped at the Buckets, Bones, and Brews, in the main lodge. I know that the mountain has some great sit-down dining. I have been to a few before: The Schwendi Hutte at the summit is great for a mountaintop view while eating; the Sunnyside Timberlodge is often as sunny as they say it is; and the T-Bars Restaurant offers great plates as well.

But we had to stop at the main lodge to change our gear, anyway (it was colder than I had thought it would be, that’s a good thing) so we stopped at Buckets. There, you can get some great draft beers with a bucket of wings, barbecue or buffalo, that are quite tasty. Like I said, I was exceptionally hungry so I went with a steak bomb. A surprisingly low $7. So worth it. I don’t know why anyone stops at the cafeteria when you could get the steak bomb. The restaurant also offers typical orders such as burgers, and fish and chips. It was a little packed, which kept us there for a while, but worth the wait.

We got back to riding, and continued on to pretty much last chair, around 3:40 p.m. The weather warmed up a bit, and it seemed the snow even got a little better. We could have taken the shuttle back to the car, but the walk to Lot 6 wasn’t much at all.

It was only a two hour drive back to Boston, so we didn’t stay. However, the mountain does offer nearby lodging. Check out the Waterville Valley website for more lodging information.

Trails and Lifts

The thing about Waterville Valley is there is only one lift worth taking, the White Peak Express Quad. Other lifts are either too slow and not worth the wait (particularly the double that brings you to the true summit) or they bring you to areas that features only beginner terrain. That said, we were able to see the mountain from one location that helps for this review.

If I can recommend any trails, they would be the trails directly going down the face of the mountain. They may be the most skied out, but they are also hit by the sun the most and, as such, are softened up a bit. (The mountain tends to be a bit shady which is a downside on cold, windy days). The straight runs are also the most challenging. Try White Caps and Upper Bobby’s Run, two blue square trails that lead right into blacks including the aforementioned Psyched Out.

Oblivion, to the upper left of the mountain, brought us to the previously mentioned South Street Park, which we would not have found if we did not wander off.  And, the park brought us to never traveled before Stillness trail, which was a moderate blue square but still fun for ground tricks. Plus, it was terrain that one wouldn’t see if it weren’t for travels through the park.

Tippecanoe is a much travelled trail off the right side of the mountain which can be fun, with twisting, steep runs. It was probably the most plowed out. However, at the bottom you can lead into the Boneyards black diamond trail, which was surprisingly open. It usually isn’t. That just tells you that Waterville had snow.

Recommendations

Pros

1. Lift lines are quick, if not non-existent
2. There’s always something to do on the mountain, from moguls to mini park features
3. People are friendly
4. Family friendly, with terrain reserved for beginners
5. Mountain had snow despite a warm winter for the Northeast

Cons

1. Few choices for lifts
2. Grooming could have been better
3. Lodges can get kind of packed
4. Mountain can get shady, and therefore windy and cold
5. You can ride the whole mountain in less than a day

I have to say that I had a great time. Waterville Valley would not be my first choice for a weekend mountain getaway because of its smaller size. That said, I got what I wanted: I rode, with little wait in line. The snow could have been better, but there was snow. The lodges were kind of packed, but once I sat down I enjoyed a nice beverage with an economically priced sandwich. I would not do a multiple-day trip there, but it’s great for a quick day-trip. Ironically enough, I spoke with a co-worker once I had returned and she said she had been there the same weekend. She said she had a great time.

Unfortunately, on a select group of us are able to head out west. And we’ve been heading north with the same basic group of folks for the last decade and then some. We didn’t want to stop that. Plus, we had to do a warm-up trip for Colorado! 

So, in an effort to maintain some continuity to the WICed Fest, we threw together a quick weekend trip up to Attitash in Bartlett, NH. The trip was nothing fancy – head up on Friday to a little cabin, ride on Saturday and head home Sunday. But, in true WICed Fest style, we made the most of this trip!

Friday started off with a great dinner at a little place down the road called the Red Parka Pub. Being the unpretentious folks that we are, we ate downstairs at the pub on the recommendation of WICed Fest OG Rob Anderson. As you might imagine, it was a busy night given that it was a Friday night in a New England ski town during the winter. But, the host saw six hungry / thirsty guys and did a great job getting us seated. Saying that being sat next to six college girls was a nice touch would be an understatement… Anyway, the food was terrific, the beers even better and the live band was simply amazing. A great way to start off a terrific weekend.

Everyone else – there were eleven of us in total – started rolling in once we got back to the cabin. The libations were flowing freely as everyone caught up with each other. It’s important to note here that this trip marked the triumphant return of Rob Anderson to the WICed Fest. Rob is a co-founder and was last spotted on a WICed Fest trip around 2004. It was great to have him back in the mix. A few card games broke out, snowboard DVDs were played and everyone just had a blast. Last call was probably around 1:30am – we had some riding to do the next day!

Saturday brought a picture perfect day. And Attitash did not disappoint. The groomers were awesome in the morning enabling us to blaze some fast top to bottom runs. As the crowds grew, the mountain held up and our group started to divide into groups of riders of similar ability and speed. This phenomenon is typical with us, but we all have a nose for the bar at the end of the day! You can read more about our experience at Attitash here, but it can easily be said that it was a great day with great friends.

Saturday night was more of the same. The Red Parka Pub was so good on Friday night, we headed back again. This time we had a little trouble getting seated and there was a few problems with the food, but the overall experience was the same. And the host made good on any problems with had with items we ordered. Back at the cabin, the mood was the same as Friday night although a bit more subdued due to everyone being tired from a good day riding.

Overall, this trip couldn’t have gone better – good food, good booze, good riding, good times. That’s all we ask for at the WICed Fest. Here’s some pictures we took – enjoy!

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775 Route 302
Bartlett, NH 03812
Website: www.attitash.com
Twitter: @AttitashResort
Facebook: Attitash Resort
P: 800.233.SNOW (toll free)
P: 603.374.2600
P: 877.677.7669 (snow phone)

General Mountain Information

Location

Attitash Mountain Resort is a two peak resort (Attitash Peak and Bear Peak) located in the White Mountains National Forest area of New Hampshire. It is roughly 36 miles from Interstate 93 (Exit 40 in Littleton, NH to be exact). The drive from the New York area took roughly six and a half hours each way. Folks from Boston and southeastern Massachusetts reported that their drive was roughly three to five hours.

Trails and Snowmaking

Attitash Mountain Resort is located on 307 skiable acres. The summit of Attitash sits at an elevation of 2,350 feet with 1,750 feet of vertical drop. Likewise, Bear Peak sits at an elevation of 1,450 feet with 1,450 feet of vertical drop. The resort averages 155 inches of snow annually. In addition, the mountain accommodates snowmaking on 98% of its trail system.

Lift Systems

Attitash Mountain Resort claims 10 lifts – 3 quad lifts (2 of which are high speed), 3 triples, 3 doubles and 1 surface lift. Out of the 10 lifts, 6 of them service the Attitash Peak. The Summit Triple is the most used lift as it services the summit. The Top Notch Double also puts skiers and riders near the top, however not all the way there. The Flying Yankee is a quad lift that services mid-mountain while the East Double and West Double both serve double duty as the parking-lapping lifts and access to the beginner’s area. The Learning Center Triple and Snowbelt, as one might expect, service the Learning Area on Attitash Peak. The summit of Bear Peak is serviced by the Flying Bear Quad. Abenaki Quad provides service to the upper third of Bear Peak while the Kachina Triple services mid-mountain on Bear Peak where some glade runs can be found.

Terrain Parks

According to their website, Attitash Mountain Resort has two terrain parks. The Attitash Terrain Park (located on Thad’s Choice on Attitash Peak) is the main park and houses the bigger jumps and rails. The Bear Peak Terrain Park (located at the bottom of Avenger on Bear Peak) is said to be a beginner terrain park with smaller features. Our group did not explore this terrain park as the Attitash Terrain Park served up more than enough fun for our needs.

Overall Review

General Overview

A group of WICed Festers visited Attitash Mountain Resort for one day in late January of 2012. The majority of us purchased our lift tickets in advanced from Liftopia.com for a reduced rate. Those of us who bought ahead saved anywhere from 10 – 25% off the window rate of $70/person that some people paid. Despite the rain that we all battled on the way up to New Hampshire the night before, the mountain was in excellent condition. First runs of the day found excellent groomers top to bottom with no ice showing through. These were definitely not the conditions we were expecting given the weather we arrive in the night before. And, despite being a Saturday in the prime of ski season, the most we waited in line for the lifts was maybe five minutes. Most of the time we were able to get right on the lifts without waiting.  

As the day wore on, the conditions did harden up a little bit, however major ice problems only occurred on the very last run (which was taken around 3:45pm). The free snow was mounding up a little bit in the middle of the trails, but that was to be expected over the course of the day. Overall, I would say that the mountain held up very well, especially when you consider the lackluster winter that the New England region has experienced this year.

A small group of us took a break at about 2:00pm to enjoy some adult beverages on the outdoor deck of Ptarmigan’s Pub. This pub is a great location as the outdoor deck looks out over the base areas of Flying Yankee and Summit Triple. It’s the main ‘dumping ground’ for Attitash Peak skiers and riders.  The deck provides a great perch for group members and parents to keep an eye on the folks that came with them while not having to stand in the snow and wait around. As we drank Pig’s Ear Brown Ale and talked about the day of riding, a few of us decided to hit up the lifts for last chair. Definitely a good idea because we were able to see the incredible sunset shown to the left. After the day was over, we headed back to our cabin. Since the lodging property we used was not owned by Attitash Mountain Resort, it will not be part of this review. However, I do recommend contacting the Dumb Luck Lodge and the people over at Blue Moose Vacations! The place was great for a group of 12 and would work equally well for family getaways.  

Trails and Lifts

The terrain at Attitash Mountain Resort was middle of the road. There was nothing super difficult about this mountain nor was it overly simplistic.  There was definitely some challenging terrain to be had, for instance there were a few steep trails that – especially at the end of the day – had all of us all concentrating very hard as we maneuvered down them. Overall, the terrain was somewhat challenging, but not difficult. Trails were marked appropriately and there was nothing that an educated skier or rider would be surprised about in terms of trail markings versus their difficulty. Unfortunately, the lack of snowfall in the New England this year meant that the glades were not open, so the group was not able to explore that area.

The lift system at Burke would be rated medium to high-medium. A lack of crowds definitely helped, but the mountain would be capable of moving many people, even on a crowded day. What was a little disappointing was that, despite it being the most travelled lift, the Summit Triple did not seem to be a relatively fast lift. The lift to the summit of Bear Peak (Flying Bear), on the other hand, did move relatively quick. The major downers in the lift system were the East Double and West Double. A large reason why we didn’t lap the park more was because these lifts were agonizingly slow. The park would probably get more use if these lifts were upgraded in the future. All in all, we were pleased with the lift system and moving around the mountain was not a problem.

Terrain Park

The terrain park on Attitash (we didn’t visit the one on Bear) was challenging for even experienced riders. There was a good mix of jumps, rails and terrain features. The flow of the features was also quite good. The one complaint some of the goofy riders had was that there was only a left-handed hip which favored the riders with a regular stance. Other than that one complaint, the terrain park was well thought out and provided enough challenge for all of the riding abilities in our group.

Recommendations

Pros

1. Minimal lift lines
2. Challenging terrain
3. Quality grooming
4. Welcoming people
5. Family friendly

Cons

1. Slow summit lift at Attitash
2. Lack of natural snowfall
3. Only one terrain park available
4. Food costs were in-line with industry standards (way overboard)

Overall, Attitash Mountain Resort is a great mountain to visit. As with any mountain, there are pros and cons to your visit. Attitash was never high on our list of annual trip locations due to its size, but we thoroughly enjoyed a one day trip here and, given the accommodations we stayed at, would definitely consider a return trip for one or two days. It’s definitely feasible that Attitash Mountain Resort could be an absolute blast on a powder day. This mountain also has many of us who have families thinking about coming back with our spouses and children. The warm, inviting atmosphere we found at Attitash is a perfect place to introduce kids to skiing and snowboarding. As a side note, this area of New Hampshire (right near Crawford Notch) is absolutely beautiful and the day at Attitash was worth it just for the ride through the Notch.

Have any questions or feel like we missed something in our review?  Leave us a note in the comments section!

Watch this video on YouTube.

Here’s the details:

• Arrival Date: Friday, January 27, 2012
• Ski/Ride: Saturday, January 28, 2012
• Depart: Sunday, January 29, 2012

I’ve locked up this cabin - an email ASAP if you’re in!  Basically, I’m going to fill the trip on a first come first serve basis and once the beds are full, the trip is full.  If you’re the next person after the beds are full, I’ll let you know.  If you don’t mind crashing on the floor (or with a buddy), we’ll add you too.

Hurry up and book your spot now!

Burke Mountain Ski Area

223 Sherburne Lodge Road
East Burke, VT 05832
Website: www.skiburke.com
Website: www.shredburke.com
Twitter: @skiburke
P: 802.626.7300
P: 888.BURKEVT (toll free)
P: 866.496.1699 (snow phone)

General Mountain Information

Location

Burke Mountain is located in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom (NEK) about fifteen minutes off of Interstate 91 (7 miles from exit 24 to be exact). The drive from the New York area took roughly six and a half hours due to the fact that the NEK had a snowstorm the night before and the roads were only partially plowed. The drive home took six hours exactly. Folks from Boston and southeastern Massachusetts reported that their drive was roughly four hours.

Trails and Snowmaking

Burke Mountain is located on 250 skiable acreas. The summit sits at an elevation of 3,267 feet with 2,011 feet of vertical drop. The resort average 217 inches of snow annually. In addition, the mountain accommodates snowmaking on 80% of its trail system.

Lift Systems

Burke Mountain claims four lifts, however only two are quad lifts that the majority of visitors will use. The other two consist of a J-bar surface lift on the learning hill and the other is the POMA lift on the ski racing trail. The Sherburne Express High-Speed Quad services the lower portion of the mountain and is perfect for lapping the terrain park (more on that later). The Willoughby Quad is a fixed grip quad chairlift that accesses the summit of the mountain.

**Editor’s Note: Since the writing of this article, Burke Mountain has added a high speed quad – the MidBurke Express – that services their summit.  This is a HUGE plus!

Terrain Parks

According to their website, Burke Ski Resort has three terrain parks: Open Slope which houses their big air contest and rail jam; Dashney Mile which is located on the lower mountain and contains intermediate level terrain with a variety of hits, jumps, rails, and terrain features; and Carter Country which is located on the J-bar hill and includes smaller beginner features.

Overall Review

General Overview

A group of WICed Festers visited Burke for three and a half days in early February of 2011. A small group of us arrived midday day on Sunday and were treated to $20 lift tickets from noon to close. A pleasant surprise indeed. The conditions were stellar, no doubt due to the fact that Burke had received over 24 inches of snow in the last 72 hours. For the remainder of the afternoon, we rode most of the mountain and found plenty of powder stashes. The lifts were essentially empty and the people we did run into were very pleasant.

After the day was over, we were able to check into our condo. Since the lodging property we used was not owned by Burke Ski Area, it will not be part of this review. However, I do recommend contacting Liz over at Burke Slopeside Lodging. She did a terrific job of helping us find a lodging and lift ticket package that met the requirements of our group.

The next three days were spent riding the entire mountain. Over the course of these three days, we found the mountain to be both challenging and well-groomed. The trails were always in immaculate shape, no doubt due to the fact that the conditions were perfect for the last week or so. Even late in the day, none of us worried about catching an edge on a boilerplate ice patch. That’s not to say that we haven’t experienced that at Burke previously – this is the East Coast after all. However, on this trip, the conditions were stellar and even after a long day we could still lay down hard toeside turns with the expectation that you would not have a blow out.

Trails and Lifts

The terrain was, for the most part, challenging. The trails marked blue would definitely be considered blacks at other resorts. They had some nice steepness to them and their were also some great cutbacks cut through the mountain that allowed for some beautiful, scenic trail riding. The blacks were generally left ungroomed and, while fun, tended to be mogul fields. Not exactly the kind of thing you looked for on a snowboard. The glades were also very fun and fairly abundant, however you had to get on them early as they get skied out fairly quickly during the morning. The main problem we found was that the mountain is fairly small. We were able to explore the entire mountain during the first full day of riding and that left very little in terms of exploration for the next few days.

The lift system at Burke would be rated medium to poor. While the Sherburne Express is a high-speed quad, it only services the lower portion of the mountain. This lift is great for lapping the Dashney Mile Park and for parents who are teaching their children to ski or snowboard. The average skier or snowboarder, however, will find this lift only useful if you are trying to get to the Willoughby Quad. The Willoughby Quad is a fixed grip quad chairlift that accesses the summit of Burke. It is a fairly slow ride to the top that takes about 15 minutes or so. This lift makes it undersirable to access the summit on a windy, cold day. Overall, this lift is the largest drawback to Burke. (Editor’s Note: See mention about the new MidBurke Express above.).

Terrain Park

While Burke claims to have three terrain parks on their website, our group only experienced one – The Dashney Mile. That being said, the terrain part was quite challenging for even experienced riders. There was a good mix of jumps, rails and terrain features. The flow of the features was also quite good with the only complaint being that some of the jumps were placed too close to some of the rails in such a way that you were not able to hit the rail and still maintain speed into the jump. Other than that one complaint, the terrain park was well thought out and provided enough challenge for all of the riding abilities in our group.

Recommendations

Pros

1. Minimal lift lines
2. Steep terrain
3. Quality grooming
4. Large amount of natural snowfall
5. Friendly people

Cons

1. Slow summit lift (see MidBurke Express)
2. Smaller mountain (minimal trail variety)
3. Only one terrain park available
4. Lodging cannot be booked through resort
5. No recreation center (pools/hot tub) available on-site

Overall, Burke is a great mountain to visit. As with any mountain, there are pros and cons to your visit. While we probably won’t visit again in the near future (the size is detrimental to an annual return trip), Burke is on the short list of ‘must visit’ resorts on the East Coast. The annual snowfall, challenging terrain, terrific grooming and lack of crowds are all great reasons to visit this quaint little mountain.

NOTE: One of the chief complaints of this review was the smaller size of Burke. It is important to point out that Burke is working towards expansion in the future.

The WICed Fest crew was able to demo a Blak Sheep Gnarly State Park Stik (GSPS) during a 2011 trip to Burke Mountain in Vermont. According to Blak Sheep, these boards are “designed to meet the demands of todays jumps and rails…these boards are capable of anything the Ice Coast can throw at them. A perfect ‘Daily Driver’ for freestyle and general ripping.” What we found was a board that actually lived up to the hype. Now, in an effort of full disclosure, Doug Smith (one of the co-owners of Blak Sheep) is a friend of the WICed Fest and frequently attends our annual snowboard trips. That fact notwithstanding, here’s what we thought about this relatively new company’s latest offering.

Board Specifications

Length: 159 Wide
Camber Option: Micrognarockamber
Bindings: Burton Mission
Stance: varied by rider
Angles: varied by rider
Boots: Vans Encore Boa (size 10 & 10.5)
Test Riders’ Weights: 215lbs & 250lbs

Test Riders & Conditions

The GSPS 159W was ridden by two different riders over the course of three days. The first rider was a 215lb advanced rider who rides goofy. His riding style can be described as aggressive with large elements of park riding. The second rider was a 250lbs advanced rider who has a regular stance. His riding style can be described as more all-mountain with little to no park riding.

The board was ridden during a trip to Burke where conditions were excellent with fresh powder and groomed corduroy trails during the entire test period.

General Impressions

Doug had been hyping up his boards over the last year or so to us. For the most part, we brushed it off as a buddy being proud of his creation. Having seen the first prototypes that came out of Blak Sheep, we really didn’t believe these boards would live up to the hype. But, when Doug showed up with the GSPS 159W at Burke, we thought we might be wrong. Our initial skepticism was proven incorrect once we got the board out onto the snow.

This board did everything we wanted it to. It was fast, responsive and had great pop. Stability was never an issue – neither of us felt any vibration or chatter when charging the mountain. The real real feature on this board that stuck out was the pop on this board. It was great, especially considering the size of the board and the size of the riders. Any feature – jumps, rollers or even edge to edge – were noticeable and a great find. Another feature that we really enjoyed was the ability to really turn this board on blazing down the trail. The Micrognarockamber really locked the board into the mountain and made everyone feel confident that they wouldn’t blow an edge even at high speed. For those of you wondering, Blak Sheep describes Micrognarockamber as:

A pinch of curved (not notched) reverse-camber between your feet, with a very subtle amount of camber from the bindings out. This board rides flat, but when you want to press or butter, the tips come up no problem, when you need to ollie you can still ollie with the pinch of camber and the added pop of bamboo and our custom epoxy. The board still carves hard, and holds a line, because Micrognarockamber is very subtle, and will not upset your edge hold anywhere. The flex properties of a rockered board, the edge hold and ollie power of a cambered board, do we need to say anymore? Everyone else has been overthinking the process.

Bottom Line

This board gives the 6-foot plus, 200-lb plus rider a great option for a shorter, park-style board that performs terrificly everywhere on the mountain. It’s also nice to see a small American company produce a high quality product. And all this from a first year company? Looks like there’s good things in store down the road! Give Doug and Dave a call and get yourself hooked up!

Blak Sheep Contact Information

Website: BlakSheepSnowboards.com
MySpace: Blak Sheep MySpace
Facebook: Blak Sheep Facebook

Shoot us an email – info@wicedfest.com – for email and phone contact information for Blak Sheep!

If you have any additional pictures from this trip, send them to us here and we’ll make sure they are added to the gallery.

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