FLOW QUANTUM SNOWBOARD 2013/14 REVIEW

Flow made their mark on snowboarding with the launch of their revolutionary folding highback bindings back in 1992. They started producing snowboards about a decade ago and since then have earned themselves quite a reputation, thanks in no small part to the efforts of team riders like Olympic medallist Scotty Lago. The Quantum is in fact Lago’s board of choice, and he’s apparently had a lot of input in choosing its design and spec. As you might expect this is a high-end pipe and park board, but it’s also perfectly capable of handling itself in powder too. After all, as well as winning that bronze pipe medal in Vancouver, Lago also had one of the standout parts in The Art of Flight.

The camber profile and the core, which is Flow’s lightest and strongest, are covered with an unusual quad-axial fibreglass weave, giving the board a stiff, snappy flex. This means it has shed-loads of pop, which of course is what Scotty needs when he’s busting as high as possible out of the ol’ U-ditch. The flip side is that unless you know what you’re doing, you’ll struggle to get the most out of this board. It’s certainly not one for beginners or for the faint-hearted.

Advanced freestylers will love it though, and that rigidity has other advantages besides the pop – this board feels super-stable at speed, and blasts through slush and crud as if it wasn’t there. Think of it as the Dodge Viper of snowboards: powerful, chunky and fast but not without style or charm. Lago has chosen a suitably manly graphic to go with this most manly of boards, with a huntin’ and shootin’ theme inspired by his favourite off-snow past-time.

BUY THIS BOARD AT: absolute-snow.co.uk, snowandrock.com, theboardbasement.com

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