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Head Pilot 2016-2017 Snowboard Review

The Details:

Head know a thing or two about making things built for speed and power, thanks to decades spent meeting the needs of hard-charging ski racers. The Head Pilot is a new snowboard for 2016/17, which channels all that experience into a take-no-prisoners groomer gun.

Never ones to shy away from embracing new technology (see also their iKers system), they’ve gone with a liberal application of graphene. You might have seen that stuff mentioned in the news; essentially souped-up carbon fibre, it’s a highly conductive material that’s roughly 100 times stronger than steel. Featured in the nose of the Pilot, it compliments the rest of the board’s build – including a honeycomb structure to further shave off the grams – to ensure it’ll maintain stability and response even at Mach 3.

Don’t be afraid to take it to the powder too, especially if you like following the fall line down mega-steep faces. The profile has rocker sections at the nose and tail, while the rest of the deck is flat enough and wide enough to give you the float you need.

Basically this thing wants to go fast, so if you’re up to the challenge then the Head Pilot will let you feel the G’s all day long.

Tester’s Verdict

Tom Copsey – Onboard

“They only had a 157 to test, which is on the short side for me especially as there was a lot of pow that day. However, despite the lack of length the Pilot ripped it.

Head class it as an all-mountain board and it pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin – it felt good for doing anything, though as it was a powder day the entrance to the park was continuously ‘missed’…

The board felt light, no doubt something to do with the honeycomb and fancy graphene they use in the construction. The latter also works to improve power distribution, and you could really feel this with the Pilot’s edge hold on hard-pack. I was even more impressed when I remembered it was just a 157.
It rode with the response of a camber board but with a touch more float and forgiveness, and the pop and edge hold were certainly on point.

It wasn’t challenging to ride – the flex felt very much in the middle – but to get the most out of the Pilot you should know what you’re doing. If you do, this would make for a most excellent all-mountain option.”

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