- Price: $450
- Category: Freeride/Powder
- Ability Level: Intermediate, Advanced
- Size: 144, 148, 152, 155
- Flex: 8/10
- Shape: Directional
- Profile: Backseat Camber
- Base: Sintered
Relatively new to the Salomon line up, the Bellevue has already made a big name for itself in the scant time it’s been gracing shop shelves. It’s a directional freeride weapon, made for hard charging and low carving, for hectic straight lines and big old spines.
The Bellevue gets its freeride chops thanks in part to the tapered directional outline. With 7mm extra width in the nose the surface area in the tail is reduced, forcing it to drive down into the snow and thus raising the nose up. The 2cm setback helps to keep the schnozz out of the snow by forcing your weight over the rear of the board to avoid that nasty back leg burn.
“As the board stiffens up towards the tail you’re left with a smooth, surfy feel in the powder, and explosive, dynamic turns on piste”
The backseat camber is the perfect tool to channel all that power and drive coming from your back leg. You’ll get a bunch of extra control from the rear of the board, allowing you to pump through turns and throw up big old roosters. The flat nose offers some extra stability when you’re flat basing, and when you engage the camber in the backfoot, it’ll act more like a rocker for added float. As the board stiffens up towards the tail you’re left with a smooth, surfy feel in the powder, and explosive, dynamic turns on piste.
Not just a board catering for deep snow, the Bellevue makes a name for itself tearing up groomers too. Coming in a few mm wider than a board geared its freestyle sister boards, you’ll have the option to really get down low into turns and properly rail the edges without getting toe or heel drag. The quadratic sidecut mixes long and short radii to create a board that can turn on a dime but also lay claim to sweeping cross piste carves without slipping out.
“The Salomon Bellvue is one mean muggin’ little face melter, ideal for tipping and gripping groomers”
The wood core is FSC certified and each piece is hand selected to ensure the highest quality. It also ustilises Salomon’s Popster profile, varying the thickness of the wood down the board to maximise its usefulness and to save weight.
The Salomon Bellvue is one mean muggin’ little face melter, ideal for tipping and gripping groomers and pillow droppin’ when the powder comes through. Bellevue directly translates into English as ‘beautiful view’, and ain’t it just.