ROXY ALLY SNOWBOARD 2013/14 REVIEW

Roxy was the first women’s-specific boardsports brand, and is still the world’s biggest. When they launched their range of boards in 2003, the brand brought years of experience in tailoring their products to women’s needs to the table. Wisely, they decided that when it came to hardware, that women’s needs would be best met not by a factory in Asia, but by Mervin Manufacturing whose plant is just outside of Seattle. The company, which makes Lib Tech and Gnu boards, had been bought by Roxy’s parent company Quiksilver in the late 90s, and had a well-deserved reputation for making some of the best snowboards in the business.

Ten years later, the decision to have their boards built by the madcap geniuses at Mervin looks like the best one Roxy ever made. As well as benefitting from Mervin’s revolutionary banana technology and inventions like ‘magne-traction’ each Roxy board is handmade alongside Libs and Gnus. No wonder these sticks have won so many awards in the last decade. And that’s just the boards themselves – never mind the Olympic medals that Torah Bright and Kjersti Buaas have won on them. This model, the Ally is in fact Kjersti’s board of choice. A directional twin with a mid-stiff flex it’s designed to handle all-mountain cruising and pow-shredding as well as the big kickers and icy pipes Kjersti rides.

Our test team were impressed with the combination of the banana profile, which makes it feel forgiving, and the wavy magne-traction edges whichhelp it grip on ice and hardpack. The general consensus was that if you’re an intermediate or advanced rider who likes a bit of everything, the Ally is your friend.

BUY THIS BOARD AT: boardwise.com, tribalriders.com, snowandrock.com, surfdome.com, theboardbasement.com, tribalriders.com

Have you ridden this board? Got any comments that your fellow riders might find useful? Please add your reviews below.