SLASH HAPPY PLACE SNOWBOARD 2013/14 REVIEW
Slash is the board brand launched by Austrian superstar Gigi Rüf in 2012. Despite his Peter Pan perma-kid demeanour (and the fact that he doesn’t look a day over 16) Gigi is in fact 32. And after years of riding other people’s boards, he eventually decided it would be cool to set up on his own. The boards are built in the Nidecker factory in Switzerland, the same place where Yes and Jones boards are made. Their popularity since the launch last year (no doubt boosted by Gigi’s victory on one of his own boards at the Red Bull Ultranatural) seems to have vindicated Gigi’s decision to go it alone. And with a team that now includes Johnnie Paxson and South American sensation Manuel Diaz, Slash feels like a brand that’s going places. Happy Places.
This board is their mid-range freestyle stick. It’s got a relatively soft flex that makes buttering and pressing easy, and a combo profile that features camber between the bindings and rocker at the tip and tail. This means you get most of the natural pop associated with camber, but still have the easy, loose feel of rocker’s raised contact points. The core contains no fewer than three types of wood – hence why it’s called the ‘Snap, Crackle and Pop’. Alternating poplar and beech stringers are reinforced at the tip and tail with strips of spruce. These alongside the ‘sweet spot’ carbon bars, add extra pop where you need it.
Our test team enjoyed this in the park and on the piste, and the general consensus was that it’d handle most things well. It’s basically a mid-flexing, freestyle-focussed board. And while the shape is eye-catching and unusual, we didn’t find it made a massive amount of difference to how it rides – though they will make your nose and tail grabs look way cooler.
SLASH HAPPY PLACE SNOWBOARD 2013/14 – VIDEO REVIEW – BY TSA
BUY THIS BOARD AT: snowboard-asylum.com, absolute-snow.co.uk, snowfit.co.uk
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