Launched last year, the Global Warmer has an unashamedly un-PC, un-environmentally-friendly construction – hence the name. Traditionally rail boards are made cheap and disposable, with inexpensive materials, extruded bases and plain wood cores. With this, Bataleon decided to make the best high-end park-and-rails board money could buy, catering to the park rider who actually wants quality and can afford to pay a bit more for it.

Unfortunately, the most effective materials going – carbon, fibreglass, polyurethane
– are not necessarily the most environmentally friendly. But rather than try and hide this with a ‘greenwash’ of marketing they decided to make it and be damned, regardless of the cost to the planet. This stick is essentially a two-fingered salute from the snotty park rats to the bearded freestylers of this world.

Bataleon have enhanced their ‘core core’ with carbon stringers running horizontally either side of the bindings, which help transfer your weight to the contact points more effectively. This makes the board quick edge to edge, and (according to one tester) “super easy to carve”. The Global Warmer has ‘park TBT’ with a relatively wide central flat section, making it stable in a straight line, and easy to lock onto rails.

Despite the relatively soft flex, we found it remarkably snappy when it came to ollieing, giving it a playful feel perfect for messing around on the side of the pistes. The sintered base means its no slouch in a straight line either, so it’s perhaps no wonder that Whitelines’ online editor Sam considered this his “favourite board on the test”.

Buy this board at: snowboard-asylum.com, ss20.com, cabfive.co.uk 

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