What Peter Bauer doesn’t know about snowboards simply isn’t worth knowing. After an impressive career as a pro rider for Burton, he moved into an R&D role with them in Innsbruck. He soon realised that his ideas for designs didn’t quite align with Burton’s cookie cutter ideology. He wanted to make snowboards with character, so in 2004 he set up Amplid and began creating the snowboards he’d always dreamed of riding. With a focus on freeride-centric shapes and snowboards that perfect the noble art of the turn, Amplid are fastidious in their pursuit to craft the ultimate ride.
There are many things that set Amplid apart from the crowd, but one of the most impressive is their appetite for innovation. Peter and Amplid have been at the forefront of snowboard tech for years, with ideas like Antiphase vibration cancelling, Stratospheric snow repellency and Knuckle Sandwich durable construction all coming from Amplid HQ.
Amplid aims to reduce their footprint as much as possible, and as such adopts a two-season approach to product drops. And despite not engaging in the yearly rat race with other brands, Amplid are usually so far ahead of the curve that they’re still at the very cutting edge of snowboard design. Aside from the two-season cycle, Amplid searches far and wide to find materials that aren’t harmful to the environment, without sacrificing a drop of performance. Or as Peter puts it ‘consciousness without compromise’.
Though their fleet of solid snowboards has won very industry accolade over the years, their quiver of splitboards has won them legions of loyal uphill fanatics. Leg powered ascents grew tenfold in popularity during the Covid seasons, and Amplid were more than happy to oblige the increase in demand. A Whitelines favourite is the Surf Shuttle, which took home a coveted spot in the Whitelines 100 for 22/23.
When all is said and done, Peter puts it best: “At the end, a good snowboard is happiness.”
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Scroll down or select from the links below to check out our reviews of this season’s best Amplid snowboard gear.
