Why We Chose The Amplid Singular Directional: They may be the masters of evidence-based, technical-as-hell board design, but the folk at Amplid still know how to make a crowd-pleaser.

The singularity may be drawing ever nearer, but we’d bet that even the most sophisticated AI-bot would have trouble keeping up with Peter Bauer and his merry band of innovators over at Amplid.

“More than 50 prototypes later (so they say), here is potentially the only ride you’ll ever need”

The Amplid Singular represents their efforts to crack what is surely the final frontier in snowboard design: the perfect all-mountain snowboard. More than 50 prototypes later (so they say), here is potentially the only ride you’ll ever need.

Who Is The Amplid Singular Directional For?

It’ll come as no surprise that this one is pitched at everyone, from freeriders to park rats. Naturally those with a foot in each camp will get the most out of this, as will anyone who just likes to razz around the pistes on something solid yet nimble.

Shape, Profile and Sidecut

Hybrid bases aren’t going anywhere, but the argument that camber profiles belong on all-mountain boards is hard to refute. The version on the Amplid Singular is particularly fit for purpose; a mellow bend combined with a staggered rise at the nose to improve pow float when riding in your usual stance.

The nose on the Singular is a little fuller than most, and the tail is pretty much squared off, but you’ll only notice that when you’re in deep snow. On firmer ground, you get all the reliability of a fairly standard outline, albeit one with subtle ‘Bezier-curve’ sidecuts that you’ll appreciate when carving.

“Amplid is a brand that really takes the tech side of things seriously”

Whatever your height, weight or gender, there’s an Amplid Singularity to suit you. While all sizes in the range boast a 3mm taper, minute differences in the waist width and sidecut ensure that each version suits its rider down to the ground.

Construction and Materials

Amplid is a brand that really takes the tech side of things seriously, having cooked up several clever solutions over the years. Most of it has ended up in the design of the Amplid Singular, in order to stamp out (or at least minimise) some of the issues that crop up when trying to please every rider.

To make the otherwise conventionally-designed nose perform better over choppy terrain, for example, two sections of vibration-cancelling polyurethane have been added. Similarly, standard biax glass has been augmented with thinner fibres in a 30-degree criss-cross pattern, stiffening up the ride to somewhere comfortably beyond park noodle, but far short of plank.

“Whatever your height, weight or gender, there’s an Amplid Singularity to suit you”

New for 2024/25, between the bindings you’ll find ‘Pontoon Beams’ – carbon layers that firm the board up through the waist (something that’s always good to have when charging) but with no noticeable effect on end-to-end flex. Conversely, there’s also a carbon stringer running the full length of the Amplid Singular which keeps things poppy without affecting the torsional stiffness. This fine-tuning of the boardfeel is one of the things that has always set Amplid apart, so why would it be any different in their flagship all-rounder?

Roundup

Amplid is now 20 years into its mission to raise the snowboarding bar – and at this rate, only a robot uprising will prevent it from logging another 20. It’s possible that by 2044, we still won’t have the ‘perfect’ go-anywhere board – but if that’s true, the crew at Amplid will likely be among the closest to crack it. As the Amplid Singular proves, they’re comfortably in the ballpark already.

Pros:

• Plenty of ‘all-mountain’ boards tend to tip in the direction of one style of riding and only pay lip service to the others, so it’s always good to find a proper quiver killer
• The 2024/25 edition is the first in a two-season cycle, part of Amplid’s commitment to sustainability

Cons:

• Some existing fans of the Singular may take issue with the additional torsional stiffness between the feet

Size: 158

“Groomers: excellent edge hold, very snappy edge to edge.
Powder: Damn near effortless turns. Impressive considering I was coming from a super-directional board with no tail directly before to still feel as simple to ride.
Slush: Great fun, blast around where you want, spray slush but didn’t sink into an over-edge or slip out.
Park: solid on the rails, a smidge more flex would be nice but that small amount of extra flex would change this from a true all-mountain beast to an all mountain-park board.
Airs: Easy pop to initiate some air time and strong for landings both onto groomed runs / park or powder.
Switch : No drama, easy enough. If you want it any easier buy the twin model but I honestly don’t think there would be much in it…

Overall: I’m not sure I can think of a more functional “all-mountain” board that truly could be taken everywhere and still has a personality. In fact, when testing an all mountain board, most of the time I want it to be boring as sin and just do what you expect wherever you go. For the most part the “fun” element of snowboards tends to be when it’s specifically gearing towards a certain terrain and you take it there… or make it work somewhere else. I think that’s why I’d choose the directional shape for this board, switch is honestly no drama and I think that slight directional shape gives it that little bit of je ne sais quoi that creates its soul. My only vice – I’ve got size US 12 feet and did boot out slightly when really laying out carves. So I’d love to see a couple of wider sizes in the range for when you want to see how low you can go.

Rating: 9/10