CAPiTA The Black Snowboard of Death 2020-2021 Snowboard Review - Whitelines Snowboarding

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CAPiTA The Black Snowboard of Death 2020-2021 Snowboard Review

  • Price: £575 / $630
  • Category: All-Mountain, Freeride/Powder
  • Ability Level: Intermediate, Advanced
  • Size: 156, 159, 161W, 162, 165W, 169W
  • Flex: 6.5/10
  • Shape: Directional
  • Profile: Directional Camber
  • Base: Sintered

Why we chose the Capita Black Snowboard of Death Snowboard: CAPiTA’s black-on-black OG gets a full redesign for its 20th birthday.

CAPiTA’s bastion of all-mountain annihilation is celebrating twenty laps around the sun this winter. It’s had a complete overhaul for 2020/21, but two things remain unchanged – the name and the colour. Take another quick look at the top sheet and decide if you really think this is the board for you. To stare down at your feet and see the words “Death Machine” and the Merchant of Death skull looking back up at you will either invoke fear or inspire fortitude. Those in the former camp will be saying their prayers; those in the latter will have them answered.

The BSOD sits in CAPiTA’s Alpine Assault Force collection of snowboards along with the likes Kazu Kokubo’s and Jess Kimura’s pro models. It’s designed with powder and pistes in mind, but riders should be confident in bringing elements of freestyle to these environments, too. Having said that, it’s less about the style and more about the intensity of riding you bring to it.

“It’s had a complete overhaul for 2020/21, but two things remain unchanged – the name and the colour”

Dressing up for the big occasion, the BSOD has a new shape that features a slightly wider outline and tighter, progressive sidecut. The addition of the Death Grip reverse sidecut in the centre of the snowboard provides an extra point of contact and increased grip to compensate for the slightly shorter effective edge. Along with CAPiTA’s faster than fast Hyperdrive Base, rest assured that the BSOD is as good at holding a line as it is at taking the bee-line.

The Alpine V1 profile features a midbody camber with a flat tail and long rocker in the nose. The setback stance and camber running deep towards the back of the snowboard suggests which way the BSOD was primed for charging in. Switch isn’t out of the question, of course, but what you lose from the limited rocker in the tail you gain in increased float and a super solid platform for launching and landing in regs.

From face-on, the top sheet looks like a simple black-on-black colourway. It’s only when you come at it from a few different angles that the full colour spectrum reveals itself through the holographic details. The same goes for the core. Take a look under the hood and a multitude of personalities reveal themselves and highlight just how versatile the BSOD really is.

CAPiTA’s Mothership arguably sets the industry’s gold standard in sustainable design and construction, so it’s no surprises to see the eco-friendly list of ingredients going into the core, here. The FSC Certified Hover Core features a superlight combination of poplar and paulownia with forged carbon rods emanating from the inserts out to the tip and tail. This latest innovation came with a little help from CAPiTA’s buddies over at Union who already utilise this material in some of their bindings. It’s both lighter and stronger than titanium, and supercharges response and pop at either end of the snowboard.

“It has stayed ahead of the curve to meet the demands of the modern all-mountain rider. Edition numero 20 may be the best iteration we’ve seen to date”

But as seems to be the trend for this 20th edition, most of the tech is served up in a double helping. Flax and carbon fibres have also been woven together into strands that are configured in a “V” layout from the inserts to the widest part of the nose and tail. Amplitex V-Tech Amplifier doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it helps to roll out any bumps and wobbles in the nose and tail with its dampening properties.

Another slice of carbon for the birthday boy? Oh, go on then. The new Fleece Power Shield places two carbon pads under the inserts for increased ollie power and stability in all-terrain, choppy riding. You’d expect the flex to sit outside of the rating scale altogether, but the core remains additive free between the feet, so there’s still enough torsional bend in the board to keep it from being a complete coffin sliding down the mountain.

The Black Snowboard of Death continues to reign supreme in CAPiTA’s all-mountain category. Year after year, it has stayed ahead of the curve to meet the demands of the modern all-mountain rider. Edition numero 20 may be the best iteration we’ve seen to date. And if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s unlikely to be going anywhere for the next 20 years, either.

After all, you cannot kill that which is already dead. All hail the Black Snowboard Of Death!

Tester’s Verdict

Rob McCreath – Whitelines

“Some snowboards give a pretty good impression of how they’ll ride just by their name and appearance. I’m not sure if any does it better than the Black Snowboard of Death. I’d never ridden one until this year, but from what I understood, it had gone through a bit of an overhaul for this season and the fellas in the CAPiTA tent seemed pretty keen for me to take it out for a blast.

It’s a beast of a snowboard. Of course, it is, just look at it. Speed, stability and grip all come in surplus and the BSOD is one of those boards that constantly teases you to take your foot off the brakes and let it go.

You have to, though. The board actually felt more manageable and confidence-inspiring the faster I rode it. Most of the tech only really comes to life once you’re giving it full beans, at which point you can start to hammer it through cruddy snow, or really build pressure into the tail as you carve through a turn.

“The board actually felt more manageable and confidence-inspiring the faster I rode it”

The extra width worked well for me with my UK 10.5 boots. I’m always right on the cusp of choosing wide boards, but the 159 model was ideal. Even with that rockered nose it still felt like there was a tonne of grip underfoot.

Presses and flat land weren’t really on the cards for me, but I wasn’t that fussed, to be honest. The BSOD definitely encourages riders to take more speed into every turn, pop or drop, and that’s something I think we’d all like to bring a little more of into our riding!”

Tester’s Verdict, 2018/19

Ed Blomfield – whitelines.com

“Pricey boards with stealthy graphics are often super stiff, but that’s not really the case with the BSOD. Yes, there’s some carbon in here, but overall the flex felt lively and fun rather than race-tuned, with plenty of pop.

“The eye-catching angular outline looks rad but has no discernible effect on the ride, being more about style than function”

The unusual profile (rocker front, camber middle, flat rear) feels almost surfy in slush and offers plenty of float in the pow, though it’s not optimised for straight-up piste carving (on early morning hardpack, a traditional camber board still has the edge – no pun intended!).

The eye-catching angular outline looks rad but has no discernible effect on the ride, being more about style than function. If you’re after something lightweight and chuckable that’s more versatile than your average park noodle – and you’ve got deep enough pockets – then the Black Snowboard of Death could be the ideal quiver killer.”

Topics:

Advanced 2020/21 All-Mountain 2020/21 Buyers Guide 2020/21 Buyers Guide 2020/21 Snowboards capita Capita Reviews 2020/21 capita snowboards Directional 2020/21 Freeride 2020/21 Intermediate 2020/21 The Whitelines 100 2020/21 The Whitelines 100 2020/21 Snowboards

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