UPDATE: Check out our review of the GNU Free Spirit Snowboard for 2020/2021 by clicking here.
- Sizes: 143, 148
- Flex: 7
- Profile: Hybrid
- Shape: Directional
- Price: £445/€500
- BUY ONLINE
The Gnu Free Spirit is a freeride phenom. It follows the trend of short, stubby powder boards that has emerged over the last few seasons and still manages to stand out amongst them. The Free Spirit is one of Jamie Anderson’s pro models and is her first choice when venturing off into the deep.
The directional shape of the board keeps your weight over the tail, so you can wave goodbye top that nasty back leg burn. The waist of the board is about a centimetre wider than what you’d expect to find on a board of its size. This larger surface area is going to help deliver you that beautiful, easy going float you’ll soon fall in love with.
“The slimmer tail is going to allow you to drive harder and be more powerful when you bring the board onto the piste”
[monetizer101 search=’gnu free spirit 2020′]
The Free Spirit uses a C3 camber profile, which has a mellow rocker between the feet to keep the board nice and floaty, and a short camber under each foot to add drive and power when on piste. The rocker/camber combo delivers the best of both worlds, not sacrificing piste performance for powder or vice versa. Still with a pretty mellow flex pattern, the Free Spirit is able to get some good air time, and is able to butter quite nicely, especially in the softer nose. The shorter length is also going to be nice for tight spins when trying to hit that big backcountry booter you’ve been dreaming of…
The nose is wider than the tail, and the larger front is going to help keep you up and cruising in the deep stuff. The slimmer tail, meanwhile, is going to allow you to drive harder and be more powerful when you bring the board onto the piste. The super-fast sintered base will keep you whizzing along even when you’re too lazy to wax your board, or when the snow starts to get heavy and sticky late season.