- Price: £510 / $580
- Category: Park/Jib, All-Mountain
- Ability Level: Intermediate, Advanced
- Size: 145.5, 148.5, 151.5
- Flex: 4-5.5/10
- Shape: Asym Twin
- Profile: Hybrid
- Base: Sintered
If you’re looking to push your park game what better snowboard to choose than the one that multi medal winner Jamie Anderson straps on when she wants to go big. Gnu’s Pro Choice is a freestyle board more designed to be ridden fast off bigger features than for messing around on jibs and side hits.
Often, you hear ‘hybrid camber’ and you assume ‘massive rocker’. While super fun for flatland and jibbing, these profiles can often feel a little loose and that’s not what you need when setting up for takeoff. Gnu’s C3 profile, however, flips this notion on it’s head. It still has a mild rocker between the feet but the positive camber sections on either side are more pronounced, meaning it rides closer to a traditional cambered snowboard in terms of grip, stability a pop. Those features are key if you’re hurtling towards a jump at high speed, something the Pro Choice is purpose-built to do.
“It still has a mild rocker between the feet but the positive camber sections on either side are more pronounced, meaning it rides closer to a traditional cambered snowboard in terms of grip, stability a pop”
A snappy balsa, paulownia and aspen wood core is designed to pop you off take-offs and ping you out of turns. While the Magna Traction edges of the Pro Choice act like serrated knives on either side of your board so you can keep lapping the jump line on days when its more skate park than snow park.
The inclusion of an asymmetric outline with the C3 camber profile might at first seem like it would be better suited to a piste charger, but it has freestyle advantages too. The Level 2 Asymmetry on the Pro Choice has a shorter radius, softer flex, and shorter contact length on the heel side. These features all combine to make it easier to pressure (more pop) and give you a lower activation angle (easier to balance), both of which can come in use on heel edge setups and euro carves.
Some of these features may seem a little intimidating but the combination of biax and triax glass laminates mean Gnu rate this board as having a more accommodating medium flex. The sintered base will mean the Pro Choice has no difficulty getting up to speed and the Bio Fiber dampeners will make it a super smooth experience once you get there.