- Price: £520
- Category: All-Mountain
- Ability Level: Intermediate, Advanced
- Size: 151.5, 154.5, 155W, 157.5, 158W, 161.5, 162W, 166W
- Flex: 5.5-7/10
- Shape: Asym Twin
- Profile: Hybrid
- Base: Sintered
If you’re looking for a one board quiver the Riders Choice has got to be right up there. Like right up there. Looking down on pretty much every other all-mountain freestyle snowboard. Although Gnu have given this one a freestyle twin shape, the asymmetric outline and hybrid camber mean it can handle piste and pow as well as park laps.
Gnu and their riders have carefully chosen design features that you’ll feel the benefits of on every corner of the mountain. The asym sidecut, softer flex, and shorter contact length edge on the heelside make carves super precise and nimble and also keep things manoeuvrable enough when setting up for features in the park.
“Gnu and their riders have carefully chosen design features that you’ll feel the benefits of on every corner of the mountain”
The sustainably harvested paulownia, balsa and aspen woodcore is light for float, strong for impact and poppy for rebounding out of turns or going full send mode of the lip. A slightly wider waist width, while not ideal for the tiny trottered amongst us, is great for staying on top of the pow as well as railing turns and stomping landings with reassurance.
The Riders Choice has the C2x Hybrid Profile that features rocker between the feet to give you a fun surfy feel and parabolic camber under each foot for grip and power when you need it. Whichever part of the hill this board ends up on, pesky ice patches won’t worry it, as it’s wavy Magne-Traction edges are designed to cut into harder snow and keep you from slipping out.
Its medium flex may not be to the taste of those who spend most of their time charging but there has to be some compromise in an all-mountain board. As you would expect with a high-end board like the Riders Choice, Gnu have given it a tough and fast sintered base that holds wax so you can spend more time on the hill and less time servicing.
There are four different environmentally friendly Bio Bean top sheet designs for the Riders Choice, depending on the size, to give you a personalized feel about your board or make you wish you were a little bit taller.
