UPDATE: Check out our review of the 2018/2019 Head The Day here
- Price: £325
- Sizes: 147, 153, 156, 161
- Flex: 6
- Profile: Hybrid Camber
- Shape: Directional
- HEADSNOWBOARDS.COM
While the Architect and Pilot may be the shiny new additions to Head’s line, it’s a returning favourite that gets our vote this year: the Head The Day.
The construction is relatively simple by Head’s standards, with an emphasis on keeping things light. The core of The Day is mostly poplar, with a bamboo stringer down the middle to boost its pop performance without weighing it down. The end result is something fairly snappy, yet soft enough to play about on at lower speeds. As pow boards go it’s quite flexible, so if you’ve ever been put off by unforgiving freeride guns then this is a far friendlier alternative.
“The nose is wider and longer than the tail, so you’ll find it easy to stay afloat”
That said, there’s still the option to open this up on steep, wide faces. The nose is wider and longer than the tail, so you’ll find it easy to stay afloat. The shape of the tail also helps the cause, sinking into the snow to make The Day a breeze to manoevre when things get a little tighter.
Head’s ‘Hybrid Cambra’ profile featurs a raised flat area flanked by rocker sections at each end. This being a directional freeride board, the rocker at the nose is bigger and more pronounced, moving everything towards the back foot for a feeling that’s not unlike setback camber – albeit a little less twitchy than that profile can be at times.
It also means that there’s still plenty of pop in the tail, and it’ll hold an edge comfortably on the piste. Indeed, when there’s no powder around it’s worth taking this to the groomers and getting the most out of its sintered base. Just remember to compensate for the relative lack of stiffness, and you’ll have a blast.
Should you want to get even more backcountry-tastic, there’s another thing you should know about that bamboo channel. If you slice it down the middle it forms a naturally watertight seal to each half. Hey presto, your Head The Day is now a splitboard.
