Shape, Profile and Sidecut

With its blunt nose and tail, the Otto Plus is the picture of a modern all-mountain shape. The stance is set back 10mm to maximise performance in your regular stance and make powder riding a little easier on your back leg, but essentially it’s made to ride easily in either direction.

That’s going to benefit you spinning off park jumps and side hits, but the extra tail (compared to the more extreme directional silhouettes in KORUA’s line) does have its benefits for carving too – allowing you to jam it into transitions and drive hard through the exit of each turn without skidding out. With an 8.2m sidecut radius, you can draw big arcs on groomers but we’re not talking about a straight-up rocket ship; there’s plenty of scope to get playful and perform tight turns and butters even at slower speeds.

The profile features what KORUA term ‘Float Camber’, basically a trad camber in the middle with an extended rocker towards the nose. This mellows out some of the twitchiness associated with full camber, particularly on turn entry, and helps the board to surf easily over bumps, slush and pow alike. Float is further enhanced via a wide-ish waist that cements the board’s go-anywhere credentials.

“The extra tail allows you to jam it into transitions and drive hard through the exit of each turn without skidding out”

Construction and Materials

All of the above applies to both the Otto Plus and the standard Otto. What sets the Plus apart from its sibling (and sets you back a few more bucks) is the construction. Starting with the core, it features an upgraded paulownia/poplar mix for superior strength to weight, which is then wrapped in layers of multiaxial carbon and a pimped-up ‘triple compound’ topsheet material.

In a nutshell, it’s a lighter, stiffer deck that will come alive under the feet of more experienced riders who appreciate the old adage ‘speed is your friend’. The more you push this thing, the more you’ll get out of it.

Though KORUA built its image on those minimalist Swiss graphics, the Otto Plus (like the whole Plus line) ditches the iconic red base for a black one – and for good reason. Everyone knows black p-tex is faster, and this Perlatec sintered number is no exception. Together with that aggressive carbon lay-up, you can achieve face melting speeds with minimal vibration; smooth control is the name of the game.

The topsheet’s black too, because… well, Darth Vader has always been a notch up from a stormtrooper, hasn’t he?

“It’s a lighter, stiffer deck that will come alive under the feet of more experienced riders”

Roundup

Most brands spend years developing a line of ordinary-looking snowboards before adding a few ‘crazy’ shapes to the mix. Kinda like spicing up a dull marriage with some Friday night lingerie. KORUA have done things the other way round. They’re fully kinky, every day of the week (hey, they’re German. OK Swiss-German) but with the Otto Plus they’ve slipped out of the rubber and into a nice, traditional pair of pants. Black ones. And all of a sudden, you realise that cotton can be sexy too.

Pros:

• It’s a KORUA you can ride anywhere
• Top notch spec sheet

Cons:

• Pricier than the standard Otto

“I’m torn. Of all the shapes we’ve seen from KORUA over the years, the Otto is by far the most vanilla. And yet, somehow, it might just be my favourite of the lot. Don’t get me wrong, some of the best turns in my life have come with Pencil, Dart, and Escalator Plus splitboard strapped to my feet, but in terms of replicating that ‘Korua-y’ feeling everywhere on the mountain? This things has to take the biscuit.

The Otto Plus is incredibly fast, stable and responsive, but it’s also insanely fun, pressy and egging you on to mix up your regular, stale riding style. Every year when the Whitelines test team take to the snow, there’s always one board I never want to hand back. This year, it was this thing. I think I’ve found ‘the one’.”

“The high-end ultra light Otto Plus is a freestyle focused carving machine with a twin-like shape. The light weight and responsive build, makes for a dynamic and very precise ride while offering amazing pop at the same time! The build features a dynamic multiaxial full carbon construction, super-light bionic core design, and stringer reinforced paulownia wood to shave weight, as well as the highest-grade graphite Perlatec base material for a very fast ride. Did you know the Perlatech base was developed especially for the Sochi Olympics? Anyway… the Otto Plus does it all, it loves powder and excels especially at linking turns in between side-hits and all the types of transitions while charging your favorite resort.”