Salomon Dancehaul 2020-2021 Snowboard Review - Whitelines Snowboarding

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Salomon Dancehaul 2020-2021 Snowboard Review

  • Price: £400 / $450
  • Category: All-Mountain
  • Ability Level: Intermediate, Advanced
  • Size: 143, 147, 152, 157
  • Flex: 6/10
  • Shape: Directional
  • Profile: Rock Out Camber
  • Base: Sintered
  • New for 2020/21
  • BUY DIRECT FROM SURFDOME

Why we chose the Salomon Dancehaul Snowboard: This roving discotheque is your VIP ticket to the party of the year.

Riders looking for something weird and wonderful look no further, this gold breasted disco diva is set to blow your knickers off. Brand spanking new for 2020/21 the Dancehaul is Salomon’s foray into the world of short fatties, and you know what they say… once you go fat, you never go back. This is your new all-terrain cruiser built for blasting on piste, charging through chop and chunder, slashing your way through pristine pockets of powder and even throwing down in the park.

Like other boards in this category, you’ve got to size down from your normal board to really feel the benefit of the Dancehaul. The sizes go small enough that its most certainly a unisex option, and after rave reviews from our Test Team is why it came storming in to win our Whitelines Choice for best all-mountain snowboard for 2020/21. This is versatility at its finest.

“With its tight little sidecut this thing is all about digging dirty trenches and railing carves with the best of them”

With its tight little sidecut this thing is all about digging dirty trenches and railing carves with the best of them. The wider platform underfoot gives you the green light to get down and dirty with your carves without worrying about toe-verhang and gives you a gigantic surface area to keep you floating in the deeper snow.

The width alone will do the heavy lifting when you get this badboy into deeper snow, so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. The cutout tail and 12mm taper reduce the surface area at the back end, helping to drive it down into the snow but also making it way more manoeuvrable. Throw up fat roosters and slash to your hearts content, the Dancehaul is as happy in the powpow as it is slicing up the hardpack.

While on the surface the Dancehaul looks like a uni-directional charger for lycra clad speed demons with a lob on for carbon additives, it’s way more playful than you’d think. The Popster Core is milled out down the length to deliver pop and power underfoot and playful softer sections inside the inserts. With a middle of the road flex and a smidge of rocker to lift the contact points in the tips you’re on track to press longer and butter better.

While it does feature a taper, the inserts aren’t setback so you’re still centred over the board if you want to get your freestyle on. Go HAM with it but bear in mind riding out switch on piste is one thing and landing switch into powder is a whole other kettle of fish. It certainly isn’t impossible but for those who would prefer not to be thrown into a tomahawking maelstrom then we’d recommend trying to round out those spins. We’ve been there, done that, got the yard sale.

“Whatever the reason, strap into this precocious party wagon and get ready to get groovy”

If the camber dominant body wasn’t enough, to add a bit of extra pep in your step Salomon have added two basalt stringers running tip to tail to give you snappy rebound and soak up a bit of the chatter when you’re charging mottled terrain. Pop the hood and you’ll get a glimpse of a medium density fibreglass layup to keep the Dancehaul fun and responsive, without becoming twitchy or overbearing.

Pick up one of these pocket rockets and prepare to turn heads all season. Maybe they’re mesmerised by the glitterball topsheet, or perhaps they’ve heard you whooping and hollering, or they might even have smelled your nipples friction burning off as you pull off another elbows down Eurocarve. Whatever the reason, strap into this precocious party wagon and get ready to get groovy.

Tester Verdict 2020/21

Malcolm Moore – Snowboard YouTuber and Instructor

“Lib Tech have enjoyed huge success with the Orca over the past couple of seasons. Videos of Travis Rice sending this short, wide directional freeride stick down crazy pillow lines went viral, and snowboarders around the world felt like it was the board they needed. Enter Salomon with the Dancehaul, which is their attempt to muscle in on the action, and for my money, they’ve done a better job.

Sure the Lib Tech has a C2 Rocker profile with Serrated Magne Traction Edges, but it’s in the Dancehaul’s simplicities that it excels, and its relatively basic tech helps keep the price down too. Big nose, tapered swallowtail, and a huge surface area underfoot, you know this board is going to float. Yet it was across the rest of the mountain that the Dancehaul really came to life and impressed me.

“It was across the rest of the mountain that the Dancehaul really came to life and impressed me”

I found the flex pattern to be spot on, progressively stiffening up from the nose through to the tail, allowing you to really drive your back knee through those carved turns, the camber then exploding you straight into the next one. Edge changes are a breeze due to the softer torsional flex of the board, meaning that it is easy to manipulate despite its wide waist. From slashing windlips, to laying out eurocarves on the piste, and then boosting tweaked grabs out of any sidehit I could find, this board will literally have you dancing across the whole mountain. I loved it so much that I ordered myself one right away!”

Tester Verdict 2020/21

Jon Bird – Assistant Manager and Snowboard Buyer, LD Mountain Centre

“All new from Salomon Snowboards this winter the Dancehaul is a unisex ride that’s a do anything, go anywhere snowboard. The Dancehaul was a fun forgiving ride all over the mountain with easy float in powder and lively responsive turns. The Dancehaul was a fun snowboard that was easy to get along with no matter what the terrain or what your riding style is, perfect for most riders from beginners upwards who want a resort daily driver.”

Topics:

Advanced 2020/21 All-Mountain 2020/21 Buyers Guide 2020/21 Buyers Guide 2020/21 Snowboards Directional 2020/21 Intermediate 2020/21 Salomon Salomon Reviews 2020/21 The Whitelines 100 2020/21 The Whitelines 100 2020/21 Snowboards Unisex 2020/21 Women's 2020/21

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