UPDATE: Check out our review of the 2017/2018 Salomon Villain here
The Details:
The sight of shifty-looking characters in trenchcoats can only mean one of two things – either Theresa May’s recruited more bods for her snooping services, or you’re looking at the Salomon Villain. The stick of choice for Louif Paradis, it’s a park destroyer that’s as highly regarded as its Quebecois patron.
It’s relatively high in spec for a park board in its price range, with a sintered base and the triax fibreglass that was added to last year’s model. That means you’ll have all the speed and stability needed to handle even the biggest park features – especially when you consider the camber-heavy profile – and makes this hard to fault when you’re wanting to just bash pistes at top speed.
Back to its park prowess, it’s a true twin that’s built to take a pasting. Extra care has gone into the selection of the wood in the core, and carbon placed at the edges makes it lively and responsive. The edges have been pre-bevelled at key places, so that camber profile will still grip the hardpack but is less likely to hang up on rails.
It all adds up to an absolute hero of a park board, one for which all freestyle fans should keep an eye out.
