Gnu’s Park Pickle, like much of what comes out of the Mervin Factory just outside Seattle, is more than a little odd – at least on paper. Like the Lib Tech and Roxy boards that are
made alongside them, many of Gnu’s sticks feature ‘banana technology’, with a rocker profile that gives them a loose, playful feel. The Park Pickle (like all Gnu boards) also features ‘magne-traction’ – wavy edges that act like a serrated knife blade to increase edge hold in icy conditions, and mitigate some of the ‘washout’ effect that raised rocker contact points can sometimes cause.

But while all that tech is strange enough, what makes the Park Pickle truly weird is its asymmetric sidecut – the radii of the toe-side and heelside sidecuts are different. Why would Gnu do that? Well (according to them) it actually makes perfect sense. The movement of a toeside turn is very different to that of a heelside turn, and the way your weight is distributed along the length of the board is also different, especially if you ride duck-footed as most freestylers do. So rather than make both edges identical, they’ve tailored each to the toes and the heels respectively. And while it sounds odd to start with,
it actually really works – this board holds an edge surprisingly well for a freestyle-focussed twin tip and carves nicely.

It’s got a relatively stiff flex thanks to its high-end aspen core, giving it tons of pop. But its profile shape means it’s still quite easy to butter and press. If you’re an intermediate to advanced freestyler looking for an all-round fun ride, you could do a lot worse than embracing the oddness of the Pickle.

Buy this board at: boardwise.com, tribalriders.com, snowandrock.com, surfdome.com 

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