I Love My Banana

After 10 years, I just got a new ride (for the pow pow <wink>) and I’m so excited.  When I was shopping around, it was hard to get good advice, or find reviews, from other “powder room” ladies so I was inspired to write my own product review. 

If you found this page because you were looking for opinions about women’s snowboard gear – I hope this helps you. 

The features I was looking for in a new snowboard this time around were: better control, more responsiveness, great handling in deep powder, and little bit more fun and “pop” for natural terrain and park features.  I figured any new board would have a better control and be more responsive than my 10-year old Feelgood - just because so much of the technology has changed and a new board, bindings and boots would just be stiffer and not as worn out as my current gear.  Plus, I’ve always loved Burton boards – especially since they have been one of the pace-setters with making equipment specifically designed for women, with input from actual women (imagine that!).

With the exception of the name, the Burton Feelgood of today is not the Burton Feelgood a decade ago.  It’s not just the gorgeous art work - and that it’s like “freaky freeze” and changes color over time and with temperature – that sets is apart, but it’s also the new ICS (Infinite Channel System) binding system.  It’s just SO COOL! For me, personally, it’s more alluring than it is practical but if you’re someone who likes to change up your stance frequently then you shouldn’t live without this (NOTE: ICS boards come with a kit that lets you mount regular bindings to the board, but if you want to take advantage of the ICS coolness, you need special EST bindings from Burton). 

Burton has also gotten smarter about the construction of the board and bindings so that the board flexes in the right places and you feel “more connected” to the board (you feel less gap between the binding and the board).  I figured this might be the right amount of newness to get the features I was looking for with all the same things I’ve love for the last 10 years about my prior board.  And, it happened that the store I was at had the new Burton Feelgood on sale in my size – so  I bought her up: Burton Feelgood (152) with some Lexa EST bindings.  I was so excited!

My first day on the slope was a real mixed bag, if not totally disappointing.  I set up my stance with -15 in the front and 0 in the back (which was pretty close to my old stance).  It was a powder day where it was light and fluffy at the top, but heavier at the bottom.  I took it all over the mountain and even hiked to some terrain that was in-bounds but not accessible by lift.  There were times that I was shredding through powder faster than I ever had.  But then there were times where I felt like I couldn’t control the board at all and completely loosing my edges.  I left feeling very unhappy and not optimistic about my purchase.  The following weekend I changed up my stance a bit (-15 in front, -15 in back and slightly more narrow).  This day I felt SO much better, I even dare say unstoppable.  And while it felt as good as my last, reliable, Feelgood, I still wanted more.      

So I turned back to the awesome sales people at SNOCON to get some advice.  The dude rented me a Skate Banana with high recommendations. Essentially they figured out how to make a shorter board (easier maneuverability) that stays on top of powder.  They did this by making the board convex  (which they call “rocker curve”) in the middle – thinking that this would be an awesome feature for people in the park (and that the convex curvature would make them “pop” off features).  Turns out this also makes the nose and tail stay on top of powder really well.  They boards also have MAGNE-TRACTION which essentially curvy edges that give you seven points of contact with the slope while making turns instead of two.  I took this board out one day and fell in love with it instantly.  I couldn’t make a bad turn. 

Mervin Manufacturing (the maker of the Skate Banana) also makes GNU boards.  They’re pretty much just like the Skate Banana, just a different brand, and is what I needed up getting (what they call the B-Street Series). 

The B-Street is back in the USA. Because Banana is the world's best jib design, the B-Street was originally intended to be our soft flexing, twin, urban, jib board. However, we just can't hold this board back. The B-Street is also an unbelievable all mountain freestyle board. It is unreal in the park, pipe, ice, pow, steeps, and everywhere else. Welcome to the future: one board does it all better from a centered freestyle jib stance. If you are just learning or a veteran shredder this is one banana that will change the way you look at the mountain.

It’s all true.  This board absolutely rocks!! This board is great in the park, great in pow, great on crud.  I can’t say enough. I hooked it up with some K2 Virtue bindings and it’s been a dream! And will last me another 10 years (at least)!  Thank you Mervin!

Almost more important than the board are boots.  These have to be comfortable and warm.  I had worn Salomon boots for the last 6 years and loved them.  While I was upgrading all my gear  I made the mistake of trying to go with another boot (Burton Women’s Supreme) but they just didn’t fit right.  They pinched at the top of my foot and were cold (even on mild days).  Sure I could have bought the heat battery pack for another $90 – but that felt like a pretty big investment on top of some already pricy boots and something that I would expect to be useful on a really cold day.  Though, I have to admit that, at first, I also wasn’t loving the 2009 Salomon boots either.  I reluctantly got the F22W and I ended up loving them.  And I actually really like their new lacing system – I can always get these to tighten up just right.  They fit me the best: my feet are always warm, no "hot spots”, etc.

About me:

I bought my first snowboard ten years ago in Colorado.  It was a Burton Feelgood (152 cm) with Burton Custom bindings.  It was a great board for me as I’ve transitioned from a beginner to intermediate and expert riding.  I’m an all-mountain/freestyle kind of rider.  You’ll find me at the resort on the steeps, in the trees, hiking in-bounds, jibbing (or attempting to) off natural terrain and playing on the beginner features in the parks.  I’ve finally signed up for avalanche training (in two weeks) and hope to start venturing into the real backcountry for some untouched turns.