2013 Salomon Mans Board Snowboard Review

The Salomon’s Man’s Board is Bode Merrill’s weapon of choice for high speed all mountain ripping, the topsheet still has that beer-inspired graphic, adorned with blondes, brunettes, and redheads depending on size. She looked good and so did the board, let’s see how it rides.

Size: 159cm
Shape: Directional Twin, Cross Profile – Camber between rocker in the tips
Bindings: Some sort of Salomon honestly they weren’t matched very well to the board they look like this year’s Rhythms.
Stance: 23.5″ regs 18/-12 degrees
Stats: Dave 6′ 210 lbs / Leo 5’9″ 180lbs

Conditions: hardpack, semi-firm groomers not a patch of ice to be found anywhere, well groomed boarder-x course, beginner park features about 30 degrees.

Flex

Dave: The Man’s Board is a man’s board, a stiff directional board, directional flex, a slightly stiffer tail to really power through those turns. Torsionally it is also pretty stiff. I’d say 8/10. Salomon says 4/5. Your mileage may vary.

Leo:  Stiff all around.  Burly deck for sure.  I’ll say a 9/10ish.  Forget about butters and presses on this thing.

Ollie/Pop

Dave: Between the camber and the stiffer tail this board has a really good amount of pop, you’ll be able to ollie small children with ease.

Leo: Superb.  The pop on the Mans Board was excellent so I was doing effortless ollies at speed.

Playfulness

Dave: If your idea of playful is 3′s off rock drops then OK but otherwise playfulness is not really this board’s strong suit. Between the shape and the flex and the camber it’s just not the best board for pressing, buttering, jibbing, etc.

Leo: As Dave likes to say, “You can jib on this, but I don’t know why you would want to.”

Handling 

Dave: The Man’s Board is stable without question, handles and responds well, rolling quickly from edge to edge, and the camber engages a carve like, well, like you’d expect from camber. Neat shaped nose/tail this board this board really should float well in the deep stuff but the camber underfoot lets you rip groomers with ease, too.

Leo: The camber in between gives that springy feeling out of turns that every camber rider knows and loves.  This feeling is exactly why I will always like camber.  The Mans board held a great edge and was plenty stable and damp.  Honestly, the rocker has to be minimal in this board as I did feel like it was handling like a true camber.  Maybe I would have noticed it more if we had any pow.  Edge to edge transitions do take effort on this guy though so keep that in mind.

Price: MSRP is $500 for the Man's board, par for the course for higher-end all mountain decks. Click on the "Buy Now" button to compare prices.

Summing it up 

Dave: This board is definitely a strong all-mountain bordering on the slackcountry freeride side. This board is going to work best for someone who wants a fast, stable, predictable cambered board (so yeah I mean old guys over 30) to go fast, hit natural terrain, cliff/rock drops, etc. Upper-intermediate to advanced all-mountain riders only, the Man’s Board is too much board for beginners.

Leo: Although I thoroughly enjoyed this board, it’s a bit much for me.  I’m not tackling big mountains and insane lines.  That’s not to say that someone riding a local hill won’t enjoy it.  If bombing and carving is your thing, you will probably like this stick.  It is very stable and damp and holds an amazing edge.  If someone offered to let me ride this out West, I’d do it in a heartbeat.  Strong intermediate and up all-mountain riders only please.