Ahhhhh! By the looks of things over at Dogfunk (www.dogfunk.com), the 2010/11 Rides are starting to show up...! Guess this gives all new meaning to "Christmas in July", huh...?!
Here they are! Two of the choicest! See the rest of the lineup at www.ridesnowboards.com. The deck on the left is the new Slackcountry, and the board on the right is a new model called the "Highlife". There's no Yukon in the new lineup; presumably, the Highlife is replacing it.
The Ride website has the entire lineup, already... a bit earlier than usual, perhaps? Still with us are the "usuals" in the freestyle scene (Kink, Agenda, DH2, etc etc etc...)... but, what I was really looking for was another year of the most-excellent Slackcountrys (which were new last year), and the new Yukons.
Unfortunately, the Yukon seems to have been discontinued, and replaced by the brand-new Highlife for 2011. The Highlife features the Lowpro rocker (the Yukons had traditional cambers), Carbon Array 5, 90a Slimewalls, Membrain topsheets, and the Silencer (all, present on the former Yukons). Also gone is the "Alaskan Big Mountain" graphic treatment, replaced by something that we might call, "Kink-Y" (That is, very similar to the last few years' worth of Kinks and Agendas..).
The trend in snowboards seems to be, a sheep-minded mass migration toward rockered decks... which means that, we can probably expect to see the "old-school" of cambered decks falling off the face over the next few years. The verdict? We'll miss the stiff-riding and hard-driving response of the camber. On the other hand: The float and quick-turning capability of the rockers are clearly, huge assets. Especially in the deep shit. Which is what we like.
The Slackcountry is upgraded (from the Highlife) with the Carbon Array 7, and the Highrize rocker. Of the two, the Highlife seems to come in a bit stiffer (more "Hard Charging Response", according to the Ride website), and prices in a hundred bucks cheaper ($549.95 vs. $649.95 for the Slacker).
And: The Highlife also comes in a 172 Wide, while the biggest Slacker is [still] a 168.
Guess which one I'm putting on my "wish list" this year?!?
See 'em for yourself at www.ridesnowboards.com
