Reflecting on the introduction of the Rockered Condor to market this year and also on some of the widely different opinions on it , it really occurs to me that we as skiboarders are now blessed to have two great options in skiboard design. The first is the traditional cambered versions of skiboards well represented by the Spruce Longboards, and all the previous Revel8 boards and the second is the new Rockered Condor . Having ridden and enjoyed both types of boards in all kinds of conditions , I strongly feel that both types of skiboard design have a bright future. What these two types of design offer are gateways to different types of riding as I have tried to point out in my posts. The Rockered Condor design with it's zero camber and rockered tips and tails lends itself to a low center of gravity skate style type of style , it also lends itself well to being able to slide or "slarve " turns and lends it self to speed and flotation in deep pow ridden balanced and centered. It places a premium on careful balance around the center point on the board . Getting on edge is easy , but the carve is different and perhaps in some ways not as enjoyable and stable as on a traditional cambered skiboard with a much longer effective edge . The Rockered skiboard design really lends itself to pivot steering from the foot . The traditional cambered skiboard design lends itself to spectacular lay over stable and precise carves , and is more amenable to a higher stance more skier like style. Traditional designs also lend themselves to be ridden off a supportative tail in deep pow , and lend themselves to set back bindings . In many ways , I think the Rockered skiboard design is a more snowboard style inspired design and lends itself to partial carve sliding snowboard like turns , whereas the traditional cambered style has much in common with traditional twin tip design and hardboot alpine carving snowboards , lending itself to more precise carves .
Is there room to meet in the middle ? Of course! The Rockered Condor is a full Rockered Skiboard design with an early tip rise and zero camber. Skis have now been designed with only a little bit of rocker and some camber in the middle, as well as full rocker designs . There is much room for experimentation in skiboard design in the years to come . Will Rockered skiboards completely replace traditionally cambered skiboards ? of course not , Was the Rockered skiboard a failed experiment? , absolutely not ... Both kinds of skiboards will remain in the future , IMHO , as both have shown their strengths , and lead the way to new hybrid designs as well .
What we can be thankful for is that this year a plethora of true options for the first time has been offered to skiboarders... Rocker or no Rocker , hardboot or softboot , release or non release ....
All of us have different styles , and different abilities , and different ways we like to ride our skiboards. What we can be thankful for this season is the huge combinations of boards , boots and bindings that we now have available . Thanks go to Greco , SBOL , and Jeff Singer and Spruce for offering such a variety of options . Truly a great time to be a skiboarder !
Is there room to meet in the middle ? Of course! The Rockered Condor is a full Rockered Skiboard design with an early tip rise and zero camber. Skis have now been designed with only a little bit of rocker and some camber in the middle, as well as full rocker designs . There is much room for experimentation in skiboard design in the years to come . Will Rockered skiboards completely replace traditionally cambered skiboards ? of course not , Was the Rockered skiboard a failed experiment? , absolutely not ... Both kinds of skiboards will remain in the future , IMHO , as both have shown their strengths , and lead the way to new hybrid designs as well .
What we can be thankful for is that this year a plethora of true options for the first time has been offered to skiboarders... Rocker or no Rocker , hardboot or softboot , release or non release ....
All of us have different styles , and different abilities , and different ways we like to ride our skiboards. What we can be thankful for this season is the huge combinations of boards , boots and bindings that we now have available . Thanks go to Greco , SBOL , and Jeff Singer and Spruce for offering such a variety of options . Truly a great time to be a skiboarder !
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