Blunt Moods

[krillinakw]

Went out again this morning and had none of the same issues. I just had to get my snow-feet back on. Everything today felt so much more natural. I love the way they turn, it is kind of hard to make long, deep carves. It all seems so quick and sharp when it is happening. They also lock on to rails like magnets. Today was an amazing day (all 2.5 hours I was out). Great park setup, great speeds, great handling, and all thanks to great boards. THANK YOU GRECO!!!

[kirk]

They also lock on to rails like magnets.

I had a suspicion of this... fat boards are absolutely awesome on rails.

[2Shoes]

I want to order a pair of Blunts so bad right now but I can't afford to buy them and still hit the mountain. I guess I will have to wait till next year.

[krillinakw]

I had a suspicion of this... fat boards are absolutely awesome on rails.

There is a 30ft rail here at bear creek, the park setup is the best it's been in...ummm... as long as I can remember!! Super fun the past 2 days on these new monsters. They do feel like the Line 96's on rails. Landings off of features is obviously different because of the flex, so I am anxious to see how they fair coming off of jumps. It's pretty easy to stomp landings so far from my experience.

[Bluewing]

Blunting it Up at Elk Mountain

Just got back from a trip to Elk Mountain in northeastern PA where I put the Blunts to the test. Before I get into the details of today's review let me cut to the bottom line. In one word here is what the Blunts are: FUN. You can stop reading there and buy a pair if you don't already have them or get out and ride them if you do.

It was opening weekend at Elk. Nice conditions: 17 degrees F or so to start and maybe 21 deg F when we stopped. Didn't have a lot of time due to family commitments so we only skied 3 1/2 hours but it was not crowded and we got run after run with really no waiting at the chairlift. Snow coverage was good and surface ranged from beautiful medium firm corduroy to groomed hardpack. The 2 black diamond runs they had open were fun - one got skied off into fairly decent sized mounds of soft snow and the other got skied off into frozen snowballs with areas of exposed frozen cat tracks - great variable surfaces to test the Blunts.

I had only been on the Blunts for 6 runs the week before but felt comfortable right from the first run. We took 3 runs down a nice green run with a few rollers and I let it rip right from the start. The Blunts carve like demons when you lay them on edge. Moved to a long green run from the top that skis like an intermediate blue. This run has a 90 degree turn mid-run and after a short flat run a 90 degree left turn. I was ripping around both and just stood on the downhill board each time and the Blunts were on rails. I was able to hold the edge on these turns better and for a longer time than I am on my 120s. We did that run a few times and then moved to the black runs.

On the black run with the softer snow that got skied off to decent sized mounds the Blunts soft edged great - nice controlled sliding turns when I wanted. The slid over and bashed sideways through the piles of snow with no problems. The did better in this condition than my 120s I think due to their short length and also because the tips and tails are out of the way a bit due to the rocker. There was no catching of the tips or tails at all sliding through this type of condition.

On the other black, which is the steeper of the 2 that were open, the surface condition was much harder and had a lot of small frozen chunks. No problem. I could do sliding turns on this and the Blunts slid consistently. If I laid the edge over and angulated more aggressively I could get the edges to bite and control my speed precisely. When I came to the places skied off to frozen cat tracks the Blunts just went over it with no problems. My 120s tend to have the tails kick loose in this condition. The Blunts never wavered. After the first time down this run on subsequent runs I was practicing turning in very narrow corridors as I descended and the Blunts did this very, very well. Under control, precise turns, great speed control.

The Blunts are fast too. I think they are at least as fast as my 120s if not faster. I know they feel faster. The amount of glide these little boards have is amazing. I was cruising across some flat connector areas a great distance at speed with little or no need to skate. The boards will swim a little bit in chopped up snow when running them flat, like on a connector, but the swimming is very subtle and never feels squirrelly.

The few times I got a bit out of whack during a run, usually because I was focused on skiing as fast as possible, the Blunts never did anything unexpected. In fact, they made recovering easy. I think if someone was watching they might have concluded at times the Blunts were maybe unstable - during high speed turns on steeper terrain that was bumpy, it seemed like the uphill board would get a little light because of my positioning and the front part of the board would come off the snow - it didn't matter because the down hill board was locked in. I never felt off balance of anything when this happened. I would just put the board back on the snow fully and keep going.

I need more time on these in more conditions but my impression so far is that these boards rock and for the type of riding I do in the conditions I see most often these could become my "go to" boards. I love my 120s but based on today I think the Blunts can do what they do and are a bit more playful and fun.







The coldest part of the Elk experience is riding the cattle truck to and from the parking area:

[sempai]

Good stuff Bluewing. I'm curious. I know you use poles with your 120s. You're not using poles with the Blunts, are you?

[Bluewing]

Good stuff Bluewing. I'm curious. I know you use poles with your 120s. You're not using poles with the Blunts, are you?

Yes, I am using poles with the Blunts and loving it. Poles in my hands feel so natural now and help me with my timing, positioning, etc when on the slopes and they save me so much energy and grief in the liftline I won't be without them. I even got "big boy" poles this year that are the correct size, which makes a big difference. Some sweet, lightweight aluminum Scotts made in Italy with these great sticky grips and a strap that hangs open and is snap to get my hand through each time.

[jjue]

Yes, I am using poles with the Blunts and loving it. Poles in my hands feel so natural now and help me with my timing, positioning, etc when on the slopes and they save me so much energy and grief in the liftline I won't be without them. I even got "big boy" poles this year that are the correct size, which makes a big difference. Some sweet, lightweight aluminum Scotts made in Italy with these great sticky grips and a strap that hangs open and is snap to get my hand through each time.

This is fascinating , I am with Bluewing on this ... at first I thought it was silly to use poles with the Blunts , they are super easy to ride without them , skate them , go up lift lines , turn on a time .. no need for poles at all and very skate like and super short .. . ,BUT , I tried an experiment and brought my poles just to try them out on the Blunts , I was planning to put them away at the lodge after one run .. but guess what I loved them . I guess I am just a skier at heart and the poles just help my timing and rhythym and smoothness . It is not that I need them , I don't and have a great time on the Blunts without them .. but I just feel better and more comfortable with them in hand ... weird for sure ... the other very weird thing is what Valmorel alluded to in another post .. the Blunts are so damn stable at speed and carve so well that I feel like I am on a super manuverable and nimble longboard ski board or a long ski , but the weirdest thing is when I look down , I don't see a thing they are so small they disappear .. they feel like a long ski but magically there is nothing there , ha , ha ... I think it kind of blows people's mind that I am skiing exactly like someone on long skis , same style and body position but look down and I am on tiny things with snowboard boots... it such an odd and weird combination of styles and equipment it messes with folk's head , ha ha ..
bottom line the Blunts are freedom personified... are you a skater at heart? .. great , chuck the poles and skate up a storm .. skier at heart .. grab the poles and ski them like long skis ... it doesn't matter.. the Blunts are the secret weapon of skiboarding the do everything , chameleon , that will please you whatever you want from it .... weird and wonderful for sure !!

[Bad Wolf]

I got my second day out on the Blunts today at Arizona Snowbowl. It's been snowing on and off here all week and they got about four inches overnight. Not enough to make it a powder day, but there was a lot of piled up soft snow on the trails. It got cut up pretty quickly, so I spent most of the day riding them in soft chop. As usual I was on my FF pros with hard ski boots. No poles, just mittens

They cut through the chop nicely and held their line well, but I could feel the challenge of keeping my fore/aft balance through the piles. To be honest it was pretty tiring. I found that they performed much better the faster I went and even got a little air a few times. On the groomers they are amazingly smooth and easy to turn. For me this is were they seem to excel, in setting and holding a clean edge. And yes Jack, I did try a few "slarves". They slide in a very controllable way. I even tried to start with an edge set, then let them drift awhile then set the edge again. That was fun.

I was going to test them against my Jades, but I actually ended up on my renovated RCs. Today was the first time I've ridden RCs. They were much easier going on the chop than the Blunts, less tiring. More controlled and comfortable to turn, although the turns seemed slower and wider. They felt less "frantic". Don't know why I waited so long to ride them.

For me, the Blunts beat the RCs on the groomers hands down, but the RCs had the edge in the chop. Both were great.

[jjue]

great report , Bad Wolf ....
super happy you were able to try out the RC , I totally agree with you about the Blunts killing it on the groomers and the RC in chop and deep pow , the two boards really complement each other very well !

[sempai]

I totally agree with you about the Blunts killing it on the groomers and the RC in chop and deep pow , the two boards really complement each other very well !

They're probably the only two boards most of us need.

[valmorel]

For the longest time I have been searching for the one board quiver. That paradigm has been achieved and proven in the Rockered Condor. The problem for me is, some of the fun element has been lost. The Blunt restores that fun element in SPADES. So much so that if I could only have one board it would be the Blunt. How could I give up all that fun?
IMHO, there has never been a snowsliding device like the Blunt before. It is truly something new. Supposedly loosely based on a Line board from way back it actually skis totally differently.
Like Sempai I have to agree it has to be a two board quiver but I will only be grabbing those brilliant RCs if I am totally sure the Blunt won't do it. Even then, on those days I might just stay in the bar :beer:

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[sempai]

OMG! I want to get back out on the Blunts so bad, but it's too freakin' cold. Right now it's -7, wind chill -24. The high for tomorrow is 0 degrees. Fook!

[CAN]

OMG! I want to get back out on the Blunts so bad, but it's too freakin' cold. Right now it's -7, wind chill -24. The high for tomorrow is 0 degrees. Fook!

Yeah. You guys and your reports are not helping my wait. We don't head back up until the 20th. I keep looking at the weather for Brian Head and it's single digits and some negatives. We were cold today at work in SoCal as it was windy and in 50's. Guess I better suck it up.
Chad

[Bluewing]

OMG! I want to get back out on the Blunts so bad, but it's too freakin' cold. Right now it's -7, wind chill -24. The high for tomorrow is 0 degrees. Fook!

C'mon man - layer up and ride!