Spruce Mountain Skiboards - 115 CM Crossbow Longboards

[ysb33r]

Finally! My two pairs have arrived after being stuck in customs for 2 weeks. Complete with the Spruce Pro Prime Plus risers. We took them out for a spin this morning. Groomed pistes, park, side-piste, moguls, shadow-aspect icy pistes, variable terain - we searched them all out.

My daughter has been riding Spruce 120s for last number of seasons and convinced there is nothing better. Well.... she changed her mind this morning. It turns easier than the 120s and it just bouncs over stuff with a lot less legburn, she says.

As to me, I have been looking for a set of boards to taken to the pistes on a daily basis, which are

• not as much work as a pair of Ospreys
• longer than a pair of Eman Uprises
• support in the tail, that I don't end up falling over backwards
• rocker + camber.

I have found them! (On a sidenote, it was a toss-up between Spliffs and the Crossbows. I chose the latter due to the slightly longer length and slightly smaller waist).

I can now also retire my Ospreys to what I originally bought them for - backcountry touring and riding.

Here are some photos from our riding them at Arinsal, Andorra.

[ysb33r]

There seem to be a very sweet spot on these Crossbows for carving. To me it feels that if I sit back a bit, it is engaging the turn roughly where my heel is. It is quite an amazing feeling, which I have not experienced with any other skiboard before. I suspect this might be due to the assymetrical profile of the Crossbows.

[Wookie]

There seem to be a very sweet spot on these Crossbows for carving. To me it feels that if I sit back a bit, it is engaging the turn roughly where my heel is. It is quite an amazing feeling, which I have not experienced with any other skiboard before. I suspect this might be due to the assymetrical profile of the Crossbows.

I agree they do seem to have a sweet spot where they lock in to an ideal carve. Are you riding them centered or setback? (apologies if you noted that above .... I did not see if you mentioned binding position). I have been riding them mostly centered and have had no reason or need to set them back. I actually have preferred having more tail support due to my "backseat" riding style.

[ysb33r]

I agree they do seem to have a sweet spot where they lock in to an ideal carve. Are you riding them centered or setback? (apologies if you noted that above .... I did not see if you mentioned binding position). I have been riding them mostly centered and have had no reason or need to set them back. I actually have preferred having more tail support due to my "backseat" riding style.

Center-moounted and like-wise, I prefer the extra tail support.

[jjue]

Last Sunday , My buddy Michael and I went to Heavenly , Michael is an expert level skier who a while back I convinced to convert to short skis and skiboards. His favorite skiboard is the Sherpa and he has really not ridden anything shorter then that . He rides the Sherpa center mount and sets it back for pow . We traded off Sherpa and Crossbow for a few runs both boards center mounted. He pronounced the Crossbow very similar in performance to the Sherpa with the differences being the Crossbow was much nimbler and easier to turn especially in off piste and moguls , while the Sherpa had a more firm positive carve laying it at speed . (Sherpa has less rocker and is stiffer and longer 130cm vs 115cm) . Michael and I are both big heavier guys by the way . He still preferred his Sherpa but thinks the Crossbow is really fun and may get a pair . He says the Crossbows would be better and easier turning for light weight riders then the Sherpa .

For me , getting back on the Sherpa after a long absence was nice , but they felt really big and certainly less playful to me then the Crossbows. I agree that for me the Crossbows do ride very similar to slimmed down ,easier turning , and more playful version of the Sherpa . They both have that big 112mm waist . Both boards for me when I set the bindings back work wonderfully in pow and diffcult 3 D junk snow and both boards seem more fun carving if center mount in firm snow . Both are supremely competent as all mountain boards , but the fun factor tipping way in the Crossbow's favor for me personally.

[jjue]

Crossbows in pow

Had a great chance to try out my rear set Crossbows in deep pow at Alta during West fest ,, they were super fun , plenty of float , nimble and easy to turn in deep pow , I keep them right together and bounce up and down on the tails unweighting in deep pow .. just a fabulous ride , relaxing and comfortable , big smile on my face in the steep trees and pow !
The Crossbows have become my favorite quiver of one board , great in firm snow carving , wonderful in moguls , and superb in deep snow and junky snow . The ability to change binding position is great ... if there is only firm snow I ride center, but if there is any soft snow or off piste junky snow to ride ,, I ride it set back ....
ps Tom B. joined us for West fest from SoCal and also rode the Crossbows rear mounted in deep snow for his first experience in deep pow and absolutely killed it ! He rode them without poles and skiboard style , while I rode them with poles with more of an unweighting bouncing skiing style , both styles seemed to work well with the Crossbows ..
really a home run design from Jeff Singer , for sure !

[Tom91381]

Had a great chance to try out my rear set Crossbows in deep pow at Alta during West fest ,, they were super fun , plenty of float , nimble and easy to turn in deep pow , I keep them right together and bounce up and down on the tails unweighting in deep pow .. just a fabulous ride , relaxing and comfortable , big smile on my face in the steep trees and pow !
The Crossbows have become my favorite quiver of one board , great in firm snow carving , wonderful in moguls , and superb in deep snow and junky snow . The ability to change binding position is great ... if there is only firm snow I ride center, but if there is any soft snow or off piste junky snow to ride ,, I ride it set back ....
ps Tom B. joined us for West fest from SoCal and also rode the Crossbows rear mounted in deep snow for his first experience in deep pow and absolutely killed it ! He rode them without poles and skiboard style , while I rode them with poles with more of an unweighting bouncing skiing style , both styles seemed to work well with the Crossbows ..
really a home run design from Jeff Singer , for sure !

Thanks Jack, very nice of you to say that, but truthfully I had no idea what I was doing out there. I've only heard that when your In the POW you need to raise your tips and keep your weight on the tails? But Tom1 Macrophotog mention that the pow is so light that you you just plow on thru. So with us being about top 30 getting to the top and getting some freshies , I was doing all I could to stick with Courtney, Macro and Sempai . They were all on the XL Blunts , those seemed to be the choice of many. Like Jack said them crossbows made my life really easy with no knowledge of how to , so I just let them flow on down with my weight on my heals and a big smile, I was hooked
For the next 4 or so hours we were chasing the powder and loving life .
The next day more chasing the pow thru trees and steep canyons, cliffs you name it we were all about finding it .
I really thought that I would of had more of a problem getting back and fourth from edge to edge , but not on these. My 155lb frame didn't have that bad of a time doing it .
Those and the Stickys really changed my stance on skiing from only a year ago. Look at what I've been skiing on for about the past 10 or so years, when healthy.
Thanks to skiboardsonline, RVL8, spruce. And especially all those at Westfest that gave me the new found fun. Everyone get out and ski with those better then you , be a sponge like I was. Watching Courtney, so light on her feet and edges gracefully going down any and all terrain makes me strive to try more terrain I've never done


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[wjeong]

Spent the last two days riding the Crossbows. Conditions were hard groomers. Yesterday, I rode them setback. Today, I rode them center mounted. These are great boards. They are much smoother than the LE's and have great edge hold. On this hard snow, I prefer them center mounted. Edge hold is much better center mounted. To really engage the edge setback, I found I had to use a lot more tongue pressure on my boot. These boards are very fast and stable. I asked Jeff to grind the bases flat on these. I don't like base bevels. I detuned the tips and tails and never felt any catchiness. The praise that everyone has given these is true. Jeff has designed another great skiboard.

[ysb33r]

What angle did you set the edges to?

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[Fun Machine]

I detuned the tips and tails and never felt any catchiness.

Did you ride them before detuning them? I have only a few days on Crossbows so far, but I didn't feel the tips catching at all as they are.

[ysb33r]

Did you ride them before detuning them? I have only a few days on Crossbows so far, but I didn't feel the tips catching at all as they are.

I have not had either, but I'm curious as I'll probably have them serviced before the next season.

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[Wookie]

Did you ride them before detuning them? I have only a few days on Crossbows so far, but I didn't feel the tips catching at all as they are.

I have ridden my Crossbows straight from Jeff and after a full tune and wax by my local shop. IMHO there is no need to ever detune these. The rocker eliminates any need to do this. I would say if you normally ride hard pack and ice detuning does you a disservice since when you engage the edges you won't have the advantage of the a fully tuned edge.

[wjeong]

What angle did you set the edges to?

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I asked Jeff to set the edges at 88 degrees. They were very sharp. I did not check the angle or ride them without detuning. He normally puts a one degree base bevel on them. I think that's why no one may need to detune them.

[wjeong]

I have ridden my Crossbows straight from Jeff and after a full tune and wax by my local shop. IMHO there is no need to ever detune these. The rocker eliminates any need to do this. I would say if you normally ride hard pack and ice detuning does you a disservice since when you engage the edges you won't have the advantage of the a fully tuned edge.

I had to detune a new pair of Opsreys. The edges were so sharp, I couldn't get them to release smoothly for a turn. I had to detune them on the hill. So even a full rocker board may need it. I mentioned that to Jeff. He said he has experienced this also. Your skiing style may also have something to do with the edge engagement. I ride skiboards like skis with poles. Lots of my turns are weight and unweighted turns like skiers do.

[Wookie]

I had to detune a new pair of Opsreys. The edges were so sharp, I couldn't get them to release smoothly for a turn. I had to detune them on the hill. So even a full rocker board may need it. I mentioned that to Jeff. He said he has experienced this also. Your skiing style may also have something to do with the edge engagement. I ride skiboards like skis with poles. Lots of my turns are weight and unweighted turns like skiers do.

If it's working for you it's all good. For the Crossbows I would only suggest that anyone new to them ride them with the "stock" set up first and then decide afterwards if then need to be detuned. It's easier to have a stone in your pocket and detune the tips or tails on the hill than it is to "retune" the whole edge.

They truly are a wonderful ride with very few bad habits. I would guess, unless you are tuning to aggressive edge/base angles, that many riders will be fine with them as-is.