Ok, I've been waiting a long time to be able to do this review. I purchased a pair of original 96 Line skiboards off of ebay over a year ago, and I finally got a chance to ride them yesterday up at Jay Peak. These boards are the first model that Jason Levinthal and company produced, and I believe they are one of the first full production skiboard models. What's interesting about them is that they look nothing like the other Line skiboards that most people have seen. They are about 87cm long and 16cm wide with very abruptly upturned tips. I'll try to get a picture posted up at some point.
On to the review...
As I mentioned, I rode these up at Jay Peak on the second day of the Jay Jam. They performed incredibly well, and handled the abuse I put them through with nary a wimper. The conditions ranged from windswept ice on the groomer to untracked knee to waist deep powder in some of the glades. The short length and wide width meant that they had an almost perfect combination of maneuverability and float to tackle the glades at Jay.
Groomers:
There were some groomers that did have decent coverage, and I was able to put the 96's through their paces with both low and high speed carving. At higher speeds, the short length is very noticeable with a skittery feeling and a lack of edge hold compared to longer boards. At slower speeds, they were excellent, and I enjoyed cruising on them. Like other wider skiboards like the KTP's and Condors, they don't like to be run flat. Staying at least a little bit on edge is best.
Powder:
Most of the glades we hit had been tracked pretty well by the time we rode them, but there were still plenty of little stashes to hit. The 96's float quite well, but like other short boards, weighting the tails is key. Towards the afternoon, we dove into some really tight woods and found some nice big stashes of untouched powder. The 96's had enough float to easily get my 200lbs down through the trees, and the maneuverability made navigating the tight spots fairly easy.
On to the review...
As I mentioned, I rode these up at Jay Peak on the second day of the Jay Jam. They performed incredibly well, and handled the abuse I put them through with nary a wimper. The conditions ranged from windswept ice on the groomer to untracked knee to waist deep powder in some of the glades. The short length and wide width meant that they had an almost perfect combination of maneuverability and float to tackle the glades at Jay.
Groomers:
There were some groomers that did have decent coverage, and I was able to put the 96's through their paces with both low and high speed carving. At higher speeds, the short length is very noticeable with a skittery feeling and a lack of edge hold compared to longer boards. At slower speeds, they were excellent, and I enjoyed cruising on them. Like other wider skiboards like the KTP's and Condors, they don't like to be run flat. Staying at least a little bit on edge is best.
Powder:
Most of the glades we hit had been tracked pretty well by the time we rode them, but there were still plenty of little stashes to hit. The 96's float quite well, but like other short boards, weighting the tails is key. Towards the afternoon, we dove into some really tight woods and found some nice big stashes of untouched powder. The 96's had enough float to easily get my 200lbs down through the trees, and the maneuverability made navigating the tight spots fairly easy.
Comment