The Weston Backcountry Riva Snowboard is a girls’ freeride board constructed for stability whereas laying into massive turns, dealing with variable snow, and accelerating down massive slopes.
Primarily based in Colorado, Weston Backcountry is an unbiased, grassroots ski and snowboard firm that first marked the business with splitboards and snowboards, backcountry training, and hosted group gatherings in 2012.
Season after season, the model promoted entry to security and training by means of complimentary Splitboard 101 programs and Splitboard Meetups by way of retailers and breweries in Colorado and countrywide, adopted by partnerships with native information operations in 2018. They expanded in ski improvement, too.
During the last decade, Weston Backcountry has acquired a set of accolades together with a 2016 TransWorld Examined and Authorised tag and the 2018 top-rated board by Outdoors Journal. By 2018, the model additionally grew to become the second-ranked splitboard producer on the earth and in Colorado, in keeping with Snowsports Industries of America information, reported Vail Day by day.
All issues thought-about, we had been fairly excited to check one of many model’s hottest on-piste rides, the Riva snowboard.
Briefly: The girls’s Riva is an all-mountain design that tackles inconsistent snow situations and excels at velocity on the groomers.
Weston Backcountry Riva Snowboard
Specs
- Profile: Rocker on the tail and nostril with camber in-between
- Form: Tapered directional
- Flex: 7 (out of 10, which is the stiffest)
- Base: Sintered Durasurf 4001
- Core: 15% poplar, 80% paulownia, 3% bamboo, carbon stringers
- Development: Wooden core, Triax fiberglass
- Sidewall: Polyurethane (PU)
- Topsheet: Castor bean-based nylon
- Bolt sample: 2×4
- Stance setback: 10 cm
- Sizes (cm): 143, 147, 151, 155
- Greatest for: Steep slopes, hard-packed groomers, velocity
Weston Backcountry Riva Snowboard Assessment
I examined a 151 Riva ($599) throughout spring situations at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Colo., a ski space that’s identified for terribly steep slopes in addition to rocky, variable terrain along with glorious powder days.
The snow included a spread of sunshine powder, chalky moguls, hardpacked chunder, icy patches, and a bit of soppy corduroy. One checkbox we lacked was a deep pow day as a result of dry situations — so I’ll add extra particulars as soon as I get an opportunity to journey deep snow with this setup.
I took the board on a spread of runs from average cruisers and troublesome steeps to tight glades and mogul laps together with by means of the mountain’s excessive terrain.
As for my background, I realized to journey at Telluride Ski Resort practically 20 years in the past, competed in Slopestyle, after which dabbled in backcountry snowboarding after taking my first AIARE 1 course, 12 years in the past. I purchased my first splitboard in 2016, and have a number of avalanche training certifications beneath my belt now.
Kind
The Riva is marketed as a freeride snowboard with the power to deal with terrain all around the mountain, and we agree.
Usually, snowboards fall inside these classes:
- Freestyle: Made to be playful, nimble, and poppy within the park and out of the park
- Freeride: Created to carve by means of ungroomed snow, directional and stiffer
- Powder: Developed for deep snow, usually setback binding inserts and a formed nostril and tail
- All-Mountain: Constructed to deal with numerous terrain and situations all around the mountain
With a stiffer, directional design, the Riva performs nicely by means of ungroomed snow however actually craves excessive velocity on hardpacked, chalked-up runs and corduroy.
Form
The Riva is a directional form, which means the nostril and the tail are distinctive silhouettes moderately than mirrors of one another.
The nostril is barely bigger to assist enhance float in powder: a 29cm width on the nostril of the 151 size, and a 28.1cm-wide tail.
Total, in these spring situations — which had been gentle in some spots and rowdy-chop-town in others — I used to be comfortable to steer with my strongest foot ahead and didn’t miss driving swap on this board, which is good for a directional design.
That form additionally meant the board responded nicely to acceleration and charging with a tad extra energy positioned within the entrance foot.
Profile
As with many typical snowboards, the Riva strikes a steadiness between that conventional camber underfoot, which means the board’s midmost part barely arches above the snow, like a mellow rainbow, when mendacity flat (and unweighted).
Towards the very finish of the board’s tail and nostril, the profile is rockered, so it curves up barely and off the snow like an upside-down banana.
The result’s a board that feels simpler to regulate at excessive speeds. This profile holds an edge extraordinarily nicely, and you’ll switch energy edge to edge at greater speeds.
With that little bit of rocker, the flip initiation isn’t as grabby or highly effective as a strict camber board. That slight rocker can be supposed to assist the board float higher in powder.
Core Supplies
The board has a 4000-series sintered base, which options higher-density supplies, improved sturdiness, and the porous materials absorbs extra wax. One of these base is quicker, stronger, and lighter than an extruded base and is mirrored within the price ticket.
That higher-end base materials additionally requires extra upkeep with a frequent wax routine. Get your iron and bench setup for winter!
With a majority wooden core fabricated from paulownia, the board isn’t heavy and it does provide a little bit of pop when it’s arrange for it — however that spring doesn’t come simple like a extra freestyle-oriented board.
Total, the board’s greater stiffness permits it to cost by means of a variable snowpack, which it does higher at greater speeds. The rigidity is enabled by the bamboo, carbon stringers, and stitched fiberglass for responsiveness.
Sidecut
The sidecut is progressive and average on this board. The 151 has a deeper, tighter curve within the middle with a 7.6m-7.3m sidecut, a 9.5 m on the tip, and an 8.6m minimize on the tail.
A 7.3-7.8m sidecut radius is an effective average radius for all-around driving, which checks out on the Riva.
The result’s this board doesn’t aggressively seize you to provoke a flip or pull you into an excellent massive flip. However when you’re leaning into that curve, the board holds a reasonably deep arch nicely.
Specs for the 151 Size:
- Efficient edge: 115 cm
- Sidecut radius: 9.5 m/7.6 m/7.3 m/8.6 m
- Waist width: 24.6 cm
- Tip/tail width (cm): 29 cm/28.1 cm
- Taper: 9 mm
- Weight: 5.83 lbs.
Every of the 4 board lengths options distinctive metrics. The 151 is good for riders within the vary of 105-165 kilos, 64-68 inches tall, and as much as a dimension 9 U.S. girls’s boot.
Conclusion
As quickly as I set off on my first run, I seen that the Riva felt inflexible however that I might belief it might maintain an edge. The PU sidewalls do present good damping. The board’s stiffness permits it to deal with blended snow from gentle powder to chalk and a small quantity of ice chatter.
On steep hardpack runs and groomed corduroy, this board took off — it simply dug deep and liked velocity. The board’s sidecut radius lends itself to reasonably arched, sweeping turns, which was enjoyable in hotter spring afternoon situations on the mountain. (The mornings had been normally chilly, particularly with freezing windchill.)
My warning is that should you make your approach into actually uneven snow or chunder, the board can really feel unforgiving. At first, and particularly in flat gentle situations once I transfer extra conservatively, I discovered the board robust to journey by means of massive patches of chunks or deep or hardpacked moguls.
With bent knees (and a velocity test earlier than dicey snow), I used to be in a position to drive with extra velocity and the board carried out higher.
Not tailor-made to freestyle, the Riva shouldn’t be probably the most responsive for an ollie and small jumps. But it surely does switch power once you load up, which I did across the mountain versus within the park.
I dabbled in some uneven moguls and bushes however didn’t minimize free on full runs by means of tight glades with the spring snow situations and this board’s stiffness. Truthfully, I normally favor a extra nimble board for whipping by means of tight pines and deeper moguls.
So long as you want a stiffer board and have it sized appropriately (don’t go too lengthy), this snowboard can deal with bushes and moguls positive — it simply gained’t be probably the most playful. I’d additionally dial again my velocity in that terrain, because it’s not the place the board shines.
Once more, the realm I missed testing this board was powder. However, with the little bit of reversed camber on the tip and tail, the board ought to float barely higher with out sacrificing all-mountain management.
In the end, the girls’s Riva snowboard is tremendous secure for broad activates clean hardpack, freshly minimize groomers, steep slopes, and even throughout mellower, smoother ice. It’s simply not my favourite board for working throughout larger ice chunks.
For riders searching for a stable, sturdy, reliable, well-constructed freeride snowboard for driving open runs and dabbling in different areas on the mountain, the Riva is a good choose.
