Review: Arbor A-Frame Snowboard
Snowboards come in all shapes and sizes. From stubby split-tailed pow slashers, to true-twin terrain-park destroyers, to rock-solid trench diggers, we knuckle-draggers have our pick of the litter. So when I snagged the Arbor A-Frame, I was curious to see where it would shine on the mountain.
The A-Frame is available in five sizes: 158cm, 159cm wide, 162cm, 165cm mid-wide, and 170cm wide. I went with the 162cm—for reference, I'm 5'11", 170lbs. with size-10 feet.
Let's have a look at how the A-Frame stacks up on snow. As a quick rundown, this full-camber board is stiff throughout, super stiff in the tail, feels pretty light, sports a huge tapered nose, and has a short sidecut.
Powder: 5/5
The A-Frame is an absolute joy to ride in powder—in fact, the deeper, the better. Its broad nose easily keeps afloat on the surface, while its short-but-stiff tail provides plenty of stability for powerful turns. The front contact point is set back quite far from the nose, which helps with floatation and easy turn-initiation. This board is a killer pow stick.
Groomers: 2/5
Unfortunately, the set-back front contact point that comes as a boon in powder is detrimental to carving on groomers. Despite the A-Frame's length, stiffness, and full-camber profile, even at moderate speeds, the board feels squirrely, due to its shortened effective edge and sidecut radius. High speeds are downright scary.
Crud: 4/5
What this board leaves to be desired in laying trenches on groomers, it makes up for in performance on tracked-out snow. It was actually pretty fun to ride in the chop—something I wouldn't say of many other snowboards. Stiffness throughout the board, and especially in the tail, helps with stability; while the broad nose keeps me skimming above any previously-laid tracks.
Jumping: 3/5
The A-Frame clearly isn't designed as a freestyle board, but it's decently fun to jump around on. It feels light, so it's easy to throw around. The super-stiff tail felt a bit unforgiving at first, but once I got used to it, I was able to dial in my timing and load it up for some nice pop.
Overall: 4/5
The A-Frame is a great snowboard for intermediate to advanced riders looking for an all-mountain board who aren't necessarily trying to blast Mach 1 down groomers, or for expert riders looking for a dedicated big-pow stick. Personally, I'm partial to boards with a bit more hard-snow carving capacity, but I'll surely be reaching for the A-Frame on the deepest of days. Plus, the wooden topsheet looks awesome when paired with some forest-green bindings like the Arbor Cypress.
Available at arborcollective.com; $650.
