Intro

Designed by the best freestyle snowboarder on the planet, the T.Rice Pro HP is an all-mountain snowboard If you haven’t heard of Travis Rice, time to get out from under your rock. The first board in the series designed in collaboration between Mervin Manufacturer and Travis Rice. An all-mountain board with a true twin shape this board is designed as a daily use snowboarder for intermediate to advanced riders. It also comes in a wide, so even hobbits should have a great time without any heel or toes catches.

Specs

This board has hybrid sidecut, with small camber zones under the feet and rocker between the feet (aka C2 profile). Its uses full Magne-Traction with seven points of contact on each edge, in comparison to traditional snowboards that have two. The “Horse Power” construction is more environmentally friendly, lighter and stronger; using “Bio-Beans” on the top sheet and basalt. The TNT/Sintered base is faster but less durable than an extruded base and will require regular waxing (every 2-5 days riding),

Ride

The feel on this board is unlike any I have ridden before. I’ve been riding camber profile boards for most of my life and only recently delved in the more experimental snowboard designs. I’ve ben able to ride this in all types of conditions from technical double blacks, powder, trees, groomers and ice. It excels in uneven powder terrain and tight trees, the C2 base makes it extremely manoeverable and dynamic. It can turn on a six-pence and bounces through bumps with ease. At high speeds it feels more unstable than a camber profile and although performing abmirably in the powder the twin shape means it doesn’t float as easily as mroe powder specific board. The difference in profile shape does affect the overall feel and will probably take a few days to start to understand the nuances of this board so you can get the most of it. I have size 10UK feet and the wide shape means an end to frustating toe and heel drag, and I was surpirsed during carved turns (which have improved dramatically because the increase in width) I didn’t feel any affect from the serrated edge. Something I have to mention is the hold on ice: we don’t get much here in Whistler, but when the conditions are perfectly terrible sometime the hill get icy. In all honesty I couldn’t believe how well this grips.

Overall

A great overall snowboard designed one of the best riders on planet and incorporating new snowboard technology. If you want an all mountain board that you can take anywhere on the mountain in any conditions, this is definitely worth a look.