This year, Ride released a stiffer, faster version of the Machete, one of its flagship boards. The Machete GT ($550) sports a few upgrades — most notably, the addition of a micro-cambered shape between the feet, and carbon and urethane inserts located at the board’s contact points at either end.
The micro-camber complements the rockered tips with some edge control, while the inserts (aka the “Popwalls”) on the edges of the board give you a more stable responsive platform. I also dug the “Membrain” top sheet, a urethane/fabric sheet that not only weighs less than half of a traditional topsheet, but also serves to dampen vibration when hitting rough terrain at high speeds. — Billy Brown, Wired Magainze
Considering how many boards are touted as having “all-mountain” capabilities, very few manage to live up to the name. Ride’s Farah ($500) is one of those rare all-mountain boards that actually, truly rocks on every part of the resort.
The Farah is a fast board, and not for the faint of heart. It flies down just about anything. I easily bombed across traverses that other boards got stuck on. Ride’s hybrid all-mountain rocker puts a camber zone underfoot and a little rocker at the nose. This keeps it super responsive with some of the best edge control I’ve encountered — even through the chop or on the ice. The early-season conditions we were riding in were far from ideal — ice in the morning and slush in the afternoon — but carving was a blast on everything.
Don’t forget, all-mountain includes the park too. Even though it’s a stiff board overall, Ride’s LSD (ladies-specific design) ensures that the board has just enough pop when you need it, so even park noobs will feel rad. — Karissa Bell
Ride and artist SpaceKnuckle have teamed up for a collab that puts pixelated imagery on Rides 15k Newport jacket, twin cambered DH board, Stellar Glove and Battery board bag. We’re ready to ride this winter and want you to be prepared for the mountain so we’re giving away the entire package to one lucky reader. To enter the contest you must to live in U.S. and like both Ride Snowboards and Radcollector on FB. Head to our FB page for more info and hit the jump to see the gear.
2012 Oakley Shaun White Air & Style Podium (L-R): Peetu Piiroinen, Yuki Kadono, Stale Sandbech
16 year old Yuki Kadono (JPN) wins the Oakley Shaun White Air & Style Beijing competition in the Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium,
followed by Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) and Ståle Sandbech (NOR).
The youngest winner of Air & Style since Shaun White, Yuki Kadono, received the coveted Air & Style Ring of Glory and 1,000 World Snowboard Tour Ranking points, and was so happy he could hardly believe it. ‘It is like a dream, I still cannot believe it’, was Yuki’s concise summary of today’s events at the press conference.
His winning run scoring 97.67 points was a Backside Triple Cork 1440 Mute Grab in his third run of the Superfinal. Yuki also took home the RedBull Airtime award. It was Ståle Sandbech’s second time in third place, and even though he hoped for more, he was still very happy with his podium result, adding: ‘the Podium is always a nice place to be.’
For second placed Air & Style veteran Peetu Piiroinen, Yuki’s win came as no surprise. ‘Already in summer I knew we would be watching out for Yuki this season. I congratulate him on his win.’
More clear favorites failed to reach the podium tonight. Reigning Big Air World Champion Seppe Smits didn’t make it into round 3, losing his head to head battle with Austrian Mathias Weissenbacher, who surprised by making it into the finals with a steady Backside Double Rodeo 1080 Indy.
Roope Tonteri (FIN) is currently leading the Big Air ranking; dropping in today was all he needed to secure his number one position. Yuki Kadono made it into the top 10 of the Overall ranking with his win today and secured a 16th position on the Big Air ranking. Ståle Sandbech will follow Roope closely, now ranking 2nd on the Big Air list.
The battle for the World Snowboard Tour Big Air Title will have 2 more chapters on the 6Star level, with the O’Neill Evolution from 15-19 of January in Davos, Switzerland following and finally the World Snowboard Tour Big Air crowning taking place at the 20th anniversary of the Billabong Air & Style in Innsbruck-Tirol, the final Big Air event of the season 2012-2013.
Feels great to take my boots off for the last time this season. Thanks to all my friends and hook ups who helped me cruise through another awesome season. #LifeVacation @snoconseattle @ridesnowboardscompany @zealoptics @coalheadwear
