Tansho’s not for this rider…

In a nutshell:

200 lb. male, brand new 90 cm well waxed Revel 8 Tansho’s; 3 feet of very fresh, very soft, very fluffy white stuff; a lot of un-groomed trail, and a lot of chop = A VERY BAD DAY !!!!

OK .. maybe not a “very bad day” since any day up in the snow is a good day, buuuutttt…..

A guy my size in these conditions has no business being on these boards. I got into one section of un-groomed snow between two trails and sunk up to my mid-thigh. Green runs and fluffy stuff = no speed and way too much work skating just to keep from coming to a stop.

Blue runs with a lot of chop = me having to lean way back to keep my tips up and avoid hitting a big mound of snow and face-planting. My quads are killing me right now.

Un-groomed blacks = forget about it. No float and all sinkage. Even when I started bombing straight down to pick up some speed, I’d hit a mound of soft stuff and rather than rising up over the top of the mound, the tips of the boards would cut through, I’d hit the mound with my boots and face-plant again … even while leaning back to keep the tips as high and light as possible.

These are also not long enough for me to feel any flex in the boards at all …. undulating terrain and firm bumps nearly bounced me right off my feet and onto my head – very unforgiving and definitely much better suited to flat and even groomers for someone my size. As well, I noticed the lack of length and flex out in front of me contributed to the boards failing to rise up over the tops of mounds and drifts.

These are going to the wife for sure. Today, she rode on the Head Shape 94s I started out on last season. These should be a good upgrade for her and may be the ideal board for her.

The tips of the Tansho’s are higher than the Heads, they are wider (though a bit shorter), and look to have a larger surface area. These should be just about perfect for my 115 lb. novice skiboarding wife.

Hopefully, my newly acquired KTP’s will be better in varied conditions, chop, and pow. They look good and by their size they should do better in the dumping of snow we have gotten out here this last week.

Time and next weekend will tell.

Rider – Robert – Beginning Skiboarder