Category: Boards

Bulldog skiboards are a great and versatile product…

First impressions.. they are pretty long. I put them up against my Condors and realized they are longer than them. At that time, I didn’t know they were 112.8cm, but I suspected as much from the difference. The shape is more attuned to the Lacroix and Summits than the ALPs. The ALPs, Condors and Spruces have a broad tip/tail, while the Bulldogs, Lacroix, and Summits have a more tapered tip/tail. The Bulldogs are also heavy, similar to the Woodies, but not because of the material to make the skiboard, but due to it’s binding system.

On each skiboard, there are 4 metal plates. These plates allow you to switch between skiboard and snowboard mode. These metal plates add weight. The bindings are all metal, solid. Since they rely on the metal plates for their skiboard/snowboard mode, you can only use the bindings that come with the Bulldogs, they are not standard 4 x 4 mountings. The bindings are extremely heavy, much heavier than the Bomber Elites, and almost as heavy as the Spruce Pro Lights. If the Bombers were called bomb-proof, these beefy bindings are nuclear-proof. Unlike the FF, Elite, and Extreme II bindings, they are constructed very differently.

Both the FF Pros Aluminums and the Snowjam Extreme IIs are constructed with a rubber washer-type material on the bottom for shock absorption that spans the length of the binding. On top of this is a metal plate, which is about 1/4″ thick. This plate is used to mount the binding into the skiboard, and to also mount the heel/toe pieces to clip into your boot. Adjustment for boot size is made by moving the heel/toe pieces on metal teeth which makes sizing very easy.

The Bomber Elites are different to their approach. There is a 1/2″ circular metal disk that attaches to a 1/4″ metal plate. This metal is plate is attached to a skiboard throught the circular metal disk. The disk is used for the height needed for the shock absorption bumbers on the heel and toes parts on the bottom of the metal plate. The metal plate is also where the toe and heel metal pieces are mounted to clip your boot onto, and they adjust by having 3 hole settings on the heel and toe (total 6 hole adjustments) on the metal plate, plus the toe/heel pieces have another 4 adjustments available. This makes them also very easy for sizing up boots, though not quite as easy as the teeth method.

For the Bulldog bindings, first, there is no shock absorption pads/bumper on these bindings. Instead of mounting the bindings via a center 4 x 4 mount on the binding, these are mounting onto the Bulldog via skiboard mode with toe and heel clips. These clips are all metal, so there are no rubber pieces between the bindings and the skiboard. Second, the bindings are very heavy. It’s a solid piece of 1″ thick metal. One Bulldog binding weighs the same as two Elites/FF Pros/Snowjam Extreme IIs. Third, the micro-adjustments for the bindings are similar to the Bombers where the toe and heel bails can be twisted for micro-adjustments, which is great and adaptable to all boot sizes.

Now comes the review of how they perfomed on the slopes. Since I don’t snowboard, I only used them as skiboards. For the rest of the day, I dedicated my time using the Bulldogs in skiboard mode, from mid-mountain down to base and from summit down to base, made a total of 8 runs to get a proper feel of them. As skiboards, they perform very well, with the length and speed of a 110 such as the ALPs or Custom 110s. They flex similar to the ALPs and the Custom 110s Carbons, not as soft of a flex as the Spruce 120s and not as stiff as the Custom 110s Woodies. The added 2.8cms didn’t seem to make them feel any less quicker/slower than the 110s, but the added weight of the bindings go make you have to push them more on your turns.

One month later, I took the Boardskis out in powder and they performed great. The boardskis are just as wide as the KTPs, but slightly longer than the ALPs/Condors. Condors are slightly wider than the Boardskis, but the Boardskis have less flex than the Condors and it also heavier. This made them able to blow through powder. The powder today was a bit crusty because there was no snowfall yesterday, but the Boardskis were able to go through them without a problem. By the afternoon, once the temps went up and the powder became softer, the Boardskis were also able to handle the powder without skipping a beat.

After all that powder, I decided to take them to the terrain park at Steamboat Springs to go through the small boardercross track and hit some small jumps. Again, they didn’t miss a beat!

Overall, if you like something that can give you the option of both being able to skiboard and snowboard, then this can work very well for you. I do have to note, there is a pretty large gap when in snowboard mode in the middle, and I do wonder can powder get caught in there, especially when making a carve. When going on a flat, the tips are fairly tight so I’m sure they can plow through the powder such that it middle gap won’t get caught.

The Boardskis are a great product and versatile product.

Rider – Edward Ho – Expert Skiboarder


Allz 94cm are classics…

People tend to shy away from shorter skiboards these days and I find its really a shame. There is a lot of top notch shredding to be had on shorter sticks. Allz 94 are the perfect example of mid-small skiboards that feels more like bigger mid sized alternatives.Allz 94 have a shape reminiscent of the late great Canon M7s but with a few centimeters off the top, giving a pretty big tunring radius of 6.5 meters, one of the biggest in the sub 100 sized skiboards. Combine that with a medium stiffness, and these feel and ride more like bigger skiboards compared to other shorter skiboards on the market.The 94s would rather you stitch your lines wide if you want to avoid tail scrappage. At 12.5 cm wide at the top and bottom, and 10.5 at the waist, they won’t keep heavier cargo sitting a top the soft snow, but small to medium sized riders should get some lift in not-so-deep snow with help from some pretty long and smooth tips. Setback feels less awkward on the bigger turning radius of these sticks on groomed runs, so you can allow yourself to set these back a bit if you’re going to be both plowing soft snow and riding groomed runs.

The width of these boards compliments the larger turning radius and stiffness, giving quick a quick edge to edge transfer for maximum edge handling of those wide turns. Keep the edges tuned and the 94s will cut through ice like skates, and the stiffness helps keep their mid-wide profile holding their edge.

The mediocre stiffness of the 94 boosts popping power off lips and on those tail/nose press/butters. Some might find them a little too small for big airs, but the wider radius keeps landings stiff and straight, and not twirly whirly. On rails they feel a little less solid than wider boards, but they are quick and nimble because of their size.

These classic skiboards are really going to please those looking for a different riding experience. Today’s skiboards tend to be wider, longer and with a super tighter radius. These offer up a different theory; mid-wide, shorter with a wider radius. East coast, icy mountain shredder would really enjoy the Allz, as well and those who like doing wider carves on groomed runs. For those looking for a ”back in the days” feel to their sticks might need to pick these up! Skier convert looking to go short will find the Allz an easy transition.

Rider – Jason Roussel – Expert Skiboarder Co-founder Skiboardmagazine.com




Allz 94cm boards made this first timer extremely happy…

I’ll mention a few facts before I start. These are my first skiboards, I’ve never used snowblades/skiblades before because I found it pointless. I am 5’9″, 170lbs. I have 5 years of experience of snowboarding, and 3/4 skiing before that.
After finally convincing my parents to let me buy some skiboards, they still seemed pretty hesitant about how I would hold up, especially because my dad wants to take me to Whistler during the 2nd week of March.

It took me about 3 runs to get used to the feeling of 2 small boards under me, unlike the 1 board I’m used to. I went down the hill keeping up with my friend who has many years, roughly 9/10, of skiing. I had no problems, and soon learned how to turn properly, hockey stop, etc. My biggest fear was small lumps made by beginner snowboarders and skiers. I leaned forward to keep my certain of balance and, according to my friend, I was jumping off of them like a “Mexican Jumping Bean” because I had crouched down for speed.

Next I tried them in the powdery sections to the side of the runs. I had non-release certain mount bindings, Snowjam Extreme II’s to be exact, and had no problem. It was easy to keep my balance a bit back to make sure I didn’t fall forward.

My next experiment was riding switch, a.k.a. backwards. I am quite hesitant in doing this but know what to do. My friend taught me, and now it seems just as easy as riding forwards.

And did I mention I like the stiffness of these? They give me the good flex I like, and after watching a few skiers I was carving down the hill no problem.

I am extremely happy with my purchase of these, and I can’t wait to hit the slopes again.

I read all the warnings of not pushing yourself too far because you will get hurt. After reading these, I decided to not do anything in the park expect for 1 hip jump, and hitting up the super pipes. No they did not have any regular half pipes.
Rider – Pawel – Beginning Skiboarder




Allz 94cm boards


I purchased these as I was looking for a shorter pair of boards for other people in my family to use, but I wanted to ride them myself at first. Initial experiences were on a indoor slope, but I managed to take them outdoors to Villares, Switzerland a couple of days ago.

The shorter length caught me out twice. I fell on my back twice when riding the tails, but the second time I did actually push it to see how far I could ride on tails alone. I also think the shorter length contributes to the boards being slow starters, but I did manage to build up quite a bit of speed. Speed control was easy and so was stopping at the end of the runs. I did notice that the glided very well coming into the lift – better than Summit Nomads (another pair that I own). There were some “out-of-control” moments at speed, but they were easy to correct as the Elailas just responded very quickly.

For a number of rides I followed a snowboarder down. He was riding a good line and it was a good exercise chasing his line or going across the wake he created. He was faster than I was, but I caught up when I rode off my tails, keeping the tips a bit up.

I did upset one instructor because I slalomed through the poles he set up for some pupils. But hey-ho, it was a piece of cake, given the turning radius of the Elaila. I did not even break a sweat and was still riding upright!

It was outdoors that I really wanted to ride and I never realized what a test that would be. There has been no decent snow in the two weeks leading up to my visit, so snow conditions were terrible. Lots of icy sections in the shadows, followed by lots of slush in sections exposed to the sun. Definitely not ideal conditions, but very good for a review of how these boards would perform.

Carving was excellent, even using non-release bindings. I managed to get finger-dragging turns going without an issue. Skating the flats was easy, so was riding fakie.

The only place where the boards struggled was hitting the slush. I spun out a couple of times, and I would think this is partially due to the low tips. Higher tips on these boards would not be impractical though as it would reduce the running length.

I never had a chance to test them in powder, so no opinion on this. Park is not my thing, so no review here, although I must say I have seen guys do some sick tricks using these, so I suspect they are really well suited to the park.

Personally, as I am 179cm, I felt they were a bit short for me as a goto board, but for a shorter person they would be ideal. Martins might not like me calling his boards feminine, but I think given their beautiful artwork, they would definite suit a lady wanting to make a statement on the slopes. Seriously, these boards have an excellent top-side graphic, some of the best I have seen. Compared to the RVL8 boards which tend to have extravagant graphics, the ’11 model has a much more relaxing, mellow design.

I can recommend these boards anytime to anyone looking for a sub-99 board. Beautiful, top-performer, high quality construction, and reasonably priced they are a worthwhile investment and will provide hours of tireless riding.


Rider – Schalk W. Cronjé – Intermediate Skiboarder