Category: Boards

Revolts exceeded expectations…

I used my EMPs in the Canadian Rockies this last week for the first time in varied terrain, from 12 inch powder to freshly groomed trails. The skiboards exceeded my expectations and instilled confidence to try more challenging terrain.

Some background: I am nearly 48 years old, 6′, 195 lbs, non-athletic, and I have been skiboarding mostly green and the occasional blue groomed run for 2 years using SnowJam 90s. I upgraded to the 105 EMPs this season because I found that I had to be constantly adjusting my posture to maintain my balance on the SJ90s when in rough terrain. Greco’s recommendation to upgrade to the EMPs proved to be a perfect match to my ability (or lack of); the extra length provided the stability I desired, while maintaining maneuverability.

Per Valmorel’s recommendations for an all mountain setup in other forum threads, I modified my Spruce composite bindings to provide a 40 mm setback and I replaced the bindings with S810TIs to provide a more direct transfer from the boots to the skiboards.

My first day with the EMPs was at Sunshine Village ski resort. The first run was on a familiar and easy green run, that soon proved to be boring so I moved on to blues. By lunch, I was comfortable on short blacks and was able to join my teenage snowboarding children on runs I never dreamed of being on.

My second (Christmas) day, was at Kicking Horse ski resort and we were treated to fresh powder that reached depths of over 12 inches in the upper bowl. The EMPs carried me through the powder and they were effortless to control through the trees, which I struggled with in the past, and always avoided. Traversing previous tracks and other uneven terrain proved to be easy, and enjoyable. I could not get enough of the powder and the tree runs.

During the remaining three days, another two at Kicking Horse, and one day at Panorama ski resort, I progressively became braver. I did moguls, and let the skiboards max out their speed on familiar terrain while “racing” skiers and my children.

Thank you Greco and Valmorel for helping me find a skiboard and setup that has given me the confidence to step out of my previous comfort zone. The EMPs provide the ride that instills confidence.
Rider – Slow – Intermediate Skiboarder (2007 Ethan Mitchel Pro model)


With Revolts I was throwing down the carves like no tomorrow…

These boards are top notch. They behave great on the groomers, throwing down the carves like no tomorrow, and when you cut into the fresh pow between the trees there’s nothing like it. I can’t comment much on the park performance because I’ve just begun to explore that area. So far however they seem great. My field of experience is limited, since the only other board I’ve used is long rental skis. That said, however, I have yet to find the limits of these boards, and love every minute on them.

Rider – Nate Myton – Beginning Skiboarder

Revolts have a nice balance of speed, agility, and stability…

The original version of the RVL8 Revolts, unlike the current version, have lower tips/tails. Being of the 105cm size, they have more stability and speed than 98cm skiboards, but with better turning radius and agility than 110cm skiboards. Since they are slightly shorter than 110cm skiboards, they don’t perform quite as well on powder than 110cm skiboards that have more surface area, but they do perform well enough, especially when leaning back. On groomers, they have a nice balance of speed, agility, and stability. For those who want more than what a 98cm skiboard can do, and where a 110cm skiboard is too much, the 105cm RVL8 Revolts might be just right.
Rider – Edward Ho – Expert Skiboarder


Revolts are amazing and nimble…

Alright this has been a long time coming but I finally managed to take the time and head up to an indoor snow facility about 1 and a half hours drive from my house.

After Picking up my boots, having the toe and ankle punched (shell) I was all set to head off to snowplanet…

Just Some background info on me: I’m 5’10 weigh about 150lbs, have skied for about 6-7hours in my whole life and have a decent background in inline….

Right anyway, headed into snowplanet got suited up and clamped my feet to my Snowjam Extreme II bindings and beautiful Cities. Instantly I was amazed at how light the felt when compared to the long skis i have briefly tried. Skating was natural as I headed to the magic carpet lift to try the bunny slope just to make sure I wasn’t going to be in over my head; I could immediately turn and could stop rather easily snowploughing.

After that great experience i decided to try my luck on the actual slope, the platter lift was of no hassle and once at the top it looked a lot steeper, but no worry, I went down slowly just making gentle turns with extreme ease, it was so easy and SOO fun. By this stage I had several people snickering behind me in the lift line “hey looks at his boards, they are SOO cool, they look like heaps of fun” or similar phrases to that extent.

On my second run I began to actually dig in the edges and began to teach myself carving and learning to hockey stop, after a few more runs I had that mastered and then was engaged in a conversation with a gentleman who was utterly amazed by my skiboards (the guy maybe in his early 50’s) wondering where he could get some and what they actually were, so I told him they were skiboards and pointed him in the right direction…

Next thing I though to try was speed, extreme speed, I bombed my way right down the slope (after having a conversation with a guy (a different guy) who questioned how fast they would be but still thought they were awsome,I also kindly corrected him that they were skiboards not blades ) Well it just so happened that this particular guy on skis liked to go very fast and well I managed to beat him down.

After conquering speed, turning, carving and stopping having several more looks of confusement and astonishment I thought hey lets try spinning to and riding fakie, this was the hardest thing to do although by the end of the night I could pretty much spin to fakie at most speeds (spinning back is a bit more difficult but I’m getting there)

The only down point of the night was when a complete novice skiier slammed straight into the back of me (she probably shouldn’t have been on the large slope), as well as a bit of topsheet damage but thats natural…

Anyway To sum up

The boards: They are amazing so nimble, quick, (no chatter when bombing) Feel so natural to ride, extremely fun and one of the main factors was the ease of learning, I spent FOUR HOURS and achieved the above It was incredible, not to mention they were a crowd pleaser…

The bindings: Solid didnt get any chatter or vibration when going super speed or initiating massive carves, a great option especially when on a budget…

Snowplanet: Although a bit repetitive (one straight slope) it was probably the best place to learn and it also had a decent sized jump and a few rails, the only other problem was it is only about 200m long and so the runs dont last very long, but it was still really cool.

What I Say: I say Skiboarding is the bomb, it is the best thing to hit the slopes ever it is crazy fun, without putting excess pressure on my bad knee and also even easier to do with a skating background.

I also say that the RVL8 Revolt Cities are incredible thats all there is to it, They hold an edge, they can really fly, Flex is great, spinning is fun and easy, THEY PERFORM. I would recommend the Revolts to anyone wanting to get into skiboarding they are simply great.

I had a great 4 hours on the slope at snowplanet, and now don’t consider myself a complete novice, I can’t wait for winter when I can continue to improve at an immensly rapid pace having fun spinning the whole way down the mountain
Rider – Aidan Ward – Beginning Skiboarder (Revolt Cities 2008 model)


Revolts are extremely stable…

I probably put these boards through the paces this weekend at Vermont. Sunday we hit up smugglers ice notch

Saturday night was bolton valley amid freezing rain. we were completely coated in ice and alot of the trails were icy as well.

These boards held a nice line on carving even on some ice. They are extremely stable at high speeds and on some of the more mushy areas they floated extremely well.

There was a bit more effort to get on edge then my earlier boards (lame mnp) but carve nicer once you are there.

Of course I had to hit up the terrain park as well. My first hit on a long box actually had ice covered on it so I felt like a snowplow and it jerked me a little but I didn’t lose control. wish I got a photo there

Overall I would reccomend these boards to anyone 5’8″ and above, anyone under that they may be a bit cumbersome until you get used to them.

Rider – Mark Carraro – Expert Skiboarder (Ethan Mitchel Pro model 2007)


Revolts are the perfect skiboard…

These are the perfect skiboard. At 105 cms long and 14.5 cms wide they provide the perfect balance between length and width. These boards also excel throughout the whole mountain, they are amazing on rails and off jumps in the park, and perform extremely well on groomers and in the glades. They perform adequatly in powder, but probly not as well as the longer 110s or wider KTPs. I have never really ridden them in more than 6 inches of powder, because I live in Pennyslvania. For the East Coast and park rider, I reccomend these boards 100 percent. Buy the RVL8 Revolt Citys!

Rider – Ty Bereskie – Expert Skiboarder (Revolt City 08 model)


Revolts WOW

WOW, going from salomon 90cm snowblades to these was an entire world of difference! with the snowblades if i just tried to go down the hill as fast as i could they would bonce around and make a very scary ride but with these i felt so stable. The main thing i like about this board vs my old salomons is the landing area is so much bigger, on my snowblades i was terrified to hit any jumps bigger than 3 feet, this weekend by my second day on these i was pulling 180’s off jumps and getting probably 5 feet of air on other jumps, It was very easy to switch to fakie and come back by spinning, the only problem i had was when i was trying to ride fakie and then spin back to normal, they would try and go for more, but i consider that a good thing not a bad thing, Overall i am very happy with my R8 Citys and i hope you will give them a try.

Rider – Austin N – Intermediate Skiboarder (Revolt City 08 model)


Revolts are the best all around performance boards you can get…

The RVL8 EMP’s were my second set of boards, and I’ve been very happy with them. They have performed admirably in many different conditions and therefore instill confidence in the rider. The 105 length took some getting used to after my 90 SnowJams, but after modifying my technique slightly I’ve found them to be very nimble and light. The length is a good medium between agility and stability. They do tend to start skidding and flexing a bit at higher speeds on hardpack or ice, but I have never “skidded out” on them. Properly waxed, they are very fast, and I’m able to keep up with just about anyone on skies or a snowboard.

In powder they have decent float and are very easy to control. Going down through powdery glades runs is great since the short length allows for easy direction changes. I’ve had them in knee-deep powder and they were able to float my 185lbs through at a decent speed.

I’m not much of a park guy, but these boards seem to do well in that environment. On rails they feel very stable and slide well. Off of jumps they are also quite good, although I’ve found that stiffer boards help me a bit more.

All in all these are one of the best all-around performance boards you can get in my opinion. I do recommend pairing them with a higher-end binding like the Bombers. I noticed a big difference in performance when I switched up from my SnowJam Extreme 2’s.

As a side note, I’m 6’3″ 185lbs.

Rider – Tim – Intermediate Skiboarder (EMP 07 Model)


Revolts, wow…

So last night after school I went up to jiminy peak and i was able to try out the new skiboards.

All i can say is wow.

Id been using fsx 90s by matrix, which are really thin and have almost no flex, 8 hole bindings and foam cores.

The first run i took, i really noticed the extra length behind me, and as i was carving, i could really get into the carving more, and it was so much more responsive then on the old ones. I could get a lot more out of it, and spent my first few runs just carving like crazy. Then i went to a diamond, whitetail. This was a completely different experience than any other diamonds i went on with the matrix boards. I was able to go at least twice as fast, but more importantly, there were no violent vibration and making deals with god as i had when i would go down even groomed diamonds on the other boards. I didn’t feel any chatter at all, and was able to effortlessly make small turns and go down at great speed. The next time i went down the same run, i looked a little bit more closely at the trail, and realized, the terrain wasn’t groomed well, and the snow wasn’t even. On my old boards, this would be untouchable terrain at any speeds at all. On these, i didn’t even realize how choppy the terrain was.

This then made me daring enough to confront, once again, my nemesis at jiminy, Jericho. For those of you that don’t know, it’s a double black diamond and supposedly the hardest trail at the mountain. The last time i attempted it, in December, on my old boards, I fell hard when i was trying to carve and my edge gave out. With thoughts of this previous experience on this devil of a trail, i slowly turned into the trail. It was the best moment i think of my entire season. I was able to carve back and forth quickly, while making small turns and keeping a good amount of speed, despite the somewhat icy conditions. It was at this moment that completely and totally confirmed my already high regards for these amazing boards. I can’t say enough for the quality of these skiboards.

Oh and…

Don’t be afraid of the length. I was a little worried before i went that the transition from 90s to 105s would be hard, but it took maybe 2 or 3 runs to me to be completely natural on these boards.

Rider – Rob Kraebel – Intermediate Skiboarder (Trees Model)

Revolt’s blew me out of the water…


The Revolts were the first RVL8 board I have had the pleasure of riding. Previously I had ridden snowblades and my old Line Weapons. The Revolts blew them outta the water. The width and length of the boards provided the stability that I needed when I was approaching top speed, and it also gave float on the deeper snow that I was not accustomed to. Before I had even rode the boards I feared the length and width difference would be a hindrance, but as soon as I put them down a few trails my worries disappeared. On edge they feel solid and in the terrain park they were wonderful. Landings were a breeze on these boards and boxes were nice and smooth due to the width. I would recommend these boards to anyone who wants the true all mountain board as they excel in every category.

Rider – Nathan Gorin – Expert Skiboarder