Platinum is for real

By Ivor Allsop Ranked #7 - All Mountain Snowboards November 21, 2008

I am the sales rep for Palmer Snowboards and Head Snowboards. Sorry Rob Connor but, the distributor for Palmer snowboards previous to last season is no longer around. Head is now doing the distribution in the USA for Palmer boards. They carry a two year warranty and if you contact Head you should have no problem as long as what you say is true. Now here is the scoop on the Platinum board. Three days ago I had the chance to put my hands on Shaun Palmers brand new World Cup race boards (Shaun pays big $$$ for each and every one of these hand made boards) at Rennstall tuning shop in Park City UT. Andy is the board tech for the US Boarder X team and he just happened to be working on the boards when I was in there. Anyhow, Shauns personal boards just like these Platinums are hand made by Hans Kessler in a tiny factory in Switzerland. I had a chance to take a close look at Shaun's boards and they feature the Klothoid tip and tail shape. The best way to think of this is decambered tip and tails. Yes this board has camber but, until you are carving in a turn and really bending the board, the far reaches of the tip and tail (contact points) remain off the snow. What does this mean? The board is more forgiving and actually creates less drag (friction) when initiating a turn. It moves the turn initiation from the very front of the contact points back about 6 inches from where you would expect to be turning the board from. It creates a ride that is much more forgiving. You never feel like you will catch an edge. However when you are hauling ass and bending the board in a carve it feels like any other board and the entire edge at that point is in the snow for maximum edge hold. Now this board has no fiberglass in it. It has carbon laminates in place of fiberglass that you find in every other snowboard. Carbon happens to me very progressive in its power distribution. The more you put into it the more you get out of it. Its also extremely light. With that said this board is not going to make a very good freestyle board due to its powerful nature. It is an unbelievable all mountain board for accomplished riders who want to put the pedal to the metal and like maximum power. If you are doing any kind of racing this is the best board on the planet. Fastest base, fastest shape available, period! I rode this board at Snowbasin last february and i was completely blown away by how much power it has when you want the power. It guess it would be like driving an Audi V12 in the city. You might just have to hold back a bit because its so fast you could find yourself in trouble.

View Details: Palmer Platinum LE Snowboard

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