The Endeavor crew hit up Tignes back in December to test out this season's snowboards and generally shred up all the amazing powder! Here's what went down...
After a worryingly snowless drive up to Tignes and an afternoon riding on a handful of (actually pretty fun) pebble-ridden runs, the snow deities decided to have some mercy. The following day the heavens opened up and it proceeded to dump continually for the next 4 days straight.
Endeavor pro riders Mike Austin and Andy Nudds joined us on the trip and we managed to grab a couple of shots of them hitting the slopes. On the days when the sheer amount of snow was just too much for the resort to handle, Andy and Mike turned to the streets of Tignes for inspiration.
While these snowy conditions definitely made filming a little trickier, they also gave us a great opportunity to test out the Endeavor snowboards, Dragon goggles, Vans outerwear and Pro-Tec protection available to us on a really wide range of snow conditions ranging from ice to powder. Over the course of the week we tested out various bits of kit (check out our reviews of the Dragon APX goggle, the Endeavor Guerilla snowboard and the Pro-Tec IPS Back Protector) and interviewed some of the riders and distributors so keep an eye on the blog for more product reviews and rider profiles from the trip.
MPORA GEAR
Mpora Gear is all about product reviews and we wanted to kick things off with a review of a product that we recently tested out in the Alps.
Canadian snowboard company Endeavor Snowboard Design have been making stellar snowboards since 2002 and are finally beginning to gain the kind of recognition that they deserve. With a focus on producing quality product over fancy gimmicks and marketing the brand definitely appear to have their hearts and heads in the right place.
UK distributor for Endeavor snowboards Sam Noble talks us through the Guerilla snowboard:
Endeavor GUERILLA
I was able to test the Guerilla for a day and was able to test the board on a wide range of snow conditions ranging from fresh powder and corduroy in the morning to soft moguls and varied terrain in the afternoon. I rode the 154, which is a little bigger than I usually ride but it was a powder day after all! Here’s what I thought of it:
Shape and Profile: The Guerilla snowboard has a directional shape which made it easier to ride in the foot or so of powder that I was lucky enough to test it on. I didn’t have any problems with getting float in the powder despite the traditional camber profile of the board.
Flex: The Guerilla has a mid-flex and this helped it handle all of the conditions that I rode it on well. The board was stiff enough to charge around on but soft enough to still be playful on groomers and in butters. The biax glass topsheet made the board quite soft torsionally which in turn made turning on it a breeze.
Pop and liveliness: The mid-flex and poplar wood cambered profile made the board feel lively going into and out of turns and the board was quick and springy edge to edge. Tip to tail carbon stringers ensured the board had a decent amount of pop power and I was able to pop some pretty decent ollies on the groomers and in the powder.
This season's Endeavor range is available to buy and rent at the Tignes Spirit shop in Tignes le Lavachet. Come and test one out for free!
