• Price: €840
• Category: Freeride/Powder
• Ability Level: Advanced
• Size: 158
• Flex: 9/10
• Shape: Directional
• Profile: Camber
• Base: Sintered

Depending on who straps into it, the Amplid Pentaquark will either invoke feelings of divine intervention or arouse a fear of the Almighty. As part of Amplid’s Two-Season Cycle, the Pentaquark remains entirely unchanged and gets carried over into winter 20/21. That’s a great thing, though. Not only did it earn a spot in last year’s 100, it also claimed the Whitelines Choice Award for the best carving snowboard on the market.

Before going any further, the Pentaqaurk isn’t a cheap snowboard. Nor is it particularly versatile. There aren’t any visual marketing treats, like 3D contoured base profiles or wavy-side cuts. Even the monochrome colourway is pretty inconspicuous and understated.

“It’ll take a confident operator to cross the threshold into some type-1 fun rather than simply fly by the seat of their pants, fearing for their life”

And yet, few snowboards will grab your full-attention and completely rip up a piste like this one does. As part of Amplid’s Centrifugal Collection, the Pentaquark sits at the top of this supercharged, specced-up trifecta of mountain chargers, utilising their most sophisticated construction practices.

There’s a directional shape and subtle taper, as well as a full-length positive camber, tri-ax laminates and carbon stringers, located in the snowboard’s tail. It all spells out the makings of a classic corduroy killer. With an abundance of power and precision on offer here, it’ll take a confident operator to cross the threshold into some ‘Type-1 fun’ rather than simply fly by the seat of their pants, fearing for their life.

It’s definitely one for the speed freaks with high-octane and even higher edge angles fixed firmly in their sights. No surprises, then, that the Pentaquark comes fitted with their fastest Sintered 7HD Base. Something about shovels and shit comes to mind, here.

“It’s a snowboard that doesn’t just leave your mates behind on the piste but leaves behind the entire status quo of snowboard construction”

The weight is also kept to a minimum through the use of HEXO2 Technology. Large sections of the core’s nose and tail are comprised of a recycled paper honeycomb structure to all but eliminate the swing weight and heighten the Pentaquark’s response levels.

However, it’s Amplid’s in-house creation, AntiPhase, that reserves the bragging rights for its game-changing tech. For those who paid attention in high-school physics, we’ll let Amplid explain here. For us laymen, rest assured, even with the Pentaquark’s intended breakneck speeds, the core absorbs and diffuses almost all of the inevitable chatter. The result is a rock steady, predictable and confidence-inspiring carver to steer you towards a new level of turning experience.

It’s a snowboard that doesn’t just leave your mates behind on the piste but leaves behind the entire status quo of snowboard construction. The Pentaquark rethinks how it’s possible to ride, and how the snowboard can best serve that purpose. There’s a lot of tech going on here, but the sum of all these parts adds up to the most elusive yet simple of things a snowboarder craves: the perfect turn.