Share

Snowboards

Bataleon Distortia 2021-2022 Women’s Snowboard Review

Tested and selected for our top 100 snowboard products of the year: the Bataleon Distortia

  • Price: £420 / €500 / $500
  • Category: All-Mountain
  • Sizes: 140, 143, 146, 149, 152
  • Flex: 4/10
  • Shape: True Twin
  • Profile: Camber
  • 3D: Yes
  • Base: Extruded

Why we chose the Bataleon Distortia Snowboard: No other women’s board is this easy to progress on yet so capable across a variety of terrain. In fact our associate editor went straight out and bought one. Need we say more?

The last decade has seen the market flooded with rocker-combination boards intended to make turns and tricks that little bit easier. The trouble is, any kind of reverse camber compromises your ability to hold an edge through more aggressive carves. Bataleon stuck to their guns with Triple Base tech, and as the industry now goes increasingly 3D mad it looks like they were ahead of the game. The Distortia’s catch-free ride and friendly flex are brilliant in the park, but with some carbon lurking under the hood it’s also an awesome shape to explore the whole resort and even duck the ropes from time to time.

“Any twitchiness you might expect from the camber is ironed out seamlessly by the board’s three-dimensional Triple Base profile”

MORE INFO:
BATALEON.COM

Who Is The Bataleon Distortia For?

Girls who want to shred, not just cruise. 180s, switch take-offs, butters and rail maneuvers are all easier on a true twin like this one. And if you fancy taking some of those park tricks to your favourite side hit, so much the better.

Shape, Profile and Sidecut

As we mentioned above, the Distortia features a true twin outline that delivers identical performance in either direction. Traditional camber runs from nose to tail, essentially spring-loading the board so you can switch edge faster and ollie higher.

Any twitchiness you might expect from the camber is ironed out seamlessly by the board’s three-dimensional Triple Base profile. 3BT (as the cool kids call it these days) works by introducing a bevel into the side of the base that gets more pronounced towards the widest areas at the nose and tail. The Distortia also benefits from ‘Sidekicks’ which exaggerate the effect right at the contact points, raising them clear of the snow. The result is you really, really need to fuck up to make this thing catch an edge. If you come off a rail early, or under-rotate a spin on the jump line, the board will naturally want to correct itself rather than bucking you off. Sa-weet.

Triple Base also lends the board a unique feel when you’re turning edge to edge: it rolls smoothly rather than lurching across the base. This makes the Distortia a pleasure to blast around on and super easy to butter. It’s still stable in a straight line, though, thanks to a large flat section between the inserts – a handy attribute that ensures you can approach features with confidence and stomp the crap out of any landing.

For a small twin tip snowboard, the Distortia even performs pretty well in powder. The uplifted Sidekicks give the nose and tail more float, and really help the board to surf through deep snow. So now you’ve got no excuse not to send it off that cliff drop.

“For a small twin tip snowboard, the Distortia even performs pretty well in powder”

Construction and Materials

The Distortia feels nimble underfoot thanks to a wood core made from a 50/50 blend of traditional springy poplar and super lightweight Swiss paulownia. A hollow carbon ‘Super Tube’ has been positioned right down the middle to boost pop further. If you can’t get this board into the air then we’re afraid you’re doing something wrong!

There’s more carbon built into the lay-up via X-shaped fibre strips that run cross the inserts. These reinforce the deck right where it’s under the most pressure, and transmit energy from the bindings into the edges faster. Now, all that might make it sound like the Distortia is intimidatingly stiff, but the carbon is positioned only where you really need a little extra pep. Sure, it’s a lively ride, but the topsheet features a biaxial glass weave that’s torsionally mellow – so the overall flex is super relaxed – and with no carbon at the nose or tail it’s an easy board to lock into presses and load ollies.

Since the Distortia’s natural habitat is the park, it features an extruded ‘Super Slick’ X base. It’s not quite as quick as sintered P-tex but it can withstand a beating better and doesn’t lose as much performance when the wax has gone – both a useful bonus if you’re gonna be spending your day sliding rails and boxes.

There’s not a lot to say about the graphic, except that it manages to include a cat, an acid house smiley face, a peace sign AND a great white shark. Amazing.

“If you can’t get this board into the air then we’re afraid you’re doing something wrong!”

Roundup

Bataleon have packed a hell of a lot of tech into this board, but it never feels gimmicky or unnecessarily stiff. At heart it’s just a friendly freestyle deck that makes learning stuff easier, but with the help of that 3D profile and some premium elements within the construction the Distortia proved amazing fun to ride almost anywhere on the mountain. Speed freaks might pine after a faster base but that’s pretty much the only gripe. It’s really the complete package.

Sponsored by

Share

Newsletter Terms & Conditions

Please enter your email so we can keep you updated with news, features and the latest offers. If you are not interested you can unsubscribe at any time. We will never sell your data and you'll only get messages from us and our partners whose products and services we think you'll enjoy.

Read our full Privacy Policy as well as Terms & Conditions.

production