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Snowboards

Borealis Koi 2021-2022 Snowboard Review

  • Price: £445 / €519 / $609
  • Category: Freeride + Powder
  • Sizes: 156, 160
  • Flex: 7/10
  • Shape: Directional
  • Profile: Combo
  • 3D: No
  • Base: Sintered

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what kind of snowboard the Borealis Koi is. The shape, the name and even the classic wood aesthetic mark it out as the kind of deck that’s most at home in undulating powder fields. But, while the Koi may look like it’s a one job wonder, Borealis have tricked it out with a hidden agenda- to rip up groomers as a carving cannon.

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what kind of snowboard the Borealis Koi is”

MORE INFO:
BOREALIS-SNOWBOARDS.COM

Who Is The Borealis Koi For?

Freestyle? Who’s that? You’re a pretty traditional kind of guy, call a spade a spade, y’know? You’ve probably ridden in Japan, or it’s at the top of your shred bucket list, and you are a self-professed powder hound. You’ll happily take fresh corduroy though when conditions won’t allow for scoring fresh lines.

Shape, Profile and Sidecut

The outline alone pretty much guarantees that you’ll float like a champ, the stubby, crescent tail does a lot of the heavy lifting by sinking down naturally whilst the elongated rockered nose stays afloat sniffing out new lines. There’s also a hefty taper running from nose to tail, as well as a 3cm setback, so to be quite honest, you’re not going to have to worry about sinking regardless of how deep it gets.

But not every day is a nipple deep blower pow day, so to make sure that the Koi is not just a one trick pony, Borealis have kitted it out for digging trenches on hardpack, too. With its long effective edge and increased traction points of the Sidewaves 2.0, the Koi is prime for long, laid out carves on the corduroy and the camber midbody ensures a dynamic turning experience with stability when you’re charging at speed.

“But not every day is a nipple deep blower pow day, so to make sure that the Koi is not just a one trick pony, Borealis have kitted it out for digging trenches on hardpack, too”

Construction and Materials

The graphics might be simple, but what’s under the hood is far from it, this is Borealis’ straight chuting, fast talking, freeride weapon, and as such it’s no expense spared with the ingredients. An impact resistant bamboo topsheet supercharges the Koi with impressive snappy reload, whilst the core is milled out in the nose and tail for reduced swing weight and reinforced with bamboo rods for dynamic pop.

The core is sandwiched by reactive triax fibreglass weave and bolstered by strips of carbon and kevlar running the length of the board to dampen chatter and stiffen up the flex.

Carbon power beams fan out from the inserts in the nose to the contact points, driving rider input directly where you need it for dependable turn initiation, whilst they cross brace in the tail to allow for solid grip through to the very last second of your carves and extra power in the back leg for big take-offs and landings.

“This is Borealis’ take on the classic ‘fish’ snowboard, paying homage to the uber-directional powder decks of Japan”

Roundup

What’s in a name? Well, quite a lot actually. This is Borealis’ take on the classic ‘fish’ snowboard, paying homage to the uber-directional powder decks of Japan. And though France is several thousand km’s away from the land of the rising sun, they’ve managed to do this one justice.

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