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Burton Family Tree Hometown Hero 2020-2021 Snowboard Review

  • Price: £530 / $600
  • Category: Freeride
  • Ability Level: Intermediate, Advanced
  • Size: 144, 148, 152, 156, 156w, 160, 160w, 165w
  • Flex: 7/10
  • Shape: Directional
  • Profile: Backseat Camber
  • Base: Sintered
  • BUY DIRECT FROM BURTON

With the opportunity for travel limited this year, possibly more than ever before, people have started to appreciate what they have on their doorsteps. The Hometown Hero harks back to Burton’s east coast roots, built for the icy slopes and tight tree runs their native Vermont is known for. This is a bona fide freeride cannon, ideal for aggressive chargers living life in the fast lane.

The Hometown Hero makes a name for itself when it’s been spewing, the tapered directional shape doing the heavy lifting when you’re surfing around in the steep and deep. The elongated rocker in the nose keeping it up and out of the snow without you having to lean back and throw yourself off balance. As the board tapers back towards the tail, you get a narrower zone for more manoeuvrability boosting the boards already nimble qualities.

“This is a bona fide freeride cannon, ideal for aggressive chargers living life in the fast lane”

You’ll reap the benefits of the backseat camber when you get the Hometown Hero onto hardpack, with the dynamic profile injecting bags of life into it. This is where you get your stability when you’re straightlining, the engaging of the sidecut when you’re up on your edges and the added pop through the tail when you’re loading up.

Internally Burton have pulled out all the stops to make sure the Hometown Hero is the gift that keeps giving. A lightweight Super Fly core is sandwiched between the 45 degree stitched carbon fibreglass matrix, these ensure you get all the reactivity and responsiveness you need when you’re going mach 10.

The Burton Family Tree collection transcends stereotypes and goes deep into the realm of unisex snowboards. These freeride-centric models draw inspiration from the OG snowboards and bring them to the table with premium construction and materials. Ladies, don’t be afraid to ride off into the sunset with this hero, this is fun for the whole family.

“A lightweight Super Fly core is sandwiched between the 45 degree stitched carbon fibreglass matrix”

The Hometown Hero is a heavy hitter in terms of performance and novice riders just won’t be able to take advantage of all the benefits. If you’ve got the minerals and know that your ideal day on the hill is bombing big lines and pushing yourself to the limit, then the Hometown Hero could be your new partner in crime.

Tester’s Verdict 2019/20

Jon Bird LD Mountain Centre

“All new for 2020 season as part of Burton’s family tree range the Hometown Hero is a directional all mountain snowboard that Burton built for charging around the icy tree runs of their hometown hills in Vermont.

“The Hometown Hero was a surprisingly fun snowboard to ride, quick and manoeuvrable with a really surfy feel”

The Hometown Hero was a surprisingly fun snowboard to ride, quick and manoeuvrable with a really surfy feel. The board has glass stiffeners at the nose and tail perfect for powering through crud with the softer flex between the feet giving that great forgiving nimble feel.

The Hometown Hero is a fun forgiving board that is at home all over the mountain but would be perfect for a Southern Hemisphere season, I’d love to lap Exchange drop at Coronet Peak on the Hometown Hero. If you like a nimble surfy feel this might be with adding to your quiver.”

Tester’s Verdict 2019/20

Rob McCreathWhitelines

“Yes, Burton! Where has this board been all my life? It’s one of their newcomer’s for this year, but the Hometown Hero already has the feel of a firmly established classic.

Sometimes the conditions you test a snowboard in dictate how you feel about it more than the product itself. It was flat light, most of the fresh snow had been tracked out, and the legs weren’t really firing. Definitely not feeling it.

Strapping into the Hometown Hero fixed all of that. It’s like snowboarding in HD –  so sharp and accurate, it changes the way you see the mountain. It’s soft enough between the feet that you can still feel yourself working the board, but it holds a line on edge like the stiffest freeride boards on the market.

 “It’s like snowboarding in HD –  so sharp and accurate, it changes the way you see the mountain”

I was really surprised how it rode switch, too. Directional, tapered, backseat camber boards shouldn’t feel this balanced in the reverse gear, but I found myself constantly wanting to change it up on the takeoffs of landings. Not that I’m comparing it to a true twin or anything – it’s when you’re facing forwards that the Hometown Hero show’s the best side of itself.

I’d pretty much given up on the off-piste by this stage in the day, it was really tracked out. The Hometown Hero was like time travelling back to 3 hours earlier. If there’s tracked out freshies to be found on the mountain, a board with backseat camber makes a great solution to finding enough float and keeping power through the backfoot.

The Hometown is a really solid 9-5 snowboard. If first laps deliver fresh snow or pristine groomers, the ride feels tailored to those conditions. As the snow chops, bumps or slushes up, it’s still a proper workhorse down to that stiffer flex and backseat camber.

It’s definitely not your entry level quiver killer. This is for someone doesn’t just ride, but attacks the whole mountain and likes to keep their foot on the gas no matter what conditions they’re in. If you’re that kind of rider, this is your kind of board.

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