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Weston Hatchet Pow Slayer 2021-2022 Snowboard Review

Tested and selected for our top 100 snowboard products of the year: the Weston Hatchet Pow Slayer

  • Price: €649 / $649
  • Category: Freeride + Powder
  • Sizes: 152, 156
  • Flex: 7/10
  • Shape: Directional Twin
  • Profile: CamRock
  • 3D: No
  • Base: Sintered

Why we chose the Weston Hatchet Pow Slayer Snowboard: The Danny Devito of snowboards – short, fat and a completely lovable rascal.

Now in its sophomore year, Weston’s genre-defying backcountry freestyle machine is built for subverting paradigms and proving unequivocally that volume shifted decks are the future of progressive snowboarding.

Weird and wonderful, the Hatchet is as comfortable throwing lofty three’s off pillows as it is digging trenches on the hardpack. A powder board that isn’t reserved purely for the deepest days, Weston have ventured out and harpooned the great white whale of snowboard engineering. Unlike anything we’ve seen before, and riding like nothing else on the market, the Hatchet is in a league of its own.

“The Danny Devito of snowboards – short, fat and a completely lovable rascal”

MORE INFO:
WESTONBACKCOUNTRY.COM

Who Is The Weston Hatchet Pow Slayer For?

You like throwing backside spins as much as you like ripping backcountry, so why not do both? The Weston Hatchet is aimed squarely at snowboarders who refuse to pigeon-hole their riding style, who value finesse in the air as much as slashing in the deep.

Shape, Profile and Sidecut

As a volume shifted deck, the Hatchet is nothing short of voluptuous in its width, with the 158 clocking in at a stonking 28cm in the waist. The benefits are two-fold, firstly it’s incredibly efficient at floating in any depth of snow, and secondly, it’s wide enough for you to get right up on your edges without fear of toe-verhang.

Moving the surface area into the width makes the Hatchet far nimbler and more manoeuvrable than a traditional powder board, giving you carte blanche to zip through the tightest tree runs you can find.

With camber running through the midbody and transitioning into rocker in the nose and tail you get a best of both worlds’ recipe for success. The stability and dynamic power of the classic bend, with the loose, surfy rockered zones to keep the tip and tail floating. With just a smidgen more nose than tail, stance centred on its sidecut and a pretty subtle taper relative to its overall width, the Hatchet will ride switch a lot better than a volume shifted powder deck has any right to.

“Weird and wonderful, the Hatchet is as comfortable throwing lofty three’s off pillows as it is digging trenches on the hardpack”

Construction and Materials

The Hatchet may not be a super aggressive charger, but that doesn’t mean it’s slacking in the tech department, just think less super gnarly descents and more powder party laps with the homies. With Weston’s top of the range carbon infused Electra Sintered Base, hydrophobic Castor Bean topsheet, and supercharged Carbon S Weave, this is a board that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but there’s a quiet confidence lurking under the surface.

Although it wouldn’t be out of place amongst any of the big hitters from its competitors.

A lively Poplar/Bamboo core injects a big dose of life into the Hatchet, going hand in hand with the camber dominant profile to make a snowboard that’ll react and rebound all season long. Rugged PU sidewalls, and reinforced sections in the nose and tail make the Hatchet the gift that just keeps giving.

“With camber running through the midbody and transitioning into rocker in the nose and tail you get a best of both worlds’ recipe for success”

Roundup

Doubling its size options for 2021/22, the Hatchet now comes in a 152 and 156, which may seem small, but you’re going to want to size down up to 10cms. You’d be forgiven for clapping eyes on the Hatchet and assuming it was just a slightly curvaceous park deck, and of course, it does have freestyle prowess, but the appeal goes far beyond the obvious. A snowboard that straddles the line between freeride and freestyle, that’s just as at home spinning as it is slashing. The dream.

Trade Secrets

Sean Eno – Director of Marketing, Weston Backcountry

“The nose and tail shape on this sucker was actually inspired by wakeboards. We’ll be frank in that it likely doesn’t really serve any functional benefit, but it looks cool as hell and since we have to use metal to achieve the shape, it does add a benefit of durability. It was the napkin brainchild of Ben Hilley who is our long standing Demo/Brand Experience Manager. The Hatchet is probably 2nd to our Japow in terms of staff and team adoption on the Weston side as well. Nearly everyone has picked up one at this point.”

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