Charlie Don't Surf

I've no idea what the name of this one is all about, or why it's so long. On the other hand it has a lot going for it just from the look of the thing in the shop:

• elegant design
• no crincle cut edges
• 4x4 inserts

But you actually have to ride a board to know if it's any good...

Design

The graphics are 2009-10 vomit inspired, with the added bonus that should you have the opportunity to line a couple of them up side by side they make a sort of face graphic.  The board's described as having some sort of "rocker", again very much 2009-10. That doesn't bode well, but on closer inspection the board's basically flat, like an original Fish. The only "rocker" around here is the slightly upturned nose. I've never actually seen a board without an upturned nose, so I'm amused to hear that now these qualify as "rocker".

It seems that the company's claiming the fashion market with the graphics and buzzwords, whilst producing a conventional board under all that. Which may mean it actually works.

Spec-wise we have:

Actually I'm not anti-Fish, just anti-EST/ICS because it doesn't work with race bindings and boots. If I wanted to ride slowly I'd pick a shallower slope.

Riding It

The board's easy to clamber on and just ride. I rode the smaller of the two boards, the 158 (the other is 164) and that is comparable with various other 156/158 powder boards.

The flat base feels solid under foot and behaves the same as any traditional powder board. I can't understand why people describe boards as being easy or hard to turn: they all turn if you know how to drive them, it's just that the steering input required varies. Anyway, this one turns the way you'd expect it to. I rode wet powder and dry, crust and cream, and everything worked as you'd imagine it should. It's happy with skier sized turns, or with large radius turns, it'll rip the sides of gullies and land jumps.

The tail length makes the board "slashy", and overall the board likes to run quickly. In all but the deepest softest snow you do have to put some effort into the tail to break or turn at slow speed - well, it has a conventional tail so that's what you'd expect. I didn't have any trouble ripping through the trees, but you do have to be quick on your feet as it's a fast board.

I rapidly forgot about the board, which is a good thing as it means it's doing what you'd expect.

Summary

An entirely competent powder board. Kind of like a Malolo only with proper binding mounts. I switched back from this to a (pre-finbox) Fish after a couple of weeks riding and the main noticable difference was the tail, which is small on the Fish and larger on the FK. Both work well, with a slightly different feel.

Which would I choose? I'd take both and swap depending on how I feel. As the current Fish aren't rideable with race boots, this is an excellent alternative.