They come in all forms. You can find volume-shifted boards from Borealis, here.
You’ve seen them weaving through tight trees, slashing cruddy groomers and surfing pow like its whitewater. Over the last few seasons, these genre-busting steeds have been everywhere. But what have volume-shifted snowboards done for us lately? Is this tech just a passing fad, or could a wide, stubby pintail soon replace your daily driver?
As a veteran snowboarder (read: I pop Advil before I strap in), I’ve seen trends rise and die and board types multiply. At age 13, I was throwing shifties in Sorel boots drenched in duct tape and was forced to pass a “turning test” in exchange for resort freedom. In my day, Junior, you chose either ‘freestyle’ or ‘carving,’ but today’s options are infinite, from park/street to alternative/freeride.
A quick look at 2024’s most anticipated snowboards, however, places volume-shifted boards as a central player in categories like ‘volume-shifted powder,’ ‘volume-shifted freestyle’ and ‘volume-shifted all-mountain.’ Are volume-shifted boards the real deal, or are they just another slippery step in snowboarding’s ongoing evolution?
What Are Volume-Shifted Snowboards?
Volume-shifted sticks have the same surface area, or volume, as longer, more traditional boards. However, these decks shift their overall volume by trading length for width. The result? A board that’s short enough to whip through the trees but that maintains a high volume for floating through Jackson Hole’s softest pillows. If accurate, it’s the best of both worlds, right?
Why Does this Sound Familiar, Brah?
Surfboard shapers began combining the paddle power of longboards with the maneuverability of shortboards in the early 2000s. In doing so, they created wide, thick, less rockered “modern hybrids,” great for those decidedly non-epic days. Volume-shifted snowboards build on that idea, trading waist-high for waist-deep.
Aren’t Volume-Shifted Boards Just Powder Boards?
Most modern-day powder boards are volume-shifted to some degree, but not all volume-shifted boards are strictly for powder. Powder snowboards are typically shorter than their freestyle brethren and sport big noses, tapered shapes, and swallowtails or pintails. These features are all geared towards drawing effortless lines after an epic El Nino superstorm.
While many volume-shifted boards draw on elements of powder boards, most of today’s most popular volume-shifted sticks are not exclusively intended for shredding pow. Figuring out where one of these board’s strengths lie comes down to two things: the extent of the volume shift and the snowboard’s other features.
For example, Bataleon describes their Party Wave model as a volume-shifted directional board for charging the entire mountain. The Party Wave balances its exaggerated width and pow-shredding pintail with a tapered side-cut and 3D camber bottom that is stiffer in the tail to push forward through turns. The result is a “nimble, floaty” board that slashes the pow, rips park, and performs surprisingly well on high-speed groomers.
How Can a Volume-Shifted Board Change Your Riding?
When riders review volume-shifted boards they use words like “surfy” and “playful.” These terms might discourage high-level riders who dig speed laps and punk rock more than the Dead and hemp mocktails, but they shouldn’t.
Volume-shifted boards are meant to give riders more control as they swerve through the trees, float through heavy sections, and power as they dig heady trenches in the heaviest of bases.
Ride’s Warpig embodies this spirit of all-mountain freedom. Imagine a board that allows you to take more risks in deep powder but is nimble enough for a critical tree run through Tahoe’s Palisades. Now, imagine that the board also rips groomers and has the width and drive to push through crud and carve up mashed potatoes.
If that type of universality sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. None of these boards are strictly for jibbing, so if your version of a sick day is park laps until you stick the triple-kink switch, a volume-shifted board might not make sense over a park board.
However, that doesn’t mean that cranking the volume in the park or pipe is forbidden. More and more boards like the GNU Gremlin or Capita’s Spring Break Slush Slasher are earning solid marks for their performance on jib-centric features. Their wider shapes and shorter lengths make it easier to spin onto rails and boxes and stomp sketchy landings. The bulk of these boards, though, shine their magic on big backcountry hits and soft landings as opposed to rainbow rails over crispy corduroy.
How Might a Volume-Shifted Board Hold Your Riding Back?
Maybe I’m a skeptic at heart, but whenever a snowboard designer claims a board “excels at everything,” I smell a sacrifice.
The main criticism lobbed at volume-shifted boards is that while they might work well on the groomers, their smaller side-cut radii is not ideal for laying out high-speed carves. Plus, some volume-shifted boards tend to catch at slow speeds and are therefore not ideal for beginners. Riders who are focused more on speed and less on dynamic, all-mountain freestyle riding might not see the need for a shift in volume, especially if they’re wary of high-speed spoon-nose chatter.
Of course, there are fixes that board designers add in here, such as adding a directional hybrid camber profile for more high-speed stability or lessening the amount of the board’s taper for more tail grip during hard-charging turns.
However, for aggressive carving, a long, thin, stiff board with more edge and more tail will always beat out a short, wide, stubby board.
Alright, I’m Sold: What Size Should I Get?
Most volume-shifted snowboards are intended to be ridden 3-6 centimeters shorter than your traditional size. It’s best to pay attention to the brand’s specific recommendations, though, since these models vary significantly.
Lib Tech’s Golden Orca, for example, is meant to be ridden just 1-3cm shorter than your normally sized board, while Bataleon recommends riders go a full 5-10cm down from their normal stick length when dropping in on a Party Wave.
A caveat: board strengths and capabilities in the volume-shifted field vary widely. If you are scoping one of these sticks for the 2024-2025 season, pay attention to flex, camber profile, width, sidecut radius and taper.
What Are a Few Key Boards for 2024?
Mr. Travis Rice and his Golden Orca.
Lib Tech Apex Golden Orca
The Golden Orca is an all-mountain ripper that loves deep pow. It’s got less flex than many of the other leading volume-shifters, and that, coupled with its C2 Directional Camber and Magne-Traction, helps it knife through chunder, moguls and more technical terrain. This was the board that Travis Rice won the Natural Selection on in 2023, so suffice to say it’s too much to tame for beginners.
Jones Hovercraft 2.0
This alternative-freeride ripper and powder floater is a directional shape that delivers the surfiest of glides in powder, aided by between-the-boots camber. The huge nose and bold shape of the Hovercraft make it more suited for riders who plan to spend the most time in deep trenches, since its shape proves a little challenging in tight spaces. Eco-friendly construction is a plus, but smaller, lighter riders might struggle to tame this beast.
Ride Warpig
The flexiest of these three options, Ride optimistically lists the Warpig’s strengths as all mountain, park, powder and groomers. Hundreds of positive reviews complement its unique shape, stability, and off-the-charts “fun” levels. An all-mountain / freestyle volume-shift with a tight sidecut and a wide waist, this board excels at tight turns and switch riding, yet also destroys on deep days and enjoys a good park lap.
Should I Get a Volume-Shifted Board?
Going short and fat is not for everyone. The decision depends on the conditions where you predominantly snowboard, the type of riding that makes you happy, and if you’re fortunate enough to have a quiver of boards in the garage.
If you are lucky enough to routinely snorkel through tree-spiked powder and/or you treat the entire mountain as a playground, then a volume-shifted board should definitely be part of your quiver – and could even become your quiver-killer.
If you predominantly ride crispy groomers, the only time you’re waist-deep is when you’re fly fishing, and you carve with one hand tickling the corduroy; there are tastier options out there.
As for me, I’m fully stoked to try surfing one through some Mammoth pow and taking it for a spin through the park this season. It’s a risk, it’s an experiment, but isn’t that what snowboarding is all about?
Editor’s Note: For more gear reviews and features on The Inertia, click here. For in-depth reviews of the top snowboard gear in the industry, check out our guides to The Best Snowboard Jackets, The Best Snowboard Pants, The Best Snowboard Goggles, The Best Snowboard Mittens, and The Best Snowboard Boots.
