So the
Smokin Snowboard
factory tour last week had more to it than just the tour, we also went
down to pick up some 2010 newly pressed decks. I was lucky enough to
nab the new M.I.P. D.I.R.T. Rocker with Magne-Traction with some custom
graphics brought to you by JP Lagos at
Thesnowlife.com.
I was even more excited to try out Smokin’s Magne-Traction since out
snow has been rock hard as of late and last time I rode a board with
magne it made the saying “Turns ice into powder” hold true. Friday
afternoon of last week Squaw was still pretty firm with a nice east
wind keeping things rather chilly, so what better time to go try out
Smokin Jay “the evil genius’s“new concept.
My first thoughts was
the same as any of the other reverse camber boards I have ridden, the
nose seems to hook a little quick when you really get the board on
edge. Once I detuned the nose and tail a little the board simply took
off. The M.I.P. has a great predictable flex that reminds me of many of
the old boards from the good old days. Jay doesn’t use fancy barely
known named stuff to create his sticks yet he produces a board that
rivals all those high-end uber scientific factories. The M.I.P. holds a
super fun edge, makes a snappy turn and rebounds really predictably
that you can stray away from the park and still rip turns. I have
complained for a few years now that many companies are making boards to
specific to one discipline and are hard to enjoy on every part of the
hill. I think the smoking M.I.P. brings back the idea that you can have
a great park board that doesn’t sacrifice the rest of the mountain.
If
you are looking for a great park and all around board that’s actually
handmade the new 2010 Smokin M.I.P. D.I.R.T. Rocker is gonna blow your
mind.
What about the graphics? JP Lagos designed the graphic based loosely off the
Obey “Obama”
Poster series. Taking funny pictures and translating them into the Obey
scheme, JP created a series of Bromodel snowboards. All the boards were
either using Smokin’s 2010 M.I.P. blank or the 2010 Superpark blank. So
the boards that were in the pictures being finished during the factory
tour were none other than the bromodel boards. Special thanks to JP for
including my funny grill on a snowboard and Smokin Jay for pressing a
super fun board!
