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Jones Prodigy snowboard review update

So a few months ago I was looking for a board for my kid, and reviewed the Jones Prodigy, saying:

I’d be all over this like butter on toast except for the directional twin shape. As an all-mountain ripper I have no doubt that this thing is incredible. But my kid’ll be doing a lot of park riding as well as all-mountain ripping this year, so I’m thinking he’ll be better off on a true twin. If I could afford two boards for the kid? TAKE MY MONEY.

Come Christmas time, I couldn’t resist, and picked up a 130cm as his powder board (he usually rides a 120cm Banana Blaster). I wasn’t sure if the larger size would make much of a difference, until last weekend at Stevens Pass, which was possibly the best powder day of the season!!

It’s hard to get a review out of a 9 year old, but here’s what I saw: in about a foot of fresh powder, this board floated beautifully. The nose stayed up on top of the snow and he was able to shred it all. At the same time, it seemed highly maneuverable in the steep trees (Wild Katz trees, for those who know Stevens Pass).

We rode together all morning and at times I had a hard time keeping up 🙂

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Snowboard boots for kids who rip

I’m going through all of last year’s gear, seeing what I can sell, and figured I’d write a quick entry about snowboard boots for kids, since we took a long time to find them.

My 7 year old started the year in some Burton rental boots – super comfy, but super soft and squishy and only held together with velcro. We’d bought them new from REI’s rental fleet in 2014, when REI in the Puget Sound area decided to get out of the rental game.

By Christmas it was obvious that his boots were holding him back – he was charging double blacks in a pair of bedroom slippers! So we went on the hunt for a good pair of boots.

I don’t remember all of the ones we tried – most size 2 boots were super soft and made for beginners; there was one pair that was crazy stiff; and then there were the ThirtyTwo Boa Kids boots – super comfy, stiff but not too stiff, and with a Boa closure (key for kids to be able to do up and adjust their own boots).

thirtytwo-kids-boa

He outgrew them in half a season, but we’ll get the same ones this year (and now they’re last year’s model, so they’ll cost a bunch less).

Hope that helps!

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Snowboards for kids who rip: Never Summer Bantam

This post is part of a series on Snowboards for kids who rip. See the original post for the full list of boards.

Never Summer Bantam

This is another new board for 2017, and it replaces the Evo Mini which got consistently good reviews on the “dads overthinking their kid’s board” forums that I frequent 🙂 From the spec list, they seem very similar: rocker-camber-rocker-camber-rocker (banana!), their form of magnetraction, damping underfoot, and a sintered base.

In fact, this is the only little kids’ board out there that I could find with a sintered base – the rest all went for extruded. Why is that? As far as I can tell, extruded bases are slower, and they require waxing all the freaking time!!

So: fast, good profile, magnetraction. “Super soft flex” is the only question mark for me. Available sizes: 119, 125, 130, 136, 142.

All sizes currently available on Amazon for 279.99.

Continue reading “Snowboards for kids who rip: Never Summer Bantam”

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Snowboards for kids who rip: Jones Prodigy

This post is part of a series on Snowboards for kids who rip. See the original post for the full list of boards.

Jones Prodigy

Now here’s a board I’m really stoked on! It’s a brand new board from Jones, and it sounds like they’ve put a lot of effort into making a killer board for kids. It’s a directional twin with the new spoon nose technology for easier turn initiation (I’m just going on what they’re telling me here – sounds like the Yes 20/20’s powder hull design that everyone loved last year). Super sweet graphics, magnetraction, and a medium flex. It’s a rocker-camber-rocker shape.

I’d be all over this like butter on toast except for the directional twin shape. As an all-mountain ripper I have no doubt that this thing is incredible. But my kid’ll be doing a lot of park riding as well as all-mountain ripping this year, so I’m thinking he’ll be better off on a true twin. If I could afford two boards for the kid? TAKE MY MONEY.

(From poring over specs, it looks like it’s a 20mm setback that makes it directional; no mention of different flex front and back.)

Plus Jeremy Jones himself said that this is just the beginning of their kids line, so I’m super stoked to see what comes next!!

Buy the Jones Prodigy snowboard from Backcountry.com.

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Snowboards for kids who rip

It’s really hard to find a good snowboard for a little kid who rips. There’s plenty of boards for little kids who are just getting started – super soft, raised edges, flat camber, perhaps cheaper materials. But if your 8 year old is hitting boxes and rails in the park, shredding deep powder, and riding the double-blacks on the mountain, you’re likely looking for a board that can keep up with him – or at least give him the edge he needs to keep progressing.

Here are the boards that I’ve sifted out of the stack as being “non-beginner” boards. On many of these, it’s damn hard to tell – their websites give a marketing-y overview, with some catchwords, but don’t really explain who the board is designed for. If you have direct experience with any of these boards (or boards I haven’t covered) feel free to contact me!

I’ll be adding to the list below as I finish each new page.

Boards for kids who rip:

Jones Prodigy

Never Summer Bantam

In the pipeline:

  • Lib Tech Banana Blaster
  • and more…