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Weston Backcountry Backwoods Review

Agile like a Peregrine Falcon.
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Price:  $599 List | $598.95 at Backcountry
Compare prices at 2 resellers
Pros:  Responsive, snappy, maneuverable, durable topsheet
Cons:  Backseat landings, switch riding
Manufacturer:   Weston Backcountry
By Isaac Laredo ⋅ Review Editor  ⋅  Nov 20, 2019
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79
OVERALL
SCORE

RANKED
#6 of 17
  • Edging - 25% 9
  • Float in Powder - 20% 7
  • Stability at Speed - 20% 8
  • Playfulness - 20% 7
  • Pop and Jumping - 15% 8

Our Verdict

The Weston Backwoods just wants to slash and turn all over the mountain. It can win bank slaloms, rip groomers, or dance through trees. The powder inspired shape is outfitted with freeride characteristics that give it excellent edge hold and stability, and the blended core provides the board with a responsive and snappy feel. Given its directionally specific shape with limited tail, its switch performance suffers. The Weston Backwoods is for directionally minded riders looking to turn and surf the mountain snow or shine.


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Awards  Editors' Choice Award Top Pick Award Top Pick Award Best Buy Award 
Price $598.95 at Backcountry
Compare at 2 sellers		$669.95 at Amazon
Compare at 2 sellers		$589.95 at Amazon
Compare at 2 sellers		$570 List$479.95 at REI
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Overall Score Sort Icon
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Star Rating
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Pros Responsive, snappy, maneuverable, durable topsheetFloaty, precise edging, good construction, playfulLightweight, well-made, fun, responsive, user-friendly, made in the USAUser friendly, turning experience, versatile, playfulGreat value, versatile, stable, beautiful graphic
Cons Backseat landings, switch ridingTricky to size, unappealing graphicBelow average floatTop sheet scratches easyCan slip on hardback
Bottom Line Agile like a Peregrine Falcon."That was totally wicked." -The IncrediblesSnowboarding can be hard; help lower the learning curve with this model.Has a playful merit to its high-performance abilities.Porsche performance at Honda prices.
Rating Categories Weston Backcountry Backwoods Yes. Optimistic Never Summer Proto Type Two United Shapes Cadet Jones Explorer
Edging (25%)
10
0
9
10
0
10
10
0
9
10
0
9
10
0
8
Float In Powder (20%)
10
0
7
10
0
9
10
0
7
10
0
7
10
0
8
Stability At Speed (20%)
10
0
8
10
0
7
10
0
8
10
0
8
10
0
9
Playfulness (20%)
10
0
7
10
0
8
10
0
10
10
0
9
10
0
7
Pop And Jumping (15%)
10
0
8
10
0
7
10
0
7
10
0
8
10
0
8
Specs Weston Backcountry... Yes. Optimistic Never Summer Proto... United Shapes Cadet Jones Explorer
Shape Directional Directional Asymetrical-Twin Directional Directional
Camber/Rocker Directional Multi-Radial Camber Rocker Hybrid-Rocker/Camber Hybrid-Rocker/Camber Camber Hybrid-Rocker/Camber
Flex Medium Stiff Stiff Soft-Medium Medium Stiff
Weight 6.63 (lb) 6.2 (lb) 6.2 (lb) 6.22 (lb) 6.44 (lb)
Tested Length 157cm 151cm 157 156cm 159cm
Available Lengths 152, 152 wide, 157, 157 wide, 160, 160 wide, 163, 163 wide, 167, 167 widecm 151, 154, 157cm 152,154,157,160,153X,155X,158X,161X,164X 144, 152.5, 156, 159, 162cm 152,156,158W,159,161W,162,164W cm
Construction Type Sandwich Sandwich Sandwich Sandwich Sandwich
Core Material Slayer (bamboo, poplar) Carbon-wrapped wood Wood A11x (poplar, bamboo) Wood
Waist Width 25.6cm 26.6cm 26.3 25.6cm 25.4cm
Radius 7.5/6.8/7.8m 6.5m 7.6 toe/7.3 heel 7.5m 7.5m
Taper 18mm 6m 0 20mm 0mm

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Weston Backwoods may feel light, but it doesn't skimp on performance. It boasts quick, accurate, and powerful performance movements. It features a micro camber for most of the profile with rocker in the tip and tail and has a volume shifted profile, which means a wider waist width and short length, which allows you to downsize.

Performance Comparison


The Weston Backwoods is partnered with the National Forests Foundation. 10% of the proceeds go to support the foundation.
The Weston Backwoods is partnered with the National Forests Foundation. 10% of the proceeds go to support the foundation.

Edging


The Backwoods is like a Peregrine Falcon in its turning ability. This board excels at fast, short, and medium radius turns. Whichever radius you want, once you think about turning, you are already doing it; it's that easy to get on edge. The Backwoods is incredibly nimble to move around bumps and allow you to look at the mountain differently. It feels like you're surfing. The board is meant to be downsized, which unlocked this playful feeling without compromising security; it feels like you're riding the entire edge of the snowboard. The turning itself is powerful and consistent, which then is translated into a strong snap of the stiffer tail. We really enjoyed this turning style. It had a lot of response and power in a user-friendly package.

The Weston Backwoods can obtain plenty of edge hold on firm snow.
The Weston Backwoods can obtain plenty of edge hold on firm snow.

Float in Powder


The Backwoods is included in our spring 2019 update. Based on this timing, we have not ridden this board extensively in powder. This board was designed with powder flotation as the first priority, and testing is currently in progress. The shape of this board seems to indicate good powder flotation. The long nose - with a little bit of rocker - should provide plenty of surface area to promote float, in conjunction with the tapered tail.

Stability at Speed


The Backwoods provides a stable ride, especially considering its length and playfulness. The cambered profile and wider waist give you a solid platform to charge over things that are in your way. When we were straight-lining, the nose resisted chatter well. Our testers felt secure and enjoyed going fast down the mountain, making quick edge transitions.

Nimble and quick edge response for the Backwoods.
Nimble and quick edge response for the Backwoods.

Playfulness


The Backwoods was playful in its versatility and styles of riding that it can support. If you are looking to really drive the snowboard, it can do that. If you want to slash around, its got you. If you want to win your local bank slalom, it can do that. In contrast, the Backwoods was hard to butter around the mountain. The nose was hard to initiate a butter and even harder to maintain. We were, however, able to rip turns and pop into butters which were still enjoyable, but we had to work for them and accept that we couldn't hold them as long.

Popping and Jumping


The Backwoods provided sufficient pop when taking off side hits and jumps. In didn't blow our mind, but we found that we could still jump over everything we needed to. The long nose is a good platform to load your ollie. The tail has a V-shaped stringer of carbon to stiffen it up, which helps with pop and landing security, but the shorter tail does take some adjustment to nail ollies and landings. When we needed additional support on hardpack landings, the tail provided adequate support. However, jumping and landing on park jumps is not a primary design goal of the Backwoods and still performed well.

Value


The 19-20 Backwoods is partnered with the National Forest Foundation. Ten percent of every Backwoods sold goes to support the foundation; that is rad! The board is priced competitively with other high-performance snowboards, and it's worth every penny.

Conclusion


The Weston Backwoods provides a refined and versatile ride in all conditions. It features a gently volume shifted profile that is quick on edge and stable at speed. Its design places the least amount of emphasis on jumping and landing, but we found it was proficient in this category. This board is good for intermediate to advanced riders who want to surf the mountain and have fun with every turn, whether in ice or powder.

The black base of the Backwoods is easy to repair.
The black base of the Backwoods is easy to repair.


— Isaac Laredo