Advice for a board in Japan
Hi there,
I currently ride a Burton custom 154 which I’ve only used in Australian snow conditions and i’m heading over to Japan (NISEKO) at the end of the year for 3 weeks of boarding. I’m male 168cm tall and weigh 68kg and are of high intermediate level of skill. In Japan i’ll be doing mostly all mountain riding. I’m just wondering if you think that my board will be ok for the powder over there or should i look at getting a longer board?
Cheers
You should be sweet. Although I wouldn’t exactly know, as I have not been to Japan. But Im guessing you should be alright. I would wait untill someone posts that has been to Japan before you take an opinion.
Good luck and have fun over there!
Have been to Niseko a couple times and my height and weight are fairly similar. Personally I would take a longer board. For both my trips to Niseko (2003 & 2004), I took a 161 K2 Recon Riser. I also set back my stance to be as far back as possible. Result was no nose dives and only a little bit leg burn which was more then manageable.
Even if you set the stance back on your current board, I think a 154 is a bit short. Suggest something like a Malolo 154 (I have ridden in Nozawa, Vail, Breckenridge, etc in deep pow) or a fish if you want to stick to a similar length.
It seems I tend to ride longer boards for my height - my shortest freeride board is 157. Your 154 custom *might* be OK, but if I was going overseas for 3 weeks to snowboard, I would prefer to have better piece of mind then “might”.
Look at some of the reverse camber boards if you still want a mix of all-mountain and pow goodness.
Since you already have a versite all mountain board, I would look at a good powder board. Essentially what you need to look at is a board with a good amount of taper. This means the nose width is wider than the tail width. Tapered boards are always set back to an extent also. Sue to basic physics, the shorter and narrorow tail sinks and the nose rises above the snow, giving you the float you need for deep pow.
A few suggestions…
Burton Fish - The best powder board on the market. I have owned one for years. In deep pow, nothing beats in. A lot of taper and setback. Big float, super quick turns, slashes, pow sprays, no back leg fatigue. So much fun… SURF, SURF, SURF! 
Only issue with the Fish is it’s a pure and simple powder board. You don’t get much versitility (but you have your Custom)
Burton Malolo - A hybrid between the Fish and the Custom. A good amount of taper and setback, but a more versitile shape. You can ride it all over the mountain as a regular freeride board, and you can ride it switch. A very good board to have in your quiver. If I didn’t have a Fish I would get the Malolo.
If I were you I would get a powder board and take both your boards to Japan. Last time I was there I took a Custom and a Fish. Perfect.
Look at some of the reverse camber boards if you still want a mix of all-mountain and pow goodness.
Also good advice. Reverse camber works very well in pow.
At first id just stick with what youve got.
I did Japan (Hakuba) in Janury 2009 and didnt have any of the deep powder they talk about. Yes it was apparently a bad year. But you dont want to fork out $600-$700 on a new board and not use it. Also apart from your trip to Japan, when else do you think you will get to use it? Is most of your riding done in Australia. If so apart from your 3 weeks in Japan, your investment will probably spend the rest of its life in the cupboard because you dont get much use for a Fish or Malolo down under.
Personaly id stick with what youve got and if you get a pow day, just set your bindings way back.
Unless you plan on riding overseas a bit, a powder board is not the best investment.
Evan, my boss went to Hakuba early this year also because of my recommendation. I was talking it up all of last year after I went. He decided to go and he was giving me sh*t about it all day today. He said it was ice the whole time. They do get more snow in Niseko though, and it’s as light as it gets. If they get their usual big, super light dumps… could be sinking time on that 154.
3 weeks of riding is more then alot of people will do in 3 years - thus a powder boad or a longer board would be a wise investment.
A board like a Malolo is p1ss easy to ride in Oz conditions - not sure the same could be said about a 154 custom in deep pow in japan. You’ll be cursing yourself if its a powder day and you start to sink or nosedive.
re: riders26 comment about 2 boards - agree with rider26 on this one, however just be careful the weight of your bags. Some airlines flying in/out oof Japan are super strict on weight.
EvanL - Hakuba in Jan 2009 was an absolute shocker - you were super unlucky, however Hakuba, Nozawa, Niseko, etc “statistically” get bucketloads of snow (11m+). In those conditions you were going to want something that will float. I think its fair to say your first experience of Japan conditions were not the norm (ie less/no need for a powder style board)
A few suggestions…
Burton Fish - The best powder board on the market. I have owned one for years. In deep pow, nothing beats in. A lot of taper and setback. Big float, super quick turns, slashes, pow sprays, no back leg fatigue. So much fun… SURF, SURF, SURF!
Burton Malolo - A hybrid between the Fish and the Custom. A good amount of taper and setback, but a more versitile shape. You can ride it all over the mountain as a regular freeride board, and you can ride it switch. A very good board to have in your quiver. If I didn’t have a Fish I would get the Malolo.
If I were you I would get a powder board and take both your boards to Japan. Last time I was there I took a Custom and a Fish. Perfect.
I am in the fortunate position to have both of the boards you mention and second your comments (though I do occasionally take the fish out on the groomers/all mountain areas 
)
I love my Fish - nothing beats it after a 15 inch dump. I don’t know if you would say the same thing riding your 154 custom
Due to weight issues I only took my Malolo to Nozawa Onsen this season. Had some super deep days and whilst it doesnt ‘float’ as well as the fish, you gotta be doing something pretty wrong to nosedive it.
I was in Vermont for a week or riding a few years back. I had the choice of riding a ROME 154, and a Burton Balance 157.5 with a very narrow waist width. There was a lot of snow for many days on end that week, it was beautiful! and bluebird skies a lot of the time as well - just amazing. I was at Stowe, VT for a week of instructor training and fun.
I diddnt notice that much of a difference - but there were differences… I set back the ROME stance to accommodate, and switch riding was odd, with such a short nose length, but it floated with some leg fatigue.
The Balance diddnt require as much of a set back, and wasnt as tiring to ride in the deeper snow. The narrow board reduces surface area and sinks the board as well.
It makes a difference, but I was glad to have the opportunity to be there in those conditions.
You should be sweet. Although I wouldn’t exactly know, as I have not been to Japan. But Im guessing you should be alright. I would wait untill someone posts that has been to Japan before you take an opinion.
Good luck and have fun over there!
Congratulations, this may be the most redundant post I’ve seen on this forum yet.
Anyway, on to the board recommendation…
I’m a centimetre shorter and about 5 kg heavier, been to Hokkaido twice and never found ice!
First trip I took a 158 Arbor Woodie, super fun, nice soft board but because my fitness wasn’t that flash it was still hard work
Second trip I took my 55 Option Mirror for groomers/park/allround, and my 163 Burton Raven (05, the stiff one!). A pretty good combo, the only downside was that the Raven wasn’t quite as soft as I’d have liked for that surfy feeling through trees. I could still butter etc on it on groomers but if I was being picky I’d want something softer. It worked a charm on the metre-deep pow day at Asahidake (yes, 100cm of pow. Nuts!)
If I had my choice now I’d take a ‘regular’ board and a tapered board, such as my Lib Tech Mullet - a similar idea to the Malolo but costs less because it’s not Burton, and comes in a 156 which is a better size for me I think. At least with a Malolo/Mullet you can still ride ‘normally’ on the groomers etc. They’re a little bit squirrelly but less than a Fish. Personally I’d take another board as well. If you don’t get snow for a few days, you want something that you can pop a decent ollie on and play around with.
Which makes the option of a slightly longer, reverse camber board seem like a better option as either your pow board or a do-it-all board so you only have to take one. A 156ish reverse camber board would still be fun for groomers/park (they feel shorter), and would float super well. I rode my 152 Skate Banana in waist deep pow in Utah and was pleasantly surprised with the float.
Orrrrr, look at ebay or whatever for a cheap used longer board?
Lots of options.
On taking 2 boards, it’s definitely doable. If all you’re doing is shredding, you don’t need much stuff. My last trip to Japan was 16 days with 20kg of luggage.
You should be sweet. Although I wouldn’t exactly know, as I have not been to Japan. But Im guessing you should be alright. I would wait untill someone posts that has been to Japan before you take an opinion.
Good luck and have fun over there!
Congratulations, this may be the most redundant post I’ve seen on this forum yet.
Woot! haha
I seriously have no idea when it comes to Japan.
You should be sweet. Although I wouldn’t exactly know, as I have not been to Japan. But Im guessing you should be alright. I would wait untill someone posts that has been to Japan before you take an opinion.
Good luck and have fun over there!
Congratulations, this may be the most redundant post I’ve seen on this forum yet.
Woot! haha
I seriously have no idea when it comes to Japan.
Which does beg the question, why are you giving advice on riding in japan when you have never ridden there?
thanks very much everyone for your help, i think i may go for the 2 board option. I have a friend that has a 162 burton custom that i could probably borrow, how do you think that would go? I’d feel a bit silly taking 2 of the same boards over though. They malolo sounds like a good option too.. Also what are some of the reverse camber boards?