Feedback on the Swoard Extremecarver Pro

[Matti]

I´m now riding for a few days with my EC Pro and I´m very impressed with it.
It feels very comfortable - like I´ve ridden with it all my life. Very easy to handle in all conditions of the slopes - narrow, steep etc.
These are the features I expected to be but same time Pro is so easy to use on flat slope... doing push&pull exercises - it doesn´t stick on the rails but I can decide my rhythms.
I´m sure that I can raise my level with Pro .

[tali]

Are you the envy and the dream of the whole Finland?

[Andrew]

Dear All... I do not have any Swoard board and I'm interested in getting closer to EC.. Do you recommend to pass through the Gen4 or the Pro is ok as well? Reading above comments it looks like Pro foregives more and seems to be more flexible that for a beginner in EC could sound very intersting...
Other thing... Looking at descriptions I should get an 168 H (boots 29 cms, heigt 175 cm, weight 80 kg)... However I would like to get something a bit longer (175 M) to differentiate from what I have... Is this reasonable or a big mistake for EC?
Thanks everybody for comments and suggestions.. Cheers.

[nils]

Hello Andrew,
Do not go too big..the 168 is the model for you, really! Remember you should not choose a Swoard according to your tastes but according to your dimensions

The 175 will feel like a boat!

As for the difference between Pro and Gen4...I'd say if you're heading for the first experience in EC, go for the Gen4. Its already the best EC board available and you will not see a difference with the pro unless you have a great EC riding level. Basically the Pro gives that extra grip and dampness you need in not perfect conditions that allows better / easier EC, but unless you have the riding level required to try EC in those not perfect conditions...you will not feel them really!
Nils

[Andrew]

Thanks indeed Nils for comments and reccomendations... Bye.

[rcrobar]

EC Pro - Review

When you take a group of passionate, talented riders and builders, who live and breath a riding technique and style, who systematically make small improvements to the same model each year for well over a decade, you eventually arrive at a board design that is 'state of the art' and a pleasure to ride!

On Blacks

The edge hold, when the board is tipped way over on edge, gives you a feeling of confidence. You get the sensation that the board is really gripping, or biting into the snow. You feel like the edge won't break free and let you down. There is a sensation that every millimeter of the edge, from tip to tail, is supporting you on the turn. It feels like the board has a very even or symmetrical bend that is grabbing and supporting your weight. The edge hold gives you the confidence to push your personal ability. At the same time you do not get a 'locked into the turn' feeling, the board is easy to initiate and terminate a turn.

Years ago, when the EC site was in the first weeks and months of it's existence, I had an interesting e-mail exchange with the Swoard Team. They explained to me that the Matrix part of Swoard design came directly from airplane wing designs. The team actually went and worked with an Aeronautics Engineers to solve the problem of creating a board that was soft from tip to tail, but torsionally able to remain stiff. The more the board is being forced to twist, the more the edge seems to feel stiffer and bite into the snow. The metal ATC Matrix is the next big improvement for the original EC board.

Greens & Blues

What I found interesting is how the edge hold feels great when riding a green or blue piste, but quite different from the sensation on a black piste. When cruising at a relaxing speed on an easy going fun piste, the edge hold feels like most of the grip comes from the center of the board. You get the feeling that the tip and tail are not touching the snow and will never catch or hook you into a turn. This gives a very nimble feeling when going quickly from edge to edge making turns that seem tighter than the actual side cut radius. To me this makes the ride feel more like a smaller board.

When going pretty fast by weekend warrior standards, on a blue piste, the board begins to feel like the majority of the edge is biting into the snow; but not as much edge gripping feeling as when leaning completely over and pushing much harder on a steep, black piste. The edge hold, or the amount of edge grip sensation, felt progressive to me.

Intermediate to Expert

This board is forgiving enough that is able to meet the needs of the intermediate rider enjoying the day. At the same time the EC Pro is also capable of meeting the needs of the guys that want to push their EC turns to their personal limit. The saying, "I am not as good as I once was, but I am as good once as I ever was," describes me and many alpine riders who are getting older. Most of the time I ride around, carving up easy going blue and green slopes in all kinds of snow conditions. Each time out, for a few hours or maybe just a run or two, I will also push my personal ability on the steepest piste I can find. In both situations, the new metal Swoard is a pleasure to ride.

Bottom Line

The Metal Extremecarver Pro is a high quality board that I will be able to enjoy for many years. Fantastic edge hold, a smooth damp 'metal' ride feeling, ease when initiating and ending a turn, all work together to make a versatile and forgiving alpine board that is able to meet the needs of both the intermediate cruiser and the aggressive EC rider. Quality craftsmanship and a proven design make this board a welcome addition to any quiver.

Thank you to the Swoard Team
Cheers
Rob

[Skutt]

Hello.
Now I have been able to use my EC-pro for some time in almost perfect conditions from hard groomed natural snow to loose snow on top of the same. And on less perfect conditions whith soft snow and bumps and ruts, so now I feel that I can say something about it.

This is my first Swoard board so I can not compare with any other EC board so this review is for those who are considering buying their first EC / swoard board.

My background has snowboarding since 1987 alpineboards / hard boots since 1997 mainly race boards from Nidecker Concept 154, Extreme GS 166, SL 156, GS 167 also a pair of Virus-made boards a really narrow that I forget the name of, and an Virus made Alpine Punk woodburner 182 split tail (type Sims Burner). They've all been pretty narrow so I have been riding with binding angles of 65 front 57 rear and both toe and heellift and canting, because of these boards character I have always had a riding style that has been both fast, aggressive and physically demanding,not comfy. so now this year I set my mind to change boards and ridingstyle to EC.

I'm 172 cm 62 kg
Board EC-pro 161m
Bindings PHK 46.6 55 * front 46 * rear no canting / lifting
Boots Deelux 325 with BTS

The first day was not easy everything was new from the binding angles to how the board felt under my feet. Had to unlearn the old ridingstyle and start learning the EC style from scratch it was hard things stuck in the musclememmory after 18 yers of riding the proces took longer than I thought very easy to fall back into old habits, it took about 3 days before the bodyrotation and the push pull timing began to reasonably work but it is worth it now the fun begins.

Now about the board freecarving style it feels at once that this is a board that is properly suited to my weight it feels relaxed soft and controlled in a way I have not experienced before, it is easy to decide where and when the turns will start and end with many of the other boards it has been more like starting the turn and then hang on until the board has made its rut. The EC-pro board is very easy to control it has very much edgehold but it will not lock you in the turn,I think its here the little tip rocker theat this board has does its magic so now I can run carving turns with skiers around me without problems.
EC style, there is now the EC-pro does what it is built to do when using EC style fully out i get surprised again and again how much you can edge the board and stretch the body without loss of edgegrip / edgecontrol . The boards construction with its rubber layer damping makes the board flex calm and slow which makes the board remain its shape over small ice and hard parts of the slope, the same thing but on the contrary happens when it starts to get soft an bumpy in the afternoon the boards damped flex eliminats bumps and ruts and it does not dig down in soft snow rocker magic again I think (yes there is a limit even to this board when it is not possible to do real carving but it lasts longer than my other boards) Another thing I discovered was that when I got used to EC-pro board, I started to ride in slopes that are steeper than those I ride in with my other boards, must be because I am now with the EC style feel that I have more control and it gives me more confidence, another reason may be that the EC style eats speed when you exit every turn crosswise over the slope, by the way it’s a very good way to control speed in steep slopes.

In conditions when it has snowed pretty much so EC is not the thing to do it is no problem to run some kind of freeride carving in soft snow because the EC pro board is wide and (again the little tip rocker magic helps) so it runs smoothly even in the that condition.

As a summary, if you buy the board after they Tables available on Swoards website and mount the bindings in the recommended angles and stance so will everything feel right from the beginning and there will be no major problem to learn the EC style. EC-pro is well built and it feels that the team has spent much time on getting a board that lives up to what is promised to do, carving / EC in almost all conditions.

I am happy with this board, so far the best board I have had.

Christer.K

Sweden

(Unfortunately ended this season a little too early for me went to Austria was going to stay there for twelve days but on the fourth day I made a fronflip and broke my right shoulder Final Act of the year. But this is My first serious injury in my 18 years as carvingboarder some time it just happen.)

[yomama]

I received the PRO 161 last spring.

I live in California and last spring, we had a severe drought which means no carving.
This season we have had too much snow (thanks El Nino) which is great.
However I had a severe ankle injury sustained right at the beginning of the season which means no carving again!!!

Finally last weekend I was able to test it.
Below are the PRO/cons

The positives
- At first sight, the board is just dead gorgeous. Black mate finish which gives the board a PROtotype carbon look designed for PROfessional riders.
- In the hands or underfoot, the board does not feel particularly heavier vs. the Gen3 board.
- I did not feel the board was any less forgiving vs. the Extremecarver. Don’t let the PRO name fool you, it is an easy board
- I have tested other metal boards I felt they lock me up in the turns and I am confined to the radius without the ability to change. With the PRO, I was able to change with ease without any second thoughts or hesitation.
- Thanks to the great snow fall, I was not able to test the board on ice. However the board shined on those bumpy-ungroomed-less than perfect late afternoon slopes. It just went through the bumps as if they are not there and then carved with accuracy and ease.
- On the green/blue/black, the board is really flawless in term of comfort, ease of use and performances.
- The day before I tested the PRO, I rode the Dual in powder/semi-groomed conditions and I can feel/suffer due the ankle pain injury. However with the PRO, there was absolutely no pain whatsoever. Is that due to the new dampening material? Maybe….or rather likely.

The negatives
- Initially, after almost a year and half without carving, I felt quite under pressure to perform well with the name PRO. However, after a couple of turns, the board did make me feel like a PRO.
- There is no more excuses to mess up a turn, you can no longer blame the equipment with this type of gear. You can only blame your own riding technique....which is tough on your ego.

Conclusion
I am so happy I own this board and did not “demoed” it. Otherwise, I would be so depressed to give it back.

Congrats to the Swoard team. Wow, what a nice lovely board!!!
Love it!

Yomama

[Arnaud]

I have tested other metal boards I felt they lock me up in the turns and I am confined to the radius without the ability to change. With the PRO, I was able to change with ease without any second thoughts or hesitation.

Hi Yomama

Very good analysis
I had the same feeling when testing other metal boards. They're generally good but it's true that you're a little bit locked in the turns. The Titanal ATC Matrix of the Swoard Pro solves this problem and gives you a more lively board.

[denisb]

Last week end, during ECS 2016 in Zinal, I ride my ECPro in conditions very far from its original EC program : very deep powder ! I usually ride a swallow, Swell Panik Magistral 185 in these conditions, so I was a little bit skeptical about ECPro's behavior in big powder.

...And it was amazing !

Very good balance and lateral stability, easy to takeoff, and fantastic dampening. Very fast, maybe a little bit faster than Dual 175. Compared to the swallow, pumping and kicking is not very easy, but the ride is so smooth, even when crossing previously tracked zones.

The only problem is that you can't feel safe in extreme freeride as you can be with a dedicated board that can be trashed on rocks !

So the next step, a very big swallow with ECPro structure ?

[Janwillem]

I am looking to buy a swoard extremecarver pro, but it seems my choise of board is never available. I would like to have a 168 S, but it never seems available. Is this flex not possible? I am 1,76m and weigh 60 kg, so this seemed the perfect choice. The other choice would be to go for the 161 M, but I would love to have the extra length.
When I choose this 168 S I get the messages thta I can choose to have a message when it is available again, but I never heard anything back. Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong?

[Arnaud]

Hi Janwillem,

Nothing wrong !
It's just that actually the 168S is out of stock. New production is in progress and will be available after summer.
Don't worry, you'll get it before the next season

Arnaud

[tamas113]

Dear Swoard team,

I would like to buy a Swoard snowboard but according your webshop page that model is not available. I am 185 cm tall, 95Kg so I would need the Extremecarver pro 175 H
So far I had an old F2 speedster and I am having a Hot Blast Giant Racing board.
I have been folloving your site from 5 years and I always wanted to go to Zinal to try your board but I did not have the chance. I am beginner at extreme carving, here is my vidao about it so far:




Please let me know how could I order it and get it as soon as possible.

Regards,

Tamás