We Aren't 100% Sure But It Looks Like the YES Optimistic Won The 2011 Good Wood Award

So YES Snowboards, on their debut last year, did not get their boards submitted to the Good Wood Awards.  This year YES did submit their snowboards and we have it from a pretty reliable source that the new 2011 YES Optimistic Snowboard won.  YES is made by Nidecker who is a very solid tech centric company. Nidecker also made a snowboard line for Jeremy Jones this year as well.  It just shows that the creativity of the YES guys and the technical know how of Nidecker has made a good All Mountain snowboard.  Also CamRock (Nidecker's version of rocker and camber) seems to show that a little camber in the center really helps make for a stable all conditions ride. We would of thought the twin shaped Dudes of History Snowboard would of won but it looks like the testers found the directional Optimistic their favorite.   2011 will be a good year for Nidecker and especially YES snowboards. 

Why does everyone see a pro ride a board on a video and think that is what they need to get?  I have heard people say it looks like that board rode really well in powder, pipe or?? when that pro rode it on some video.  Of course it rode well because a pro can literally put bindings on a sled and ride the thing of cliffs we wouldn't even ponder.  It's fun to see Pro's pull those kind of tricks but just remember if you are sitting at your office or desk reading this you probably aren't going to ride a board the same way a pro will.  The Good Ride tip is don't get sucked in to the marketing hype.  Take some time and find the right pipe, jump, rails, jib, powder, freeride or all mountain snowboard that will work best for you.   Be honest with your riding ability and you will have a hell of a lot more fun than your friend who bought a board because some pro ripped it apart on some video.

How does a person who rides maybe 2 boards a year become an expert and feel comfortable recommending a board to someone?  It's funny that you see so many people in forums recommend one board over another even though they haven't ridden both.  It can be frustrating at times when this happens.  We hope readers are looking for more than that and it will create a nice following here at The Good Ride.

We have a few more boards left to review this season and the next board up for the 7 day ride review is the Salomon Burner.  We are on day 1 and after a few mored days we should have a decent opinion of it.

What is it about spring on the mountain that is soo great.  A break in the weather, no one on the hill and some free time to learn some new things.  It makes you appreciate Stepchild and their Powder Sucks board now called Everything Sucks.  Don't get me wrong.  Powder days are great but the frantic manic, get the fuck out of my way nature of a bluebird powder day can really suck.   Spring only has a few pow days at best but at this point in the season I'll gladly sacrifice a pow day (well not a deep one) for a day in spring with no one on the hill.