I seem to have gotten a few emails reminding me that I left out snowmobiling. Agreed, snowmobiles are a great way to gobble up backcountry pow stashes. But it’s rare that the little speed machines can deliver you to the top of a 4000’ fluted face. If you’re looking to get to something really badass, you’ll likely have to combine your money pit (snowmobile) with one of the options that I mentioned in my last post. I recommend one of the fancy snowboards that splits in half.

Ahhhhhhh, the rhythm. Once you lock into a steady pace on your skis, you can just phase out and let your legs take you to the top. Don’t phase too hard though. If you’re going ANYWHERE that’s worth riding, you’ll be in avalanche terrain. Do your homework. Take the appropriate precautions.

Your maiden voyage on a splitboard may not be as enjoyable as I’ve made it out to be. There is a bit of a learning curve. Switchbacks in steep terrain pretzel the novice and consume lots of energy. If your first trip is to the Grizzly Shoulder in Roger’s Pass, expect to be humbled. Watch an experienced ski tourer kick-turn a couple times and take notes. In the meantime, use the foliage.

Splitboards are an investment. A new one costs about $1300, depending on where you buy it. They come with skins and all the mounting hardware but you have to provide your own bindings. The system is compatible with any four hole base plate. Used ones are tricky to find since their strict pow diet makes them last forever. For anyone trying to buy or sell an old set-up, this site is a good place to do it. The message boards in a ski town’s local coffee shop can often get you pointed in the right direction.
If you’re ready to throw down on a new ride, there are a few avenues that you can take.

The Classic Voile Splitboard
This classic piece of gear is where it all started. Some of the bad stigma attached to splitboards can be attributed to Voile’s first batch of splitties that had a centimeter wide gap running from tip to tail. Luckily, they’ve since sorted this out. The board’s flush now and rides nicely in ideal conditions. If the snow’s shitty, the non-existent flex pattern wangs the board all over the place. The board itself isn’t great, but Voile’s patented changeover system is the best in the business.

The System
For the downhill mode, a couple permanent pucks on the desired stance of your board interface with the metal plates that you mount on the bottom of your bindings. Once you slide your binding along the pucks and into place, you secure them with a pin at the toe of the metal plate.
This same pin will secure your uphill mode as well. You slide it through the holes perpendicular to your riding stance and your heel raises up and down as needed.

The system works because it’s simple. There aren’t any small bits that get jammed with snow and fuck you over 15 kms from the road. You can almost always bash your bindings into place and get yourself ready to shred. I always make sure I have an extra pin or two in my pack.

The Burton Splitboard
Burton finally swallowed their pride and realized that their original system was stranding its users in inconvenient places. True, the board offered more performance than most of the other options. But their original changeover system is an absolute nightmare. Burton has a historical knack for producing gear that is great in theory but falls short in the practical realm.

Their 2006 model is designed for the Voile changeover system, which is sold separately. However, there are a bunch of those old boards circulating through the world of used gear. I apologize to anyone currently trying to sell one, but buyer beware. If you’re in possession of an old Burton split, make sure you travel with a stiff brush to get the snow out of your web of moving bits. Experience has shown that daily use leads to irreversible frustration. But you can always redrill your board for the Voile system.

The Prior Splitboard
Prior emerged out of Whistler a few years ago. Their boards are designed to be wielded in the pow that makes the area famous. Given that the Coastal Range occasionally falls prey to snow the consistency of wet cement, Prior was smart enough to outfit their boards with the Voile changeover system. One of the things I like about Prior is that they have experience in making performance boards of the non-split variety.

The two halves of their split sit nicely flush and in the right conditions, they handle like a dream. But even when the going gets shitty, the Prior split stands up to the challenge. Of course nothing rides well in refrozen avalanche debris. But if you’re contending with ice, slush or windfuck, you’ll be impressed by the way your board eats that shit up.

Apparently they have a few new shapes for Winter 2007. They’ve had the swallowtail option for a few years now. But they added a new board called the Khyber, which offers a tapered tail for a fishy feel, and the ATV, which is designed specifically for hard-booters, if you’re into that kind of thing.

The Cheaper Option
Not everybody has $1300 kicking around. If you’re anything like me in the middle of the winter, you may not have $13 kicking around. But if you can muster up $200 and an old board, you can buy yourself Voile’s splitboard kit which will give you everything you need to mount their system on a board that you’ve cut in half on your own. Now I’ve never done this so I don’t have any advice on the technicalities of splitting your old board in two.

I have, however, had the opportunity to ride a home-sliced board. It’s actually not such a bad option. At least you get to pick the board that you split. The only problem is that you don’t have four edges on your climbing set-up. This’ll have you screaming obscenities into the open air during an icy climb. But Voile sells crampons for the set-up as well. Problem solved.

A few new companies have sprung up in the last little while. But I don’t know enough about them to make any sort of comment. I imagine that as long as your board has the Voile changeover system, you’ll be pleased with your purchase.

Be advised that this whole article is based on my own moderately educated opinions. If you feel like I left anything out or if you think I’m just plain wrong about anything, feel free to comment on the article or email me at mikeynix@uvic.ca. Contact me with any further questions you might have as well.

Happy Splitting