When the Dutch biophysicist Jorgen Karlson came up with a revolutionary idea for the shape of a snowboard back in the late 90s, he tried to sell it to various different manufacturers without success. Nearly 20 years on, you can probably assume that the companies who turned him down are regretting that decision. The brand he decided to found following their rejection, Bataleon Snowboards, has gone from strength to strength. And its success is based almost entirely on his “Triple Base Technology” (or TBT).

The principle behind it is fairly simple – the edges of the board are angled slightly upwards, making them more difficult to dig into the snow accidentally, so you get a smoother, more predictable ride. Bataleon have perfected TBT over the years tweaking it to suit different snowboarding situations. The Love Powder board here for example features an iteration that’s specifically designed for – you guessed it – powder snow.

“Built for serious backcountry missions this women’s specific board turns beautifully in deep snow.”

Built for serious backcountry missions this women’s specific board has a base profile that’s characterised by high tip and a low tail. In addition to this, the edges of the base are set at a steeper angle at the nose than at the tail. The overall effect of these subtle changes in angle and shape are that this board turns beautifully in deep snow. And when you combine them with the reference stance which is set back from the centre and the ‘swallowtail’ cutaway at the back of the board, you have a stick that’s almost impossible to nose under – the perennial problem facing snowboarders on powder runs.