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Bataleon Love Powder Snowboard | Review

Built for female riders, this board by Bataleon is a powder lovers dream come true, but it can also rip on the piste

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.

The Love Powder board from Bataleon has enough flex to enjoy ripping around the parks and pistes. Photo: Chris Johnson.
Get the Love Powder into the deep powder and you'll quickly learn why it earns that name . Photo: Chris Johnson.
The swallow tail on the Love Powder from Bataleon will help the nose float easily over deep powder . Photo: Chris Johnson.
The rad Triple Base technology and the new SideKick feature give the base of the board a unique wave. Photo: Chris Johnson.

Compared to a lot of powder boards, the Bataleon Love Powder has a relatively soft flex. This means it’s more forgiving than some, and carves easily when you’re on piste or hard-packed snow. It also means that you don’t have to be a particularly heavy or powerful rider to ollie this board. Having a board that’s just for powder days might seem like a luxury to a lot of people and the fact that this rides brilliantly on-piste as well as off makes it a whole lot more versatile.

Having said that, you wouldn’t necessarily want to try tricks in the snowpark on this – and if you’re not planning on heading off piste, there are probably better boards out there. But if you’re the kind of snowboarder who lives for the days when it’s dumping, then the Bataleon Love Powder is a great option. There aren’t many powder-specific snowboards built just for women, and this is one of the best, making it a worthy inclusion in the winter Outdoor 100.

Bataleon Love Powder Snowboard

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Selected for The Outdoor 100 Winter 2017

View the full 100
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