I just wanted to add a review for a very old, very awesome workhorse of a
board: my 1993 Morrow Drive 163. Reading reviews under Morrow makes it seems like
these are not well-constructed, reliable boards. Five+(?) years of high speed,
hardcore riding later, that's news to me. The ride of this board is incredible. One
word: responsive. My first day on the board totally changed the way I rode:
not thinking about steering the board, just looking at the terrain in front of
me and where ever I wanted to go, the board would bring me there. Day after day,
year after year, this board took me to new levels of performance. Making
a last second adjustment around a tree--doing big fast carves on groomed--
hitting short-radius turns in icy moguls--this board could do anything. I was
collapsing in fits of laughter at the bottom of epic runs. I was smiling so
much my face hurt at the end of the day. If they made this exact same board
today, I'd go out and buy it in a second. Who needs "New Technology"? They did
it right back in 1993. Granted, I'm not a big air kind of guy, but seen plenty
of use and abuse. I've pretty much destroyed two sets of new boots on this one
board, as an example.
I've had the board flat ground every year, and so now, 5-6 seasons later, I've worn
through the base down the center of the board, ie, it's flexed out side to side.
The surprise is that a foam core board could last so long. Wood boards do the exact
same thing, according to people I've talked to--can't expect a board to last
forever...
So I go out and pick up a new Kemper 155cm because it was cheap. I thought it was too soft and just not stable at high speeds. Other than the one day with the Kemper, I spent all of last season on this five year old Morrow, it's base partially gone, and it was obviously slower and certainly less responsive than when I bought it--but I was often on terrain and at speeds that other riders only hit in their dreams...
After five years on this Morrow, I think alot of boards just won't measure up. So
last week I picked up a 1998 Morrow Lithium 161cm for half off at a pre-season
sale. Morrow. It's not a snowboard. It's a religion.
------=(For more info on this board feel free to E-mail me @
al_raetz@yahoo.com)=------