Burton Vapor

For 2008, it is yet to be seen, but the truth is that the Elan Inverse actually underweighed the Burton Vapor by a fraction of a pound in one size. According to Transworld Snowboarding, in their 2007 good wood test, the Inverse weighed 5.5 lbs at 159 cm and the Vapor weighed 5.7 lbs in the 157 cm length.

This is all the data that I have, so there may be deviations among the other sizes.

I just wanted to post this data to provide some truth on the Vapor, not to deflate the dreams of everybody in the world. Yes it is hellaciously light, but if it is the lightest, maybe not.

However, we should note some differences between the boards. First, the Vapor is a freeride focused snowboard and is quite stiff, while the inverse is more freestyle oriented.

Also, Burton obtained their lightweight through an AlumaFly core while Elan used low-density poplar wood. This brings to question which is stronger. The truth, I am not sure. But I know when you start using super light wood, strength goes out the window. Burton introduced a board with balsa year ago and it was a bit weak IMO.

Basically, I think Burton has the right approach. And we are yet to see how the Vapor in the Burton 2008 line-up stacks up against the Elan. I don’t think building the lightest board should be done with wood. If I wanted a wood snowboard I would no doubt get a Burton Custom anyways. Whether aluminum is the best way still remains to be proven, but Burton is definately on the right track. This is why I prefer the Vapor, even it isn’t the lightest, to other snowboards.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2007 at 2:06 pm and is filed under Lightness Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.