Rocker Tech: What's up, guys? This is Nick coming to you from Ski Pro. Tonight I want to talk to you a little bit about the difference between the regular camber and rocker. I'm sure most of you have seen this technology. It's been used for decades. Until last year almost every brand utilized this and they do it for a couple basic reasons, first being that it gives the board resilience and life. Giving it that camber makes it want to rebound as it comes out of turns. And because you're putting so much force on the board as it flexes in the center, having it shaped in opposite directions is what really gives it life and it's resilience. It also adds a little bit of snap to the tip and the tail. Because of that shape it allows you to put a lot of pressure onto the tip and the tail, giving you good hauling power and that kind of oomph in and out of turns. Last year Lib Tech came with this idea called Banana Technology. It's what everyone else is dubbing “rocker technology”, and what that does is reverse the camber on the board. So as you can see with the Skate Banana here, it has what they are going to call “Banana Technology”. Now, that is going to do a couple of different things for you. The first thing is that it really makes the board easy to turn. When you lay this onto its edge it's already in that curve. So it's going to turn a little bit for you, maybe do a little bit of the work for you, so it makes it easier to turn. It also allows you to press these boards for a really long period of time over really long distance, and makes it very easy to do. So tail presses, nose presses, butters, whatever it is, it's incredibly simple with the Skate Banana. The thing is almost going to do that for you. An added benefit to having rocker technology is that you can ride a really wide, centered stance and not have to worry about being in the back seat when you run into deeper snow conditions--backcountry powder conditions. Coming from my own experience, I rode a 52 Skate Banana last year at Snowbird on a really fantastic powder day, and for myself I ride a 25 inch wide centered stance. I didn't feel like I had any problems riding through deep snow on the Skate Banana. It was incredible. That was probably my first really solid experience on the Banana. I'm a big fan of it. I think it's great technology, but it's definitely not for everyone. It's certainly something that I believe is worth trying and is a really fun addition to add to a board. It definitely changes out the way it feels. But again, it's something that you want to check out first, maybe, before you fully invest in one because it is different. It is going to change the way your board rides. And the first time you take one out, go a little easy with it. It's pretty easy to get lobbed off a Skate Banana because it turns so quickly, almost as if it's thinking before you are. I guess you can probably think of Banana Technology in terms of having power steering for your snowboard. It really makes it easy to ride, fun to ride, and is a great addition to any board. In fact, you'll find that Lib Tech has spread it throughout almost their entire line, as has Gnu. They've got it on several of their boards. And now you'll find that lots of other companies like Ride, K2, Burton--that mighty Burton--are even going to add that kind of technology to some of their boards. So to me that stays that it works, it's proven, and everyone else wants to use it, so it must be somewhat of a good idea. For more information, be sure to check out www.dealersnowboards.com and see our forum.
