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Riding Style Freestyle
Riding Level Intermediate - Expert
Fits Boot size (US) 8-10, 10-12
Manufactured in Dubai by SWS
Shape True Twin
Camber Profile Continuous Rocker
Stance Centered
Approx. Weight Feels Normal
Split No
Powder Average
Base Glide Average
Carving Average
Speed Good
Uneven Terrain Good
Switch Great
Jumps Great
Jibbing Good
Pipe Great
On Snow Feel

Semi-Stable

Turn Initiation

Medium/Fast

Skidded Turns

Easy

Flex

Medium

Buttering

Semi-Easy

Edge Hold

Hard Snow

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Arbor Westmark Rocker 2016 - 2010 Review by The Good Ride

The Arbor Westmark Rocker has been re-tuned for 2016 with a massively blunted nose but other than that a very similar ride to the old board.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  No one is perfect and we do make money from the “Where To Buy” links below, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective. 
How This Review Happened:  
We borrowed this for a day and then returned it.

Size: 152
Days:  1
Conditions: Crappy spring snow.
Riders: James
Boots:  Burton Fiend LTD
Bindings:  Burton Genesis,
Set Up:Centered approx 23″ wide 15 front -15 back

Approximate Weight: Felt normal.

On Snow Feel: Loose and spinney as always but not as bad as other continuous rocker boards I’ve tried.  It’s got some mountain capability but wants to be in the park.  Very easy to spin, make skidded turns, pops well between the feet and one of those fun freestyle boards. The blunted nose/tail seems like it would make the board feel awkward but it wasn’t much different from the old Westmark we have ridden a lot.

Powder: It’s made to ride smaller sizes so even with that big ass nose/tail it’s still not a powder specialist but that rocker floats well for a small twin.

Turn Initiation: Even though it’s loose and easy to turn it feels a little slow edge to edge for a board this size.  I liked the feel of it though and wish more rocker boards where like this.

Carving: Pretty boring on a carve and doesn’t really give you that rewarding spring throughout the carve.  Instead, the rocker tries to hurry you out of the carve and it feels a bit unsatisfying.

Speed: Faster than you would think for a small twin.

Uneven Terrain: Pretty easy to negotiate the end of the day or crappy spring snow like I had.

Edge Hold: Love the system tech and the little bumps at the binding do more than compensate for the nose/tail being up. Great for anything from hard to soft snow.

Flex: Pretty mediumish but easy to butter.

Switch: Only thing better to ride switch is an asym twin. Very easy either way.

Jibbing: Even though I’m not a strong jibber it’s a board I’m comfortable taking into the jib park.

Pipe:  Brand new it holds well in the pipe but the rocker doesn’t drive well wall to wall.  Still enjoyable and good for taking some laps.

Jumps: Really poppy between the feet and it springs just as good as it always does.

 
Arbor Westmark Rocker Past Reviews

The Arbor Westmark is a fun all conditions park ride as well as a pretty accomplished freestyle ride that’s also not bad on the mountain. The Arbor Westmark surprised us because we expected the Arbor Draft with steel edges. Instead it felt like there was a little more to it than that.

The 2014 and 2015 Arbor Westmark is pretty much the same great freestyle board it’s been for the last few years.

Size 153 and 156

Days: 7+
Conditions: Snowment to hard pack to soft snow. Some shallow powder too.
Bindings: Rome 390 Boss, Burton Cartel Re:Flex, Flux DS30
Boots: Burton SLX, Burton Ion, Burton Imperial and Nike Kaiju
Stance Width: 22.5 inches centered and 23 inches centered.
Stance Angles: 15 front -15 back

The rocker on this board has a very small radius so between the feet it’s almost flat and then it curves up a little bit past the bindings. Still it’s a continuous rocker board but feels almost as stable as some flat to rocker boards with more rocker than flat. In 2010 the Arbor Westmark was a Mid/Wide board but 2011 forward the Westmark narrowed it’s waist to fit the average freestyle rider. The Arbor Westmark seems like it hasn’t changed much from 2011 to 2014 which is kind of funny that suddenly Transworld Snowboarding gave it a Good Wood Award for 2014.

On Snow Feel: Even though the westmark has a pretty loose playful feel it was surprising to find how stable it felt cruising around in good conditions for a continuous rocker board. They can get pretty loose and unstable. From very steep fast runs to almost flat track beginner runs the Arbor Westmark did a decent job and didn’t have that skate board with the loose trucks squirrely feel. In harder conditions you start to feel it a little less stable between the feet but still not that bad. One footing and flat basing is not that bad but most of us still prefer using a camber, hybrid camber and some flat to rocker boards more.

Powder: The Arbor Westmark’s rocker and fast base planed very well above the thick sierra cement for a freestyle continuous rocker twin. We had some powder experiences in the Arbor Westmark but nothing to write home about. It was mainly shallow thick powder. If you ride in light fluffy pow places you won’t have any issues and it’s far superior than most camber boards of similar shape. In thicker deeper snow in we’d rather be out on a bigger sized Coda or Element RX but it’s still not bad.

Turn Initiation and Carving: The Westmark 156 has a waist width of 25.1 which is about average for a park board of this size. The short radius turn initiation was quick but not super quick like some continuous rocker boars. You can get where you want to go in a hurry if you need to but it’s not as effortless as many continuous rocker boards. Wide radius turns are about the same and rather fun. This is one of the best experiences you can have with a continuous rocker snowboard when it comes to carving. That doesn’t mean it’s going to compete with boards that have camber somewhere in the profile but it’s bearable to carve if you make a gorrilla/shit stance to keep the outer edges of the board down and don’t lean into it too hard. It’s missing that springy feel that camber snowboards have or even some hybrid shapes with camber can generate. So we expected nothing when it came to carving and it actually gave us something.

Speed: At first we thought the 156 would not offer up a lot of speed based on our groups weight and somewhat strong riding style but it was more than enough board for both of us. Even though this base is extruded it was still surprising how well it handled chatter for a continuous rocker board. Even in the flats and on long traverses the 156 Arbor Westmark did a good job keeping speed. It didn’t blow minds but it sure did a good job. To sum it up the Westmark rides pretty big for it’s size and even with an extruded base it does well.

Uneven Terrain: It’s not ideal in the bumpy stuff but the medium flex absorbs end of the day terrain no problem. It’s when you get into really shitty bumpy snow that this can be a bit of a problem. Still it’s not terrible by any means.

Approximate Weight– Not a featherweight but it’s not a heavy weight either. There is no tugging feeling when on a chair lift.

Edge Hold: The Grip Tech technology does a very good job with helping your edge hold on to the snow. Grip Tech is basically an extension of the edge at each binding. It doesn’t feel catchy but grips very well. It might be a minor step below Magnetraction in terms of edge hold but the ride has a more smooth traditional feel to it. Even on an icy pipe wall or hard pack the Arbor Westmark will hold it’s edge.

Flex: The Westmark is on the soft side of medium.

Switch: There was no noticeable difference riding either direction.

Rails/Jibbing: A little to stiff for full time rail/jib work but it isn’t bad for a visit. When it comes to playing around in the jib park it’s not great but isn’t terrible.

Pipe: This has an easy feel in the pipe that we liked. Something in the ride kept it from being excellent but it was a pretty fun board to stop in the pipe with. It’s forgiving and has good edge hold but it was missing some of the wall to wall drive we have experienced in other boards.

Jumps: The Arbor Westmark is a solid board when it comes to jumps. It’s not super springy but also isn’t dead. If you are hitting mainly mid sized jumps you will have a great time. It’s debatable as to if the Arbor Westmark will handle going really big. Yours Truly (editor) won’t be caught dead approaching a 60 foot kicker so that’s why we say it will be debatable. Some friends of The Good Ride who go big say it will be just fine and others prefer a camber or hybrid shape so there is some camber to help with off landings. So as always it’s personal preference.

All in all the Arbor Westmark was a nice surprise for a continuous rocker snowboard and should fit many park to all mountain freestyle snowboarders needs.
2014 Arbor Westmark

The factory changed up but most of the people that built Arbor boards at the old factory are building them at the new one.  Because of that I’m not expecting the 2014 production model to change much from the boards we tried at the demo.

 

 
Arbor Westmark Rocker Specs

 
Arbor Westmark Rocker Images

We try to get as many images of the Arbor Westmark Rocker, but forgive us if they're not all there.

Arbor Westmark Rocker User Reviews

Arbor Westmark Rocker Snowboard Review SKU UPC Model

OK

Feb 08, 2015 by Jason
Ability Level: Int/Adv • 
Riding Style: Relaxed • 
Days You Ride A Year: 30 

I bought a 159, having come from a Custom Flying V. I was looking for something more playful and with better pop, so went with this after reading the reviews. I have only used it twice, but so far am a bit dissapointed as its not as playful as I was expecting (less than the custom) and not as much pop as I would like, hence the average rating.


Best board I've ever owned!

Jan 28, 2014 by Mike
Ability Level: Intermediate • 
Riding Style: All mountain • 
Days You Ride A Year: 30+ 

Going from a Skate Banana to this I didn't think there would be much difference... but there was! Far more stable, much more fun, better in the pow. This doesn't make sense on paper but I reckon griptech does a better job that magnetraction???? I was never much of a freestyler but this board has given me the confidence to start trying a few tricks and I'm actually getting some of them dialed!!! My only issue is that it doesn't seem to carry speed too well over the flats, or maybe I just need to screw the old gonads on a bit tighter and bomb it some more!! I agree with David....Get one!


Great Board! Get One!!

Jun 13, 2013 by David
Ability Level: Intermediate • 
Riding Style: All Mountain • 
Days You Ride A Year: 30+ 

This board is stupid fun! This was my first true rocker board, coming from pure camber. So I wasn't sure what to expect. After a somewhat sketchy skate away (didn't fall but felt loose and a little out of control) from the chair at the top, I strapped in and rode away. First couple of carves and this silly grin spread across my face. Griptech works! I actually had better edge hold than my old camber board right from the first turn. With griptech I was able to carve on all except the steepest (black) terrain.

This is now my go to board for everything on the mountain - groomers, trees, blues, blacks, moguls and jumps (I'm not much of a park rat) even though this is pitched as a park board. Can't say enough good things about this board.

Being a medium to soft park flex, this board tends to dive in deeper powder, more than I expected a full rocker to do. You may have to ride this in powder like you would a cambered deck. Also, I noticed that the base was a little softer than other boards. It scratches and gouges just a bit more than other boards. That said, I found the overall durability of the board to be quite acceptable, so don't let this deter you from buying one.


4.3 5.0 3 3 I bought a 159, having come from a Custom Flying V. I was looking for something more playful and with better pop, so went with this after reading the reviews. I have only used it t Arbor Westmark Rocker Snowboard Review

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