Dupraz 5 5 and 6 2015 Review by The Good Ride

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DUPRAZ!!! (insert friendly enthusiastic French accent) I have to start out and say that Dupraz Snowboards are one of the most unique rides I’ve tried at the demos. We are more into mainstream rides so this off the beaten path snowboard was a fun and very functional old school design. Whether it’s your style or not Dupraz is truly surfy. It changes the definition of what is considered surfy and it’s the closest thing we experienced to surfing snow. They even measure in surfboard lengths.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size: 165 (5’5″) and 178 (6′)
Days:  1
Conditions:  packed groomed powder with some leftover powder here and there in the trees.
Riders: James, Peter,
Boots:  Burton Imperial,  Nike Lunarendore
Bindings:  Flux TT, Rome Kitana
Set Up: Set back about 23” wide 23 front 0 back.

Approximate Weight:  Felt normal but these are pretty big boards so they weigh a lot.  They don’t feel like the super light boards I’ve ridden but instead feel well built and reliable

On Snow Feel:  So the 165 felt pretty surfy but surfy like a fish.  The 178 felt surfy like a big wave gun.  Both had a stable feel underfoot but both felt more like surfboards than snowboards.

Powder:   This is a traditional camber board but it could easily be argued that it’s hybrid camber because there is a lot of nose going on and the board really floats. There is a lot of volume in the board after the front binding that seems to help the board float really well.  The 165 felt somewhat slashy and moderately quick but the 178 felt like you wanted to point it and pick up some serious speed down a steep deep bowl.

Turn Initiation and Carving:   Both turned easier than we thought but they are definitely a different type of turning.  They both seem to like an off the back foot surf style turn and both were pretty fun to carve.  Obviously, the 178 took more work to turn and felt more locked in its path but the 165 could be turned rather quick.

Speed:  The 165 is pretty fast but the 178 just bombed.

Uneven Terrain:   The 165 is a better board for negotiating a path through bumpy snow but neither of them really felt at home in bumps.  Both are great for busting chunder though and both can bomb through tracked up powder without a single issue.  It’s just when it goes from tracked powder to moguls the boards become tough to ride.

Edge Hold:   We were both pretty surprised at how both sizes held an edge.  We had really soft snow but there was one part of a run that had the good snow scraped away and nasty ice underneath.  The 178 held the best but the 165 wasn’t bad.  It wasn’t confidence inspiring but it did well enough for a board of this shape. These are best in soft snow or powder but they can hang pretty well when conditions start to firm up.

Flex:  They felt pretty stiff.

Switch:   Not very easy to ride switch at all.

Jibbing:   No fucking way.

Pipe:   We did not stop in the pipe.

Jumps:   Nice Ollie spring off the tail and we liked popping off natural features.

Both boards were fun but I think Peter and I both had the most fun on the 178.  Maybe it’s because it was so big and even more unique than the 165. That being said if you are looking to surf the snow daily the 165 would be more suitable for more places on the mountain than the 178.  These aren’t for everyone but if you are an old school rider that came from a surfing background or just someone who prefers to surf snow this could be your board.