Gnu Billy Goat Snowboard

Gnu Billy Goat In Depth Review

Gnu Temple Cummins Billy Goat C2 BTX All Mountain Freeride Snowboard Review

Days- 30+
Conditions- Everything from deep powder to ice and everythign in between.
Riders- Eli (owns it) Peter, James, Jimbo and Mary Eli owns this board.
Boots- Burton Ion, Burton SLX, Salomon Synapse
Bindings- Burton Diode, Burton C60, Burotn Cartel, Union Force, Flux SF45′s, Union SL
Set Up-  23 inches Wide, Set Back 18 front -3 back.  22.5″ Wide Set Back  18 front -9 back. 21″ Wide Set Back 18 Front 6 back.  23″ wide centered 12 front -12 back.
The Gnu Temple Cummins Billy Goat C2 BTX is pretty interesting and pretty fun.  To Temple and Gnu it’s a freeride board but to the average riders at The Good Ride it’s a board that is more of  a ride that works most places on the other side of the park fence and some places in side it.  It doesn’t have that stiff or aggressive feel so it makes for a great ride for more novice freeride to all/mostly mountain riders. It also let’s an advanced to expert rider be more aggressive with less consequence.

Years ago Gnu added BTX and the 2010 Gnu Billy Goat evolved to C2 BTX.  The C2 BTX shape is rocker in the center and then is bent back towards the tip and tail so it’s has rocker and camber. We call this hybrid rocker because it has rocker in the middle. This gives you a little more stability on jumps, turns, ollies ect.  The 2011 Gnu Billy Goat hasn’t changed much from 2010 except the C2 BTX has been slightly refined to make the ride a litte better when the snow is hard.  The 2012 The Billy Goat added new sizes and continued to refine the C2 BTX shape to make it even better in harder conditions than the 2011. In addition to more sizes Gnu also made a split board for backcountry riders. Aside from a few minor refinements he 2013 is very similar to the 2012. So basically it changed drastically in 2010 but then hasn’t changed much since.

2012 Gnu Billy Goat Review by The Good Ride (Same as 2013)

On Snow Feel-  Like many hybrid rocker boards it feels a little loose and unstable between the feet on harder snow but in softer snow to powder feels stable.  This board really improved over the last few years and now does a lot better when one footing or flat basing on groomers.  Although it improved tremendously from last year it still isn’t there with some of the flat to rocker or hybrid camber boards out there. 

Powder-  This is borderline excellent and we cant really argue with someone who wants to call it Excellent.  The YES The Optimistic and the Temple Cummins are probably two of our favorite Twin/Twinlike powder boards out there.  The old Camber Temple Cummins did very well in pow but the C2 BTX is a whole new level in double ender pow riding. It can make a board that should be ok in powder almost ride like a powder board. We had a day with about 1 to 2 feet of powder and then we found our way into some deeper powder from some wind loading and this board kept it’s nose up even though we didn’t lean back.   It’s like adding 3-6 CM to the board but you still have that smaller board maneuverability and feel.  This board is stiff and fast so it carried it’s speed well through the flats on your way back to the chair.  If you want one board to do anything but still perform exceptionally well in powder then this might be your board.  We haven’t experienced many other boards with a similar shape that can ride like this in powder. It changes the way you think about riding when it dumps and could almost be a powder specific board killer.

Turn Initiation/Carving- Probably the most important part of a board.  Even though this board is pretty stiff it can turn like a intermediate/beginner board.  When we first ride a board we take as many quick turns as possible.  This board turned as fast as we could lean and took almost no effort to get this thing to respond.   One of the riders at the Good Ride said if it turned any easier he wouldn’t like it.  He felt that he still liked the cambered board for initiating a turn. Another rider (me the editor) loved this board and felt it was a pleasant surprise to have a board respond so quickly and still ride so fast.  Usually you sacrifice speed for turnability.   If you haven’t tried C2 BTX it’s definitely different than a traditional cambered board and a reverse cambered board.   It’s still a tough call on a groomer day though.  It does turn well and hold an edge it just doesn’t have the stability of a cambered board on hard pack at high speeds.  It does a great job for a rocker board though.  When it comes to carving the Billy Goat does a pretty good job.  You can lean into it pretty hard and the tail doesn’t wash out but it doesn’t have that super fun feeling that camber and some hybrid camber boards have.

Speed-  C2 BTX has helped eliminate some of that that sketchy feel at high speeds but it’s still a little loose/squirrely. For a board of these designs and shape it still does a good job and is better than most C2 BTX boards out there.

Uneven Terrain-  So in uneven terrain like hard or soft bumps on the way to powder are handled very well for a board of this flex. It’s great in getting through chunder but it’s also great dealing with tracked up end of the day groomers as well.

Approximate Weight- Its well built and damp so don’t expect it to be a feather. You can expect to have this board last for several years. 

Edge Hold-  Even though this board has a mellow MTX cut (almost un-noticeable from some angles) it’s stiffness really makes the Billy Goat hold an edge in just about anything you will want to ride on.  This will hold well on hard pack and hold very well in ice….if you have to ride on it. 

Flex- Pretty Damn Stiff!  This and the phoenix we feel are mervins stiffest/fastest boards. these boards both are made to hold an edge and eliminate chatter at almost any speed.  There are other companies that have stiffer boards but these are up there.  The weird thing about the Gnu Billy Goat is that when riding it doesn’t feel incredibly stiff for an all mountain/freeride board.

Jibbing-  Not really designed for jibbing but it will be OK if you want to hit the jibs in the park.  Having the tip and tail slightly up made the board less catchy when screwing around. 

Switch-   The front nose is much taller and it’s very hard to center your board so you would think that riding switch on this somewhat twinish directional board would not be that easy.  That being said you can ride switch surprisingly well on the Billy Goat.  We think C2 BTX has more emphasis on turning with the center part of the board and the tips turned up.  It’s not going to be like the riders choice but it will be fine to give your calves a rest traversing to the spot you want to drop in and for those stops in the park.

Rails and Jibbing- uhhhhhh we didn’t want to ruin this pretty board so we will guess that its ok but there are much better boards for rails and jibs. 

Pipe- Pretty damn fun.  medium/stiff directional boards usually do pretty well in the pipe.  This can climb a pipe wall very well and is pretty forgiving coming back down for a board so stiff.

Jumps- For natural jumps this board is excellent.  It’s also very easy to generate your own air and lives on the poppy side of life.

A Quick Look at the 2013 Gnu Billy Goat 

A Quick Look at the 2012 Gnu Billy Goat

A Quick Look at the 2012 Gnu Billy Goat Split

Gnu Billy Goat Gallery

2013

2012

2011

2010

Gnu Billy Goat User Reviews