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Arbor Ethos 2021 Review by The Good Ride

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The Arbor Ethos is a forgiving, catch free snowboard that likes to play all over the mountain. It would fit well with a beginner level snowboarder looking to learn, or an intermediate rider who wants a playful ride. The Ethos comes with a reverse camber profile and a 3/10 soft flex.

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 rider’s perspective. 
How This Review Happened:  We borrowed this for an extended demo and then returned it.

Size: 147

Days:  3

Conditions: Off piste spring conditions, soft snow.

Boots: Vans Ferra

Bindings: Union Milan

Set Up: 15 front -15 back 20″ wide

Approximate Weight: Feels average to light

Flex/Buttering: Comes with a 3/10 flex. It has a playful and forgiving feel that is easy to butter.

Sizing: 138, 141, 144, 147, 150, 153

On Snow Feel: The Arbor Ethos comes with a reverse camber profile that keeps the board feeling loose on the snow. It makes it a little challenging for getting off the lift if you are just learning. But it makes up for that when catching less edges when you are learning your turns. If you ride the board flat based on the snow it spins around freely.

Edge Hold: For a rocker snowboard the edge hold is pretty good thanks to the 4 small bumps at all the contact points with the snow. But compared to a board with positive camber, or greater side-cut disruption, the edge hold isn’t that great. The Ethos does well in medium to softer snow.

Turn Initiation: This board is quick to turn. It is easy to get it from one edge to the other with minimal effort. It likes skidded, low edge angle turns.

Carving: Carving is not the strong point for this board. It prefers skidded turns.

Powder: The reverse camber mixed with being slightly directional, make this board easy to ride in powder. It would be a fairly easy learning curve to learn how to ride in deeper snow with this. But it isn’t going to be a hard charging powder board, it will be a slower more mellow ride in the powder.

Speed: The Ethos does well up to a medium speed. It may start to get a little chattery at higher speeds, or when riding fast over bumpier snow.

Uneven Terrain: It rides well through uneven terrain, but prefers to turn through it instead of charge over the top of it. But it is easy to turn in tight spaces and easy to skid it around bumps.

Switch: It rides great switch. This board is slightly directional but you can hardly tell when riding it switch. It would also be a good board to learn switch on since it is so catch free and easy to turn.

Jumps: The Ethos would be good for learning jumps. It would do well on small to medium features and for trying new tricks. But it won’t have as much stability or pop as a board with positive camber or a stiffer flex.

Jibbing: This board would be fun to jib on because of the reverse camber and soft flex. It is playful and easy to ride out a sketchy landing on. I think it would be a good board for learning jibs as well.

Pipe: It is not the ideal pipe board. I would prefer more stability and edge hold when riding a pipe than what the Ethos has to offer.

Overall: The Arbor Ethos would be a good choice for the beginner rider looking to learn turns or for someone who wants a playful forgiving board to explore the mountain with. It also could work for an intermediate rider who wants a playful board that is easy to butter and play on.

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