Summary

The Arbor Veda is a directional and tapered freeride board a positive camber profile, 5/10 flex, and Arbor's uprise powder fenders. It has a freeride personality while still being slightly playful and fun inspiring. This review is still relevant for the 2024 model of the Arbor Veda.

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Riding Style Freeride
Riding Level Intermediate - Expert
Fits Boot size (US) Women's, < 8, 8-10, 10-12, > 12
Manufactured in Dubai by SWS
Shape Tapered Directional
Camber Profile Traditional Camber
Stance Setback -20mm
Approx. Weight Feels Normal
Split No
Powder Great
Base Glide Good
Carving Great
Speed Great
Uneven Snow Great
Switch Average
Jumps Good
Jibbing Poor
Pipe Good
On Snow Feel

Semi-Locked In

Turn Initiation

Medium/Fast

Skidded Turns

Moderate

Flex

Medium

Buttering

Moderate

Edge Hold

Hard Snow

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Arbor Veda Snowboard Written Review Review by The Good Ride

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.

Arbor Veda Shot

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

Size: 154

Days: 10

Conditions: All sorts of conditions from hardback, to powder, to slushy spring time.

Riders: Steph

Boots: Vans Luna, K2 Cosmo

Bindings: Arbor Sequoia, Union Legacy, Union Juliet

Set Up: 20.5″ Centered 15 front -15 back

Board Sizing: 145, 150, 154, 157, 159, 162W

I tried the 154 this time, the previous review I did in 2020 was the 145.

Would be nice to see more options in the smaller size range.

Veda Camber Profile

Camber Profile

The Veda comes with Arbor’s parabolic camber. Which is a full positive camber profile that gradually mellow out as it moves towards the nose and tail of the board.

Flex

It comes with a 5/10 flex that keeps the Veda feeling stable at higher speeds and through choppy snow. But it is also nimble enough to turn quickly and play around on a bit.

Base

It comes with a Sintered Plus Base. Which is a mid-density base that has increased speed and durability but is still supposed to be easy to repair. It felt fast in all the snow conditions I rode the Veda in.

On Snow Feel

Right away the Veda felt pretty good under foot. I think I had the perfect conditions to test this board out. It has a camber profile that keeps it feeling connected with the snow. It also has raised fenders on the nose and the tail to keep it feeling a little loose and playful.

Steeps

The Arbor Veda feels right at home in steep terrain. It handles well and has the ability to make quick turns at higher or lower speeds alike. The positive camber profile mixed with the grip tech keep it feeling connected to the snow.

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Off Piste

The nimbleness of the Veda holds up great in off piste terrain. It is quickly maneuverable through tight trees and bumpy snow. I really enjoyed riding it through trees as well. It handled great in tight spots and felt very responsive in both soft snow and harder packed snow.

Edge Hold

The positive camber profile mixed with the bumps at your toe and heel contact points make the Veda good for riding in hard snow and even in icy conditions. It is somewhere in-between the abilities of a board with full magna traction and a board with no added disruption in the sidecut.

Arbor Veda Powder Riding

Powder

The Veda has all the right ingredients to make this board ride well in powder. It is pretty directional (20mm of setback), has taper (8.4mm of taper), and also comes with Arbor’s powder fenders. The raised fender in the front is longer than the raised fender in the back encouraging the board to float even more. I thought it felt great in soft snow. And it was a lot of fun, and pretty easy to stay on top too.

Furthest Setback On Board

Along with being already directional, if you move the bindings all the way back you can get up to 4″ of setback on board, with a 20″ stance width on the 154.

Arbor Veda Carving

Turn Initiation and Carving

This board is fun on groomers as well. It feels nimble and quick to turn, and can make skidded and carved turns alike. It feels great in the carves and has nice energy and spring from turn to turn when carving. The 5/10 flex keeps it feeling good at higher speeds but also allows maneuverability at slower speeds too. So you don’t have to be hard charging all the time.

Arbor Veda Switch

Freestyle Personality

One of the things I personally enjoy most about the Veda, is that it is a freeride board that also can play around a bit. A lot of freeride boards tend to be hard charging all the time and take a firm riding style to get them to respond. The Veda is a nice mix of being technical but still has a playful side.

It is medium difficult to butter, but it can be done. The uprise fenders keep it feeling not too locked into the snow while riding so there’s room to play around a bit. The positive camber profile and the medium flex give the Veda good stability and pop off natural jumps and drops. And you can also ride it switch without it feeling too backwards.

Powder with the Arbor Veda

Overall

The Arbor Veda could be good for an advanced to expert rider who loves riding in freeride environments. It is a versatile board that is stable in a lot of different terrain and rips up groomers and powder alike.

If this Arbor Poparazzi (Mantra) review helped, we’d appreciate if you:

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Arbor Veda Past Reviews

The Arbor Veda is the new board from Arbor for us ladies this season. It is directional and tapered with a positive camber profile. It has a freeride personality while still being slightly playful and fun inspiring.

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: 145

Days: 2

Conditions: Spring conditions with some powder on top. All off piste since resorts were closed.

Riders: Steph

Boots: Vans Ferra

Bindings: Union Milan

Set Up: 21? Centered 15 front -15 back

Board Sizing: 145, 150, 154

Would be nice to see more options in the smaller size range.

On Snow Feel: Right away the Veda felt pretty good under foot. I think I had the perfect conditions to test this board out. It has a camber profile that keeps it feeling connected with the snow. It also has raised fenders on the nose and the tail to keep it feeling a little loose and playful.

Powder: The Veda has all the right ingredients to make this board ride well in powder. It is pretty directional, has taper, and also comes with Arbor’s powder fenders. The raised fender in the front is longer than the raised fender in the back encouraging the board to float even more. I thought it felt great in soft snow. And it was a lot of fun, and pretty easy to stay on top too.

Turn Initiation and Carving: Although I didn’t get to try this on a resort with groomers, I had a lot of fun turning this board. It seemed to have a nice balance between feeling solid enough to charge and also feeling playful enough to explore natural features and mess around. It felt medium fast to get from edge to edge, and I imagine it would be pretty fun to carve. I’ll do more hands on research next season with carving.

Speed: It was easy to get the Veda up to speed. And it felt stable with the speed I took it to.

Uneven Terrain: The Veda felt right at home in the trees that I was testing in. I could turn it pretty quickly through tight spots and it could charge over chunder as well without feeling bucky.

Edge Hold: The positive camber profile mixed with the bumps at your toe and heel contact points make the Veda good for riding in hard snow and even some icy conditions. It is somewhere in-between the abilities of a board with full magna traction and a board with no added disruption in the sidecut.

Flex: It has a 5/10 flex so it is not too soft and not too stiff. It is soft enough to turn quickly and not feel too aggressive, but stiff enough to pick up some speed and feel solid.

Switch: Riding switch feels like your are riding backwards on this board. It isn’t terrible and you can do it, but it is pretty directional and also tapered which keeps it feeling weird when you ride switch.

Rails/Jibs: Wouldn’t be an ideal jib board, but could dabble on mellow features.

Pipe: I think this board would be fun to ride in the pipe. It could hold ad edge up the wall, and has enough energy in it for nice pop, all while feeling pretty stable and catch free.

Jumps: Would be stable on jumps, but it has the personality for more natural features and hits.

Overall: If you like a board with a freeride personality but still want something that feels a little playful the Arbor Veda might be a good choice. It had a nice mix of stability and playfulness that really appealed to my riding style. The Veda likes to be off piste and exploring all types of terrain, but would make a good board for powder days as well.

 
Arbor Veda Specs

 
Arbor Veda Images

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

2024

2021

Arbor Veda User Reviews

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