Burton Counterbalance Snwoboard Review With Davey

An Un-Biased Breakdown Of How the Burton Counterbalance Rides Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

How The Burton Counterbalance Was Tested:

I borrowed the Burton Counterbalance for an extended demo and sent it back but it’s the kind of board I’d like to own in a 158.

Size: 158 and 162
Days: 4 (2 with the 162 and 1 with the 158)
Conditions: Mostly good but varied spring conditions.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-195lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards and close to 1,000 if you count different versions of the same Model over the years.
Davey (Size 12, 240lbs, 6’4”)
Boots: Nitro Team TLS (James), Burton Waverange X Step On (James)  Burton Ion (Davey)
Insoles: Footprint Kingfoam Orthotic Elite
Bindings: Union Force, Burton Cartel X Step On EST
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse 3L Jacket, Skyline Fuse Light 3L Jacket
Pant: Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout, Smith Maze
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove, Drop Tahoma Mitt,

James’s Set Up

21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/-9. Close to Reference.

Davey’s Set Up:

23” Wide. Stance Angles +18/+3. Close to Reference.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Amplid Souly Grail, K2 Alchemist, United Shapes Cadet, Burton Gril Master, Jones Flagship Pro, Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai, Stranda Descender, YES Pick Your Line, United Shapes Cadet Limited,

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Construction / Durability / Weight

The Burton Counterbalance has a decent top sheet but I’m worried about the water based paint job. The demo’s were pretty marked up but the rest of the board was on the lighter side of heavy without compromising construction quality. (We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores, there is no consistency in a board’s weight)

Sizing

The 162 Burton Counterbalance was a bit much for me and not my kind of ride but the 158 felt great for the kind of controlled riding I prefer. If you are my specs and like a size 10 you could easily do the 162 or if you like a little more speed and float and are my specs but there are better boards for that.

Burton is pretty vague and not that specific with their boot size recommendations. They often recommend one men’s and one women’s binding size so it’s not very helpful. Lately they have been less conservative with their recommended weight which is good.

Sizing is all about balancing what fits your boot size (most important), weight (second most important) and height (third most important) for how you like to ride. If it’s too wide and it’s hard to turn but too narrow and you might boot out which often slams you into the ground.

The Good Ride’s Conservative / Safe Boot Size Recommendation (US Men’s)

150: 6-7
154: 7-8
158: 8-9
162: 9-10
154w: 9-10
158w: 10-11
162w: 11-12

There are often as many as 2 or 3 sizes that will work for your specs. Size down for more control and size up for more speed/stability/carving power. Here are some ideal US boot sizes for these boards. If it comes down to boot size or weight, I would ensure it fits your boot first and then your weight a close second.

Shape / Setback

The Burton Counterbalance is tapered and directional. There’s eight millimeters of taper, but the width over the inserts is practically the same thanks to the Balanced Freeride Geometry Tech that makes the board feel less tapered / washy on groomers but allows you to feel that taper in powder. And, yeah, it doesn’t have that tapered feel at all.

When you’re on reference stance at 22 inches wide, you’re sitting one inch back on side cut. But on board, that’s two inches back at a 22 inch stance width. If you want to set it all the way back, you can get 3.5 inches back from center of board at a 23 inch stance width, which is pretty free the taint. So most of us will not be back that far. That’s Burton’s thing is they are more into riding closer to reference vs. many brands in the industry that give you a more versatile stance range.

If you have non-EST bindings that don’t mount really wide and you have them mounted in disc like Reflex or through Union discs or basically any other brand, you can slide it further back if you need to on those super deep powder days. But I’d say for most times stay within these recommended markers.

Camber/On Snow Feel

The Burton counterbalance has a decent amount of camber from the tail to a little before the nose. I can always get my fingers under Burton boards, even with their directional camber as described above.

It makes this a good board for committed intermediates on up to experts. There are definitely easier boards for intermediates, and this is not ideal for beginners, but intermediates that are really pushing themselves could do well with this because it’s stable underfoot. It’s not too stiff and gnarly to engage in a turn. It also can skid a turn pretty well if you get off your game. So it’s not just a full on, technical, directional, mostly camber ride. And I love how this feels the same in all conditions I rode.

Edge Hold

There seems to be a little extra disruption happening by the inserts of the Burton Counterbalance. It’s hard to pick up but I stared at this and all the other Burton boards, and this seemed to have just maybe a touch more extension and a good bit more length in the disruption vs. their Frost Bite tech (½ mm X ½ mm). It reminded me of the same thing I saw on the Burton Good Company and I hope to see it on more Burton boards as it really helped with grip.

But here’s the thing. I didn’t notice that till after I tested this one day in hard snow. And I noticed that out of all the Burton boards, even the much stiffer Sketch Artist, the Custom, the Custom X, the Smooth Operator, and the High Fidelity all didn’t grip as well as this in the hard patches I got this in. That really surprised me. And it just goes to show that sometimes it’s not about just having a stiffer flex or more camber. It really does help to have something going on disruption wise. And while it’s still far from being an ice specialist, it did a very good job.

Flex Personality

The Burton Counterbalance is pretty stiff from the tail to well past the front inserts but seems to give a little bit easier in the rocker point before the nose.

Butters & Ollies

It’s really easy to engage this on an Ollie, even in the 62. The 58 even easier. It butters okay in the nose and it’s a little bit of work in the tail, but doable. Then here’s the 58, which is the size I would want if I bought this. And this is broken in a lot more. It’s more on the medium side of medium stiff because of that. But it’s still held its flex pretty well. And it’s closer to the 62 Counterbalance than I thought it would be. Little easier to butter, little easier to Ollie, little easier to play around with.

Uneven Snow

The Burton Counterbalance handles soft uneven snow pretty well. It’s not like some Burton boards like the High Fidelity, but that’s more directional, more tapered, more aggressive. But overall it’s a good all day ride and it’s a very easy board to get used to in the way it bucks and bounces in uneven snow. It’s very manageable and it’s not that hard to deal with. And in terms of hard, uneven snow, I found this did very well. I was pretty impressed with that there too.

Switch & Park

I found this pretty easy to ride switch. I wouldn’t mind this in the pipe, and this does very well tracking into and landing out of the kicker. And I especially enjoyed how this set up for easy little side hits.

It has that quick turn initiation so you can just come over, find a quick side hit that might have a difficult approach, pop off that, land, and keep going. And it felt great. It’s not maybe the best for those that want to lap the kicker park, but launching off some natural features on the mountain and occasionally landing switch, this will do a great job and it’s got lots of landing gear, even set all the way back.

Turning/Carving

Now, when it comes to turning the Counterbalance, I felt like it did a very good job going quick edge to edge for my boot size in a 158, a little slower on a 62, but manageable in most conditions. And when I got it on edge, I really enjoyed this turning experience. It feels on the turny side of balanced, but it’s not going to fight you if you want to go straight. It doesn’t have that Deep Thinker powerful straight line feel, but it does have that quick turn initiation like the Deep Thinker had.

And when I got it on edge and really committed to a turn, I felt like I could, across the groomer, carve better with this than I could the Deep Thinker. But both are very fun to turn. And the spring out of the turn is exceptional. This is just such a fun board to make medium speed carves with. If you’re really into more aggressive down line carves, there are better boards, but this is good for that rider like me, who’s not looking to make maching carves. This will do great.

Speed

And I felt like the Burton Counterbalance could pick up speed and straight line pretty well. But it’s not a full on bomber like some boards at Burton’s line. If you want something really fast and stable at speed, you want to look to something like the High Fidelity.

Base Glide

The base glide here was good. Not amazing, but better than past years. I think they’ve turned a corner and their bases no longer seem to have that chalky feel. I noticed that last year as well. While this isn’t the fastest of fast…

Powder

I didn’t get this in powder so it’s hard to say for sure but I think it’ll have more float than the Cartographer and  about the same as the Deep Thinker. It’s a board I’d like to try to ride in powder. It’s not going to be like the High Fidelity I tried in the past, or other more directional, set back, tapered Burton boards, but I think it’s going to float well but not amazing like most Freeride boards do.

James’ Final Thoughts

So, while I hate the EST system, I wish Burton would not do all this proprietary tech, I really enjoyed the Burton Cartographer. I loved that it had a little extra edge hold compared to a lot of Burton boards. I love that it was poppy, but yet not hard to manage in most uneven conditions, and it’s just a really versatile one board quiver. I’ll be recommending the Burton Counterbalance a lot this year.

Davey’s Take

What is up, everybody? Davey boy here. Giving you a big guy’s perspective on the Burton Counterbalance. And I rode this board on a classic spring day up on Mount Bachelor. Started off firm with some clean corduroy, and as it softened up throughout the day, the rest of the mountain opened up. And it just ended in a full out slush fest.

How Davey Tested It

This board was sent to me with the 162 wide sizing. I am six-three and a half, 245 pounds, size 12 boot. I like the 162 size.

Sizing

Being a directional camber board with a slightly tapered shape, having that directional camber profile, this is definitely a board that I want to be a little bit on the bigger size, because if I was going to own this, I’d be looking at this as a potential quiver killer type ride.

Davey’s Summary

I like this board a lot. The camber felt really good between the feet. It’s a nice construction. It feels lightweight and poppy, but it’s not too chattery. I’m not the biggest fan of the channel system necessarily. It’s quick and easy adjustability, I just want four screws, but other than that, I really like this board. It’s fun to turn. The camber between the feet, not too aggressive. This board’s fast. It’s poppy. It’s not the dampness of damp, but it’s definitely not on the chattery side.

Overall, I really like this thing. I think the Burton Counterbalance has the ability to be a quiver killer for a lot of people, especially if you’re not a super big time switch rider and you’re looking for something that you can ride centered on most days. But when it gets deep, you can set her back and take her out in powder. This is definitely a great option.