Capita Spring Break Stairmaster Snowboard Review

An In Depth Breakdown of the Capita SB Stairmaster For Average Riders Review by The Good Ride

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

How The Capita SB Stairmaster Was Tested:

I liked it so much I asked to keep it (only do this with favorites).

Size: 156
Days:4+
Conditions: I rode this in some good winter conditions, but the files were corrupted, and I lost them. Then I got back on this in the spring, and each time I rode it, I compared it to the super D.O.A., the Ultra Fear, the Indoor Survival, and some other camber twins, like one of my favorites, the Stone Message. I rode it primarily with my Union Force bindings and Nitro Team TLS boots, but I also rode it with Union Ultras.
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.
Boots: Nitro Team TLS
Insoles: Footprint Kingfoam Orthotic Elite
Bindings: Union Force
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, Skyline Faze Pant
Helmet: Smith Method
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove

James’s Set Up

21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +15/-15. Centered and close to Reference

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Yes Greats, Stone Message, Yes Basic, Ride TwinPig, Burton Good Company, Ride Benchwarmer, Capita Outerspace Living

Ethics Statement

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Construction / Durability / Weight

Capita makes light, poppy boards with decent durability for their weight. The Capita SB Stairmaster is no exception.

(We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores, there is no consistency in a board’s weight)

Sizing

When it comes to sizing, this 56 felt perfect. This handled my weight and boot size well and matched my height really well. I wouldn’t want to go up, wouldn’t want to go down. This is just the way I like it.

Capita doesn’t do a good job of suggesting sizing; they only spell out weight, not recommended boot size, across the different width options.

The Good Ride’s Conservative / Safe Boot Size Recommendation

These are sizes that will keep you from booting out (super bad) or being too wide to turn quickly in critical situations.

152: 8-9
154: 8.5-9.5
156: 9-10
158: 9.5-10.5
156w: 10-11
168w: 11-12

There is often more than one size that will work for your specs and your riding style. Size down for more control and size up for more speed/stability/carving power.. 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

When it comes to shape, this is a true twin with the centered stance and no option for setback on board. So you just set this up centered. Keep it there.

Camber / On Snow Feel

The Capita SB Stairmaster has a long, mellow camber. Not really high, but it goes a long way. There is a touch of flat to early rise before the nose/tail, but it’s not enough to make it forgiving and easy to ride for beginners and most intermediates.  I felt all of this: 122 centimeters of effective edge. It felt locked in, pretty technical, but not as technical as boards with a lot more camber. It has a very stable, very consistent feel.

One footing, flat basing, riding around the mountain in all conditions, I’d say advanced expert riders would be best suited for the Capita SB Stairmaster. A committed intermediate could handle this, but they’ll probably take some lumps, maybe even get a bad hospital bill or two. So choose this at your own risk. There are a lot of other boards out there that’ll make progression easier and maybe even faster.

Edge Hold

You’re not seeing any disruption, but this flex personality, along with the camber and the flat, seems to provide a good grip. I felt this gripped about the same as a super D.O.A., maybe a touch better, and it was much better than the Ultra Fear and the Indoor Survival on the same day tests. You don’t want to ride this in hard, icy snow, but it can handle some snowmelt and hard morning spring snow pretty well.

Flex Personality

This has a medium flex and a continuous flex throughout the board. But it is not hard to get this flex to pop. Unlike the construction of the Ultra Fear, this offers much more. It has more of that rubbery personality, where the Capita SB Stairmaster doesn’t.

This feels more like a six and a half, and the flex is continuous throughout. So it was a lot more work to butter in the tip and tail, whereas the softer Indoor Survival made it easier to butter there. And when it comes to just generating air, this still has a great pop to it.

Uneven Snow

This is a very good, uneven-snow ride for a Capita board, but it lacks the ultra-flexy construction. This was my favorite Capita twin for uneven snow. It was really good with hard, micro-bumpy spring snow in the morning, and then really good with wet, messy, thick, uneven snow on top of hard snow. The bottoming out wasn’t that hard, and it also did pretty well with tracked-up spring snow that wasn’t super wet.

Switch & Park

When it comes to switch riding, this was just great. Either way, I found myself riding switch a lot. This is a great board for hitting big kickers. I think the Super D.O.A. and D.O.A. will be a little better, but I really liked how the Capita SB Stairmaster hit little side hits.

This would be the kind of board I’d want to hit kickers with. I also wouldn’t mind this in the pipe. It had enough grip, and it would drive really well, wall to wall. So, pretty good, well-rounded park board.

Turning / Carving

When it comes to turn initiation, this was pretty quick edge-to-edge. Not the fastest, but a nice balance between stability and the ability to quickly initiate a turn without it being hooky. When I got this on edge, this 8.1m side cut felt pretty balanced.

I could do a longer, drawn-out down-the-line turn much better than I expected. Across the groomer to even circle carves were very doable with this board. It really likes turning.

Speed

It can also go straight pretty well without too much chatter. This consistent flex throughout, along with this construction, handled speed really well for what the Capita SB Stairmaster is.

Base Glide

This isn’t the fastest of fast, but it had good glide. It doesn’t get base burn easily. Riding all day on a spring day, a lot of times, that hard snow going to softer wet snow can just rip wax off. This base looks pretty good. So good enough for what it is.

Powder

I’ll take the spring break powder twin, the spring break powder glider, or the spring break powder racer way before this. This really shines when it’s not dumping, and you’re just out riding groomers.

Final Thoughts

This board really surprised me. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to do a review, but I had reader requests, so I did it anyway, and I’m so glad I did, because this is not the board I thought it was. This is my type of mountain freestyle ride.

If you’re like me, you like to go out and do some side hits, ride switch a lot, work on better switch riding, and make some good turns. This is a great board. I don’t want to give it back. I’m super impressed.