Gnu Dirty Pillow 2015 - 2012 Review by The Good Ride

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Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

The 2014 and 2015 Gnu Dirty Pillow changed up the ride a little bit.  BTX went from continuous rocker to rocker between the feet to flat with a little bit of camber near the tip/tail.  The general ride is the same but there is a little more stability between the feet compared to the old BTX. It’s not going to compete with their hybrid rocker shapes. This improvement is pretty good and it makes the 2014 and 2015 the call.

Size: 159
Riders: James, Kyle, Mary and Jimbo
Days: 4
Boots: Burton Imperial, Burton Ambush, Salomon Synapse, Burton Hail

Bindings: Flux DS30, Burton Cartel Limited
Conditions: A little light fluffy easy Utah powder, hard groomers, and some uneven bumpy snow. Good Sierra Snow that was medium to soft with some leftover powder here and there but nothing close to a true pow day.  Other days were mainly good Sierra snow.
Set Up? Kyle and I went 22.5 Inches wide Centered 15 front -15 back.  Mary went with her narrow weird freeride stance. The other times I rode it I went 23″ wide 15 front -15 back.

On Snow Feel: There is a lot of the Skate Bananas personality in this rocker twin. It’s stiffer than the skate banana or park pickle so it can handle speed a little better but it’s still pretty loose between the feet in powder to even hard snow.  The Gnu Dirty Pillow is a loose and very easy turning ride without being twitchy or unforgiving.  The 2014 and 2015 offers a little more stability between the feet but it still has the general BTX ride of old.  It feels a bit more aggressive when you compare it to the Skate Banana or Pickle but nothing really else.  If you are an accomplished freestyle rider who lives for powder this is a good board. It would be great to have a Skate Banana or Park Pickle for normal days and a Dirty Pillow for powder days. You can also live with the Dirty Pillow full time if you live for powder and don’t mind the stiffer flex and larger sizing. You aren’t going to have the easy all mountain ride that many of the C2 BTX boards have in the Gnu Line up but in the park or powder, it’s going to be pretty lively and fun. Obviously, a twin with a centered stance will be more work than a set back tapered surfy style powder board but that is the price you pay for riding switch or regular in a powder day.

Powder: So this is an unusual approach to a powder board. Most powder boards have a decent setback and a very directional tapered shape.  So for many riders looking for a traditional powder board will be disappointed.  If you are a freestyle rider looking for more out of your twin in powder this will make your day.  The big curve in this continuous rocker board points up and keeps it afloat. The board also feels a little bigger for its size but still feels controllable. If you had let’s say a 156 Park Pickle and then went to a 159 Dirty Pillow for Powder you would feel a night and day difference in the deep stuff. It would be better than even having a 156 and 159 Park Pickle.

Turn Initiation and Carving: So easy without being twitchy or sketchy.  You can make quick adjustments when darting between trees or avoiding something you should not hit after launching off a natural drop.  When it comes to laying out big turns it’s better than we expected for such a rocker board but it’s not that good.  For Carving it’s very washy.  You can lean into it a bit but it’s all between your feet instead of the length of the board like with C2 BTX designs.

Speed: It’s not a groomer bomber but in powder you won’t feel any issues. So in powder this would be good and handle just about any speed you want.  However the more speed you pick up on wide open groomer riding the more it exposes the weak points of the boards’ continuous rocker profile.

Uneven Terrain: It’s thick strong build provides a nice shield when dealing with bumpy terrain underfoot. You can bounce through shitty big ass moguls rather well to find the snow.  it’s slightly wider waist makes it not as easy for a smaller footed rider to get an edge to edge in tight turning spots but mid/wide riders will be fine here.

Approximate Weight– More on the heavy side of things but sturdy.  Like all Mervin boards, the Dirty Pillow can take a beating and last for a good amount of time. If you have issues with heavy boards on the chair then you might not like the Dirty Pillow but when on the hill this goes away.

Edge Hold: lots of good grip from a large icy patch at a peak on a stormy day to an icy pipe wall.

Flex: It’s almost on the aggressive side of Medium but because of the large amount of continuous rocker it’s still easy to butter around.

Switch: True Twin =’s the same each way.

Rails/Jibs– It’s not terrible but not great either.  Dedicated park boards will do better here.

Pipe: It’s not bad. When there is good edge hold it’s always going to be acceptable in the pipe.

Jumps: The Dirty Pillow has a very springy feel so it will be easy to ollie off natural terrain and not bad in the park either.

Not ideal on a carve but great all mountain freestyle powder board.