Prior Slasher 2020 - 2019 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.

How This Review Happened:  We borrowed this for an extended demo and then returned it.  We borrowed this for a day and then returned it. We had a couple of laps at a frantic manic demo day. We liked it so much we asked to keep it (we only do this with our favorites).  After a demo, we liked it so much we bought it.  We spent our precious Good Ride dollars to buy this and review it.
Size: 161
Days: 5
Conditions: Late spring conditions with some good groomers, sloppy wet off-piste time, hard snow and some in-between goodness.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs),  Jimbo (Size 11, 5’11” 160lbs), and a guest appearance by our friend Ty at Gravity Sports.
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata, Union Falcor

Similar Boards (but not the same): Gentemstick Mantaray 156, Korua Dart, Korua Pencil, Yes Pick Your Line, Jones Flagship, Never Summer West Bound, Rossignol XV, Lib Tech BRD, Lib Tech Lost Round Nose Fish

Set-Up: 22” Wide. 21 front -6 back and then 27 front +6 back. Always somewhat close to what we thought was reference.

Approximate Weight: Feels normal.

Sizing: The 161 felt just right for me, Ty liked the 161 but might like the 156 better and Jimbo might be shit outa luck with his size 11’s.

Flex/Buttering: Not an easy board to butter. You must be strong to do so. That being said the flex and all-around construction from the core on out are really well made. It has this poppy but still damp feel that might be a bit on the damp side but the poppy side isn’t hidden away either. The Prior flex personality is unique and we haven’t felt anything like it.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns: The Prior Slasher is pretty locked in and it feels a touch more than you would think by looking at the camber profile. Not a mellow board and not for those that skid their turns. It likes more back foot weight but you can set it up however you like and it will still ride well.

Edge Hold: Really good bite into the snow even though there isn’t much disruption and it gripped well in the harder morning snow. We didn’t have to dial back our turns as much as we did with the Legacy but we still had to a bit.

Turn Initiation: There was a little delay for us getting it on edge that wasn’t quite hookey but wasn’t smooth and quick like many boards we have ridden. It still reacted fast but that shorter deeper sidecut seems like it transitions into a bit of a strait area or the radius changes at each end of the sidecut before becoming the nose and tail. My guess is that is what slows it down and makes the turn initiation give you more of that gunney feel instead of being super turney and possibly hookey.  It’s not good or bad but just different.

Turning Experience/Carving: So once this is over on edge it can do everything from a circle carve to a long drawn out S-Turn and everything in between which surprised us because we thought it would be more of a tighter turning circle carver but instead it had a little bit of a gunny feel to it as well. Prior talks soo much about powder with this ride but it is so very far from being just a powder board. It’s a great daily directional driver.

Powder: We didn’t get any powder but Prior could only send these in the late spring. It would be great to see how that big ass nose with early rise before it would float and the tapered swallowtail would sink. Then all that set back on board wouldn’t be bad either. I could see how its name might come into play but it feels more like a powerful slasher than a playful slasher.

Speed: It’s not quite as stable and powerful as the Legacy, which is super surprising given its short fat shape, but it could point it better than we thought by looking at its shape. Still, the Prior Slasher has a very fast base and maybe those straight-ish transitions in the sidecut near the nose/tail fight that hookey feel and keep it pointing forward and building speed.

Uneven Terrain: The little delay in the turn initiation from the almost hookey deep sidecut felt like more work making quick turns in messy spring off-piste runs we had but it still is maneuverable. In deeper powder, it seems like it would turn quickly and easily.

The Prior legacy is far from ideal switch or in the ark but we sure did have fun riding it in the pipe from Ty airing out to Jimbo having good wall to wall rides and me coming in all lukewarm and carving the middle walls.

But all in all the Prior Legacy has a hard carving aggressive slashy kind of ride that was pretty fun