Ride Slackcountry 2015 - 2010 Review by The Good Ride

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The Ride Slackcountry is Ride’s take on a reverse Camber Freeride/Pow Board. It’s not a bad groomer board either.  We are big fans of Rides Ultra Light technology and like how it makes the boards with this tech feel more lively and responsive.  The UL is no exception here. We didn’t feel the same magic with the Slackountry as we did with the High Life UL but it’s still a good powder board for the right rider and a decent freeride board.

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 Ride Slackcountry changed it up a lot this year.  First off they dropped the Ultra Light (UL) technology from the board.  Now there is a normal core kind of on the same line of a board like the Bezerker. I personally really like Rides UL technology so it was sad to see it go. I personally feel Ride should hand down previous years ultra-light tech down to the lower brands but they keep it pretty locked up with the higher end models so I’m not terribly happy that they dropped it from the Slackcountry. It really makes their boards feel more dynamic and lively while also decreasing some weight. It’s not all rain and shit filled puddles though. The good thing about dropping the UL tech is they were able to reduce almost $200 from the price tag. The board went from $649 to $459 so now it’s more accessible to a wider range of riders. They also changed up the directional rocker in the nose so it points up a little higher than before which is a good thing.  It gives the Ride Slackountry a more easy float. So the 2014 is a mixed bag. On one hand, it’s missing that snappy fun Ultra Light tech but on the other, it’s a lot cheaper and floats better in powder.  It’s also still a very very damp fast non-powder quasi freeride board that some would like.  If you are all about powder and love the feel of ride boards this could be a great choice.  If you like to carve as much as you ride powder a better choice would be the hybrid camber Ride High Life UL.

The 2010-2013 Ride Slackcountry has a lot of the nose turned up after the bindings, a nice deep sidecut to make the board easy to turn. The board is basically flat between the feet which makes it stable at high speeds and helps you stay on top of the powder.  It also doesn’t have a taper like many powder boards do.  We like that the Slackcountry comes in big sizes and know that you will be ok no matter how deep or flat it gets on the way to the bottom.  At least it can ride well in groomers and carve ok if you need 1 freeride board for everything but want the best for Powder.  The shape is definitely directional and there is more rocker in the nose than the tail.  It’s also a more pronounced rocker than any other rocker Ride makes.  The Slackcountry is ok riding switch and many powder boards aren’t capable of that. The Slackcountry is more like the Flow Solitude and Never Summer Premier in the sense that it’s big and can perform well when it’s not dumping.  Ride’s UL core is a fun thing and our favorite core ride makes.  It’s light and a bit more lively than their other cores. It doesn’t have that ultra damp or dull feeling that many of the ride boards have.  The Slackcountry still has some hints of this feeling but nothing near the same as the non-UL cores.   All in all the Slackcountry is not a bad one choice all conditions freeride board for those that live for good conditions and powder.  The 2012 is a tad bit stiffer (we didn’t notice though) and has a faster base but is still pretty much the same board it was in 2010 and 2011. Same for the 2013.