Salomon Assassin Snowboard Review

2019-2024 Salomon Assassin Review

Size: 159
Days:  5+
Conditions:  Pretty good snow, to some borderline hard snow, some powder and some uneven snow but overall good conditions.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-190lbs), Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs), Grant (Size 11 6’ 160lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV, Burton SLX,
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Superpro, Burton Genesis, Burton Genesis X, Salomon Hologram, Salomon District
Set Up: 22.5” Centered 15 front -15 back and Set back all the way 22.5″ 18 front -9 back

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 rider’s perspective.

Approximate Weight

Feels pretty normal.  Not too light and not too heavy.  Just right.

Flex/Buttering

The flex is pretty medium. If you compare the Salomon Assasin to the old camber boards, buttering is pretty easy, but it’s a bit more difficult than many other boards with hybrid camber out there.

Sizing

Normally, I would go with a 156 for my specs, but the 159 felt just right.  Just like the past year’s models, I liked sizing up a bit, and the 159 felt perfect for my size 9 boots, 185-190lbs, and 5’10” frame.

On Snow Feel

It is very stable but not overly catchy and feels underfoot. The Salomon Assasin feels like a lot of hybrid camber models I tried, but it leans a bit towards the mostly camber side of the hybrid camber.  There are some consequences to getting off your game, but it is still far from being a locked-in super technical kind of ride.  Even though it’s a little bit more directional than past years with the extra cm in the nose, it has a very similar mountain freestyle kind of ride going for it. It is very good to have one foot off the chair and a flat base.

Edge Hold

This equalizer sidecut makes for a very competent ride when riding in harder snow, and I feel it’s on par with a lot of mellow mag boards.  What I mean by that is the board can grip really well in hard snow and even hang in icy snow, but it is short of the full magnatraction boards out there or boards with really aggressive disruption in the sidecut. It also does a really good job of not grabbing in the softer snow.

Turn Initiation

Pretty quick edge to edge, and I felt comfortable making quick turns in tight spots.

Turning Experience

Maybe it’s the little bit more camber I had or that I was riding a 159 instead of the old 155 I owned, but the Salomon Assasin 2019 seemed to have a more lively, fun-turning feel underfoot.

Carving

I have ridden a lot of boards lately with a lot of camber that was dream carvers and thought the Assasin might be on the boring side, but it carved really well. If all you want to do is carve, there are better boards out there, but if you want to carve, butter, get air, ride switch, and all that jazz, then the Assasin is a great call.

Skidded Turns

It’s not scary like a full camber board can be when you are skidding around all day, but it’s not super easy either when it comes to skidding a turn. You can do it, but I think the Assasin is the kind of board that appeals more to the intermediate, bordering on an advanced rider on up to the ripper.

Speed

The Salomon Assasin can pick up some pretty good speed, and in good snow, it can really jam along without getting too chattery for what it is.

Uneven Terrain

Here is where we really liked the Assasin much better than the Assasin Pro, and for a lot of people, this is a pretty big deal.  It’s much easier in those micro-bumps you see on hard groomers, and riding around in messy, choppy snow, it works pretty well.  It’s not perfect and can get a little cranky, but compared to the Pro, there seem to be a lot more dampening properties when it comes to these conditions.

Powder

I really wish the Assasin had 1 extra set of inserts because that would make us classify this as an all-mountain board as we do with the Assasin Pro. When set all the way back at 22.5″, you are only looking at 1″ back from the center of the board. So it’s more for those that want to ride centered/switch/fakie in the deeper stuff. The Assasin Pro is more like 1.75″ back from the Center of the board, which is more what we like to see from a true all-mountain/one-board quiver type of ride. When we set this back in some thick powder, it was for sure more work off the back foot than the Assasin Pro and more work than many all-mountain boards we tried in comparison. When centered, it’s a pretty good board, though, and it does have a little more directional float than it used to for riding a good foot forward.

Switch

Even though the nose has a touch more volume than the tail, the Salomon Assasin still rides switch/fakie really well, and it is still a true twin between the feet.

Jumps

Like the pop, and it can Ollie rather well. The Assasin Pro seemed to have more pop, but we weren’t lacking by any means with this board, and we would choose to dampen in uneven snow over a little extra pop any day.  This also has the flex and stable camber profile to go big if you want to.

Jibbing

It’s doable but not really the best call.

Pipe

The Salomon Assasin is such a great pipe board.  It’s got a strong edge hold, an almost true twin shape, a good amount of camber, and a pretty quick turning ride, so it ticks most boxes important for me when being exceptionally average in the pipe. It really carves wall-to-wall well and works with a pretty wide variety of pipe riders.

Conclusion

So, all in all, the Salomon Assasin 2019 is still a very fun ride, and I like it a little better than the older models, pretty much across the board.

2016-2018 Salomon Assassin Review

The Salomon Assassin is a board that we have ridden for a few years now and each time we ride it we like it more.  It checks a lot of boxes for a solid mountain freestyle ride. The 2018 Salomon Assassin has not changed from 2016 but it grew on us.

2016-2017 Salomon Assassin Review

2014 Salomon Assassin Review

Size: 155
Days: 4
Conditions: Really good groomers, but starting to get a little messy.
Riders: James, Stephen, and Peter
Boots: Burton Ion Nike Kaiju
Bindings: Salomon Caliber, Salomon Defender
Set Up: Centered 23″ wide, 15 front -15 back

Approximate Weight: Feels pretty normal

On Snow Feel

So this board feels stable between the feet and pretty catch-free because it has as much camber as it does.  The first time we rode it, the Salomon Assasin felt like it was trying to auto-butter on a long, drawn-out turn at moderate to high speeds.  It was not a good feeling.  Then the second time I rode it a few years later that sensation was gone.  It must have been a demo model construction issue.  It’s got a good camber feel but also doesn’t feel catchy. It’s easy to have one foot and a flat base.  It’s the kind of board that works well for many riders who plan to stay centered and ride a fakie a lot.

Powder

There is no powder in our time of trying, but it seems like it might be a little work with the extra camber going on.

Turn Initiation

We had a good time riding the Salomon Assassin.  It springs from edge to edge quickly, and it is a fun board to turn.  if you know how to turn, it’s got a fun thing going for it, and it is lively.

Carving

Carving was really fun, and the board rewarded you at the end of the turn with a little spring out of it. There is definitely enough camber and edge hold to make this a fun board for those who like to lay it over regular or switch.

Skidded Turns

It’s pretty easy to skid your turns, and if you are an intermediate rider that gets off your game, you might not have to pay for it.

Speed

The Assassin has a good base and feels stable enough.  It’s not a bomber board, but it has good mountain speed.

Uneven Terrain

We love it when Salomon puts a lot of rubber in their rails, and we were a little skeptical with the Cork thing, but it works and doesn’t feel bad at all in the messy snow we were riding on.  It’s not like some Salomon boards that can get cranky and pass some slow-speed chatter up to your knees.

Edge Hold

It has a really solid upper-level grip.  It gripped but didn’t grab in the soft snow we encountered.  It’s good from Hard to Soft snow. It’s not an ice specialist but we often find that ice specialists aren’t the best in soft snow.

Flex

Nice Middle ground flex that was easy to butter and press even though there was a good amount of camber going on.

Switch

It felt the same either way

Jibbing

We hit a few mellow jibs in the park, and it wasn’t bad.

Pipe

It seemed like it would be a good pipe board that would hold the edge well, and the auto-butter effect wouldn’t come into play at the slower pipe speeds. It’s also pretty forgiving so that is what we like for a pipe board.

Jumps

Nice poppy ride going on here. It was easy to ollie and was a lot of fun for all of us involved. It also had a nice stable camber feel to the approach of a park kicker but had a forgiving hybrid shape feel landing.

Conclusion

So I’m not sure why the board auto-buttered on us, but if that one issue wasn’t there, this would probably be a favorite. If it was just me I’d say I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue but since it was Peter and I it seems like this wasn’t just some fluke. That’s the only thing holding us back from really loving that board.