Stone Totem Written Review From A Women's Perspective 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 rider’s perspective.

How This Review Happened: We were sent this for an extended demo, and returned it to the company.

Size: 145
Days: 5 +
Conditions: Fairly good snow, boomers, a little off piste, hard pack, some semi-icy conditions.
Riders: Steph & Paige
Boots: Vans Ferra
Bindings: Union Milan

Approximate Weight

Felt a little on the heavy side.

On Snow Feel

This is full positive camber, so you are locked in. One footing is very stable there is no play when riding a flat board.

Edge Hold

I felt I could really trust the edge in hard to icy conditions. It doesn’t have any sidecut disruption, but the stiffer flex mixed with the full camber profile gives the Totem enough grip for icy conditions. A little under a full magna-traction board, but still enough to ride on ice.

Flex

On their website, Stone describes the Totem as a soft, playful board. However, for us lighter riders with smaller boot size, we felt it was on the stiffer end of medium. It was difficult for me to butter this board and bend it unless I was going fast. So if you are a heavier rider it may feel more playful for you, than it did for us.

Turn Initiation

When riding this board at a medium to fast speed the turn initiation was very quick. When riding it at slower speeds, or in a more relaxed way it felt medium fast to turn. It also has a wider waist width than most “women’s” boards in a 145. It comes with a 242mm waist, so that could be why it felt a bit slower to turn. If you have a bigger boot, then this board could feel very responsive I think.

Skidded Turns

The Totem prefers to be on an edge, so skidded turns are more difficult. It likes a higher edge angle. In steeps, skidding turns becomes a bit easier.

Carving

I loved carving this board. It was very stable for me and held an edge really well. It was so much fun to carve that I forgot to get footage of it! You are fully connected to the snow, and carving was when this board came alive for me.

Powder

It is a true twin, and also a full positive camber board, so it will not want to float well in powder. I would trade it out for a more powder oriented ride on the deep days.

Speed

The Stone Totem comes with a sintered 7500 base that has nice glide. I rode it for a good week just on the factory wax, and it kept its speed well. It is also very stable so I didn’t get any chatter when riding at higher speeds and hitting uneven snow.

Uneven Terrain

If it was bumpy snow in more open terrain, the Totem did great. It is stable, and you can either turn through it or cut through softer thunder. When riding the Totem faster, it reacted faster. So in tighter trees, or situations where I had to take the speed down it was harder to turn. But if I kept my speed up and just charged through then it turned well through any type of snow as long as it wasn’t powder.

Steeps

I really enjoyed the Totem in steeps. It was very stable and reliable. The turn initiation feels faster on steeps, and I was able to keep a nice edge in icy snow, wind blown snow, and hard pack alike when riding off the top of the mountain.

Switch

The Stone Totem is a true twin and rides switch great.

Jibbing

If you are an established jibber, then the Totem will probably feel fine on rails and boxes. It isn’t a board for learning how to jib. Because at lower speeds the turn initiation is slower and also skidded turns aren’t the easiest than I wouldn’t jib on this board unless you know what you are doing. The positive camber will lock in nicely on rails, and landing is very solid. As long as you don’t mess up, because then the Totem might punish you a bit.

Pipe

I really liked the Totem in our mini pipe we had. It held a great edge up the wall, stayed super stable, and had nice pop. I would really like to try this board in a bigger pipe and really see what it can do.

Jumps

It feels great on jumps. It is enough board for medium to large jumps. Very stable. Great pop. It wasn’t easy for me to ollie this board when riding around the mountain, but when hitting jumps, the lip of the jump bent the board for me and I had very nice energy off the lip. Again, not great if you are just learning tricks or how to spin because the positive camber isn’t that forgiving and you can catch some edges easier. But if you are an intermediated park rider already, it will be a lot of fun.

Overall

The Stone Totem is a super solid ride. It is a “unisex” board, but I think the description that Stone gives on the website is a little different for a lighter rider like myself. The Totem felt like a great all mountain twin board to me that was very stable, but needed a more aggressive rider to take full advantage of the boards features. It absolutely has a freestyle personality, and would be great for an established freestyle rider, but I don’t think I would suggest this board to a beginner. I think a higher intermediate rider to and expert rider will enjoy it more. It loves to charge, carve, and hit big park features. This board would also be good if you see a lot of firm snow conditions, or if you are a rider who enjoys the control that. a full positive camber board can give you.

Also, this could double as a good mid-wide board for those women riders out there with a bigger boot size.

Paige’s Perspective

The Stone Totem brings tradition to the table, but adds a twist. This board has a classic camber profile mixed with a true-twin shape. The stiff flex of this board brings out some serious power underfoot. This board is geared up to charge the mountain. If you are up for it, this board can lay some serious trenches and will bomb wherever you tell it to go.

The Totem is a unisex board built for riders 110lbs and up. However, even at 125lbs I had to ride this board very aggressively to get it to respond. The boards stiffness, thick waist, and shorter length make it a great option for lady riders who have trouble with boards flexing too easily underfoot.

After learning how much pressure this board needed from me, it was quick to turn and had a lot of power behind it. This board boosts through turns and lets you slash right into your next carve. The Totem excels at carving, and while it can manage skidded turns, it prefers to be ridden at quicker speeds and higher edge angles. This board has a locked-in feel on snow, but does not feel catchy while riding.

This boards camber profile digs into the snow and does not let go, giving you confidence to pick a line and go for it. The aggressive camber takes care of you in steep and hard pack conditions. You can easily transition on and off-piste, as this board chomps through the chunder, providing an ultra damp ride.

The sintered base makes for one speedy ride. This paired with the classic camber profile provide a smooth stable ride down any terrain. The profile of this board doesn’t make it ideal to bring out on deeper days. However, the thicker waist gives this board a bit of loft in slightly deeper conditions.

The Stone Totem is extremely powerful and gives you a lively ride. The energy radiating out of this board is great for charging steeps and slashing turns. The Totem is best for a high-level intermediate-to-advanced rider that prefers edge hold, speed, and stability in their riding.

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