Stranda Makrill Snowboard Review

An In Depth Breakdown of the Stranda Makrill For Average Riders Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

How The Stranda Makrill Was Tested:

I borrowed the Stranda Makrill for an extended demo and sent it back.

Size: 152 (only size)
Days: 5+
Conditions: I rode this on a few different powder days, everything from really deep to decent. I got this on several groomer days as well. I even had some fun early morning slackountry time with Drift Board bindings on Union Rovers
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-195lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards and close to 1,000 if you count different versions of the same Model over the years.
Boots: Nitro Team TLS
Insoles: Footprint Kingfoam Orthotic Elite
Bindings: Union Force
Redundancy: Strap-ins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse 3L Jacket, Skyline Fuse Light 3L Jacket, Jones Mtn Surf Anorak
Pant: Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant, Skyline Faze Pant, Jones Mountain Surf Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout, Smith Maze
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove, Drop Tahoma Mitt,

James’s Set Up

21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/+3, +24/+6, +27/+9 back. Close to Reference on groomers and set a little to all  the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Korua Dart, Korua Café Racer, Weston Japow, Moss Jellyfish, Gentemstick Barracuda, Soul Shift, Nidecker Beta, Nidecker Beta APX, Korua Pintonic, Jones Storm Chaser 2025, Salomon Wolle Nyvelt Fish, Stranda Tree Surfer

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Construction / Durability / Weight

(We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores, there is no consistency in a board’s weight)

Sizing

The 52 fits me really well. I was about 190 to 195 at the time of testing, and in comparison to the Jones Storm Chaser, I felt like that handled my weight better.

This feels like the Makrill prefers a lighter rider than me, so I’d keep it 200 pounds and below. And the lower you are from 200 pounds, the better for the Stranda Makrill.

Stranda doesn’t have recommended boot sizes, which is super important.

The Good Ride’s Conservative / Safe Boot Size Recommendation

These are sizes that will keep you from booting out (super bad) or being too wide to turn quickly in critical situations.

152: 9-11 – You don’t want to ride it with too big of a foot as it is made to ride well for medium to smaller riders with more normal-sized feet. It’s not ideal for heavier riders with bigger boots and won’t ride as intended, even though it won’t boot out.

Shape and Setback

The Stranda Makril is pretty tapered and pretty directional, but not super tapered in the snow surf world. I think it’s only about 20 mil, but you can see it’s very set back on board.

One thing I really like about this board is that there are seven inserts per foot, so you have a wide variety of stance options here.

Camber / On Snow Feel

There is a good bit of camber here, but it’s more middle board. This still has a good transition into early rise and a good bit of early rise before the nose, so it has a lot of float.

There’s a little bit of early rise before the tail, but not much.

What I found with the Stranda Makrill is that it is very forgiving and very easy to get a turn, even though it’s super wide for my size nine boots.

Edge Hold

The Stranda Makrill has very good grip in harder snow. I was pretty impressed. I think there are some minor disruptions in the side cut, very subtle, very mellow.

It’s not a smooth, continuous side cut, but when I hit some hard patches, this had a pretty competent grip.

Compared to the Jones Storm Chaser, I thought the edge hold was a little better on that one, but both are very competent.

Flex Personality

Let’s talk Makrill flex.

This little 152 Makril is pretty stiff between the feet but the nose has a lot more give. Then it gets a little stiffer, and when you look down in the tail, it’s very stiff. It really doesn’t want to give at all.

It’s an exceptionally stiff swallowtail, and between the feet is very stiff as well.

Overall, this board has a lot of energy and pop to it.

Butters & Ollies

It’s easier than I thought it would be to butter, and it pops really easily, but you are far back on the tail, so it’s pretty tail light when you get into the air.

Uneven Snow

When you get the Stranda Makrill into uneven snow, it has a lively feel underfoot, which is great in good snow but amplifies the bucky feel of uneven snow. 

I don’t like the way this handled chunder and messed up powder towards the end of the day. I felt this was a lot more bucky and bouncy than I prefer. You really have to slow down if it gets uneven.

Turning through bumps with this was challenging as well, just because of this width.

Speed

When it comes to pointing it, you don’t have a very damp board here, but I was surprised at how the side cut lets you go straight more than you would think for this kind of shape and design.

Base Glide

Stranda comes from the same factory as most Gentemstick boards and uses the same base they do. This is one of the fastest bases out there and I love this easy glide and excellent wax retention.

It is an excellent powder base on traverses, and you want to go first with this because it has such amazing effortless glide.

Turning / Carving

The Stranda Makrill has a pretty fun and easy turn to it.  It doesn’t initiate a turn very well, but once you get the turn initiated, it has a pretty balanced turning radius type of experience, but leans a little more on the turny side. Especially if you lean into the deeper sidecut near the tail when coming out of the turn.

It has a multi-radius side cut, and once you commit to the edge, you can carve really well, circle carve pretty well, and make more down-the-line turns too.

I found center-to-back-foot weighted turns worked best, and leaning into the back of the turn made this board shine more.

Powder

The Stranda Makrill has a very good directional float, exactly what Stranda says it has.

It also has a really fast base and a really easy glide, which is always appreciated in a good powder board.

I found riding it close to reference worked best for most days, and only set it all the way back when it was really deep.

I did have to dial back my slashes a bit, as this board prefers a mellow Japanese-style of snow surfing over hard, aggressive slashing.

Final Thoughts

So overall, this Stranda Makrill was a lot of fun. I personally enjoyed the Jones Storm Chaser and the Stranda Tree Surfer a little bit better, but this is still an amazing board.

It has a faster base than the Jones Storm Chaser by a good bit, a very cool surfy, mellow, fun, floaty style to powder riding, and a very fun turning experience on groomers.

If this board appeals to you, you love fast bases and a snow surfboard that can do everything, not just powder, this could be a good fit for you.