Splitboard.com Forums

Here's some video...more pics and info coming soon!

i like

You, sir, are an officer and a gentleman. Thank you, and nice edit on the vid.

it looks as though you could easily incorporate a heel lock with the size/ shape of that bar catch, not sure why they didn't

Burton hating is so played out. I find it funny that people think they know exactly why forum, et al was shut down and Jake Burton is evil and blah blah blah. If it wasn't for Jake Burton this website would probably not even exist because snowboarding wouldn't be what it is or where it is today. Without snowboarding, there would be no splitboarding. Even Peter Line publicly stated the he felt all the negativity directed at Jake was totally ignorant and uncalled for. That entire family of companies wasn't profitable from the time before burton purchased them up until the announcement that B was restructuring and dropping dead weight. They were failing already. Burton bought them in a competitive move to keep ski companies out. Whether or not you agree it was a smart business move or good for snowboarding is a matter of opinion and debate. I personally don't care either way. I respect Burton and Jake. I think over the past several years his choice to have him and his wife re-assume executive control of the business was a wise choice. Clearly, they have steered the company in a positive and exciting direction.

Furthermore, I think what Burton is doing with Spark and Voile is commendable. While other companies are doing unproven, flawed, all-inclusive proprietary systems, buying up BC-focused businesses, and launching Splitboard lines starting yesterday, Burton is pumping life and industry-leading R&D into the sport by partnering with pioneering split/binding companies. And the result appears to be arguably the best system to date. This is what real progress looks like.

I agree that Burton was critical to the development of snowboarding. And I am not interested in "hating". But, unfortunately, any real relevance Burton might have had for real, core, backcountry riders died with Craig Kelly. Now, Burton is a corporation, driven by corporate goals first. Sure, this makes good "business sense", but it explicitly does not make for the best backcountry snowboarding product.

"Now, Burton is a corporation, driven by corporate goals first"

burton has always been corpo primarily driven by profits - which is the same m.o. as every other equipment manufacturer (incl those you love). dissing them for that is silly and naive.

That's a pretty weak platitude to throw out there. Other, smaller manufacturers that are also private certainly tend to be more focused on product innovation, customer service, or simply providing competitively priced gear. If Venture, Voile, Chimera, Karakoram, Spark, etc are motivated more by profits than participating in and contributing to the sport it certainly isn't apparent to me. Those companies seem to be doing it the right way.. listening to customers and being there to make it right when their products underperform.

Actually, your statement is untrue and invalid. I have worked in small business manufacturing for many years. The companies which make the best product, are almost always concerned with the quality of the product first, and profits second. I am not suggesting some kind of ridiculous model where business concerns are entirely avoided; what I do believe (and have seen to be true by direct experience) is that when financial concerns are the top priority, the resulting product suffers enormously. If you feel otherwise, please feel free to be satisfied by the second rate product offered by mass market profit driven companies such as Burton has become.
This is a question of priorities, and is not exclusive. I would suggest that if you believe every company making a product for mountain sports use is primarily, and/or exclusively concerned with profit then you are the naive one, and lacking experience in the outdoor industry.

More info....


Tesla System from Spark R&D
Tesla is the name of the new Spark system, (statement from Spark on the Edison concept coming soon).
The hinged toe-ramp design is called Snap Ramp.
Tesla includes two bindings - the Magneto and Afterburner (Magneto features straps and highbacks similar to the Blaze, the Afterburner is like the Burner.
The bindings are compatible with voile pucks (and colab pucks).
Tesla bindings utilize a new side-lock touring bracket where you engage it left to right.
The new brackets also incorporate a new and improved crampon design making on the fly installation easier.
Sabretooth is the name of the new Tesla compatible crampon.
Afterburner = 3.51 lb (1592g)
Magneto 3.26 lb (1480g)

The Tesla system looks great, if the weight is higher than others iss because every binding includes two climbing bars and there's no need for a pin, so you are saving this weight from the total weight of the board+bindings.

The climbing bars should be reachable with the basket of your pole, in Jason from Spark words.
Can't wait to try them!

http://issuu.com/zuzupopo/docs/14_sparkrnd/1

heres a peek of the actual Spark catalog for next year that I found online!