Sam Dykema laying down a high-speed trench on the Armada Shatter Point; Jackson Hole Teton Tested | Photo Greg Von Doersten Mountain Weekly News
2027 Armada Shatter Point Review: The Ski Giant’s Bold Entry into High-Velocity Snowboarding
Armada Snowboards? Yep, you read that right, for the 26-27 Winter Season, Armada is entering the Snowboard side of the Snowsports industry for the first time. With several longtime riders from the industry jumping aboard to launch and run the snowboard side, factories specific to snowboards, and a team of pro riders that are about as core as it comes helping forge the line from topsheets to taper, Armada came correct.
The Armada Shatter Point 2027 is one of the nine boards hitting shelves this Fall from Armada and sits as their highest-priced offering, at $650, which is refreshing given that many other unique shapes and advanced construction decks are pushing north of $800 entering next season. I got to ride this board several times over the final three weeks of the season at Jackson Hole and, par for the course this winter, it saw just about everything in those days.
From sunny slush days ripping wiggles across the mountain, to rain sprinkled stop’n’go sticky snow, to bulletproof refrozen death moguls and even on some softer remnants of the early-April pow day atop Rendezvous Bowl; this board got to experience every shade of the winter we’ve seen here in the Tetons, and I only grew more fond of it the more laps I put it through.
Shape and Construction
The Shatter Point is billed as a unisex, high-end carving and freeride board built for riders with a need for speed. Fittingly, this board is a tapered directional with traditional camber, making it easy to lock in on carves and stable at speed. Beyond that, Armada put just a skosh of early-rise in the nose and paired it with a unique Swallow tail design that is equal parts aesthetically pleasing as it is useful in float-forward safaris.
In the guts of this board, it’s got what one would expect from something in this category. We’re talking sintered base, triax layup, and a lengthy, aggressive sidecut. On top of that, Armada put this one together with Paulownia-Bamboo blend enhanced by titanal plates for dampening when going Mach-chicken and “BamBoosters” in nose in tail when it’s time to fly off any sidehit or roller in its path.
Armada Shatter Point Technical Highlights:
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The Profile: A “skosh” of early-rise in the nose paired with a unique, aesthetically striking swallowtail for “float-forward” missions.
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The Core: A Paulownia-Bamboo blend enhanced by Titanal plates for dampening when going “Mach-chicken.”
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The Pop: “BamBoosters” in the nose and tail provide the spring needed for side-hit launches.
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The Finish: A high-speed sintered base and a lengthy, aggressive sidecut.
How it Rides
On day one, I got this on one of those sunny, smile-inducing slush days, but early on, fresh snow could still be found in the shade on the upper mountain. This board is nice in powder; the larger nose and swallowtail help it float well despite its aggressive camber, but in my assessment, that isn’t where this great board shines brightest.
My favorite moments on the Shatter Point were the ones where I was going the fastest. In short, it loves speed. It’s stable. It rails carves. All that being said, it keeps enough torsional play to make it feel approachable all over the mountain. Easy enough to get on edge, but it lays a trench when it rolls over. It will boost to the moon when desired, but be sure to get up to speed and load it up proper when airtime becomes more of a requirement than a choice.
Pros & Cons
Pros
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Price Point – Unique shape, high-performance, but won’t be what your dentist rides.
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Surprisingly Versatile – Excels on edge but offers far more than just speed and carves. Load it up and let it fly.
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Approachable – The terms “stiff,” “speed demon,” and “rails carves” paired with a traditional camber directional don’t usually add up to “approachability.” But it was so easy to hop on, have fun, foot steer, and initiate turns on the Shatter Point. I truly think it should be on the radar of less experienced riders ready to up their carving game and interested in riding a less traditional shape.
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Base Graphic – It’s loud. It’s sick. Obviously will make you ride faster.
Cons
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Riding Switch – Not much of a surprise given the shape. I’ve daily driven a swallowtail before and ridden directionals for the bulk of the last decade, and there are boards in both of those categories that are more fun to ride switch.
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Sizes – I’d love to see them add a ~165 in future years. I’m 6’4, 205, and I think for what this board is billed as (high-speed carving and powder), I’d probably want to go bigger. It would probably make it less “playful” than this review boasts, but in deeper or firmer conditions, I would prefer more board.
Overall Impression
Overall, the Shatter Point kept surprising me, and went from a tool I figured would be more specialized for high-speed groomer days to something I could hop on any given day and have a good time riding. The Armada Shatter Point is a great choice for intermediate riders ready to starting honing their carving game, to experienced boarders wanting a stiffer carving speed demon with a side of float in their quiver, or as a daily driver for all-mountain rippers with an indifference to switch riding but a passion for high-velocity trenching and taking side hit missions into outer space.
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