United Shapes Deep Reach Snowboard Review

I love powder, and therefore I love powder boards.  My closet has a stack of them and like a golfer, I am always looking for the perfect tool for the day.  The board of the day was the United Shapes Deep Reach 159.

United Shapes Specs

The specs are good, having a 269mm waist, 8.3m sidecut, a 20cm taper. The board has traditional camber with a rockered nose, which makes it great doing big traverses to get to the pow! The Deep Reach has a clean look in all white.  So I took it out on a powder day.  First impression: The board is fun! The nose is long and really hard to sink.  Piste performance is good, it can hold an edge and carve.  Big traverses are no problem.

The United Shapes Deep Reach is playful and easy to ride.  I would describe it as a great first powder board.   If you have a quiver of powder boards, it might not be for you, as it doesn’t stand out any one category.   I believe that it could also be because of my weight.  I am at the edge of the weight range for this board and the 162 was not available to test. (yet!)

So, I gave to one of my co-workers, who has never ridden a powder board, and is lighter than me.

Stef Schipper – quick plug for him:  If you are in Verbier … he is an amazing ski instructor with European Snowsports.  Book him now!

Performance

We took it out on Friday and Saturday, rode Mont Gele, Mont Fort, a few secret stashes.  We had a sunny day, about 30cm of powder.  The upper mountain had been closed for 2 days, due to avalanche risk and all the upper terrain had just opened.

It took a few runs to get used to, as he has never ridden a powder specific board, but he found it incredibly easy to ride.  It floats!  You can weight your front foot! No nose dives, easy turns, lots of fun.  With his smaller feet, he could carve on piste with zero drag!  He found the board much livelier and more playful than I did.  For him, he would buy this board to build a quiver.

Features & Specs

Additional Rider Notes Marc:

• Deep reach 159
• 92 kg (202 lbs) over 100kg  (220 lbs) with avy bag and gear on.
• Size 28.5 (10.5) boot
• Now Binding medium flex binding, no forward lean for pow day.
• 61 cm then 63 cm stance  +18/-9

Additional Riders Notes Stef:

• 65 kg (145lbs)  (75 kg – 167lbs with gear)
• Size 26 boot
• Standard reference stance
• Now Binding medium flex +21/-6 stance
• Ski instructor, avid surfer/kiter, owns a twin tip board.

United Shapes Deep Reach Snowboard Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Great for doing big traverses in powder
• Easy to ride and playful
• Floats well and allows for easy turns

Cons:

• Not standout in any one category
• May not suit heavy riders

Overall Impression

Overall, the United Shapes Deep Reach ($699.99) is a fun board.  The cambered profile will help you get ride out and back to your favorite stash.  The bigger radius side cut makes it fun to do big fast carves on piste.  If you only have a small twin, or a narrow board, then this would be a great board to help you build your quiver.  See you on the hill!

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