Jumps and Landings, Tricks
The UNW8 is POPPY!!! Amplid put in carbon stringers to increase pop. These work, and they work even better combined with the board’s camber.
I found landing on this board to be quite nice and soft. When landing spins, it would lock in immediately and help prevent washing out on landings or over spinning. It was super playful and responsive to the point of super easy spins in mogul fields.
Takeoffs were also a pleasure. Because its so light, the effort required to get the board off of or out of the snow was minimal. All it took was an easy knee lift to get air borne. I was able to land spins off of drops as well as kickers in the park.
When in Crested Butte for IFSA 4* event this past season, I was cruising around the front side hitting rollers going fast. There were multiple occasions where I was surprised at how much pop I was getting, and was landing in the flats off some of them. Again, the tip and tail would set right into a track and keep things moving with no need to spend energy to correct from a potential wash out or over spin.
Who’s It For?
This board is not for beginners. It would be a little frustrating at first and would feel catchy. Again this board rides and performs best when you’re ready to make it do what you want. Hesitation will hurt you and trusting it will pay off. It’s best sometimes to just let it ride. If you’re not driving this board it will drive you.
The Amplid UNW8 is meant for people who ride the mountain like a rally car rides the earth.
This board is capable in most terrain situations. It could be a great board for someone who simply wants to cruise groomers and work on their carves, as well as for someone looking to drop big lines in Alyeska, AK.
I like boards that can do it all well and would rather depend on on board than have a specific board for powder. I believe that a “powder specific” board would outperform the UNW8 in high speed 2500’ descents in 2 feet of fresh, but I ride in daily conditions that are always changing. To have a dependable ride that allows me to learn in all conditions is most of the draw and challenge in the sport to me. The Amplid UNW8 fills this need as a “one board quiver” for sure.
Bottom Line
Stiff, responsive and surprisingly durable just about sums up the UNW8. The design team at Amplid nailed it with this board and its performance lived up to the company description. It did everything Amplid said it would do, well, and their description might even be a little modest.
Looks like a nice stick, are they available in USA? Amplid site doesn’t show much for store locator in North America..