Board: 2024-2025 Cardiff Goat Pro Carbon Splitboard, 162 cm
Available Sizes: 150, 154, 156, 158, 162, 166 cm
Stated Weight (162 cm): 3084 g 3.08 kg / 6.79 lbs
Measured Weight (162 cm): 3.0 kg / 6.61 lbs
Stated Nose-Waist-Tail Widths (162 cm): 300-263-290 mm
Measured Nose-Waist-Tail Widths (162 cm): 300-265-288 mm
Stated Taper: 11 mm
Stated Sidecut Radius (162 cm): 11 m (avg. of 7 radii)
Stated Rocker Profile: 60% camber, rockered tip & tail
Stated Flex: 8/10
Stated Effective Edge: 1220 mm
Stated Stance Setback: 17 mm
Stance Width (min/ref/max): 520 mm / 580 mm / 640 mm
Core Materials: poplar/paulownia + titanal stringers + carbon laminate + urethane sidewalls.
Base Material: sintered graphite
[Note: Our review is being conducted on the 24/25 Goat Pro Carbon, which is the same as the 23/24 model, apart from graphics.]
Intro
Founded in 2015, Cardiff Snowcraft quickly made a name for themselves in the snowboard — and especially the splitboard — market. According to Cardiff, all of their boards are designed and tested first as a split. They’ve also expanded into the ski market, with the goal of applying their particular approaches to shaping, rocker / camber, and construction to both boards and skis.
This season, we’re reviewing a few of Cardiff’s splits and skis, starting with the Goat Pro Carbon Splitboard. The Goat is Cardiff’s “big-mountain charger,” and the first Goat was reportedly the “original Cardiff board shape.” We’ll be spending lots of time on it this winter, but for now, we’ll cover the details of its design.
What Cardiff says about the Goat Pro Carbon Splitboard
“The Cardiff Pro Carbon Goat is a hard-charging, big mountain board with freestyle roots, designed to traverse and descend the most rugged terrain. The Pro Carbon build is for the strong rider who’s looking for the lightest, most durable and responsive core on the market. Fresh wax, ready to rip out of the box.
Eight years of testing and refinement, a dozen different iterations, and an untold number of days, mountain ranges, and descents. The Goat—a big-mountain charger that pro rider Bjorn Leines called the best board he’s ever ridden—is the original Cardiff board shape and is now better than ever. Developed and tested as a split, the Goat Enduro is a durable solid that can engage on icy sidehills, make surfy, high-speed turns, and take you down big, intimidating lines worldwide. Original artwork by Kyson Dana, portraying the fearless mountain denizen who inspired this board.”
Construction / Materials
Cardiff offers most of their boards in both an “Enduro” build and a “Pro Carbon” build. While the shapes and rocker profiles are generally the same for the respective model, the Enduro boards are a bit heavier and less expensive ($400 less, in the case of the Goat), whereas the Pro Carbon versions are built with more of a focus on minimizing weight.
For their Goat splitboard, the Pro Carbon version uses a thinner poplar / paulownia wood core, adds titanal metal stringers for improved damping and durability, and finishes things off with two full sheets of carbon fiber. The Enduro version uses a thicker poplar / paulownia wood core, full-length, full-width carbon stringers, and a fiberglass laminate.
All the Cardiff boards and skis feature urethane sidewalls and sintered graphite bases. Cardiff also provides the option to add Phantom Glide base treatment when ordering.
Shape
The Goat is a directional freeride board with a set-back stance. It has a blunt-shaped nose and about 11 mm of taper on the 162 cm length we’re testing. The tail features a cutout shape that should help in terms of working with a variety of skin-clip designs.
The Goat’s shape is not wildly tapered and seems to fit well into the modern big-mountain freeride category. Just looking at it, I suspect / hope that the Goat will offer impressive flotation in pow while also being able to drive through choppy conditions without the hooky feeling that some directional twins can exhibit.
Rocker / Camber Profile
Cardiff calls the Goat’s profile “HALFcamber,” and states that 60% of the board is cambered; the camber is located under the feet, where the core is thickest. The Goat’s core starts to thin past the contact points, in line with where the board’s camber progressively transitions to rocker at the nose and tail.
Due to its directional design, the Goat’s camber is a bit more biased toward the back of the board. However, true to Cardiff’s note about the Goat being a “big mountain board with freestyle roots,” the Goat’s tail rise / splay is still nearly symmetrical, assumingly to allow for switch riding.
Flex Pattern
Hand flexing the Goat (longitudinally) suggests a stiff flex, particularly in the middle / between the binding inserts. Overall, this feels like a very stiff board and I have high hopes for its high-speed stability. The Goat’s tail is stiffer than the nose and, as mentioned above, there’s a significant difference between the flex of its nose / tail and the cambered, thicker, middle portion of the board. So, while it’s quite stiff in the middle, I’m curious how its softer extremities translate in terms of pop.
Torsionally, the Goat Pro Carbon again feels quite stiff, at least in hand. However, it’s tougher to tell this before getting it on snow, and your particular splitboard binding / joining system can also play a big factor there, so we’ll see how that plays out this season.
Sidecut Radius
Cardiff’s boards and skis feature the brand’s “RADiCAL sidecut,” which reportedly blends 7 different radial and progressive sidecut radii. They say that this results in a longer effective radius in the front for better stability when making bigger, front-foot-heavy turns, while the radius tightens through the back to allow for tighter turns when you shift your weight rearward. For reference, Cardiff says the average sidecut radius for the 162 cm Goat is 11 meters.
I’m particularly interested in how the Goat’s sidecut profile, tapered shape, camber profile, and flex pattern all combine on snow, especially in terms of how the board handles the slower-speed technical turning and pivoting.
Weight
Our 162 cm Goat Pro Carbon weighed in at 3.0 kg / 6.61 lbs without additional hardware for bindings (pucks, heel risers, etc.). For reference, the board we have came with Phantom Hercules Clips, which seems to be the norm for Cardiff’s splits.
For reference, here’s how that measured weight compares to the stated weights for several other freeride-oriented splitboards.
2.9 kg Amplid Miligram Split, 162 cm (21/22–23/24)
3.0 kg Cardiff Goat Pro Carbon, 162 cm (23/24–24/25)
3.03 kg Weston Ridgeline Carbon, 162 cm (23/24)
3.2 kg Jones Solution Split, 162 (23/24)
3.4 kg WNDR Alpine Shepherd Tour, 162 cm (23/24)
3.6 kg WNDR Alpine Belletour, 164 cm (23/24)
3.8 kg Voile Skyline Split, 162 cm (22/23–23/24)
Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About
(1) I feel confident that this board will handle fast runouts and big lines well, but I wonder about slow-speed and technical terrain performance. How does this board pivot around trees and other obstacles?
(2) With all things splitboard and backcountry in general, I think durability is paramount. I’m curious to see how this board holds up long term. Based on the materials and design, I have high hopes, but this is always a major question for me, particularly with lighter, carbon-laminate models.
(3) Splitboard brands seem to have gotten better at designing rocker profiles and shapes that also help with touring (e.g., side hilling and gripping on steeper climbs). I’m excited to see how the Goat Pro Carbon does in those regards.
Stay Tuned…
I’ve been hearing really good things about Cardiff for a few years now and we’re excited to start riding their shapes. The Goat Pro Carbon’s build looks and feels quite refined — everything seems to fit the part of a premium board. I’m looking forward to spending a bunch of time on the Goat Pro Carbon to really figure out where it excels, where it might fall short, and what sort of riders it best suits.
What news from the front on the carbon?? I’m looking at the powgoda pro carbon. Mainly want to know if the dampness disappears and vibration is sent to the foot like on many carbon boards.