Hello and welcome to my Bataleon Party Wave review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Party Wave as a mellow freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Party Wave a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other mellow freeride snowboards.
Note: This review is currently not updated. There were enough changes for the 2025 model that I feel it needs a retest before updating the review.
Overall Rating
Board: Bataleon Party Wave 2024
Price: $459
Style: Mellow Freeride
Flex Rating: Medium-Soft (4/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (5/10)
Rating Score: 86.5/100
Compared to other Men’s Mellow Freeride Boards.
* Note that the "mellow freeride" category represents freeride boards that are in that softer flex range - 6.5/10 or less.
Out of the 33 men’s mellow freeride snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Party Wave’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Party Wave's specs and available sizes.
Specs
STYLE:
MELLOW FREERIDE
PRICE:
$459 - BUYING OPTIONS
$459 - BUYING OPTIONS
Ability Level:
flex:
feel:
DAMPNESS:
SMOOTH /SNAPPY:
Playful /aggressive:
Edge-hold:
camber profile:
Traditional Camber
TRADITIONAL CAMBER - Bataleon's "Medium Camber" - but with the 3BT doesn't feel like traditional camber.
SHAPE:
setback stance:
setback 0.4" (10mm)
BASE:
SINTERED - Bataleon's "Hyper Glide S"
weight:
felt LIGHTER THAN normal
Camber Height:
7.5mm
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
145 | 260 | 114-158 | 52-72 |
148 | 265 | 123-167 | 56-76 |
151 | 270 | 139-183 | 63-83 |
154 | 275 | 150-194 | 68-88 |
157 | 280 | 163-207 | 74-94 |
Who is the Party Wave Most Suited To?
The Party Wave is best suited to someone looking for a playful board that's good in powder and good in trees.
For most this will be a board that you add to your quiver for those days where you want to spend the day in trees/powder. But it's a nice affordable option for that extra board.
Apart from tight turns/slashing and powder float, I also found it really fun to launch off side-hits with it. It's not for big air, but if you're someone who likes to find little hits off groomer or on the sides of groomers, this would add to this board's suitability for you.
Not quite beginner friendly, but could be at a stretch.
The Party Wave in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Party Wave is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Bataleon Party Wave 2024. 151 (270mm waist width)
Date: March 28, 2023
Conditions
Sunny. Barely a cloud in the sky. Perfect vis, naturally.
Temp: 2°C (36°F) and -2°C (28°F) with wind chill in the morning. 3°C (37°F), -1°C (30°F) with wind in the afternoon. Wind was 10kph (6mph) NE.
24hr snow: 0cm (0")
48hr snow: 15cm (6")
7 day snow: 20cm (8")
On groomer: Hhard pack, crunchy in a lot of places and a little icy in others. Softer areas too though. A good bit of chunder (ice balls/chunks) but not too bad.
Off groomer: Crunchy and icy in places. Doable but not great.
Set Up
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 540mm (21.3″)
Stance Setback: Setback 0.4" (10mm)
Width at front insert: 284mm (11.2")
Width at back insert: 275mm (10.8")
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 180lbs
Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Response ADV
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Control Board for Control Laps: Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker
Weight: 2920grams (6lbs 7oz)
Weight per cm: 19.34 grams/cm
Average Weight per cm: 18.71 grams/cm*
*based on a sample size of around 250 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 models. The Party Wave was technically a little heavier than normal looking at the weight per cm, but it's a really wide board, so if I knew the surface area of all the boards we'd weighed, then it would almost certainly be lighter than average in terms of weight per surface area. And on snow it did feel a little lighter than normal.
Powder
Nothing to test in on the day, but based on specs, experience with other Bataleon boards and feel of the board, the Party Wave should do really well in powder.
It has a tapered directional shape with 20mm of taper and Bataleon's 3BT with high sidelift in the nose and low in the tail. While it isn't hugely setback on effective edge (0.4" (10mm)) it is setback 1.6" (40mm) over the length of the board. This still isn't a huge amount, but everything else about this board spells float.
Carving
It's not ideal for carving. Certainly not the worst, but it does get washy when trying to carve aggressively and at higher speeds.
Turning
Ease of Turning/Slashing: It's nice and easy to initiate turns on the Party Wave and it loves to slash turns.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Nice and quick edge-to-edge and very little effort needed to switch edges.
Catchiness: Really uncatchy. Didn't feel like I needed to think about that with this board.
Speed
This is a playful board - and while it was a little stiffer than I was expecting, it's still fairly soft and it doesn't feel super stable when getting past a certain speed. But it can handle moderately fast speeds OK.
Uneven Terrain
Crud: It gets bucked around pretty easily and feels the chatter when things get bumpy. Thankfully it is an easy board to correct/navigate, but you'll be having to do that a lot on this board in messy snow.
Trees/Bumps: Now this is where this board really shines and feels at home. It's quick edge-to-edge and it's volume shifted, so that short length makes it easier to get your way through tight obstacles. Would be even better with powder in there.
Jumps
It's OK but not ideal. Better for ollies than I though it would be though.
Pop: There's not a lot of overall pop. But what's there is really easy to extract. Pretty effortless pop.
Approach: It can get a bit wobbly on faster approaches but for tighter approaches or anything that you need to adjust or speed check, it's really good at that.
Landing: Not super solid and while the width does give you that surface area to make up for the shorter length, there's still not a lot of tail length to work with if you land too tail heavy. But it is something that you can quickly speed check or maneuver after landing, if you need to.
Side-hits: Was really fun for sidehits. That easy maneuverability and easy pop, made it fun and easy for small hits.
Small jumps/Big Jumps: Best suited to small jumps and side-hits. Not stable enough for larger air, IMO.
Switch
Transitions to switch were easy and riding switch on it was doable. But it did feel pretty weird. Feels a lot different riding it switch than it does the way around it's designed to be ridden. Such is life with directional boards.
Spins
It was actually pretty good. It felt quite light and at 151 it's really short for me, so it was easy to swing around. Not ideal for taking off or landing switch, of course, but also doesn't feel catchy at all whether setting up or landing switch or your normal direction.
Butters
Pretty easy to press the nose and tail, as you'd expect with a board of this flex. Nose and tail do feel quite different from each other though.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | Contribution to Final Score | |
|---|---|---|
POWDER | 4.5 | 27/30 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
CARVING | 3.0 | 6/10 |
TREES/BUMPS | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
CRUD/CHUNDER | 3.0 | 6/10 |
SPEED | 3.0 | 6/10 |
JUMPS | 3.0 | 3/5 |
SWITCH | 2.0 | 2/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 86.5/100 |
The Party Wave is a fun, playful board that excels mostly in powder and in trees. But is also quite fun for smaller side hits.
On groomer it is most fun slashing turns and going quick edge-to-edge and less suitable for bombing and long fast carves. And the price is really friendly for those looking for something like this but are on a budget.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Party Wave, or if you are ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
If you want to check out some other mellow freeride snowboard options, or if you want to compare how the Party Wave compares to other mellow freeride snowboards, then check out the next link.
Hi, thanks for the perfect review! I just got the 151. I weigh 165 lbs and am 5’6″ tall. I went with the 151 because I wasn’t sure if I would be too heavy for the smaller sizes, but I’m not sure if it will still be as much fun. What do you think? My boot size is 10.5. Thanks, and greetings!
Hi Johnny, thanks for your message.
Will certainly be likely to feel different in the 151 for you than it did for me, given the difference in our physical specs. The fact that you’ve got bigger feet, judging by boot size, will be in your favor in terms of maneuverability, but I would still say you’re likely to feel it a little stiffer, a little less agile, a little less playful, a little more stable at speed and a little better float in powder compared to how I felt it.
I would put your “typical all-mountain” length at around 155, so you are still sizing down. So, I wouldn’t say the 151 is the wrong size, by any means. At a guess I would say a 149 (if it existed) would give you the equivalent feel that I got from it. So, if you wanted to go for the most playful, agile version of this board (without it being too small), then the 148. But if you’re ok with it being a little stiff/more stable/less agile than I felt it, the 151 is still going to be a good size for you, IMO.
Hope this helps with your decision
Hi,
I bought party wave+ 23/24, 154 cm long, my parameters: 183 cm tall and 67 kg weight. I’m a bit afraid that I bought it too long. You tested 151 cm, but you weigh much more. I’m wondering whether to replace the equipment?
Hi Marcin, thanks for your message.
Yeah, I would probably go for a shorter length for this board, depending on your boot size. Because of how wide the board is, it’s a good idea to size down from your typical length. I would put your typical length at around 156 and while 154 is down a bit from that, I would go down further with this board, unless you have like a US size 12 or higher boot size. You could even go 148 in this board, depending on how you want to ride it and on your boot size. Going longer will give you more stability at speed and better float in powder, but will do so at the sacrifice of maneuverability. But yeah, if you could let me know your boot size, then I can have a proper think about it. And if you can also let me know how you want to be riding it. Mostly open terrain powder? Trees? Would you prioritize stability or maneuverability?
Thanks for your response!
My shoe size is 45 EU / 11 US / (29cm).
I would like to ride this board in powder and carving. I think I care more about maneuverability.
Hi Marcin, thanks for the extra info.
I think the 151 would be the best bet for you in this board. With your boot size and to maintain float in powder and stability in carving, I think the 148 would be borderline too small. It would be doable, but would favor trees and maneuverability more and powder/carving less. But the 154 is too big for you for this board, IMO. So I’d definitely size down from the 154. I would go 148 before 154 for you, but I think the 151 is going to give you the best combination of powder float/carving and maneuverability.
great, thanks for the clear answer 🙂
You’re very welcome Marcin. Hope you have a great season!