Bataleon Thunderstorm Review

The Bataleon Thunderstorm is a different feeling ride. The 3BT base, which is accentuated in the nose, and subtle in the tail, gives it an easy turning feel and helps it to float in powder. 

But it still manages to carve decently, once you find that engagement point, which feels a little different to get to versus flat-based boards.  

In this review, I will take a look at the Thunderstorm as a mellow freeride snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Thunderstorm a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other mellow freeride snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: Bataleon Thunderstorm

Price: $579

Style: Mellow Freeride

Flex Rating: Medium (6/10)

Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (bordering on mid-stiff) (6.5/10)

Rating Score: 84.4/100

Compared to other Men’s Mellow Freeride Boards

Overview of the Thunderstorm’S Specs

Check out the tables for the Thunderstorm’s specs and available sizes.

Who is the Thunderstorm Most Suited To?

The Thunderstorm is best suited to someone looking for that mid-flexing board that's more on the freeride end of the spectrum and will give above average performance in powder, and is a fun board on groomers, when the conditions are good. 

Would make a good one-board quiver for someone who doesn't ride a lot of switch or do too much in the park and doesn't have overly icy conditions often. 

And would be a nice addition to your quiver, and would pair well with a park/freestyle board - or an icy conditions groomer board and/or a more specialist powder board. 

Not for beginners, but intermediate riders should be fine with it. 

TEST/REVIEW DetailS FOR THE Thunderstorm

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Thunderstorm is capable of.

Demo Info

Board: Bataleon Thunderstorm 2025, 156cm (256mm waist width)

Date: March 13, 2024 (and March 20, 2024)

Powder

It felt good in the shallow powder we had, but wasn't great conditions for testing powder. But it should hold up pretty well in deeper powder, given it's specs and feel. 

It's got that setback and directional shape with some taper. Plus the nose has a lot of that 3D shaping in it, while it's more subtle in the tail. 

Carving

Really decent for carving without being a super carver. The first day I rode it, it felt weird and really quite different to the one I rode the season before. It felt like it was better for longer, more drawn out carves than it was previously but not very good for quicker/tighter carves. But when I re-rode it in different conditions, it felt more like it did last year, but still not quite the same. 

Turning

Ease of Turning/Slashing: The first day it had a grabby feeling and was fairly prone to catching an edge, which I'd never experienced with a Bataleon board before. They were some odd conditions, so I did want to get another day on it. On the second day, it was much easier and didn't have that grabby catchy/feeling. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Again, wasn't as agile the first day, but really decent edge-to-edge speeds at slow speeds the second day. 

Catchiness: As mentioned above, it felt quite catchy on the first day, but thankfully when the conditions were less weird, it didn't feel catchy. 

Speed

It felt a bit slow the first day, but again those conditions were weird. But I also gave it a good wax for the second day. I usually wax boards before testing unless it looks like they don't need it. It didn't seem like it needed it initially, but I thought I'd give it a wax and it did make a big difference. 

I think it's a pretty wax hungry board, so it's something that I'd wax a little more regularly than I would most other boards. 

After that the glide and speed were decent. And in terms of stability at speed, it's right in that good but not amazing realm. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud/Chunder: It handled crud/chunder well. It's got more of a preference of going over top of it, rather than smashing through it, but it does that well and feels pretty stable.

Trees/Bumps: The first day, I wasn't a fan, but after getting better conditions and with a good wax, it felt much better. Still not as good as I remember last year's model, but decent enough. 

Jumps

It has a nice pop to it that is both fairly easy to extract and has decent total pop. 

On approach it strikes a nice balance between being stable but at the same time, pretty easy to adjust when necessary. 

I wouldn't call it a stomper on landings, but it's solid enough. 

Good for side-hits. Not what I'd put in my top tier, but still really fun. 

Switch

First day, the transitions were catchy but on the second day they were much easier and it rode better switch the second day - as it did most things. It's not ideal, but you can definitely ride it switch pretty comfortably. 

Spins

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it was catchy and not so much fun on day one, but then became more like its old self on day 2. Setups and landing became much easier. 

It strikes a good balance between being something that doesn't over-spin on landing but something you can complete your rotation on the snow, when you under-rotate, to an extent. 

Jibbing

I didn't even hit them on day 1. I didn't trust it enough. But on day 2, it felt OK on them. Wouldn't be my first choice, but fine. 

Butters

It was pretty easy to get the nose and tail pressing without any feeling like I could over-flex it. Even though there's not a lot of tail to press on, it felt better pressing the tail. The amount of uplift in the nose meant it felt like there wasn't much to press onto. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.

The Thunderstorm is one of those boards that strikes a balance between so many different properties that it could well be viewed as an all-mountain/do-it-all board. We chose to move it this category this year, as it has 6mm of taper and is that along with its overall directional feel made it feel more at home in this category.