Burton Blossom Snowboard Review

With the Free Thinker and women's Talent Scout retiring, it's been left up to the Burton Blossom to take the reigns. 

While, IMO, it doesn't quite get to the bar that the Free Thinker set. And while, on paper, it looks like nothing has really changed versus previous Blossom models, on-snow it did make improvements from the previous Blossom model's, in my experience, and I found it to be a really fun and capable semi-aggressive all-mountain freestyle board. 

In this review, I will take a look at the Blossom as an all-mountain-freestyle snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Blossom a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other all-mountain-freestyle snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: Burton Blossom 2026

Price: $599

Style: All-Mountain-Freestyle

Flex Rating: Mid-Stiff

Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (6.5/10)

Rating Score: 87.2/100

Compared to other Men’s All-Mountain-Freestyle Boards

Overview of the Blossom’S Specs

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

Who is the Blossom Most Suited To?

The Blossom is best suited to riders looking for a semi-aggressive board that is freestyle oriented, but is still fast and stable and can lay down a good carve. But mostly this board is for those that like to get air and lots of it. 

Could be a one-board quiver for the right rider and also make a great compliment to a quiver, paired with a more specialized powder board and/or a softer, more playful freestyle/park deck. 

Not for beginners, IMO - too much board for that. 

TEST/REVIEW DetailS FOR THE Blossom

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

Demo Info

Board: Burton Blossom 2026, 158cm (254mm waist width)

Date: April 14, 2025

Carving

The Blossom felt great on a carve to me, as it has in the past. All types of carves from tighter/slower carves to more drawn out higher speed carves. It has enough stiffness and edge-hold to hold on to carves well at higher speeds, but not without it's limits in terms of how aggressive/fast you can rip a carve with it before it gives out. But that's a fairly high limit, particularly for a board that's not overly stiff. 

Turning

Ease of Turning/Slashing: It's not effortless to initiate a turn or release the tail to slash it out, but it's also not a lot of effort and I feel like this is one area that this edition of the Blossom improved over the previous models. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Surprisingly agile. Not lightning edge-to-edge, but again better than previous models, in my experience.

Catchiness: Very minimal, which was quite surprising given its full camber profile and a flex that's just north of medium. Another area where the Blossom improved and felt more like the Free Thinker than Blossom's of old. Felt like the torsional flex was mellowed out a bit, which would explain the easier turning, maneuverability and reduced catch. 

Speed

Felt good and stable at speed and overall decently fast. Not up there with the most hard charging bombers, but still really decent, especially for a freestyle oriented all-mountain board. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud/Chunder: Again really good. Had enough dampness to make sure the chatter wasn't too bone-shaking and the stability to stay quite stable through rough snow. This is one area where the fact it's heavier than the outgoing Free Thinker is to its advantage. 

Trees/Bumps: Pretty good really and that improved maneuverability definitely helps here. Still not going to be great when there's a good bit of powder in the trees. Had to take it pretty cautiously in the trees the day I rode the Blossom, as it wasn't great conditions, but it handled it pretty well. 

Powder

Nothing to test in on the day, but based on feel and specs, it's not going to be great, IMO. A full camber profile with a centered true twin typically isn't the best recipe for easy powder float. 

Jumps

Pop: I wouldn't say the pop was hard to access, but you did have to give it a little energy to get the best of the pop it offered. However, when you did give it that energy, it responded in kind and gave a really good boost - really good total pop. Heaps of fun!

Approach: I found it had a good mix of stability and maneuverability, leaning a little on the stability side of things, but not by much. 

Landing:  Can stomp landings for sure! But you didn't have to get them perfect to ride out the landing - it was pretty forgiving of off-kilter landings and pretty good for any post-landing adjustments you might have to do and for landings on rough, uneven snow. 

Switch

Naturally felt good riding switch and transitions were really good too. With that reduced catch, it made transitions better than previous models, IMO. 

Spins

Again that reduced catch made for easier setup for spins and for correcting under-rotations or reverts. That great pop helped for  getting the right amount of air to complete rotations and it didn't over-rotate after landing. 

The only real downsides here was the weight - which wasn't even heavier than a typical board, but compared to the Free Thinker it was harder work due to that weight - and that you had to put in a little bit of focus/effort to extract that great pop. 

Jibbing

Still not the ideal board for butters, but the changes helped it to be better/easier for jibbing, in my experience. 

Butters

There's a bit of stiffness in the tip and tail, so you had to direct some weight/energy towards the back/front of the board to get the tip/tail flexing, but they didn't feel overly stiff or anything, so it wasn't a huge amount of effort. 

Locked in nicely and the lower catch-risk for rotations was nice too versus older models. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

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

Long story short, the Blossom mellowed out from previous models, which led to an improvement, in my opinion/experience, for ease of turning, maneuverability and butterability, which in gave it an overall better balance for jumps/side-hits and made it more fun for trees. 

In turn this made it a little less of a beast for carving, but still very good. Overall a more balanced overall ride - less aggressive and burly, but now more versatile. 

On paper, it doesn't appear there's been any changes for the '26 model. However, at the same time, it has been touted as the board that has absorbed the Free Thinker and the women's Talent Scout. In reality, it feels like they've mellowed out the torsional flex, which I think must be the main contributor to the changes in ride feel described above. 

It's also lighter than the previous model I rode (which was 3020grams or 19.11g/cm versus the '26 which I weighed at 2900g or 18.35g/cm - both the 158 model) but still quite a bit heavier than the outgoing Free Thinker (which was really light at 2680g for the 157 - which is just 17.07g/cm). 

IMO, it still doesn't meet the standard of the Free Thinker, but IMO, is improved over its predecessors and does seem to have taken on some of the Free Thinker/Talent Scout qualities despite not appearing to have had any changes made to it. 

Sizing Rant

Apart from not quite being the board the Free Thinker was (IMO) the other thing I don't like about the new model is the sizing. Previously you had, between the Talent Scout and Free Thinker: 

Talent Scout

• 138 (235mm waist)
• 141 (237mm waist) 
• 146 (240mm waist)
• 149 (242mm waist)
• 152 (245mm waist)

Free Thinker

• 150 (246 waist)
• 154 (248 waist)
• 157 (252 waist)
• 160 (255 waist)
• 157W (260 waist)
• 160W (263 waist)

And now: 

Burton Blossom

• 144 (240 waist) 
• 149 (244 waist)
• 152 (249 waist)
• 155 (251 waist)
• 158 (254 waist)
• 162 (258 waist)

This leads, IMO, to less people being able to access this board with optimal sizing. Of course, not an issue if there is an optimal size for you, but there will be less in that category now.  

So while I was relieved when I rode it that it did take on some of the personalities of the Free Thinker and Talent Scout, it was still a bit disappointing that more sizes weren't brought in for the Blossom to compensate. Hopefully the '27 model will come with better sizing options.