The Burton Counter Balance had some big shoes to fill, being the replacement for the outgoing Deep Thinker and Story Board.
The verdict? It did an admirable job of trying to fill those shoes but ultimately was it able to completely fill them?
In this review, I will take a look at the Counter Balance as a mellow freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Counter Balance a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other mellow freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Burton Counter Balance 2026
Price: $659
Style: Mellow Freeride
Flex Rating: Mid-Stiff
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (6.5/10)
Rating Score: 86.1/100
Compared to other Men’s Mellow Freeride Boards
Of the 28 current model mellow freeride snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The Counter Balance ranked 10th= out of 28
Overview of the Counter Balance'S Specs
Check out the tables for the Counter Balance's specs and available sizes.
STYLE:
mellow freeride
PRICE:
$659 - BUYING OPTIONS
Ability Level:
flex:
feel:
DAMPNESS:
SMOOTH /SNAPPY:
Playful /aggressive:
Edge-hold:
camber profile:
Directional Hybrid Camber
DIRECTIONAL Hybrid CAMBer - Burton's "Directional Camber"
SHAPE:
setback stance:
setback 1" (25mm)
BASE:
SINTERED - Burton's "Sintered WFO Base"
weight:
FELT A LITTLE LIGHTER THAN Normal
Camber Height:
9mm
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
142 | 237 | 100-150 | 45-68 |
146 | 240 | 100-150 | 45-68 |
150 | 245 | 120-180 | 54-82 |
154 | 249 | 120-180 | 54-82 |
158 | 253 | 150-200 | 68-91 |
162 | 257 | 180-260+ | 82-118+ |
154W | 257 | 120-180 | 54-82 |
158W | 261 | 150-200 | 68-91 |
162W | 265 | 180-260+ | 82-118+ |
Who is the Counter Balance Most Suited To?
The Counter Balance is best suited to someone who is looking for a board that is versatile, but leaning more to the freeride side of the spectrum and want something that isn't too stiff/aggressive, but also isn't overly mellow. A real, right in the middle (right on the border in terms of our classification of freeride and mellow freeride boards).
Would work well as a one-board quiver for the right rider, being as versatile as it is and as part of a quiver would work well as a daily driver to compliment a more freestyle-oriented board and a more powder specialized board. And would work well as a two board quiver as the more powder/freeride oriented board matched with a freestyle/park board or all-mountain freestyle board. Or as the more all-rounder/daily driver to a more specialized powder board.
Not for beginners, IMO. While it's not super aggressive or technical or anything, it's still too much for beginners, IMO.
TEST/REVIEW DetailS FOR THE Counter Balance
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Counter Balance is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Burton Counter Balance 2026, 158cm (253mm waist width)
Date: April 11, 2025
Differences to Deep Thinker
The Counter Balance was brought in to replace the the outgoing Deep Thinker and Story Board. So I thought I'd dedicate a little time here to how it differs to the Deep Thinker.
Appearance:
Looks quite different in terms of it shape.
Taper:
8mm of taper, where the Deep Thinker had 7mm (the Story Board had 10mm of taper, so I guess this was somewhere in between).
Width:
Very similar, with the Counter Balance being a touch wider - e.g. on the 154 (which is a common size between the Deep Thinker and Counter Balance), the Deep Thinker had a 248mm waist, with the Counter Balance 154 having a 249mm waist. The Deep Thinker 154 had a 294mm/287mm nose/tail width vs the Counter Balance 154 with a 296mm/288mm nose/tail width.
The 150, 146 and 142 sizes also had similar width to the Story Board's in its 142, 147 and 152 sizes.
Construction:
This is essentially the same in a lot of ways, with the same core, same EGD squeezebox, same glassing and same base as Deep Thinker and Story Board had.
Weight:
I weighed the Deep Thinker 157 at 2780grams (6lbs 13oz) with the 158 Counter Balance coming in at 2680g (5lbs 15ozs), so even a little lighter than the Deep Thinker was, which was surprising as it felt heavier on snow vs the Deep Thinker. Don't get me wrong, still felt light but not as light as the Deep Thinker. I think that likely comes down to it feeling more damp and not as snappy as the Deep Thinker.
Then again, not that surprising, given they have the same construction, so it makes sense they would be similar in terms of weight. Though I'm not sure where that dampness is coming from?
The Story Board weighed in at a similar weight/length figure as well.
Overall Feel Difference
As alluded to above, the biggest difference I felt between the two boards was the Counter Balance being damper feeling and the Deep Thinker being snappier. I also found the Deep Thinker to be more agile at slower speeds.
Carving
I found the Counter Balance felt really good for carving and carving at different speeds and different depth/shape of carve. From moderate speed to faster speeds and from tighter, deeper laid carves to longer, more drawn out (aka straighter line) carves.
It wasn't bulletproof for high speed carves. It did have its limit in terms of speed, but I found it was a pretty generous limit.
Turning
Ease of Turning/Slashing: It was pretty easy to initiate turns on and to slash the tail out but not the easiest going around or anything. It wasn't super unforgiving or anything, but a somewhat good turning technique was needed.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Decent edge-to-edge quickness at slow speeds. And nothing that required too much effort. However, not quite as quick turning as the Deep Thinker it's replacing, IMO.
Catchiness: I detected some feel of catch-threat, particularly in the tail, particularly when riding slower. But I found I had to really look for it to give it that feel. So mostly un-catchy, but not without catch possibility.
Speed
Felt really good at speeds. Not limitless in terms of how fast it could go without starting to feel unstable. But that limit was pretty high, IMO.
Overall speed and glide felt good too.
Uneven Terrain
Crud/Chunder: I found it handled it really well, remaining stable when the lumps and bumps wanted to throw it around and was nice and damp to absorb some of that chatter. I'd say this is the one area where this outdoes the Deep Thinker (it's its equal in some things too) - it's spongier/damper than the Deep Thinker and as a result didn't feel the chatter as much as the Deep Thinker does.
Trees/Bumps: It was decently agile, without being the kind of board I could call a turn-on-a-dime board. Based on specs and feel, it should do decently well in terms of powder-float, when there's fresh snow in the trees.
Powder
We had nothing even close to test in on the day, with conditions being quite icy, particularly off-groomer. But based on specs and feel it should be at the very least above average in powder, IMO.
In its favor firstly is its 8mm of taper, giving it a noticeable difference in nose size vs its tail - with that extra nose width combined with the nose being longer than the tail. It also has a 25mm (1") reference setback stance, and some rocker in the nose.
Jumps
Pop: The pop took a little more effort to extract vs my control board but nothing that needed a massive effort. Its total pop was really good and one of the boards best overall features. The spongy kind of feel this board gave meant you had to take a little time to load it up but once you'd loaded up that potential energy, it had real good spring once you released that loaded energy.
Approach: A really good mix of stability and maneuverability that made it good for approaching all types of jumps, big and small and with both smooth and messy snow on your approach.
Landing: Again, a really nice balance here of being decently forgiving of bad landings but stable/solid enough to be able to really stomp landings from any size jump. And while its tail is smaller than its nose, it's nothing teeny-tiny or anything, and you could feel that support, when landing tail heavy.
Switch
Overall pretty good for a directional board. Transitions were fine. Some catch threat but nothing too bad.
Spins
Good without being great. This is one of the areas I preferred the Deep Thinker. But still decent enough. Felt decent for setup and landing and wasn't too bad getting the rotations around.
No spin-continuation after landing but some catch-threat for completing under rotations on the snow after landing, but still definitely doable.
Butters
Not super easy to butter but not too hard either. A little harder than my control board, but not by too much. There was some difference in feel when pressing the nose vs the tail, which was to be expected, but the difference wasn't massive. Took some effort to get it to lock-in point but once there, it locked in nicely, with no fear of over-flex (at least not for me anyway).
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
| FACTOR | Rating (/5) | Weighted |
|---|---|---|
| Powder | 4 | 24/30 |
| Turns | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
| Carving | 4 | 8/10 |
| Trees | 4 | 12/15 |
| Crud | 4 | 8/10 |
| Speed | 4 | 8/10 |
| Jumps | 4 | 4/5 |
| Switch | 3 | 3/5 |
| TOTAL (after normalizing): | 86.1/100 |
The Counter Balance takes over from where the Deep Thinker and Story Board left off. And it does a great job trying to fill their shoes.
While I still think the Deep Thinker was a slightly better board, there's not a huge amount in it and for some, they might prefer the Counter Balance, if they value dampness over snap/agility (not to say that the Deep Thinker is terrible for dampness or anything or the Counter Balance is void of snap/agility, just more so that these are the areas that I felt were the most different between them).
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
To learn more about the Counter Balance, or if you're ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
To check out some other mellow freeride snowboard options, or to see how the Counter Balance compares to others, check out our top rated mellow freeride snowboards by clicking the button below.
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