Burton Territory Manager Review

Who is the Territory Manager Most Suited To?

The Burton Territory Manager is ideal for freeriders who want that one board they can consistently rely on no matter the conditions or the mountain. A freeride leaning do-it-all board that can be taken all over the mountain and excel.

Ideally for freeriders who aren't quite done with their freestyle ways, the Territory manager excels in deeper powder more than anything but is fully capable of being taken out on a spring day and hitting the jump line or ripping down a groomed run laying out some carves.   

Certainly not a board for beginners as the Territory Manager is on more of the aggressive side. I would recommend it to upper intermediate riders and up. 

Bindings angles: +12/-9

Stance width: 20.9″ (530mm)

Stance Setback: 1" (25mm)

Width at Inserts: 10.43" (265mm) at front insert and 10.39" (264mm) at back insert.   

Tester: Fraser

Rider Height: 6'1"

Rider Weight: 180lbs

Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Tactical Lexicon ADV

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita: M

Weight: 6lbs 3oz (2820grams) 

Weight per cm: 18.31 grams/cm

Average Weight per cm: 18.59 grams/cm*

*based on a sample size of around 200 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023 models. So the Burton Territory Manager was a little lighter than average. On snow felt normal. 

Powder

While there was lots of fresh snow around it had been rained on making it heavy, slow, and somewhat sticky but it still gave us a pretty good idea of how it would ride in powder.

It handled even this wet heavy powder pretty effortlessly most of the time. It does have 8mm of taper plus a setback stance, both of which naturally sink the tail while the rocker in the nose keeps you afloat with ease. The stiffer flex also helps keep you from over flexing.

Carving

The Territory manager has camber under both feet which felt nice when carving as it didn't feel washy when holding a carve large or small. It felt really stable when maneuvering edge-to-edge. I preferred it for quick sharper carves vs longer more drawn out carves. 

Turning

Ease of Turns/Slashing: Even though it is directional it rides similar to a true twin. I found it easy to release your tail at any speed and initiate a turn or slash with minimal effort.

Maneuverability at slow speeds (nimbleness):  Really nimble. Felt quick edge-to-edge even at slower speeds.

Skidded Turns: Handled them nicely the camber underneath the feet feels predictable and stable while the rockered nose makes for no catchiness whatsoever, at any speed. 

Speed

Because of the camber just being under the feet it's not as quick as a full camber board but overall it still has a good amount and it doesn't get chattery allowing it to be stable at higher speeds. Also had a good amount of glide which was a nice surprise. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud: At times the Territory Manager could get bucked around a bit in it but even when you did the board stayed stable and was easy to maneuver to make any necessary corrections.  

Bumps: Like stated before, it's quick edge-to-edge allowing you to maneuver through bumps nice and easy. For certain terrain, like in the trees, when your going up and down bumps I found it easy to hug them when you had to.

Jumps

Overall the Territory Manager feels nice and smooth when hitting jumps.

Pop: Has a good amount of pop that was easily accessible as I found it didn't require much of a load up to get all of it, which is ideal for smaller jumps or flat ground spins.

Approach:  Quick edge-to-edge allowing you to feel confident on your approaches as your able to make last second adjustments if needed. And also stable enough for faster approaches. 

Landing: Didn't find the board catchy on the landings at all. You could also get away with landing tail heavy and ride out with minimal effort. I found the width really helped with landings too as it absorbed impacts really nicely. 

Side-hits: Really enjoyed it on side-hits. Super predictable feel underneath the board, coupled with that pop made any size side hit enjoyable. 

Small jumps/Big jumps: Really capable on any size jump but I found the medium sized one's is were it was optimal. 

Switch

Switch riding felt pretty easy and effortless on the Territory manager. Transitions weren't catchy whatsoever and even though it's directional it feels close to true twin - fully capable of landing or taking-off switch on bigger side-hits or jumps allowing you to throw 180s and 540s with confidence.

Butters

Found the nose and tail pressable with a bit of effort. I preferred to use the boards pop to really help get the presses started as I found just leaning into a press required some work, in large part due to the board being on the stiffer side 

The Territory Manager is a versatile snowboard more than capable of being ridden anywhere on the mountain. It does have freeride leanings, but very much on the all-mountain side of things. 

With very few weaknesses, the Territory Manager carves really nicely, has a solid amount of pop for side-hits and feels close to a true twin allowing you to jump off and land on anything with confidence. 

Overall I expected a less versatile/nimble board. I figured it was going to just be a one track powder specialist, and whilst it does excel at powder, it was really enjoyable all over the mountain. And was very capable of things I didn't think it would be.