Hello and welcome to my Capita The Equalizer review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Equalizer as a freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Equalizer a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other women's freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Capita The Equalizer
Price: $529
Style: Freeride
Flex Rating: Medium (5.5/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (6/10)
Rating Score: 84.2/100
Compared to other Women’s Freeride Boards
Out of the 24 women’s freeride snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Equalizer’ Specs
Check out the tables for the Equalizer’ specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freeride |
Price: | $529 |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Hybrid Camber - Capita's "Alpine V1 Profile" |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Setback 12.5mm (0.5") |
Base: | Sintered (Capita's "Quantum Drive") |
Weight: | Really Light |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
142 | 229 | 90-140 | 41-64 |
146 | 235 | 100-150 | 45-68 |
150 | 241 | 110-170 | 50-77 |
154 | 247 | 120-190 | 55-86 |
Who is the Equalizer Most Suited To?
The Equalizer is a well rounded freeride board. It's bordering on all-mountain (do-it-all) - and you could definitely treat it as such.
If you ride a lot of freestyle and don't have a dedicated park board, then it's probably not for you, but if you like to do a bit of everything, but lean more towards the freeride end of the spectrum, than the freestyle end, then it should be a good match.
Not for beginners, but it's still a pretty easy going ride, so anything from intermediate and up should be good on this board.
The Equalizer in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Equalizer is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Capita Equalizer 2022, 150cm (241mm waist width)
Date: February 25, 2021
Conditions: Mostly overcast with patches of blue. Quite a cold wind.
Temp was -3°C (27°F) and -10°C (14°F) with wind chill factor.
24 snow: 15cm (6")
7 day snow: 41cm (16")
On groomer: Soft and smooth for the most part! Did get a little cruddy later in the day but for the most part very friendly fun conditions.
Off groomer: Plenty of fresh snow. Was really nice off groomer - soft and whilst not super deep, enough of a layer to be really fun.
Bindings angles: +15/-12
Stance width: 520mm (20.5″)
Stance Setback: Setback 12.5mm (0.5")
Width at Inserts: 250mm (9.84") at front insert and 251mm (9.88") at back insert
Weight: 2510g (5lbs, 8oz)
Weight per cm: 16.73g/cm
Average Weight per cm: 17.12 grams/cm*
*based on a small sample size of around 20 women's boards that I've weighed in 2020, 2021 and 2022 models. The Equalizer is one of the lighter women's boards I've weighed. And on snow Jade found that it felt light too.
Tester: Jade
Rider Height: 5'7" (170cm)
Rider Weight: 145lbs (66kg)
Rider Boot Size: Women's US6.5 Thirty Two Exit
Bindings Used: Burton Lexa, Medium
Damp or Chattery?
It's somewhere in the middle. It's definitely not ultra chattery, but it's also not super damp.
Smooth or Snappy?
It's got a little snap to it. Just on the snappy side of the middle of the scale.
Powder
Really fun riding in powder. Maneuvered easily and no effort keeping the nose above the snow. We weren't in waist deep powder or anything, but felt like it rode powder really well.
It's not like powder specialist or anything and there's no taper and it's not like ultra setback or ultra directional, but there's enough there to make it decent in powder (like a longer nose than tail and a rockered nose) and it certainly felt that way in the shallow-ish powder we had.
Carving & Turning
Carving: Can lay down a good carve. It's not a carving monster, but you could definitely get it carving and felt good.
Turning: It handled regular S turns really well - nice easy turn initiation.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Nice and easy to maneuver at slow speeds. Not ultra maneuverable, but pretty good nonetheless.
Skidded Turns: Not much consequence for skidding turns. Not a catchy board.
Speed
Handled speed really well. Felt fast and felt stable when opening it out. It's never going to be a bomber to the extent of some stiffer boards, but it's right up there for it's flex.
Uneven Terrain
Crud: It's not a board that smashes through everything in it's path, but it's not one that gets bucked around super easy either. When you do get a bit thrown off, it is pretty easy to correct and adjust.
Bumps: Does a good job of maneuvering between bumps and trees. It's pretty quick edge-to-edge and doesn't take a lot of muscle to initiate turns. It hugs bumps well too, when going over them.
Jumps
For a freeride board (though you could definitely argue it's an all-mountain board too), it's really good for jumps.
Pop: Good pop - not like oodles of it but still good, and it was easy to access. Because of how light it is, you really get value for your pop too.
Approach: A good stable approach for when you need more speed, but also forgiving enough and easy to speed check and adjust your approach when you need to as well. Strikes a great balance between between being stable and maneuverable.
Landing: Not an out and out stomper, but definitely solid enough on landings - and when you get it slightly wrong it's forgiving of errors. So again, strikes a nice balance there too.
Side-hits: Really good on side-hits. That maneuverability, lightness and easy access pop really makes it fun and confidence inspiring when seeking out side-hits.
Small jumps/Big jumps: Medium jumps is the sweet spot, but can take on small and large jumps well too.
Switch
Given it's directional shape, it's not perfectly suited to riding switch, but it's not too bed either. It's pretty easy to control and not catchy or anything, so particularly when you're just learning switch it's decent.
Spins
With that lightness and easy access pop, it's pretty good for getting the air you need and for swinging it around. As it's not ideally suited to switch, setting up and landing 180s isn't perfect, but you can definitely still spin with this board.
Jibbing
It's not something that's designed for jibs, but actually performs pretty decently. Never going to be a jib master, but it's pretty easy on the setup - and that quick easy pop helps too.
Butters
Pretty easy to butter too - another thing that you don't get from a lot of stiffer freeride boards. It's not ultra-buttery or anything, but it's not ultra-hard to butter either.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | SCORE WEIGHTING | |
|---|---|---|
POWDER | 4.0 | 20/25 |
SPEED | 4.0 | 16/20 |
CARVING | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
CRUD/CHUNDER | 4.0 | 8/10 |
TREES/BUMPS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
JUMPS | 4.0 | 4/5 |
SWITCH | 3.0 | 3/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 84.2/100 |
Overall, the Equalizer is a really versatile board, that can do a bit of everything. It's leaning on the freeride side of things though for sure, but if you're predominantly a freerider who likes to still hit the park from time to time, then it can do that for you.
You could definitely call this an all-mountain board - and probably would be most accurate to say it's all-mountain-freeride.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Equalizer, 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 freeride snowboard options, or if you want to compare the Equalizer to other women's freeride snowboards, then check out the next link.
Does this board go faster than Hel Yes? I tried an older Pro in 146 today and it was super fast compared to my old 149 that I’m curious about this Equalizer now. How do they compare?
Hi HelYes
Thanks for your message. We never tested the Jess Kimura Pro, but have always found Capita boards to be pretty fast – and The Equalizer has an upgraded base over the old Pro, so I can’t imagine it would feel slower. But can’t say based on anything first hand, having not tested the Jess Kimura Pro.
Would it be really different from the Hel Yes? Next year’s Equalizer is going to have resort V2 profile instead of alpine V1 in 2023.
Hi HelYes
I would say the new Resort V2 Profile is closer to the Hel Yes’ camber profile vs the Alpine V1 was but whilst the camber profile is more double ender than it used to be, the board is still overall more directional than the Hel Yes. It has a directional flex pattern, is setback a little more on effective edge and the difference between nose and tail length is bigger. Plus certainly different feel between Capita and YES boards in general, so there’s certainly enough difference that it would be noticeable if you rode them one after the other. That said, they’re not world’s apart. Camber profile now very similar and flex also very similar. We tested the ’24 model and should have the review updated some time in September.
Hi Nate!
Loving these reviews and answers. Currently going a deep dive trying to purchase a new board. I learned on a 152 Gnu B Pro, then got the 145 Salomon Pillow Talk (which I’m looking to replace). I’m 5’8″ and about 72kg size 8.5 boot. I found I wasn’t getting a lot of float in the pillow talk. I recently purchased the Capita Birds of a Feather and absolutely love this board and it’s now my daily ride. I’m located in the Rockies in Canada and looking to get a board that will do better in powder but still able to ride the resort / groomed runs. I would say I’m high Intermediate dabbling in advanced. Wanting a board for those powder fields, bowls, tree runs but get back to the base of a resort on a groomer.
I was debating between the Capita Equalizer 150 and the Gnu Barrett 149.
Thanks!
Hi Alyssa
Thanks for your message.
I think both would work well for what you’re describing. Neither would likely be better than the Pillow Talk in powder size-for-size, but given you’re looking at them in longer sizes than your Pillow Talk, you should get better float in either of them. Size-wise, I would even consider the Barrett in the 152, to give you even better float, given this will be your powder day board. That won’t make it as good for tree runs, but I think for your specs, it would still work fine in trees. For the Equalizer, 154 is a possibility, but probably getting a bit long, given that you’re looking to ride trees still. But I think you’d still get a bit more float out of the 150 vs the 145 Pillow Talk.
Given that you like the BOAF so much, I would be leaning Equalizer. But if you wanted more contrast in your quiver, then the Barrett is a little more of a contrast to the BOAF. But that said, the Equalizer is still definitely a different enough board to have in the same quiver as the BOAF. Could you also let me know the size of your BOAF, to get a better idea of what your quiver would look like with one of these boards in it.
Thanks Nate! My BOAF is a 148.
Hi Alyssa
Yeah I would be leaning 152 for the Barrett. I’d still probably not go as far as 154 on the Equalizer, so I’d stick with 150 if you went with that one. I’d say you’ll get better powder performance out of the 152 Barrett vs the 150 Equalizer – and given that this is going to compliment your BOAF, I would be leaning towards that. However, the Equalizer does represent the safer bet, given how much you like your BOAF.
Thanks! What about the Salomon HPS – ANNIE BOULANGER
??
I bought the 150 Capita Equalizer and had a great day today to test it out. We got about 20-30cm of spring pow! I was definitely not floating in any pow. So I definitely want something more pow friendly
Hi Alyssa
We haven’t tested the Annie Boulanger so can’t say first hand but on paper it’s very likely to float better than the Equalizer in powder. It looks to be a more powder specific board. I recently rode the HPS Wolle Nyvelt Fish and whilst I didn’t have any real powder to test in, I had some left over pockets and could tell it would be sick in powder. It’s not the same as the Annie Boulanger but similar
Hello Nate,
I am an advanced rider, generally I’m looking for a board that I can feel comfortable going fast on a track (I want to develop my skills on black pest)
on the other hand, I also like to spend time in the park, doing little tricks( I would like to get better at bigger tricks )
I would appreciate any and all feedback😊
Currently looking at:
Capita equalizer
Nitro fate
Jones twin sister
Hi Vaya
Thanks for your message.
We haven’t tested the Fate, so can’t say from experience for that one, but I think the Equalizer and Twin Sister would would be a good bet for what you’re describing, striking a good balance between being good at speed but also something you can ride in the park. The Twin Sister is going to be a little better for riding switch and a little better in icier conditions, with the Equalizer a little better in powder, but both are really good boards and suitable for what you’re describing, IMO.
Hope this helps with your decision
Hi Nate,
Love your reviews! Looking for some input on the following:
Mostly like to ride trees but would want it to hold up in icy conditions for groomer days and steeps. I like to go fast but only if I feel my edge control is secure enough. Riding all mountain/park boards at the moment and they just aren’t holding up with some of the tougher terrain 😅
I would appreciate any and all feedback, tysm!
Currently looking at:
– Capita Equalizer
– Jones Flagship
-Jones Hovercraft
– Burton Family Tree Story Board
Hi Brittany
Thanks for your message. Please see my response to your other message on the Top 5 freeride post.
Hello Nate,
I’m looking for a soft all mountain bored for my girlfriend. We ride the east coast trees and bumps. She is an intermediate rider, 5’6″ 135ish with a 23″ stance. I got her a lady west for Christmas but the stiffness isn’t ideal for the tight trees and bumps out here. I was looking at the yes hello in 149 or 152 but the set back on board is very little. Could you recommend something?
Hi Josh
Thanks for your message.
Depends on how much softer you wanted to go.
The Equalizer could certainly work – it’s not super soft, but it’s certainly softer than the Lady West (6/10 on the Equalizer vs 7/10 on Lady West).
If you wanted to go softer than that, then the K2 Dreamsicle and Salomon Wonder would be worth checking out. Size-wise, based on height/weight specs, I wouldn’t go longer than 149 – between 146 and 149 would be what I’d look at. And given that she’s riding tight trees and bumps, I’d be erring on the smaller side. For the Equalizer, I think 146. For the other 2, 149 Dreamsicle and 148 Wonder. But if you could also let me know her boot size, that would help to confirm sizing.
Hope this helps