Hello and welcome to my GNU Barrett review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Barrett as a freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Barrett a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other women's freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: GNU Barrett
Price: $599
Style: Freeride
Flex Rating: Medium-Firm
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium-Stiff (6.5/10)
Rating Score: 87.8/100
Compared to other Women’s Freeride Boards
Out of the 22 women’s freeride snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Barrett’ Specs
Check out the tables for the Barrett’ specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freeride |
Price: | $599 - BUYING OPTIONS |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Smooth/Snappy: |  |
Dampness: |  |
Playful/Aggressive: |  |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Hybrid Rocker but camber dominant - GNU's "C3 Camber" |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Setback 38mm (1.5") |
Base: | Sintered (Sintered Knife Cut) |
Weight: | Felt Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
146 | 241 | 70-160 | 32-73 |
149 | 243 | 80-170 | 36-77 |
152 | 245 | 90-190 | 41-86 |
155 | 248 | 100-220 | 45-100 |
Who is the Barrett Most Suited To?
The Barrett is best suited to someone looking for a directional board that excels for carving and speed and is good in powder, but at the same time being quite versatile - a freeride board bordering on all-mountain. And for anyone looking for a freeride board that's good at jumps, this is definitely worth checking out.
And also versatile in the sense, that whilst you can ride it quite aggressively, it also comes with an element of forgiveness, meaning you don't have to be going full throttle all the time.
Not for the beginner, but well suited to a solid intermediate rider and all the way up to an expert rider.
The Barrett in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Barrett is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: GNU Barrett 2022, 149cm (243mm waist width)
Date: March 3, 2021
Conditions: Temp 0°C (32°F) but -6°C (21°F) with wind and that wind was quite chilly but not overly strong - 10kph (6mph)
Overcast but 90% visibility
24 snow: 0cm (0")
7 day snow: 24cm (9")
On groomer: Soft on top. Not slushy but kind of like when it's slushy but the snow wasn't wet. It's like it was ice overnight but softened up.
Off groomer: Very hard/crunchy.
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 480mm (19″)
Stance Setback: Setback 38mm (1.5")
Width at Inserts: 249mm (9.80") at front insert and 251mm (9.88") at back insert*
Weight: 2650g (5lbs, 13oz)
Weight per cm: 17.79g/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 Barrett is a little heavier than normal but Jade found it to feel normal when riding.
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
Powder
Jade didn't get any powder to test the board in, but based on specs, it should be really decent in powder
About the only thing that's not powder friendly, is the camber dominant profile. But it's got a good setback stance on it - the nose is a good bit longer than the tail and there's some taper there too (all be it subtle taper).
Carving & Turning
Carving: Very good on a carve and this is where that camber dominant profile helps out - that plus the stiffer than average flex and magnetraction for grip in hard/icy snow, which we certainly encountered on the day.
Turning: The Barrett achieved a nice balance between being good on a higher speed, wide carve and being easy enough to turn more casually.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: It's not ultra nimble at slow speeds. Overall is more at home at higher speeds, but is better at sharp turns at slower speeds than you'd think for how good it is at speed.
Skidded Turns: Not super catchy or anything, but also not ultra forgiving of a skidded turn.
Speed
The Barrett felt nice and fast - and more importantly felt stable at speed too. It had good glide to keep it moving when hitting those flat spots or slight up hills.
Uneven Terrain
Crud: Was able to handle crud well. When committing, it could smash through well. Didn't really get bucked around too much, but when it did it was pretty good for correcting.
Bumps: Was pretty quick edge to edge when weaving through bumps and was able to hug the bumps pretty well too, when going over. The conditions were pretty rough for going into the trees on the day, so didn't spend a lot of time in there - but even in those conditions, you could feel it handle bumpy terrain well - and in the small mogully section we took it through.
Jumps
Overall a great board to jump with, with great pop. For a freeride board, it was right up there. Jade had heaps of fun jumping with this board and was surprised by the pop.
Pop: Really good pop. And easy to access with even more lurking when you wind it up.
Approach: Nice and stable on the approach, but also with enough forgiveness and maneuverability to speed check and setup comfortably.
Landing: Good and solid on landings, but at the same time not unforgiving of errors. A nice balance of being able to stomp, but something that won't destroy you when you get it a little wrong.
Side-hits: The combination of pop, good maneuverability for trickier approaches and the forgiveness for less than perfect landings, the Barrett performed better than expected on side hits.
Small jumps/Big jumps: Fine for all types of jumps, but medium to large are the sweet spots for this board.
Switch
Despite being quite directional, it handled riding switch well. Jade didn't feel like she was going to catch an edge, like with some other boards riding switch, and it didn't feel too weird going in the other direction. Definitely not ideally suited to riding switch but doable.
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 | 4.0 | 12/15 |
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 | 87.8/100 |
Overall, the Barrett is a nice versatile freeride bordering on all-mountain board.
At the same time as handling it's freeride duties well, it can also take you on side hits and even through the park and handle itself really well.
For those who want that directional freeride kind of feel, but still want to hit side hits and even the occasional park lap, the Barrett should be considered - and for the type of board it is, it's even pretty gentle on the wallet.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Barrett, 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 Barrett to other freeride snowboards, then check out the next link.
This board is the best thing that’s happened to me. I went from being tossed around PNW chunder; super snow on cat tracks; and cautious in the trees. This board charges! I can hold high speeds with confidence! It chops through crud and tracked out runs, and rides like a DREAM in powder and trees. I took this catboarding at Baldface and had the best time ever. I convinced several other women to demo this board at BF, and they all are now considering adding it to their collection. If you are an intermediate rider and want to take your skills to the next level, this board and some stiff boots will rocket you into space 🤍 Plus, Christy is the sweetest human ever and how could you not support a female pro board! 20/10 recommend.
Hey Gabrielle
Thanks for sharing your insights and your passion for this board!
Hi Nate,
I have trouble deciding which splitboard will be my next ride,
I’ve started backcountry 6 years ago with a 147 Burton family three anti social, that I found heavy and a little soft in terms of response now…I have to say that I’m way more confident, solid and aggressive then I was… I’m looking for a durable, light splitboard with a surfy feel in powder and stable, aggressive board for carving and holding different terrain (I Know I’m asking a lot 🙂 !!) I’ve tried demo’s (in resort) : the Gnu lady’s choice (and really dig the magna traction), also tried the orca 153 (and really enjoy the stiff quick response, even I thought it was big and heavy for my size, I’m 5,3″, 145lbs (I use to be a trapeze artist, so “less” but “still” more athletique kinda shape !).
I’m considering the Barret split, The lib tech orca split or BRD split, the Kemper fantom split, Jones Solution women split, the never summer lady FR split, and arbor Satori split…
Would you have any recommendations, comments concerning those or a better fit in mind?
Thank you so much !
Hi Heloise
Thanks for your message.
I have no experience with Kemper boards, so I can’t comment on the Fantom. Have also never ridden the Satori Camber, but could guess at it based on other Arbor boards. I’m not sure there’s a good size for it for you though, with the 151 being really quite wide. But would need your boot size to confirm.
For the others in terms of sizing, if you could let me know your boot size too, that would be great.
I would put your “standard all-mountain size” at around 148. For these types of boards you can go a little longer, but I wouldn’t go to 151 unless it was in a good width for your foot size.
Given that you’ve tried the Ladies Choice and Orca and liked them, I would be leaning towards the Barret, BRD or Orca. But Solution and Lady FR could work too. The Satori Camber looks like it wouldn’t be much, if any stiffer than your Anti-Social, but the rest there would give you a bit more stiffness and enable you to ride more aggressively.
But yeah if you could let me know your boot size and then can look at sizing more closely – and depending on sizes for each, there might be some that stand out as having better sizing, which can sometimes be a good tie breaker.
Hope this helps