Salomon Dancehaul Snowboard Review

Hello and welcome to my Salomon Dancehaul snowboard review.

In this review, I will take a look at the Dancehaul as a mellow freeride snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Dancehaul a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other mellow freeride snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: Salomon Dancehaul

Price: $499

Style: Mellow Freeride

Flex Rating: Medium

Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (6/10)

Rating Score: 87.1/100

Compared to other Men’s Mellow Freeride Boards.

Of the 30 current model mellow freeride snowboards that we tested:

❄️ The Dancehaul ranked 10th= out of 30

Who is the Dancehaul Most Suited To?

The Dancehaul is best suited to someone who wants a volume shifted board that they can ride in a shorter length and use it predominantly for slower speed freeriding. Don't get me wrong it can handle a certain amount of speed, but not a hardcore bomber or anything. Particularly well suited if you like to ride trees and even better if you like to ride them in powder. 

Not for beginner, but still fairly mellow and easy going, so should be fine for intermediate riders. And for advanced riders who want a mellow short/wide predominantly for slashing around groomers and hunting tree lines. 

The Dancehaul in More Detail

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 550mm (21.7″)

Stance Setback: Centered

Width at front insert: 278mm (10.95")

Width at back insert: 272mm (10.71")

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 180lbs

Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Response ADV

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M

Control Board for Control Laps: Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker 

Weight: 2900grams (6lbs 6oz)

Weight per cm: 19.08 grams/cm

Average Weight per cm: 18.71 grams/cm*

*based on a sample size of around 250 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 models. The Dancehaul  was a little heavier than average on the scales, though because it's volume shifted, the actual weight per surface area would likely be lighter than average, if I had the info to make that calculation. And on snow it felt normal in terms of weight.  

Powder

Felt really good in the powder we had. And the specs suggest it should be able to handle deeper powder well too. It's got a good amount of taper (12mm), a directional shape and a reasonable amount of rocker in the profile. While it's not setback on effective edge, the nose is quite a bit longer than the tail, so setback quite a bit over the total length of the board. 

Carving

The Dancehaul was decent on a carve, but nothing too epic. It could hold on at moderate speeds, but started to feel washy when trying to do more aggressive higher speed carves. 

Turning

Ease of Turning/Slashing: Pretty easy to initiate turns on and to slash out the tail. Not too much effort required. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: It was pretty nimble when doing tight turns at slower speeds.  

Catchiness: At slower speeds very little catchiness in there. I wouldn't say it was the most uncatchy board ever, but overall not catchy at slower speeds. Felt a little more catch prone at faster speeds (some boards are the opposite).

Speed

It's relatively fast overall, but it's not lightning. In terms of stability at speed, it's good up to moderately high speeds, but then it starts to get squirrelly and chattery. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud/Chunder: It didn't get annihilated by chop/crud or anything, it did OK. But it wasn't unmovable in it either. Felt the chatter a bit and could get thrown about in more chopped up areas. 

Trees/Bumps: Felt really good in trees and in moguls. Being a shorter board helped and having decent edge-to-edge quickness also helped. And when you're in there in the powder it also floats well too. 

Jumps

Can feel a bit sketchy on landings and approaches when you need more speed. Overall it was OK but not the first board I'd choose if I was planning to spend my day predominantly jumping. 

Pop: It's pop was nice and easy to access, but there wasn't a huge amount of total pop. 

Approach: Was pretty easy to make necessary adjustments and did well when fitting into tighter approaches, but for faster approaches started getting squirrelly. 

Landing: Not super stable on landings. This isn't helped that it was a 152, even with it's extra width. Was fine for landing off smaller jumps and side-hits, but not as good for bigger landings. 

Side-hits: Not ideal, but still really fun. Pop is easy access and its got good maneuverability. 

Small jumps/Big Jumps: Best for small to medium jumps, IMO. 

Switch

Transitions were fine and was OK to ride switch but felt a little weird, particularly for landings off 180s. 

Spins

It was pretty easy to get the spin around, with the length of it. But setups (partly because of the extra width) and landings weren't ideal, particularly when doing 180s (or 540s etc) when having to setup and land switch. 

Butters

The tip and tail both press fairly easily and while they certainly don't feel exactly the same the tip and tail don't feel as different to press as a lot of other directional/freeride boards. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Overall, the Dancehaul  is a fun little board that gives a short length for helping to weave between tight spaces. It floats well in powder and is fun to slash around.

It's not ideal for jumps or riding switch but it's doable, particularly for straight airs and side-hits. 

Not one for bombing as fast as you can or aggressive carves, but can handle moderately high-speeds and moderately aggressive carves.