Salomon Super 8 Review: Freeride Snowboard Review

Who is the Super 8 Most Suited To?

The Super is great for anyone looking for a decent freeride board at a really good price. Compared to the average freeride board, the Super 8 is considerably more affordable. 

And it carves well, floats well in powder and is all round a solid performer. 

Certainly not for a beginner - and even a little beyond an intermediate rider - high level intermediate doable - a more advanced level board but for a friendlier price.   Not for any kind of playful freestyle riding either. 

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 560mm (22″)

Stance Setback: Setback 15mm

Width at Inserts: 270mm (10.63") at front insert and 269mm (10.59")  

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 185lbs

Rider Boot Size: US10 Vans Aura

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M 

Weight: 2800g (according to Salomon - I didn't get a chance to weight this board)

Weight per cm: 17.83 grams/cm

Average Weight per cm: 18.45 grams/cm*

*based on a small sample size of 51 boards that I've weighed in 2019 and 2020 models. The super 8 is quite light, especially given that it's a little wider. That said, it didn't feel overly light on snow. Felt just on the heavier side of normal. 

Powder

This board floats really well in powder. It's not a powder destroyer but it felt at home in powder. Going off-groomer into tracked powder and the occasional fresh pocket, it actually felt more nimble than it did on groomers. 

No big surprises for how it performed in powder, given that it's got a tapered directional shape, a directional camber profile and 15mm of setback on effective edge. Whilst that's not a huge setback, the nose is also considerably longer than the tail (265mm nose vs 215mm tail on the 157), giving it a reasonable amount of nose to tail setback, which helps in powder.

Carving & Turning

Carving: Really liked to carve. Was definitely it's preferred method of turning and when it felt best on groomers. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Not hugely maneuverable at slower speeds - not a sloth but not super quick edge-to-edge either. Somehow felt more agile in powder at slower speeds than on groomers. 

Overall edge-to-edge speeds: Felt better and quicker edge-to-edge at faster speeds - definitely preferred to turn at speed

Skidded Turns: Could feel a little catchy when you got off your game and tried to skid a turn. Not hugely but not the best for skidded turns either. 

Speed

Felt stable at speed and never really felt like it was going to wash out or anything. Definitely livened up in the turning stakes when riding it faster. 

Was a little chattery when getting up good speeds in cruddy snow, but otherwise was a good board for speed. 

Uneven Terrain

As above, it got a little chattery at higher speeds in crud. But overall it was pretty good in uneven terrain - especially when there was softer snow on that uneven terrain. 

Let’s Break up this text with a Video

Jumps

Wasn't the best overall for jumps. Good stable landing and whilst there was some pop in there, but you had to really wind it up to extract it. Decent for jumps off lips etc, but overall not really a jumping board, IMO. 

Pop: There was some pop in there but it wasn't that easily accessible. For ollies, it took a lot of effort and just felt a bit heavy to pop. 

Approach: Really stable and that helps for larger jumps, but not overly nimble for trickier approaches. 

Landing: Really solid on a landing. So when you're looking to do straight airs in the backcountry, this is the best jumping quality for this board. 

Side-hits: Not nimble enough for my tastes for trickier approaches and the pop just took a bit too much effort. For easily accessible hits in the open it's fine though. Not a great spinner, so that takes off some side-hit cred too. 

Small jumps: OK but not great. 

Big jumps: More suited to big straight air than small jumps or spins. 

Switch

Not hugely setback on effective edge but that taper (all be it not massive) combined with that setback and the directional camber profile (camber back to the tail and flat section on the nose) combine to make it feel a little weird to ride, land or take off switch. 

Spins

Felt like it took some effort to get a spin around, pop wasn't that accessible for trying to get a quick spin off minimal air time, and landing and taking off switch wasn't the best. So not really a spinner in my books - and felt that way in practice too. 

Jibbing

Nah- but not what it's designed for either. 

Butters

There was some butterability there, not completely rigid but not overly buttery either. 

Overall, the Super 8 isn't a top of the line freeride machine, but it's a solid performer and performs well where you want it most for freeride boards. And if your wallet is thin, then this is a live saver, if you're looking for a freeride board. 

With the Super 9, you can get a freeride board for less than the price of an average all-mountain board - and that's pretty rare - in fact it's a crazy $136 cheaper than the average freeride board (based on 2019 prices of the freeride boards that I rated - will update when I have all the info for 2020 boards).