Slash Happy Place Snowboard Review

The Slash Happy Place manages to find that balance of being good at a lot of things, without being top tier for anything. Apart from powder, it doesn't really having any weaknesses.

In this review, I will take a look at the Happy Place as an all-mountain-freestyle snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Happy Place a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other all-mountain-freestyle snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: Slash Happy Place

Price: $649

Style: All-Mountain-Freestyle

Flex Rating: Medium-Soft (4/10)

Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (5.5/10)

Rating Score: 83.3/100

Compared to other Men’s All-Mountain-Freestyle Boards

Overview of the Happy Place’S Specs

Check out the tables for the Happy Place’s specs and available sizes.

Who is the Happy Place Most Suited To?

The Happy Place is best suited to anyone looking for a board that can do a bit of everything, with the exception of being average for powder. 

It would suit the rider who just wants one board and doesn't see a lot of powder or powder where they go rarely gets deeper than a few inches. 

But it would also make a very good compliment to a quiver. In a two-board quiver, it would likely pair with either a more powder oriented board or a soft/playful park board. A three-board-quiver would have both of those in it - or some other combination. 

Not for beginners. The previous models, I would have said it was good for beginners, but I'd recommend being at least intermediate for this board. 

TEST/REVIEW DetailS FOR THE Happy Place

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Happy Place is capable of.

Demo Info

Board: Slash Happy Place, 156cm (253mm waist width)

Date: February 14, 2024

Flex

The Happy Place felt stiffer to me than when I previously tested it. Still nothing more than medium flex, but not quite as soft/playful as I remember it. And felt stiffer than the 4/10 that Slash rate it as. 

Powder

No powder to test in on the day, but based on feel and specs, the Happy Place wouldn't be amazing in powder. It does have some rocker in the tip and tail, which will help but nothing else that would be likely to help. 

Carving

A better carver than I remember it - and not surprisingly, given the stiffer feel. It's still at its best carving slower to moderate speeds and tighter carves were better on it too, as opposed to straighter, more drawn out carves.  

Turning

Ease of Turning/Slashing: Overall it's a pretty easy board to turn, but was harder than I remember it and found it a little more effort to turn than my control board (Terrain Wrecker) - and even vs the ATV, which I also rode that day. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Again not as agile as my control board or the ATV, but was nimble enough. 

Catchiness: It's predominantly without catchiness but I could feel it a little bit in the tail at times. Again more so than the ATV, which was surprising, but the ATV does have the 3D shaping in the base now, so that may have been part of it. 

Speed

It felt better at speed than I remember it. Again, not trying to sound like a broken record, that's likely because of that slightly stiffer feel. It's certainly not limitless in the speeds it can remain stable at, but I found I could get it going pretty quick before it started to get the wobbles. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud/Chunder: It didn't get thrown around too easily, but also wasn't super stable in crud. Again, a little better than I remember it. 

Trees/Bumps: Not as agile as I remember it and not as agile as the ATV. Also not going to be great in powdered trees. But, it's not a slouch edge-to-edge or anything, so it was fine. 

Jumps

I really liked the Happy Place for jumps. Now, I'm definitely going to sound like a cracked record when I say this, but I still preferred the ATV - a board I will likely mention 100 more times in this review, but I did ride it just before I rode the HP, and it did blow me away, so I guess the HP gets it a little harsh, having to follow up after it.  

Pop: Decent total pop and decently easy to extract.  But neither total pop nor ease of extraction of that pop were as good as.... you know who!

Approach: Really good mix of stability and ease of adjustability. Neither were optimal, but both were really decent, so you could approach different types of jumps with confidence.

Landing: Nice and solid on landings and something that wouldn't destroy if you get your landing slightly wrong. 

Side-hits: Really fun for side-hits. This was what I preferred doing most on this board. 

Small jumps/Big jumps: Anything really. Probably medium to large are its forte, but any type/size of jump works with this board. I mean I didn't take it on anything huge, but it should be able to handle it, if you're an experienced, confident jumper. 

Switch

As a true twin, it naturally feels really similar whichever way you ride it, depending on your switch skill. Transitions weren't catch-free, but they were overall pretty easy. 

Spins

At first, that slightly catchy feel in the tail made spins a little challenging, particularly setting up switch. But as I got more acquainted with the board, that stopped being an issue, all be it being a little conscious of it. 

After getting through that initial period, this board was nice to spin. And had just enough ease with it that you could finish an under-rotation on the snow and wasn't prone to over-spinning after landing. 

Jibbing

Not as easy for jibbing as I remember it. Still good, but just that little more effort/technique needed for setups. 

Butters

Again, not as soft flexing as I remember it, so it took a bit more effort to initiate presses. But still fairly easy to get it pressing. And less chance of over-flexing now. Locked in nicely. Some will prefer it now for butters, others who struggle to get the nose/tail pressing, might not like it as much as the older one. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.

I moved the Happy Place to the all-mountain-freestyle category this year - where previously I'd had it in the freestyle category. This is because it improved how it felt over the mountain to me - being noticeably better at speed and when carving. 

It felt like a very playful board to me previously, with a feel that was just touching on being semi-loose. It now has a more stable feel and bordering on touching on semi-locked in. 

It's still a really fun board all-round, but is now more balanced in terms of being good at most things. It's ease of maneuverability at slow speeds, ease of pressing and ease of jibbing are all down a little, but have coincided with an increase in carving and speed ability.