Head Snowboards have had a long history of building top quality boards that come with an epic price tag, and they continue in this vein as they unveil some women’s-specific board tech – dubbed Libra architecture – that’ll help girls step their game up across the board.
When Head were looking to improve their offering for women this season, they started from scratch and focussed on the features that are most important for female riders: weight, balance and control. Get this right and you have a board that enhances progression and delivers a more supportive ride.
To this end, the men in lab coats at Head HQ took a technology from their tennis colleagues and incorporated a substance called Graphene into the board’s architecture in zones where optimising weight, strength and control is paramount. Graphene is both lightweight and extremely strong, and furthermore is able to transfer energy with minimal loss. This, blended with Head’s existing women’s board technology, makes for some next-level riding tech. Check out more about Head’s Libra Architecture
Swiss team rider Sina Candrian has been testing the new Libra tech the whole of last season, and is clearly stoked: “Libra Architecture gives you a very light but nevertheless stable board and a lot of pop – which you feel instantly when doing an Ollie, for example. The technology also makes your board more durable, so it keeps its pop longer than traditional boards.”
There are three different versions of the new Libra architecture to cater to your riding preference. If you’re all about high-octane progressive riding, Libra Board Architecture III has got your back – top-of-the-line tech and lightweight yet responsive Graphene come together in a hybrid Camba DCT shape, which delivers epic grip and premium control. For a mix of chilled fun and performance Libra Board Architecture II will be up your street – Graphene inserts in the tip and tail on a shape that combines rocker with flat camber to give a lightweight response with the floaty fun of reverse camber. If you want your ride to be all about loose jibby fun, look at Libra Board Architecture I, which uses Head’s reverse camber Rocka shape but dials up the control by adding Graphene to the tip and tail. We’ll dive in and take a closer look at the top end model that Sina uses, the Hope…
“Libra Architecture gives you a very light but nevertheless stable board and a lot of pop – which you feel instantly when doing an Ollie, for example. The technology also makes your board more durable, so it keeps its pop longer than traditional boards.” – Sina Candrian
HEAD SNOWBOARDS – HOPE
€399.95
The HOPE is Head’s top-of-the-line women’s board and carries the brand new Libra Board Architecture III. Designed specifically with Sina in mind this is – as you’d expect of a board designed for a girl who throws front 10s off megabooters – a performance powerhouse. “My board, the Hope, is for women a rather stiff board,” Sina explains. “Between the bindings it is stiffer, the nose and tail are a little softer, which provides enough power for every girl to do proper nose- or tailslides. I just love to have one board for everything, I can hit deep powder, rails, ride the pipe and, of course, jump kickers with that board. You can use it pretty much everywhere and will always have fun – it is an all-terrain-board.”
A lightweight layer of 2D material has been added to the centre of the Hybrid Camba DCT to further boost edge hold and control of this top end combined camber profile. As well as the Libra tech, this directional twin also boasts a high-performance sintered base. Sina wraps it up: “In my opinion, you really notice that Libra boards are tougher than conventional board constructions. They don’t lose their original characteristics after a few heavy crashes in the park, they just stay stiff and are not getting any softer.”
Get more info on the Head Hope board, and snag yourself one if you’re a girl who likes to charge. For now, though, check Sina and the rest of the Head chicas tearing up Laax on their Libra Architecture steeds in this edit…