Snowboard and Rider Specs
Price: $499
Bindings: Arbor Hemlock
Boots: Vans Infuse
Stance: 22.5″ +15 Front & -15 back
Rider Height: 6’0″
Rider Weight: 195
Conditions/Terrain Tested: groomers, powder, chop
Product detail:
- Hand Dyed Ash
Powerply - Bio-Plastic Topsheet
- FSC Certified Double Barrel II Core
- Sintered CrossLink Base
- Mixed Glassing
- 2cm Taper
- Pow Tech
- Pow Fenders
- A 360 degree, fully wrapped sidewall
- Recycled Steel Edges
- Entropy Bio Resin
- Three Year Warranty
About Arbor Snowboards:
Arbor launched their brand in 1995. They started as a snowboard company and added skateboards a few years later. They’ve stayed true to their roots, making high quality, handmade, environmentally friendly snowboards.
Cask Review
The Arbor Cask is a short, wide, directional board designed for charging powder. Loaded with technology and design elements, I found it handled most conditions with ease.
I was fortunate enough to get the Cask out on several powder days at Grand Targhee Resort. It’s powder specific design focuses on board-to-snow contact points and reduces contact in areas crucial for edge-to-edge transitions. The Cask features Arbor’s Camber System, which is built on parabolic camber, grip tech and uprise fenders. Parabolic camber reduces the amount of camber in the tip and tail, leaving the camber underfoot. This helps the contact points not dig into the snow too deep and help create a less catchy ride that responds edge-to-edge. The Grip-Tech provides added contact points underfoot for additional control and makes turning easier and more natural. The uprise fenders lift the outside contact points 3 degrees off the snow to provide some extra float and easier turn initiation.
The Cask’s core is Arbor’s Double Barrel Core, a poplar to paulownia blend with bamboo stringers running down the center of the board for added longitudinal pop and board control.
The Cask and all of Arbor’s line are environmentally friendly. New for their 2020 line is Entropy Bio Resin, a replacement for traditional petroleum based resin that doesn’t affect performance or usability. The ingredients that go into Entropy Bio-Resin are sourced as co-products or waste products of other industrial processes and are manufactured employing green chemistry techniques that reduce the carbon footprint of the material by up to 40% (when compared to its petroleum based equivalent). The Cask also features a Bio-Plastic Topsheet, an eco-friendly top sheet made from Castor Bean Oil, which is extremely durable and water repellant.
The width (32.32 tip / 27.2 waist / 30.38 tail) of the cask allows for the smaller size. I found the cask to be really light and easy to control and it really felt like riding a skateboard. Its big nose with the uprise fenders allowed for great float and the short tail really allows you to kick the board around in tight spots. Arbor has the board flex rated at an 8 but it felt a bit softer to me, maybe more like a 6. The Grip Tech really helped the Cask be stable and responsive on groomers and ice underneath
This board is similar to the Arbor Terrapin but a bit more all-mountain friendly, camber instead of rocker and not as wide.
Summary
The Arbor Cask is a terrific intermediate to
Pros:
- Distinctive top sheet
- Grip Tech sidecut
- Excellent float
- Easy to
manuver in tight spots
Cons:
- none
| Price: |  (4.5 / 5) |
| Performance: |  (4.8 / 5) |
| Design: | (4.8 / 5) |
| Overall: |  (4.7 / 5) |