Cardiff Snowcraft Swell - Old Guys Rip Too™

Snowboard and Rider Specs:

Swell Size: 160cm
Price: $750
Bindings: Union Falcor
Boots: Vans Infuse, 11.5
Stance: 22.5″ +15 Front & -15 back
Rider Height: 6’0″
Rider Weight: 195

Conditions/Terrain Tested: groomers, powder, chop

Product detail:

HALFcamber
FLOATilla
PERFCTpivot
RADIcAL SIDECUT
NOVERhang
UNIwall
bcDNA
GROOMtune
SWALEtail
biLOBA
RACEbase
SPEEDbumbs

About Cardiff Snowcraft

Cardiff Snowcraft is named after the Cardiff Fork in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Sam Bawden, the owner/shaper behind Cardiff has been in the R&D phase for several years. As the awards started to pile up, the line expanded and the team grew. The current Cardiff Team is comprised of Sam Bawden, Bjorn Leines, Neil Provo, Justin Morgan, and Maxwell Morrill. Their boards come in splits and solids, designed for the backcountry but rip the resort as well.

Review

The Cardiff Snowcraft Swell was one of my favorite boards I rode in 2019. The Swell is a really unique board with an unmistakably fun shape that is still extremely functional. The Swell uses Cardiff’s HALFcamber technology. This places camber where it’s necessary and then uses a gradual rocker everywhere else. The Cardiff Swell features a big surfy nose and Cardiff’s FLOATilla tech, which places more surface underfoot and gradual rocker in the nose. With 30 millimeters of taper from nose to tail, the Swell has great float. I was fortunate enough to get the Swell out in some powder. It completely excelled here and was really surfy and responsive.

I wear a size 11.5 boot so sometimes toe drag can be an issue for me. The Swell has what Cardiff calls NOVERhang, a wider waist (265mm) to accommodate large boots.

The Cardiff Snowcraft bases feature a black graphite infused sintered base and their solids use their GROOMtune technology, backcounty inspired but resort tuned. The day I rode the Swell was a mixed bag of conditions and the board felt very fast everywhere I took it.

Cardiff’s boards also feature DURATHENE UNIwall, seamless urethane sidewalls and SHRedges 2.0, sharpened and beveled 2.0mm Hardened Rockwell 48 steel edges.

The Swell tail has wings that pull the contact edge away from the snow, which allows for quick turns on steep lines. The pin shape tail is very functional when riding in the back seat. All of this put together made for a really responsive, surfy ride. I was able to take the Swell out in powder, chop, and on groomers for a full test. I really enjoyed this board in all conditions.

The top sheet is absolutely gorgeous. Cardiff uses a clear laminate to show the unique construction on their boards. Their boards use a combination of vertical and horizontal inlaid cores to provide lateral or bilateral torsion where needed. The graphics are tasteful and subtle.

Overall Impressions

The Cardiff Swell is backcountry inspired but will charge hard at anything a resort could throw at you. It was incredibly surfy and very responsive. I love the shape of this board as it is incredibly fast and nimble.