Hovland Buckshot Snowskate review

Hovland Buckshot Complete Snowskate 2017 Review:

Hovland Buckshot Snowskate

Snowskate Review: Hovland Buckshot Snowskate
Rider specs: 5’9″ weight: 175lbs boot/shoe size: 9.5 U.S. Deck size: Large (size 9 shoe U.S. or larger)
Intended Use: All Mountain Snowskate at your local mountain or anywhere you can shred snow!

Recommended for:
Anyone looking for an all mountain snowskate that will tackle powder, groomers, chop and park! The Buckshot snowskate can handle the entire mountain.

Product Details (Hovland):
Buckshot is a killer all-mountain shredstick that can handle anything your resort throws at you. The sub deck has a wide waist for max stability and the really wide nose gets it up and over deeper snow. The top deck is coffin-shaped to give your feet extra space to work with on the nose and tail. And, it comes with strong low-pivoting trucks that flexes your sub deck perfectly when carving.

Details From Hovland:
Key Features of Hovland Buckshot Snowskate:
126cm Sub Deck: ABS sidewall construction, poplar core, fully wrapped edges & five insert setup options
7-Ply Hard Maple Top Deck: High concave, steep nose and tail, closed cell EVA foam grip, a leash hole and three setup options
2″ Low-Pivoting Trucks
6′ Nylon Coil Leash Included

Review Date: March – May 2017 in Colorado

Review:

Riding the Hovland Buckshot is my first endeavor into Snowskating, and it’s been a blast. We met the Hovland crew, Dan and Ryan, at S.I.A. in 2016 and really liked their enthusiasm and product line. Hovland has snowskates that fit the needs for any terrain; powder, all mountain and park. I was informed the longer 126cm Sub Deck(ski) was the way to go for riding everywhere so the Buckshot fit the bill! I was lucky enough to have Shawn give me some tips on my first run at Keystone Resort, and after about halfway down the top of Keystone, I was able to link turns without falling everywhere. It was so much fun on intermediate runs and a different feeling standing sideways on snow and not being strapped in! After a few runs, I was hooked, snowskating is a lot of fun and a good way to mix in a day of snowboarding with snowskating on the mountain. You don’t have to know how to snowboard or skateboard to snowskate (it helps) but snowskating truly can be picked up by anyone who wants to get out there and try it!

The first thing I noticed is my feet positioning and balance, the top sheet with EVA foam grip works great on the Buckshot and has full traction when wearing snowboard boots or hiking boots and it has held up very well. The EVA foam keeps you locked in when you’re initiating turns, it does provide a little extra cushion as well. The trucks on the Hovland Buckshot provide great feel and flex when carving and for ollies. Hovland really did a great job with their low-pivoting trucks on the Buckshot and for all their snowskates. I have a size 9.5 shoe so the large coffin shaped top deck worked out great. I felt like I had the right amount of width when wearing snowboard boots or shoes on the large top deck,, if you have size 9 foot or smaller Hovland provides a small top deck option. The longer 126cm Sub Deck is a great choice for riding all over the mountain as it handles slush, powder, chop, and groomers with ease. There are different options for centering the sub deck so you have less nose and more tail (or vice versa), for my riding (all-mountain) the standard set up worked great. The longer and wider sub deck works well for cutting through all types of snow conditions and even helped me get on my first rail features with ease. Once I found my balance points and got comfortable I found the sub deck initiates turns easily and the Buckshot was very responsive when carving. I felt completely stable and this snowskate plows through anything in its way. Powder is fun too, just like snowboarding, apply just a little pressure on the back foot and the nose of the sub deck pops right up, super fun! I recently tried the Ram snowskate from Hovland also, their shorter sub deck option for comparison to the Buckshot, and it’s fun as well. Right now for versatility and my level of snowkskating, I prefer the Buckshot but that’s only personal preference.

Conclusion: My overall impressions of the Hovland Buckshot snowskate is that it rips, if you’re looking to try something different on snow this is a great choice as the Buckshot will provide the stability you need when learning and then will allow you to ride all over the mountain from pow to park with ease as you progress. It’s configurable so you can change the sub deck for the riding you want, and the sub decks are all interchangeable on Hovland Snowskates so you can always purchase a different length sub deck if you want. Snowskating is a lot of fun and I hope to see more riders giving it a shot. I ran into a spry young 52 year old, Roy, at A-Basin who had just started snowskating this year as well ( you can see him in some of the video) Roy is a true testament that “Age is just a number” he rips and it was awesome to take some runs with him. Give snowskating a try, and try the Buckshot if you can it’s a great snowskate!