Stranda Workbook 23/24

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

2023 will mark 20 years of my exploration and development of shapes for surfing the snow. That’s when I met fellow snowsurfers in Aspen, C.O and started to read the mountain like a continous wave. Looking for banks and rollers and turning on them, flowing, being in tune with the terrain. Powder or cord, it doesn’t matter. My stoke is still as high then as now. But from being looked on as a kook when carving the tide has turned litterally. Standing in the Stranda tent at a test event recently I could see riders doing surfy carves. Just a few years back this was a rare occasion, but thanks to the Japanese snowsurf movement the “windshield wiper style” of scraping snow is slowly dissapearing. But let’s return to my moment of epihany 20 years ago.

In Aspen there was this micro cosmos of snowsurfing already in mid 90s, which at the time was totally overlooked except by Kurt Hoy, then editor of Snowboard Life. The stylists that the japanese snowsurfers where emulating called it surfstyle carving. Surf champs like Mike Doyle, Joe Cabell, Nat Young and occasionally Gerry Lopez, who even moved to Oregon to snowboard, joined in with southern Cali transplant Cliff Ahumada and his Aspen Expression Sessions. Doing hundreds of bottom turns on their carving snowboards “Surfing the snow”. This movement inspired me to shape boards for this kind of riding “Surfboards for snow”.

This is the past, the present and the future of Stranda. A chance meeting in the liftline 20 years ago where my starting point of this contious journey on so many levels. The older I get the less aggro there is. I wanna flow like water on the mountains, not “killing the hill”.

Last season was super productive as I developed 2 shortboards - the volumeshifted Biru and the japan inspired Makrill. The Biru is targeting a big group of Stranda riders who’s on our splits but missing a shape like this as a daily driver. The Biru is truly a one board quiver.

Where the Makrill’s heading is self explanatory... A fast, fat fish is bound for deep powder when it’s not hanging on the wall of your living room spreading good vibes with it’s sinous shape and highgloss wood veneer. When you read this I will be on the road with demos and prototypes in search of powder and good groomers - as always...

See ya out there!

Mats Drougge

Kaunertal glacier, austria, november 2022.

Elevation 277o meters above sea level. Probably the highest parking lot in Europe.

23/24

MAKRILL

This is a board you will ride in the trees during a big storm or on any day when in Hokkaido. A fast little powder ripper.

TERRAIN: Powder SHAPE: Directional Surf BOTTOM: Low camber, long tip/tail rocker TOPSHEET: Bamboo

DESCender

A confidence building shape for charging big lines and steep chutes. Still nimble enough to allow for you to play.

TERRAIN: Free/All-M. SHAPE: Dir. freeride BOTTOM: Parabolic camber with early rise TOPSHEET: TPU Matte

BIRU

A one board quiver for advanced snowboarder’s looking for a board that can take over the whole mountain.

TERRAIN: Powder, groomers, park SHAPE: Volume shift BOTTOM: Full camber TOPSHEET: TPU matte

NEW

Shorty

A killer board for any kind of conditions, powriding or groomers. Flex and sidecut tailored for hard shredding.

TERRAIN: Free/Carve SHAPE: Directional Surf BOTTOM: Low camber, long tip/tail rocker

TOPSHEET: Bamboo

Bowlrider

Perfect for side hits, deep carves and top of lip slashes. Bowlrider is a do-it-all-daily-driver kind of board.

TERRAIN: Free/Carve SHAPE: Directional Surf BOTTOM: Low camber, long tip/tail rocker TOPSHEET: Bamboo

TREE SURFER

Sharing basic shape of Bowlrider plus a fishtail means otherworldly riding qualities in powder. This board is business!

TERRAIN: Free/Carve SHAPE: Surf Fish BOTTOM: Low camber, long tip/tail rocker TOPSHEET: Bamboo

Cheater

An unbelievable good carver that also handles powder. Available in a 275 mm X-wide version. No booting out!

TERRAIN: Carving/All-M SHAPE: Directional BOTTOM: Camber with early rise. TOPSHEET: Bamboo

SPLIT SPLIT

Descender B.C

Split version of the Descender. Lighter than many carbon splits. Stable on the uphill, floaty and fast on the descent.

TERRAIN: Freeride SHAPE: Dir. freeride BOTTOM: Parabolic camber with early rise TOPSHEET: Plantbased

SPLIT

Shorty B.C

Split version of the Shorty. Comes with aluminium tip and tail protectors. Pre cut skins to order.

TERRAIN: Freeride SHAPE: Surfsplit BOTTOM: Low camber, long tip/tail rocker. TOPSHEET: Plantbased

FJÄDERLÄTT

One of the lightest splitboards on the market. Damp and stable due to double aluminum stringers.

TERRAIN: Freeride SHAPE: Dir. freeride BOTTOM: Parabolic camber with early rise TOPSHEET: TPU

SPLIT

Tree Surfer B.C

Split version of the Tree Surfer. Comes with aluminium tip and tail protectors. Pre cut skins to order.

TERRAIN: Freeride SHAPE: Surfsplit BOTTOM: Low camber, long tip/tail rocker TOPSHEET: Plantbased

BIRU - A ONE BOARD QUIVER

The Biru. A one board quiver for advanced snowboarder’s looking for a board that can take over the whole mountain. As it’s a volume shifted shape with a 27 cm waist riders should size down 4-5 centimeters. Floaty in powder with it’s long nose and small fish tail. Full camber for maximum pop and send with a tiny bit early rise. Aggressive turned up tail kick for switch landings without consequences. Edge tech for secure grip - we added three PowerBumps® for handling those freeze melt periods. Of course we use a sintered race base. Core is our proven poplar, paulownia and ash mix. So what’s in the name? Biru means devil in Sámi language.

TECH

Ingredients: Half width paulownia mixed with full length poplar and ash stringers. A lightweight and snappy core with carbon V under core with carbon X on top for snap. Bottom shape: Full camber camber, powder nose with a radical tail kick. Base: Sintered Durasurf 4001. Area (dm2): 43,9 for 154 Lengths: 154, 157

THE MAKRILL

Inspired by the mackerel, one of the fastest fish in the North Atlantic. This is our purest powdershape so far.

A GREEN POWDER MACHINE

Say hi to the Makrill (mackerel in english), a Japan inspired floaty, fast turning little powder ripper. This is a board you will ride in the trees during a big storm or on any day when in Hokkaido. It will also look awesome on any wall between the powder swells with it’s hi-gloss bamboo topsheet and matching green PU sidewalls. To celebrate the Japanese heritage we’re using bamboo stringers instead of ash to beef up it’s pure poplar core. Makrill is pressed on our tried and proven rocker/camber/rocker profile. There’s a sweet little camber section to keep you on edge if you by any chance would hit hard pack. We also added PowerBumps™ at inserts for extra safety on those treacherous spring sessions when you have to navigate gnar due to freeze/melt cycles. Volume shifted, size down 6-8 cm.

TECH Ingredients: Poplar with bamboo stringers in a triax glass layup. Carbon stringers. PU sidewalls. Bottom shape: Low short camber with long rocker curves in tip and tail. Base: Sintered Durasurf 4001. Sidecut: Progressive. Topsheet: Bamboo. 9 layers of high gloss waterbased lacquer. Area (dm2): 40,8 Length: 153

SHORTY - THE EVOLUTION

The Shorty is our original surf shape. It’s well known for being as fun on the groomers as in the backcountry. This season we’re updating the topsheet design. The technincal improvements we did last season - double aluminum stringers in the nose and PU-sidewalls for an even damper ride on hardpack made is still there. This is a real riders board with its bulletproof construction and timeless design language.

TECH

Ingredients: Core 65% ash hard wood mixed with 35% lightweight poplar in a triax glass layup. Aluminum dampers in the rocker. Carbon torsion rods for torsional rigidity. PU sidewalls adding dampness. Bottom shape: Low short center camber with long progressive rocker curves in tip and tail. Base: Sintered Durasurf 4001. Sidecut: Multiradial sidecut with surf-reverse in nose. Topsheet: Bamboo veneer covered with 9 layers of high gloss waterbased lacquer. Lengths: Women’s 153, 159, Men’s 159, 164 , 164 wide, 169.

OUTLINE

Short diamond tail with a long nose means perfect balance in powder.

BOTTOM SHAPE

Low short center 4 mm camber with long progressive rocker curves in tip and tail.

WE LOVE GROOMERS!

Lars horstmann, our canadian sales rep laying it over on a Cheater 170 wide.

photo: Vince mo

THE CARVE-FATHER

“This board is so easy to carve that it’s just like cheating...”, someone blurted in the chair lift when we prototyped this board. We all laughted and agreed, the name Cheater was set. And with carving we mean full on laid out trench diggin euro carves in the steeps. The Cheater LOVES groomers and eats hardpack with it’s abundance of edghold. We’ve tailored the sidecut for a blisteringly fast response to any rider input. This is a precise and highly manoeuvrable board for carving and occational powder riding. If you hate skidding, this is the board for you!

TECH

Ingredients: Core 65% ash hard wood mixed with 35% lightweight poplar in a triax glass layup. Carbon torsion rods for torsional rigidity. Bottom shape: Classic camber with early rise. Base: Sintered Durasurf 4001. Sidecut: Degressive. Topsheet: Bamboo veneer covered with 9 layers of high gloss waterbased lacquer. Lengths: 170, 170 Wide, 177.

OUTLINE

Blunt nose with half moon tail. Degressive sidecut.

MASTERING

The awards keep on coming for our

MASTERING THE SPLITS

DESCENDER BACKCOUNTRY

We launched this shape in 2020 and it fast became the go to splitboard for advanced riders. With a weight compared to the most sold carbon split on the market, paired with the unlimited performance it has become our best selling model.

“No matter what kind of mission you have in mind, the Descender is a great choice thanks to its excellent performance; a solid board in all kinds of terrain and snow conditions. Its agility and precision when steering the board on the edge is surprising... ...An excellent option for those looking to minimize their quiver with a distinctly all-mountain splitboard.”

Splitboard Magazine

TECH Ingredients: Paulownia mixed with poplar and ash reinforced inserts. Construction: Triax glass with carbon stringers. Topsheet: Textured organic polyamid. Profile: Parabolic 4mm camber – with low tip- and tail-rocker. Directional freeride. Base: Sintered 4001 Durasurf. Hardware: Phantom Herkules hooks. Lengths: Women’s 148, 152, Men’s 158, 161 , 162 wide, 166, 166 wide.

OUTLINE

Power bumps at inserts adding contact points for ultimate grip on ice

Bottom shape

Parabolic 4mm camber - lifted under rear foot - with low tip- and tail-rocker.

SHORTY BACKCOUNTRY

Our easiest to ride split for guys who’s new to the backcountry and variable snow conditions. The Shorty takes them down with a smile on their faces even in the crappiest snow due to the long rockered nose with a surfy reverse. By no means a beginner board. It charges steeps and pillow lines. For 21/22 we added a very much asked for wide 164 and updated the design.

“The Stranda Shorty is a wonderful powder carving platform with enough stability to huck natural features. Its long, wide nose provides lots of floatation for the deeper powder days and easily rises after big drops into deep snow...” Blister Magazine, USA

TECH

Ingredients: Core is 65% ash mixed with 35% poplar in a triax glass layup with carbon stringers. Bottom shape: Low center camber with long rocker curves in tip and tail. Base: Sintered Durasurf 4001. Sidecut: Multiradial with reverse in nose.Topsheet: Plantbased plastic. Lengths: women’s 153, 159, 164 , 164 wide, 169

OUTLINE

Short diamond tail with a long nose means perfect balance in powder.

Bottom shape

Low short center 4 mm camber with long progressive rocker curves in tip and tail.

DESCENDER FJÄDERLÄTT

After the fantastic reception of the Descender splitboard, racking up none less than four “editors choice/selection” awards, we decided to up the game with our most technically advanced board so far, the full carbon Descender Fjäderlätt. It’s a split targeting touring where lowest possible weight in combination with a stiffer flex is essential. With it’s double alu stringers that dampens the carbon nervousness it rides through chunder and ice like a glassfiber board.

“Right off the bat it’s been fantastic. We had some brutal rains and had a pretty gnarly bulletproof crust and it rode very well.”

Jesse Scotland, Canada - testing the Fjäderlätt

TECH Ingredients: All farmed paulownia x-grain with ash reinforced inserts sandwiched in a full carbon triax layup using VOC-free epoxy that has the highest bonding strenght tested. Bottom shape: Parabolic 4mm camber, with tip- and tail-rocker. Base: Graphite Electrabase. Lengths: 161, 162 wide.

Bottom shape

Parabolic 4mm camber - lifted under rear foot - with low tip- and tail-rocker.

WHY STRANDA SPLITS?

Splitboards take a lot of beating. Especially when rented out or handled by beginners. That’s why we pay attention to details and build with as much ash in our cores as possible. Yes it’s costly, but from a sustainability perspective it doesn’t make sense to cut costs. We have so far less than 2% warranty claims on our splitboards. And no reported breaking from skinning. For the full carbon Fjäderlätt we don’t have enough data yet but all sold are still out there without any claims. We added a proper topsheet on it to protect the carbon weave. Still it’s per square cm one of the lightest splits on the market.

PHantom Hercules Hooks

Adjustable, lighweight and 100% shiftproof!

SKIN attachments

On our surfshapes we use our fast and weightsaving system with a riveted hole down on the nose rocker for the skin hook with a notch cut out in the tail which fits our clip.

Features

Aluminium tip and tail protectors, a textured polyamid topsheet made out of castor beans for scratch resistance and cut outs for fast and secure mounting of your climbing skins.

PRE CUT CLIMBING SKINS

We can supply our boards with pre cut climbing skins from Kohla.

TECH TALK

CONSTRUCTION

All our boards are sandwich constructions. We use triax glass fiber with unidirectional carbon stringers where needed. Rubber strips along edges for dampening. Extra thick UHM sidewalls. On the Makrill, Shorty, Tree Surfer, Bowlrider and Descenders we use PU sidewalls for extra dampening. Our VOC free epoxy induces elastomers as the resin cures, adding a significant dampening to the snowboard without adding weight.

CORE

We base most of our cores on ash. Ash is perfect for building high-performance snowboards as it dampens vibrations and holds its camber, extending the life of the board. Then mixing in minor or larger parts of poplar and/or paulownia. For lightest possible construction we use paulownia. And on the Makrill poplar with bamboo stringers as a nod to japanese board building.

BOTTOM SHAPES

We build our snowboards with camber and distinguish between classic camber and low camber.

CLASSIC CAMBER

Classic camber is elevated 9 to 13 mm, with an early rise for easier turning. CHEATER.

LOW CAMBER

Low camber has the centre of the board slightly elevated 4-6 mm and the contact points moved further towards the centre with sometimes a longer rockerd nose for manouvrability in pow and packed snow. DESCENDER, BOWLRIDER, MAKRILL, SHORTY and TREE SURFER.

BASE AND STRUCTURE

Our full range of boards uses super fast GRAPHITE 5920 ELECTRA or sintered DURASURF 4001 bases. We deliver our boards waxed with sharp diamond polished edges.

OUR SPLITBOARDS

There’s always a balance between weight and durability when constructing a splitboard, that said our splits are very competitive. The Descender is for sure one of the lightest non carbon splitboards on the market per square centimeter. But leaving out features such as aluminium tip and tail protectors to save a gram or two is not conducive to the Stranda philosophy.

CARRY OVER DESIGNS

End of season sales is a big one in snowsports, we do “carry over designs” and keep the same topsheet for several seasons.

photo: Vince mo

Splitboarding in the midnight sun.

Photo: Mats Drougge

SUSTAINABILITY

At Stranda our philosophy is to maximize performance and the lifespan of our boards and minimizing environmental impact. That means that we’re not jumping on trendy “ecomaterials” that leads to board delamination or choosing a cheaper solution with a higher impact on the environment. Performance and sustainability go hand in hand.

CLIMATE NEUTRAL

Stranda Snowboards are certified Climate Neutral, which means that we offset and reduce all of our greenhouse gas emissions. We have also implemented a reduction action plan (RAP) to reduce our emissions.

VOC FREE EPOXY

As one of few the snowboard brands in the world we use an VOC free epoxy in our snowboards. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds and can have long-term health effects.This means less pollution and an improved working environment in the workshop. But there’s a performance side that was as important: It induces elastomers as the resin cures, adding a significant dampening to the snowboard without adding weight. That’s why our boards ride so well on hardpack and ice.

BAMBOO INSTEAD OF GLASS FIBER

Another of our cornerstones is using a bamboo topsheet instead of plastic. Bamboo

is fast-growing and plentiful. Our boards are sealed with a thin lightweight veneer. And, in addition to being environmentally friendly, bamboo is a beautiful, natural material that adds strength to the board like an added layer of glass fiber.

CASTOR BEANS INSTEAD OF OIL

On our splitboards we use plastic topsheets for added durability due to the abrasion when skinning. The polyamid is manufactured out of castor beans instead of mineral oil.

GOOD WOOD

Using high quality wood also reduces the need for composites. We use ash combined with poplar, a hardwood with 2,2 times the tensile strength of cheaper wood cores. When we want to go really lightweight we use paulowniain parts of the core. This means our boards will last longer and ride better, using no kevlar and less carbon weave.

RECYCLED EDGES

New since 2022 is german manufactured edges made out of 50% recycled steel.

We are constantly reflecting on the materials and methods we use to make our snowboards.

“OUR PHILOSOPHY IS TO MAXIMIZE PERFORMANCE AND THE LIFESPAN OF OUR BOARDS AND MINIMIZING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.”

photo: Vince mo