The DC Ply – a true twin, regular camber freestyle board with a mid-flex. So that’s it right? What else do you need to know? Well, this preview of the 2012 board will take a look at the design features of the board to help you decide if it’s the right board for you…
Let’s start with what DC say about the Ply:
“Designed to ride like a skateboard on the snow.”
And it it designed to be good at jibbing. But if you consider how the board is rated, along with who rides it, you’ll see that this isn’t your regular jib board.
Camber profile
The Ply has the “lock and load camber” profile. DC have a scale for all their boards ranging from -6 (the biggest rocker) to +6 (the biggest camber). The Ply weighs in at +5, so it’s just one notch away from the most pronounced camber shape. This is one of the features that gives the board power and stability – pop with your ollies and some control on landings and around the mountain.
What’s with the lock and load? Before the camber shape of the board gets to the tip and tail, DC have introduced a flat zone. As the board compresses (pressure coming down through the feet), these flat zones are designed to give you more control on rails and boxes – to help you “lock on”.
Board flex
The Ply has a rating of 6 out of 10 for the tip to tail flex. However, they also rate their boards for “manoeuvrability”, in this category the Ply is rated as 7 out of 10. That means it’s more suited to medium, and medium-long style turns.
That’s a freestyle oriented flex, but not a soft one. This board has got good pop and power in the nose and tail. That makes it good for riding kickers, both for getting air and the stability in the landing. It has to be good for this when you consider who rides it (see the video below).
Pro model for Aaron Biittner & Torstein Horgmo
Both Aaron Biittner and Torstein Horgmo have a pro model in the Ply range. That in itself says a lot. The video below goes through all of the ‘tech’ that DC put into their snowboards, across the whole range. It covers things like the lock and load camber mentioned above, and the Radius2Flat design – for better float in powder.
If you skip ahead to 07:17 in the video you’ll find a segment on the Ply, the “lock and load camber” is shown, and the pros talk about the board. Here’s a snippet from Torstein:
“Me and Aaron Biittner are kinda missing another camber board in the line… we kinda came up with the Ply, together with the whole development crew… pretty psyched on how it came out…”
Summary: who’s the DC Ply for?
This is a freestyle board from the ground up. Torstein and Biittner want that skateboard feel, for jibbing. But, it’s traditional camber and has a medium flex, not to mention the plenty of pop that many riders report. So this isn’t a soft jib board that’s going to wash out. It’s more responsive; you’re gonna get some good all-mountain performance in addition the strong freestyle credentials. Remember – the likes of Torstein Horgmo have landed some big tricks on this deck. It’s gonna perform. Take your freestyle up a notch!
Get hooked up?
If you’re thinking about buying the DC Ply – the stores below all stock it and they’re good, depending on where you are in the world. Dogfunk for shredders in the USA, TwoSeasons for riders in the UK and Blue Tomato for snowboarders in Europe. Compared to other boards it’s pretty cheap, another plus!
