Review

Hot off the press and brand spanking new for this season: the 2017 Burton Branch Manager snowboard enters the arena as a professional lightweight powder surfer. Designed together with the Japanese powder guru Narufumi Yoshimura, this board features one of the most interesting shapes in Burton’s lineup. Its Directional cambered profile has a nimble tapered shape that makes this board really floaty. The camber from the front binding to the tail provides the response need to weave through trees with precision. Meanwhile, the large rockered nose keeps you afloat on deep powder days.

This is not your average powder board and on snow, it definitely shows that. It’s a real snow surfer that’s build to for slashing through trees and floating through open pow fields. It doesn’t feel that twitchy like some of the older tapered boards we had in the past. The edge hold is pretty good, quite similar to the Landlord, as it grips nicely on harder surfaces. Turning and carving feels rewarding, which is thanks to the board’s carbon-reinforced profile. This enhances the board’s connectivity and predictability.

When encountering uneven terrain this board allows you to easily weave in and out messy situations, while it providing a good glide at speed with only a minimal amount of chatter. Overall, the 2017 Burton Branch Manager snowboard is a great deck for riding powder. It’s not your day in day out directional ride. But it will offer you lots of fun when you’re on groomer slopes at your local mountain resort.