Curated Snowboard Expert Sydney got her hands on the 2023 Burton Family Tree 3D Daily Driver this spring and put it to the test at Powder Mountain in Utah. Check out how it performed in the carving, freestyle, and freeride categories, but consider the fact that each and every rider is different. If you have any questions about the 2023 Burton Family Tree 3D Daily Driver or need recommendations on which board would be best for you, reach out to a Snowboard Expert here on Curated.

Before we get started, it's worth noting that Curated Experts are not sponsored by any brands. All of these reviews are completely unbiased.

Brand Claims

What does Burton claim about this board? Burton claims that this board is good enough to be in their Family Tree series. The Family Tree series are more advanced boards. They're all unisex, so if you're a hard-charging lady ripper, you'd really like this. It's kind of fun to ride the same boards, and then ride them better than the other people on the mountain.

Overall Impressions

What is your overall impression of this board? My first impression I had with this board was that it was a little bit heavy. The heaviness played into how well it held an edge and how well it carved for me, but it also played a factor in the way it didn’t feel very playful. Because of its weight, I didn't feel like this was the most playful board, but it was very stable, and I felt confident riding it anywhere on the mountain.

Carving

How does it turn? Turning this board was great. The directional camber is aggressive due to its shape. So if you like to carve really hard, you would love this board. I was able to lay some deep wide turns that laid trench and some other smaller radius turns that turned very well.

What about dampness? Did you feel any chatter in the board? I felt very confident in the stability of this board at high speeds, and overall felt that the dampness and stability of this board was exceptional. I didn’t worry that I would get chatter underfoot or anything like that. It was very solid.

Freestyle

Could you speak about playfulness, pop, and buttering? I did try to butter this board and was not very successful. There's not a ton of flex in it and the way it's shaped. The 3D shape on the nose and tail makes buttering difficult. I wasn’t able to do that with the flex of this board, but I'm sure it could be done.

And what about riding it switch? I was able to ride this board switch, especially if you take this directional board into a more freeride type of setting. If you're in a different area and run into some trees that you have to navigate switch, you can do it. With this board, it's a directional camber that’s going to be great for freeriding. You'll feel confident riding it switch because of the great edge hold and because of its shape. It’s directional, so it's not meant to ride switch the whole time, but you most definitely can ride switch confidently on this board.

How is the board on jumps and how is its stability on landings? This board was extremely stable when landing jumps and even just coming off of features that were a little sketchy. I felt very confident in my landings, and I was able to carve through and around any features I didn't want to hit.

Freeride

How would it be in powder? This board would be great in powder. It might blend in a little bit with this white graphic, but it's very clean. This would look really cool with some bright bindings, or if you're a little more traditional, black and white is also cool.

How does it fare in uneven terrain and chunder? On uneven terrain and chunder, this champed up pretty good. I was able to go through some sketchier moguls (and we don't like moguls as snowboarders, let's be real). I was able to manage just fine. I thought I could pick a line and stick to it, and this board held its edges very well.

And then riding in trees, how is its maneuverability? Maneuverability in trees was great. This directional camber board has a little bit of a taper. That taper adds more nimbleness riding in the backcountry and through trees, making this a much more freeride-oriented board. I was able to get some extra energy out of each carve, and I really enjoyed the performance carving on this one.

What terrain would this board be ideal for? This would be ideal for freeride terrain. I would say on a nice, groomed day, it would rip. On the East Coast, you would be successful with this board because of that stability and the edge hold. I would take this into the trees. I would take this into the backcountry, but I would not take this board into the park. It wasn't very playful, but anywhere else on the mountain, this is good to go.

Is there any location you'd pack this board for? I would pack this board on any big powder trips I was going on. I would take this board to just about any resort. If you don't have a split board and you hike with your board, this would be another great option to take out into a little more advanced terrain.

Recommendations

Finally, who would you recommend this board to? I would recommend this board to really aggressive, intermediate to advanced riders who are strong and can use the stiffer flex of this board to their advantage. If you are hoping to get on this board and just bend it without any effort, it's not going to happen. When you're riding this board, it’s meant to be stiff for that stability and response, so I would definitely recommend this board to an experienced rider. This will go hard.

Who should avoid this board? Are there better options for them out there? If you like your board a little bit softer, with a little more give or more pop on freestyle features, or even side hits in the freeride terrain, you might want another, more playful option.** **This board is ranked highly as an all-mountain board, and I would say it’s more all-mountain/powder than all-mountain/park. I didn't feel the flex of this board was very playful, but I will say the flex of this board was very stable. I felt strong on this board. I was able to carve really well. So for those who are all-mountain riders and love to lay down some good, groomed runs and leave some trenches, this board would be a great option. And you could also take this into the trees, or in the backcountry, and it would perform quite well, but definitely for an intermediate to advanced rider.

Snowboards work differently for different types of riders. If you want help finding the right board for you, reach out to Sydney or any other Snowboard Expert here on Curated.