About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the snowboard, which I tested for one day in November of 2022.

My take

The Ride Shadowban Snowboard is one of the top contenders for a resort quiver killer. There is nothing on the mountain that this board can’t handle, and it does it with power and a dash of playfulness.

About the snowboard I tested

• Model: 2023 Ride Shadowban
• Size: 154cm

About me

• Height: 5’8”
• Weight: 160lbs
• Experience: 20 years of snowboarding

Test conditions

• When I tested this: November 2022
• Days tested: 1
• Mount position: Goofy, 21in wide, 15/-6
• Boots: 2020 Rome Libertines
• Boot Size: 8
• Bindings: 2023 Ride C6
• Where I’ve used it: Loveland, CO
• Terrain: Solid early season conditions in Colorado. We had gotten some decent snow in the last week, but the conditions were still a little firm, but natural snow.

How it performs

What I was looking for

I had heard nothing but good things about this board. It’s the little brother to the Algorythm, which I personally found to be good, but a little bit of a workout to really drive and pop with. I was hoping for a somewhat similar ride being the same shape and all, but just easier to access.

Why I chose to test this gear

I was able to ride this board as a demo. The similar options I considered were the Ride Algorythm, Jones Mtn Twin, YES. Standard, and Arbor Coda Camber.

What I love about it

• Speed: The build on this board was reminiscent of some of the most iconic Ride boards of the past. Always a highlight of those boards was their stability at speed. This board holds its composure at speed through variable terrain well. The camber-dominant profile, carbon X under foot, a little above mid level stiffness, and the urethane sidewall all work together very well to keep the board on its line and from getting bucked around.
• Edge hold: While Ride doesn’t use any specific edge tech in their boards, they utilize the build of the board to enhance the grip at the contact point. The carbon that runs in an X pattern under foot, ends at the contact points. This makes their boards a little stiffer torsionally outside the feet helping to drive my contact points through a turn. This in combination with their triradial sidecut and semi-capped side walls provides strong edge drive into the snow for really strong edge hold.
• Turns: The board is on the stiffer side and camber dominant, so it takes a little more drive and precision to manipulate the sidecut. The engineer behind Ride boards for the last few years is a wizard with sidecuts. He has a knack for making them super easy to get into, and then they have a ton of power through the turn. Small, quick turns are easy to engage, medium turns are good and snappy, and long, drawn out turns are fast and feel locked in with power. For those shorter, quicker, snappier turns, it helps to drive the back knee into the camber zone as one pushes through the apex to get it to snap through and into the next turn.
• Groomers: It has a very smooth underfoot feel. I can feel what is happening to a point, but the board is overall more damp than lively.
• Park: No park features were set up when I got on this deck, but plenty of side hits. The board sends off a lip really well. It will take care of the job for the most part if needed, but with just a little effort into it I can feel the power that it has. Hard to say how it will wrap on a rail in a boardslide, but based on how it butters, I’m better off pressing out of the nose with the little bit of extra rocker in front compared to the tail. It takes some muscle to get it to spread the love, but it can be done. Overall, my impressions of it for park would be as a slopestyle park board or more of a jump board.
• Switch riding: The slight directional shape and camber profile had no noticeable effect on the board’s switch capabilities. If anything, the little bit of extra rocker makes it a little easier to get snap out of the nose given that popping switch is usually not as strong as my natural direction.
• Stability: The board has some boost, that is for sure. Being a little above a mid flex, I do have to put some effort into loading the camber zone to get the full effect. Small, quick snaps don’t offer much, but when I give it full effort it is an impressive amount of snap that will get me over anything in front of me.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Backcountry: Being a directional twin, it is not what I would gravitate towards for a backcountry setup. The stiffness, shape, and camber of the board is definitely geared towards resort riding. The increased rocker in the nose will help with float and, for a directional twin, I have no doubt it will handle deep snow, but I doubt it will be a shining attribute of the board.
• Powder: Being a directional twin I expect it to float better than something with a more symmetrical shape and camber profile. This is still something that at low angles will struggle to keep the nose up and continue to improve as the terrain gets steeper. The stiffness will likely make it a little harder as well as the nose won’t deflect as much as it drives through deeper snow.
• Trees: While the board does have some good energy edge to edge, that responsiveness does take some effort. I usually look for boards that take less effort to drive them edge to edge, even at the sacrifice of overall power when I have a high consideration for riding trees. Definitely doable, but not where I expect this board to excel.
• Weight: With all the snap, stability, and heartiness that Ride boards usually come with, that also comes with weight. It is certainly not a light board. I have ridden heavier boards in this category, but if I was after a featherweight setup this board would not be on my list. Popping and buttering around the weight was never something that bothered me and it is part of what helps with the boards stability through variable and chopped-up terrain.

Favorite moment with this gear

The best moment with this board was boosting a roller during my standard lap at Loveland. It’s a section of the run that I nearly alway look towards to feel how a board snaps and how it feels when it lands. The amount of boost I was able to get out of this board and the planted feel it had when it touched back down put a massive grin on my face. This is a board that begs to be put in the air and ridden hard.

Value for the money vs. other options

I would normally expect to get these kinds of ride characteristics out of models at a higher price than this. This board definitely punches above its price class. I would put it up against boards like the Jones Mtn Twin, YES. Standard, and Arbor Coda Camber. In my experience it has better stability than the Mtn Twin, better snap than the Standard, and is a little easier to drive through a turn than the Coda.

Final verdict

The Shadowban is a fantastic one board quiver and a board that I would not hesitate to grab for any conditions on the mountain. It makes a fantastic board for someone that mostly travels for their riding, as it can handle just about any terrain or conditions the mountain will provide.