Curated Snowboarding Experts Mike Leighton and Will Cabral got their hands on the 2024 CAPiTA Super Defenders of Awesome Snowboard this spring. 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 Super Defenders of Awesome or need recommendations on which board would be best for you, reach out to a Snowboarding 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 CAPiTA claim about this board? [Mike] CAPiTA claims this is a supercharged, true twin, blended-radial sidecut, all-resort machine. It’s recommended for intermediate to advanced riders.

[Will] CAPiTA claims this is a supercharged true twin for an intermediate to advanced rider that will take you all over the resort.

Overall Impressions

What is your overall impression of this board? [Mike] The Super D.O.A. is a little bit scary. It takes everything in the D.O.A. and all the familiarity and amps it up. It features the same resort V1 profile, so it’s camber between the feet, and it goes to a bit of flat and reverse camber, and then it has the Wapow. It’s designed off the D.O.A. platform, but it also features a hyperdrive core and the moonshot base. I came from a boardercross racing background, and it reminds me of race boards. It’s also all black, which means it will be a very fast base.

[Will] This board truly is supercharged. Everything from the stone ground base is something you see either on a higher-end or race board. And then it has a stiffer flex compared to the standard Defenders of Awesome. This board definitely feels like you need to be on your game a little bit more. You can feel like a little bit of extra camber in there, and the contact points are noticeable on the snow.

Carving

How does it turn? [Mike] At low speeds, it’s a beast to get around. You have to muscle it. Once you get up to, let’s say, 20, 25 miles an hour, that’s when it comes alive.

[Will] Some boards come alive at higher speeds and feel challenging to get around at lower speeds. This is one of those boards. It wants to come alive once you’re getting into steeper terrain or getting up to speed.

What is the edge hold like? [Mike] In terms of edge hold, deep carves, and trenches, this will take all the energy you can put into it, and it will give it right back to you.

[Will] This board wants to get on edge at higher speeds, and it holds the edge for the most part. This board will definitely pop. It’s noticeably less playful than the standard D.O.A. It will want to hit bigger features, bigger rollers, and hold up to bigger landings.

How damp is the board? Do you feel any underfoot chatter? [Mike] Compared to D.O.A., you don’t feel a ton of chatter on this board. That said, I wouldn’t necessarily call it damp. I would call it a stable ride, but it’s very energetic. Typically, when I think of damp, you must put in a lot to make the board do what you want. This doesn’t really require it. This one’s like, “Hey, tip it up on edge,” and you’re off to the races.

[Will] The Super D.O.A. at high speeds is a little stiffer, so it will be supportive. But because it is lively and has energy, it can tend to feel like you need to control it a little more, and the dampness may not be there as much.

How does it perform at speed? [Mike] At speed, this board is easy to control. It’s a lot harder to control at lower speeds. But once you’re at speed, it just wants to go where you want it to go, as long as you actively engage the board. This is not a board to ride in the backseat, be a passive rider on. This is a board that you’re engaged in turn to turn, and you know where you’re going and what you want to do and feel confident with your edge control.

[Will] At high speeds, it got up there, and then right at the top, it was a little less confidence inspiring. And when you do get thrown off at high speeds, it’s something that you’re going to have to recover pretty quickly on. At lower speeds, I noticed you can feet the contact points.

Freestyle

How is it for freestyle snowboarding? [Mike] This is not the board to butter around, spin around, and have an easy lap with your friends on the weekend.

[Will] You could take this on the big line in the park.

Could you speak about playfulness and pop? [Mike] This board is a ton of pop. I would not call it that playful. This is the board for when you know where you want to go. I rode this board last year, last year’s model, and I was buttering around, being lazy, and all of a sudden, I was on my head. Luckily, I didn’t have that experience this year, but I will say in terms of playfulness, if you’re looking for something super playful and predictable, this isn’t going to be the deck for you.

[Will] The Super D.O.A. is rated as a six out of ten flex. And I would probably say, in my opinion, it feels a little stiffer, and that’s good for added pop and quicker response. But that also means you need to be more reactive in the turns. As it pops you in and out, you will have to be quicker in controlling this board. And I think the edges were sharp on this board on riding, which forced us to be on our game.

Is it good for riding switch? [Mike] It is a true twin, so the landing switch will be fine.

How is it for buttering? [Mike] If you’re hitting a lot of rails, it’s not that pressable. It’s not super buttery. It’s really engaged and locked in.

How is it on jumps? [Mike] This board is going to shine in the big line. It won’t be as fun in smaller terrain park features or on smaller jumps. This board is great if you want to rap some laps in the pipe and then hit the big line. It’s super stable on the run. As you have control of the whole length of the contact point and the effective edge, you can put in and drive through if you’re trying to spin off something. Landing-wise, it’s going to be fine. The only scary part is how engaged you might be. So if you’re landing a little bit off, it might not be that fun. But if you are landing bolts, you’ll feel confident pretty much anywhere you’re landing it on.

Freeride

How is it for freeride snowboarding? [Mike] It’s not going to be my first choice for a freeride board, especially given some of the powder boards in CAPiTA’s line for that.

How is it in powder? [Mike] It’s not going to be a standout in deeper snow.

[Will] As I said, at lower speeds through the trees, or even if you’re getting caught in deeper powder, this took some energy and some effort to muscle around.

How is it in uneven terrain and chunder? [Mike] This thing eats chunder up until you catch an edge, and then you might end up on your head. But in reality, it will plow through many things with that little bit of extra stiffness. They’ve rated it a six out of ten, but I think it’s slightly more than that. It’s going to get you through it. If you have the legs and the suspension to absorb it, you will do just fine in chunderier terrain.

How is it riding in the trees? How is its maneuverability? [Mike] It's perfectly maneuverable. It did well in the trees. It was amusing there. We got into some tighter trees. If you’re riding a ton of trees, and you don’t ride a ton of switch, you might want something with a shorter tail. But it will do just fine pretty much everywhere on the mountain.

[Will] We got a chance to get into some very tight trees with a little bit heavier snow. And this was something that I wasn’t confident in maneuvering at low speeds when you have to go slow through trees.

What terrain is this board good for? [Mike] This board shines in high-intensity and high-energy all-mountain freestyle riding.

[Will] This board is good for all around the resort on-piste terrain. We took it into some moguls and had some fun.

What kind of terrain should riders avoid with it? [Mike] The bunny hill. This is not a beginner board by any means.

[Will] You’re going to be more within the normal limits of the resort.

Recommendations

Who would you recommend this board to? [Mike] I recommend this to advanced riders looking for a one-board quiver to take all over the mountain who have great edge control and are actively trying to push their riding.

[Will] I recommend the Super D.O.A. for an advanced rider. CAPiTA claims it’s for intermediate to advanced, but I will say it goes all the way up to advanced. It’s for somebody who wants to push and challenge themselves, who’s very seasoned, experienced, and confident with their edges.

Who should avoid this board, are there other better options out there for them? [Mike] Beginners. CAPiTA says this is an intermediate-to-advanced board, but I'd say this is an advanced snowboard. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend anyone under advanced to ride this, because you won’t get everything out of the board.

[Will] Beginners, because it’s not very forgiving, in my opinion.

Snowboards work differently for different types of riders. If you want help finding the right board for you, reach out to Mike or Will or any other Snowboarding Expert here on Curated for free, personalized recommendations on the best board for you.