Snowboard Review: 09-10 Roxy Envi BTX

This review was done through Board Insiders and will be featured on their site as a review with video of me explaining the board and riding it. I’ll update this link to that when it goes live

Location: Stevens Pass, Washington

Snow Conditions: Snowing with powder on runs, some groomed areas on day 1 of testing with Board Insiders.

Setup: I rode the Roxy Envi with Union Forces/Rome Shifts and my Rome Vamps size 8.

First Impression: I love riding a board my size meant for women who ride hard, huge smile on my face everytime I get on these boards.

Size: 157cm

Weight: average

Flex: A stiffer flex longitudinally with the nose being raised and tad softer so you can float easier in the powder.  There was some torsional give which made the groomers not too difficult to turn quickly, but definitely a more aggressive women’s ride in terms of flex.  It really handled the northwest riding conditions, crud, ice under pow and powder. Out of the women’s boards it handled the best for freeriding and charging, comparable to some men’s boards I’ve ridden.

Turning: The envi was responsive edge to edge, good torsional give and you could power through each turn, definitely the best turns were long radius and really drawn out fast turns (preferably in powder) but on groomers were solid, the shorter radius quick turns were doable but this board was meant to charge.  The MTX always does a good job of holding an edge when it comes to the icy terrain, underneath the powder in spots were some icy crud and I had no problems holding an edge on it.

Stable: The envi handled the mountain like a champ, freeriding and holding a solid edge with the MTX plus the BTX and raised nose gave it great stability in the powder.  On groomers, it handled speed and charged the runs with no issues.

Pop: I played with the pop on a couple rollers where it was okay but definitely not a freestyle board when it comes to pop.  Still managed to butter but it wasn’t easy, the BTX did help it out.

Switch: The envi is a directional twin but the twin shape still allows the ride to be almost similiar, you just have to adjust to the setback .  I took some turns with it switch and got used to how the setback was but it was a powder day so I mostly stuck to riding regular with the exception of the beginner runs being switch turns.

Overall Impression: I had no complaints on the envi, it was a great ride everywhere and meant for a more aggressive freerider who wants a directional twin that can float in the powder.  The raised nose certainly helped with that and when it came time to playing with it on the mountain, it still had the fun factor when it came to riding the mountain like a playground.  It’s also made with green materials using sustainable processes so that’s a perk.  The best part was this board handled some NW crud/heavy powder riding like a dream.

Shay’s Honesty Box: I am always stoked when I get to ride a women’s board that comes in a range of sizes and up to the larger sizes for girls like me, seriously kudos to Roxy for understanding that.  The envi is a freeriders dream for female riders who want a board to handle the mountain and ride just as hard as a men’s board.  The envi was that for me, I thought the BTX complimented it perfectly although it would be even radder to see it in C2 in the future.

Ready to buy? Head over to evo for the 2011 version of the Roxy Envi BTX or shop their full line of Roxy snowboards