Venture Paragon Splitboard
Most bomber
Brand: Venture
Model: Paragon
Our take
Don’t want to worry about babying your board? The Paragon is built to handle the rough stuff. Its eco-friendly castor bean topsheet doesn’t chip as easily as the polyester material found on most resort boards, and P-Tex sidewalls shrug off nicks and scrapes. “I raked this thing over rocks and rammed it through tight trees for a season, and it barely has a scratch on it,” one tester says. Ding: It’s heavy.
The details
TX30 fiberglass aligns the fibers more vertically along the board (30 degrees, rather than the usual 45) to increase torsional flex but retain stiffness. This makes the board nimble, yet powerful enough to bust through crud. With a traditional camber (good for touring) and slight tail taper, it’s more playful than you’d expect. China clips make transitions easy.
Trail cred
“Dropping into a steep, icy couloir would normally give me pause, but this board’s stiffness gave me confidence,” says one Colorado mountain guide.