Burn

Mike Says: The Palmer Burn is one of the most underrated snowboards in the world. The Burn is a freestyle powerhouse for riders who stomp nice tricks in the park then beat their buddies in a race to the lodge. Palmer designed the Burn to be soft enough for technical freestyle riding, but is torsionally stiff enough for high-speed turns. The Palmer Burn has tons of ollie power built into the tail. I recommend the Palmer Burn for freestyle riders who also have the need for speed. Remember, last one to the lodge, buys the beers! What board do you trust in a race?

Aaron Says: Palmer Burn is a freestyle powerhouse. Designed for today's innovative rider the Palmer Burn, lightweight, snappy, and jib-able, is the original winner of Transworld Snowboard Magazine's Top 10 Good Wood snowboard showdown.

Based on my experiences with the 08 Burn (keep in mind it's a different board, they changed it from cap to sidewall, not sure if they changed flex or anything), I'd say it's too stiff for a beginning rider.  If you're stuck on Palmer, I'd aim more towards a Classic, or maybe something else in their "freestyle" line like a Pulse.

Honestly I think you might benefit from checking elsewhere though... sometimes a company just doesn't have the board for you.  I was stoked on Palmer earlier in the season but after demoing a few boards this year, I don't think they had the board I was looking for (a board that's stiffer than average, but not so much so it's all business).  Ironically they had that board for next year in the 08 Finch, but it rode significantly different from the current iteration.

I don't know if you're stuck on Sierra, but the board that really jumps out at me from what Sierra still has left is the Salomon Prospect.  Everyone I know who's ridden it has been stoked on it.  I've seen two people say that it has some of the best pop out there (including one who worked for Salomon and currently works for Burton).  It's a freestyle board, but it has a stiffer flex for a freestyle board with a directional profile and slight set-back... so it's stiff enough to lay down a decent edge but not so stiff that you can't dork around and have fun on it.  You may outgrow it if you decide your preferences lie strictly in hardcore freeride and backcountry steeps, but otherwise at the very worst you'll find yourself with a great all-mountain freestyle board in the quiver.  I may have to sell my Atomic Axum to make rent, and I'll probably give the Prospect a long hard look when it comes to replace its niche in the quiver.

Brody and Mike.M stand by Palmer for sure.  But by and large, Palmers are not a big brand, which I think can be attributed to poor marketing more than anything else.  Having demoed a couple boards, I can attest to quality of ride, though I don't know about durability.   However Brodster, who's probably the best boarder I know, owns two Palmers (a Finch and a Crown), and I know he rides them hard.  Frankly if they weren't durable boards he'd have busted one by now.  I believe his wife (little_ole_me) and Mike.M own multiple Palmers as well.

I've heard that the Nomex in the tip and tail cause durability issues, but I think that's crap... Atomic is also adopting some Nomex in the tip and tail next year in the Rapture, one of their freeride boards, and I believe some other companies use it as well.  Nomex in the entire board length (as in the Honey Comb 3) may cause issues, and while Nomex in the tip and tail maybe cause some additional stress at the joint (where woodcore and nomex meet), I doubt it leads to a serious jump in breakage issues.

cant wait to get on my new Burn....
wooot