There were 2 Fav designs in my quiver since 2003....now there is a 3rd.
The first was the Steep Water 179 twin...long and straighter edges that worked amazing in pow and ice. Later that became my pow only board and I moved to the APO Chasta 160cm twin. Stiff, not too much side cut, basically a standard park board that was long enough for pow and stiff enough for crud.
Saturday I put 14 miles on my new Twisted Velocity 164, and I found my new Fav! As the snow went from morning alpine frozen crud to soft spring-like conditions, I found that the forgiving flex made it a pleasure to ride, cutting thru the crud and delivering a very surfy feel in the softer snow. The reverse side cut acted like a flat edge and easily cranked upwind, and with a little toe pressure I executed very tight toe side carves. A fun deck that I feel will replace all of my previous decks this season. Yesterday I took it to Skyline in the pow... sooo nice (the snow that is) I just leaned back and the nose was like a slide gliding over the sage brush.
I bought every one of the dozen Steep Water boards that I could find, and I still have a few new ones to sell, along with a fresh batch of the Twisted decks that are coming off the press as I write this.
Final Note: all boards work, twins work better, and stiffness and length are typically personal preferences. Start with what is already in your garage.
Windzup,
Brian Schenck