Arbor Element Snowboard Review
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Snowboarders have a natural self-interest in eco issues. Climate change brings the spectre of no snow and no boarding, a reality which has filtered through to greener travel for snow holidays. Environmentally friendly gear, however, is still relatively rare. Sure, Patagonia does some recycled slope clothes, but Arbor is pretty much alone with Venture Snowboards as one of the few making sustainably minded boards.
This Element board is one of Arbor's flagship boards, arriving in the higher end of the market. The green bits are the choice of wood and the firm's corporate commitments to environmental issues -- more of both in a minute.
To test the board, we took it to the slopes of Italy and Switzerland. The first thing you'll notice is the speed-- even taking into consideration the factory fresh condition, it was ferociously fast to ride. We found ourselves adding more turns than usual to manage speed. Fortunately, turns are relatively easy with this board, as it packs sufficient flex to turn on rails without affecting the board's 'pop'. And it should stay this way, as the edges seem robust.
It's stable too. In fact, very stable, making for a forgiving ride on flat sections at the end of runs and on landing jumps. The best thing, though, is simply how versatile it is. It's an all-mountain board, so you'd expect that, but it still shifts from different riding types with ease.
There are a couple of niggles. First up -- it's a touch heavier than the board we were used to riding. Slightly more serious was the way the beautiful top sheet got ravaged after just five days in lift queues. While that doesn't affect the performance, it's worth knowing that this cool-as-ice beauty will soon carry battle scars.
We like Arbor's overall approach to eco and ethical issues. This particular board is made half from Hawaiian Koa wood and half from Paulownia trees. Koa was the original material of choice for surfers back in the 50s and was under threat from over-harvested until relatively recently. According to Arbor, the landowners it works with for the Koa only remove ten per cent of the fallen tree for commercial purposes, leaving the remaining tree to rot in the forest to provide a habitat and return nutrients to the soil. Paulownia, meanwhile, is a deciduous hardwood whose main green claims come from being fast to grow.
Arbor describes its sourcing of both types of wood as sustainable and says it works directly with growers, which is positive, but neither falls under independent certification from the likes of the FSC and PEFC. Reassurances are good, but an independently awarded badge would give us greater confidence that this is definitely good wood.
As a company, Arbor scores better than most of its peers for green efforts. It offsets the firm's carbon footprint using Prima Klima, which runs 60 per cent of its forestry offsetting projects in Germany. It also publishes a 'Green List' of its other environmental efforts.
Ethics are not bad either, with the boards made in Antiesenhofen in Austria by a Swiss company called Global Sports Technology. One small black mark here is a report by the Clean Clothes Campaign, which says that in 2004, GST bought North Sails Lanka, a company that has a record of firing workers who striked. On the plus side, we found Arbor very open to questions and responsive to emails about the board's production.
So, not perfect, but a cut above the rest when it comes to a dream green and ethical board that doesn't compromise on performance. Match with a trip on Eurostar ski train for full greenie points.
Quality
Value
Ethics
Green
