Those individuals who choose to start a business during these difficult economic times have my admiration, especially those who chose to start one in a market that some view as being very saturated. Adam Browning is one such individual who took his 20 years of passion for the sport of snowboarding and has started the Evergreen, Colorado based company, OZ Snowboards. During this the SIA Demo Days at Winter Park, OZ Snowboards took the opportunity to show off their new line of boards for the 2012/13 season.
OZ Snowboards enters the market with a whole host of features that are in line or better than other boards on the market. The top sheets are real wood veneer that is less toxic than those created from plastic. The triaxial carbon fiber layers add three times the strength over the use of fiberglass, plus it is one third lighter. The full length cores do not use finger joints and are created using a Kevlar honeycomb and poplar wood mix to produce a core that is lighter than a full wood core; and by not having finger joints, the boards have less weak spots when flexed. The sidewalls are recycled ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW) mated with full wrap, hardened steel edges. The bases are made using P-tex Durasurk 4001 with P-tex protection in the tip and tail. All of the materials are assembled together to create durable, light weight boards that are backed by a three year warranty.
While walking from booth to booth looking for a board to ride, it was the wood top sheet laminates that first caught my eye. Nature’s random patterns in wood are simple, yet eye appealing. There were few ski companies at SIA with offerings that featured wooden top sheets, but not may board manufacturers are using wooden veneers. Having never heard the name and noticing that their boards were manufactured in America reeled me in for a test ride.
Adam was manning the booth. After chatting for a bit and describing my riding style, he put me on the Camber. This is OZ’s ‘traditional’ full camber board with the tip and tail rise starting at a similar points on my older Burton board. This in turn would mean that the Camber would handle similar and the possibility of catching an edge would be minimized.
The Camber was the last demo board of the day for me as most of the manufacturers were winding down. There was enough time to squeeze in three or four runs if strategically done, so that was the plan. Run after run, the Camber was a pleasure to ride. There was no noticeable chatter at speed and it was a very stable board. It was easy to control and there was no issues through the turns, the board reacted exactly as expected, turn after turn. For being in their first year of production, OZ is producing a board that has the control and feel of others who have been in the business for decades.
Along with the Camber, OZ Snowboards manufactures a number of other boards. The G3 is their full rocker board; the Verix is the early rise tip and tail board; and the CQ is the powder board. All of the boards are manufactured in a similar fashion to the Camber board using the same materials and they are all manufactured in Evergreen, Colorado. Adam firmly believes in producing goods in the U.S.:
Produced in the USA OZ snowboard founder Adam Browning has made the commitment to never move the production of OZ Snowboards over seas. Adam believes we have the duty to employ locally and use local suppliers in all aspects of our snowboard construction. In addition, all of our apparel and stickers produced here in Colorado.
Just as strongly as they feel about U.S. manufacturing, OZ is also focused on producing environmentally friendly products. Not only do they recycle as much of their scraps from manufacturing that they can, but they also use a bio-renewable epoxy resin sourced from waste streams of other industrial processes and 100-percent of the factory is wind powered. Plus they contribute 1-percent of their profits to 1% for the Planet, an organization that “… exists to build and support an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet.” Lastly they actually offer a $25 credit to those individuals who gives their old board to OZ for recycling purposes.
The SIA show demonstrated the number of available choices for those looking for a new board, and OZ Snowboards do offer a number of features and an excellent ride quality. With the emphasis on U.S. manufacturing and environmental consciousness, OZ is entering the market with a lineup of boards that are worth looking at when the time comes to replace your current board.