Core77

This looks cool, and probably functional for hardpacked terrain parks. but I cant see that center opening being useful in deep powder.
especially since it will probably create more build up of snow in and around the feet

That board must have a bizarre flex pattern. Plus, the cut-out in the center is obviously going to slow it down, unless you're riding on your edges all the time. Which, if you're good, you're going to do, but if you're just learning, you won't. And riding on your edges is far from "relaxed" -- I don't know what the hell that part of the copy is supposed to mean ("advanced riders have to relax their style").

Finally, those anti-chatter suspension risers are going to work like mountain bike suspension. It might be a smoother ride, but what you'll gain in plushness you'll lose in power, control, and speed.

you have got to be kidding me. some bastard child of an X-Wing fighter and a pair of skis is supposed to make you jump higher, land more awesomer and carve more extremer...i thought that's why people buy sports drinks. and why this...thing...has been filed under object "culture" tab completely escapes me.
see you on the slopes _____ ___.

It is produced by a company named Cheetah Ultra Sports ... really. You wouldn't want to have to serious of a company name, it might deter people from wanting to spend $1899 on a "board" named The Whip. Also "The Whip"? Really its not a car and its not in Atlanta. Get real, the names are as about thought through as the design. A hole in the middle, so you can have snow shot up in to your face. And a suspension system to absorb all the power you are trying to put through the board. How long is the wait line for this bad boy? On an up note I do like the idea of the bindings "or platform" mounting on the edge of the board in order to control the power and rider input better.

I'm not sure, but that hole in the center of the board... seems to me that it will get stuck with snow, not sure if that's good either for speed and control

This is simply a joke. Any serious snowboarder and/or snowboard designer/engineer can see right through this ridiculous marketing hype. The cutout in the center is a disaster waiting to happen, adding additional edges to your board that you can catch while riding at speed, one word, 'Scorpion!' (where you catch an edge and your back bends painfully over yourself due to the speed and intensity of the wipeout). It also eliminates a lot of the freedom in expressing your style through riding by making handrails, log rides and other tricks nearly impossible. The 'proprietary suspension system' is basically an overdesigned binding riser which have been around for at least 15 years or more. This is an embarrassing post for Core77 to have up.

Hmmm, I want to like this but can't. Having edges on the inner section of the board will mean more faceplants, no? Can't imagine buttering will be possible with this construction.

The riser for the bindings has been done before (as a means of reducing toedrag) and subsequently dumped as it reduced control and stability. One vital statistic not mentioned on the website is the mass of the "whip". Those suspension decks are not going to be light!

In short, this looks like the designer is trying to justify bad ideas, rather than accepting and letting go of them. What's most worrying is that its on sale! If it had been a 1st year student project, I could understand but this needs a lot more refinement...

riser plates have been used since the 90s. a good idea (less toe drag, more power. i use em on my racing board) but nothing new.

As a snowboarder, this looks like a bad idea. As a designer, this scares me, because it says that no matter how hard a designer tries, they can not research everything that is needed to know about the subject of their work, and even with the best intentions, the end result can be totally off the mark.

It also makes me wonder why this is featured on a design site with no questions raised to the functionality of the design. Just because it's new (and looks really cool) doesn't mean it will work. Before commenting on looks and referring to marketing material, I would hope that there could be a discussion on the more interesting aspects of it's purpose, the function.

Reminds me of the board I learned on...the Swingbo!

I'm not convinced on the whip scaffolding...especially for absorbing bumps and landings. A big jello foot pad would do a better job.

Swingbo seen here: http://www.skipass.com/photos/imagebank/36300.jpg

At Cheetah Ultra Sports, we are really excited to have Core 77 publish an article on our product. We would like to take this opportunity to directly address some of the issues that were raised by your readers- specifically on the functional aspect of our design.
1. Generally speaking, the general design of the whip would work in all conditions, similar to a pair of skis. However, as we stated in our website, while The Whip will work fine in powdery conditions, it is not designed for deep powder. Ex. Off trail boarding. Our first model, the FR-117 is a free-ride board with extra emphasis on speed. We do have plans on introducing a free style board. Not only will old tricks be possible on that board, but we are also looking forward to a few new tricks that are currently not possible.
2. The cutout in the center of The Whip does not slow down the board. In fact, it helps the board speed up. How? By reducing drag. It may seem like the snow will build up on the back end of the board, but the fact is, that the incoming snow is actually flattened by the front end of the board. Whatever is not completely flattened is "jetted" out from the back. Keep in mind that this only happens when the rider is on the middle two edges. When the rider is on the outer two edges, which is most of the time, the opening actually helps in clearing out snow build up.
3. One needs not to be a snowboarder to see that almost all snowboarders, with the exception of deep powder riders, from beginners to experts, spend most of their time on one edge or another. The most difficult part of snowboarding is not the edging, but the turning, or the transition from one edge to another. Because traditional snowboards are flat, this requires considerable skill to master. The Whip on the other hand has a slight V shape hull, with 2 additional straight inner edges. For beginners, the instructions are simple. One rides it like a skateboard- center your weight to go straight or tilt to the side to where you want to turn for turns. Our tests have shown that experienced riders tend to exert too much effort in their initial rides, therefore ending up overturning. Therefore we encourage them to relax their riding style.
4. While our edge mounted carbon fiber composite suspension system does raise the riding position of a rider, it has otherwise little in common with risers from the 90�s. For one, instead of isolating the rider from the surface of the snow, it actually enhances the terrain feel, control, and stability. The spider-back, or the center part of the spider, is stiff. It was designed to support and transfer the energy of the rider via the arch support directly to the edge of the board. The legs of the spider, in contrast, are flexible. They are designed to absorb shocks, and act as springs when they are loaded. This system works so well, we actually encourage people to use bindings with minimal or no padding so the rider can better feel the terrain. The spiders are also tilted slightly towards the center of the board for a more natural stance. No plastic risers or jello footpad could do any of this.
5. Finally, we would like your readers to know that Cheetah Ultra Sports is not backed by some kind of big design firm, or a business with deep pockets. We will be the first to admit our lack of experience in running a business, as this may be obvious for some. After all, this may be the worst time to start a business selling high end, hand-crafted snowboards. The truth is that The Whip was invented by a real snowboarder who just wanted a better snowboard. It is important to know that he actually rode each, and every version of his invention, starting with the first rough, hand built prototype. All of the design flaws as well as improvements were discovered and made through direct contact with snow. It was only after he realized that he had finally created a superior snowboard that a company was built around the product. We proudly stand by all of our claims. Nevertheless, we have come to realize that perhaps the best way to address those issues is through demo rides. We are therefore working on it as we write. In the end, we would like to thank everyone for their frank comments. Please keep them coming.

Sincerely,
Cheetah Ultra Sports

So how much do boards cost in the matrix?

OK.
So lets hear from some people who have ridden it!
This is obviously not for beginers. Duh!
I'm wondering how the platform will hold up after a season of pounding?!
Still not convinced on the center cutout. If you are on an edge, the cutout doesn't matter except it might make the board weaker?
If you're haul'n ass down the hill, and you're not on an edge...I just don't think It'll work. Plus, I ride ALL over the mountian; groomed to powder, big drops and I'm not going to change boards each run.

I want to hear from an independent demo!

I have been riding for about 14 years and i have seen multi-edge snowboards in the past although none with hole in the middle...

I guess my main concern would be stability especially at high speed.... while at high speed you may be on edge at times when you really get going and the board is flat (straight line groomers anyone?) if it has a slight V shape to the hull how does that effect the stability?

In addition you say loose snow gets blown out the back of the spider.... in my experience pretty much any conditions save wet warm spring conditions you get snow build up on the board... with that much snow moving across the surface it could really become a problem?

one last thing... dont you worry that something else would get stuck in the hole? I mean most resorts are covered in bushes that get pressed down by the snow but can show up during the season depending on the snow pack.. i cant even imagine what a foreign object would do to this board at high speed if it hit the back end of the hole...

I don't see how this could improve snowboarding?

I've been riding 11 years and dont see how that hole in the middle would just drag up all the snow onto the rear and it gets stuck in those footstandings for one, but for the other it woud just rip out small stones and trees, what if you had just jumped and you land on a rock, you would get stuck, break the board and you neck probably...

I don't think the hole in the middle is good design for riding in Scotland... e.g. You may encounter rocks just under the surface of wind-blown powder at the edge of pistes.

what are you thinking!!!! elevated platforms for bindings sounds like less balance to me. Hole in the middle makes for more speed....Great less friction but you put a big person on a small board they go slower, more weight distributed across a smaller surface area creates greater friction on the areas of contact same applies to your concept. your trying to hard to evolve boards and going the wrong way about it there is nothing wrong with the originals and i don't know what boards your looking at to say that they are flat because all of my boards and my mates are all slightly curved. back to the drawing board i say cause the only sales you get will be the new comers that have no idea what they are doing and buy it just cause it looks cool

These sorts of posts seem to follow the same pattern. A new idea is introduced, people reject it despite its not being tried. All the objections that people bring up are in a sense academic. Build the board. Test it. Refine it. People are hesitant because a new board threatens the old design. Imagine: if this board turns out to be great, then people will be under social pressure to get the new board. People gravitate toward the status quo. It's natural.

snowboards are fine the way they are, they really dont need critical adjustments like a fuckin hole in the board to "reduce drag" even though it was slow it down cuz it would just be another small edge scraping into the snow. probably makes it more annoying to push around if the bindings are higher. and while using this board, i would seriously recommend avoiding 50-50s

Trust me, the last thing you want teaching beginners is a super fast board. And skateboarders are the worst people to teach boarding to.

This design is so brutal. I barely know where to start. There are so many things on this board to snag on in the trees. ie. hole, X base plates. There is nothing I like about this design. As a professional engineer and snowboarder I wish I could condemn this design.

I will admit that I have thought of a board with a cutout, but after a few seconds I realized the futility. As the snow would reach the cutout, it would roostertail into the (overframe?). As an east coast rider, snow is never real powder, and sometimes has this terrible sticking tendency. The cutout would serve as a perfect place to have ice build. On powder, the whip can only be worse. Having less surface area only puts more pressure down. The speed to stay aloft is then much higher, and harder to maintain. If you're riding on some corduroy, the board would be similar to any other board. But as soon as the snow breaks back up, you'd run into the same problems. It also becomes much easier to catch an edge. Butters are now hard. and that death spin on flat outs would become hellish.

If you rode that on pow it seems like it would be about as easy as rowing a boat with a hole in it