Virus Scalpell
Friday, April 18th, 2008
It is a Virus for sure. Even if there wasn’t a single logo on the board, the unmatched construction and signature Virus tip give this board away.
Compared to a lot of the Virus boards you may have seen in the US, this is it’s European cousin. And when you spend your whole life in a foreign country you’re going to have some differences.
Perhaps you really like Fizzy Bubble Raspberry to drink, or are used to driving on a different side of the road.
Maybe you have different outlooks on body hair or swimwear?
But similar to how board shorts and Speedos both cover up your junk, this Virus still carves a sick line and holds a crazy edge.
For years, Virus has made a bunch of shapes for a bunch of styles of carving, and the Scalpell is a new school metal board in the tried and true wider shape that many riders enjoy carving on.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you are hip on the use of metal in alpine boards, and the wider boards are the most exciting shapes benefiting from metal construction.
Over the past 20 years, there has been a wide board out there for the rider who likes lower stance angles and the big platform a wider board provides.
But with traditional construction these chubby alpine boards had almost no torsional stability and suffered because of it.
The ride was often bouncy and had poor feel. Wider boards were prone to failing lengthwise along laminate seams; often cracking the base and pushing the edge up.
The only answer at the time was to use lots of carbon in one of several torsion stiffening shapes or set ups, from external rods to internal structures, to help solve these issues.
Getting the torsional flex correct while not disturbing the lengthwise flex was tough, however, and the ride suffered.
Most manufacturers stuck with boards in a narrower waist width to combat these issues.
Boot and binding manufacturers used the narrow board as the guide line to gauge the necessary flex pattern to power a edge while riding angles from 50-70, this means the gear had to be much more stiff laterally.
The rider’s motion fore and aft was also limited by the boot’s flex, causing much of the weight adjustment to be made with the upper body using a bent waist and a low chest.
Metal gives a wide board great torsional stiffness and allows the flex to become softer, so a whole new crop of supple boots and bindings have given the rider the option to make adjustments in their lower body.
This leads to a much better absorption system and with a mellower stance.
The days of putting your knee in your chin while getting chatter are gone. Now you can run lower angles with all the performance of a narrow board!
The Virus Scalpell is 100% Virus in a 120% waist width, this board rails turns in all conditions and still feels nice when you need to feather a turn or check speed, something many wide shapes have trouble with.
When you match your boot and binding system to a board of this caliber you are rewarded all day long with all the damp, smooth ride a metal board provides.
With a wide, stable platform and lower binding angles, the rider has a great balanced position to rip anywhere their heart desires.
This was one of the shapes we just had to carry here at Hardbooter.
We respect the commitment Virus has made to the Alpine community, providing any rider with the best possible product, handmade in Germany.
If you are looking at a wider shape to have your way with, then this is a must ride item; no buyer should overlook this amazing ride!
Posted in Billy Bordy
