When I got the chance to ride the Burton 2010 T6 (with the C60 EST bindings), I was pretty excited. I had been riding the ’08 model (with C60 bindings) for a couple of seasons now and I was very happy with it as an aggressive bomber board. The major difference between the 2008s and the 2010s is the ICS technology and the EST bindings (click the link if you want my take on those two technologies) and I was looking forward to testing that out. Some of the other relevant tech packed into this board are:

Vaportech Alumafly – Burton’s infamous aluminum honeycomb architecture that makes up the core of this board and allows it to be one of the lightest on the market. Picture holding a metallic honeycomb in your hand that twists and bends like moldable plastic but pops back into position just like real wood. When you hold this board up to a strong light, what do you see? Virtually nothing. That’s because the board is 90% air by volume.

Smooth Ride Technology – Smooth Ride™ dampening technology, exclusive to the T6™, is designed to let you react quicker, go bigger, and ride faster for longer with less impact on your body. Chatter, vibration, and the shock from flat landings gets absorbed by the board before making it to your body.

Feel: According to Burton’s feel scale, the board is rated 8/10. The higher the rating, the stiffer the board is, and vice versa (Burton likes to explain it a little differently, but that’s because they don’t like to use the word ‘stiff’ – apparently it’s not good for marketing). This is Burton’s stiffest board, and I completely agree with them. I’d even go as far as saying that this is one of the stiffest boards I’ve ridden. Ever. The stiffness is a good thing if you like speed. But with all this stiffness comes leg fatigue, and boy did I feel it. Unless you plan on doing some leg work outs, I’d recommend staying away from this thing as your all-purpose board. More importantly, if you want a board to just butter about and mess around, the T6 isn’t that board. It’s a beast on the mountain and was built for high speeds and aggressive riding.

Stability/Response: The board is mighty stable under high speeds and super responsive. The edges are responsive and you can really dig into the hard pack. In the deep stuff you can hop from toe to heel with no problems as well. My only concern is that, I did feel some chatter under the board a few times throughout the day. But that’s probably due to the insane speeds I was doing. As much as the smooth ride dampener helped, there are just some speeds that no kind of tech can keep chatter away. I only bring this up, because I’d hate for you to be disappointed if you feel some chatter at the higher speeds. But comparing this to other boards, the chatter is significantly less (way less). Overall though, the board is very solid and responds insanely well.

Park Riding: I didn’t really try the 2010 model in the park, but from my experience with the 2008 model, this is not a park board. Sure, the board lands jumps very well, but don’t bother taking this into a park. Not only will you be disappointed, you can seriously damage the board too. But if you really insist on hitting the park with your T6, just remember to press hard!

2010 vs. 2008: I have to say, the board was more responsive, while the stiffness remained roughly the same. I can’t  be a 100% certain, but I think the ICS design with the EST bindings had a hand in this. There really weren’t any other design changes that could have affected the responsiveness.

All in all, the T6 is a machine on the slopes and does exactly what it was designed to do: bomb down mountains. Unfortunately, it’s a stiff board, and with a price tag of about $900, I highly urge you to think hard about what your riding style is. Mine is very aggressive and I love the T6 for being very aggressive!

Related posts:

1. Burton Vapor 2010 Rider Review
2. Burton Jussi 2010 Review
3. Burton Ion Boots 2010 Review