I don’t know what I was expecting from a homegrown company like Marhar, but this board surprised me in just about every way. They built this board to Michigan/midwest specifications, and it delivers: lightweight, fast & stable at speed, good edge hold but with retard-soft flex when you want to press, butter or take a few hot laps in the park. 

Location & Conditions: Boyne Mountain (Boyne Falls, MI). Hardpack & icy, super cold a little sun but mostly clouds.and various mid-winter conditions at Caberfae and Crystal Mountain (MI).

Deck: Marhar Throwdown (All Mountain)
Shape: True twin, “Mustache Ride” hybrid rocker; camber zones under the inserts are super mellow, almost not noticeable. Reverse camber between the bindings and then rockered again from the bindings out towards tip & tail.
Size: 161cm, 156cm
Stats: Dave 24″ 15/-15 regular, Leo 23.5″ 18/-12 regular
Bindings: 2012 Ride Capo, 2011 Ride Delta

Overview:

Dave says: When we put it to the flex test at Test Fest, it was ridonculous but Nate & Josh said that the board rides stiffer when you want it to, so, we’ll see. Eyeballing it you can see the very mild camber zones in the mustache rocker.The specs on this board are relatively narrow coming in at under 25cm waist (due to a relatively deep sidecut).

Leo says: It was gnarly to see Dave flex that thing.  Totally reminded of a certain angry blogger.  The board didn’t even so much as crackle it looked like it was ready to spring back and either whip Dave in the face or fly out of his grasp into an unsuspecting bystander.  It took some effort to see the camber zones.

Flex

Dave says: The flex was unreal, like borderline retard-soft. The first time I popped in to a tail press it scared me because I just wasn’t expecting to go full-on wheelie on an all-mountain board with so little effort. This deck is quite flexible for an “all mountain” board but it would ride stiffer when you wanted it to, thanks to bamboo in the core

Leo says: Oh baby did this thing flex.  I love bamboo for this very reason.  If you want to flex it, it will definitely flex for you.  However, it always wants to spring back into its original form.  This means that bamboo laced/core boards ride stiffer than they flex.  Overall, the Marhar Throwdown rides like a mid-stiff board, yet flexes like a softer butter stick.  Needless to say, after seeing Dave’s sick tail press, I quickly followed suit with my own tail press.  I could only imagine what it looked like to the people riding the chairs above.  Two dudes throwing down killer tweaked out tail presses one behind the other and holding them.

Check out the full article: 2012 Marhar Throwdown Snowboard Review by David Zemens