For our first review we took a look at the Salomon Assassin. It is one of the last boards we rode during our three days on the Stubaier glacier and myself and Dees Hetzenauer rode the board. Now we are very different riders, I am around 90 kilo and almost 190 cm, Dees is a lady, a bit shorter (175cm) and a lot lighter (66 kilo). Dees was born in Austria, has many, many years of riding and testing under her belt, has a Landesleher license and has done a lot of park riding and jibbing. I am less experienced and my love is for charging hard, be it on piste or off.
So this review is made of our combined experience with the Assassin with different riding styles.
The board has combined profile, (Rock out camber) with a large flat area between the bindings, camber under your feet and rocker on the tip and tail. These three elements aim for stability, response/pop and manoeuvrability.
Salomon’s promise is that the Assassin is a that with this board you can meet any challenge during your complete winter season. An all-terrain freestyle board for on piste groomer bombing, powder riding or smashing through tracked snow or end-of-the day crud. On our third day, we had good snow, tracked off-piste and patches with a bit of powder between pistes.
The review
According to Dees
For Dees the Assassin provided a very stable and agile board with which you can do some hard hard riding on piste and you can jib your heart out. She particularly liked the pop the camber provided; take off is easy, and landing is stable. The board carves well, as long as you are prepared to work for your turns. With the mid flex the board is also good at absorbing shocks. A good all-rounder, nice and stable, a playful board that will also perform in powder. Dees also thought this would be a nice board for ladies, but you need to deliver a bit power on the board.
According to Mark
I am a slightly bigger and heavier rider and as said, I like to charge. That means going fast and needing the board to hold its line and the edge at those higher speeds. That is where the mid flex of the board meets is limits, but also the limits of my technique. In other words, it will hold that edge, and keep its line, but I needed to work really hard for that, and there are other, stiffer boards, that make that job easier for a rider like me. The other side to that medal is that the board was really easy to throw around from edge to edge. With my weight and power the turning was easy. I could also feel the agility and playfulness of the board.
Conclusion and advice en aanbeveling
De Salomon Assassin is a versatile board that can handle most circumstances really well. A true all-mountainboard. It isn’t a beginner board, it’s a bit too unforgiving for that, but once you master your turns, you can really ride this board as you improve. And because it is good at many different things, you can try out a lot and improve your riding skills in many different styles.Salomon Assassin
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