apex sport

We designed the Apex Race Plate for giant slalom and slalom racing. The results speak for themselves. From Jasey Jay's Olympic win to Andreas Prommegger and Caroline Calve's recent World Cup success, we know the technology works for elite racers.

But how about freecarvers? Does a race plate offer any advantage to the non-competition rider?

We asked local rider Gabe Tung to take our plate for a test drive. Gabe is a talented amateur with no racing history. He's no slouch on the snow but he does have a day job and only gets out on weekends. Gabe is in his late 30's, we think.

We set Gabe up on a Kessler 162cm slalom deck. We're still waiting for him to return it. Here's his review and a link to a video of him riding the Apex Race Plate and Kessler board.

"As per the title of the video, the Kessler SL 162 was paired with a V2 APEX Race Plate. My experience on plates is fairly limited. On the previous 2 occasions that I have tried one, I was also riding the accompanying board for the first time as well. As I never had the opportunity to ride the board back to back with and without the plate to discern its relative impact on the ride, I can only comment on the board/plate setup experience as a whole. To be honest, a part of me never got excited by the idea about a plate system; dismissing it as something only for racers (or perhaps a fad amongst the alpine community). However; after trying this pairing, it’s got me rethinking its application even for freecarving.

One of the pluses (at least for my own personal circumstance) was something that I had not really thought about previously. When riding hard for prolonged periods, I tend to get quite a bit of tenderness on a part of my front leg. It’s almost like a ‘shin bang’ of sorts, although in a different location; it’s the muscle just above my outside ankle bone and next to my achilles tendon on my front foot. It’s an odd pain in that it only hurts to the touch or from boot pressure. Without any pressure I would barely even notice it. I could even run without any issues but I recall an occasion where I was unable to ride the next day because it was so painful. Riding with the plate seemed to alleviate the tenderness quite significantly. The amount of tenderness usually has a direct correlation to how aggressively I’m riding and the bumpiness of the terrain. Given the amount of time I had on this board setup, the plate definitely had some benefits in this regard.

When riding hard for prolonged periods, I tend to get quite a bit of tenderness on a part of my front leg. Riding with the plate seemed to alleviate the tenderness quite significantly.

There is a bit of tedium in setting up the plate initially with its washers, pins and axles, but once you’ve done it a couple of times the system is relatively simple to mount. As with any plate, there is going to be added weight to the setup but this wasn’t much of an issue for me. Upon examination after mounting, the lateral play of the plate along the mounting axles does seem a bit odd. However; once you’re on the board, the plate does its thing and you don’t feel this at all. The only evidence of this might be what you hear as there is some noise coming off the mounting hardware.

The V2 plate has a nice low profile. I recall having a bit of an odd feeling with other plates when skating to and from the chair, but this one is low enough where it was much less noticeable. The board felt very good right from the onset. Having the plate on the board did not make it feel foreign at all. It did not feel too stiff and I never felt disconnected from the snow. I can only presume that it further accentuated the smoothness and grip that is inherent in the Kessler.

The board’s edge hold was superb. I especially noticed this on my heel side turns when compared with other rides. When riding a race style with more of an upright upper body position, I’ve always found railing a heel side slightly more challenging. (I’ve always found high edge angle heel sides more comfortable with a ‘freecarving’ style, where I’m lower and more compressed with my upper body extended forward.) The Kessler made heel sides feel very solid and sure underfoot regardless of the riding style. The board eats ice for breakfast!…. lunch, dinner and dessert for that matter! I rode this late in the day as well, a time when a lot of snow was scraped off leaving large pockets of pretty solid ice throughout the hill. Where this would normally be quite intimidating, I was still feeling confident riding in those type of conditions.

I recall having a bit of an odd feeling with other plates when skating to and from the chair, but this one is low enough where it was much less noticeable.

The board/plate combo was very damp. It had very little ‘pop' which is exactly the intent of the setup. Any air between the board and snow coming off a transition was more as a result of launching off a bump or when aggressively down un-weighting during transitions. Although I have always had an affinity for lively boards, the speed that the Kessler generated coming out of a turn and its vice like edge hold more than made up for this. This is a board you can ride all day as well. Great for carrying decent speed as well as making tighter turns when needed. No doubt that the plate system will also help in lengthening out your riding day by easing the abuse your legs will take once the terrain gets choppier throughout the day.

I have not had much experience riding boards of this length in recent years. I started on an old Burton Alp, but it would be silly to even try to make any comparisons to that. Despite the length, the board handled the speed much better than I would have expected. This Kessler SL has a bigger than normal sidecut at 11.5m so this seemed to help stabilize the board at higher speeds. Lengthening out the turns to control speed was also something the board was more than capable of doing. Unlike a 185 GS Kessler I tried for a few runs with the original APEX Race Plate last season, this was definitely a more user friendly ride. It’s less demanding than the 185 for obvious reasons yet it’s still a board that rewards the rider when ridden aggressively.

This is a board that has fun written all over it … a great overall ride!"

Gabe. Can we have our board back now?