We at Amplid are extremely stoked to be selected for the WHITELINES 100 Award. Check out what the guys at Whitelines are saying about the new Soulmate:
WHITELINES MAG: Tested and selected for our top 100 snowboard products of the year: The Amplid Soulmate
Why We Chose The Amplid Soul Mate: It’s a beautiful and versatile new shape that redefines what a price point snowboard can be.
Amplid take their tech seriously. Peter Bauer’s German snowboard company has long prioritised R&D over marketing spend, using cutting-edge materials and innovative design features to create a line whose performance speaks for itself. But technology comes with a high sticker price.
“It’s a beautiful and versatile new shape that redefines what a price point snowboard can be”
Their new Purist Series aims to change all that, packing plenty of Amplid’s signature board science into three distinct shapes while shaving the cost via less critical elements – such as a timeless matte black graphic. The tapered and swallow-tailed Soul Mate is the series’ most eye-catching member. Who said value has to mean cheap-looking?
Who Is The Amplid Soul Mate For?
Although it’s a pow-friendly silhouette, the Soul Mate shares a lot of its DNA with the all mountain Singular series. In truth it’s a modern quiver of one aimed at riders who appreciate details like core profile and build quality more than some flashy artwork. They want a board that does it all, that won’t cost the earth and which will never look dated. In short, the purists.
Shape, Profile and Sidecut
The Soul Mate features a directional outline with plenty of volume in the nose and a slight taper, finishing in a notch-like semi swallow tail. That silhouette helps it float easily in deep snow and mow down bumps, with great drive through the turn. A tight-ish sidecut (7 to 7.7m depending on the length) keeps it agile from edge to edge, and while it’s not what you’d call a park deck, the tail is long enough to load up ollies and take off or land switch.
Low camber with early rise rocker towards the nose makes the Soul Mate a user-friendly ride. Think laid back, surfy turns with plenty of room for self expression. Pipe jocks and euro carvers might prefer more aggressive camber; the vast majority of shredders will love it.
“Low camber with early rise rocker towards the nose makes the Soul Mate a user-friendly ride”
Construction and Materials
Under the hood, the Soul Mate is built around Amplid’s Omni core – a tried and trusted poplar wood platform that’s lively and lightweight, if a little simple compared to the honeycomb designs and paulownia blends higher up the line.
The idea throughout the Purist series is to shave a few bucks where you can without sacrificing significant performance, so alongside the poplar core the Soul Mate features an extruded base which is plenty quick enough for most and won’t need waxing regularly to stay fast.
Biax glassing helps dial in the board’s mid-level flex, with plenty of torsional feel underfoot. There are no fancy inlays on the topsheet, no fluro paint jobs, no embossed logos and no die-cut base graphic. It’s just… black. But here’s the thing. Most brands use big logos and bright colours on their entry level models while reserving the ‘stealth bomber’ look for their premium carbon-filled flagships, so the Soul Mate’s minimalist approach actually elevates – rather than cheapens – the product. It’s a genius move that inverts the age-old marketing playbook.
Of course, it helps that the finish is as flawless as we’ve come to expect from this most teutonic of board brands.
“Amplid have always been about the art of board design rather than the art of selling”
Roundup
Amplid have always been about the art of board design rather than the art of selling. Superstar team riders and big budget movies are not their thing. In a sense, then, the new Soul Mate – and the wider Purist series it sits within – is the clearest expression yet of their ‘product first’ philosophy.
The bold minimalism is a welcome departure from the majority of boards at this price point and a challenge to the accepted norm that ever-changing graphics are an essential part of the sales churn. We’re sure that it will appeal to Amplid’s existing army of fans and tempt new people into the fold – not least because above all else, it’s damned fun to ride
TESTER’S VERDICT Joy Dutch – Wordsmith, Whitelines
“I’m ashamed to say I rode my first Amplid snowboard last season, I absolutely loved it and couldn’t help but think why the hell did it take me so long?? As a newly converted Amplid fan girl, I was drawn to the new Soul Mate and had almost unattainably high expectations for it. I’m happy to report that it surpassed all of them. A fantastic snowboard, especially when you factor in the price.
At first glance, it looks like it’s just a snowboard for bombing hills in a skin-tight speed suit but it’s actually a really playful and fun snowboard to ride. It was late spring so the mornings were pretty bulletproof transitioning into slush as the day warmed up and the Soul Mate was great for both, really locked in on its edges and you can really get down into carves and hold right up until the last second. I probably wouldn’t spend the day lapping the park on it, but it’s still pretty poppy and playful in the nose and tail.”
Read the full review here: https://whitelines.com/snowboard-gear/reviews/snowboards/amplid-soul-mate-snowboard-review.html
