Thomas Harstad

Patrick Rauter - Team Alps Rider: Hallo At first I have to say that you have a super smooth style, you are definitely one of my favourite riders. So I have a question: What elan- or Artec Board do you ride for 1.Park 2.Pow 3.Rails or do you never change your board? And what board of the whole elan (or Artec)-range is the one with the widest stance? Do you know that? Is it true that is easier to land if you have a wider stance or is this just a rumor? Thank you for your time and I wish you the best. ML Patrick Rauter
Hello Patrick! Thanks for the props, always appreciated. I ride the Elan Prodigy board most of the time, I think this board is the best all round board. But if I go for pure powder riding, I like to use the Answer 162, or Inverse 163. The board I ride the most, is for sure the Prodigy....this year I have been using it all the time both for park, pipe, pow and rails. The board is super fun to ride. The Prodigy board gives you a really wide Stance, you can get 65cm if you want, or even more.... I ride 64 cm wide stance, with 2cm longer nose than tail. I think its better to land with wider stance, it gives you better balance and its easier to land when the compression is high. Good luck with finding a board, I can highly advise the Prodigy, with Helium bindings. Get a wide stance on it, and have fun! Cheers Thomas

Katrina: Hallo you - don't know who to aks so I picked you. If I want to buy an Elan snowboard for my husband wich one can you recommend? He is a beginner, but doing good. He can control the speed, doesn't fall much and so on. He has been skiing for many years. He doesn't want to do the parks and off pist just going fast down the slopes. I have looked at your boards but have no idea of what to look for... Can you recommend something? Greetings from Katrina
Hello Katrina! Glad to hear you are visiting the Elan web site. It sounds like your husband needs an allround board, for cruising the hills. It depends a little bit how big hes feet are, if he is up to size 11,5 or 12 he could have alot of fun riding either the PRODIGY 159 board, or the Answer 162 board. Both these boards are all round boards, easy to ride and good quality. If his feet are bigger than size 12, he should ride the Answer wide 162. I personally prefer the Prodigy board in 159, it fits me perfect. I have shoe size 11,5 and I am 188cm tall. Good luck with the board, and dont hesitate to ask further questions! Thomas

Matteo: I'm just askin' about the prodigy? I'm an italian guy that really feels snowboard in his mind, in his soul, I think you know what I mean...and I gotta buy a board...the best board I can get to improve my knowledge, my experience, my style...to let myself go high, far from everybody and everything. I likes freeride and parks too, so I tought about directional twin - tip board, somebody told me something really good about the Voelkl Wall Am, and somebody else about Elan Prodigy...please help me to choose perfect board...please don't sell me wrong board. Thanks a lot for your attention...I'm waiting for news.
Hello there! If you really like to hit the park, but also likes to freeride whenever the snow is good you should buy a twin tip, or directional twin board. A twin tip board makes it easier to ride switch, and land fakie on jumps, and personally I think it carves the hill as good as any other board also. I have been riding the prodigy model (159) for a long time now, and I will keep on riding the Prodigy next season. The Prodigy is very easy to ride, and it takes little time to really get to know the board and how it reacts in any situation. I can personally advise you to try the Prodigy board, and Im pretty sure you will like it. Good luck with finding a board, and lets hope for good snow in Italy this winter! I hope to go back to Sappada next season! Ciao! Thomas