In todays world of snowboarding there are a dizzying amount of choices of shapes, camber, and sidecut profiles to choose from. The same goes for splitboards as well. Pointy nose, shovel nose, hammerhead shark nose, swallow tail, round tail, short tail, tapered, not tapered, twin tip, directional twin, centered stance, volume shifted shapes, and on and on. It can be super overwhelming when shopping for a new splitboard, especially if you don't have the funds to obtain a full quiver of shapes for every different slope angle, snow depth, snow quality and riding style that you have ever and will ever encounter. If you want to simplify things and not keep yourself wondering if you made the right choice in your backcountry touring deck, the Cardiff Goat Splitboard is a solid option.
There are two versions of this board. The one I am reviewing and have been riding which is the Enduro Goat, and the Goat Pro Carbon option. If your planning on doing bigger and longer days in the backcountry, the carbon version would be a great choice as it's lighter weight will keep your legs fresh for tackling higher peaks or extra sidecountry laps.
The Goat has a nice long radial sidecut making turns stable and predictable. I'm a big fan of radial sidecuts. Especially when on groomers or when the snow is hardpack. Simply tip the board over onto it's edge and let the sidecut work it's magic. No surprises or "hooky-ness" feeling that some multi-radial sidecuts can have. The camber profile, which Cardiff calls their HALFcamber60 gives you what I call RAC technology (regular ass camber) under foot that extends just past the inserts with a bit of rocker in the tail and a slightly longer and and even more rockered nose.
The Goat comes in a 150, 154, 156, 158, 162 and 166cm. I am a fan of their waist widths increasing in size proportionate to the length. I'm a bigger dude at 6'3", 250 lbs. and have a size 12 boot. In a lot of brands the waist is still like a 258mm width even in the longer decks. The 166 that I am riding has a 270mm waist width which is perfect for my feet. Having no toe or heel drag is even more important in the backcountry than it is at the resort. Not all days are going to be blower pow. When managing your way down solid snow on a steep face, especially with any type of exposure, the last thing you want to do is boot out and go for a ride that could be your last. The 166cm length deck I have been riding has a 306mm nose and a 295mm tail which keeps the tail down and the nose up on those deep days.
The Goat has a sintered graphite base that is one of the fastest most durable bases on the market. You can add a permanent treatment called PHANTOM GLIDE. "PHANTOM GLIDE is a permanent, high-performance base treatment for your skis and snowboards that increases hydrophobicity and improves glide performance across various snow conditions. PHANTOM GLIDE is not wax. PHANTOM GLIDE differs from traditional wax because wax is not permanent. Wax is a temporary glide solution that functions only by coating the top layer of your base. After a few runs, traditional wax wears off and glide performance diminishes. PHANTOM Glide improves your raw base performance. "
Going Up
Skinning up on the Goat is an easy going experience for those of us that are not as graceful when it comes to being on two planks. My first experience splitboarding was nothing short of a comedy. Trying to manage two sticks was already awkward on it's own, since I haven't skied in over 33 years. But the board I was on was rocker from tip to tail and had an extremely short tail. Any time the skin track had a bit of downward slope I would immediately fall into the back seat and I would end up on my back. It took a bit of getting used to for sure. With the Goat, when you are in ski mode, it feels very natural and balanced. Almost as if I was meant for this skiing thing. Touring with the Goat is super straight forward. The Enduro build has never felt heavy to me even when putting in over 2-3k of vert. I am running the Union Charger Splitboard bindings on my Goat for reference as well. Even kick-turns are a breeze on the Goat. Mounting skins are quite easy as there are no crazy tip or tail shapes going on. Overall climbing on the Cardiff Goat Enduro has been good. I would be curious to give the Carbon version a go and see how much difference it makes when pointed uphill.
Engaging Snowboard Mode
Using the Goat for it's intended purpose is a wonderful experience. To me it feels like snowboarding. No skate or surfy feely feelings going on here. Once you put this thing together and put your bindings on in the correct orientaion that all bindings are meant to be (sideways), and you get strapped in, you instantly feel right at home on the Goat. I've had some great powder days on this thing and it's joyous time to be aboard this deck. With my stance fairly centered there is no back leg burn of death as the wider, rockered nose naturally stays on top of the snow surface and obeys the principles of buoyancy. The slightly tapered tail sits down like a well trained dog when told to sit by it's owner with a piece of steak there hand. Turns are easily executed and sprays and trips into the whiteroom come on command. When the snow is hard as was the case when we made our way down Mt Mahogany last spring above Cedar Hills, UT, the Goat digs in and edges into hardpack like a well sharpened chef's knife. The snow did not thaw like we were expecting it to that day and the Goat made easy work turning down the hardpacked slope up above Northen Utah County.
Final Thoughts
If you are in the market for a new splitboard and you are looking for a quiver killer deck that you will get years worth of turns on without needing to get anything to replace it for a while, the Cardiff Goat Splitoard is your deck. Also, if you are someone new to Splitboarding I would recommend this board as it's easy to get along with.
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