Helen Schettini's pro model has firmly established itself as one of the market's best-performing women's freeride boards. Aimed squarely at more experienced riders, this stunning snowboard is the perfect choice for anyone who wants that combination of outstanding performance in the pow with rock-solid high-speed carving, all within a board that's still versatile enough to be a daily driver. Built around a state-of-the-art Directional twin shape with 1cm of setback and featuring Yes's advanced Underbite sidecut, the Hel delivers far more of a balanced ride than you'd usually expect in this kind of board, so although officially, it's classed as a freeride board, it's not one of those freeride boards that feel lost when you want to play around on the hill, so I guess you can describe it as more of an all-terrain board that leans towards freeride.
Rider Style: Experienced Freeriders looking for a versatile board
Strong intermediate through to Expert riders looking for a high-performance freeride-inspired board.
Shape Overview: Directional Twin
The Hel utilises an all-terrain focussed Directional Twin shape. This innovative shape gives the board a more versatile ride than the usual fully directional shape you would usually associate with this type of board, making it a little less full-on. One of the key ingredients to the Hel's stunning performance is the addition of the acclaimed UnderBite edge profile. UnderBite edges re-distribute the rider's weight to enhance ease of turning and edge hold. Creating divots inward at the binding area disrupts the flow of energy along the surface of the edge that's in contact with the snow while the board is turning. This disruption directs your weight/energy into the areas where it's needed most, from the bindings to the contact points and through the centre of the board where the carving arc takes place. This segmenting of the sidecut into three principal zones focuses your body weight into areas that initiate, hold and release turns.
Profile
To ensure that the Hel delivers that perfect balance of freeride performance and all-terrain versatility, YES utilise its directional CamRock profile. This ride anything profile adds an extended nose rocker while setting back the camber towards the tail. This combination gives the board more float in the pow thanks to the extra lift at the front while still delivering a fully locked, powerful ride on the piste.
Construction
As expected for such a performance-focused board, the Hel doesn't hold back in construction. Heading up its high-quality build is the advanced wood core. This poppy wood core combines durable poplar and lightweight paulownia with bamboo stringers running through the centre, delivering a poppy and powerful flex through the length of the board while reducing overall weight. Yes then create structural layers from a torsionally responsive tri-ax weave glass fibre. This dynamic glass fibre stiffens up the torsional flex of the board, ensuring that no matter how hard you push, you can be confident that the Hel can take it all in its stride.
Base
As the Hel is about performance, Yes step up the base to a True Sintered material. True Sintered is harder and more expensive than extruded, and it can be faster for those that ride aggressively fast.
KEY FEATURES
- UnderBite Edges
- Directional Twin
- Directional CamRock
- Stiffness 6/10
- Directional Flex
- Poplar/Paulownia/Bamboo Core
- Tri-Ax Glass
- True Sintered Base
