Burton Hometown Hero X Splitboard

The Hometown Hero X Split features the same directional profile as the solid version. Entry rocker lifts the nose and keeps the board afloat, while camber underfoot offers lots of pop as well as momentum throughout the turn shape and stability in variable conditions.

Straying a bit from the original Hometown Hero, the split version has an all-mountain directional shape as opposed to the directional freeride shape found in the solid. The board rides with a slightly longer nose with the pop coming from the tail end (as seen below in the side profile photos), offering maximum float with no sacrifice to flow or control. This shift in design lends itself to a more powder focused board, but still has what it takes to ride in any terrain or conditions.

In addition to the nose being longer, the Hometown Hero X also features a 12mm taper. This not only helps with float, but promotes smooth turn entry and exit. Smoother turns translate to stability, meaning you can feel in control are higher speeds.

When it comes to flex, Burton puts the board in-between “happy medium” and “stiff and aggressive”. This stiffness offers stability at speed and through variable conditions but isn’t so stiff as to limit the playfulness.

Burton touts the split channel board mounting system as the strongest, fastest, easiest, and most adjustable mounting system ever offered on a splitboard. The Hometown Hero X comes with pucks so you don’t have to worry about chasing down extra bits and pieces in order to make your ride compatible with the bindings you currently have. 

Both micro and macro adjustments are super easy and quick with the channel system. On the micro end, the channels offer a finer range of adjustability due to continuous channels as opposed to predrilled holes. Macro adjustments offer more range, as the channels cover a larger area than traditional mounting systems. For either adjustment, simply loosen the screws and twist or slide to exactly the position you’re looking for. No need for fully removing screws or trying to get snow out of threaded holes.

The fibreglass used in the Hometown Hero X, known only as Mystery Glass, is a robotic-built complex carbon layup that improves the strength-to-weight ratio without a reduction in flex and feel. The layering of the board is as follows:

1 - Top hardglass UDC + UDG +/- 45º pre-cured
2 - Dragonfly 600G core
3 - Bottom glass unidirectional carbon and +/- 45º stitched
4 - Methlon base

The Dragonfly 600G splitboard core swaps out heavier wood for lighter wood without sacrificing strength. This is accomplished by using end-grain wood in high impact zones, the Dragonfly 600G reduces weight but not durability.

Methlon is Burton’s top tier base. This low-maintenance base is designed to be ultra-durable and faster in any and all snow conditions than any of Burton's other bases.

The board comes equipped with Karakoram Ultra Clips. Over time things naturally loosen up on a splitboard, but with the Ultra Clips tightening things back up is a super easy and quick adjustment, pulling your board together just like its first day on snow.

These clips are simple and can be locked down when in ski mode so there’s nothing flapping or moving around when you’re making your way up the mountain.

The tip and tail clips used are a bit more robust than your average whale clip.

Burton has also included an extra post to keep the clip secured in skin mode.

Burton also sent along a pair of Burton x G3 High Traction Splitboard Skins to try out with the Hometown Hero X splitboard.

These splitboard skins are made by G3 and feature a laminated tip connector with low-profile, self-aligning stainless steel clasps.

The low-profile laminated tail straps are designed to fit with a variety of board shapes.

These high traction, fast gliding, and lightweight synthetic skins are designed to fit the Hometown Hero X length with no need for adjustment. Just a quick trim off the width of the skins using the included tool and you’re ready to fly up the mountain.

The glue used is non-toxic and solvent-free, and is good to -30ºC.

As for skin sizing, the small fits board lengths from 146cm to 160cm, and the medium fits boards from 158cm to 172cm. The skins are covered by a 1-year warranty and retail for $249.99CAN.

Base: Burtons proprietary Methlon
Core: Burtons proprietary 600G 
Fibre Glass: Burtons proprietary Mystery glass with carbon fibre

• Bend: Directional Camber
• Shape: Directional
• Flex: Twin
• Taper: 12mm
• Methlon base
• Split Channel mounting system
• Dragonfly 600G core
• Mystery Glass
• Tapered shape
• Directional camber profile
• All-mountain directional shape
• Karakoram Ultra Clips
• Pro-Tip
• Infinite Ride
• Super Sap
• ReRez
• Personality: Stiff & Aggressive

Holy Moly! What a fun snowboard! Really a treat to ride, not to mention on the uphill. With carbon boards, I’m always a little concerned that they will be a bit stiff and thus a little slower to respond. This is not at all the case with the Hometown Hero X Splitboard, it was quick to respond and agile throughout the turn. The board maintains a stiff enough feel to remai stable in variable conditions and at speed but isn’t hard to flex when you’re looking for pop and play.

While I did not get the chance to ride the board in powder (thanks in part to Covid-19), there is no doubt in my mind that it would float effortlessly. The rockered nose and 12mm taper will surely lead to dreamy pow surfing on the deepest of days. 

As you may have gathered from both the pictures and timing of the review, I tested the Hometown Hero X on mostly warmer spring days when powder was ultra-scarce. I was able to ride through smooth corn snow, stiff and uneven garbage, and both steeps and low angle terrain. My first turns where on a steep pitch and, having not ridden the board yet, I had my concerns about turn initiation before dropping in. My worries were immediately put to rest as the first turn initiated effortlessly and the edge to edge transitions that followed flowed easily. The board was very stable underfoot at speed and responded quickly to anything I asked of it.

In lower angle terrain I played around more with the pop and was pleasantly surprised with the ease in which I was able to ollie. After feeling the more aggressive nature of the board in more demanding terrain, I was pretty stoked about how playful it could be. 

One impressive detail that is not to be overlooked is that on one warm spring day, I experienced zero stick! Neither the base nor the skins got sticky or gloppy in the warm snow. I’m sure in time the skins would need to be waxed as they lose their factory hydrophobic properties, but the Methlon base on the Hometown Hero X was truly impressive; fast in any conditions.

When compared to another aggressive board like the Weston 10th Mountain Split, I feel like the Hometown Hero offers a little more versatility. The bigger nose provides more rocker and therefore float, making it a bit more adept to deeper days, and the carbon makes it lighter and therefore more conducive to being playful. 

The hardware on the board is all great. Karakoram Ultra Clips are definitely the best on the market (in my opinion). They are light and low-profile, they won’t flop around on the uphills, and are adjustable so you can continue to keep the board tight through its lifespan. I also like the tip and tail clips and the addition of the extra post to keep them in place on the uphill. That being said, the extra post on the tail is positioned in such a way that, if used, it would interfere with the hands of the tail strap; a minor oversight but sort of renders it useless. This detail can be seen above in the picture of tails in ski mode.

While on the topic of hardware, it’s great to see Burton offering the “holess base”. Not having the hardware come through to the base is a no-brainer and makes for a faster, more durable base. I wonder if this tech will migrate to the tip and tail clips one day... a guy can dream.

If you have not used the channel mounting system, I can say with confidence that it’s worth a try. The ease of adjustment and the range of movement offered are far superior to the traditional predefined hole system. The only argument against the channel system, and it’s a big one, is compatibility issues. If you use a Spark or Burton bindings, you need not worry about compatibility. If you use other brands and systems, this board may not be compatible with your bindings, or at the very least require some extra hardware to make that compatibility happen.

I do have minor concerns about the top sheet as it scratched much easier than many boards I’ve used before, and I got a carbon splinter (exactly what it sounds like) in my finger when I picked it up after my day on the slopes. Also, after removing the walk-mode toe-piece I noticed discolouration of the top sheet in an outline where the tow piece was mounted. So far these are just cosmetic details, but after using the board for only a short period and seeing this, I wonder if they will lead to further degradation of the board down the road. 

Without question, the biggest downside to this board is the high price tag. For the price you pay for just the Hometown Hero X deck, you could buy an entire split set up and still have money left over for après. With the slightly ambiguous descriptions of the technology used in this board, we can be fairly sure that the price is the trade-off for accessing the leading-edge technology from one of the biggest names in snowboarding. The folks at Burton aren’t giving away their secrets, and they definitely aren’t giving away their snowboards, so, unfortunately, this sweet ride comes with a not so sweet price tag.