Review: Prior Spearhead Splitboard

In the spring of 2024, I went crazy, resulting in three new splitboards. I lived on a Forest Service compound in rural Alaska, where mail arrived through the district office’s front desk. Our front desk guy, Hippie Jim, a former ski shop owner in Girdwood, AK, gave me a look of disbelief when the second board showed up. And when the third came, he told me I was crazy. So, I must take him at his word. Game recognizes game.  The board that has really held my attention is the Prior Spearhead in a 172 cm length with its standard fiberglass construction. This is far and away the largest splitboard I’ve ever owned. I was inspired by a Seward ski partner, Mike Burmiester, to go big. He rides a 172 and had previously ridden a 178. As a splitboarder, you see those numbers and your eyes bulge a little bit. You’ve, of course, heard the lore of Sorel boots and 178 cm splitboards in the 1980’s, but snowboarders just don’t ride boards that long in this modern era.  The slim-waisted Spearhead. The Spearhead Named after the Spearhead range in BC, Prior advertises this as an all-around big mountain board, and it indeed fits into the modern powder shape category of snowboards with what they call “Powder Rocker”. An early rise nose camber underfoot and a rockered tail, this board is meant to charge fast and handle a variety of conditions from high peaks to the meadows. It is available in many lengths: 147, 156, 161, 166, 172, and 178. According to the specs on the Prior website, sizes 166 and below have a wider nose relative to the waist width than sizes 172 and 178 do. The longer boards fit a slightly different niche, and likely ride a bit differently than the sub-166 boards. An early rise nose, like on skis, provides proper handling in diverse conditions. I was intrigued by the waist width of the Spearhead 172. This board is slimmer in the waist than most splitboards I’ve ridden. I wanted to see how skinning/split skiing was on longer, slimmer planks. Despite the slimmer planks, the hope in buying such a long board was to see if it could improve mellow high-danger powder days where you have trouble getting speed in low-angle deep snow, and for making big, fast turns on open faces.  The full fiberglass construction comes in at 3770g (8.3 lbs) and costs $919 without any upgrades. The Carbon offering weighs 3,210g (7.1 lbs), saving significant weight while costing $ 1,102. These weights for this board size seem pretty modest. Prior seems to be taking care during their construction to craft a quality but light splitboard.  The Up The first day out with the Spearhead, skinning into a local mountain in Seward on a good powder day, I immediately noticed the board’s stability while breaking trail. I had never experienced a splitboard float that well on the approach. Prior to this board, breaking trail in deep powder […]