RVL8 Sticky Icky Icky Review

RVL8 Sticky Icky Icky next to 2.6 million year old ice at Blackcomb Glacier
RVL8 Sticky Icky Icky next to 2.6 million year old ice at Blackcomb Glacier.

Mellow and playful is how I’d describe the Stick Icky Icky skiboards. RVL8 has created a great groomer oriented early rise (rockered at tip and tail, camber underfoot) skiboard that’s similar to it’s larger all mountain Spliff, but in a slightly shorter, and much narrower package thats quicker edge to edge. The “rocker” on these skiboards won’t send you flying through powder, but will make initiating and finishing turns, or weaving through bumps and moguls effortless. Playful on groomed runs, buttering, spinning, slashing banks and ground tricks are a breeze.

Park riders looking for something really playful for jibbing, rails, and boxes will love these, but the big jump senders might miss the lack responsive edge, and may find themselves washing out on landings. Put pressure on the edge or pick up speed and get that full 104cm length down in the snow and the SIIs hold an edge surprisingly well when carving, with the early rise giving confidence over crud and uneven snow.

If you’re riding Spruce Risers, the SIIs come with 4×10 inserts to set back 3cm, and while this won’t turn them into powder machines, it will make skiing fresh snow much easier for the occasional powder days.

Would recommend these for east coasters looking for versatile groomer oriented skiboards, park rats who want to spin and butter all over the place, and smaller, lighter riders looking for >100cm skiboards with effortless turns.

Snowbasin – Westfest 2020

On our fourth day, temperatures were set to spike near record highs. We made the hour drive north to Snowbasin for our first time exploring this resort. The snow softened up quickly, but we were still able to make some fresh tracks before things turned slushy. We rode the gondola that was built as part of the 2002 Olympics to the top where we were treated to some nice snow on the slope that had hosted the Super-G.

Snowbird – Westfest 2020

Three days after the fresh snow, everything was pretty well tracked and temperatures were on the rise. The snow softened up in the afternoon and as we ventured into tighter terrain we were still able to make some fresh tracks. We swapped POVs throughout the day, starting with Courtney, then Tim and Russ. Watch to the end for a guest commentary appearance from the Kool-Aid man and some impressively huge burgers (that were finished)!

19″ of Powder at Keystone – Skiboard Connection 2020

Solo day at Keystone with 19” of fresh powder. This was the day those epic lift lines photos were taken at Vail. Although the powder was awesome, the lift lines were not. I was only able to make 4 runs in 2 hours due to the lines. The deep snow paired with wind gusts up to 60 mph resulted in a lot of terrain being closed for avalanche mitigation. Lifts were running slower than usual due to wind and gondolas were not running at all. I rode only 7,618 vertical feet (7 miles skied) before I called it quits – the lines and increasing crowds and winds weren’t worth the limited terrain that was open. Still, quite the experience. Top speed: 38 mph.