K2 Cool Bean
Price
£370 and £730 for Split Bean Package
Gender
Slides both ways
Brand // Manufacturers
K2
What we liked …
Riding steep and deep powder
What we didn’t …
Trying to stop on the piste
The Verdict
Our Rating
4 out of 5
the Short Read…
A short arse powder board, that floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.
The Long read …
The Backdrop Journal crew hit Hokkaido and wanted a powder board for the team quiver. While available as a split, we tested the standard version for slackcountry/boot packing days, and found it to deliver a real blast of fun on the powder-filled slopes of Japan.
When riding in powder the K2 Cool Bean couldn't be much more fun. It glides out of the snow, with its fat rocker nose, and turns on a pinhead in the trees. Once you've got going, which doesn't take long on the steep, you can slash turns with ease. The short swallowtail has less friction than a lubricated lovefest, yet enough hold to allow for accurate directional control, essential when bamboo bashing in Niseko.
While fine on the piste, the Cool Bean is not the easiest board to change edge on, especially when travelling at slow speed, and stopping on a heal-edge with such a setback stance takes a little getting used to.
Available in 138,144 and 150 standard board and 144 split, the Cool Bean will fit all but the heaviest of riders. The 144 Split Bean has a rider weight range of 59 - 104+ KG, but I wouldn't recommend anyone over 120kg on anything other than the 150 standard board.
The Cool Bean has a volume shift, in other words, it's super wide at the nose so comes with a recommended ride of 7-10cm shorter than your normal snowboard. We found this to be correct, as we rode the 150 when we're mostly on 158/160 boards.
Split Bean
The Split Bean comes with pucks and skins included and, while not tested, we can only imagine at such a short length it would make kick-turns easy as. One thing to contemplate is riding such a powder specific board in imperfect conditions, you wouldn't want your first outing on it having to side slide an icy couloir or navigate a windblown no-fall zone.
Would we recommend the Cool Bean as your only ride, probably not, but would we advise you stick it in your quiver, Hell Yeah!