With a new shape for 2018, the Ride Wild Life is our new favorite all mountain deck from Ride. Sorry Berzerker. Traditional camber between the feet helps the board initiate turns quickly but reverse camber at the tip and tail keep it a little loose. That is ideal for those who want a playful, less-catchy feel but want to load up the tail for ollies and jumps. Carbon laminates help with pop. But, if you ride in an area with a lot of ice, you may want to keep looking.

Handling

With hybrid camber, the Wild Life really likes to turn, without being twitchy. With medium fast transitions from edge to edge, it’s a good board for riding all day, and won’t punish you later in the day if your tired legs make less than precise turns. We rode this board in Tahoe. For a few runs we even chased pros John Jackson and Halldor Helgason. Doing so, we had to go full tilt and get way out of comfort zone. But that board had no problem with that.

Pop & Energy

This Ride Wild Life has plenty of pop thanks to the carbon laminates and hybrid camber. At Squaw, where we first checked out this deck we played in the parks a bunch as well as getting some freeriding in. The pop is solid.

Versatility

The Ride Wild Life is good in the park and great float make it ideal for powder days—it’s a true all-mountain board. See above. We rode all over the mountain and with a few reps as well as their super talented team. The Wild Life is in all their quivers and for a few, it’s their go to board. That says a lot.

Edge Hold

Edgehold is the one area that’s ripe for improvement on the Wild Life. Edge hold was adequate, but not as good as others in the test. If you’re more advanced, that’s less of an issue. If you’re still a low intermediate and ride in icy areas, you may want to go for a different board.

Sustainability & Craftsmanship

Being built overseas, the Wild Life is not a very “green” board.  Craftsmanship? Solid. We put a bunch days on the deck and you can barely tell. Even with the matte finish. This type of finish usually doesn’t fare as well as a clear coat.