Technology Spotlight – Burton Channel System

What are those slots on Burton Snowboards? How do you mount the bindings on this snowboard?

If you’ve never seen a board with their Infinite Channel System (ICS), it may look a bit odd at first. If this isn’t your first season snowboarding though, the benefits become easy to see. In short, better adjustability, more durable and better ride quality. Depending on the day or your riding style this stance adjustability has huge pay offs when it comes to getting the most out of your board and your riding. There’s little question why Burton has gone to using this technology in nearly all of the boards in 2015.

Read on for a breakdown of this technology…

Infinite Adjustability

As the name implies, the Infinite Channel System allows for an unlimited amount of stance options when adjusting your bindings. Unlike 4-hole systems, an ICS compatible binding can be mounted anywhere along the channel in small or large increments. Reference stance (the stance the board was designed around) is clearly marked along with multiple points so you can be perfectly balanced. As an added bonus, all of this can be done without removing the bindings from the board – there’s no more guess work about where exactly is the best spot.

Markings alongside the channel provide for clear and easy stance width selection.

Durability

4-hole mounting has long been a standard, and it’s done pretty good, but it’s only as strong as it’s weakest link which is the insert. By creating the reinforced channel along the top of the board and including removable, replaceable M6 inserts, ICS boards have an advantage over the 4-hole (aka 4×4) mounting system. If you’ve ever had a stripped out insert, you know that your options are either imperfect or just plain messy. No more helicoil or t-nut repairs, no more drilling through your base to replace an insert, and no more skipping a bolt because it’s stripped. If you have a stripped insert with the ICS system, just get a new insert, slide it in and tighten it down!

Better Ride Quality

We’ve saved the best for last though. Burton has long been an innovator in snowboarding, and the ICS system speaks to this. Burton wanted to improve the binding to board contact with the ICS system, knowing that a 4 hole pattern makes your board more rigid under foot especially. Boards are designed to flex evenly across their length, and the channel system of mounting allows this to happen more easily, meaning the board has no dead spots under your feet, and everything the board was designed to do including flex and turning is exactly how it was designed to be. By using EST bindings you are closer to the board and the flex is greatly improved. This winter do yourself a favor and give the ICS boards from Burton a try.