The Amplid Pillow Talk sits in a newly emerging snowboard category, the freestyle powder board. The Burton Trick Pony and Smokin Jetson are two similar concepts that spring to mind.
The most noticeable features of the Pillow Talk are its long rockered tips, wide waist, short effective edge and soft flex. Obviously this board is not designed for the pistes, but we found it to be slow edge-to-edge, a bit flappy at speed and lacking edge hold. But it was rideable.
However, in 10cm or more of fresh snow the Pillow Talk was redeemed. It's agile, and floats on top of deep snow like Aladdin's favourite carpet, with zero effort, and we could land switch... sometimes.
It's important to understand that this is not a freeride board, it really doesn't excel in steep terrain and variable snow conditions. Instead the Pillow Talk is about getting that loose, playful, skateboard-like feel in deep snow. Also, the heavier freeriders in the group (90Kg+) found the tail a bit too soft for their taste.
At £429 the Pillow Talk is well priced, but we had to dock it some 'Value' points because owners will need an alternative primary board in their quiver too. When the snow is hard or icy The Pillow Talk should stay in the board bag - save it for the deep days!
