Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish Review
| OVERALL RATING 5/5 | $770 RETAIL | SUPPORT ELEVATED SURF CRAFT & BUY HERE |
BE SURE TO TELL THEM WE SENT YOU!
*our COVID-19 preamble: Yes, it feels weird to write a snowboard review—or do much of anything “extra,” really—in the middle (middle is generous) of a global pandemic. But also, you know what… it feels really fucking nice to think about snow and snowboarding and the joy of those two things right now. While I can trend towards nihilism, oddly enough I also tend to be pretty damn good at sniffing out silver linings. Sometimes even gold ones. And getting to write about and reminisce on this past winter, via the words and photos in these snowboard reviews, is one of those shimmery linings. If anything, I hope they help jog the collective winter-riding un/consciousness of which we are all a part, and that you then find your own lumpy amalgam of linings from there. Either way, enjoy the read and the ride (in your dreams?), and please: wash your damn hands.
Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish Review
Who Might Ride the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish
The Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish… should probably be on exhibit at the MOMA. Not only is this surf-infused snowboard an intersection of modern design, engineering, and aesthetics, it’s also a goddamn study in color and light.
““The Minni Fish rides just as beautifully as its semi-shaded/beaming bright landscape looks on any given day.””
In the art world, chiaroscuro has to do with the contrast of light and shadow as “created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something.” It’s a favorite term, concept, and affect of mine—I love what it describes, how it plays out in the world and applies itself. How captivating it is from every angle. And when light falls across the bright chroma of an Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish? When chiaroscuro transpires across this juicy pow stick? Oohchild, you get a full canvas of light and dark atop a lesson in color theory. And you know what else? The Minni Fish rides just as beautifully as its semi-shaded/beaming bright landscape looks on any given day.
Two parts lofty snow surfer, two parts corduroy-carving animal, all parts modern art, the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish is the perfect companion for riders who appreciate all the pieces of the whole, including the whole itself. In its highest realms of self-actualization—powder of all manner (light and fluffy, peanut buttery, chopped up, cemented, wind-affected), Peace Park mounds, groomers, and more powder—the Minni Fish is a true Khione, the Greek Goddess of snow.
““...If you view the mountains (whether you take a chair up or you hoof it) as one giant oceanic playground, then the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish is all you.””
Ideal for deep turns across even deeper days and undulating groomers, the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish is your go-to for full surf-inspired expression. Which is to say: if you view the mountains (whether you take a chair up or you hoof it) as one giant oceanic playground, then the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish is all you.
Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish On-Snow Feel
Tuck it under an arm, attach it to a dangling foot, or cinch it down to a pack—however you get up to get down on the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish, you’ll quickly realize that this power-carving powder board is light AF.
My first time on the Minni Fish, I attached it to the back an old Gregory Pack, stepped into a pair of borrowed Drifts, and set off up the Cone at Mt. Bachelor. It was later on in the day and, while it had snowed the evening before on into that morning, the face of the cone was fairly tracked out. First run down on the Minni Fish into a choppy sea of thick fresh, my reaction went something like this: Oh. Shit. I should have come up earlier. This thing is a fucking barge through this. Huh, it also turns on a dime—way more nimble than I had expected… I can’t wait to come back out. Shit, I should have come up eariler.
Since day one on the Swedish Fish (which is what I now fondly refer to the Minni Fish as), the on-snow experience has been nothing short of airy, smooth, and sweet. Kind of like an actual Swedish Fish.
““...the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish is a total babe to ride.””
Yes, there are certain conditions and applications where the Minni Fish is like a fish out of water, but in all kinds of powder and soft spring conditions, including a wide variety of corduroy, the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish is a total babe to ride.
Some other food for thought. One of my days on the Minni Fish included some socked-in runs off the summit at Bachelor. Until my ride buddy and I found the goods—which we eventually did and it was holyholy—there was a bit of traverse-descending on what looked and felt like frozen beluga whales. Yes, frozen beluga whales. Apparently we’re on a nautical theme here. While I don’t think any snowboard particularly excels at navigating frozen belugas, like at all, I felt like I probably would have wanted a more length and roundness in the tail (the board is a fishtail) to make it through them with a little more grace. Conclusive thoughts regarding this? On frozen whales and really hard hard-pack and ice, the Minni Fish would not be my board of choice. That is all.
Why the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish Might Not Be For You
If you’re sliding rails, hucking jumps, and working on switch tricks in the park, the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish is not really what you’re looking for.
Also, the Minni Fish tends to ride best on a positive-degree setup in the front and back, and favors a more surfy style of play and expression on snow. If “surf style” isn’t your idea of a good time, maybe look elsewhere for your next board? Though, on the other hand, I’ve never considered myself a surfy kind of rider (read: I duck shit out and that works for my knees and riding style), and yet I still found great joys in riding the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish with a positive front foot angle and neutral back foot angle. In other words: it can’t hurt to be open to the idea of getting barreled on something like the Minni Fish.
Why Buy the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish, Plus Some Parting Notes
Straight from the horse’s mouth (if the horse is the lovely, kind, ever-smiling Aaron Lebowitz of Elevated Surf Craft): “Each shape has been precisely translated from a surfboard. Our quiver aims to facilitate a variety of riding styles in accordance with the terrain and conditions.” Which, if we go back to the world of modern art, where we can talk about the idea of a subject or medium (here, the terrain and conditions) dictating or informing the form (in this case, an Elevated Surf Craft board as shaped through the lens of a surfboard), and then wager about how it all translates to one’s snow riding experience. Or, more simply put: let the tide of the landscape and the swell of its conditions dictate the ride… and enjoy every goddamn minute.
Tunes to Ride by With the Elevated Surf Craft Minni Fish
Mouhamadou Bamba by Baobab Orchestra. Yeah, THIS one. It frees you.