I wanted to ride this thing hard before posting a review and have put a lot of days on the 21’ Solution in every condition. First off, the touring/climbing. The solution is great on the skin track. It has great contact points and balance and decreases effort needed to get where you’re going. The camber sits directly below your foot when climbing and the rockered tip does a good job sitting on top of the snow when breaking. Obviously not as light as the carbon sticks but feel light on the skin track and overall a great climbing split.
For the downhill, the new shape of the Solution really shines. I was worried that the increased taper and bigger 3-D nose would take away some of the charging ability that the Solution has been known for but it hasn’t. It still is a stiff board and the rocker and 3-D contour doesn’t start until after the front foot, so you still get a lot of camber and stiff flex where you need it and adds to a very stable ride on steep slopes and on harder pack and ice. Great use of contact points to get the edge hold on ice as well. Powder riding is where you find the huge improvements over previous models. The bigger 3-D nose does a really nice job of floating and you can see the 3-D nose push the snow to the side to improve the float and maximize speed. I wasn’t sure the 3-D contour would do much, but it really does. Tight turns are pretty easy and this thing can get surfy. It’s a super fun, charging board to ride in the backcountry. I haven’t found any real cons for the new Solution yet but will update if something comes up.
As far as sizing, you can size up or down pretty comfortably based on your riding style and terrain. The 3-D shape and taper makes it much more maneuverable so sizing up isn’t a big issue if you are in deep snow and steep, open faces. And stiff flex and big, wide nose allows to size down if you are in tight trees often or like to slash. I’m 5’11” 190lbs with the 162 Wide due to tight trees I ride on most days. I’m happy with the size and it has done well in deep powder 18-36 inches but would have gone 165 wide if I were in deep powder most days. I haven’t had any issues with stability on 35 degree plus slopes or icy slopes.
Overall, this is the best split on the market at this time in my opinion. I have ridden a lot of splits and would use the Solution in pretty much all conditions Over the competition.