Behind the Build: The Elevate

From sketch to snow. The design story behind our flagship all-mountain board.

The Idea

Every great board starts with a question. For the Elevate, that question was simple: what if we built a board that could do everything — carve hardpack, float in powder, stomp landings in the park — without compromising on any of it?

The answer took two years of prototyping, testing, and refining. The Elevate is the result of countless hours in the shaping room, hundreds of test runs, and a relentless refusal to settle for “good enough.”

The Core

At the heart of the Elevate is a poplar and paulownia wood core, chosen for the perfect balance of strength, flex, and weight. Paulownia keeps the board light for all-day riding, while poplar provides the snap and durability that advanced riders demand. The core is profiled in three zones — thicker underfoot for stability at speed, thinner in the nose and tail for easy turn initiation.

The wood core is the backbone of any snowboard. Unlike cheap extruded foam cores found in entry-level boards, a wood core offers natural flex memory — it returns to its original shape after each turn, ride after ride. The specific wood species and the way they are laminated together determine the board’s personality. Our poplar-paulownia blend was selected after testing over a dozen wood combinations to find the optimal ride feel.

Carbon Stringers

Carbon fiber stringers run from the inserts to the contact points, delivering instant energy transfer. When you load the board into a carve, the carbon stores that energy and releases it as you exit the turn — giving you explosive pop from edge to edge. This is what makes the Elevate feel alive underfoot.

Carbon placement is critical. Too much carbon and the board becomes overly stiff and unforgiving; too little and you lose the response that advanced riders crave. The Elevate uses strategically positioned carbon strips that follow the natural flex pattern of the core, reinforcing the most stressed areas while leaving flex zones where they matter most. This selective reinforcement approach delivers high-end performance without sacrificing rideability.

The Sintered Base

We use a high-density sintered base that absorbs wax deep into the material. The result is a base that glides faster and longer than extruded alternatives, with durability that lasts seasons, not weeks. A stone grind finish straight from the factory means the Elevate is race-ready out of the wrapper.

Sintered bases are made by compressing polyethylene pellets under high heat and pressure, creating a porous material that holds wax at a molecular level. This is the same base material used in professional race boards. The stone grind finish creates microscopic channels that improve glide and water dispersion, reducing friction even in wet spring conditions.

Sidewalls and Construction

The Elevate features full ABS sidewalls for impact resistance and durability. Unlike cap construction where the top sheet wraps around the edge, our sandwich sidewall construction provides better edge hold and more consistent flex from tip to tail. The 360-degree steel edges are heat-treated for hardness, ensuring they stay sharp longer through multiple tuning sessions.

Rider-Tested

Before the Elevate ever reached production, it was put through its paces by the ASPECT team in some of the most demanding conditions on earth — from the groomers of Whistler to the backcountry of Alaska. Each rider came back with feedback, and each iteration got closer to the board you can buy today.

The final production model reflects over 18 months of real-world testing across three continents. Every detail — from the sidecut radius to the base bevel — was refined based on rider input. The Elevate is not designed by engineers in a lab; it is shaped by riders on the mountain.