So for a few months now Jay Quintin - aka Smokin Jay or just Smokin - has been persistently asking me when I could come down and check out his expanded factory / operations in "Sun Valley" just north of Reno, Nevada.

And I can see why he was so stoked to show me his setup. This is a far cry from his house in Kings Beach back in the day. Sure the METHead ratio to Methods is like 7,482 to 1 in Smokin's Sun Valley hood, but hey....it's home sweet home for now. That's Smokin J's dog named Tyson. More on Tyson later.....

First walking into Smokin' Snowboards' factory I was pulled over to the brightly colored blocks of ptex....much like a raccoon would be as they say.

Some cores just waiting for a blanket of fiberglass love to envelop them...

We are definitely hand-making snowboards here ladies and gentlemen....

But Jay does have a few things you wouldn't expect to find at first glance when you pull up to his factory.....such as a CNC router for his cores.

The computer is back there behind the clear plastic. I told Jay that he had a slight ventilation issue in there just maybe......haha.

And here's what the raw cores looke like before hand.....

Yes it is true that Smokin' Snowboards uses Magnetraction....or more accurately a slight variation of Lib Tech and GNU's Magnetraction. Just like in a wavelength graph, the difference between the peak and trough might be consider as the total "depth" of magnetraction. Besides that key number, the "shape" of the wave is also something that can be distinctly different. So yes Smokin's shape of Magnetraction is indeed ever so slightly different than regular Lib Tech Magnetraction or GNU Magnetration.....and well Roxy Magnetration too.

The bottom line is that Jay Quintin, founder and owner of Smokin' Snowboards, because of his past professional relationship as a rider with Lib Tech....and asking politely, has been the only snowboard brand officially authorized to use Magnetraction besides the Mervin family of brands.

You'd be able to make a massive grilled cheese sandwich with this press......or squish all of Smokin's love together and pop out a baby snowboard.

There have been complaints of Smokin' Snowboards being "heavy" over the years. My first comment would be that all snowboard were heavier as a general statement 5 or 10 years ago. But yes, in a relative sense, Smokin' boards were heavier too.

I don't often try to "call someone or something out", but I must say that anytime I hear a discussion over deciding to buy or not buy a Smokin' snowboard over its weight, I just want to rush over and explain a few things. That's because yes it is true that Smokin' Snowboards might be a little bit heaver than an equivalent snowboard from say Burton. But Smokin snowboards are not meant to be compared to the super light snowboards Burton makes like the Vapor and the new Method. Smokin has a 3-year warranty, for example, and part of the reason why he feels like he can do that is because he tries to build boards that will stand up to the abuse. That means cores that are a bit thicker than what you might find from other brands. It also means that Jay prefers to work with fiberglass instead of more exotic things like carbon fiber or kevlar or metal laminates and other synthetic stiffeners or dampening.

But honestly folks....the difference in weight between snowboards is generally less than the weight of the poop you'll be taking the morning before you go snowboarding. Or your choice of which jackets to wear could be over more weight.

Working on a base.....

And how's this for slightly random? Jay Quintin is originally from Vermont and that's actually where he learned to snowboard......as well as become friends with a lot of up and coming pros.....like Jay's longtime friend and Olympic Gold Medalist Ross Powers. Yep, these are some boards that Jay was pressing for Ross' Foundation.

Literally hand built again there kids......

Check out the Smokin' Magnetraction sidecut depth and profile shot

Uhhhhh...that edge fits somehow here

Two meatheads...... :)

Tyson chillin' on a lazy fall day......