Salomon HPS Louis Parady Snowboard Review: Freestyle Meets Deep Powder

Introduction

The Salomon HPS Louis Parady snowboard is the newest addition to the brand’s Hillside Project series, and it arrives with strong credentials: a first-year White Lions 100 award and a reputation as one of the most enjoyable powder boards around. Created with input from Salomon team rider Louis Parady, it is his go-to board for taking freestyle riding deep into the backcountry. If you want to hunt pillows, wind lips, cornices, and cliff drops while keeping freestyle performance intact, this board deserves a close look.

What Makes the Hillside Project Series Special

Salomon’s Hillside Project series is the brainchild of long-time team rider and shaper Volley Novelt, built around bespoke, powder-focused shapes that showcase some of the most original thinking in the brand’s lineup. These boards use some of the finest materials and craftsmanship in the game, and the Louis Parady model is no exception. The shape reflects the full spectrum of his riding: a freestyle-focused powder stick rather than a pure turn-carving specialist.

That freestyle influence shows up in the outline. Unlike some of the more adventurous shapes in the series, this board shares characteristics with conventional all-rounders. It has a full-sized nose and tail, designed so you can take off and stick landings in switch as comfortably as regular, and feel balanced in the air while spinning. It is not a park board, though. The directional tapered outline, with a nose wider than the tail, increases surface area at the front so the board planes above the surface, while the slightly narrower and shorter tail sinks to create that signature powder planing effect.

Camber Profile and Riding Versatility

Where most Hillside Project boards use a setback camber, Louis’s model opts for Salomon’s Rock Out Camber. There is a flat portion between the inserts, positive camber sections just outside of them, and larger rockered sections at the ends. The rockered portions help you float easily, but if conditions off-piste turn dicey, there is still enough grip under your feet to cut through ice or choppy terrain with confidence.

Back on piste or even in the park, all that pop and power comes into its own. You can boost off side hits, rail a carve, or bomb around the hill without feeling like you are missing out on stability. Combined with Salomon’s Quadriliser sidecut, it makes for a genuinely solid carving board with impressive grip and precision. The sidecut is broken into a series of straight lines divided between radial sidecuts, loading pressure onto larger sections of the edge at different points throughout the turn. Grip comes at the start, through the centre, or at the end of the arc, but in a way that still feels fluid rather than hooky or jilted.

Construction and Sustainable Materials

Salomon uses some innovative construction methods and materials that keep this board on the greener side of the sustainability spectrum. The mid-stiffness flex comes from softer biax fiberglass layers sandwiched between polonia wood stringers. The Pop Stur construction is a particular highlight: the core is milled at varying thicknesses along its length, reinforcing stress areas while keeping the weight lighter and the flex more natural in others. The result is a stable, lively board with plenty of pop, achieved without filling the core with additives.

The sustainable material choices go further. The bamboo top sheet veneer adds lightweight pop and gives the board a natural wood look that stands out among the HPS models. Bamboo and cork sidewalls run right along the rails, which work well not only because they are durable, but also because they add a layer of damping along the board’s entire length.

Who Should Ride It

Louis Parady himself rides it, but you do not need to ride like Salomon’s own style master to get the most out of this board. It is one of those hidden gems in a brand’s lineup that perfectly fuses freestyle performance with a more freeride-focused outline. If you want to take your freestyle far outside the park ropes this season, and occasionally back inside them too, this might just be the perfect tool for the job.

It suits riders who are not just making turns in the backcountry, but are hunting out every pillow, wind lip, cornice, and cliff drop to showcase their creativity. The blend of float, edge grip, and pop makes it forgiving enough for dicey conditions yet capable enough for freestyle lines.

Buying Advice

This is a purpose-built powder board with enough conventional traits to stay usable everywhere else. Look for it if you already spend most of your time off-piste and want a board that rewards creativity in deep snow without giving up carving precision on the way down. Its eco-conscious construction and award-winning shape make it easy to recommend to riders who want character and performance in one package.

Conclusion

The Salomon HPS Louis Parady snowboard brings together a thoughtful powder-focused shape, versatile Rock Out Camber, and genuinely sustainable construction. For riders chasing freestyle in the backcountry, it is an easy board to fall in love with.