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The Burton Deep Thinker showcases a retro look with modern shape and technology. It provides a blast from the past type of feel and will make you want to tweak methods all over the mountain. The fast edge to edge movement with an aggressive on board feel will pair nicely with your favorite rock and roll or punk bands playing on your phone. The Burton Deep Thinker is good for more aggressive all-mountain riders who like speed and quick edging.
REASONS TO BUY
Responsive
Great float
Stomp pad is useful
REASONS TO AVOID
Heel and toe drag
Can be challenging to control for newer riders
Slips on hardpack
Graphics Updated
Burton added fresh graphics to the Deep Thinker for the 2022/2023 season, but the technical aspects and materials of this board remain the same as the model we tested.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Deep Thinker is the brainchild of Danny Davis, a world-renowned and respected halfpipe rider. His style is smooth, creative, and showcases superior board to body control. He helped to design this board to excel on groomers and powder; that's precisely what it does. This board is meant for someone who likes an aggressive profile to go down the mountain fast and make a quick edge to edge movements while seeking that next arcing toe turn or surfy heel side slash. It would also excel in transition riding as it can maintain power up the walls and provide loads of pop.
Performance Comparison
Bottom turns with Big Blue.
Credit: Ryland West / Isaac Laredo
Edging
The Deep Thinker provided secure edge grip on hardpack, but because of its setback stance and rocker placement, very icy spots got the respect they deserved. It was one of the narrowest competitors in the field. The narrow width required our testers to get creative to avoid toe and heel drag to be able to carve low. This resulted in a lot of washouts which is kind of a bummer. The benefit to the narrow waist width is that it makes the board very easy to roll edge to edge and incredibly responsive. The stiff flex and waist width gives this board a fast and aggressive fall line-oriented turning experience.
A Craig Kelly inspired graphic.
Credit: Ryland West / Isaac Laredo
Float in Powder
The setback stance, taper, and long rockered nose allowed the Deep Thinker to naturally keep the nose above the snow. This model thrived in deeper snow and remained nimble through trees and stable when performing open turns in bowls.
Stablity at Speed
The stiff flex and narrow waist width provided a very secure onboard experience. It felt stable when straight lining and on edge. It almost asks to be on edge due to the responsive nature of the board. Even though its nose is long and rockered, there was limited to no nose chatter due to the stiff flex. The flex made this board love going down the fall line transitioning edge to edge at high speeds.
Playfulness
Here is the tradeoff for those flex specific benefits described above. As one of the stiffest most responsive models in the review, it required a lot of rider effort to butter and do press-centric maneuvers. For a board of this character, it performed skidded turns, slashed lips and short radius turns well. The maneuverability on edge helped the Deep Thinker obtain a more playful style.
An example of a skidded turn.
Credit: Ryland West / Isaac Laredo
Pop and Jumping
The Deep Thinker popped very well due to its stiff flex and even stiffer tail. Popping off a directional shape or smaller tail takes time to figure out as it is different than a standard twin tail.
Should You Buy the Burton Deep Thinker?
The Deep Thinker's powder performance helps justify the price tag, because it can be ridden all over the mountain. If you like high speeds, quick edging and surf-styled skidded turns, this could be an aesthetically pleasing, aggressive, and responsive all-mountain board for you.
What Other Snowboards Should You Consider?
One of our favorite all-mountain boards is the Yes. Optimistic, which performed quite well across all of our test metrics. Blew your winter budget on a season pass and seeking something a bit more affordable? Check out the Jones Frontier, which has a more approachable price tag yet still thrives in most types of mountain conditions.
