Splitboard Adventures at Chimera and Pallas Snowboards

Kate Colgan, Sid Garrido and Alister Horn, the masterminds behind Chimera Snowboards and Pallas Snowboards, provide compelling insights about the practice of backcountry snowboarding, as well as their niche of creating and riding unique “split-boards.”

All three were frequent snowboarders prior to starting Chimera and Pallas. While Chimera was founded in 2009 upon this idea of making split-boards for the general public and increasing accessibility into the outdoors, Pallas began as a sister company in 2013 when Garrido, Colgan and Horn decided to manufacture snowboards specifically for women—something the community at large had not addressed back then.

“Split-boarding is the process of splitting one board into two skis. You use the skis to go uphill and reassemble the skis to snowboard [downhill],” says Horn. “In 2009, not many people made them and they were not very good. Since then, Pallas has started building split-boards for women.” While they are two separate manufacturing units, they remain sister companies and continue to collaborate, workshop designs and manufacture ideas together.

“Pallas is one of the first women’s brands in the game to build directional, volume-shifted boards.”

“Snowboarding and split-boarding could be summed up as two different brands under the same umbrella, where Chimera is focused on the split-boarding and designing, and Pallas focuses on split-board and snowboard design from a woman’s perspective,” says Garrido. “Within [our] snowboard design, there [are] so many different options for different designs. There’s a snowboard that’s specific to deep powder days, or a snowboard that’s really good in a park where people will ride rails and jumps.”

Chimera and Pallas are also flavored by Salt Lake City’s arts culture. The majority of the snowboard and split-board designs come from Willy Nevins, a local skateboarder and SLC-based artist. Nevins manages the media outlets for both companies and produces graphics and animations that go into the designs of each board.

In its early years, Chimera built volume-shift boards, which have a distinct nose and tail and a greater surface area, for women. One of the lines of snowboards uses a plastic, inside-edge that requires half the steel that a regular snowboard

uses and optimizes different ski boot sizes. “One thing I love about our boards is that they are as aesthetically pleasing as they are fun to ride. The shapes of our boards are so eye-catching,” says Horn. “Pallas is one of the first women’s brands in the game to build directional, volume-shifted boards.”

Colgan explains that “creating a space for women in backcountry snowboarding where they feel safe and included, if they’re new and want to learn; giving them a community and support system” are all important. “When I started snowboarding in 2007, my board rode so bad I didn’t want to do it. I swore off women’s boards until I found Pallas,” she says.

Pallas offers clinics every December that provide lessons addressing safe travel techniques, as well as instruction on using proper rescue equipment and navigating the background environment properly with weather and avalanche forecast technology. “On the education side, you have the gear, you have your split-board. And then you have your avalanche rescue gear, and that’s what you use in the event of an avalanche,” says Colgan. “You need to know how to use that gear and how to travel safely. Anyone who wants to venture out into the backcountry should be taking classes to learn.”

“Split-boarding is the process of splitting one board into two skis. You use the skis to go uphill and reassemble the skis to snowboard [downhill].”

One local program that snowboarders can attend is “Know Before You Go,” where riders can learn more about the essential elements of backcountry travel and riding in order to make more educated decisions. “It’s good to have a foundation of snowboarding basics before you do split-boarding to ensure you are safe out there,” says Garrido.

In addition to offering split-boards and backcountry clinics to Utah residents, Chimera and Pallas both offer these initiatives worldwide, giving millions of aspiring snowboarders the chance to become better equipped for backcountry adventures. Learn more online at chimerasnowboards.com and pallassnowboards.com.

Read more stories from the December Sportz Issue:
Building Strength & Confidence at the Highland Games
Community Through Kicks: Alexis Whitney’s SLC Muay Thai