Board Comparison: 2024 Glenwood

The following is a comparison of the boards I surfed at Glenwood Springs (river left) in the 2024 season. I’ve ordered them from least to most awesome. Enjoy!

5. Lib Tech Pickup Stick 8’
I have a ton of fun surfing this board at Glenwood, but if I’m honest it’s not ideal. 8 feet is pretty hard to keep from burying the nose, and there isn’t a lot of wave face to get a decent nose ride especially with how slow it turns. It is super fun to catch river left from the eddy at high water. And it has the added bonus of being able to surf river right as well.

4. Badfish Shuvit
I’ve surfed the Shuvit a lot at Glenwood over the years. The one thing that I’ve come to realize is that while it works great when there’s foam on the face, once the wave greens up it becomes very difficult to catch. I also feel like it’s hard to engage the rails on such a high volume board. It is very easy to surf when there’s foam on the wave and can be a great choice for a beginner or intermediate river surfer.

3. TL Crusty Booger 4’1″
This board is by far the shortest I’ve surfed at Glenwood river left. Surfing such a short board is incredibly fun and a very different experience. It can also be boogied deep into the foamy center of the wave for some rowdy belly rides. The short length however, makes it difficult to overcome the “bubble” that forms and pushes you off the back of the wave.

2. Lib Tech Freak Flag Bean Bag 5’10”
The FFBB has been my goto board for Glenwood for a few years. It’s easy to catch the wave on, has enough length and speed to overcome the bubble, and is low enough volume to allow decent rail surfing. It’s not the fastest to turn however; it’s more of a cruiser.

1. FCD Fish 5’7″
This is the first year I surfed this board at Glenwood or any river wave for that matter. I was super surprised how well it surfed! It has enough foam to catch and surf the wave when its foamy, but I’m also able to catch the wave when it’s green. Its low enough volume to engage the rails and makes some great turns. It can’t always avoid the bubble, but it handles it decently. To be honest, ocean fish shapes in general might be the best shape for Glenwood. This just happens to be the first that I’ve tried there.