Onboard Magazine

Bataleon Snowboards was founded in 2000 by then 44-year-old biophsysicist Jorgen Karlson in the Netherlands. Karlson studied the riding properties of a snowboard and came up with the idea of the 3BT – triple base technology. Rejected by a bunch of snowboard companies, he ended up finding a couple dudes, who believed as much in it as he did and Bataleon was born. Starting off as a small business, it has developed into a company, that can easily compete with the big snowboarding companies out there.

3BT makes turn initiation smoother, with fewer edge catches, more stability at high speed, better float, whilst making the board more playful and forgiving. It combines both traditional and reverse camber with full tip to tail camber centerbase and rockered sidebases in one shape. Lobster Snowboards also use 3BT in all of their boards.

Up until its closure, Bataleon Snowboards produced all of their boards at the Elan factory in Feistriz, Austria. After the factory had to declare bankruptcy, Bataleon was forced to outsource half of its production to Asia. When Capita bought the Elan factory to re-open and resume production, Bataleon was able to return to fully manufacturing in Austria again.

With a short dive into producing bindings for a bit, the 2012/23 season saw the launch of the first range of outerwear by Bataleon Snowboards.

When it comes to board graphics, Bataleon Snowboards are keeping it relatively simple and clean. That is with the occasional camel toe thrown into the mix, that may have fired up some discussions here and there.