Pantheon Tortuga Andy Atchison Pro downhill deck

Pantheon Tortuga Andy Atchison Pro downhill deck

The Andy Atch Pro Model is here! If you remember the “Summit Series Tortuga,” consider this a more affordable but every bit as capable version of the same board. While many downhill racers are throwing torque blocks on their boards, the Andy Atch Pro sets you up with this excellent tucking mechanism within the design of the board.

SPECS

Length: 32″
Width: 8.5″ front bolts, 8.25″ back bolts, 9.125″ max width
Wheelbase: 20″ – 23″

CONCAVE

Featuring a bowl in the nose to amplify board feel in an otherwise medium concave. This allows for increased leverage on the toeside, and then the heel will fall into a supportive but comfortable concave. When compared to the Mitty Pro deck, you might consider the Andy Atch to be a bit more “surf style” and a little more aggressive in curvature. Riders will have their front foot land at around a 45 degree angle, and the ball of the rear foot will land on to the side of the W-bubble in back. The rest of the rear foot will fall into the tail wedge of the deck, where the W disappears and the tail comes up at an 8 degree angle. You can flat-foot tuck this board with ease.

CONSTRUCTION

8 ply maple core. Black dyed triaxial fiberglass top and bottom. Like all Pantheon boards in the current lineup, the entire board is laminated with waterproof resin. While the deck is not entirely waterproof, it is much more weatherproof and warp resistant than many other boards. Downhill stiffness out of the box.

CONCEPT

The Andy Atch Pro started out as the Seed deck, then Pantheon slimmed it down for Andy’s pro model “Tortuga.” This is the same board with an updated construction to make the deck significantly more affordable at no loss of riding prowess. Conceptually speaking, the deck features very sexy, smooth lines, and Panteon wanted this board to just look awesome underfoot. The board’s technical elements really center around the rear foot interface. The concept of a wedged tail stems originally from slalom decks. This has been done before, but what’s totally fresh here is the W bubble that Pantheon placed into the tail crease. This is not only a wood-bending feat, but it’s also an incredible interface for board feel. The rest of the deck is an extension of this tail interface, providing 3 mounting options up front so that once you’ve set up the rear of the deck to your liking, you can place your front truck where your tuck falls into the concave.

SETUPS

Plan to ride the Andy Atch with slim trucks and fat wheels. You could technically get close to rail matching on a 150mm truck and a slim freeride wheel, but most riders will likely want 130mm trucks or slimmer and a fat wheel like Venom Magnums, Seismic Alphas and 88 Mavs or Mittys.

This board is equipped with a 2 degree angled flush mount in the front, and the rear wedge will add an additional 8 degrees to your rear truck angle, so plan to use a wedged riser. 

When compared to the other pro model decks in the lineup, the Andy Atch feels exceptionally comfortable but provides more board feel due to the curvature than the Mitty Pro, for example. While the Mitty is more of a blank canvas, the Andy Atch setup revolves around rear foot placement and then provides ample flexibility from there. When compared the the Chase Hiller, it feels a bit more mellow and “classic,” and although the Andy Atch features are complex curvatures, they sort of disappear into the shape rather than particularly stand out.

A TRUE PRO MODEL

"Not just a pro model in name only. Pantheon’s pro model decks have a profit share set up to help fuel this pro rider’s dreams. We don’t want to overstate ourselves. We are still a small company selling limited numbers of our pro model decks. But when you ride this pro’s model, you are literally taking part in supporting this skater’s life. Each one counts toward our goal of supporting these skaters we believe in." Jeff