Burton Family Tree Hometown Hero Splitboard

Among Burton's splitboards, the Family Tree Hometown Hero Splitboard plays the mixed-conditions role. Burton pitches it as the Hometown Hero's do-it-all character taken into the backcountry, for tight terrain, mixed snow and slashes in powder. The sliders agree on the descent it expects: the deep-snow scale runs all the way up, the all-terrain scale stops at 70%, and the park scale never moves.

That role matters when a tour ends on wind-packed snow or a refrozen exit track. The radius runs 7.6 m on the 158 and 158W, 7.8 m on the 162 and 8.2 m on the 168, which draws a longer arc than the tighter-radius 3D Fish Flat Top Splitboard. Its Personality rating is Happy Medium, the midpoint of Burton's three-step scale.

The two independent reviews we draw on cover earlier Hometown Hero Splitboards, which retailers listed with Twin Flex and a Dualzone EGD core, so read them with that difference in mind. A 2021 review found it held surprisingly well on flat hardpack tracks for a camber board and sank in, but not too deep, in powder; the same tester found it a little funky when soft snow turned variable. A later review enjoyed tight trees in heavy powder, said it climbs well, and found the topsheet scratched easily.

Inside Burton's splitboard line, the Hometown Hero Splitboard gives up deep-snow float to the 3D Fish Flat Top Splitboard. That board carries 30mm of taper, a flat-top bend and a 5.8 to 6.1 m radius, and Burton rates it All Mountain 0-40%. For steep, fast lines, the High Fidelity Camber Splitboard is the stiffer tool: Burton's 25/26 page lists it Stiff & Aggressive, with 7mm of taper and All Mountain 0-90%. At 158, Burton's numbers put the Hometown Hero at 256mm underfoot against 250mm on the High Fidelity.

Sizing for the Hometown Hero Splitboard on this listing follows Burton's bands: 150-200 lb for the 158 and 158W, and 180-260+ lb for the 162 and 168. The 158W keeps the 158's length, radius and band and adds 8mm at the waist, to 264mm, which is wider than the regular 162. Burton also makes a 146, 150, 154 and 162W. Between 180 and 200 lb either pair fits the band, and we choose with you by boots and touring plans.

The Hometown Hero Splitboard ships with Channel-compatible pucks on Burton's Split Channel mount, and Burton's page names the Step On Splitboard Bindings as its match. One earlier review found Split Channel heavier than typical mounts and limiting for binding choice, so a technician checks any other binding before it goes on.