Board: Never Summer Raptor 159cm (Carbonium Series)
Testing Ground: Mount Snow, VT; Attitash, NH; Bretton Woods, NH
Conditions: Full range from powder, to groomers, to hard pack, to ice
Out of the Box: The board looks ready to rip. The top sheet is, for lack of a better term, beautiful. The carbon fiber look is simple, clean, and classy. Its weight is pretty average.
On the Snow: Describing this as an all mountain/free ride board is right on. I had it on basically every type of terrain, including the famous East Coast 'hard pack'. That's ice for you Westerners. It did well in light powder, tore up groomers and I never once lost an edge on the ice. I had it bombing down runs and fooled around with it in the park as well. I couldn't ask for anything more. I pushed the board as fast as I could take it and felt comfortable throughout. Flex was good too, a bit stiff than my other rocker-tech experiences. This is a good thing. The stiffer feel really helped it through turns as well, going from heel to toe was lightning quick. Long cruising turns were also done with ease, with little chatter. Also, riding switch on this thing is a breeze. The subtle lift in the tip and tail removes that little fear of catching a heel side edge when making turns.
In the Air: I hit mostly natural rollers as well as some medium-sized park jumps. The board had good pop and and landing was stable. The camber towards the tips allows you to grab an edge quickly after landing. The camber vs reverse camber debate will continue to go on but I found this board just as capable on jumps as my cambered board. You will however always lack that last-second whip that comes with cambered board.
Back in the Box: The board was fun as hell to ride. I'd call myself more of an all mountain rider than a freestyle rider, so this board was the perfect ride for me. If you are looking to delve into the reverse camber market, this board will be worth every penny. Its solid construction plus Never Summer's 3-year warranty makes it a safe bet.
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How would you compare to the Burton T6/T7 ? Looking for a board that carves really well on the east coast 'ice'. Been riding Customs Custom X for most of snowboard career.
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