Never Summer Proto Snowboard

Never Summer Proto In Depth Review

Size 157

Days- 20+
Riders- James, Peter, Jimbo and a few others

Bindings- Burton Diode, Flux DS30, Burton Prophecy, Burton Cartel, Burton Malavita Restricted,
Boots- DC Status, Nike Kaiju, Burton SLX, Burton Ion, Burton Imperial, Burton Hail
Conditiions- Everything from 2 feet + of powder to hard/icy conditions.

Most big companies have an aggressive twin and this was one hole we felt never summer needed to fill in their line up.  Many people say it’s 1part Evo, 1Part SL and a tiny part Heritage because of the carbonium top sheet. It’s a sturdy well built all mountain freestyle board.

2012 Never Summer Proto Review (Same as 2013)

On Snow Feel- The Proto can feel stable in softer conditions but a little loose in harder conditions.  The rocker between the feet almost looks flat so maybe  that is why it feels so stable when combined with a mellow eliptical camber on the back.  It can accommodate any freestyle mood while still offering up some pretty good all mountain qualities as well.  It isn’t bad flat basing and one footing off the chair. It’s one of those boards that can butter, Ollie, carve and it’s even damp enough for a moderate straight line.  It has a fun playful feel to it that many will like.

Powder- I actually had a couple of days in 2 feet of deep thick sierra cement and felt this not to be one of it’s better qualities.  It’s got a better float than camber and flat camber but it didn’t have an easy float compared to many hybrid rocker twin’s I tried.  If you live in places with light fluffy powder it shouldn’t be a problem but if you ride places with thick near the coast kind of snow you might want to consider something with more float.

Turn Initiation and Carving- This board is rather hard to describe when it comes to the way it turns.  Most boards we ride that are hybrid rocker are incredibly easy to make short radius turns.  The Proto CT is not as easy compared to many hybrid rocker boards of the same flex and to us this is good.  The demo model actually prefered to lock an edge into the snow on an almost straight line type of turn and and just keep going but the production model is more easy going. It’s one of the better hybrid rocker boards for tracking an almost straight line path like to hit a jump or the flat in a half pipe. It’s quick edge to edge and pretty easy for short to medium radius turns.  When it comes to carving it’s pretty fun to lay into a moderate carve but it was missing something special that’s common with many hybrid rocker shape boards like this but it’s still pretty fun. Out of all the turns we made with the CT we found this to be one of the better boards to make moderate to high speed almost straight line type of turns. You know really long narrow S turns is where the Proto shines. It can also get a little slashy and it’s fun to spray snow.

Speed- Never Summer is great at making damp but flexible boards that can handle moderate to high speed on groomed runs.  It’s not as ideal in the chop or hard uneven terrain off piste as the Lib Tech Travis Rice but it still does a great job in most conditions you want to ride on.  We never felt uncomfortable at any speed on the mountain at moderate to high speeds and love the dampening tech that NS has in their boards.  If you pick up the speed on a long straight line you might start to get dissapointed.  That being said there isn’t any where in the park that will cause this board problems and most places on the mountain will be fine with this boards speed. This has the speed that many directional all mountain boards have and we commend that. Also the base is fast and picks up speed quickly which is great in the park.

Uneven Terrain-   They do a good job at making the ride damp but flexible so it can handle bumpy uneven terrain you see at the end of a crowded day. There is very good shock absorption here even with bindings that don’t have too much padding.  It’s always better with more but it’s better than you think.

Approximate Weight- We don’t put any board on a scale but to us the Proto felt lighter than most of the never summer boards and it was no burden on the feet when riding up the chair.

Edge Hold- One day we went out with the T.Rice and the Proto on a firm to hard pack snow day.  Both of us liked the way the proto gripped the snow that day better than the T.Rice. It might be a whole different story in east coast ice but we bet this would do a great job without feeling too grippy like some Magnetraction boards can do. This is ideal in an icy pipe and should hold an edge well in just about any condition out there.

Flex- The Proto has a flex that is on the soft side of medium. It’s similar to the SL and Cobra but it seems its just a little shade softer.

Switch- This is a twin.  It rides the same regular or switch.

Rails/Jibbing-  The Never Summer Evo is the better board if you like the jib park but the Proto is closer to it than you would expect. This isn’t super soft/flexy like the evo but it does a good job if you put a little more effort into it.

Pipe-  All of us loved the way the Proto got from wall to wall in our super duper pipe.  The excellent edge hold and the way the board likes to lock it’s edge into the snow for a short straight line to the next wall makes this one of the best pipe boards we have tried for a while. We had a lot of fun in pipe walls ranging from 16ft-22ft.  If you are into the pipe this is one of the best hybrid rocker boards out there for riding pipe. The shape is also pretty forgiving when it comes to landing compared to a camber board.

Jumps- The Proto is great at generating it’s own air.  We found this board very springy and had a lot of fun jumping around natural features on the mountain. There are more poppy boards out there but this is pretty fun while still being pretty stable for a hybrid rocker shape.

All in all we found the Proto to be one very fun board to ride.  It is a great board for the aggressive park rider or the person who likes to treat the whole mountain like a park.

Never Summer Proto Gallery

2013

2012

Never Summer Proto User Reviews