Borealis Leviathan Snowboard Review with Joe

A Breakdown Of How The Borealis Leviathan Rides And Who Its For Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
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Borealis Leviathan Overview

How It Was Tested

So I rode this with my Union Force bindings and my Nitro Team TLS boots. I got this out on two days: good spring groomers, and then one of our only powder days where it was nine inches in most places, with a good bit of wind loading in others.

I also compared this against the Pilot Fish, the Arbor A-Frame, and the Nitro Cannon 163. You can see those comparisons on Patreon and on YouTube for paid members only.

I liked it so much I asked to keep it (only do this with favorites).

Size: 164
Days: 2
Conditions: 9-12″ of Pow and Varied Spring Groomers
Riders: James (Size 9 E, 5’10”, 185-190lbs). I’ve tested and compared 850+ boards, 200+ bindings, and 120+ boots
Boots: Nitro Team BOA, Nitro Team TLS
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Force, Union Atlas Step On
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse Jacket, Jones Mtn Surf Anorak
Pant: Skyline Fase 3L Bib Pant, Skyline Faze Pant, Jones Mountain Surf Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag Low Bridge Fit
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove

James’ Set Up: 21″ Wide. Stance Angles +24/+6, +27/+9 back. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.
Joe’s Set Up: 21” Wide. Stance Angles +24/+6, +27/+9 back. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Korua Pintonic, Weston Japow, Gentemstick Barracuda, Soul Shift, Nidecker Beta, Nidecker Beta APX, Korua Pintonic, Jones Storm Chaser 2025, Stranda Tree Surfer, Salomon Wolle Nyvelt Fish, Burton Smooth Operator, Korua Pencil, Amplid Time Machine, Amplid Surfari

Ethics Statement

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Sizing

How it Fits Me

This 164 fit me really well. Even though this has a very wide waist and it’s very wide over the front foot, it’s considerably less wide over the back foot.

And I find that boards like this with a lot of taper are a lot easier for me to turn with size nine boots like this. While it wasn’t super fast, it was manageable in all conditions except for maybe really tracked-up uneven snow.

So this is the size I want, especially for powder days. And again, this is my personal preference for sizing, to give you context for the review.

How It Might Fit You

Sizing is highly subjective and personal, and many factors come into play when choosing a board. I rarely use “all caps to emphasize something, but NEVER TRUST ANYONE who just references their height and weight. Here are all the factors to consider

Boot Size

You should always start with your boot size first. If your board is too wide for your boot, you can’t turn it; if it’s too narrow, you get the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag. This is the most important part of sizing a board, which is why so many snowboards come in various widths, such as Narrow, Normal, Mid-Wide, Wide, and Ultra-Wide.

Most brands don’t include a recommended boot size because it’s very complicated and time-consuming.

Here is the sweet spot to turn easily with mid-response bindings/boots and not boot-out. You can go wider if you carve really hard or have very responsive bindigns/boots.

164: 9-10

Don’t let the waist width fool you as the tail is very narrow and this has a lot of taper. This isn’t ideal for bigger boots because of the considerably narrow width over the back foot.

You can go with a smaller boot if you go with a very responsive binding/boot combo.

Weight

Your weight determines how the board flexes underfoot, giving you more or less pop, speed, etc. An easier-flexing board can also be easier to turn. Borealis’ recommended weight range is pretty fair for this ride but I think a bigger guy could ride it.

Height

The length of the board determines the swing weight/control. If it’s short, it’s easy to spin, and if it’s longer, it floats better and can help with speed. This is good to ride a little to a lot longer than you normally would.

Boots and Bindings Response

Always factor in your boot and binding’s responsiveness to determine how well you will be able to turn/control a board.

Stance Width

Check your stance width against their reference and/or the set back stance to see if it fits you.

Personal Preference

Some prefer control, so matching the boot size to the board width is first, with weight second. Others prefer speed over control, so they size up to a wider/longer ride and have very responsive boots/bindings.

Design

Construction / Durability

Now, when it comes to construction, weight, durability, that kind of thing, this is a very well-built board from the base to the edges to the sidewalls to the topsheet.

Now, this topsheet is not what’s going to be in production. It’s going to look this way, but it’s going to have a gloss topsheet. So while this handled scuffs pretty well, it scuffed a little bit. I’m not sure what the gloss topsheet will be like in terms of reliability and how it will manage scuffs and scratches. You’ll have to tell me that.

But as it stands now, whether it’s gloss or matte, I still think this is a very recommendable board for people who want to keep a board for a long time.

And while it’s not heavy, it’s not ultra-light either. They’re going for durability, longevity, and dampness versus that ultra-light, ultra-poppy thing. If you like the ultra-light, ultra-poppy thing, check out the Pilot Fish.

Shape & Setback

Now, when it comes to shape, this is very snowsurf-like. You have a big long nose with a good amount of taper, and then your stance location is very set back on board.

You have seven-by-two inserts for each foot instead of six-by-two. And then there are setback inserts that are mini disc, hybrid disc, and full-sized disc compatible. So anybody can get a little more set back on board.

So with this cutout in the swallowtail, in powder you feel like you’re riding right on the tail. In groomers, you feel that a little bit less, but it’s still a very setback directional board that emulates what it’s like to be on an actual surfboard in the ocean.

On Snow Performance

Camber / On Snow Feel

And it feels like when I’m on a step-up. There is a very mellow camber going basically from the tail all the way over to the front foot, and then it starts to rocker up a touch before this big nose.

And it feels like there’s more camber here. It’s very stable. It’s very good for one-footing and for flat basing down a long, flat cat track. It has that same consistent feel underfoot in all conditions.

And while it’s not super technical or catchy, it’s pretty easy to skid a turn, especially for this length, if you get off your game.

It’s not the kind of board that I would suggest for beginner intermediates. Maybe a committed intermediate who fits this board spec-wise really well and can turn it easy could go for this, but you might catch an edge here and there, and it might be harder to manage if you’re more my specs.

But it might be doable, and you might take some lumps. But just so you know, I warned you. I’m a little on the conservative side, though.

Edge Hold

When it comes to the grip on the Borealis Leviathan, it doesn’t seem to have Borealis’ mellow disruption in the sidecut that a lot of their other boards have that works really well with the camber profile to give you more grip.

That being said, this still felt pretty competent in some firm, borderline-fair mornings. So as long as you’re not riding really hard to icy snow, I think you’ll be fine with this.

And it did not sap my confidence when I hit hard patches. I just had to dial it back a touch.

Flex Personality

This is a medium-stiff overall flex with a touch of medium in it. Down by the tail, it’s pretty stiff, but then you flex the tail, it’s more like medium-stiff.

Between the feet is really stiff. There is not much give there. And most of this flex that makes it feel softer is in the nose. This is medium-soft here for sure. As you get down into the camber area, it stiffens up a lot.

It’s an easy board to lean into the tail and butter. Very easy in the nose. If you’re looking to butter in powder, this will be really fun.

And the ollie power, the pop on this board, is just so lively and poppy. That was a really good one, but it just shows how poppy this is.

And I just love this new construction they have with Borealis. It really has a lot of energy without much buckingness or chatter. And that’s a very special thing.

Uneven Snow

The Borealis Leviathan does a great job in hard, uneven snow. Even though this is built to shine in powder, and while it doesn’t feel like one of those ultra-damp boards, it actually feels kind of poppy and flexy underfoot.

The chatter just doesn’t come up and through, so it’s kind of deceiving. But especially in same-day comparisons, when I got off this board and got on others, I was pretty impressed with the way this absorbed chatter.

Then soft, uneven snow. Even though this is a little flexy and poppy, it handles it very well. It’s not the best of the best, but it’s very good, and it’s a great all-day ride for a snowsurf board.

Switch & Park

I only rode the Leviathan switch for a little bit, and it’s not for me, but it can work if you are into riding swallowtails switch…some are. It’s not really a board you want to take into the park, except for maybe doing a surfy carve on a pipe wall.

But if you want to get air off-piste, you are really set back on board, but there is some tail behind you to give you a little bit of landing gear.

Turning / Carving

Turn Initiation

Now, when it comes to turning, I was surprised at how easy this was to initiate a turn for how wide it is. Overall, for my specs, it was on the lower end of medium-fast.

So if you see a tree line, as long as it’s not super tight, this is going to be really fun if you’re my specs.

And it’s okay in steeper critical terrain, but there are better boards for that for sure.

Carving / Committed Turns

Then when I got this on edge, especially in good groomers, the way this turned was so fun. Yeah, I had more pop and spring out of the Pilot Fish and many other Borealis boards, but after a day on good groomers, I came home and double-checked this camber because I just couldn’t believe it’s so mellow here.

But yet the way this board came out of a turn was really fun. I could front-foot weight this. I thought I did a little better center and back-foot weighting, but overall, with a little time and effort, no matter how you weight your turns, I think you could have a fun time with this.

Turning Experience / Sidecut

And the turning experience of this board is not bad. An 8.5m sidecut on a 164 isn’t super straight-line and down-the-line, and I felt like I could make some across-the-groomer carves.

It’s okay on a circle carve, but where it really shined was medium-radius turns to somewhat down-the-line S-turns that might take up half a medium-sized groomer. That’s where this board really came alive.

But if you want to do some more longer, drawn-out S-turns and open it up to a higher-speed carve, this can be really fun too.

Speed

If you want to point it, the Borealis Leviathan does a great job for a board like this. If you flex it in a shop, you would think this nose would have lots of clown shoe effect.

But because they put some D3O in there and because of their liquid sidewall technology, they make a softer, flexy board that seems like it’s going to chatter at speed feel much more composed, especially for a board with this much taper.

And you can point it pretty well.

Base Glide

The base on the Borealis Leviathan is just great. This comes out of GP87, and they are exceptional when it comes to making bases.

I don’t feel any die-cut. I don’t know how they did that, but I love it. I like an all-black base more. I don’t like seeing the gray in the middle, but it’s fine.

And this holds wax incredibly well and has really effortless, easy glide.

Powder

So when it comes to powder, the Borealis Leviathan is a floater for sure. We had such a rough season, and I prioritized this over many others on the one good pow day we had, but it got tracked up so quickly.

I didn’t really get a great line on this, and then it was pretty much over on the next run. But I will say this: even with this crappy line, I felt so comfortable controlling and turning this in more tracked-up powder.

It just had effortless float. It felt like it wasn’t even trying in the almost foot of powder I had.

And this is the kind of board I really like for medium- to low-angle powder days where you want a little more length in board, you want to be really set back, and you want easy directional float with minimal to no rear leg burn.

And what I like about this swallowtail is it’s not a super cutout where the tail sinks, but you can set it all the way back and ride it without feeling like you’re like this, like you’re wheeling through the powder.

This still planes pretty well and stays up and gives you more speed, so you don’t have to necessarily set it forward. You can use these mini disc-compatible inserts on the back here and really get easy float, especially for those who like a little bit more open terrain and like more longer, drawn-out turns in powder.

Love getting a rooster tail going behind you, but this can also slash pretty well too. So pretty fun all-around powder board.

James’ Final Thoughts

And overall, the Borealis Leviathan is a very fun powder board. But that’s expected.

But what really lit it up for me is how well this carved groomers for having such a mellow camber profile. I think you’d be really missing out if you didn’t take this out on groomers.

And it’s a highly recommendable ride if this 164 fits your specs. There you have it.

Joe’s Take

The long rocker nose made engaging turns no issue, even with my small 7.5 Deeluxe Edge Pro boot. I’m only five foot six in height, weighing about 125 pounds, but I do enjoy running boards larger than the manufacturers will recommend.

Being that this only comes in the 164, I’m still considering adding this to my quiver as a dedicated powder board.

How Joe Tested It & Joe’s Take

When I am looking for a powder board, I realize those deep days can be few and far between, especially in a season like we just had at Bachelor.

So I really like a board that not only floats effortlessly, but is also a blast to carve on groomers and can ride switch better than onlookers would expect.

As you can see, the effective edge on this board extends all the way back into the swallowtail. Being that there is less material back here due to the swallowtail, it does soften the tail up quite a bit.

So having an effective edge extend into that swallowtail makes it a ton of fun on a carve, something you can really kind of shift your weight back and really flex that tail and change the shape of your carve.

Not only that, but the softer tail gives this board a little bit of a playful feel. You can do some nice, fun tail presses, and it gives this board a lot easier-to-access pop.

This thing definitely boosted me higher than I would have expected otherwise.

I absolutely love this board. Definitely be recommending it to anybody looking for a powder board that can also handle groomers extremely well and very well may be part of my quiver moving forward.