Never Summer Benchmark Snowboard Review With Davey

An In Depth Breakdown of the Never Smmer Bechmark For Average Riders Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

How The Never Summer Benchmark Was Tested:

I borrowed the  for an extended demo and will be sending the 156 back but Davey Love’s his 161x and doesn’t want to send it back.

Size: 156 for James and 161x for
Days: 10+
Conditions: Everything from pretty good pow to perfect mid winter snow to varied sprng conditions.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-195lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards and close to 1,000 if you count different versions of the same Model over the years.
Davey (Size 12, 240lbs, 6’4”)
Boots: Nitro Team TLS, Ride Deadbolt, Burton Ion
Insoles: Footprint Kingfoam Orthotic Elite
Bindings: Union Force
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse 3L Jacket, Skyline Fuse Light 3L Jacket
Pant: Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant, Skyline Faze Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout, Smith Maze
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove, Drop Tahoma Mitt,

James’s Set Up

21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/+3, +18/-9. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Davey’s Set Up:

23” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/+3. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

United Shapes Cadet, YES Pick Your Line, Korua Otto, Ride Algorythm, Ride Shadowban, Salomon Highpath, Yes Standard Uninc, Capita Black Snowboard Of Death, Cardiff Lynx, Nitro Alternator

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Construction / Durability / Weight

You can read all the tech on Never Summer’s site, but the Benchmark is very well built. I like that they aren’t heavy but still well built. The top sheet is durable and not easy to scuffing, the sidewalls are durable and if treated well, this will last a long time while staying on the light side of medium weight wise.
(We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores, there is no consistency in a board’s weight)

Sizing

Never Summer is pretty liberal with their boot sizes and a can sometimes be a little on the conservative side when it comes to max recommended weight.

Sizing is all about balancing what fits your boot size (most important), weight (second most important) and height (third most important) for how you like to ride. Size down for more control and size up for more speed/stability/carving power. Most Brands, Including are very conservative with recommended weight and very liberal with recommended boot sizing Here are some ideal US boot sizes for these boards. If it comes down to boot size or weight, I would ensure it fits your boot first and then your weight a close second.

Here is our conservative but guaranteed sizing recommendations

152: 9-10 US, 135-175lbs
156: 9.5-10.5 US, 140-200lbs
160: 10-11 US, 160-220lbs
157x: 10.5-11.5 US, 150-210lbs
161x: 11-12 US 170-230+lbs

James’s Take

156 felt great for my weight and height but a little wide for my boot size. This would be the size I’d get if I was going to buy it but it would be much better if I was a 10-10.5 boot. As it stands now, it was great in the mornings when conditions were clean and easy to turn in. It wasn’t terrible when conditions got more uneven and harder to turn, but it was a little more fatiguing for me with size nine boots than it would be for maybe you if you’re my same specs and a size ten.

Davey’s Take

Davey felt this 161x was pretty good for his specs but Davey generally likes a board a little smaller than his specs for more control. Also, it’s because it’s hard as hell to get a board in his size so he’s used to smaller boards.

Shape and Stance

When it comes to shape, the Never Summer Benchmark is directional with 10mm of taper. The nose has a good bit more surface area vs. the narrower shorter tail. The tail is made to sink well in powder but not feel as small on groomers.

The Benchmark is very centered on reference but has more setback on board than the Proto Fr and Eclipse but still sits in that world in between Freeride and All Mountain. It can go from -8mm on sidecut and almost the same on board to -3” back on the set back inserts at a 21.75” which is a very usable stance width for many riders. Especially with good full sized discs that can still slide tip to tail on 40mm apart inserts.

Camber Profile

The Never Summer Benchmark has a pretty busy hybrid rocker camber profile. There is a mellow rocker that’s almost flat in the middle. Then it rockers up pretty quickly to a mellow elliptical camber profile on the front foot to early rise in the nose. There is a shorter / higher camber on the back foot that has a short rocker before the tail. The end result is a board that only has full time contact with the snow in the middle.

This gives it a very loose auto spinny feel. The firmer it gets, the more you feel that. It doesn’t one-foot well off the chair or track well when you’re flat basing. That being said it’s very forgiving and very easy for anybody at any ability level to ride. It’s not going to be boring if you’re an expert, and it’s not going to be challenging as a beginner. You just have to learn to keep it always on edge just a little bit, no matter what you’re doing.

Edge Hold

When it comes to edge hold, the Never Summer Benchmark has a multiple radius side cut that has good grip. It can handle hard, bordering on icy snow very well. It’s a very competent grip. You can get more grip from Recurve Camber and Fusion Tripple Camber boards though if you see a lot of hard to icy snow.

Flex and Pop

The Never Summer Benchmark has a pretty medium-ish flex, but the flex varies throughout the board. There’s a good bit of pop to this, like most Never Summer boards. In the tail it’s pretty stiff. It’s softer through the mid, then stiffens up again with camber. Even with the carbon x in the middle it gives easier just because of the rocker is set to bend that way.

It’s really easy to get leverage for tail butters, weelies in powder and nose butters.

Now it can be a little tricky to get this to pop because there are different places to access the flex, but once you learn, you can pop center-weighted, off the rocker, or off the extra camber in the tail.

Switch and Park Riding

For a 10mm tapered directional board, the Never Summer Benchmark rides switch pretty well. It feels more all-mountain in the easy way it throws around switch. In the park, it’s fun in the pipe and on kickers but isn’t the best jibber for average riders like us, but doable if you rip.

Uneven Snow and Dampness

I love the way Never Summer’s construction balances pop and dampness. They do a great job of not letting the RDS Dampening cancel out the carbon fiber and vice versa. So you’ve got great pop, but also a board that handles hard uneven snow pretty well and soft uneven snow even better.

Yes, having all but the rocker not 100% in contact with the snow makes it chatter a little more and bounce, but it quiets down pretty quickly by the time it gets to your feet. It doesn’t reverberate into your joints like some boards. It’s very easy to adapt to and a good all-day ride, as long as you size it correctly.

Turning

The Never Summer Benchmark initiated a turn pretty quick for my size nine boots. It’s a little mid-wide, better for size 10–10.5, but still worked for me. In the trees, in powder it had good turn initiation but it’s a little more challenging when conditions are more firm and uneven.

This varied camber makes it difficult to weight your turns like you do a normal board and in my extensive testing I found each part of the board to react differently to a harder turn / Carve. I found the most spring engaging the more aggressive camber on the back foot. Center weighted turns hurry you up through the turn and don’t hold well unless your really turn bow legged with your knees pushing out as hard as they can towards the tip/tail. The mellow camber doesn’t respond as well to a front foot weighted turn and being centered on a board with this much taper makes the tail wash easier.

When you’re on the set back inserts, you’re more over the center of the rear camber, and that is where I found the most satisfying turn. So for me, had fun turning it but missed being able to center and front weight turns as well as the back foot.

Overall, the turning radius was pretty balanced and the sidecut allows you to do any kind of radius turn well but nothing really stands out.

Base Glide

When it comes to base glide, Never Summer bases are really good. They can get dry and need waxing, but wax lasts a while. Glide is upper-tier, keeps speed well, and is pretty fast. I’m not a fan of die cuts, but Never Summer does them well—you barely feel them.

Powder

In powder, I love the setback inserts. This tapered tail, the bigger nose, and the rocker all work together to give the Never Summer Benchmark the best float of any Never Summer board I tested this year. That includes the Proto Freeride, Never Summer Eclipse, Proto Type Three, Proto Ultra, and the new Trooper. This had the best float. Davey and I both had a great time on this in powder—it really lights up. The next stop from here, In Never Summers line, is the Swift if you want more pow float. It’s pretty close to the Valhalla but I prefer the way this turns and pops off the tail better.

Final Thoughts from James

Overall, other than the loose feel, the Never Summer Benchmark is a fun board. It has good pop, good grip, great float, and it’s versatile and well-built.

Big Guy Perspective from Davey

How are we doing, folks? Davey Boy here, and today I’m talking about a big guy’s perspective on the Never Summer Benchmark. Look at this bad Larry. I rode this board a ton—probably 15 to 20 days. And I love this thing.

Right now, out of all the boards I reviewed this year, the Never Summer Benchmark is my second favorite. This is going to be a big guy’s favorite. I almost thought I was going to be booting out, but I wasn’t. This thing is super poppy with a whole other spring to it. It felt like I lost 30 pounds with how much better I was jumping.

This board let me access another level of pop. I started looking at transitions differently. Natural features became gaps of 8 to 10 feet instead of 5 to 6, and that was without even trying. The Never Summer Benchmark is naturally that poppy and fun.

The setback stance opens up a whole new world of possibilities. It floated really well in deep powder—two to three feet on Mount Bachelor’s steep terrain. I had no issues floating and had a ton of fun. This is hands down one of my favorite boards.

I want to get my hands on this and add it to my quiver. It’s unforgettable, and I hope to ride it again. The Never Summer Benchmark is a big guy’s favorite—fun, poppy, versatile, and capable of everything from groomers to powder to the park. With the custom setback inserts, it turns into a true quiver killer. This board rocks.