Never Summer East 2020 Snowboard Review

Never Summer East 2020 Review by The Good Ride

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Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

How This Review Happened:  We borrowed this for an extended demo and then returned it.
Size: 157
Days:  4
Conditions: Kept it to groomers.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Nick (Size 10, 160lbs, 5’8”) 
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV, Burton Imperial,
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata, Union Falcor, Union Superpro,

Similar Boards (but not the same) That We Compared This To:
Endeavor Alpha, Alloy D.O. Carbon

Set-Up: 21.5” to 22″ Wide. 27 front 0 to +6 back. Close to Reference

Approximate Weight: Feels on the heavier side of normal.

Sizing: The Never Summer East is pretty wide but it’s meant to be wider than what you would normally ride so there is zero chance of toe/heel drag for the average boot rider. So even though these specs look more mid/wide friendly they are actually better for 8-10 boots. You can go with larger sizes that are a little over a size 10 but then you flirt with not being able to lay it down quite as hard as you could. It can for sure handle second helping bug guy riders as well.

Flex/Buttering: This is the stiffest Never Summer board we tried and even though it is a hybrid rocker it isn’t bending much or at all.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns: The overall personality of the Never Summer East is all about Mellowcross. It takes all the things you need from a Boardercross board like being stiff, fast, damp and a great turner but it doesn’t have an unforgiving traditional super-cambered unbelievably catchy ride. I’ve only ridden a few boards like this but it’s the first one I’ve ever seen with a hybrid rocker profile. It’s incredibly aggressive for hybrid rocker but it’s still hybrid rocker so you can skid a turn with it and when you get off your game it’s not a foregone conclusion your body is going to slam down into the snow. That’s why we call this Mellowcross because it’s the most Mellow/Forgiving boardercross ride we have ridden or heard about. I think it might be the only hybrid rocker one out there. In comparison to the Alpha and D.O Carbon I tried it felt easy but if you got off an NS Chairman, a pretty aggressive carver in its own right, and then got on the NS East you would think the Chairman is a playful buttery board. It still feels a little loose underfoot harder snow but it’s probably the most stable board I’ve ever tried from NS.

Edge Hold: Really strong edge hold but it didn’t feel like it was going to be like some of the super disrupted sidecut boards we tried. I think it holds an edge better than any other board we have ever tried from NS though. There is just soo much effective edge and so little nose/tail that

Turn Initiation: So it wasn’t super fast edge to edge but the rocker underfoot really helped the board turn faster than you would think. It wasn’t the kind of board that can take hard rights or hard left kind of direction changes but it was easier than the other boardercross/freecarve style rides we tried.

Turning Experience/Carving: Powerful…just powerful and fun. There is a lot of camber over each foot and this extended ripsaw camber profile gives you a lot more carving power than you would think for a board with rocker underfoot. Both Nick and I were very surprised at what a powerful carver this is. Even though there is a good bit of taper, the Never Summer East doesn’t feel really washy off the tail but it seemed to like a pretty directional stance set up with a good bit of posi on the rear foot.

Powder: Even with the nose/tail off the snow I would never try it unless you have masochistic issues you need to address. It’s just not made for this and you can tell that nubbin of a nose/tail just isn’t made to float.

Speed: Never Summer is all about making a damp ride and their rating is off in comparison to the rest of the industry. A board they say isn’t that damp is often damper than most or all of its peer group in comparison to the rest of the industry. The Never Summer East has the highest rating of any of their boards when it comes to dampness and we both agree. It can bomb. On top of that, the base has some glide to it and it picks up speed quickly. You can really point this and even though the tip/tail are off the snow you barely feel any chatter. The one thing is in harder snow the rocker will make it feel a little loose but we were surprised at how it didn’t come into play as much as we thought it would. In comparison to something like the Alloy D.O. Carbon, it isn’t as stable at speed and doesn’t flat base as well but for a more average rider like myself, I would feel more confident bombing on this because it has less consequence if I get off my game. So some might like the more locked-in feel for bombing and others might prefer this. Regardless of the hybrid rocker feel underfoot it’s pretty clear this can really point it.

Uneven Terrain: So when you are on hard micro bumpy snow the Never Summer East will do a great job minimizing any chatter or crankiness you might feel underfoot. However, it’s not the board I want to be on when the snow get’s messy. It’s better than any other Freecarve/Boardercross board I’ve tried or heard of but it’s still best for perfectly groomed snow.

So, all in all, the Never Summer East offers up a very unique take on this type of ride. It takes all that is fun that similar boards like this have but it removes some of the consequence so Experts/Rippers can push it harder and Advanced/Average Riders can have more fun.