Never Summer Swift 2016-2020 Snowboard Review

List Price US $619

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Never Summer Swift 2020 - 2016 Review by The Good Ride

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The Never Summer Swift is a huge improvement over the old Summit and we like this ride much better. It’s got a very easy float to it and it’s very durable. It can also hang pretty well on groomers which is great because not every turn can be in powder.

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.  We borrowed this for a day and then returned it. We had a couple of laps at a frantic manic demo day. We liked it so much we asked to keep it (we only do this with our favorites).  After a demo, we liked it so much we bought it.  We spent our precious Good Ride dollars to buy this and review it.
Size: 157
Days: 5+
Conditions: Everything from a tracked out messy pow day to pretty good mid-winter groomers to some pretty deep powder along with some early morning slackountry time with Drift Boards.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata, Union Falcor

Similar Boards (but not the same) That We Compared This To:
Capita Spring Break 158 Powder Glider, Capita Spring Break 161 Tree Hunter, Jones Mind Expander
Gentemstick Mantaray 156, Korua Dart, Korua Pencil, Rome Pow Division MT,

Set-Up: 21.5″ to 22” Wide. 21 front 0 to -6 back. Close to Reference and Set all the way back.

Approximate Weight: Feels normal and very well built.

Sizing: The 157 is wider than you would think for a board that fits a size 9 boot but it did a great job for our boot size and specs. I thought the 152 might fit us better but after riding the 157 that’s for sure the one. These boards seem like they are best for size 8-10 boots and can handle most weights. the 162 seems like it could push a little bit past size 10 but not too much because it seems best to get this wider than you normally ride a more traditional double ender so you can get the most float wise out of the width.

Flex/Buttering: The Never Summer Swift is pretty stiff but the board does flex a little more in the middle than the tip/tail. That and the rocker/pre-bend up make it easier to butter than you would think by flexing it in the shop. Never summer has a great balance between pop and dampness. It has this super damp rubbery feel that insulates chatter underfoot incredibly well but then has a surprisingly poppy personality underfoot that really snaps and pops.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns: The directional hybrid rocker profile makes for a pretty loose feel in harder snow but in softer snow, it feels semi-stable. It likes to be on edge one footing and doesn’t flat base super easy. It has a very easy ride to it though and it’s super easy for almost any ability level to ride it. You can skid turns all day if that is what you want to do but it comes alive if you turn it correctly and really has an on the back foot kind of ride for groomers and a pretty easy ride when it comes to rear leg burn in powder. The Never Summer Swift doesn’t have a super tapered feel in comparison to some of its peers with the same amount of taper (around 20mm) but when you want it can still really slash/surf it up on groomers as well as powder.

Edge Hold: Very competent edge hold that can handle hard snow well enough but isn’t really an icy snow specialist.

Turn Initiation: Both Peter and I thought the Never Summer Swift would have been slower edge to edge on groomers and on powder but it really turned well. It turned more med/fast in powder but was a little bit slower edge to edge on groomers but overall it borders on being medium/fast for quick turns. What we liked is it could make hard rights and lefts in tree runs and would be almost as fast. This might be a touch slower than some Never Summer boards but overall this turns pretty fast in comparison to the rest of the industry. Maybe the rocker in the middle helps it turn faster.

Turning Experience/Carving: So it has been a while since we rode the Never Summer Swift and we both were really surprised at what a fun turning experience we had. If you put a good bit of weight into the back foot and engage that healthy bow of camber back there it really had nice drive out of a turn and carved pretty hard. It’s the kind of ride that you don’t have to put away after the powder is gone and that’s why we say boards like these aren’t just powder boards. The only time we didn’t like the Swift was in tracked up powder that was getting messy and bumpy. We felt it just didn’t drive through the turns as well as some of the other boards we rode which is more of a turning complaint than an uneven terrain complaint.

Powder: This wider shape really sat the entire board on top of the powder well and it made some of the deeper snow clips we got on camera look less deep. It really had a good float to it that was close to some of the floatiest powder boards we have ever ridden. At a 21.25″ stance width you can get a difference between nose and tail of 9″ or 4.5″ back from the center of the board. That’s pretty far but it still feels like you have lot’s of tail left for getting air without it getting too weird.

Speed: Very damp and the only thing holding the Never Summer Swift back from being faster is the rocker between the feet seems to make the board chatter more than you would think. The base is super fast and has a really easy glide to it so it can get you out of those long traverses in or out of your off-piste run.

Uneven Terrain: So the Never Summer Swift really shines most of the types of uneven terrain you come across. It is super damp and in more groomer oriented bumps/messy snow it did well. Same for micro bumps and overall the Never Summer Swift really did an exceptional job at insulating what was happening below your feet. It could also easily turn around or power over bumpy shit.

All in all the Never Summer Swift was a great job in almost any condition and other than it’s inability to drive turns really hard in messy powder it did a great job everywhere else. It is a very recommendable board for those that want more directional set back riding on groomers and want to have a board that can handle the deepest of deep.

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