The Venus from Nidecker is a really fun inspiring all mountain board. The Venus is a directional twin that comes with a very interesting feel. This board has a smaller sidecut that gives it a specific feel in the turns. It is easy to figure out, but technical enough to ride in a lot of different conditions. It likes to carve, charge, float, ride switch, and even hit features if you want.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  No one is perfect and we do make money from the “Where To Buy” links below, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average rider’s perspective. 

How This Review Happened: We were sent this board for extended demo and returned it.

Nidecker Venus Fast Forward Markers & Timecodes

00:00 – Intro 00:21 – Waist Width 00:25 – Sizes 00:40 – Flex 00:46 – Camber Profile 00:57 – Base 01:04 – Snow Conditions 01:20 – Overall Personality 01:33 – On Snow Feel 01:51 – Turn Initiation 02:17 – Steeps 02:42 – Edge Hold 03:01 – Off Piste / Trees 03:17 – Groomers 03:57 – Turning Experience 04:15 – Switch 04:31.- Butters 04:57 – Freestyle Personality 05:31 – Pop / Energy 05:52 – Powder 06:04 – Furthest Set Back On Board 06:25 – Overall / Who Is This For?

Size tried: 151L which is too big for my personal specs. But I have ridden ths board in the 143 so I was drawing from that experience in the review as well.

Days:  Steph Owns This Board

Conditions: Packed Powder, Fresh Groomers, Hard Pack, A Little Early Season Powder

Riders: Steph, Paige

Boots: Vans Ferra

Bindings: Union Milan

Set Up: 15 front -15 back 20? wide

Approximate Weight: Feels normal to light.

Sizing: 139, 143, 147, 151, 155M, 151L, 155L

Love all these sizes available. And you can choose between a smaller or a larger sidecut radius in the larger sizes.

On Snow Feel: The Venus comes with a small bit of positive camber between the feet, a little flat camber right in the middle, and rocker on the nose and tail. This gives the board control and keeps you connected to the snow, but you do get a little play when riding flat. It isn’t super locked in, just somewhere in the middle.

Edge Hold: I liked the edge hold, and felt the board did well in most ice conditions we normally see out here in CA. Not sure it would be the best edge hold on the ice coast. There are no sidecut disruptions, but the positive camber and the 6/10 flex keep it feeling connected most of the time.

Turn Initiation: The Venus turns quickly and is easy to get from edge to edge. It doesn’t take much effort to turn it through tight spots and maneuver it in different ways.

Turning Experience: I really enjoyed turning the Venus. It has a slightly different turning personality from other boards I’ve tried. The 143 we tried comes with a 6.4 meter sidecut radius. This gives the Venus a quick turning feel, and makes the turns tighter than normal. It gives a good amount of energy out of the turns as well.

Steeps: This board felt great on steeps. It is stable and turns quickly. Sometimes I felt like I ran out of board from time to time. Like I wanted to keep the turn going longer, but the Venus was already ready for the next edge. I don’t feel like it is an aggressive steeps rider, but I feel like it would be great for learning steeps, and great for those who want to make smaller turns down the face of the mountain.

Carving: The small sidecut radius gives the Venus a very unique feel when carving. It comes into the carve with a lot of energy, and makes the turn happen quickly so you get a ton of spring into the next carve. I had a lot of fun playing around with this on the mountain. Every once in a while I over pressured the board and it looped out on me. So there was a slight learning curve for me here.

Speed: I was surprised at how well the Venus handled higher speeds. It isn’t a hard charger, but it stayed damp when I turned the speed up. I didn’t expect that because it feels a little. more playful under-foot.

Uneven Terrain: It is simple to turn through weird bumps and trees. It does well with small radius, skidded turns. I liked it when riding moguls and had no problem off-piste. I felt it was medium damp. Somewhere in the middle of being able to ride over chunder, and having to make some turns to maintain stability.

Powder: I got to ride the Venus on a mini powder day, about 6″ of fresh. It handled really well. The nose stays up with minimal effort, and you can always set it back a bit as well. It is slightly directional, and has a nice bit of rocker in the nose so this also helps. It has decent float for being an all mountain snowboard.

Flex/Buttering: The flex is a 6/10. A nice stable medium flex. This allows for some playful maneuvers, and also for stability. It was pretty easy to butter, because of the reverse camber in the nose and the tail.

Switch: The Venus rides switch pretty well. You can’t really tell you are riding the board backwards. It isn’t as good as a true twin, but it is close.

Jumps: I enjoyed the amount of pop the Venus got off jumps or with ollies. I feel like it has enough stability to play around on small to medium jumps. Or even some natural hits and drops as well. It is fun to spin, and forgiving enough to learn some tricks on.

Jibbing: The Venus isn’t the go to jib board, but it is forgiving enough to mess around on some boxes and rails. The flex isn’t too aggressive and it has a semi loose feel that is easy to manipulate in different ways.

Pipe: I haven’t tried it in a pipe just yet, but I imagine it would be ok to play around in a smaller pipe. The smaller sidecut might be a little weird from time to time. But it is a nice stable ride, and you could definitely dabble in a pipe.

Overall: The Nidecker Venus is a fun all mountain ride that has a lot to offer. It doesn’t take things too serious, but you can ride it technically as well as just cruise around. It floats pretty well for being a directional twin, and is easy to maneuver in a lot of different situations and snow conditions. The Venus is a versatile board that can appeal to a lot of different style riders.

Paige’s Perspective

The Venus Nidecker is a playful all-mountain free-ride board that can also handle high-speed slashing. This board features a smaller than average sidecut radius, making for an interesting feel beneath your feet and through turns. The profile of the Venus allows you stay on top of deeper snow but doesn’t completely wash out on-piste or while you’re skating around.

This slightly directional board rides great switch as it only has a 1 cm setback. The camber profile of the Venus is flat in between the feet, camber underfoot, with rocker in the tip and tail. The small flat zone in addition to the camber makes the Venus feel very stable, while the rocker adds floating capability and a dash of playfulness to the board.

The medium-stiff flex of the Venus allows it to stay reliable and stable at high speeds. The vibration absorbent top sheet paired with the stiffness of the board allows the Venus to cut through a solid amount of chunder without feeling too chattery. The sintered base stayed fast after a solid 10+ days of riding without any maintenance.

The Venus has a looser on-snow feel to it that allows you to flow through your turns with finesse. This board is great for short-to-medium radius turns, but runs out of power on big wide turns. With a smaller sidecut radius, this board is capable of making tighter turns more easily allowing it to handle well in bumps and tight tree scenarios.

The Venus is quick to turn and is very responsive, making it easy to maneuver. The Venus Nidecker is a board that you can grow with. It has a nice balance of power to back you up as you push your boundaries, while not being overwhelmingly aggressive. It is well suited for a high-end beginner-to-intermediate rider.