Nitro Highlander Written Review Review by The Good Ride

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Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews and this is our unfiltered opinion. 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.

Nitro Highlander Review- How it rides and who it is for

How This Review Happened:

Borrowed this for an extended demo and sent it back.
Size: 159
Days: 2
Conditions: Very late spring conditions.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-190lbs)
Boots: Burton Kendo
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Atlas
Helmet: Smith Maze
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Glove, Drop Web Glove,

Similar Boards (but not the same):Burton Cartographer, Burton Instigator, Korua Otto, K2 Manifest, Yes Typo, Jones Frontier, Ride Algorythm, Ride Wild Life, Tahoe Labs Directional Twin

Set-Up: 21.5” Wide. Sance Angles +18/-9, +15/-15. Close to Reference.

Approximate Weight

Felt pretty normal. Not heavy or light. (We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores there is no consistency in a boards weight)

Sizing

Some mid-wides feel great for my size 9’s but the Nitro Highlander159 did not. The 156 would have felt a little wide still but would be a much better ride.

Here are some ideal US boot sizes for these boards. You can of course go bigger or smaller but these work best for not turning the board slower than it should be and not having the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag.
156: 9.5-10
159: 10-11
163: 11-12

Shape/Camber/On Snow Feel/Ability Level

The Nitro Highlander has a directional shape but there is only 1mm of taper. You don’t feel any taper and it rides just like a board with the same width in the tip/tail. Its directional but you can lean into the nose, ride it centered or lean into the tail and it will not wash out.

There is full on camber with the Nitro Highlander. This is old school unforgiving camber that can punish you when you get off your game. That is the price you have to pay for full camber pop though.

Flex Personality

The flex is more medium stiff. My Nitro Highlander was worn out and had more of a medium flex. Nevertheless, it was still super hard to butter. It popped really well though if you put some effort into it.

Speed

The Nitro Highlander is not a full on bomber but it can for sure point it. The base was beat to hell but it still had pretty good glide. If it was new and well waxed it would not be an effortless glider but it would for sure be very competent.

Edge Hold

Nitro didn’t put Power Pods (extensions in the side cut by the bindings) but the progressive side cut had competent grip in hard snow with zero grab in softer snow.

Turning Experience/Carving

So this was a little too wide and too big to control for my size 9’s. I had to work hard to get this to transition quickly edge to edge. If you were a size 11 the Nitro Highlander would be medium-fast and snappy edge to edge. When I got this on edge it was hard for me to get the sidecut to engage but yeah it did finish the turn a little faster/tighter than it started. I could tell that if I had a size 11 boot I would have had a time carving.

Powder

There is some decent set back on board happing here for an all mountain board. With a 22” stance width you can get -2.625” back from center of board. You have a longer nose and a touch of taper as well. Still, this is not the kind of board I want to be on in powder. Been there, done that, not fun for average riders like me.

Switch/Pipe/Jumps

Different but for sure doable switch and far

Conclusion

So even though it didn’t match up well for my specs (some mid-wides do though) I could see an advanced to expert rider with bigger boots having a time with this board.