Nitro Karma Review by Jordan

Nitro Women's Karma Snowboard Review by Jordan Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
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How it was Tested

I borrowed the Nitro Karma for an extended demo and sent it back.

Size: 148 and 152

Days: 7+

Conditions: Groomed snow with patches of ice, Setup slush off groomed.

Riders: Jordan (Ws size 8, 135lbs, 5’6″)

Boots: Solomon Dialogue 

Bindings: Union Trilogy, YES Conda

Helmet: Oakley MOD1

Goggle: Oakley Lineminer Pro

Jordan’s Set Up: 19.5-20.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-6, +15/-15, +21/+9. Close to Reference on groomers and set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Jones Hovercraft, Never Summer Cirrus, Stranda Biru

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Sizing

The Karma comes in only three sizes: 144, 148, and 152.

I rode a 148 and a 152, but really landed with a 148. The 148 is designed for a weight range between 99 and 140 pounds. That 152 is really designed for 140 and higher, and has a slightly wider waist width than the 148.  The 148 has a 24.3cm waist width. That’s significant, but it really accommodates a woman’s size seven.

Now this is the female version of the men’s Banker. If you’re a woman who is a little bit bigger, heavier, or has a larger foot, consider the 156, Banker. It has a waist width of 25.3cm and is designed for a weight range of only 110 up, so the Banker can accommodate a larger foot size a little bit better.

Shape & Setback

The women’s Karma is a directional freeride shape. The Karma has 4mm of taper from the nose to the tail and has a setback stance of about 15mm.

At reference, this gives you about 1.87in of extra nose, almost two inches of nose.

Camber/On Snow Feel

The Karma has a true camber profile, and really, if you take a look at this, much like the women’s Alternator and the women’s Victoria with their true camber, it does go all the way from tip to tail, and it’s a significant amount of camber.  You can see a little bit of lift in the tip and tail.

The board felt immediately stable on snow and when skating. But this was not as true with the larger size. The 148 was definitely the ideal size for me, as the 152 felt better at speeds, but far more catchy on cat tracks or skating.

Surprisingly, the Karma felt easier to flex compared to the Alternator, even though they are said to have the same flex.

My riding on this board was less dictated by pumping through turns, and it’s really powering through turns and more about opening up my body and letting that long, effective edge take over.

This is not to say that Karma does not have aggressive tendencies. It very much does. But the board is all about the long, drawn-out motions.

It has one of the longest running lengths out of the three boards that I tried. It has about 1060mm running length. This is 10mm longer than the Alternator, and actually 40mm longer than the Victoria at comparable sizes.

Powder

Now, how does this board do in powder? Is it full camber, and camber is notoriously not great in powder because of that super long effective edge.

I did not get a chance to get this in deep snow, just some lighter snow, sort of patches of powder. And it seemed to do okay considering that at reference, you are getting about 2 inches of extra nose, and you’ve got that mild taper, so it’s going to cantilever just a little bit.

Now, if you set this all the way back to the furthest inserts, it’s going to widen your reference stance to 20in. But it’s going to give you about 2.75 inches of extra nose.

I really don’t consider that a powder board, but it’s going to do okay. If you’re looking for a powder-specific board. The key is a lot of nose and a shorter effective edge. If it’s got camber, the camber should be more tail-heavy.

Edge Hold

Now, unlike many board brands out there, Nitro does not use any form of edge disruption. They do a variety of sidecut radii, such as the progressive side cut on this Karma, to help with edge initiation, but it does very little for edge hold.

My experience across the Nitro lineup is that the edge hold is okay, but unpredictable and highly dependent on conditions. It cannot really lock in when conditions are hard, icy, or inconsistent.

I found myself in some pretty undesirable conditions where it was icy, but it was tracked out freeze conditions, and this board lost its edge. I ended up flipped around, sliding backwards.

And that was a common theme on the ice conditions. This board is going to do a lot better in smoother conditions.

Flex Personality

Let’s talk about the flex on the women’s Karma.

This comes in at a seven out of ten flex. This puts it at a pretty aggressive board and makes sense for its intention as a carving board.

But what you’ll see is that the flex is still very easy and pliable.

Now with that directional shape, you’re going to see a little bit of a stiffer tail in this and a softer nose that’s going to help kind of lift that nose, keep it from catching when you’re carving.

This also has quite a bit of pop to it, even though it does not have any kind of carbon stringers. So it’s not super snappy in that pop, but it is going to still feel like it rebounds and doubles up your energy.

Turning/Carving

Now, what is the Karma for? That’s the big question.

Carving! Carving is the name of the game for the Karma.

It’s got a progressive side cut. What that means is that the side cut is actually larger at 7.2 at the nose, and then gets narrower to 5.7, which is really like a freestyle quick side cut of 5.7 in the tail.

That larger side cut in the front of the board, transitioning to smaller towards the tail, gives the sport a lot of variety. It gives it a less catchy feeling in the nose and is really meant for longer carving turns.

You get to initiate that turn with a little bit of slack, and then when you get to the tail, it’s going to whip itself around.

It’s not as quick and playful as the Alternators dual degressive side cut, but boy, is it easy to get on edge. Many times, I found myself within arm’s distance of the slope without even trying.

Its stiff flex personality from tip to tail keeps the board driving downhill, with softer torsional flex making it easy to transition from heel side to toe side, even at high speeds.

It is capable of quicker arching turns, but really shone for me with long, fast turns or cross-run carves.

I did notice that the back foot, heavy riding, or if you tend to be more back-footed, did change the duration of the carve, and in some cases caused the board to wash, or for me to quickly learn how to come out of that edge hold, centered, or even front heavy, is where this is really able to lay trenches.

Uneven Snow

The board performed well when transitioning from groomed to pack powder to track powder conditions. It has a level of dampness that gives the rider the confidence to maintain speeds through changing conditions.

I really enjoyed the fast nature of the Karma, its long, stiff profile, and its ability to get on edge quickly and efficiently. Give me all the security I needed to tuck into a straight line.

This is one of those boards that allows you to go faster than you have ever gone, without feeling like you’re going faster than you’ve ever gone.

Just in case it isn’t fast enough. Taking the stance to +/+ ramps up the control on the board and puts your weight more forward.

I got it on sort of mild blue runs in perfect groomed conditions; it was just a wonderful experience. I really enjoyed this board.

Base Glide

The Karma comes equipped with a sintered eco speed H2 base. This is different than the Alternator in the Victoria. This is actually my favorite base out of the lineup.

It required minimal tuning and waxing right out of the gate to keep it fast, even in changing conditions, whereas my Alternator felt sticky on snow with multiple conditions specific waxes over the duration of the week, the Karma felt smooth and fast right out of the gate.

A coat of all-weather wax made this easily the fastest board I had reviewed from Nitro.

Switch/Park

This board felt surprisingly comfortable in

This could be because the camber is actually centered on the board. The mild taper of the tail felt insignificant, but the setback stance did make the tail feel shorter.

I think this board can navigate a park. Okay. Do I think it’s a park board? No.

It does not have any carbon inlays on this, so it doesn’t have the same snappiness or feeling underneath the foot as the Alternator.

But it still performs pretty well when buttering, when popping off an edge or off a base, especially in natural side-hit settings, and in a jump park setting.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Nitro Karma board, the women’s version of The Banker, is an absolutely wonderful carving experience.

It is fast. It is stable. The progressive side cut really lends itself to going into a turn nice and smooth and snapping out of the turn when you are ready.

Now it is a full tip-to-tail camber; tip-to-tail camber is harder to ride. It takes some skill, and it takes a little bit of practice to really feel comfortable.

It is also a seven out of ten flex, which isn’t the stiffest thing in the world, but can make that camber harder to manipulate and also make the board feel a little bit much under the foot, especially if you start to get lazier or you’re not on, out of the gate.

I really enjoy the Karma, and I think that it’s a great option for those women out there who are looking for a quiver board that’s going to be their sunny day, smooth, groomed, hard charger, want to be at the front of the pack, and want to really lay out those turns.