Nitro Squash Snowboard 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.  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 board for an extended demo and returned it.

Size: 142
Days: 3+
Conditions: Spring conditions, icy in the morning and slushy in the afternoon
Riders: Steph
Boots: Vans Ferra Pro
Bindings:  Union Milan

Base: Sintered Speed Formula HD Base. I was riding this in the CA spring transition snow and it kept its speed. That’s saying something.

Flex/Buttering:  The Squash has a pretty stiff flex. The Youth is a 5/10 and the Women’s is a 7/10. So there’s a significant difference there. But the sizes and weight limit between the Youth and Women’s board is pretty different as well.  But I felt, (at least in the youth board) that it torsionally softer so I was able to twist the board easily to make it turn faster when I wanted.

Sizing: I tried the Youth Squash and not the Women’s Squash because I’m the size of a 12 year old. But the Youth Squash in a 142 truly fit my specs better than the smallest Women’s size in a 148. I’d say check out the weight recommendations and the waist width specs and pick the Squash size that fits best with your personal specs.

On Snow Feel: The Squash is a true camber board. The contact points are outside of the bindings. It felt semi-locked into the snow to me but wasn’t a very aggressive true camber feel. It is still very connected to the snow when riding but it didn’t feel uncomfortable and catchy at all. But it is geared to a more advanced rider.

Edge Hold: It has nice edge hold on hard pack and ice. The positive camber helps out a lot. There is not sidecut disruption, but it doesn’t really need extra help.

Turn Initiation: This board is a more aggressive board, but because the torsional flex was a little friendly I was able to turn the Squash quite quickly when I wanted to. And considering that it has a stiffer flex, and is semi-locked in and has a wider waist width, that’s saying something.

Turning Experience: The Squash is fun to turn. It has a fun personality mixed with a freeride attitude. This board isn’t too difficult to make a skidded turn with, but it also likes to carve. It seemed to like medium radius turns the most.

Carving: Carving was a ton of fun. The wider waist width allows a lot of stability in carves and helps prevent heel and toe drag when laying a turn over. It has a good amount of energy that snaps back after the arc of the turn. I liked that I could actually get that energy to come out of the board as a lighter rider.

Speed: Stable at higher speeds. Prefers at least medium amount of speed when riding but isn’t too hard to turn at slower speeds. The sintered base had a nice glide to it as well.

Uneven Terrain: The Squash was manageable in weird uneven snow. It held up nicely in steeps when the snow got choppy. I enjoyed it through a few mogul fields as well, but the bigger nose is sometimes difficult to manage in a tighter turning situation. Would be fun to ride through the trees, but probably prefers a more wide open terrain.

Powder: It is directional and tapered and has a wider waist width. There is a very directional nose and a swallow tail along with over 20mm of set back plus the option to move the bindings back even more. I didn’t get to ride the Squash in powder but I wish I could. It should float with minimal effort and should stay fun and maneuverable in deeper snow.

Freestyle Personality: The Squash isn’t really a freestyle board. But it wouldn’t shy away from natural features. Find some cliff drops, ledges or side hits to launch off of. There’s a good amount of pop and stability in the Squash that allows for some fun times to be had.

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