Positives

  • Med-Soft but Poppy Flex
  • Fast Base
  • Very Easy To Turn For It's Width
  • Fun to Turn
  • Much Better Chatter Absorption

Negatives

  • Still Bouncy In Uneven Snow
  • Softer Flex For Freeride

Summary

The Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai (Taka) 2025 has had the same shape and camber as the previous models but now has recycled ABS in the sidewalls instead of Cork and Bamboo on the outside. It's still pretty soft and bouncy but makes for a much better all-conditions ride.

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Riding Style Freeride
Riding Level Intermediate - Expert
Fits Boot size (US) 8-10, 10-12
Manufactured in
Shape Tapered Directional
Camber Profile Directional Camber
Stance Setback over 20mm
Approx. Weight Feels Normal
Split No
Powder Great
Base Glide Great
Carving Great
Speed Good
Uneven Snow Good
Switch Average
Jumps Great
Jibbing Good
Pipe Good
On Snow Feel

Stable

Turn Initiation

Medium/Fast

Skidded Turns

Moderate

Flex

Medium

Buttering

Semi-Easy

Edge Hold

Hard Snow

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A Written Breakdown Of How The Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Rides Review by The Good Ride

An Un-Paid, Un-Biased Breakdown Of How the Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Rides And Who It Is For

Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Review - The Good Ride
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Review – The Good Ride

How The Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai It Was Tested:

How It Was Tested
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai – How It Was Tested

I borrowed the Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai a few days and sent it back.

Ethics Statement:  I was not paid to do this review, and this comes from an honest, objective perspective with no brand oversight.

If this review helped, we’d appreciate it if you support objective content by:

Size: 158
Days: 2 with this model but many in the past with the same shape and camber profile.
Conditions: Good Groomers, 1-2 inches of thick pow, and uneven snow. In the past, I had good groomers, uneven snow, and super deep pow thanks to my Drift Boards.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-190lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards.
Davey (Size 12, 240lbs, 6’4”)
Boots: Ride Torren
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Atlas
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Jones Mtn Surf Anorak, Skyline Fuse Jacket
Pant: Jones Mountain Surf Pant, Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove, Drop Tahoma Mitt,

James’s Set Up: 21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +24/+6, Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Amplid Souly Grail, K2 Alchemist, YES PYL Uninc, Weston Backwoods, United Shapes Cadet, Burton Gril Master, Jones Flagship Pro,

Approximate Weight

The Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai is pretty normal bordering on light. I don’t think anyone would be bothered by this weight on the chair. Expecially for it being pretty wide for this length. (We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores, there is no consistency in a board’s weight)

Sizing

Sizing
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai 158 Sizing

The Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai feels much narrower than you would think based on the specs, and I wish I had addressed this more in the video review. It felt like it was almost 1cm narrower (massive for snowboard measurements), and I think this is best for feet more my size, like 8-9’s. For weight I felt on the heavy side but it was manageable. The Taka 158 was so easy to ride that I’m now very 161 curious.

Sizing is all about balancing what fits your boot size and your weight for how you like to ride. If your boot is too wide, you can’t turn it; if it’s too narrow, you get the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag. Your weight is a close second to boot size because it determines how the board will feel under your foot.  Height comes in a distant 3rd. Some prefer control, so matching the boot size is the priority. Others prefer dampness over control and like to size up.

Here are some ideal US boot sizes for the Taka’s.
155: 8-10
158: 9-11
161: 10-12

I would stay well under Salomon’s recommended weight ranges as I think they are pretty generous on the high end. If it comes down to boot size or weight, I would ensure it fits your boot first and then your weight a close second.

Shape

Shape
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Shape

The Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai has 12mm of taper and you do feel some of that. It is pretty set back on board, but it doesn’t feel like you are riding pretty close to the tail like you do with the Wolle Nyvelt Fish.

Camber/On Snow Feel/Ability Level

Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai's Real Camber Profile
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Camber

There is a decent amount of early rise in the tail and more in the nose unweighted, and when your weight is on the Taka, it rockers up a little more than many similar boards. It makes for a very stable camber-like board that tracks super well but is pretty forgiving. It’s pretty easy to skid turns when you get off your game.

Edge Hold

Sidecut
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Sidecut

The multi-radius sidecut was good but not ideal as a hard bordering on icy specialist. It didn’t let go that easy when you hit a hard patch or two.

Flex Personality

Flex
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Flex

Salomon calls this flex medium, but it’s more on the Medium-Soft Side. There is a softer flex in the middle vs. most freeride boards. The tail is a little stiffer and the nose to a lesser extent, but overall, it’s a very mellow flex. I thought I wouldn’t like it, but I enjoyed how it felt on snow.

Tail Butering
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Tail Buter

It was very easy to nose and tail butter and it was nice to have this freestyle feel in a tapered directional shape.

Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Little Air
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Little Air

The pop was easy and lively. I really appreciated how easy it was to ollie the Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai as well as the pop out of each turn.

Uneven Snow

Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Uneven Snow
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Uneven Snow

So here is what turned the tide for my opinion of this board and many Salomon rides for 2025. They don’t seem to say anything about it online on the site, but the Salomon rep told me that they added recycled ABS to the sidewalls, and I’m not seeing the usual cork/bamboo sidewall. It also seems like ABS to me, and I really feel the ABS on snow. Not only is the ride much more chatter-resistant, but it’s also much more reliable without two types of wood on the outside.

Don’t get me wrong, the Taka’s poppy soft flex can still buck, but it’s a much smoother buck that doesn’t jar. It was pretty easy to get used to where before, I felt like every bump was chipping away at what cartilage I had in my joints.

Speed

You don’t have a straight liner with the Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai. It’s fine for a short, straight line for a traverse, but it’s no bomber.

Base Glide

 Base Glide
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Base Glide

Salomon has always made great bases, and the Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai is no exception. Even when the excellent wax job Alfredo did wore off it still had really special upper tier glide.

Turning Experience/Carving

Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Turning
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Turning

The Taka’s softer flex makes it really easy to initiate a turn, even though it’s wider than I usually prefer. I found this medium fast in all conditions, which is uncommon for me with a board this width and length.

When I got the edge engaged, the softer flex in the middle allowed me to torque my turns and drive hard off the back foot easily and equally well if I was in a more front-footed mood. I found this great to carve and turn with. Especially across the groomer carves, and it lives on the turny side of the balanced but is not a full-on circle carver either.

Powder

Pow Float
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Pow Day Old Model

The older model I tried seems to have almost the exact same shape and camber profile, so the float is the same. It’s a very good floater. I like the Wolle Nyvelt Fish better, but this is very good for a more traditional freeride shape. The last time I tried this board, it snowed 48″ in 48 hours, and it was pretty light for the PNW. This 158 got stuck when I got into some flats, but most of its peers would also. I needed to be on the 169 Taka EP that day instead.

Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Pow Set Back
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Pow Set Back

The Salomon Taka has a unique stance set up with 5×2 on the front foot and 7×2 on the back, but it’s still 22″ set all the way back. You also get -4.875″ back from the center of the board vs. whatever their setback on the sidecut (unpublished) is. That gives you a very good setback on board with a reasonable stance width. Then you have a much bigger nose vs. tail with early rise, so it all works together to give you above-average float for a Freeride board.

Switch/Jumps/Pipe/Jibs

Switch was very doable for this shape, but you would prefer something like the Sick Stick if you want something directional/tapered but still doable switch. Strangely, this soft flex (especially in the middle) will jib well enough for what this is, if you feel the need to. Pipe and jumps are no problem with this.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m super impressed with this poppy, soft-flexing, dynamic, and very fun-turning Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai. The addition of recycled ABS to the sidewalls really changed the game across Salomon’s 2025 line.

 
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Past Reviews

Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai 2019-2024 Snowboard Video and Written Review

The Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai s a pretty fun board with more taper and more rocker in the nose than most Salomon boards.  It doesn’t perform well in uneven snow but everything else about this boards is a lot of fun.  This is the 2020 model but it’s the same as the 2019 model.

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 The Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Review Happened:  

We borrowed this for a pretty long extended demo and then returned it.

Size: 158
Days: 11+
Conditions:  Everything from wet uneven off-piste to hard CO groomers to hard PNW groomers and an early morning slackountry time with Drift Boards in almost 3.5 to 4 Feet of powder.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs),Grant (Size 11 6’ 160lbs), Zobel (Size 11.5, 6’ 180lbs),
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV for Peter, Grant n Me. , Adidas Response for Zobel
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata, Union FalcorSalomon HologramSalomon Quantum, Salomon Highlanders
Set Up
: 22” 21 front – 3 Back on reference stance and set all the way back.

Sizing

We know they say it’s a mid/wide but Zobel (Size 11 Adidas boots) was booting out on harder carving turns so might be best to keep it under size 11.  The 158 felt really comfortable for Peter and I.  Both of us felt like we weren’t on a mid/wide.  The only time we felt like we wanted more board for our weight was in 3.5 to 4 feet of powder but that’s understandable.

Approximate Weight

Felt like it was on the light side of normal.

Flex/Buttering

Very doable when it came to buttering off the nose and the tail was a little more work but still very doable as well.

On Snow Feel

Very stable somewhat tapered feel underfoot that has a mellow camber (well ours did) to a good bit of rocker before the nose.  It’s not super rockered but it has more rocker in the nose than any other Salomon board we tried.  It’s more of a back foot kind of ride but it has that easy one footing/flat basing ride that’s moderately forgiving for riders who aren’t always on their game.

Powder

So we had 48″ in 48 hours and took the Taka out after that 48-hour storm.  It was literally tit-deep, so we were testing some really floaty boards like the Capita Spring Break Powder, Jones Mind Expander, Korua Pencil, etc, against the Salomon Taka X Wolle. The Taka didn’t have the crazy float that those boards did but it floated very well for its design. It hung in there with these super floaty boards and felt easier float-wise than any other Salomon board we tried.

Here are Peter and I talking over drinks about it after a pretty special storm.

Edge Hold

Very strong competent edge hold that can even carve pretty well in hard snow and hang in really hard to icy snow if you dial your turns back.

Turn Initiation

For Peter and I, it was semi-fast and much faster than you would think if you looked at the specs with every binding we tried.  For Zobel and Grant who have bigger boots, it was really fast.

Turning Experience

Very fun and springy out of the turn.  The Salomon Taka X Wolle has more pop out of a turn than you would think for its mellow camber and it has a lively feel edge to edge.

Carving

Nice hard carving turner if you put a little more weight on your back foot. It’s a very competent good groomer ride.

Skidded Turns

Very doable for skidded turns.  Salomon’s Taka X Wolle has a decent camber length (not height) from near the tail to past the front inserts but it’s still nothing too technical or hard to skid turns if you get off your game.

Speed:

In good conditions, the Salomon Taka X Wolle did really well and the base has good glide.

Uneven Snow:

This is the one standout weakness for us with the Salomon Taka X Wolle.  It just didn’t buffer your body from what the chunder/micro bumps/wet uneven snow can do to your joints.  If you see a lot of uneven terrain this might be a deal breaker because even with super damp bindings and boots on we still felt it way more than any other boards we compared it against.

Jumps

There is some spring off the tail and it pops really well.  It’s got this raw pop to it that really springs off the tail in an ollie.

Pipe

I had a good time doing some mellow carves in the pipe and felt it was fine for more directional pipe riding.

Jibbing

Maybe but we didn’t try or really want to.

So all in all the Salomon Taka X Wolle does a lot of great things and if you can deal with its uneven snow performance or mainly ride in good conditions then everything else about this board is recommendable.

 
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Specs

 
Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai Images

We try to get as many images of the Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai, but forgive us if they're not all there.

2025

2019

Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai User Reviews

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