United Shapes Horizon Snowboard Review

An Un-Paid, Un-Biased Breakdown Of How the US Horizon 26-27 Compares To the 25 Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

How The United Shapes Horizon Was Tested:

Precious Good Ride dollars were spent buying and reviewing this.

So I rode this primarily with my Union Force bindings and my Nitro Team BOA boots.

We’ve had very little snow, but I have experienced this in a wide variety of conditions. Everything from some messy, thick tracked up powder that almost wasn’t like a powder day, to good groomers, to firm groomers, to hard groomers.

I tested this in a 155 and a 159. And I compared this against a lot of other borderline all mountain and freeride boards. And you can see those comparisons on Patreon for paid members. So check that out.

Size: 155 and 159
Days:6
Conditions: Rough year for testing but a little pow, hard snow and varied groomers. 
Riders: James (Size 9 E, 5’10”, 185-190lbs). I’ve tested and compared 850+ boards, 200+ bindings, and 120+ boots
Boots: Nitro Team BOA
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Force, Union Atlas Step On
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse Jacket, Jones Mtn Surf Anorak
Pant: Skyline Fase 3L Bib Pant, Skyline Faze Pant, Jones Mountain Surf Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag Low Bridge Fit
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove

James’s Set Up: 21” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/+3, +18/-9, +15/-15. Close to Reference on groomers and set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Amplid Souly Grail, United Shapes Cadet, Jones Flagship Pro, Burton Counterbalance, Weston Gnarnia, Nidecker Megalight 2026 or later, Stranda Descender Evo, Lib Tech Son Of Birdman, Lib Tech Ejack Knife, Korua Otto, Capita Black Snowboard Of Death,  Cardiff Crane, Nitro Alternator, Telos DST, Ride Moderator, Never Summer Proto Type 3, Gnu Antigravity, Lib Tech Dynamo

Ethics Statement

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Sizing

Now let’s talk sizing, I rode a 59 and a 55.

The 59 felt great in the morning on perfect groomers and when conditions were clean, it was special. I loved the feeling. It felt faster, more fun to turn and I had a blast on it. But as conditions got uneven, the width for my size nine boots just didn’t work very well. And it became fatiguing. Harder to turn and it really slowed me down.

This 155 was a little too small. I feel like I’m right in between sizes with the horizon, where with the cadet, I feel like the 158 works very well for me.

So I think if they had a 56 or 57 in the horizon, that would be perfect for me. If you’re my size but a good bit lighter, you’re an inch shorter than me, maybe two, this 55 is going to be great. If you’re my size and you’re like a ten, ten and a half go 159.

Sizing is all about balancing what best fits your Boot Size, Weight & Height for how you like to ride.

NEVER TRUST ANYONE WHO DOESN’T REFERENCE BOOT SIZE, WEIGHT, & HEIGHT.

Boots

If your boot is too wide, you can’t turn it; if it’s too narrow, you get the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag. This is the most important part of sizing a board, which is why so many models come in so many widths, like Narrow, Normal, Mid-Wide, Wide, and Ultra Wide.

Weight

Your weight determines how the board will flex underfoot.

Height

Determines a board’s swing weight.

Personal Preference

Some prefer control, so matching the boot size first for easiest turn initiation is the priority, with weight second. Others prefer dampness over control and like to size up in width and length. Others like to ride wider boards with very responsive boots/bindings.

Here are some ideal US boot sizes for these boards because this is super important.

143: 7-8
147: 7.5-8.5
151: 8-9
155: 8.5-9.5
159: 9-10

Construction / Durability

Now, when it comes to durability, there are some little scuffs and I wouldn’t say the durability is the best on the top sheet, but I think it’s okay, given how great everything else about this board is.Sidewalls are durable, abs are recycled, ABS, and overall it’s decent construction. Not amazing, but decent in terms of reliability.

Shape & Setback

The United Shapes Horizon is slightly tapered and directional, but it feels more twinish, versus a tapered directional board that you might see in the freeride category. When riding on reference, it feels much more centered than it looks. And when you’re set all the way back, it definitely feels set back and directional.

So you have two personalities here. You have something that feels really set back and directional for a free ride board when you’re set all the way back, and you have something that feels pretty centered when you’re on reference. So it’s a nice two board combo for the price of one.

Camber/On Snow Feel

When it comes to the camber profile, there is a nice bit of camber going well past the inserts with a little bit of early rise before the tail and a little bit more before this long floaty nose. It makes this board feel stable. Not very catchy, not very technical. This is not for camber, but it tracks and feels stable like camber. One footing off a chair, going down a long flat cat track.

One thing I will say is the edge feels off. Coming out of the factory, I had to tune it and the tip and tail like you do old school camber boards, where you take a file at a mellow angle and just get rid of some of that so it doesn’t feel as hookey and catchy. This is a production model, so you might want to bring this to a shop and have them do the edges up proper. When you do, you’ll get the feeling that I described just now. And this is pretty easy to skid a turn.

So committed intermediates on up to experts can have a time with this, and it’s not going to be boring for any ability level.

Edge Hold

When it comes to edge hold, this grips well. Not amazing. It’s right on that border between being competent and hard snow and letting go a little bit. So if you see a lot of hard to IK days, there are better boards out there. But if you only have the occasional hard day this will hang in there well enough. And like I said, with the camber profile, this edge it came out of the factory wrong and it’s well advised to give this a little bit of a tune.

Flex Personality

You can see it’s very medium down in the tail. It’s a little stiffer and it’s pretty stiff between the feet here. So I’d say it’s medium stiff between the feet. And then the nose is a little bit softer. But when you engage the entire flex of this board you can see it’s got some give, but it’s also got a lot of pop and it’s very easy to Ollie with.

And it’s a huge step up from the previous year’s model in terms of having an easier flex with more pop, and it’s still a pretty easy board to butter in the nose and the tail.

Uneven Snow

Now, what really surprised me about the horizon is this new, lighter, poppier core and construction I thought would feel a lot worse in hard, uneven snow and soft, uneven snow. And it really surprised me. There isn’t a lot of chatter in hard, uneven snow, and it really didn’t transfer up into my body like a lot of somewhat light poppy boards like this do.

Then in soft, uneven snow, I thought this was going to buck me around all over the place. And it didn’t. It really handled it well. So you get lighter and poppier without any difference in uneven snow performance versus the older model.

Switch/Park

Now throwing this thing around switch when you’re on reference stance feels really good and it’s much better than it looks. You just have to get used to the different weight between the tail and the nose here.

If you want to get air you could even go to the jump park, and pipe would be really good to for not being that grippy.

And I’m not really a jibber, but this seems more competent at jibs than a lot of boards with this shape and this style of riding.

Turning/Carving

Initiation

The United Shapes Horizon really initiated a turn quick. The 59 was much slower for my boot size, but if I had the right size boot for the 59, like a 10 / 10.5, that’d be perfect.

It would turn really quick with the 55. That matches up really well with my boot size, which is the most important part when it comes to initiating a turn and controlling a board edge to edge. This turned really quick, and then you throw in my extra bit of weight. It helped the leverage more on the turn and it was really fast.

Trees

When set all the way back and in the trees, this turned really quick. Never felt like the tail was going to get caught up in something behind me, and I could just tree cheetah with this. But again, this is a little small for me.

Carving

And when it comes to putting this on edge and committing to a turn, this had great spring out of a turn. I could front foot back foot or center weight a carve equally well, and the spring out of the turn was really satisfying and fun.\

Turning Experience

Just about any kind of radius turn is doable, because it’s very much a balanced sidecut radus. I could go down the line pretty well. I could make across the groomer calves, and I could even make circle calves really well, so it can handle a little bit of everything. If you want a little more stability at speed, a little better down the line, turns a little stiffer, flex in and out of the turn, you want the cadet. But for a board that does a little bit of everything, this is very good, very special. And I think a lot of people will like this.

Speed

If you really want to point it, there are faster boards, but this is very competent at speed in a 55 for me. The 59 really lit it up, but again, that was too big for me, so it felt a little faster than it should. But still, this has more poise, more competence at speed than you would think for this light poppy flex personality.

Base Glide

Now, when it comes to base glide, I think their base is good. I love that it’s all black and easily repairable. But in same day tests, even when well waxed, I felt like this didn’t quite have the glide that some of the faster bases out there do. But it’s definitely upper tier. Not the highest, but good enough. And it holds its wax pretty well. Not amazing, but better than many other boards I compared it against.

Powder

Now when it comes to Power float, it’s been a horrible season. I was lucky to even get it in messy, uneven snow. I did try the old model in a decent amount of powder. And this is only going to be better with this bigger, more floaty nose.

So I can just tell you this, when you’re set all the way back, you have more directional float than most freeride boards out there. You’re getting into the alternative freeride world. This slightly tapered tail sinks very well, and this new nose is going to keep you afloat.

It got a little closer to the cadet, which is an amazing floater. Even more set back on board, more directional float and a little more surface area in between sizing. Their 58 is more the equivalent to the 55, and their 62 cadet is more the equivalent to the 59 Horizon. So you’re just getting a little longer length more set back on board. That’s going to give you more powder float, and better than most freeride boards out there.

And this is better than most all mountain and many freeride boards out there. So this is an incredible choice if you want one board for groomers and exceptional float in powder.

Final Thoughts

So overall I really loved the old horizon. I love the new horizon even better. They’ve definitely improved the ride. While the top sheet might not be the most durable out there, it’s good enough and I think a lot of people won’t care because you get lighter construction easier pop, and you don’t sacrifice any dampness as a result.

So this is just a better all around ride, more floaty nose, great feel all around. Give it a go if it fits your specs.I wish they had a size in between 55 and 59. For yours truly, I’m going to stick with the cadet because that better fits my specs, but this is still a great option.