YES Hybrid Snowboard Review

I've found my perfect snowboard. James recommended this board for me in 2019/20 season, and it hadn’t really been on my radar till he put it at the top of his recommendations for me. I have a season and a half under my belt with the 157 size, and now a half season with the 153 size, so I thought it is time to update my review. The 157 was a great snowboard for me, but the 153 is simply the best snowboard I have ever stepped on (and its not really close).

SKILL LEVEL - Almost anybody of any skill level could ride the Hybrid. For the beginner(ish) intermediate, it really comes down to how well this board fits your specs, as to whether it will work for you. It does not have nearly as much rocker in the nose/tail with the 1-4-1 CamRock profile as many of Yes’s all-mountain boards (such as the Basic with 4-4-4, or the Typo & Greats with 2-4-2), but don’t let the specs fool you because the profile is plenty forgiving enough for almost anybody. The flex is basically perfect for intermediate riders ready to get further up the mountain and off the blue runs, but is still flexible enough for early intermediate riders still working on torsional twist to leverage the board.

TURN INITIATION – It’s all about sizing. On the 157, I thought it was a bit of a slow turner, but even after loosing 40 lbs, the 153 is absolutely perfect when it comes to turning. I have no issues no matter how tight the trees get. The 153 really unlocked a whole new level to my snowboarding – I can ride that thing anywhere. Peter says it perfectly in the video that this board is the Goldilox of turn initiation – its’ just right.

SIZING - Similar to another reviewer (Grant), I purchased the original 2019/20 model prior to the 2020/21 season to save some cash - which meant I had to go with the 157 instead of the 153 because the 153 wasn’t available the first year. Although the 157 is wide, it is not comparatively as short as most short-wide style boards would be for my specs. At the time I purchased the 157 I weighed around 195 lbs, and the 157 even then was a little slow turning in tight spots for me. When I sized down to the 153, I had already dropped down to 175 lbs, and I’ve dropped another 15 lbs since then. Even at 175, the 153 was plenty of board, and I honestly think it would have handled me at 190 just fine. Now that I’m down to 160, I still have no issues taking this board wherever I want on the mountain.

LIKES – I really love Yes’s hybrid-camber CamRock profile. It rides very stable and does all the things James says it does. The tapered underbite sidecut is really unique, and makes for an interesting turn profile. As James mentions, it doesn’t feel as back-foot washy as you would expect for a tapered board because of the way the tapered underbite progressively tightens the side cut radius. Once you get on edge, you can manipulate that sidecut to get the turn radius you want. I really like the flex of the board, too. This board has plenty of guts as far as I am concerned, and that tail is absolutely perfect for cliff and cornice drops. I really prefer a flex that hugs to the terrain when I get in steep stuff, so the Hybrid is perfect for me. In deep powder, the Hybrid has a unique ride because it planes out on top, and the back foot doesn’t have to sink as much. I have no issues riding powder with a centered stance, just because the nose floats it out so well. It’s not really a “surf-style” ride, but it’s a very floaty ride and I really like it. Honestly, I haven’t noticed that much of a difference in how the 153 floats versus the 157, certainly nowhere near the difference as to how the two sizes handle, so unless you have some bigger specs, I’d go 153.

COMPLAINTS – With the 157, I thought it was a little on the slow turning side in certain conditions, but that is absolutely NOT a complaint I have with the 153. At first I also didn’t like the fact that the reference stance was 23” for both the 157 and 153, as I used to ride a 21.5” stance. I have since swapped to just riding the reference stance of 23” on this board, and I have to admit that I now prefer it. I really have no complaints about the 153.

SUMMARY – Hell, now that I have the correct size board for me, I can’t say enough good things about the Hybrid, and honestly I was a huge fan of the 157 – it’s just the 153 is that F’n good. Best board I’ve ever ridden. I’ve taken the 153 in the park, and loved it. It’s fantastic in the jump line, and surprisingly rides switch fairly easily for such as directional board. It’s a beast on the steeps. Fantastic for cornice drops. Perfect in the trees (not a “tree cheetah” but really the perfect balance). Great in powder. Great carver with some rebound, but forgiving at the same time. Quintessential all-day resort rider. Outside of the jib park, this board has no weakness (and inside the jib park, its weakness is me).

I have the 157.
I find it very good on uneven terrain, little fatigue. very nimble for its size. great at slow speed and high speeds. easy turn initiation and i found it medium fast, holds excellent edge especially when traversing. Excellent carver and and can really lay it over with width. smooth transitions and forgiving and is all over just a great board for freeriding and in between. i would love to take this in the trees. Great float too! prefer this over my yes pyl 160w.
Get this you wont be disappointed. especially if you have 11us feet

James recommended this board for me in 2019/20 season, and it hadn’t really been on my radar till he put it at the top of his recommendations for me. Now that I have a full season with it under my bet, I thought I would provide some thoughts for other intermediate level riders that might be considering this board. I’m 41 years old, have only been riding for three seasons, and probably fall somewhere in the middle of that vague “intermediate” level. I can ride some double-black terrain, but I still skid plenty of turns and occasionally look like a moron on rutted up cat tracks, too.

SKILL LEVEL - Almost anybody of any skill level could ride the Hybrid. For the beginner(ish) intermediate, it really comes down to how well this board fits your specs, as to whether it will work for you. It does not have nearly as much rocker in the nose/tail with the 1-4-1 CamRock profile as many of Yes’s all-mountain boards (such as the Basic with 4-4-4, or the Typo & Greats with 2-4-2), but don’t let the specs fool you because the profile is plenty forgiving enough for almost anybody. The flex is basically perfect for intermediate riders ready to get further up the mountain and off the blue runs, but is still flexible enough for early intermediate riders still working on torsional twist to leverage the board.

TURN INITIATION – The most common complaint about this board I found on-line is that turn initiation is slow. On the other hand, there are just as many contrasting reviews – so it was hard to decide whether this issue was real. IMO, this really comes down to specs/sizing, and snow conditions. This board is wide, and it rides that way for my size 10 boots in hard snow and messy end-of-day resort snow. In fresh snow, the board has a different personality that rolls effortlessly from edge to edge. It turns wells enough for trees as long as it is deep, fresh, and soft; but it would be too much for me in a tree run of day-old tracked out snow. It also does not have that quick roll transition like hybrid rocker (but I still like hybrid camber better overall).

SIZING - Similar to another reviewer (Grant), I purchased the original 2019/20 model prior to the 2020/21 season to save some cash - which meant I had to go with the 157 instead of the 153 because the 153 wasn’t available the first year. Although the 157 is wide, it is not comparatively as short as most short-wide style boards would be for my specs. Also like the other reviewer, part of me would like to size down to the 153. The 157 floats and rides steeper terrain so well in good snow, though, I’m hesitant to risk giving that up, and I think I may just buy an all-mountain board for those messy groomer days. (I live in Tennessee and have to travel for snow, so I pretty much have to ride whatever conditions I’m given when I get there.) For folks with size 11 boots or bigger boots, I think the turn initiation on the 157 will be plenty fast, and I doubt they will have any limitations. Advanced/expert riders with size 10 or larger shouldn’t have any issues, either. Intermediate riders with size 10-11 that are looking for a daily driver, should probably go with the size 153, and intermediate riders with boot sizes under 9.5, should probably look elsewhere. Yes seems to be conservative on their weight recommendations. I think riders up to 210 lbs would be fine on the 157, so I wouldn’t step up to that 161 just because you are a couple of pounds over Yes’s recommended weight of 190.

LIKES – I really love Yes’s hybrid-camber CamRock profile. It rides very stable and does all the things James says it does. The tapered underbite sidecut is really unique, and makes for an interesting turn profile. As James mentions, it doesn’t feel as back-foot washy as you would expect for a tapered board because of the way the tapered underbite progressively tightens the side cut radius. Keep in mind that I’m an extremely mediocre, middle-aged, glorified beginner; but even I can play around with shifting my weight to get different radius turns from the sidecut. Once you get on edge, you can manipulate that sidecut to get the turn radius you want. I really like the flex of the board, too. This board has plenty of guts as far as I am concerned, and it was all I needed for riding Jackson Hole from top to bottom. I really prefer a flex that hugs to the terrain when I get in steep stuff, so the Hybrid is perfect for me. I love this board anytime the snow is soft - on steeps and bowls at the top of the mountain, or slashing slush and carving groomers at the bottom…it’s great as long as the snow is soft. Don’t take the soft snow comments as a complaint about edge hold, though, because this board has edge hold for days. I have ridden pure east coast ice on it and it holds an edge, but it does take a lot of work to turn in icy conditions. In deep powder, the Hybrid has a unique ride because it planes out on top, and the back foot doesn’t have to sink as much. I have no issues riding powder with a centered stance, just because the nose floats it out so well. It’s not really a surf-style ride, but it’s a very floaty ride and I really like it.

COMPLAINTS – I basically only have two issues with the board. The first I have already mentioned ad nauseam – it is a bit of a chore to turn in hard snow. It will wear you out it in hard snow trying to turn through messy moguled-up runs, and it’s a downright pain in the ass for long, narrow, rutted-up cat tracks if you can’t flat-base it. The second complaint is not that big of a deal, but is a more of a preference thing. The reference stance is relatively wide, and it only has 2x5 inserts. The reference stance for both the 153 and 157 is 23”. If you ride a 23” stance, then ignore this comment because you are golden. I, on the other hand, am much more comfortable in a 21.5-22” stance. Since I ride Burton Step-On bindings, I don’t have any additional adjustment outside of what is available on the inserts. I have been riding the minimum reference stance of 21.5” on the inner most inserts. This works to give me the stance width I want, but it does make the nose ride a bit longer, which exacerbates the turn initiation issue in shitty snow. It also means that I have to ride a 23” stance if I want to move my stance all the way back for powder (which in my case is simply moving the back binding back). As James mentions, it would be nice to have another set of inserts for adjustability instead of the 2x5 pattern.

All in all, this is a very forgiving, yet very capable board, that I like very much.