Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums - 2012 Never Summer Heritage (and new boots)

The Old
2006 164cm Head Defiance board
Old ('98?) Vans Lemmings boots (size 12)
2006 Ride Delta bindings

The New
2012 Never Summer Heritage board
2011 Nitro Team TLS boots (size 10.5)
Same bindings

I was fortunate to pick up a 2012 Never Summer Heritage a couple of weeks ago. I took it out riding here in Utah last weekend. I haven't really ridden many other boards at all, so this may be less of a "review" and more of a "listen-to-me-talk-about-my-new-board" post. Sorry.

One thing I can say, however, is that I love the board. In the past, I have only owned more budget-friendly boards. As a teenager in the late 90s, I rode House brand boards (The House Burton Snowboards, Snowboard Boots, Bindings, Jackets, Pants, Clothing, K2, Ride, DC, Holden, Bonfire) and the last few years I have ridden a Head Defiance board. My point is that I am making a pretty dramatic jump up to the Never Summer, so maybe I would love any quality board at this point :) I also got some stiffer boots that actually fit me.

Here are some things I immediately noticed about the board:

Strapping in at home, the board had more flex than I expected. Pretty sure it is more flexible than my Head board. Not sure about torsional flex.
I found myself suddenly going faster than I thought I was going when getting into hairy terrain.
Have to try really hard to catch an edge

Regarding the difficulty to catch an edge, I was able to literally wave the board side to side while standing flat on it without catch an edge. I wasn't used to being able to do this. I thought it was pretty neat.

I also found myself able to ride switch almost half-decently for the first time. I think a lot of this had to do with not catching an edge easily. A few times while switching back and forth I felt like I should have gone down but didn't. One thing I did notice while riding switch (where I have less control) is that my turns would easily spin me around as if I was heading back up the hill. I could see this board going where it wants to if the rider doesn't control it.

I believe the board had a lot more stable landings and more pop that my previous boards. For really the first time I was able to get off the ground and make some solid landings. This was super exciting for me. I was trying to hit any jump I could find on the way down. I hit a jump and got a little more air than I expected, and the board almost felt like it landed itself.

I didn't find it any noticeably lighter or heavier than my previous board.

Carving through rougher terrain, control-wise, almost felt like carving on a groomed trail. I could feel the choppy terrain below me, but it didn't bother me because I always felt in control.

Edge-to-edge was pretty amazing. I could link turns as tightly as I wanted to without much effort.

I could see it not being so great in icy conditions; it seemed to grip a *little* less than expected on packed snow.

No park action.

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._7150219_n.jpg