[neni]

A new season, a new board

Now... this is a first impression post rather than a real in depth review, because I hardly rode the board on groomers, because... we got sooooo many dumps, we only get to ride pow, woohoo! Alps got really blessed the last weeks.

So it was right in time to get my feet on a new pow board. To me, being an oldschool gal actually liking long but slender boards, chosing a short fat was quite a step to go. But here I am, on a tiny tiny 148 board, having the best hero pow days I could wish for!

K, less stoke, more facts:
My specs: 130lbs, 5'7, 24.5cm feet, +18/-6, 58cm/22.8" stance (which means maxed out inserts on this small board)
Paired with NOW Conda bindings and DC Mora boots. Both a great match; tried also the stiffer 32 XLT boots on it, but prefer the softer Mora as it's a more playful combo. Seems as of the older I get, the softer, too, lol.

Rode that tiny 148 Harpoon (my usual preferred freeride board length is 156) in shin to hip deep pow, in open alpine steeps, in narrow gullies and natural half pipes, and in trees - be it steep or low pitch - in very deep pow. Actually, it's years since we got such deep pow. And on former long freeride boards, the low angle trees were only halfway fun, sure some exercise included. On this short Harpoon? It turns on a dime, effortlessly so, angling around dense trees as if it's nothing. Hardly effort. The huffing and puffing stems from yelling and excitement rather than from muscle exhaust.

This thing is like an eel crossed with a rubber ball. Incredibly fun to ride, to hit side hits, take jumps, smash a long drawn curve up a wall and then shoot out of the gully, then swivel through trees no matter how deep the pow, then straightline down the cat to get another run. Rinse repeat.

Sooo much light-footed easy fun! I couldn't imagine that I'd ever like a short board, but I do!

The very interesting thing about this board: it's totally stable at higher speeds on runout, flatbasing with centered weight I'm totally relaxed, even tho it doesn't feel stiff at all. The Lady West OTOH needs to be ridden on the front foot, otherwise it will get squirrely. Harpoon doesn't. Harpoon also feels more linear carving.

While the LW is the greatly balanced freeride board for the aggressive rider wanting something which likes to be pushed AND can cruise, the Harpoon is the fun board for trees and features.

Whenever we have to stay below treeline or ride gullies? Harpoon will be my take.
While my former NS Maverix 150 was fun in trees, it wasn't a board to reliably float up at speed. Took many homahawks due to nose dips on it. The Harpoon, even tho shorter, doesn't have this problem anymore. Its nose is so wide, tail so short, it floats. Period. They really improved the shape to create a big small fun pow deck. Well done! Totally happy and stoked rider

 

[BoardieK]

So is the Harpoon an "Orca Slayer"?

 

[Donutz]

Now... this is a first impression post rather than a real in depth review, because I hardly rode the board on groomers, because... we got sooooo many dumps, we only get to ride pow, woohoo!

🤬 😡😡

 

[Oldman]

Ok, that's enough for now.

 

[neni]

Ok, that's enough for now.

I see what you did there 🤭

🤬 😡😡

Really sorry⚘. There will be an end to this hiatus sooner or later.

 

[neni]

Well, two months later, I don't have to add much. Still didn't ride any groomer except the short straightline way back to the lift. Got many more days in deep fresh and am as stoked as on the first day. Totally love this little bouncy nimble deck. Can highly recommend it as pow board. It's a keeper

With this NS Harpoon 148 (trees), the NS Lady West 156 (high alpine, big mountain), and my good old custom made camber deck (groomer day, and sometimes big mountain if no freshness but crusts n ice) I got the perfect quiver now, for the first time in +20y riding there's no question, which board to take as it's cristal clear every day as they complement each other perfectly.

It's hard to take nice pics in trees in heavy snowfall and dim light. But I hope one gets how much fun this was... 1m of fresh snow. Me on a 148. Having suuuuch a good time.

 

[Donutz]

This is out-and-out snowboarding porn.

 

[neni]

So is the Harpoon an "Orca Slayer"?

Oh wow... it took me a loooooong time to get this 😊

 

[snowcat468]

@neni Your review sold me on the Harpoon and I had a chance to ride it over the the weekend at the start of spring skiing in Tahoe. "Confidence inspiring" was my takeaway and I'm very much looking forward to riding it next season.

A bit of background, I'm 5'5", 155lbs, an intermediate snowboarder and have been getting into powdery tree runs. I've been riding a Yes Hel Yes 152 and focusing my practice on staying stacked and more centered on my board. Here's a reference clip of me through the trees at Steamboat - I'm in black/pink - you can see that there's still too much bending over / arm flailing. I've been riding the Hel Yes since the 19/20 season and haven't had much complaints... until the 21/22 season. Snow has been somewhat limited this year in western US and I've been snowboarding on hard packed snow and ice. In these conditions I felt that I had a hard time controlling the board as it picks up speed much faster than I'm comfortable with. A coach suggested that perhaps the 152 is simply too long for me and I debated whether to downsize the Hel Yes to a 149 or pick up a Lady West in 147 or 149. I demoed a Lady West 147 for a couple of days and it felt fine, but there wasn't anything in particular that made me go "yep that's an improvement" over the Hel Yes. When I came across this review of the Harpoon, what you wrote completely clicked with me.

I picked up a Harpoon in 144 and took it out over the weekend. It felt a lot more forgiving and allowed me to make last minute line selection without feeling that I might be penalized or unable to maintain balance. The Harpoon also felt mellower, like I'm cruising through the snow instead of racing through the snow with the Hel Yes. Perhaps it's because the Harpoon shorter and softer versus the longer & stiffer Hel Yes. This is not a dig on the Hel Yes at all, for me it's perhaps that my techniques isn't quite good enough for an aggressive board.

As there aren't a lot of reviews of Harpoons out there, I thought I'd share my experience for someone else researching into the board.

 

[neni]

@neni Your review sold me on the Harpoon and I had a chance to ride it over the the weekend at the start of spring skiing in Tahoe. "Confidence inspiring" was my takeaway and I'm very much looking forward to riding it next season.

A bit of background, I'm 5'5", 155lbs, an intermediate snowboarder and have been getting into powdery tree runs. I've been riding a Yes Hel Yes 152 and focusing my practice on staying stacked and more centered on my board. Here's a reference clip of me through the trees at Steamboat - I'm in black/pink - you can see that there's still too much bending over / arm flailing. I've been riding the Hel Yes since the 19/20 season and haven't had much complaints... until the 21/22 season. Snow has been somewhat limited this year in western US and I've been snowboarding on hard packed snow and ice. In these conditions I felt that I had a hard time controlling the board as it picks up speed much faster than I'm comfortable with. A coach suggested that perhaps the 152 is simply too long for me and I debated whether to downsize the Hel Yes to a 149 or pick up a Lady West in 147 or 149. I demoed a Lady West 147 for a couple of days and it felt fine, but there wasn't anything in particular that made me go "yep that's an improvement" over the Hel Yes. When I came across this review of the Harpoon, what you wrote completely clicked with me.

I picked up a Harpoon in 144 and took it out over the weekend. It felt a lot more forgiving and allowed me to make last minute line selection without feeling that I might be penalized or unable to maintain balance. The Harpoon also felt mellower, like I'm cruising through the snow instead of racing through the snow with the Hel Yes. Perhaps it's because the Harpoon shorter and softer versus the longer & stiffer Hel Yes. This is not a dig on the Hel Yes at all, for me it's perhaps that my techniques isn't quite good enough for an aggressive board.

As there aren't a lot of reviews of Harpoons out there, I thought I'd share my experience for someone else researching into the board.

Great to hear!

I assume that the Yes Hell Yes, as well as the Lady West just aren't the type of boards you're into right now. Both are on the stiffer side and need some more work to get the goods out of them compared with the softer Harpoon, which really is a very sweet "step on it and ride without a care in the world" board.

Keep riding and having fun. Progression comes by repetiton. Focus on your shoulders. Your hips and thus also your feet and the board will follow the orientation of your shoulders. Give the board time to react if the snow is rather flat and deep, it takes a second or two until the soulder turn results into a turn of the board.

 

[ambivalent]

Thanks snowcat468 and neni for your posts! I'm am definitely tempted now to get the Never Summer W Harpoon in 144 since I'm currently riding 6 years old Yes Hel Yes 149 and my riding has definitely improved a lot over the years due to it being my 2nd board.

I ride the Hel Yes all the time and it's amazing on groomers, icy conditions, on untracked powder and in the trees. However, perhaps because it's older now, perhaps it's due to extra weight I have gained, or perhaps it's the rider's skills I don't have fun with this board on chopped up powder on steeper terrains. I'm in PNW so it's heavy powder that once it's tracked out in the resorts, it gets choppy if it's not groomed.

I'm wondering if getting a new board would be a good idea. I have doubled a couple of different boards in icy slush conditions since it wasn't great in PNW in March and didn't find anything that stood out (no NS).
- Rossi After Hours, Rossi Diva, Jones Air Heart 2.0, W Stratos, W Mind Expander, Yes Hel Yes (it felt the best since it was what I was used too ), and Orca (too long).

@neni since it seems like you're familiar with these boards, could you offer some advice?

Some options:
1. Hel Yes 149 (perhaps mine is now too soft)
2. Hel Yes152 (afraid it wouldn't be as nimble but it should be more stable)
3. Lady West (disappointed that they're discontinuing this board next year - why does NS models disappear after a few season but it could be similar to Hel Yes)
4. Harpoon (it's suppose to be a fun board to ride and perhaps I'll ride it on pow days)