This will be an ongoing review based on different terrain and riding conditions. I just received the 2012 model of the ever popular Neversummer Heritage. I will be testing this board in the Pacific Northwest, Primarily on Mt. Hood in a variety of terrain and conditions. In addition, it is my plan to take this board up to Alaska in March to ride back country with Chugach Powder guides as well as resort riding at Alyeska.

Stats:

Board setup:

158 CM with 2009 Rome Targa bindings mounted symmetrically centered over the number 3 insert holes on each end for a stance width of 22 inches; ducked out +15 / -15. No modifications to base or edges save for a light detune with a couple of passes with a gummy stone and a fresh wax with a low Flouro all temp hydrocarbon wax.

Board Specs:

HERITAGE: Like the freeride inspired Raptor, the new Carbonium Series Heritage is equipped with the new NS SuperLight woodcore and extensive carbon reinforcement (CC Laminate Technology) to power his big mountain freestyle board anywhere on the mountain. Super snappy, yet powerful and lightweight, the Heritage is comfortable charging full speed down groomers, in the trees, or slaying the park with absolutely no sacrifice in quality and durability.

HERITAGE X: A wide version of the original.


Technical features:

Carbonium topsheet
Carbonium Laminate Technology
STS Pretensioned Fiberglass
Bi-LLite iberglass
NS uperLight Wood Core
CDS Damping System
Sintered P-tex Sidewall
Durasurf XT intered 501 base
P-tex Tip and Tail Protection
Full rap Metal Edge


Flex: 5.5 out of 10

Damp: 7 out of 10

Length: 158CM

Waist: 25.4 CM

Edge: 124 CM

Sidecut: Vario 743

Tip/Tail: 30.0 CM

Camber Configuration: Rocker between the bindings with area of aggressive camber under the bindings.


Rider Stats:

Age: 45
Height: 5"10"
Weight: 185
Boot size: 8.5 US
Stance: Regular, 22 inches +15 /-15

General riding background:

Been riding for just over 6 years now and I would consider myself an advanced free rider (not expert yet) with good carving skills and all around back country experience. Can handle trees, steeps, crud, ice, powder, moguls and anything mother nature throws my way with relative ease and make decent turns doing it. I frequently climb Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams in the spring and summer to get my summer turns.

As for general freestyle and park skills, I am a low intermediate who can hit small to medium tables up to 15 feet no problem (straight air with basic Indy or Method grab) Easy boxes doing 50/50 and starting to explore board sliding but no hand rails or fancy tricks on boxes yet. I ride the 18 foot Super Pipe up to the lip (not getting out yet) competently and with ease. I have my 180`s down all 4 directions solid on small hits; working on 360`s. My biggest limitation for park skills comes from a deathly fear of heights so no going big or gnarly cliff drops are in my future (at least not on purpose).

I am an instructor who rides and works 50+ days a season not counting summer and fall back country. I ride in any condition in any weather and prefer the off piste to groomers although laying down hard carves on firm, fresh corduroy is a nice treat when the off piste is boiler plate with embedded death cookies.

Pictures of the board before mounting the bindings:

Topsheet


Base


Closeup of topsheet graphics and Carbonium material

White Pass Washington

Nwboarder28 and I met at Morton Washington and we loaded his gear into my Exploder and drove the remaining 60 miles up to White Pass to get our pow fix.

Seldom do I ever say that there is such a thing as "too much powder" as doing so is a sacrilege of sorts, However, today was a day where there was in fact too much powder for most of the terrain. In places, the wind deposits were chest deep and we ended up in chest deep snow when I ventured off into the "wrong" spots and after a couple of these events, I expected Nwboarder28 to clobber me upside the head with his board....

Overall, you could not ask for a better, more challenging powder test of this board...

Preliminary Review:

This is the first time for me riding a hybrid rocker board of this configuration (Aggressive rocker between the feet and a short, but intense section of camber under the bindings). The first few runs were taken just getting used to the feel of this board. My initial reaction was "Holy shit, this board is super responsive". Getting off of the lift, I felt how this thing really likes to pivot around the center due to the highly rockered shape and learned that it was even more important to shift my weight farther forward than a camber board. This board has no bevel to the edges (it is 0,0) so with just a tweak of the front foot, the camber section engages.

Once strapped in to ride a packed powder groomer, I found the board to handle excellently but had to go easy on my control inputs or it would whip into a turn and I would end up behind the board. The Vario sidecut, holds an edge like a startled cat to the back of a sofa and soon I felt comfortable laying into some more aggressive carves. Edge release felt a little different and a down unweighting move felt more stable than trying to use an up unweight and rebound. Overall, the board feels moderately stiff and super damp but the rocker shape allows it to be playful like a much softer board.

The only thing that took some getting used to was the "pivoty" feeling while cruising and with no edge bevel, I can see that catastrophic edge catches are quite possible. This board does require the rider`s attention at all times like a Thoroughbred horse. Sloppy technique and inexperience will still get the rider into a world of misery so for that reason, I think this board is definitley more suited for the intermediate to advanced rider. A noob can handle this board, but I think there are better Neversummer choices for a training board than this one.

Low Aspect Powder Review:

The new area of White Pass, called Paradise Basin was a land of deep, untouched powder, strong wind, moderate snowfall and total flat light. Staying near the trees was essential to maintain any semblance of visual references. On our first run, I got "powder fever" and I ventured into the untouched deep poo and on any moderate pitch of even 15 to 20 degrees with Nwboarder28 following in my "trench" as track does not adequately describe the reality here. This board just plowed through it and I was in knee deep, heavy, wet Cascade powder. It was not until I hit a little dip and sank to my waist that I got us into trouble and we got hopelessly stuck. Realizing that I just took us where we had no business being on any snowboard, we spent the next 20 minutes happily swimming back up my own trench to get out of my navigational blunder. The next several hours were spent lapping the trees on very mellow 20 to 25 degree pitches and I soon got a basic feel for how to work this board.

The rocker of this board really has a teeter totter feel and as long as my weight stayed shifted just a tad aft, the nose came up on plane and I could go just about anywhere. I laid first tracks down underneath the Couloir Express and "paved" the way for Nwboarder28 and others to follow and soon we had a good trail established. In places, I was ankle deep in wind packed powder and then without warning, I would find myself in knee to thigh deep loose, unconsolidated Powder. A simple, quick shift aft was all it took to get engage the rocker and increase the pitch of the board and I could float through it. Timing is crucial and I got spanked hard for any errors; usually resulting in being buried upside down so that all that Nwboarder28 could see was an upside down snowboard laying in the snow.

One thing that I really noticed was how easy it was to overdue edging movements and dive the board in as a result of the heavy camber under the bindings. While I would not consider this a "negative" on the part of the board, it is something that the rider has to develop a real feel for. The rocker tends to give you a "false sense of security" because it is so damn easy to ride, Then all of a sudden you go to make a medium radius powder turn and get a bit ham fisted with it and you get yourself very stuck. Being used to riding a board with camber between the feet and rocker at tip and tail, this took me awhile to get used to, but eventually,dialed it in.

Powder Steeps And Tight Trees Review:

Due to the increasing winds (top gusts 52 MPH) and horrible visibility we elected to return to the base side of the mountain and lap the steeps. I put this board through its paces on several runs like Paradise Cliffs, Execution and Hourglass which are all short, but intensely steep pitches ranging from 40 to 50 degrees. The powder here was churned up and there were moguls 3 to 4 feet high down the runs. Theses were soft and easy to navigate and this to me is where the responsiveness of this board really shined. I was able to ride these pitches through the giant moguls with relative ease. The rocker design really enhance good fore-aft movements to stay in tight, dynamic skidded turns to ride the troughs of the moguls.

Again, due to the responsiveness of the camber sections, I had to actually ease up on my movements to avoid over steering. I felt like this board reduced a lot of my work as a rider in this terrain. The rocker made recovery from timing errors in the moguls a lot more successful and I recovered from mistakes that other boards would have dumped me on my ass.

Toward the end of the day as my confidence in my ability to control and use the properties of this board solidified, We ventured into the tight trees on the backside of the mountain; going down Star Wars. It is an area about a mile long and a couple wide down a fairly consistent pitch of around 30 degrees in tight, mid growth lodgepole pine and fir. The responsiveness of this board builds confidence to ride these trees a bit faster than I might normally. Just as in the moguls, a good fore-aft shift allows this board to work and complete tight turns on a dime and slow for the next turn.

Conclussion:

Considering the unbelievable depth of the powder and the mellow terrain at White Pass, I ended the day far less fatigued than I had a right to. You have heard the phrase "work smarter not harder" well this board is like suddenly having a PHD in powder riding. Any real soreness or overall fatigue I experienced was due to my own navigational idiocy of going into gullies and flat spots in powder this deep and swimming out. One such event happened in Paradise where I veered too far left and wound up in a creek drainage that led out of the ski area boundary and I had to stop and hike uphill to get back to where I could ride to a perimeter groomer. This was about a 1/4 mile slog through chest deep powder. Someone with better route planning than I did, would ride this thing in impossibly deep powder and hardly break a sweat.

So, for day one in powder I would give this board all thumbs up or a 9 out of 10. The only thing that keeps me from going 10 for 10 is I am not 100% sure I prefer this rocker with camber under the feet as well as I like camber between the bindings and rocker at tip and tail for powder. This will take more time to evaluate as I need to adapt my riding to this configuration. In any event, today would have been 100% total misery on a conventional cambered board and this thing slayed it....

Conditions

Meadows today was a mixed bag with periods of heavy snow, sun breaks and wind. The snow up top was lighter powder and down below it was very thick, wet and manky gunk around HRM. The wind created areas of firm packed powder and the steeps and trees were a mix of packed powder, chopped up powder and soft, deep untouched powder with areas of firm, packed powder slowly turning to icy patches. The temperatures hovered around 30F all day.

Variable consistency Cascade "powder"

I started the day off lapping the slack country in Private Reserve with a few trips down Yoda, God`s Wall and Lord`s Chute. The snow had gotten dense from a period of above freezing temperatures. In the trees and on the steeps, everything was tracked out and rutted up. The board once again impressed me with it`s agility and ability to make tight, aggressive turns in the tight trees in any of the variable snow conditions toady. I am definitely feeling this camber under foot when I use edging movements and have to ride this a lot like a more conventional cambered board in these conditions. The rocker is quite effective if you remember to utilize it and have the timing down. I was late in shifting back a few times and the nose dug in and flipped me.

Where this board really shined was plowing through untracked wet heavy snow with a slight sun crust on top. Once I shifted aft a tad to use the rocker to lift the nose, it was smooth sailing. Again, with this heavy wet Cascade snow, edging movements need to be subtle or you will auger the nose in deep. This board, when I used it correctly, made riding these conditions much easier and I found myself riding through these trees on the 45 degree pitch of Private Reserve at a much faster speed than I normally do.

Packed Powder

With the nearly 1 mile long flat runout of Heather Canyon, I got to really get a feel for flat riding. One thing is that the "pivoty" feeling is very present if you ride centered. The best stability was achieved with a forward shift of my weight. Once I did this, the "teeter totter" effect of the rocker kicked in and it was like riding just the front half of the board which has camber under foot. The one footed riding is also quite stable if you ride the front half of the board and keep the rear foot forward of center.

The board does feel more "catchy" as a result of the 0 degree bevel although a competent rider will be able to work with this no problem. On packed powder or firm groomers, the rider needs to have some decent edge awareness as the camber really kicks in.


Carving

I had the opportunity to teach tonight and I got the chance to do some basic carving since the groomed runs were firm and even a bit icy from the wind. I was very impressed with the board`s ability to hold a carved turn in a medium radius turn and the edge change was solid and fluid. The edginess is not a factor in the carved turn if good technique is used. By the end of the night, I was making short radius dynamic carved turns without fear.

Pop

Took a few runs through the park to get a feel for how it handles intermediate jumps. The camber sections make this board feel as poppy as a conventional camber board. The Ollie felt strong and springy when I did a few on the rollers. The board`s landing ability is solid and the dampness of the board really absorbs impact force on landing.

Tomorrow will be another full day of riding and putting this board through its paces....

Today`s tests were all over the map and I am really getting the feel of this board dialed in....

Today at Mt. Hood Meadows it was mostly cloudy and warm with temperatures in the mid 30`s early. Around 4:00 PM the temperature dropped and it began to dump for about 3 hours steady with moderate winds for some incredible powder riding. Earlier in the day, our powder turned into very wet, sticky, heavy "gunk" down lower and wind packed powder up top with areas of wind scoured ice.

Around 11:00 AM, they opened up upper Heather Canyon where there were still plenty of untracked powder lines on the 45 to 50 degree pitches and I was able to put this board to work on this terrain. Lower down in Heather huge 3 to 4 foot moguls had developed in the dense, heavy chopped up powder. Later on, the groomers set up for some firm snow that was ideal to test this board`s carving ability. While teaching my college group, I was able to test this board out in the park and in the Super Pipe....

Steeps Riding in Heather Canyon:

This is where the super responsiveness of this board really shined. For a medium stiff board, this thing has amazing torsional flex that allows the rider to aggressively initiate turns and explosively complete in full control. I found this board to instill confidence on these 45 to 50 degree pitches with 1,000 feet to the creek below. The way this board performed here, made the turns like poetry in motion and the edge hold and elimination of chatter in the bottom of the turn is phenomenal! Due to the style of the rocker, fore - aft movements in the steeps were super effective and controlling speed through the turns. As I said earlier, it take a couple of days to tweak your riding to fully take advantage of the board, but once you figure out how to make the board do the work, the ride is unlike anything I have experienced before. On this big mountain steep terrain, I give this board a 10 out of 10.

Monster Moguls

Again the responsiveness of the board combined with the rocker really helped in these huge moguls. Just as in the steeps, the rocker accentuates any good fore - aft movements to keep your speed manageable, giving the rider time to set up for the next turn around the moguls. I was able to ride at a slow, controlled speed down through these things in a corridor about a grooming cat`s width wide. The only negative I noticed was that the camber under foot had a tendency to want to cause the nose to dig into the sides of the moguls whereas my Angus with early rise rocker at the tip deflects off easier. I am not ready to call this a negative just yet. I think it is technique and something I may need to dial in like many other riding techniques for this board. Right now I rate it a 6 or 7 out of 10 in big moguls, but that is subject to change with a little more time riding them with this board.


Firm Groomer Carving

Rockers are not the board one thinks of first when it comes to laying out a hard carve and I still prefer conventional camber on a long, stiff board for this over anything. Having said that, I think Never Summer has done an engineering feet with this board when it comes to carving. The aggressive camber under foot, really comes to life when you lay this thing on its side and go for it. While I did`nt really notice that rebound feeling I get from a full camber, the edge release is very free and positive and edge to edge transitions were effortless. Once in the carve, it holds an edge extremely well. I did some large radius carves and then brought them down to medium radius dynamic carves. One thing I really noticed that was different from my full camber boards is there seems to be the need for a little more fore - aft movement through the carved turn. When I stayed centered, the tail had a little more tendency to break into a skid. A slight move aft though locked it back in. This is one of the few boards that I have been able to hold the carve all the way back up the hill and make a complete circle though I had to skid the very top of the turn die to lack of speed. From this preliminary carving test, I am giving this a 7 out of 10.


Boxes

I was a bit nervous when my group indicated that they wanted to session the fun boxes again as this board has NO bevel and very sharp edges. I am not much of a board slider yet so my focus has been doing 50/50`s with a little bit of tail and nose pressing. I was really concerned about the rocker and its tendency to want to pivot. My fears seem to have been unwarranted as I hit the first boxes and really concentrated on eliminating any rotation and edging. I was surprised by how well the board actually "locked on" once I got onto the box. After a couple of hits, my confidence was there and I tried a few presses both nose and tail. Again, the teeter totter effect made this insanely easy and fun. I did the best tail and nose presses I have ever done on a box to date. Because to the aggressive edge, I was not ready to attempt to board slide with it. If it were my own board and I wanted to use it for jibbing as well as all mountain, I would put a 1 degree bevel on it and lightly detune the edges. Keeping in mind that the board is not designed to be a "park board" I think it is a solid 4 or 5 out of 10.

Jumps

Just to add to to my earlier observations, I hit a few larger kickers with it tonight and the pop that it has as a result of the camber under foot, makes this perform very much like a full camber board with regard to pop and absorbing the landings. I did seem to feel better landing a little more tail heavy than I do with a full camber board. Flat landing on this is pretty firm as a result of the aggressive rocker between the feet.

Half Pipe

Of all of the freestyle terrain, this where the board seems to really excel. Our 18 foot Super Pipe was fresh cut and in great shape. Rarely do i ever make it fully to the lip on any board. My first run through our pipe scared me a bit as this board seemed to rocket up the wall. I hit the transition with the speed I am normally comfortable with and was shocked to find myself actually pop a little out of the pipe. That full 18 feet below as I spun 180 was startling! As soon as I extended and re engaged that wall, this board locked in and carved down the wall effortlessly. The keen edge and camber where it is really makes this thing perform well in the pipe. I can honestly say that it was the highest I have gotten up the wall and still felt in control. I think of all of the things I have done with this board, I was most surprised by how well it handles the half pipe. A clear 10 out of 10 is my initial reaction.

Powder Redux

When it started dumping hard, this board`s strength`s really came to the surface again. We dropped The Face, 1 Bowl, 2 Bowl and 4 bowl which was untouched and filled in by the wind. Overall it is about a 40-45 pitch and this thing is at home in those conditions. A little extra pressure on the tail and the nose floats like a jet boat up on plane. I just love how this board handles in steep, deep powder. Additionally, I must say that the base is FAST! I can consistently out glide my riding partners and get through areas others dare not follow. Powder is this board`s super strong point.




I will be riding this board for awhile and putting it through its paces in all of the changing conditions that spring in the northwest throws at us. Right now, I am most impressed with the board. If there is any area that I can think of that this board does not do exceptionally, it may be in very heavy, wet "gunk" I notice that as a result of the camber under foot, it behaves a bit like a traditional camber in this deep, wet, heavy stuff. A few times I forgot to shift aft in time and the nose really dived in. In these conditions, I am still leaning to be a fan of having rocker at the tips but there is a lot of ground to test yet and as I adapt my riding, this may prove to be insignificant.

I am up here in Fairbanks, Alaska riding at Mt. Aurora which is the farthest north chairlift served ski area in the world. The snow here was hard, dry and fast and this beast slayed it. She carved like a dream and handled the hard, bumpy, crusty crud with ease. I will provide more details of my riding experience in these conditions when I get back to Anchorage. In short, this board surprised me at how well it carves on hard pack...

It was a gorgeous day up here at the "Top Of The World" and I set the board up so that I looked north over the ski area with the Brooks Range just visible in the north.

"Neversummer Is On Top"












Thanks again Vince for the opportunity to ride this board...I may need to discuss options for buying it from you since I don`t like the idea of giving it up.....

Birch Hill, Ft. Wainwright Army Base, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Friday, March 23, 2011
March Madness - Soldier Appreciation Night

I spent the day driving up from Anchorage and got settled in my hotel for the weekend. March Madness was full underway and on this Friday night, they had night riding until midnight, a bonfire, beer garden and music. Being ex military, I was able to get onto the base and secure a lift ticket and prepay my tab at the beer garden.

The vibe was super fun and the conditions were excellent. It was a clear, starry night under the northern lights with mild temperatures in the low teens and calm winds. The snow condition was a very firm ice base with packed powder that had been expertly groomed and was incredibly fast. The main attraction of Birch Hill is it's terrain features so this was a perfect opportunity to get a feel for the Heritage in a park environment even though I am not an accomplished freestyle rider.

Carving

Before hitting the park features, I warmed up by exploring the entire small hill and laying down some aggressive carves. Again, I was impressed at how much this board loves to ride an edge and go fast. Seldom have been this confident at this high of a speed on icy surfaces riding aggressively high edge angles. The truly great thing about this board is how it acts like having two boards in one. The rocker being playful and buttery yet lay this sucker on edge and it handles like a stable, stiff, traditional camber free ride board. I spend about an hour carving the hill. Early edge release, change and re engagement was effortless and the board was less prone to "scarving" turns than many traditional camber boards I have ridden. While the was not much in the way of rebound like a cambered deck, I still felt that this board easily "popped" out of each turn, making the edge change flawless and instant. Dynamic cross under turns were fluid and rhythmic; it was super easy to get into a "stride" Neversummer has done a superb job at making a "rockered" board behave so well at high speed carving in very firm snow.



Jumps

Not being a rail guy and the fact that Birch hill had no fun boxes setup, I stuck with riding the jump lines which were nicely laid out with a good flow. The first thing I noticed was how stable this board was in an icy park. The approaches and takeoffs were easy to dial in and stabilize. At no point did I ever feel sketchy approaching the lip of any feature. While rocker can often feel "pivoty" the camber under foot eliminates this issue easily so long as the rider maintains a few degrees of edge angle.

For straight air takeoffs, a simple last minute flattening out of the base assures a stable, straight trajectory with ease. In the air, the board has good balance and it's lightness seems to help make retractions of the lower body easier.

For spins, a little bit of edge angle is all it takes. The camber under foot really digs in when you edge the board and with proper stacking of the upper body, everything falls into place the second the deck leaves the snow. I am not great at spins, but I really felt that this deck was more of a help than a hindrance.

I think the landings are where this board shines. It's natural dampness and overall stability was a blessing to sore knees and a less than accomplished park rider. I was able to save many bad landings that I had no right to. As long as the rider lands centered with the board flat, he or she can butter out any mistakes using the rocker under foot. Once directional control is reestablished, a simple edging movement and the board is securely carving again even in the worst conditions.

Overall, even though this board is not designed as a park board specifically, any rider should never hesitate to use this as their "goto" "does everything board". A more advanced freestyle rider than I could really make this board work. While I would not recommend this board to the strict park rider, I can in confidence highly recommend it to the all mountain rider who may spend part of the day in the trees, cliff drops, steeps, chutes and then finish up the day with a park and pipe session. Due to it's construction, I think it's weakest point would be jibbing. The edges are too keen and the overall flex and dampness makes this board less than ideal for a jib monkey. But if big air and pipe riding is your park specialty, this board won`t disappoint.


Conclusion

I would say that this night was likely the most fun I have ever had lapping a park. The crowds were light and all military guys and families so it was a super chill vibe with respectful, courteous people and good times were had by all. The weather was perfect and the snow conditions ideal (if a bit on the firm side) for park riding. On top of that, I had a board that inspired confidence to go a little bigger than I normally would on such firm snow. This was the first time I had spend a lot of time in the park with this board and like everything else I have done with it, came away impressed. As I said, while it is not designed as a park board, it handles park better than many park boards I have tried. I would easily give this a 7 out of 10 as a park board. The only demerits that bring this board down to a 7 in my opinion is it's stiffness which tend to limit its usefulness for buttering and jibbing. Now its time for a few cold beers by the bonfire!


My heartfelt thanks to Ft. Wainwright for a great night and to all of the men and women in our armed forces for their service to our country.!