Board: Never Summer Proto Type Two
Size: 154
Camber Option: Ripsaw Rocker Camber Profile. Camber under foot and reverse camber between the feet.
Bindings: K2 Indy
Stance: 21.5 Wide 18 Negative 15 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 195lbs
Resort: Arapahoe Basin
Conditions: Sunny blue skies, cold temps, pockets of fresh snow, pockets of chunder snow, and perfect corduroy with zero wind.
Flex: This board comes in at just a hair past middle of the road for flex. You’ll notice that way out in the tips right at the end of the camber zones there’s the most play then it stiffens back up from there through the middle. The torsional flex is there but not overly abundant, it’s just right for the flex of this board.
Stability: Now this board is more like what Never Summer is known for in terms of dampness and stability. It wasn’t dead, but it did a great job of absorbing chatter and pushing through chunder. It never buckled when sending it.
Ollies: Here’s the weird thing about this board, as it does have their R.C. Tech it should be fairly easy to load up and snap with, almost skate-like. It wasn’t. I found that you had to engage the camber zones outside the binding more aggressively and get it to flex into the slightly softer tips to pop, because if you didn’t it was just so fucking meh. Which made for inconsistent pop.
Pop On Jumps: There’s not a doubt in my mind that this board would send a big jump with ease. The issue I have is finding how to consistently engage the pop on it so you don’t have to rely on the lip of the jump to send you.
Butterability: This board was hooky when buttering. But not out in the tips, oh no, it was consistently hooky right inside the insert pack where the rocker meets the camber zone as well as where the vario sidecut is. Constantly I could feel it hook up and almost catch as I was swiveling around. Now with that said does it butter in the tips? Yes, but you have to be so far over the camber zone that you’re using all your weight and leverage to get it to lock in.
Jibbing: It jibbed, it wasn’t anything great. You want to make sure if you’re getting sideways to have one of the camber zones locked in otherwise you’ll slip out a little between the feet. Getting into a press you just had to have your weight over the tips and really push into it. There’s some fight in this board so expect a bit of rebound.
Carving: Here’s where this board shines. It lays trenches, it’s easy to engage, and you can really push into the camber profile to get the board to load up and slingshot out. I will say the asymmetrical sidecut isn’t anything to write home about and by that I mean the heelside isn’t as deep as other asym boards I’ve ridden. You can get it on the heel edge but you can’t lay it over or drive it as hard as you can with other boards. It was nice, but not something to write home about. Only two times did I find this board to be a bit hooky when carving and that was when I got into some really soft snow that was on the edge of firm fresh corduroy.
Rider in Mind: The high end all mountain rider that wants a hybrid camber profile and a asym sidecut.
Personal Thoughts: This board rips, but there’s some caveats. The camber profile coupled with where the insert packs and Vario are on the sidecut cause it to be hooky inside the bindings, which is fucking weird. Also the pop could be improved in my opinion as it wasn’t consistent in its engagement. Also the one thing I noticed was that the camber profile seemed to have a bit more flat between the feet. Which I think gave it a bit more stability between the feet.
Comparable Boards: Gnu Riders Choice, Lago Double Barrel, Capita DOA
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