Never Summer SL - 2011

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Never Summer claim the SL is their all-mountain, do everything dominator. They’re not wrong. Enough damping to eradicate any of those unwanted vibrations you get when the snow’s hard and crusty, a rocker/camber hybrid profile that makes carving a dream and backcountry riding effortless and a powerful but manageable flex that rewards aggressive riders with great edge hold and plenty of pop. The Never Summer SL is a great snowboard for riders who want to ride everything and anything as long as there’s plenty of carving to be had.

Manufacturer's Description:

An extremely agile, high performance freestyle board that does it all, the SL is not only versatile, but offers powerful edge to edge response and maintains a forgiving tip and tail. If you want a board that excels in the park, on groomers, or on backcountry kickers, this is it.

Recommended for park riding.

Recommended for halfpipe riding.

Recommended for freeride riding.

High cost $

Available in Wide.

Rocker Construction.

Directional Twin Shape.

Year: 2011

Available Lengths (cm):
151, 153, 155, 158, 161, 164

Riding Style: All Mountain

Specifications:

RC rocker / camber profile
STS Pretensioned Fiberglass
BI-Lite Fiberglass
Carbon VXR Laminate Technology
NS Custom Flightcore
RDS 2 Damping System
Sintered P-tex Sidewall
Durasurf Sintered 4501 base
P-tex Tip and Tail Protection
Full Wrap Metal Edge
3 year warranty

Similar boards: Burton Feelgood Flying-V - 2011 Burton Sherlock - 2011 Nitro Shadow - 2011 Atomic Alibi Renu - 2011

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Never Summer SL

Snowboard Review:

The SL is Never Summer’s all-mountain snowboard aimed at the rider who is looking at boards like the Burton Custom or Atomic Alibi, a snowboard to lay waste to everything from park to powder. It has a directional twin shape, biaxial glass, extensive carbon reinforcement and more damping than a bouncy castle.

Like other NS boards the SL uses RC technology, rocker between the bindings and camber at the nose and tail. The result of this match made in heaven is a softer longitudinal flex between the bindings and a stiffer and super poppy nose and tail. For intermediate riders raising the nose and tail off the snow means the SL is very stable when it’s kept on a flat base and ridden down all types of snow conditions, despite using a slightly firmer than moderate torsional flex, the SL initiates carves quite easily and on an edge the SL was extremely capable. Personally, I really enjoyed the way the board’s sidecut worked well with the softer rocker area between the bindings, I felt I could really work the SL into hard carves… and then there’s a reminder that you’ve got camber in the tail as it pops you out. The feel is almost identical to that of the NS Raptor, just a little less powerful. The softer waist also means it’s remarkably easy to work the fairly firm flexing SL into tight turns on steep terrain. When you open up the SL the ride is smooth and refined, there is no snowboard manufacturer on the planet that does damping quite like Never Summer, the SL rides like a Rolls Royce Phantom on air suspension. Another great thing about the SL is the crazy float it packs, there’s no need to put all of your weight on the back of the board or set your stance back, it just seems to work in the pow.. freeriding is something the SL just eats up.

On the freestyle front, the SL was fine off kickers, as I mentioned earlier, there is plenty of carbon reinforcement in the nose and tail, so you’ve got a nice helping of pop. Carving into spins was predictable, but for those with less experience I think the SL has too much grip, so there’s no way you’ll be able to cheat and slide frontside spins off transitions. Another observation was that riding switch was a bit of an oddity on the SL. I felt that the toe edge and particularly my front foot (my rear foot when riding regular) toe edge was dragging a bit which made the ride pretty twitchy, I’d be interested to know if anybody else has found this? Unfortunately I didn’t get to ride the SL in the pipe, but I’m certain it would smoke it. If you want to ride rails, short of the odd board slide and box press the SL is probably too stiff to work, I’d look at the Evo if rails are your bag.

If you’re a confident intermediate or advanced snowboarder who enjoys carving hard on groomers, getting expressive in the powder and hitting booters of all shapes and sizes in the park and off piste, you should check out the SL. The SL feels quite like the Custom flying V which is no surprise as they use similar technology. Comparing the two, the SL needs a stronger / heavier rider to get the most from it, but the damping means it’s a more refined ride at high speed and on sketchy snow. Choose the SL if you want to ride everything but freeriding is your main-stay and the Burton Custom Flying V if pipe and booters are your bag.

Posted by Rich Ewbank in • Never Summer

User Snowboard Reviews

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What colour is powder?

Rich Ewbank on February 02, 2012 at 07:04 PM

Sure, have a look at the Nitro Addict and Nitro Team Gullwing…. the Burton Process Flying V… and if you really want to save some bucks the Rossi Angus and One Magtek are worth a glance even though they use a different type of hybrid camber.

Chris on August 04, 2012 at 04:51 AM

Hi guys,

I’m 5’6, 165lbs, size 9 Burton Rulers.

I currently ride a Burton Custom Flying V 155 that i bought as a factory second. I hate it because it basically has no edge hold on ice.

I’m looking into an SL 153 or 155. I ride a lot of groomers (in Australia that means large sheets of ice) but I’m starting to hit some jumps as well but I mostly stick to the groomers. I do go overseas in search of real snow from year to year.

I’m looking for something with good edge hold but a little more forgiving as I am a lower intermediate.

Any advice would be great thanks.

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