Board: Nidecker Beta

Size: 162

Camber Option: Surfy Camrocker. Set back camrocker with more rocker in the nose and the camber being more under the back foot.

Bindings: Rome Black Label

Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy

Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10

My Weight: 200lbs

Resort: Copper Mountain

Conditions: 10 plus inches of heavy wet pow, perfect corduroy under that, chunder at times, and lumpy mashed potato snow.

Flex: Here’s the thing with this boards flex it’s fully directional and on the stiffer side. The nose has more flex than anywhere else on the board and it progressively gets stiffer to the tail. With the width and camber profile that adds to the torsional rigidity which gives this board its stiffer flex. When you try to twist it for ankle steering you notice right away that it has very little movement.

Stability: While the nose will get a little chatter in it, the rest of the board does a great job of absorbing all the chatter. This board cuts through chop, chunder, and push mounds with ease. You actually accelerate more to the point of just being a steam roller in these conditions.

Ollies/Pop: The pop is there off the back foot. With the Surfy Camrocker you end up with less rocker in the tail which makes it easy to engage with the setback on this board. Is it the snappiest deck out there? No, but it gets the job done when you’re in fresh pow.

Butterability: This thing is a boat to butter around and honestly not what it’s for, why waste your time or energy. You can do it if you really want to but go smash pow with it instead.

Carving: The edge to edge transition is fluid and smooth but not quick. There’s a slight delay with it and you find yourself driving it more off the back foot from the center of the board to the tail. This adds to the delay. On edge it holds and you can carve with it doing bit swooping turns, but when you’re trying to do tight quick aggressive ones you exert more energy and have to really throw your hips into it.

Rider in Mind: Pow chasing freerider that rides wetter snow.

Personal Thoughts: This board is too torsionally stiff for me. It takes more effort to twist it than I would like and that caused a delay in the edge to edge response. In deep heavy snow it plowed through with ease even when in serious chop. What I did like was how damp it was and how it just pushed through everything in its path. What I didn’t like was in trees or when trying to be more calculated you were using more energy.

Comparable Boards: Jones Storm Wolf, Gnu Gremlin, Capita Kazu

Recommended Bindings: Nidecker Kaon Plus, Union Atlas, Bent Metal Solution