Board: Niche Maelstrom
Size: 157
Camber Option: Directional camber. Rocker in the nose and then a setback camber.
Bindings: Rome Black Label
Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 200lbs
Resort: Copper Mountain
Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies, a couple inches of fresh, cold to turning to warm temps, chop, chunder, hot pow, left over pow, and perfect corduroy.
Flex: This board isn’t overly stiff for being a freeride deck. It is directional in nature so you do get a little bit of a softer flex in the nose and it progressively stiffens back up to the tail. Between the feet the torsional give is noticeable but it’s not overly rigid.
Stability: At low to moderate speeds there’s a little flap in the nose but that isn’t what’s causing the chatter underfoot, that is more or less because of how lively this snowboard is. When you really crank up the speed it starts to dissipate these vibrations and you notice that the board while reactive and lively doesn’t feel like you’re riding a jackhammer.
Ollies/Pop: The camber amount itself is pretty mellow and loads up with next to no effort. When you do snap with this board it has a predictable pop to it that isn’t overwhelming. It just feels like a board you’ve ridden forever.
Butterability: The nose takes a little more effort to press into even with the rocker in it. The abrupt upkick in the nose helps with getting your press up higher. With the tail you’re spending a bit more effort to lock it in but what do you expect from a board like this?
Carving: There’s a slow and delayed edge to edge power transmission. When it finally gets on edge that’s when you can crank your carve and push into the camber section. If you want to lay it over understand the taper on the tail gives you some limitations and will kick out if you get too aggressive or deep with the carve. It’s those smooth transitions from one edge of the trail back to the other where this board truly shines.
Rider in Mind: Freeride guy that likes to charge and blast pow more than rip hard carves.
Personal Thoughts: It’s been a few years since I hopped on this board and in that time they’ve changed factories so there’s always a fear that it might not ride similar, with this there isn’t that. It rode just like it did the last time I got on it. It’s predictable, it comes alive at speed without killing your knees and ankles with chatter, and you can trust it in just about any type of terrain.
Comparable Boards:
Cabin Mountain Tools Peregrine: https://amzn.to/3gDgyPm
Capita Navigator: https://bit.ly/3TVRC3S
K2 Excavator: https://bit.ly/3gJ2Fzn
Binding Recommendations:
Ride A-9: https://bit.ly/3f3LOGN
Union Atlas Pro: https://bit.ly/3DxBXCM
Jones Apollo: https://bit.ly/3N3ETtE
