Board: Nidecker Escape

Size: 156

Camber Option: Camrocker. Rocker in the tips, camber in the middle.

Bindings: Rome Black Label

Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy

Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10

My Weight: 200lbs

Resort: Copper Mountain

Conditions: A mix of blue and gray skies with a storm slowly rolling in, low to high winds, ice, chunder, sun baked pow, perfect corduroy, and typical mid season conditions.

Flex: This has a real predictable middle of the road all mountain flex to it. You have more play in the tips and that’s only accentuated by the rocker zones. Through the center is stiffer while there is a fair amount of torsional flex.

Stability: The camber section in the middle is the most stable. The tips get chatter at high speed and that does resonate back underfoot. In really rutted out terrain you end up feeling everything with the board so prepare yourself for that.

Ollies: There’s some solid snap in this board. Load that camber section up and watch it activate the tail rocker so that it acts like a springboard. The one thing to note is that at the tail upkick it’s so abrupt that when you roll back on it you just feel it engage like a turbo. This board is easy to pop off anything in front of you but has the ability to push it harder if you need to.

Pop On Jumps: I didn’t hit anything too big but this board can handle it all except maybe mega big jumps. Those you would probably want to upgrade to the Plus version of this deck. If you’re laid back it will let the lip do the work and if you’re aggressive and load up you’ll boost even further and higher.

Butterability: The tips have a nice flex to them coupled with that rocker so when you push into them they just bend and hold. You can get sideways with relative ease and not worry about it fighting you too much. When you want to pop out of the press the camber section engages and works well.

Jibbing: It can handle its own on a rail or box. It locks in to nose/tail presses with relative ease and snaps out of the end all while holding the press through the feature. Going sideways you feel the camber cup itself around the feature and lock in.

Carving: This board has a smooth and fluid roll from edge to edge. You notice that you can transition from toe to heel with minimal effort or ankle steer. When you drive the board it locks in to the carve and lets you push into the tail to give it a little more effort. The one thing that I did notice was that the contact points at the tips seem smaller so there isn’t as much edge bite, which can make it wash out on firmer snow. Overall this board is great for someone that knows how to carve and when to push it but is more or less just doing set up turns and riding from one side of the trail to the other on edge.

Rider in Mind: All Mountain Freestyle Rider

Personal Thoughts: This is a very predictable board in terms of its flex and camber profile. You just feel like you’ve ridden this a while and don’t have to sweat it. It’s not overly aggressive but it’s also not totally lacking when you push it. The only issue I had was with the tail kicking out on super aggressive carves otherwise it did what I needed it to do.

Comparable Boards: Rome Warden, Jones Mountain Twin, Salomon Assassin

Binding Recommendations: Nidecker Kaon-x, Rome Vice, K2 Lineup