The Never Summer Valhalla presents itself as a destroyer of mountains, take no prisoners, beast of a snowboard.
And it is that.
But what it doesn't reveal on the face of it, is it's more sensitive side....
The Valhalla manages to provide unexpected versatility in the way it handles itself when not being ridden hell-for-leather.
In this review, I will take a look at the Valhalla as a freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Valhalla a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Never Summer Valhalla
Price: $709
Style: Freeride/Aggressive All-Mountain
Flex Rating: Stiff (8.5/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Mid-Stiff (7/10)
Rating Score: 90.8/100
Compared to other Men’s Freeride Boards
Of the 27 current model freeride snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The Valhalla ranked 2nd out of 27
Overview of the Valhalla’ Specs
Check out the tables for the Valhalla’s specs and available sizes.
STYLE:
FREERIDE
PRICE:
$709 - BUYING OPTIONS
Ability Level:
flex:
feel:
DAMPNESS:
SMOOTH /SNAPPY:
Playful /aggressive:
Edge-hold:
camber profile:
HYBRID CAMBER
DIRECTIONAL HYBRID ROCKer - Never Summer's "Triple Camber Hybrid"
SHAPE:
setback stance:
Setback 25mm (1")
BASE:
Sintered - Never Summer's "Durasurf XT Sintered 5501"
weight:
Felt normal
Camber Height:
5mm*
* but hard to get a good read on it with all the rocker and camber sections going on
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
147 | 247 | 100-150 | 45-68 |
153 | 257 | 120-160 | 54-72 |
156 | 259 | 140-200 | 63-90 |
160 | 260 | 160-220 | 72-100 |
164 | 262 | 180-240+ | 81-108+ |
Who is the Valhalla Most Suited To?
The Valhalla is best suited to those who want to primarily optimize speed, carving and powder performance but still want the bonus of something that can tackle straight air side-hits, jumps and cliff hucks and doesn't feel like a tank at slower speeds.
It's a stiffer, more technical board with a semi-locked in feel, so this is best for advanced to expert riders and you want to be relatively physically strong/well conditioned for snowboarding as well.
Valhalla DetailS
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Valhalla is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Never Summer Valhalla 2025, 156cm (259mm waist width)
Date: February 26, 2024
Powder
Only had shallow powder to test in on the day, but it felt good in there. And based on specs and shallow powder feel, it should do really well in deeper powder.
In it's favor for powder, it has a reference setback of 25mm (1") and with the nose being longer than the tail, the total setback over the length of the board is 65mm (2.6"), 7mm of taper and rocker in the profile.
Carving
This board was sick to carve on! Locked in well, even in hard/icy conditions and could adapt well to carving at higher speeds, moderate speeds and low speeds. I would say it has it's limit as to the highest speed carves, but you can still lay a nice deep carve at high speeds and it holds on and rips around like a dream.
Turning
Ease of Turning/Slashing: With how good this board is at speed and for carving, you'd be forgiven to assume it would be hard to initiate turns on or to slash out, but it's actually not bad at all. A bit more effort than the easiest turning boards, but really nothing that requires too much effort.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Like how easy it was to initiate turns, it was surprisingly quick edge-to-edge at slower speeds. Not top tier, but still really good and given how it rides at speed, this makes it a very versatile turner.
Catchiness: There was a hint of catch in the tail when performing quick tight turns at slow speeds. But nothing major and nothing that I noticed when riding with at least moderate speeds under it.
Speed
This board felt fast and, more importantly, stable at speed. Felt confident opening this thing out, even in the harder conditions.
Uneven Terrain
Crud/Chunder: The Valhalla felt really good in messy snow. Even though I found this board had good snap in it, it was also decently damp and gave very little chatter and was not easy to get bucked around. Stayed nice and stable.
Trees/Bumps: Since it's pretty agile and decent at tight turns, it felt good in the trees both in the harder sections and the shallow powder we had that day. I suspect it would feel even better in trees in deeper powder.
Jumps
While jumps may not be this board's forte, it was still fun to perform jumps on. Not primarily why you'd get this board, but if you're all about speed, carving and pow but like to throw in the odd cliff huck, side-hit or jump in the park, it can definitely accommodate it.
Pop: Was fairly easy to access the pop in this board. Some effort required but nothing too difficult extract. And the total pop, when you really wind it up, was pretty good too. Not epic, but really decent.
Approach: It felt really good on the approach. Nice and stable, even for larger jumps, but at the same time pretty easy to adjust/speed check when needed.
Landing: It felt good when you got it right and didn't land too tail heavy. But tail heavy landings weren't ideal.
Side-hits: For a stiffer freeride board, I really enjoyed this for side-hits. It's not ideal, but if you really want to optimize that pow/speed/carving trio but still want decent side-hit performance, this is right up there.
Small jumps/Big jumps: It has the stability to handle big jumps - it's just with tail heavy landings being not-so-great, I felt it was best for medium jumps, where the consequences of a tail heavy landing gone wrong were on the more minor side. The tail has enough stiffness to help stabilize you but there's just not enough of it for me to feel fully comfortable on larger jumps.
Switch
Doable, like pretty much any board is but still didn't feel great riding switch. Tail felt a little sketchy when leading. Transitions were ok in terms of not feeling overly catchy or anything, but transitioning from nose first to tail first wasn't great. Transitioning from tail to nose felt good.
Spins
Landing switch was a little sketchy on that tail. But it did rotate well and had decent pop that wasn't too hard to access. Doesn't overspin after landing and was relatively easy to finish an under-rotation on the ground when needed. Definitely more of a straight air kind of board for me, but spins doable. I'd just prefer to keep them to rotations in multiples of 360 to avoid having to land (or take off) on that tail.
Butters
It wasn't actually overly demanding to press the tip/tail. It wasn't super flexy or anything, don't get me wrong, but didn't take a heap of weight over them to get them to bend. I'd say 3.5/5 for ease of pressing. But the tail felt too short to lock in properly and the nose too long. So it was a little awkward for butters/presses and the nose and tail felt significantly different to each other.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
| Factor | Rating (/5) | Weighted |
|---|---|---|
| Powder | 4.5 | 22.5/25 |
| Speed | 4.5 | 18/20 |
| Carving | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Turns | 4 | 8/10 |
| Crud | 4 | 8/10 |
| Trees | 4 | 8/10 |
| Jumps | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
| Switch | 2 | 2/5 |
| TOTAL (after normalizing): | 90.8/100 |
The Valhalla is first and foremost a board for advanced to expert freeriders who want to optimize for powder, speed and carving - but it has a hidden versatility that may suit some riders who don't want to have to ride all-out, all the time.
While it's unexpected slower speed performance may take away a little bit from it's highest speed capabilities, it does so in such a minor way that only those who like to really point and shoot down the steepest terrain should be affected by it.
For me it had all the stability at speed that I'm ever likely to need, so I appreciated the way it balanced high/slow speed performance and ease of turns/aggressiveness of carves, while certainly being more optimized towards fast/aggressive.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
To learn more about the Valhalla, or if you're ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below
To check out some other freeride snowboard options, or to see how the Valhalla compares to others, check out our top rated freeride snowboards by clicking the button below.
Hi Nate,
How would you compare the 2025 Valhalla to the 2024 Valhalla?
I have the opportunity to get either one with the 2024 $100 cheaper.
If they’re virtually the same i’ll get the 2024, but if the 2025 is significantly better i’d be happy to spend the extra $100 on it.
Thanks!
Hey Marcus, thanks for your message and apologies for the late reply.
As far as I’m aware the ’24 and ’25 models are the same (bar the graphic). We didn’t test the Valhalla until the 2025 model and maybe there were some subtle unmentioned changes, but as its unlikely they are significantly different, so I would go for the ’24 and save yourself the $100, provided you can get it in your most optimal size. I would pay the extra $100 if it meant you could get the size that would be better for you. But assuming both models have your size, I’d go for the cheaper one.
Hope this helps with your decision (if it didn’t come too late!)
Hey Nate,
I’m looking to get a Valhalla, I’m 150lb, 5’8, 8.5M.
I don’t want a dedicated “pow” board but thinking this would be my go to for most of those days so want to make sure I get the performance I’m hoping for.
I’m between a 153 and 156. Don’t necessarily want a 156 but don’t want to sacrifice float bc of a few cms.
What are your thoughts?
Hi Mike, thanks for your message.
I would put your “typical all-mountain” length at around 154, so you could go either way. As your daily driver, I would be leaning 153. The 156 would be the go-to if it was going to be your dedicated pow board, but in this case, particularly because of the width of the board vs your boot size, I think the 153 is your best bet. I don’t think you’ll have issues with float on the 153, given your weight and the board’s width. Yes, the 156 would naturally give you more float, but you should still get really decent float from the 153, IMO – and will be noticeably better, IMO for when you’re not in powder. In other words, I think the powder sacrifice by going 153 would be less noticeable than how much the 153 is more optimal than the 156 in non-powder conditions for you.
Hope this helps with your decision
Hi Nate,
I’d like to add the Valhalla to my collection, but I’m not sure whether to go with the 160 cm or 164 cm.
My stats: 187 cm tall, 81 kg, US 11 boots.
Lately I’ve been riding mostly on groomers (full speed when it’s not too crowded), mainly because of the lack of snow. But whenever there’s a chance, I head off-piste.
Hi Marek, good to hear from you.
While I don’t think the 164 would necessarily be way oversized for you, I would be leaning 160. The most optimal size for you, IMO, both width and length. The 160 should still provide the stability you need for high speeds and surface area for powder, but will be easier to manage for when you can’t ride flat out when on groomers.
Hope this helps with your decision
Hi, Nate!
I’m choosing between 147 and 153 Valhalla. 165 cm height, 65 kg weight, 7 us boot size.
What would you advise? The difference of 6 cm is still big)
Hi Serg, thanks for your message.
I would put your “typical all-mountain” length at around 151/152, which would put you closer to the 153. However, given your boot size vs the width on the 153 Valhalla, it’s likely to feel too big, unless you’re going to be using it mostly for deep powder and high speeds.
Ideally, I think a 149-150 in the Valhalla would be your best bet, given it’s wider than average. But since that’s not an option, I would go 147. It’s still going to on the wide end of a good range for your boot size, IMO, so sizing down a little isn’t a bad idea, but I still think the 147 is a bit on the small size for you, but it’s closer to a good size for you, IMO, than the 153.
It’s the downside of trying to make so many boards unisex, these days, the sizing is becoming more “in-between” sizing and seeing 5-6cm gaps between sizes more often too, which is always frustrating and so many people fall in between those sizes.
But I hope this helps with your decision anyway