GNU Gremlin Review

Hello and welcome to my GNU Gremlin review.

In this review, I will take a look at the Gremlin as a mellow freeride snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Gremlin a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other mellow-freeride snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: GNU Gremlin 

Price: $579

Style: Mellow Freeride

Flex Rating: Medium-Firm

Flex Feel on Snow: Medium-Stiff (6.5/10)

Rating Score: 85.4/100

Compared to other Men’s Mellow Freeride Boards.

Overview of the Gremlin’s Specs

* the 144 is a new size as of the 2025 model

Who is the Gremlin Most Suited To?

The Gremlin is a great option for anyone looking for a volume shifted board for powder, but still want something with some life in it for groomers and non-powder days. 

With a predominantly camber profile you still get a good spring and life out of carving up the groomers, but the tapered directional tape and wide nature of the board also allows it to float well in the deep stuff. 

Still not something I would personally have as a daily driver, but a good one for powder days that you still want to be able to carve up the groomers on, when the powder's tracked. 

Not for beginner - too stiff and cambered for that. But solid intermediate riders and up. 

The Gremlin in More Detail

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 530mm (20.9″)

Stance Setback: Setback 50mm (2")

Width at Inserts: 270mm (10.63") at front insert and 268mm (10.55")

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 175lbs

Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Tactical ADV

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M

Control Board for Control Laps: Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker 

Weight: 3080grams (6lbs 13oz)

Weight per cm: 20.26 grams/cm

Average Weight per cm: 18.43 grams/cm*

*based on a sample size of around 100 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021 *& 2022 models. The Gremlin is one of the heavier boards I've measured, even compared to boards 10cm longer than it. So taking into account it's length it's quite heavy. That said, if you take into account the overall surface area, it's probably closer to a regular width 158 in size. But even then it's still heavy. And you do feel that on snow. That does have it's advantages though - especially when smashing through crud and not getting bucked about. And given a damper feeling. 

Damp or Chattery? 

Quite damp. A lot damper than my control board (Terrain Wrecker). Part of that is probably weight (as mentioned above). But all round really quite damp. 

Smooth or Snappy? 

It's not without snap, but it's certainly more smooth than snappy. 

Powder

The only thing really stopping this board from being an elite powder board is that there isn't any rocker in the profile. It's predominantly camber - but everything else about this board screams powder. And it feels that way when in powder. 

Carving & Turning

Carving: Lays a really good carve for a board that looks like it should only belong in powder. Yeah that taper isn't ideal for carving and given that you size down, it has less effective edge, but those are the only things that are holding it back from being an elite carver. Not something that will match the best carvers on a high-speed carve, but otherwise really good.  

Turning: Easy enough to turn and quite fun to turn on on groomers. Has a good spring out of turns and whilst it has a preference for shorter turns, a variety of turn lengths work well on this board. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Nice and easy to throw this board around at slow speeds - partly due to it's shorter stature I would say. Not as quick edge-to-edge as my control board (Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker). There's a minor delay after initiating a turn before the board responds. It's not physically an effort to do sharp turns on - but there is a slight delay, which I often feel with short/wide boards - so I imagine that's predominantly to do with the width. 

Skidded Turns: You can get away with them but they're not super easy. Want to have relatively good technique. But not super catchy or anything either

Speed

I felt like this board rode really quite fast for it's length and felt quite stable at speed for it's length too. But certainly limited by it's length in terms of how good at speed it was. But surprisingly good. It's a sturdy little board this one. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud: Pretty good at just smashing through crud. I think part of that is weight. It's quite a heavy board and it just doesn't get bucked around very much at all. It's good at gliding over top or smashing through any kind of crud. 

Bumps: It was fun weaving between bumps. It's not lightning fast edge-to-edge - there's that delay I referred to in the turning section above - but certainly not slow edge-to-edge either. And when it came to trees, it worked really well - with that small tail easy to whip through without catching anything on the tail. 

Let’s Break up this text with a Video

Jumps

Not designed for jumps really, IMO, and is a board that feels more at home on the snow than in the air, but it's certainly something you can hit the occasional jump or side hit with. 

Pop: Some there but not huge amounts. Not super easy to access but not hard to access either. I think the weight affects how easy it is to extract that pop as well - how much air you get back for your efforts. 

Approach: Good balance between being fairly nimble but also quite stable

Landing: Pretty solid landing platform without being a stomper - prefers to land in it 's forward (as opposed to switch) direction.

Side-hits: Not amazing, but decent enough. Good enough that you'll still want to seek them out. 

Small jumps/Big Jumps: Medium. It's certainly solid enough to hit big jumps though and it's fine for small jumps too. 

Switch

Felt pretty weird to ride switch - which is no surprise, given how tapered and setback it is - directional everything pretty much. Still doable like every board is - but certainly not ideal. 

Spins

Not bad getting the spin around, but given its length it should be easier and that's prob largely to do with weight. Landing and taking off switch not easy either. And pop isn't massive and whilst it's not hard to access it's not super easy either. So not really a great spinner, IMO. 

Butters

Buttered easier than I was expecting. Certainly not as buttery as my control board (Terrain Wrecker) but not too bad. Above average. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Overall, the Gremlin is a board that loves to be on the snow - and any kind of variable terrain it can counter. Basically if you can on this board, you want to be exploring anything off groomer - trees, powder, bowls etc. and if you encounter any crud it will deal with it with ease. 

But if you do end up having to spend any part of your day on the groomer, then it packs a better carve than you'd expect for the size and taper.