Hello and welcome to my Never Summer Chairman review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Chairman as a freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Chairman a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Never Summer Chairman
Price: $599 (USD recommended retail)
Style: Freeride
Flex Rating: Stiff (9/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Stiff (8/10)
Rating Score: 87.5/100
Compared to other Men’s Freeride Boards
Out of the 32 men’s freeride snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Chairman’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Chairman’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freeride |
Price: | $599 |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Turn Initiation: | Medium-Fast |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Hybrid Rocker (Never Summer's Ripsaw Rocker) |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | 20mm (0.75") |
Base: | Sintered (Durasurf XT Sintered 5501 Base) |
Weight: | Felt Normal |
Sizing
Length (cm) | 157 | 160 | 164 | 161X | 165X | 169X |
Waist Width (mm) | 256 | 256 | 257 | 266 | 267 | 267 |
Rec Rider Weight (lb) | 130-180 | 145-195 | 150-200+ | 145-195 | 150-200+ | 150-200+ |
Rec Rider Weight (kg) | 59-82 | 66-88 | 68-91+ | 66-88 | 68-91+ | 68-91+ |
*Note that the 2018 model also had a 173, which the 2019 model doesn't have.
Who is the Chairman Most Suited To?
The Chairman is best for anyone who likes to ride powder, in the backcountry or charge hard in the resort. Speed, carving and powder is what this board is all about.
So, if you’re not fussed by playing freestyle, or if you have another board for that and you’re a relatively advanced rider, then the Chairman is worth checking out.
Not for beginners, at all. Way too stiff for beginners – and too much camber in the profile too. This is advanced rider’s board.
The Chairman in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Chairman is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Never Summer Chairman 2019, 160 (256mm waist width)
Date: April 14, 2018
Conditions: With 27cm of fresh snow in the 24 hours prior it was the perfect day for testing freeride boards (which is what I mostly rode on the Saturday). Visibility (at least the part of the mountain where I was riding) was great. There was a bit of wind (which was surprisingly cold for April) but only noticed it on the chair lift. It was around -8 degrees with wind chill.
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 560mm (22”)
Stance Setback: 20mm (0.75”)
Width at Inserts: 258mm (10.16”) at front insert and 259mm (10.2”) at back insert
Powder
Floated well in powder and felt pretty effortless. Not epic in powder but still really really good. As good as most will need.
Carving & Turning
A really fun board to lay out good deep, long arcing carves on.
Skidded turns weren’t impossible – doable but not easy.
Preferred speed for turning but wasn’t unmanageable at slower speeds, by any means. Felt quite agile in tress even when having to navigate slower, trickier sections.
Speed
This board is a speed demon. Can handle speed really well. Felt stable and damp at speed and just generally felt best when riding this board fast. A bomber!
Let’s Break up this text with a Video
Uneven Terrain
For a board this stiff, it’s surprisingly good in messy uneven resort snow – and over undulations. It’s pretty damp, so that helps to reduce the chatter, so that’s gotta be part of it for sure.
Jumps
I preferred the Chairman for jumps than I do most freeride boards. Still not what I’d have as my stock and trade jumper but still pretty decent.
Good on approach and decent pop. Not what I would call easy pop – and what I mean by that is, that I felt I had to put in a good bit of effort to extract the pop – but when I did there was a good bit there.
Landings really solid.
Not much for spinning though, IMO.
Switch
Again, for a freeride board, not too bad.
The set back isn’t huge by freeride standards so that certainly helps in the switch department.
Changes from the 2018 Model
The 2019 model is, as far as I can tell, identical to the 2018 model, except for the graphic.
And it looks like they aren’t offering the Chairman in the 173 for 2019 (which they had in 2018). So one size less, otherwise looks to be the same board (but definitely no complaints about that).
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
FACTOR | rating (OUT OF 5) | contribution to final score |
|---|---|---|
Carving | 4.5 | 27/30 |
Powder | 4.0 | 16/20 |
Speed | 4.5 | 18/20 |
Uneven Terrain | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
Jumps | 3.0 | 6/10 |
Switch | 3.0 | 3/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 87.5/100 |
Overall the Chairman is a charger, a bomber and a great carver that can ride powder really well too. Surprisingly agile in the trees for a big stiff board and a little better for jumps and riding switch than your average freeride board.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Chairman, are ready to buy or want to research prices and availability, check out the links below
>>Never Summer Chairman at evo.com
>>Never Summer Chairman at backcountry.com
If you want to see how the Chairman compares to other men’s freeride snowboards or want to check out some other options in that category, check out the next link.
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