The Never Summer Nokhu is a versatile ride, but is at its best when navigating technical terrain and surfing powder. Particularly good for exploring tree lines.
It's not a hard charger, but it has the versatility to feel good everywhere on the mountain.
In this review, I will take a look at the Nokhu as a mellow freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Nokhu a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other mellow freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Never Summer Nokhu
Price: $689
Style: Mellow Freeride
Flex Rating: Medium (5/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (5.5/10)
Rating Score: 89.4/100
Compared to other Men’s Mellow Freeride Boards
Of the 28 current model mellow freeride snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The Nokhu ranked 4th out of 28
Overview of the Nokhu’S Specs
Check out the tables for the Nokhu’s specs and available sizes.
STYLE:
mellow freeride
PRICE:
$689 - BUYING OPTIONS
Ability Level:
flex:
feel:
DAMPNESS:
SMOOTH /SNAPPY:
Playful /aggressive:
Edge-hold:
camber profile:
Directional Hybrid Rocker
Directional Hybrid Rocker - Never Summer's "Hybrid Triple Camber"
SHAPE:
setback stance:
Setback 40mm (1.6")
BASE:
Sintered- Never Summer's "Durasurf XT Sintered 5501 Base"
weight:
FELT Normal
Camber Height:
4mm
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
152 | 261 | 120-160 | 54-72 |
155 | 263 | 140-180 | 64-82 |
158 | 265 | 150-200 | 68-90 |
161 | 266 | 160-220+ | 71-100+ |
161DF | 281 | 160-220+ | 71-100+ |
Who is the Nokhu Most Suited To?
The Nokhu is best suited to those who want a good board for powder, but also want it to perform well on groomers, when there is no powder around or when it's tracked out. And when on groomers, they want a pretty easy going fast turning ride. Particularly good for those who like to ride trees and the wider width also helps for trees, as it enables you to size down the length.
Could definitely be a one-board quiver for the right rider. And would make a good quiver compliment to a park board, and/or all-mountain-freestyle and or stiffer, harder charging freeride or all-mountain board.
While it's pretty easy going, I still wouldn't go as far as to say it's a good beginner board. But a really good option for intermediate riders who are getting into freeride, but aren't comfortable with a stiff, high consequence board.
Also well suited to advanced to expert riders who are lighter weight and/or strength that find stiffer boards too much effort or advanced riders who simply just prefer to have their board more chill or have this as one of the boards in their quiver - e.g. as their tree board, or the board they take out when they're with less capable riders and know they won't be riding fast that day.
TEST/REVIEW DetailS FOR THE Nokhu
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Nokhu is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Never Summer Nokhu 2025, 155cm (263mm waist width)
Date: February 26, 2024
Powder
We didn't have anything epic to test in but there were some decent enough pockets around and the Valhalla felt really good in them. It just had a nice floaty/surfy feel. And based on specs, that should translate well to deeper powder too, with some of the powder friendly aspects being:
- Rocker sections in its profile
- 8mm of taper
- 40mm (1.6") setback on effective edge
Carving
Moderate to slow speed carves felt really good for various radius (sharper or longer/more drawn out). Higher speeds did get wobbly though and when really pushing it on edge at higher speeds, it felt like it wanted to let go and I felt I had to fight it to keep the edge from slipping out.
Turning
Ease of Turning/Slashing: I felt it was really easy to initiate turns on and to slash out the tail with very little risk of catching an edge.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Nice and agile at slower speeds. It has a feel that's very slightly on the looser side. Predominantly stable, but with just that touch of looseness, which really helps to slash out turns as noted above, but also aids with its short/sharp turns at slow speeds.
Catchiness: Very little catch. When I was really trying to detect it, there's something there, but it's very minimal and not noticeable 99% of the time.
Speed
It felt good up to certain speeds, but once you really opened it out, I didn't feel super stable on it. Got a bit wobbly. Noticeably less stable at speed vs the Valhalla, which I also tested on the day, and felt like it wasn't as fast in general or as good a glide to it. But I still felt it handled speed a little better than my control board (Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker) and certainly wasn't terrible for speed - just not great if you want to really blast it.
Uneven Terrain
Crud/Chunder: It certainly wasn't like a rag doll getting tossed around, but it also wasn't super stable through messy, rutty etc snow. Again, the Valhalla was better in this area, but the Nokhu wasn't terrible or anything.
Trees/Bumps: The Nokhu felt really at home in the trees. It was nice and easy to make quick edge-to-edge movements and would also fare really well if there was deeper powder in the trees too.
Jumps
I enjoyed hitting jumps, sidehits and popping off rollers etc with the Nokhu. It felt best on small to medium jumps and not as well suited to big air, IMO.
Pop: Nice and easy to access its pop - didn't have to put in much effort at all. Not a ton of total pop, but decent enough.
Approach: A nice mix of stability and maneuverability for smaller jumps/side-hits, but stability can be challenged for larger jumps needing higher speed approaches.
Landing: Mostly good. Again, on larger jumps not ideal - could get a little shaky on landings then. Tail heavy landings not ideal, but also not too bad. I felt better landing tail heavy on this than the Valhalla - felt like there was more tail there.
Side-hits: That easy access pop helped to make it nice and effortless to pop off side-hits, so you could concentrate on your line and where you were going to land and not have to think about loading it up. That easy, quick maneuverability was also great for setting up and riding out the landing.
Switch
Not ideal, but doable. Transitions felt pretty good. Just didn't feel quite right leading with its tail - at least not for extended periods. Quickly into switch, then reverting was fine.
Spins
It felt pretty easy to setup and land, even in switch - not quite as comfortable setting up or landing tail first, but wasn't bad at all. Slightly more prone to over-rotation after landing than the Valhalla but still didn't really over spin much. It was easier than the Valhalla to finish an under-rotation on the snow and in general felt confident doing so.
Butters
Was pretty easy to press the nose and tail - not ultra flexy but not much effort required either. While the nose and tail didn't feel identical to each other, they felt quite similar, especially compared to the Valhalla, which I also rode that day.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
| FACTOR | Rating (/5) | Weighted |
|---|---|---|
| Powder | 4.5 | 27/30 |
| Turns | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Carving | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Trees | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Crud | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Speed | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Jumps | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
| Switch | 2 | 2/5 |
| TOTAL (after normalizing): | 89.4/100 |
The Nokhu was a really fun, easy going board that stood out for quick turns, trees and a nice surfy feel in fresh snow.
It's not a hard charger, but it's certainly not a noodle either and can handle moderately fast speeds without issue and can lay a decent carve, so long as you're not trying it at breakneck speeds.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
To learn more about the Nokhu, 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 mellow freeride snowboard options, or to see how the Nokhu compares to others, check out our top rated mellow freeride snowboards by clicking the button below.
Hi Nate!
Thanks for your awesome review! Wondering if you’d give me your input on sizing. I’m 5’10”, 155-160lbs with size 10.5 boot. I was trying to decide between the 155 and 158. I’m a pretty relaxed rider that likes going into trees and hitting small jumps. I was leaning towards the 155 but I am wondering if that would perform better on powder days. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Hi Jose, thanks for your message (and apologies for the slow reply – have been crazy busy!)
I think the 155 will be your best bet. I would put your “typical all-mountain” length at around 157, but with the Nokhu being quite wide, I would size down from that, even with 10.5 boots. And the way you ride makes it make even more sense, IMO. Given that the board is designed to be good in powder and the extra width you get, I think the 155 should fine for float for your specs.
Hope this helps, if it didn’t come too late
Thanks so much for your response! I did end up getting the 155 size and super excited to get it on the mountain this season.
Any recommendations on compatible bindings? I was looking at the bataleon blaster asym or Rome katanas as some of my top options but would love your thoughts.
Thanks again!
Hi Jose.
Both the Blaster Asym and Katana would work with this board, IMO. The Blaster Asym is softer flexing than the Katana, but a really good flex match for the Nokhu, IMO. The Katana is stiffer, but still within a good range for the Nokhu (i.e. not so stiff that it’s likely to make the Nokhu twitchy or anything). I’d go Blaster personally, but both would work.
Hey,
Really value your opinions on board design.
I’m looking a getting a surf series board for next year Japan trip.
There are a few options going around these days which make it a bit confusing but exciting at the same time, wanting to try them all!
Coming from a surfing background it really gets me interested in these elements combined into snowboarding.
I’ve narrowed it down to a chosen few.
The Mind expander
NS Nokhu
Lib Tech Rocket
Ride Moderator
K2 Passport
Looking primarily for free ride soft snow/powder board, but capable of resort fun when not searching through tree runs.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated
Hi James, thanks for your message.
My instinct for you would be between the Mind Expander and Nokhu, based on what you’re describing. Choosing between them is difficult and both really well suited to what you’re looking for, based on my experience with them. Personally I’d go Nokhu, but you really couldn’t go wrong with either. One way that could help sway it one way or the other is sizing. i.e. if there’s a better size for you in or the other. If you’re not already set on sizing, I would be happy to give my 2 cents on what sizes might be best and if there’s a better size in one of those boards over the other. If you did want that, I would just need your weight, height and boot size (already have your riding style (though if you wanted to elaborate on that you can), which also comes into sizing).
How does this board compare to gnu banked country, I currently have a gnu gremlin and looking to compliment it with a directional all mountain for charging and side hits technical terrain. Thank you
Hi Miles
They are fairly similar boards, in my experience, but I’d say the Nokhu is a little more mellow than the Banked Country. For short sharp turns in tight spaces, I would personally prefer the Nokhu, but the Banked Country is not bad there, in my experience. For charging, the Banked country has it over the Nokhu, IMO. Again, not a massive difference, but the BC would take it there. You can also check out our Banked Country review to compare more aspects between them.
Hope this helps with your decision