Never Summer Proto Type 3 Snowboard Review

The Never Summer Proto Type 3 a versatile, semi-aggressive ride that is particularly at home getting air, whether straight air or adding in rotations, etc, but it holds its own at speed and can lay down a pretty sick carve too. 

In this review, I will take a look at the Proto Type 3 as an all-mountain-freestyle snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Proto Type 3 a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other all-mountain-freestyle snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: Never Summer Proto Type 3 2026

Price: $699

Style: All-Mountain-Freestyle

Flex Rating: Medium (6/10)

Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (6.5/10)

Rating Score: 87.8/100

Compared to other Men’s All-Mountain-Freestyle Boards

Overview of the Proto Type 3’ Specs

Check out the tables for the Proto Type 3’s specs and available sizes.

Who is the Proto Type 3 Most Suited To?

The Proto Type 3 is best suited to those who like to get air frequently and is partial to buttering around, but also want a board that's able to handle some speed and lay down some good carves. 

Would make a great one-board-quiver for those who want a semi-aggressive freestyle oriented resort board and don't really end up in deep powder much, if at all. Would also be a great daily driver in a quiver, paired with a more powder oriented board and/or a softer, more playful freestyle/park board. 

It requires a certain level of skill to ride, in my experience with it.  It's not super technical or hard to ride or anything, but too much of a stretch to be good for a beginner or lower intermediate rider, IMO. 

TEST/REVIEW DetailS FOR THE Proto Type 3

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Proto Type 3 is capable of.

Demo Info

Board: Never Summer Proto Type 3 2026, 157cm (255mm waist width)

Date: April 2, 2025

Carving

I had a blast carving on the Proto Type 3. Just heaps of fun to lean it over and dig that edge in. It held really well and all types of carves - short and long radius, higher and lower speeds - felt really good. It does have a limit in terms of high speed carves, but that limit is at a pretty high speed and won't bother most. 

Turning

Ease of Turning/Slashing: Took a little bit of effort and technique to slash and initiate turns but nothing super hard or technical or anything. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: It's not lightning edge-to-edge or effortless turning at slower speeds, but it's also no slouch and doesn't make you work overly hard for it.

Catchiness: There was a little bit of a catch feel, particularly in the tail, at times, but nothing major at all. 

Speed

While it's not an out and out bomber, it's really decently stable at speeds and only really started to get a little unstable feeling at higher speeds. Kept up speed well and felt pretty fast overall. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud/Chunder: Did a really decent job in rough snow. Stayed nice and stable and took a lot to throw it off line. Not up there with the best crud crushers, but would never expect that of a mid to mid-stiff flexing board. 

Trees/Bumps: Better in choppy snow than it was for weaving quickly between obstacles, but still wasn't bad. Wouldn't be great in powder in trees, but otherwise decent enough. 

Powder

Nothing to test in on the day, but specs and feel suggest that it wouldn't be great. It's a centered true twin board with a full camber profile. 

Jumps

So good!

Pop: Total pop real decent and quite easy to access too. 

Approach: Great mix of stability and maneuverability for for the approach. While there is somewhat of a catch feel on speed checks, it's nothing major and so long as you're concentrating it's not an issue. 

Landing: I found I could really stomp landings on the PT3 and it was also fairly easy to make adjustments after landing when necessary and relatively forgiving when my landing was off.  Landed on uneven snow well too. 

Switch

Felt good riding switch - no surprise with a centered true twin. Transitions did give the impression of some catch-risk, so not something you can be too lazy with when transitioning, but also nothing that was uber catchy feeling or anything on those transitions. 

Spins

Again, some catch-risk on setup and landing, but it wasn't major and didn't make it feel uncomfortable for spinning. No over spin and while finishing on ground wasn't ultra easy, it was still certainly doable. 

Jibbing

Probably the PT3's biggest weakness outside of powder. If you're a strong jibber, you'll be fine with it, but not ideal for it, in my experience. 

Butters

It wasn't effortless to press the tip and tail, but it didn't take too much force either. And when they got going, the tip/tail locked in nicely. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.

The Proto Type 3 loves to get air wherever it can, be it rollers, lips, park jumps or side-hits. It also likes to butter around and feels great riding switch. But it's also the kind of board that can carve pretty hard and remains nice and stable at speed, making this a really versatile board that likes to get its freestyle on, but can help you keep up with your buds when you're looking to bomb it down the hill.