Hello and welcome to my Never Summer West review. This review will assess the NS West as an all-mountain snowboard.
As per SnowboardingProfiles.com tradition I will give the board a score out of 100 and compare it to other all mountain snowboards.
NOTE: The 2019 model was the last model of the West
Overall Rating
Board: Never Summer West
Price: $569 (USD recommended retail)
Style: All-Mountain
Flex: Medium (6/10)
All Mountain Rating Score: 90.9/100
Compared to other Men’s All Mountain Boards
Of the 35 all-mountain snowboards that I rated:
- The average score was 80.4/100
- The highest score was 92.7/100
- The lowest score was 64.0/100
- The average price was $481 (USD)
- The West ranked 2nd out of 35
Overview of the West’s Specs
Check out the tables below for the West’s Specs and Sizing
Specs
| Style | All-Mountain | Flex | Medium (6 out of 10) |
| Ability Level | Intermediate to Expert | Feel | Stable |
| Weight | Normal | Turn Initiation | Medium-Fast |
| Camber Profile | Hybrid Rocker | Shape | Directional |
| Stance Setback | Setback 20mm | Edge-hold | Hard snow |
| Price | $569(USD) | Base | Sintered |
Sizing
| Size (Length) | 152 | 154 | 156 | 159 | 162 | 157W | 160W | 164W | 168W |
| Waist Width (mm) | 248 | 250 | 252 | 254 | 256 | 261 | 263 | 266 | 266 |
| Weight Range (kgs) | 50 – 73 | 54 – 77 | 57 – 79 | 61 – 84 | 66 – 88 | 59 – 82 | 64 – 86 | 75 – 98 | 77-100+ |
| Weight Range (lbs) | 110 – 160 | 120 – 170 | 125 – 175 | 135 – 185 | 145 – 195 | 130 – 180 | 140 – 190 | 165 – 215 | 170-220+ |
Who is the West Most Suited to
The West is best suited to anyone who wants one board that can do whatever you throw at it. It’s got that rare ability to be playful when you want it to and more aggressive when you feel for it.
If you do a lot of jibbing then there are probably better all-mountain boards that lean that way but if jibbing’s not something you do a lot or only every now and then, then the West should be on your radar.
The West in more detail
O.k. let’s take a look at some of the details and then we’ll look at the score breakdown and my final verdict.
Demo Info
Board: Never Summer West 2018, 157cm (261mm waist width)
Date: April 15, 2017
Conditions: Cloudy with periods of sun in the morning. Started snowing around midday (so much snow in April – it’s awesome!) Some fresh overnight snow made the snow lovely and soft in the morning – hardened up as it was compacted but was still soft-packed. Then Softened up again a bit in the afternoon with the snow.
I think the sun came back at some point in the afternoon too. Visibility was great all day
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Bindings: Flux DS
Powder
The West has a 20mm setback stance and has rocker in the camber profile. This definitely showed and I appreciated how this floated over the powder.
It’s not a powder king but it definitely floats decently with little effort.
Carving/Turns
This is where the West comes into its own. As an all-mountain deck it’s never going to be perfect at one thing but it came pretty close when it came to carving. The camber sections, side-cut, shape and flex all help this to be a pretty darn good carver.
But it’s still good for skidding turns too if you need to and is pretty fast from edge to edge.
Let’s break up all this text with a video
Speed
You definitely notice the sintered base on this thing and the 6/10 flex along with the camber sections definitely help to give it some real speed. And more importantly it has great stability at speed. Not like you’d get out of a freeride board or a more aggressive all-mountain board but it strikes a good balance with other aspects.
Uneven Terrain
The West actually hugged the terrain reasonably well and cut through chop well too. It was better in uneven terrain than I had expected.
Switch
You can definitely ride this switch. It’s not going to have the same switch feel as a centered, true twin deck of course – but certainly landing in and riding in switch for brief periods was more than doable.
Jumps
I really enjoyed jumps on the West. It feels good on approach and you can really stomp those landings. It’s got good pop too. You can get really good energy out of this board.
Jibbing
Probably the West’s biggest weakness – as I said earlier if you do a lot of jibbing then there are probably better options. That said, you can definitely hit the odd box or rail and still enjoy it.
Pipe
If you like to ride the pipe then the West will be an awesome tool in there. I didn’t take it in the pipe, but it has great edge-hold, great speed and should climb those pipe walls really well in my opinion.
Changes from 2018 Model
As far as I can tell the 2019 West is the same board as the 2018 West, apart from the graphic.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the score breakdown for the West in the table below.
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
| Powder: | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
| Carving: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Speed: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Uneven Terrain: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Switch: | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Jumps: | 4.0 | 8/10 |
| Jibbing: | 2.5 | 5/10 |
| Pipe: | 4.0 | 8/10 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 90.9/100 |
I absolutely loved riding this board and really didn’t want to get off it! I had a blast on it and it really was an extremely versatile and fun board to ride. You could get really aggressive with it but you could also slow things down and get playful with it too.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
Check out the links below to learn more about the West and where to buy and to see if it’s available in your size. I have included a couple of options below in case one or the other doesn’t have your size.
Thanks for reading and I hope you found this review helpful. If you’re keen to check out some other all-mountain options check out the links below.
My Top 10 All-Mountain Snowboards
This review is for the Never Summer West 2017.
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