Hello and welcome to my Niche Wraith review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Wraith as a freestyle snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Wraith a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freestyle snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Niche Wraith
Price: $469
Style: Freestyle
Flex Rating: Medium-Soft (4/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium-Soft (3.5/10)
Rating Score: 87.0/100
Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Boards
Of the 36 current model freestyle snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The Wraith ranked 5th out of 36
Overview of the Wraith’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Wraith’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freestyle |
Price: | $469 - BUYING OPTIONS |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Turn Initiation: | Medium-Fast |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Traditional Camber Niche's "Low-Rise Camber" |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Centered |
Base: | Sintered |
Weight: | Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
145 | 246 | not available | n/a |
149 | 250 | n/a | n/a |
152 | 253 | n/a | n/a |
155 | 257 | n/a | n/a |
158 | 260 | n/a | n/a |
Who is the Wraith Most Suited To?
The Wraith is a great option for those looking for a freestyle deck that is strong on both jumps and jibs and can handle the rest of the mountain OK - and even more ideally for someone that wants a camber board, but one that has subtle camber, that isn't catchy and isn't overly aggressive.
Not for beginners, but should be fine for intermediate riders - and up.
The Wraith in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Wraith is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Niche Wraith 2021, 155cm (257mm waist width)
Date: February 29, 2020
Conditions: Cloudy with some blue sky and sun at times. Perfect visibility.
Quite cold at -4°C (24.8°F) and was supposed to be -11°C (12.2°F) with wind chill, but didn't feel as cold as that.
20cm (8") of fresh snow overnight, so plenty of fresh to test in. Conditions were awesome on and off groomer.
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 540mm (21.25″)
Stance Setback: Centered
Width at Inserts: 266mm (10.47")
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 175lbs
Rider Boot Size: US10 Salomon Lo-Fi
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Powder
This is the weakest area of the Wraith, but not what it's designed for. Though Niche promote it as something that can also float in powder, it's not something that felt amazing in powder. Of course any board can ride powder, but some take more effort than others to keep the board afloat, and the Wraith is certainly on the side of more effort, than easy float, IMO.
Carving & Turning
Carving: Not a bad little carver for it's flex. Never going to be an epic carve, but for short sharp carves at not too high speeds, it's really quite fun.
Turning: A fun, snappy turning board. It's an easy turner - a board you don't have to put much effort in to turn.
Maneuverability at Slow Speeds: Nice and nimble at slow speeds
Skidded Turns: Wouldn't say ultra easy to skid turns on, but not too bad either. It's not catchy.
Speed
Started to get wobbly when really opening out but not ultra wobbly and stable up to a relatively decent speed.
Uneven Terrain
Decent in crud and good in bumpy terrain, particularly when weaving through - nice and nimble and easy turning.
Jumps
Fun board for jumps, particularly little side hits.
Pop: Good amount of pop. Not the poppiest ever, but decent enough, and that pop is easy to access.
Approach: A good balance between being relatively stable and being nimble
Landing: Good landing platform - more suited to small and medium jumps than massive kickers
Side-hits: Has everything going for it for side hits. Good maneuverability for trickier hits, good easy pop, good to spin.
Small jumps/Big Jumps: Best for small to medium jumps, IMO, not as suited to large
Switch
Really good. Pretty much the same both ways.
Spins
Easy to get the spin around. Great for landing and taking off switch. Setup for spins felt nice and easy. Enjoyed spinning it all round. Maybe not ideal for really extreme tricks but awesome for most riders.
Jibbing
Good little board on jibs. Approach felt easy to control and felt good on jibs too.
Butters
Super buttery. Really easy to press off the nose and tail.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | Contribution to Final Score | |
|---|---|---|
JUMPS | 4.0 | 16/20 |
JIBBING | 4.0 | 16/20 |
SPINS | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
SWITCH | 4.5 | 9/10 |
BUTTERING | 4.5 | 9/10 |
UNEVEN TERRAIN | 4.0 | 4/5 |
POWDER | 2.0 | 2/5 |
SPEED | 3.0 | 3/5 |
CARVING | 3.0 | 3/5 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.5 | 4.5/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 87.0/100 |
The Wraith excels in the park and is fun on the rest of the mountain, not just for side-hits, but also for a bit of carving. Not epic elbows deep, break-neck speed carving, but fun short/sharp carves.
All round a really fun ride.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Wraith, or if you are ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
If you want to check out some other freestyle snowboard options, or if you want to compare how the Wraith compares to other freestyle snowboards, then check out the next link.
Hi Nate,
I am 175 lbs with US 9 boots, and I am debating if I should get Niche Wraith 152 or 155. I mainly want to use this board for jibbing and small to medium jumps. I kinda want to go for 152 to lean more toward jibbing but I don’t know if that means I will lose the stability for jumps. Also not sure if 257 mm width for the 155 will make it turn slower. Thank you in advance for the help!
Hi I-Hsuan Kao
Thanks for your message.
All else being equal, a wider board will turn slower, but the Wraith, in my experience is a nice and quick turner. I was 175lbs when I rode it too, allbeit with slightly bigger boots. But I would still be leaning 155, as I think this should still be a good size for jibbing for you. The 152 would still be more maneuverable and should be fine for smaller jumps, but you might miss the stability on medium jumps. I don’t think there’s a wrong choice though, but I’d be erring 155. But depending on your height as well. Whilst weight and boot size are definitely more important (IMO), I do like to take height into account – it does make a difference in terms of leverage, so if you could also let me know your height, that would help to confirm.
Hi Nate,
Thank you for the response. I am 5′ 10″. Sounds like 155 will be the better choice. I usually ride 157 but just not sure how the width on wraith 155 will affect the turning experience.
Hi I-Hsuan Kao
Yeah, I think 155. You’re specs are quite similar to mine and I found the 155 really easy/quick to turn. I think 155 is enough of a size down, given that you also want to do medium jumps.
Hi Nate,
Thank you a lot for the help! I think I will go with 155!
You’re very welcome I-Hsuan Kao. Hope it treats you well. If you think of it at the time let me know how you get on, once you’ve had a chance to get it out on snow. Happy riding!
Nate,
I’m a long time reader and greatly appreciate the amount of work you put into reviews. After taking a full ten years off of riding, I used your site to build my new setup with the latest and greatest. I have a couple of questions about the Wraith, but I should provide a bit of background, lest I come off like a total nut.
Started riding around 1997, by 2004 members of my crew were picking up amateur sponsorships and all of those “pro level parks” opened. I never felt comfortable on things like 60 foot tables and they weren’t interested in jibbing. External events collided and we parted ways, probably wouldn’t surprise anyone that aspiring amateurs in the mid-aughts often turned out to be terrible people. For every wonderful person like Travis Parker (as an example of pros who are kind, great people), there are dozens of… well I won’t name names, but I recall a certain pro who’s Uninc model was almost unsellable due to it’s blatant misogyny. These dudes wanted to be those dudes. For anyone who has no idea what I’m talking about, imagine the worst “influencers” writ large in 2022, and you have some idea what that means.
Jibbing kept me at it, buying boards like the Dominant and when some industry connections hooked me up with Ride discounts, the Society and DH (Society for jibbing, DH for charging), I really got into park laps on small-intermediate features and the occasional side hit cruise. But by 2012, I was pretty over all of it: injuries, traffic, rising pass costs. I went once (despite having a pass) then I’d like to imagine someone had a very nice surprising day at Goodwill when they stumbled on the thousands of dollars of gear I just donated, some even unopened (friends in the biz… we were moving and I decided I would only keep certain things… a library of boards, bindings, and outerwear I wasn’t going to use was something my SO put their foot down over).
Fast forward to late 2019. I felt the itch again, as did some other friends (look at us, elder millenials and our tiny mid-life crisis), still had some contacts and by January I had scored a great deal on a brand new Niche Story… I was torn on what to get and even pre-pandemic, things were going fast so I just went with my gut. To be honest, the itch started earlier, but I was just window shopping (which is how I found your site).
Then a little thing happened and the deck sat unopened in my closet for 18 months.
I finally built it up this season, based largely on your (and others) reviews and some recommendations from friends: Niche Story, Union Force, K2 Enders.
First day out was great, rode with one group of friends who are all about hard-charging all-mountain riding and I was blown away by the magne traction’s ability to hold a carve on some icy black runs at Keystone and the overall way that board just loves to charge. I had spent some time on a mid-aughts Jamie Lynn that was not to my taste, but was my only experience with magne traction prior. Where I was a bit let down was in that jib/playful department. I could barely butter the board and could not find the pop so none of my backside 180s felt good or clean. I’m def rusty in some areas, but this ain’t my first rodeo. I didn’t even contemplate hitting a park lap, first time back in 10 years and new gear and all.
I kinda knew I would want a jib board for riding with other friends and the kind of playing around that brought me joy after my old crew blew up. Had they been more like Team Buckhouse, things probably would have been different.
Same connections suggested the Crux, but alas, the 152 size I’d go with for a jib board was not available so I went with the Wraith. For context: just under 5′ 10″, 160ish (got some pandemic beer weight that bike riding didn’t counter), US Mens 9 (in K2, 9.5 in everything else), and I ride a 156 Story with partial duck (goofy) at 15(front)/-12(rear). Story is okay at switch (plus I’m rusty), so it’s pretty much just switch for 180s right now.
I had a few options (do something long enough and you make long time friends who are stoked to hook you up with a deal or two, not that I ask) but like the Story and Niche’s style and am glad to hype their boards.
All that is to ask a question that I think you can answer: bindings that match my goals for my Wraith.
The Union Forces are great on the Story. Even being rusty, I was hard charging with everyone else and never felt any issues with toe or heel turns, carving, etc. But I know that the Wraith is probably a better match for a mini-disc binding, which means… the Strata or… does that mean the Falcor?
From your reviews, and others, I feel like the Falcors might be too much and the Stratas would feel more like my old Cartels or Beta Movements. I may end up running the Forces a bit, but for days I feel like playing around, I want a binding that has good board feel and is stiff enough for side hits on groomers and nicely balanced for, say, buttering a box. I really like Union bindings, even though I could be riding something else with some of my existing connections.
Just kind of at a loss… at the end of the day, I’m sure swapping bindings would be fine, but I like having two complete setups so I can switch boards mid-day when the groomers are getting crowded and the bowls less so, etc. Also I have been told the Story is the jam in powder… which is great. Like everyone who buys a powder board, at some point, you realize the thing is just collecting dust. Which is a lesson for anyone reading: if you want a powder board, go to Craigslist. They’re great but a good directional all mountain board will be pretty good at it, unless you’re doing some Teton Gravity Research level backcountry stuff.
I know I’m back into it now (surprising none of my friends), and despite some cobweb shaking left, I am stoked on having options when I ride… really want to keep the Wraith as my “fun” board and would love any input on binding options. The Enders are still breaking in, but I like a good mid-stiff boot for everything.
BTW, they’ve started packing out and I was glad I went down half-a-size per your review. Can confirm that that is the way to go and it’s the only boot I’ve owned with almost no heel lift.
Thanks for reading my novel, and thanks for all you do.
Hey señorsmith
Thanks for the message and the story, was a very interesting read.
Wraith will definitely be better for playfulness and jibbing for sure. In terms of bindings, the Falcor’s probably a little stiff for it. If you know that you like stiff bindings on softer park boards, then it would be doable, but otherwise, I would be leaning Strata. I mean you could also go contact pro on the Wraith for sure, but if you want to keep a bit of stiffness on, then I’d go Strata. They’re similar in flex to the Force, IMO – maybe a touch softer overall, but more so in the baseplate than the highback. You could certainly try switching the Force over and they would work for sure, but personally I prefer the better board feel of the Strata for more freestyle endevours versus the Force. I think Force on Story and Strata (or contact pro if you wanted to go really playful) on Wraith.
Hope this helps