
Hello and welcome to my YES Greats snowboard review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Greats as an all-mountain-freestyle snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Greats a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other all-mountain-freestyle snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: YES The Greats Uninc
Price: $599 (USD recommended retail)
Style: All-Mountain-Freestyle
Flex Rating: 7/10 on YES’ flex scale
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (6/10)
Rating Score: 92.1/100
Compared to other Men’s All-mountain-Freestyle Boards
Of the 29 current model all-mountain freestyle snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The Greats ranked 1st out of 29!
Overview of the Greats Specs
Check out the tables for the Greats specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | All-Mountain-Freestyle |
Price: | $599 - BUYING OPTIONS |
Ability Level: | ![]() |
Flex: | ![]() |
Feel: | ![]() |
Turn Initiation: | Medium-Fast |
Edge-hold: | ![]() |
Camber Profile: | |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Centered |
Base: | Sintered |
Weight: | Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
---|---|---|---|
149 | 245 | 120-160 | 54-73 |
151 | 253 | 140-190 | 64-86 |
154 | 256 | 150-200 | 68-91 |
156 | 259 | 160-220 | 73-100 |
159 | 262 | 170-250 | 77-113 |
Who is the Greats Most Suited To?
The Greats is best suited to anyone who wants to ride freestyle all over the mountain and wants a board that's also good in the park, but at the same time wants to still be able to lay into carves on the groomers. This is one of the better twins for carving going around, IMO.
Not for the beginner, but it's also not an overly demanding board and is suitable, IMO, for intermediate to expert riders, if you're riding style suits the board.
Not the greatest in powder, but can handle shallow powder just fine.
The Greats in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Greats is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: YES Greats 2022, 154cm (256mm waist width)
Date: March 23, 2021
Conditions:
Sunny with cloudy patches.
Feels quite warm when the sun came out, but quite cold when it wasn't there or when the wind picked up. Wasn't super windy, but just enough to bring the chill when the sun was behind the clouds.
Temp -3°C (27°F) and -6°C (21°F) with wind chill factor.
24hr snow: 0
48hr snow: 4cm
7 day snow: 46cm
On groomer: Somewhere between medium and hard with some harder spots bordering on icy.
Off groomer: Quite crunchy/icy in patches, not too bad in others - more medium to hard.

Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 580mm (22.8″)
Stance Setback: Centered
Width at Inserts: 274mm (10.79")*
* but more like 271mm if you rode at a 540mm (21.3") stance
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 175lbs
Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Tactical ADV
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Weight: 2860grams (6lb 5oz)
Weight per cm: 18.57grams/cm
Average Weight per cm: 18.43grams/cm*
*based on a sample size of around 100 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021 *& 2022 models. If I could do grams per surface area, this would be a more accurate measure, but since not all brands publish surface area (and I don't have the tools or knowledge to work it out), I can't unfortunately.
The Greats is pretty close to average when you look at grams/cm, but it's a wider board, so is probably just on the lighter side in terms of grams/surface area.
Powder
I found a few pockets of powder. Nothing serious but there were some - and also I own the 2019 model of this board in the 156, so I've ridden it in powder (even though it's not my choice of board for powder days, you sometimes get those surprise days that are deeper than you expected!).
It's not a powder board, let's put it that way. It's the only real weakness of this board. It's got plenty of surface area for the length, but otherwise it doesn't have much else going for it for powder, apart from a little rocker in the nose and tail.
Carving & Turning
Carving: I just love carving on this board. It had to be the best, if not one of the best twin, mid-flex boards for carving out there. So much fun!
Turning: Really fun to turn on. Snappy and lively and effortless.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: I found it really quick turning at slow speeds, despite that extra width. Quicker turner than my Greats, I reckon, so it's partly the size. But my 156 Greats is pretty nimble too. For it's width, this board is good edge-to-edge.
Skidded Turns: Forgiving of skidded turns to an extent but not super forgiving
Speed
It's pretty good at speed - again for a mid-flexing twin, it feels better than you'd think. I was back and forth between giving this a 3.5 or 4 for speed, but ultimately I think it falls closer to 3.5. But can definitely handle a good amount of speed without getting shaky. I rode the PYL that day also - and that thing can handle some speed!
Uneven Terrain
Crud: It's not a crud destroyer, but it can smash through it to an extent. It kind of likes to go over top and kind of likes to smash through, it's in between in that respect.
I found it didn't get bucked around super easily but it did get bucked around a bit - but it was really easy to correct when you got thrown off your line.
Bumps: Felt good weaving between bumps. Nice and nimble. And it had enough flex and forgiveness to hug bumps pretty easily when going over them.
Let’s Break up this text with a Video
Jumps
Any good all-mountain freestyle worth it's salt has to be a good jumper and the Greats doesn't disappoint.
Pop: Really easy to access the pop. Doesn't take much loading up to really get decent pop out of this board. The pop ceiling isn't super high - as in when you really load it up, the max pop is good, but not epic. But you can get to it's max pop or close with very little effort.
Approach: Really strikes a beautiful balance between being stable but also nimble - so for faster approaches you're not concerned about it getting squirrelly and it's no problem making any adjustments to your approach on your way down.
Landing: Solid as landings on this thing. That extra width really gives you a good landing platform, even in the shorter lengths. But it's also forgiving enough when your landing's a little off or you hit the knuckle or something. Just in that sweet spot of being able to stomp a landing, but if you're a bit off it doesn't punish you too much.
Side-hits: Have always loved this board for side hits and this occasion was no exception. Just has that nice ability to be easy on approach, has that easy pop and that great solid, yet forgiving landing platform. It's an artist for sidehits!
Small jumps/Big jumps: The sweet spot is medium, I would say, but it can handle small and large jumps almost just as well. And my 156 is more in that medium to large zone, but is still perfectly fine on smaller jumps.
Switch
If it's an artist for side-hits - and it is - it's just as much a switch artist. If your switch game is relatively tight, then this things is a joy to ride in your unnatural direction.
Again, it's not super forgiving (or super unforgiving to be fair) of skidded turns, so if you're switch game is pretty beginner, then it's not as easy, but if you've got switch relatively dialed, then it's just perfection!
Spins
So good! A spinning machine. Easy pop, easy to get the spin around and setting up and landing switch is a dream. Only thing stopping me giving it 5 is the same reason, I took 1/2 a point off for jumps - the pop ceiling isn't super high. So if you're looking to go super big, then there's that to consider. For me though, I didn't feel like I needed that high end max pop for the size of spins that I do (as in I don't go that big!)
Jibbing
It's not a jibbing master, but it's fine hitting the odd box or rail. Does a commendable job. I'm not a strong jibber, but I didn't/don't feel intimidated hitting boxes/rails on it. Also didn't ramp up my confidence on jibs, like some more jib oriented boards do.
Butters
For it's flex, it butter really quite easily. Without being so easy that you're going to overbend it if you're a stronger rider. Doesn't quite butter as easily as my control board (Lib Tech Terrain Wrecked) but wasn't far off.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | Contribution to Final Score | |
---|---|---|
JUMPS | 4.5 | 18/20 |
CARVING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
SWITCH | 5.0 | 10/10 |
SPEED | 3.5 | 7/10 |
SPINS | 4.5 | 9/10 |
BUTTERS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
JIBBING | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
CRUD/CHUNDER | 4.0 | 4/5 |
TREES/BUMPS | 4.0 | 4/5 |
POWDER | 2.5 | 2.5/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 92.1/100 |
The Greats is just about the perfect all-mountain-freestyle deck. It's been my favorite for a good few years now.
It's not a powder hound or anything, but otherwise, it can do pretty much everything and strikes a beautiful balance between being playful enough, but also aggressive enough. You can lay down a carve like no other twin I've ridden and if you like the mountain to be your park, then it's definitely worth checking out.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you’re interested in learning more about the Greats, are ready to buy or want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.

If you want to see how the Greats compared to other all-mountain-freestyle boards or want to check out other options, check out the next link.
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