People love stigmas.  They love to hold onto stories, and beliefs they believe to be true, regardless of whether they are or not.. or so it would appear.  It’s not uncommon in our industry for people to tell you Flow bindings are heavy, even though the newer models are actually quite light weight, or that boards are heavy because that’s all they’ve ever heard.  Such is the case with Never Summer.

I wanted to write a piece which addresses the stigma of “heavy” boards as they relate to Never Summer.  I often times hear riders out on the slope talk about NS having quality boards, but they are “bricks” or “tanks” etc.   While it’s true that Never Summer makes an incredibly durable board, there’s no disputing that, and in the past the boards have been heavier boards, yes, but let’s talk about now.   The ladies and  gents over at Never Summer have been working hard at blending hardwoods (durability) with softer woods (more flex, forgiveness, lighter) to come up with the perfect core.   The core of the board is exactly that, it’s core, providing the foundation to build upon.  It provides the base for torsional and lateral flex, as well as the foundation for durability.  Never Summer recognized that they had boards deemed as “heavier” in the past, and worked to reduce the weight of the core without sacrificing the durability they are well known for.  By mixing their traditional hardwood cores with softer woods in varying degrees depending on the board type, they have not only lightened the boards up for ’10-’11 but have also tweaked response and flex as well.

What does this all mean?  Well it means, that gone are the days of “brick” labels for their boards.  If you’re reading this and you’ve ever said “those boards are bricks” and you haven’t demo’d a new board, I challenge you to go out this season, and call the Heritage or Raptor a heavy board after riding it.    While they aren’t the lightest boards around, (it’s not really their market to go after Vapor or Method purchasers), they’ve made great strides in making the boards lighter and even more fun to ride.  So before you get stuck in the stigma circle, don’t sell yourself short, check them out at a local shop, or demo day near you this season.

I wanted to talk about this because it’s important for people to get out there and Demo the boards.  Don’t just take someone’s word for it, but really go out and find out if that stigma is true.  If it’s the weight of a binding, the response of a board, or what have you, you owe it to yourself to really get out there and understand what a company is offering.