Nitro + Freeride

As one of Freeride's shop staff and snowboard tester, I’m lucky enough to get the opportunity to test out pretty much every board we carry. Sometimes a test day includes a handful of hot laps down Serwas at Big White, sometimes it’s for a couple days at Apex Mountain… but if I'm lucky, a demo day may line up with some of the deepest days of the season. The latter was the case last winter during the testing of the 2019 Nitro Quiver series.

 My first taste of the Quiver boards was what every snowboarder dreams of: five good friends packed into a truck and heading to Nelson, B.C. the night before we were set to hop into a snow cat with Valhalla Powder Cats. When we arrived at the hotel we excitedly unpacked a couple of board bags filled with a good chunk of the 2019 Nitro lineup. We had everything from the 152 Squash, to the 173 Nitro Quiver Cannon, and everything between. We eagerly decided on what each of us were going to ride the next day. Elissa and Natalee each grabbed a Squash, Rob couldn’t say no to the 173 cm Cannon…AKA Big Pink, and Brock wouldn’t let go of the 154 Pow. Knowing that the snow had been hammering down for the last few days, I opted for the 163 Slash and threw on some Nitro Phantoms.   None of us would be disappointed.

We knew it had been snowing in the Kootenays for a few days, but we had no idea we were about to hit THE biggest day of the season. We were treated to over a meter of untouched snow on some of the best catboarding terrain in the world. Pretty ideal conditions for boards designed with deep snow in mind.

Foot Penetration Test: 160

 The Nitro Slash, despite being almost ten centimeters longer than my “normal” board, was incredibly maneuverable. The shape allowed it to pivot easily on the tail, even in chest deep snow, giving it a super surfy feel without the sluggish feel that I thought would come along with a bigger board. The board’s taper combined with the "Cam-Out" camber profile was awesome for providing some much-needed float in snow that deep. I was hooked.

Chest deep snow (neck deep on Brock haha), some of the best terrain in the world, good friends, and the perfect boards for the conditions definitely made it one of the best days I’ve ever had. Our guide Lewis described our day as “an eleven" out of ten. "That was lifetime deepest ever” up there. My only complaint was that between constant face shots and laughing with excitement, breathing was just a luxury until the bottom of the drop. I should have brought a snorkel.

Managed to get in 12 unforgettable laps!

 The story doesn’t end there. That night we stayed in Nelson with the thought of riding Whitewater the next day, but woke up to a report that Mt. Baldy in Oliver had received close to 100cm during the previous two days. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get in on some fresh powder at a mountain closer to home. We packed up and hit the road.

It’s a few hours drive from Nelson to Mt. Baldy so we arrived well after first chair. There was plenty of fresh snow for us… and it kept falling. I ended up riding “Big Pink” most of the day. I’m definitely not used to having so much nose and so little tail, but DAMN did it float well! I was not only blown away by how it rode in the deep stuff, but by how well it handled tighter trees, and how much fun it was to nose butter and stomp little side hits on the cat-track back to the lift.  Spinning 360's off little hits was a different feel than on the twin I'm used to, but hey...I'm no Bryan Fox or Austin Smith.  By the end of the day my face was sore from grinning like an idiot, and my legs were tired from two days of endless pow laps, but we didn’t want to stop.

Riding up to no lift line on a pow day is pretty great!

 You might say that testing boards in these conditions didn’t give me a full view of how the boards ride. I disagree. These are aptly named Quiver boards. You could ride them as your daily board and have a blast on them, but chances are you're going to keep these in the shed, meticulously tuned, waiting for those handful of days a season that beg for the perfect board. They’re the type of board that, when you strap in, you KNOW it’s going to be one of the best days of the year! 

If you have any questions about Nitro or any other snowboard product we carry, don't hesitate to hit us up on the chat or give us a call at the shop toll free 1-855-491-7433.