Saturday and Sunday were great days to be at Brighton Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It wasn’t the fresh dusting of snow (though that helped), but the free snowboard demos that had people stoked. Smokin, Sims, and Never Summer snowboards were all posted up in tents at the bottom of the Crest Lift with stacks of their newest releases ready to be ripped. Friendly reps were on hand to recommend the best boards to try, and to swap out your bindings before sending you out for some laps on brand spankin’ new decks. I handed over my ID and a credit card, scribbled my John Hancock onto a form and gave two different boards a run for their money.
SIMS JUICE 153
Sims remains a core snowboard brand, despite disappearing from the limelight for many years. Recently, though, the Sims name has been brought back to the forefront with a renewed focus on shape progression. The Juice is a true twin freestyle board designed for maximum fun. Micro camber is the profile, which means an early rise in the tip and tail zones. A freestyle board, yes, but don’t let that fool you: the Juice is outstanding from the steeps through the park. High speed turns felt extremely stable, and this stick transferred from edge to edge easily and stopped on a dime. The Poplar/Aspen core is super poppy, and the Juice was so much fun I kept it out for a full hour, romping it over as much terrain as I could safely negotiate (early season conditions be damned!). I have to say, Sims was a brand I had sort of forgotten about, but the Juice made me a believer. An all-around fun ride that almost any rider can have a blast on.
NEVER SUMMER WEST 154
I’ve had my eyes on Never Summer snowboards for a while, specifically the West. I was pumped to finally rip one of these decks! The West features a Ripsaw Rocker Camber profile, which gives you three points of contact on the snow (traditional camber has two contact points). The board has a slightly set back stance denoting its all mountain nature. The Superlight wood core used by Never Summer provided medium flex, and plenty of pop. Ollies were easy to spring and the board had a nice balance when airborne. However, the West is truly at home when locking into turns and powers through any type of terrain. I would love to have had a foot of pow to test this board in, as it was clear that this plank was designed for it. Nonetheless, I made due with the 25” base of snow, and had fun blasting groomer turns and launching off rollovers. My advice is to size down on the West. The 154 I rode felt a bit big, and the rep confirmed that this shape profile allows riders to choose a smaller size.
I took plenty of runs on these two boards, and so did the other folks at Brighton. I spotted a plethora of the demo boards from every brand, so it’s clear that the weekend was a success for the vendors. The men and women manning the tents were full of info for each company, and seemed really pumped to be getting riders on their equipment. My favorite fact from the demo: all three companies are designing and pressing their boards right here in America. Sims and Never Summer even share factory space in Denver, CO. If you missed the event, not to worry: there are additional Utah dates for each company.
Never Summer & Sims Utah Demo Days:
Brian Head Resort: December 16, 17
Powder Moutain: January 16, 17
Smoking Utah Demo Days:
Powder Mountain: December 14th