Location: Mammoth, CA
Snow Conditions: Hardpacked to icy conditions.
Setup: I rode the Burton Nug with Burton Scribe bindings and Vans Ferra boots size 8.
Size: 142cm.
First Impression: As long as I don’t look down, I feel pretty good on this thing and it’s just plain fun to ride.
Weight: Average.
Flex: The Nug offers up the mountain in a smaller size and playfulness in big doses. The Nug is a medium flex board but with the softer nose and tail combined with V-rocker and stiffer flex underfoot, you get a board that’s playful but can still handle turns and the rest of the mountain. Torsionally it’s a bit softer which makes it easy to get quick response for each turn. The Nug has V-rocker, a centered rocker between the feet and additional rockers outside each foot that lift the tail and tip completely off the snow.
Turning: Handled with quickness and response for shorter radius turns while still able to do a long drawn out turn down the slopes. The effective edge on the board rides like a longer board so you don’t feel like you are on a board that can’t turn. The frostbite edges did good holding an edge in the icy spots and helping keep the board connected to the snow on turns instead of bumping out of them.
Stable: Despite the smaller size (much smaller) the Nug can handle the mountain. It doesn’t feel like you are riding a board 10cm’s smaller than you normally would, the effective edge still handles like a board you normally ride (just don’t look down). For stability on the icy hardpacked conditions, the Nug did better than expected and held a turn better than some of the longer size boards I rode during the demos (Whammy Bar).
Pop: Really playful with good pop. The Nug was super easy to tail and nose press and hold it while riding. Off the jump line, I made sure to land centered on the bolts just in case and it was fine on the jumps and landings. Lighter swing weight for playing around with. No catching on boxes during the laps I took with it.
Switch: The Nug is a true twin and rode just like a true twin, same handling switch as it was regular riding. Pretty easy to maneuver around.
Overall Impression: The Nug allows for riders to get on a board 10 centimeters smaller than their normal size but still have a board that can handle the mountain and give you something playful. It’s a pretty easy board to ride for all around riding.
Shay’s Honesty Box: Last year I tried out the Burton Nug, I was thinking about the board size too much so this year I focused on the ride without looking down at the size of the board beneath me. It helped a lot and definitely felt the same about the board as I did last season, it’s a really playful board that can handle the mountain.
Burton Nug Description
Review Disclosure: I demoed this board at a Burton demo day.
Dan
January 13, 2012 at 6:31 amI love my Nug. Infact, I sold my other boards this year because I wasn’t using them at all… I thought it sounded dumb at first riding a board this short, I’m no parkrat afterall, but you just gotta ride it. It’s so damn fun riding a 146 and having it be just as stable as my 155.