Snowboard Review: 12-13 Never Summer Lotus

Location: Keystone, CO

Snow Conditions: Softpacked to hardpacked conditions, powder conditions from new snow to older snow.

Setup: I rode the Never Summer Lotus with Burton Escapade bindings and Ride Cadence Focus boots.

Size: 157

First Impression: The Lotus continues to be Never Summer’s women’s freeriding/charging snowboard.

Weight: Average.

Flex: Based off the men’s Premier F1, the Lotus gives women a board that is stiffer, more charging and built for freeriding. Overall, it’s a stiffer flex underfoot with a bit softer torsional flex between the bindings. The nose is softer to handle powder and the board has a stiffer tail for more control. The board has a good amount of dampening to help absorb the bumps. Never Summer’s RC technology features rocker between the feet and camber outside the bindings.

Turning: One of the best perks of the Lotus is the quick handling and engagement into turns despite the stiffer flex. You can get the board into short radius turns quickly and still have good stiffer flex to handle the longer drawn out S turns. Regardless you can power through turns.

Stable: For the current conditions, the lotus has ridden a decent amount of hardpacked/icy conditions and it’s still holding a great edgehold on those days. I never have to worry about it slipping out on the mountain. In the powder (like today), it was heavier powder and the board cut through the bumps and floated through. Honestly it’s my board of choice because of the overall handling.

Pop: I’ve played with the board in the park previously and taken it through some laps already this year where it was the same handling as before. No catching and even though it’s freeride specific, I can ride boxes with it when I feel like it.

Switch: I am used to the Lotus so I feel comfortable riding it switch but it is a directional board with a setback stance so there is some adjustment to how it handles.

Overall Impression: The Lotus is Never Summer’s women’s freeride board, based off the men’s Premier. It’s a more aggressive, quick board that handles the whole mountain from hardpacked cruisers to powder laps.

Shay’s Honesty Box: The Lotus is my go-to board in the collection. When I planned to get out and ride some leftover powder in North Bowl, it was the board that I knew could handle the choppy conditions to powder turns and even better, could be durable through some rocks and bumps along the way.

Review Disclosure: Never Summer sent me this board to test and review.