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Last year my beloved 156 Burton fish delaminated on me. The whole nose of the P-tex came off, thank God not out on the back country. I got a used fish from a guy that barely weights 150 pounds and that didn't put much mileage on it at all. Early this season before I even had a chance to use it much the damn thing also started delaminating! At least I got that one for cheap.

 

The fish is an outstanding board for deep powder, but it is too damn slow. Sure, if you put it next to a non powder board it will run circles around it. However, if you try to reach escape velocity (and God forbid you are trying to do so on choppy crud or groomed slopes) the nose starts vibrating as if it was about to have an orgasm...

 

So anyways, I just got on the mail a 161 Neversummer Sumit (I probably should have gone bigger but wimped out at the end). This thing is more centered than the fish (4-inch setback), bigger, stiffer, has a crazy camber/rocker/camber/rocker shape, and a weird progressive cut on the side. Based on my understanding of the numbers this should translate into a more stable and faster ride, at the sacrifice of flotation and turning ability.

 

All of that shall be answered tomorrow at Hakkoda. In the mean time, anybody else here rocks a NS Summit? How do you like it?

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Too bad about the boards! I think we were riding the same one actually (red 2007-08 model). I'm so in love with this board. I've never actually noticed the nose having any problem at any speed... we probably ride differently. Let us know how the NS compares.

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The thing about the fish is that it excells on tight tree runs, which is 90% of Hakkoda. Outside of tree runs it's like driving a slow car; you shift through the gears like a bat out of hell but when you look at the spedometer you are only doing 60km/h. If you get a chance to try a longer board the added stability, stiffness, and more centered stance makes it feel slower, when in reality you are leaving your buddies behind.

 

We'll see tomorrow...

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It was snowing super hard when I left by the way today and there was already a fresh 30 INCHES on the ground.. It was REALLY hard to ride, and maybe not the greatest conditions to go full backcountry crazy if that's what you were planning. It's 30+ inches of the super dry light snow. I never saw as many people stuck in the snow as I did today.

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Today the snow was outstanding. It was cold, deep, and the visibility about 30 feet. A perfect hakkoda day :D

 

I'll do a full review later but for now:

 

The good thing about this board: there is a heck of a lot less vibration on chopped crud. I could certainly go a lot faster. It also carves a lot better than the fish. On the fish you basically ride that surfy feeling that makes us happy, on this one, even on deep powder you felt like you were carving. It also turns like a much smaller board, the average of the vario sidecut radius being similar to that of the 156 fish.

 

The bad: The fish floats a lot better than the summit. I went over the handlebars more times today than on the entire last season and what we had of this one put together. Yes, this is in part because I'm not used to this board but on the fish once you are going, the nose is virtually unsinkable. On the summit burying the nose was a snap, as evident by the oh so many times I pulled it off...

 

This is the crazy part; tomorrow I will cut a small swallow tail on this day old board, probably voiding the 3-year warranty in the process. This is sooooo close of being the perfect hakkoda board (which is half fresh powder, half chopped crap, plus a **** ton of trees) that I have to do it. the board will then become a 159" with a round shaped cut ala fish. this will put the binding setback 2 inches (currently 4) and help sink the tail somewhat. i'm going easy on the cutting because A: it is easier to cut than to add back, and B: I like popping off my tail.

 

Later I'll try to do a complete review for both stock and modified versions.

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Are you sure you wanna cut it?

It´s a new board.

Can´t you set it back more ?

Maybe you put your weight on the back leg before you put pressure on the front .. - what I found out about my nose dig cartwheels.

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No I don't want to cut it but It has a setback of 4 inches and it is already as far back as it will go. A small notch will effectively give it more setback (which if too much I can always move the bindings further up) and hopefully balance the board for the kinds of conditions I ride in.

 

Pros: more setback, better tail sink, overall better powder flotation.

Cons: bye warranty, won't pop off the tail as well.

What shouldn't change: Handling, stiffness, speed.

 

Right now this is the best all-mountain board I have ever tried. If somebody tries this board before they get on a Fish they will probably like it best, as it retains the feeling of carving even in deep powder. The fact remains that the fish floats better :\

 

I'll give it another day at the mountain before I modify it. I also want to take it to a resort to see how it handles groomed slopes.

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Even though I just cut a huge piece out of my supermodel I would recommend you don't cut the summit. Simply because you will end up wanting to sell it. IMO (and thats all it is) the neversummer rocker/camber profile does not do very well in powder. You already have your bindings all the way back which upsets the balance of the r/c geometry so you are losing the best feature of this board right there.

If you are looking for an absolute powder destroyer you have the wrong board (IMO again) and cutting it will just lower the resale value. That board will be an absolute dream on days where there is no new snowfall, centre your stance and charge hard.

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I am wondering if you can trade back the Summit for a longer one.

I reckon if you are riding a 172 board, it would be a powder stick.

I´m 60 kg, and if I were to get one for powder, I´d pick a 167. But I´d have a hard time on crud because it has a wide nose and 254 mm would be the widest waist I would go for a size 8 foot. Mogules would be a handful.

So for my size, a 161 would be a better compromise for piste/ slack country application.

I think the Fish is an easy board to ride in powder, it really stuffs up your riding when you go back to other boards on powder.

Hell, I really have to adjust from powder to hard pack on my board on a given day Actually have to be very careful when the terrain changes .

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Yeah, I'd also be reluctant to cut a new board until I'd exhausted all other options, or at least until I'd given it some battle-scars! ;)

 

I looked at a gentemstick and it worked out to be over AU$2000. I would love to demo one.

 

Hey gozaimass, don't know where you are at the mo' but have you seen this post from Dyna8800?

 

http://www.snowjapan...demo-days-2012/

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