Never Summer Snowtrooper Review: A Versatile All-Mountain Freeride Board

Introduction

The Snowtrooper sits in Never Summer’s lineup as an all-mountain freeride board with a directional twin shape. It is designed to feel very similar riding in your regular direction and switch, with a slight 0.6 inch (1.5 cm) setback that shifts the insert packs closer to the tail.

For sizing reference, a 5’10” rider around 155 lb tested it in the 156, which is a reasonable ballpark for what this board is aimed at.

Who This Board Is For

If you want one board that can handle groomers, trees, alpine terrain, and the occasional park lap without feeling out of place anywhere, this is the profile of rider the Snowtrooper is built for. It is a versatile resort explorer rather than a specialist, and it leaves room to progress before committing to something more freestyle or freeride focused.

The board runs Never Summer’s original rocker camber profile: a long reverse camber section between the feet, with camber zones underfoot out to the tips for added energy and precision. It is rocker dominant overall, which brings quick and easy turn initiation, more leverage for presses and butters, fewer catchy moments on flat base, and a benefit in soft snow.

Main Strengths

The first thing worth knowing is the flex: it runs a little stiffer than expected, sitting on the stiffer side of medium. That gives it the backbone to stand up to more aggressive riding and, paired with its torsional flex, lets it power through chopped up rough conditions with a confident feel rather than getting bucked around.

There is also serious grip tech underfoot. The Power Grip sidecut adds very mellow contact points that provide more hold in icy, firm snow, which makes the board feel more confident and in control exactly when most boards start to feel sketchy.

The construction includes two carbon Vs in both the tip and the tail: one running from underfoot out to the contact points for more edge-to-edge response, and a smaller one in the tips for dampening and pop. Add Never Summer’s usual multi-layer dampening to mellow out vibrations and reduce chatter at higher speeds, plus a centered sintered base that is harder, faster, and more durable than extruded, and the spec sheet holds up. The sintered base does want regular waxing to maintain fast glide, but that is a fair trade for the material quality.

Things to Consider Before Buying

Buttering and flat-ground freestyle are doable and genuinely fun, but you are working against that stiffer flex. The rocker dominant profile helps a lot here, giving you a larger platform to balance on and letting you rock along the profile to lift the tips without much effort. Just note the board is fairly precise, so pay attention to your edges during that kind of riding.

Pop also has a slightly different feel than camber-dominant boards: you need to rock to the end of the profile before tension loads up. Once you figure that out, the stiffer flex and carbon deliver good snap.

In the park, the Snowtrooper leans more toward jumps than rails. It has plenty of stability for progressing to larger features, and the rocker dominant profile makes initiating rotations easier with a nice feel on takeoff. It is not a jib-focused board, but it is not so stiff that straight jibbing becomes uncomfortable either.

Buying Advice

On edge, this board wants to arc into a turn. Turn initiation is very easy, which is great for riders in the earlier stages of progression and still feels good for experienced riders. The reverse camber between the feet acts as a pivot point, offering very quick edge-to-edge transitions.

At higher speeds, the dampening and stiffer flex combine to eliminate most chatter despite the rocker dominant profile. The board holds a very strong, locked-in edge and powers through variable, chopped up conditions well, making it a confident choice for bombing groomers or exploring trees and alpine terrain.

For powder, it is not a specialist, but the profile and setback together offer a slight benefit on deeper days. If you want one board for a wide variety of conditions and terrain that you can take out on any day and enjoy, this is a solid pick.

Conclusion

The Never Summer Snowtrooper earns its place as an all-around resort board: stiff enough to progress with, forgiving enough thanks to its rocker dominant profile, and backed by thoughtful construction details like carbon reinforcement, Power Grip sidecut, and a sintered base. If versatility and confidence across the whole mountain are what you are after, it is an easy recommendation.