(I’ve posted an updated review here – but you should still read this one first!)
Last year, I was on the hunt for the funnest, surfiest, slashiest snowboard. I didn’t get very far down my list before settling on the Capita x Spring Break Slush Slasher… but by the time I’d discovered it, the board was sold out everywhere.
(This year’s version is out now, though, and available from Backcountry.com.)
Instead, on a whim, I ordered the Yes 420:
The 420 is a short, fat, flat powder board, that rides kinda like those flat-bottomed skiffs the Aussies like to race:
In deep powder, it’s insanely fun to ride! It sits up on top of the snow, and turns like a dream – you can drop a rail into the snow to rip a turn, or stay up on top and drift your turns. Super fun.
Downsides are: on chop, you feel every single bump, and you’ll soon be exhausted; on groomers, it’s slow edge to edge, just because of its crazy width; in the lift line, it’s a bit of a pain since it’s hard to tilt it up on an edge.
So its useful conditions are pretty much deep, untracked snow – and for that, it’s an amazing board. Definitely a very focused board that’s meant to be part of a larger quiver. Would I buy it again? Probably not, to be honest. While it’s fun to ride in powder, so are many boards!!! And this one sucks once you’re out of the soft stuff. For resort riding, that means you can ride it for the first few runs of the day, or until the goods have been tracked up, and then you have to go and switch out to a board with better dampening.
Think it’s the right board for you? Buy the 2017 Yes 420 at Backcountry.com.