Shape, Profile and Sidecut

It’s pretty common knowledge that carving is back in a big way, and the Thruster, with its powerful full camber, tapered outline and setback inserts, is somewhat of a juggernaut when it comes to precision on edge.

It’s fair to say the Thruster is no out and out freestyle board, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a spin through the park when the mood strikes. While it certainly felt more at home going in your preferred direction, the taper and setback aren’t so intense that switch riding is out of the question and there’s nothing quite like traditional camber for explosive pop.

We loved that it eschews the traditional super directional carving outline, and instead opts for a more progressive blunted nose and tail. And this pays dividends in the park, keeping it manoeuvrable throughout the length, allowing for some playful spins and also helping to bring the overall weight down for balance in the air.

“It’s fair to say the Thruster is no out and out freestyle board, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a spin through the park when the mood strikes”

Construction and Materials

You’ll hopefully have realised by this point that the Thruster is a bit of a beast, and aside from the shape and profile, this is thanks in part to its premium and powerful internal makeup. Nidecker has gone full hog here, slapping a bunch of top shelf tech and nifty additives to turn the dial all the way up.

Starting off in the middle (as you do), Nidecker uses their lightest core. Consisting of a tri-wood blend and utilising specialist hardwood stringers down the sidecut for added grip and response to really up the ante to tip and grip when you’re up on your edge. This is sandwiched between ultra responsive triax fibreglass, the weave is milled to differing thicknesses down the board to target areas for increased reactivity.

A vibration dampening Absorbnid layer sits atop the Thruster, and you’ll reap these benefits mostly when you’re charging full speed. Some super stiff boards tend to be pretty bucky when you’re bombing hills, but this layer, plus the added carbon stringers in the nose and tail will help to keep things feeling smooth underfoot, even when encountering chunder and chop.

“While its day job is certainly as an aggressive carving machine, the Thruster moonlights as a nifty powder board as well”

Roundup

While its day job is certainly as an aggressive carving machine, the Thruster moonlights as a nifty powder board as well. The added volume and 3D shaping in the nose help eliminate the diving sensation that full camber snowboards can often fall victim to in deeper snow, and the reduced surface area in the tail helped it to sink down into the snow for pumping turns and slashing pockets. All together, you’ve got an impressive deck that handles pretty much any conditions or terrain with ease, providing you’re firmly sat in the driver’s seat!

Pros:

• It’s a really powerful carving machine
• Thanks to the profile and shape, it’s far more versatile than you might think

Cons:

• Way too aggressive for newbies

“This is the stick that is always out and waitlisted at our on-snow demos… we’ve probably serviced the Thruster more times than any other board in our demo quiver and it’s still riding just like new. People’s champ!”