YES 420 SNOWBOARD 2013/14 REVIEW

There’s only one length of the 420 available, a super-short 146. And yet this isn’t a board aimed at women or children, so what are they thinking? Well, the guys from Yes Snowboards decided to really push the boat out and develop something truly revolutionary. The inspiration for the shape, which they themselves describe as “weird”, is a style of surfboard known as the fish. These pack maximum volume into a shorter length, allowing for fast and manoeuvrable turns even in small waves. The Yes boys decided to experiment with this same principle on a powder board, adding width instead of the usual extra length.

It definitely feels weird the first time you strap into one of these, not least because your toes are nowhere near the edge. But actually our test team found that this crazy shape really works and far from turning like a tank, it’s nimble and fun as well as floaty in pow. How have Yes done it? Well, they’ve combined the super-wide waist with a super tight sidecut. Whereas a regular snowboard might boast a sidecut radius of 8m, the 420 is more like 6m. The result is (as Whitelines editor Ed put it) “this has mad float, loads of stability and crazy carving ability.” Combine this with the responsive flex generated by the half-poplar, half-paulownia core and the flat profile, and you have a board that’ll have you grinning like an idiot on piste as well as off. Come to think of it, that’s probably why they called it the 420.

YES 420 SNOWBOARD 2013/14 – VIDEO REVIEW – BY WHITELINES

BUY THIS BOARD AT: snowboard-asylum.com, thesnowboardshop.co.uk, cabfive.co.uk, sputniksnowboardshop.co.uk, ss20.com, thesnowboardshop.co.uk, snowlab.co.uk

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