On paper this makes no sense: a park-orientated board from KORUA Shapes, the brand that came around to offer an antidote to twin tips by exalting the virtues of going one way, fast, and with style.

However, it’s a mistake is to think of it as KORUA making a park board. Rather, it’s a Korua that comes equipped with a proper tail. Whilst the rest of the range functions perfectly well without too much behind your back foot, this has plenty stashed away, meaning that you can get most of the elbows-down fun you could expect from the Stealth or the Pencil, but with a ton of pop and the ability to take it switch without too many problems. In short, it’s a KORUA you can take to the skies.

“I can’t think of another freestyle board I rode this year that proved quite as fun”

I rode it for most of a week on a summer glacier, taking it off side hits, into the park and through some wonderful naturally-formed snake runs. It holds an edge where you need it, but the slight rocker in the nose really helps mellow it out, inspiring butters for days. It retains a tiny amount of setback, but for me personally that’s just the way I like it.

Even though the white topsheet and red base is nothing new to me, it still feels novel, pushing you to keep everything nice and stylee whilst drawing approving looks. In fact, I can’t think of another freestyle board I rode this year that proved quite as fun, and that’s saying something considering that it had a lot to prove.

It’s up there with the CAPiTA DOA and Ride Helix, the kings of true all-mountain snowboards, but coming from the plucky group of Swiss flatland pioneers, this feels more than a little special.