- Price: £465 / €500 / $520
- Category: All Mountain
- Ability Level: Intermediate, Advanced
- Size: 156L, 159L, 162W
- Flex: 7/10
- Shape: Directional Twin
- Profile: Camber
- Base: Sintered
The year is 1988. Whilst Michael Jackson’s Man In The Mirror is blasting from every boombox and Sony Walkman from New York to Nottingham, highly flammable, retina-melting fluro onesies are the hottest thing to unironically rock on skis, and the real-life events that would go on to inspire the egg-kissing epic Cool Runnings are starting to play out at the Calgary Winter Olympics.
For snowboarding, 1988 saw a pivotal moment of its own – the first generation of all-mountain boards, with designers steering away from stacks of setback and instead toying with a more centred approach with pronounced tails for easier switch riding. And like all explosions, there was a catalyst – Nidecker’s The Lip Stick.
“A serious contender for anyone looking to spend all day seeking nothing but pure, undiluted, old-school stoke from first lift to last”
Unintentionally becoming the reference point for things to come, Nidecker have paid tribute to their game-changing icon by adding it to their nostalgia-soaked Classics Series capsule, which brings new life to four of throwback boards and their archive graphics with bang-up-to-date materials and tech. For 2021, they’ve stuck The Lip Stick’s original and extremely out-there graphic to their round/flat-tailed, posi cambered Escape shape, and slammed down their Absorbnid topsheet to take unwanted vibrations out of the equation whilst dialing up the responsiveness.
A tasty Premium Sandwich construction allows for plenty of pop and power, thanks to futuristic material choices like carbon and Kevlar that mean you won’t be running back to your chalet early, with your tail between your legs and your knees reduced to dust.
Most impressive though, is the amount of weight the Nidecker’s Master Core strips out of the old girl, without losing any of the charm you’re hoping for through those 80s-style turns. All in all, this a serious contender for anyone looking to spend all day seeking nothing but pure, undiluted, old-school stoke from first lifts to last.
