“The YES 420 PowderHull is a funky little gumdrop of a thing, all bluntness and cheek. The topsheet is beautifully done; no puking demons or gynaecological nightmares – it’s just nice.

Which is a hint as to what it was made for – fluffy backcountry niceness and perfect piste days. Which is unfortunate, given that my test day was a lively blend of soggy piste and heavy, leg-achingly wet powder.

“It is incredible in the trees; so petite that you can whip around anything, with steeze, no matter how little warning you might get”

Is was only once we had negotiated the misery-quilt that was passing for a ski-resort that day and got into the woods that I was finally able to make the 420 PH come alive, and come alive she did. It was so laughingly odd, the juxtaposition of that fat little shape and the electric, joyful ride it delivered, that I could almost sense the delight the shapers at YES must have felt once they realised what they had achieved with this board.

It is incredible in the trees; so petite that you can whip around anything, with steeze, no matter how little warning you might get. Yet she still has the volume to crank it out in the open powfields too, so don’t let her fat little profile dissuade you of the fact that she is a serious all-round backcountry contender.

I am sure also that thanks to that sidecut she’s a lot of fun on the clean corduroy too, but unfortunately for me the piste that day was like a cardboard box left in the rain; heavy, sluggish, and globular, which meant that the combo of the board’s waist width and my tired legs gave me all the edge to edge torque of a toddler trying to lift a manhole cover – it was not pretty.

But I reckon that for good days, powder or piste, this is a hard board to beat. If I had any concern it would be that maybe on those truly rotten days when it’s hard to summon the enthusiasm to get up the hill in the first place, the 420 PH might have you heading for a beer just a couple of runs before anyone else.

Fortunately those days are few and far between, and so this little fizzy cola bottle of a board gets a full double-thumbs-up. Enjoy!”

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