2011 Nitro Swindle Earlyman

The Nitro Swindle has been a staple in my board quiver for going on three years.  I've watched this model evolve over the last few seasons from a slight camber to zero camber and this year Nitro has thinned the core underfoot for even more flex and tweakability.

While the Swindle has always been advertised as an urban rail slayer, this year it fits that profile more than ever.

I got my hands on the Swindle Earlyman (A special edition collaboration with the metal band Earlyman) through High Cascade's demo center.  This was a summer demo meaning snow conditions ranging from salt-crusted to deep slush.  High Cascades expansive park layout let me test the deck on jumps, rails and in the pipe, while Mt. Hood summer conditions gave me some rocks and gullies to play around on.

First, this years Swindle is noticeably softer than previous models.  While it's fun to butter around and easy to maneuver, I found the pop to be serious lacking.  Rocks I was nollie-360ing over with ease using Nitro's Gullwing camber (a play on reverse) I could barely clear with the 2011 Swindle.

Compared to past models, the pop/snap in the 2010 was surprising given the switch to zero camber and the 2009 (traditional camber) boosted; the 2011 was for lack of a better word "dead" underfoot.

Kickers have never been the Swindle's strong point, however the deck will handle most medium sized booters (up to 35 feet).  The Swindle is too soft for anything bigger and will buckle at high speeds and larger compression.

On a plus, the softer torsional flex from thinning the core let you get insanely creative with tweaking grabs.

Cruising with the 2011 Swindle turns any groomer into a playground; The board is loose underfoot, and again pretty soft, so have fun buttering and flat-spinning your way down the hill.  For charging or eurocarving this isn't the deck to go for; it doesn't absorb chop too well and will give way with high speed carves.

On rails the Swindle is as good as ever.  The looser feel edge-to-edge was tailor made to setting up your approach for rails. The deck does phenomenal presses, and I've always loved zero camber for locking boardslides dead centered.  I've been pretty hard on the pop for the 2011 model, but I want to point out it still does it's job getting you on whatever jib might tickle your fancy.

Not much worth mentioning as far the halfpipe goes, but I will say that the Swindle is fun to play with in the minipipe.

Overall I think Nitro set out this year to fit the Swindle to the urban/rail category they've had it in for a while; while in past years it was an overall slayer all over the mountain, this year I would limit the Swindle to being a playful spring park/jib deck.

Check out the Swindle and Nitro's other decks on their website.

2011 Nitro Pro Series Gross Out Eero

The Nitro Swindle is the first snowboard I've loved enough to invest in two generations.  The construction, performance and price is unparalleled, so when I had the chance to demo some boards at Mt. Hood a few weeks ago, I went right to the Nitro rack to see if all of their boards were equally amazing.

I had heard some amazing things about the Gullwing tech, which is Nitro's take on multi-camber that lifts the contact points while employing traditional camber beneath the bindings.  Unfortunately all of the Team Gullwing models were out, but I was able to snag the Gross Out Series Eero Ettala, essentially a team Gullwing with special graphics.

This is a directional model with a slight setback.  That always plays game with my head, especially riding switch, so I set up my Flux Super Emblems to get the board as twin as possible. While I thought setting my bindings to make the deck twin might alter how the Gullwing tech rode, I was pleasantly surprised.

Mt. Hood in August has a very unique riding surface.  It can be firm in the morning, and especially firm where salted, then it softens into deep slush a little past noon.

High Cascade gave me a lot of options to try the deck out in, from rails to the halfpipe, freeriding, rocks, and a number of medium sized kickers (20 to 30 feet).  The Pro Series Gross Out Eero passed all of my tests with flying colors.

On saltier, hard-packed terrain the board gripped well through hard turns.  It cut through deep slush at high speed nicely, and never felt too hooky or squirrely.

The pop on this deck was impressive, one thing I always have reservations about when riding an alternative camber board.  I guess adding slight camber beneath the bindings does what it is supposed to do.  This was one of the really fun things about the board, popping high off rollers, ollieing and spinning over rocks.

In the lap park (where High Cascade maintained a number of medium kickers) the Gross Out Eero absolutely slayed it.  I had no problems with speed or clearing jumps, the looser feeling of raised contact points made it easier to set up spins, and one thing I noticed was where I'm usually a bit backseat with the first few hits while I get used to reverse camber, this board did exactly what I wanted it to do from the get-go.

I always kill it in the pipe with alternative camber, and the Gross Out Eero was no exception.  Whether it had to do with Nitro's custom base with this model, or simply High Cascade's stellar park construction, I had no trouble keeping speed and linking hits wall to wall.

On rails, the explosive pop and loose ride edge to edge are a great advantage.  Raised contact points make it easier and safer to really tweak out boardslides catch-free, and of course the reverse camber part of the deck means you can press and butter to your heart's content. One area I had trouble (and I always do with alternative camber decks) was locking boardslides centered over thinner features such as rails; for boxes everything was all good, but rails not so much.

Overall, the Gross Out Eero wins the award for best deck I demoed this summer, and while I would recommend to anyone more into switch riding in the park that they look for the true-twin Team Gullwing, if you are someone who likes to destroy the mountain all-around this directional take on Nitro's Gullwing tech would be the way to go.

Check out Nitro's Pro Series Gross Out Eero and their other solid products at Nitrosnbrds.com.