The Never Summer Llama is a playful, forgiving freestyle twin that shines for side-hits, spins, butters and park laps, but isn’t built for speed, crud or aggressive carving, though is fun for moderate, lower speed carves.
In this review, I will take a look at the Llama as a freestyle snowboard .
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Llama a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freestyle snowboards.
<nav class="article-quick-navigation" aria-label="Quick navigation
- Overall Rating
- Overview of the Llama’S Specs
- TEST/REVIEW DetailS FOR THE Llama
- Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
</nav
Overall Rating
Board: Never Summer Llama 2026
Price: $659
Style: Freestyle
Flex Rating: Mid-Soft (4/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Mid-Soft (4/10)
Rating Score: 90.2/100
Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Boards
Of the
28
current model freestyle snowboards that we tested:
- The average score was 83.8/100
- The highest score was 90.8/100
- The lowest score was 70.7/100
- The average price was $518
WordPress Responsive Table
❄️ The Llama ranked 2nd out of
28
Overview of the Llama’S Specs
Check out the tables for the Llama’s specs and available sizes.
STYLE:
freestyle
PRICE:
$659 -
BUYING OPTIONS
Ability Level:
flex:
feel:
DAMPNESS:
SMOOTH /SNAPPY:
Playful /aggressive:
Edge-hold:
camber profile:
Traditional Camber
TRAD Camber
- Never Summer's "Recurve Traditional Camber"
SHAPE:
TRUE TWIN
setback stance:
CENTERED
BASE:
Sintered
- Never Summer's "Durasurf XT Sintered 5501 Base"
weight:
Felt a little lighter than normal
Camber Height:
7
mm
Sizing
LENGTH (cm)
Waist Width (mm)
Rec Rider Weight (lb)
Rec Rider Weight (kg)
146
245
100-150
45-68
149
247
100-150
45-68
153
250
120-160
54-72
156
253
140-180
64-82
159
255
160-200+
72-90+
154X
258
140-180
64-82
157X
262
140-200+
63-90+
160X
264
160-200+
72-90+
Who is the Llama Most Suited To?
The Never Summer Llama is best suited to riders who want a playful, easy-going freestyle/all-mountain freestyle board for cruising, side-hits, spins, butters, smaller-to-medium jumps and regular park laps. It’s the kind of board that encourages creativity and messing around everywhere, rather than charging hard or laying down aggressive carves.
It’s particularly well suited to riders who value easy turn initiation, a forgiving semi-loose feel, easy-access pop, quick edge-to-edge response and near catch-free handling. It should also be fun in trees and bumps, especially in firmer conditions or shallow powder, though it’s not what I’d pick for deeper days.
Not truly for high-speed bombing, aggressive carving or smashing through crud. But for low-intermediate and up riders looking for a fun, confidence-building freestyle deck — or as the playful board in a quiver — it makes a lot of sense.
TEST/REVIEW DetailS FOR THE Llama
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Llama is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Never Summer Llama 2026, 156cm (253mm waist width)
Date: April 2, 2025
TESTING Conditions:
Overhead:
Mix of sun and cloud. Some areas a bit fogged in, but not affecting visibility too badly.
Visibility: 85%-100%
°C °C +wind chill °F °F rounded °F +wind chill °F WC rounded °C | °F ° +wind chill Morning Temp: -1 -3 30.2 30 26.6 27 -1°C | 30°F -3°C | 27°F Afternoon Temp: 1 -2 33.8 34 28.4 28 1°C | 34°F -2°C | 28°F cm inch in rounded cm inch 24 hr snowfall: 5 1.9685 2 5cm 2” 48 hr snowfall: 7 2.7559 3 7cm 3” 7 day snowfall: 20 7.8740 8 20cm 8” kph mph mph rounded kph mph Morning Wind: 5 3.1075 3 5kph 3mph Afternoon Wind: 10 6.2150 6 10kph 6mph
WordPress Responsive Table
On groomer:
Hard pack, bordering on icy for the most part, but no super icy patches. Some icier than others but nothing bulletproof. Towards the bottom was a little slushy. The slush crept a bit further up the mountain but higher up things stayed consistent throughout the day.
Off groomer: Hard, crunchy, icy in places. Doable but barely.
Set Up
Bindings angles: +18/-9 mm in mm in Stance Width: 545 21.4567 21.46 545mm 21.46” Stance Setback: 0 0 0 0mm 0” Width at Front Insert: 262 10.3150 10.3 262mm 10.3” Width at Back Insert: 262 10.3150 10.3 262mm 10.3” feet inches cm cm rounded Rider Height 6 0 183 6`0” 183cm pounds 81.6327 0 Rider Weight 180 0 82 180lbs 82kgs Rider Boot Size: US10 (K2 Overdraft) Bindings Used: Burton Malavita, size M grams pounds ounces lbs rounded oz rounded grams lbs & ozs Board Weight 2840 6.2610 0.2610 6 4 2840g/cm 6lbs 4ozs 4.1764 Weight per CM 18.21 0.0401 0.0401 0 0.64 18.21g/cm 0.64ozs/cm 0.6423 Average Weight per cm 18.58 0.0410 0.0410 0 0.66 18.58g/cm* 0.66ozs/cm 0.6554
WordPress Responsive Table
* based on a sample size of 300+ models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 & 2025 models.
Carving
Carving was better than I expected for a board this soft. Going in, I assumed it would feel pretty washy when trying to lay it over, but it actually held a carve decently at moderate speeds.
Once I started pushing it harder, particularly at speed, that’s where the limits showed up. There was definitely a ceiling where it stopped feeling composed. But for casual carving and just cruising around, it felt surprisingly competent. Not a hard carver by any means, but felt decent for more moderate carves.
Turning
Ease of Turning/Slashing:
Turn initiation felt super easy - borderline effortless. And I could slash out the tail easily, whenever I wanted, without really thinking about it. It had that semi-loose feel that made it really fun to just throw around.
Maneuverability at slow speeds:
This was one of its strong points. At slower speeds, it felt really quick edge-to-edge and required very little effort.
Catchiness:
Almost none. I wouldn’t say it was 100% catch-free, but it was very close. I never felt like I had to be cautious about catching an edge, which made everything - from turns to tricks - feel relaxed and forgiving.
Speed
Speed definitely wasn’t its strong suit. It held speed reasonably well, maybe even slightly better than I expected, but there was a clear limit.
Once I started pushing it faster, it lost that stable, confidence-inspiring feel. It wasn’t sketchy, but it didn’t feel locked in/stable either. This is the kind of board where you naturally settle into moderate speeds and just have fun there, rather than trying to bomb runs.
Powder
I didn’t obtain any real powder on the day, but I still tried to obtain a sense of how the Llama would handle it based on the feel. It actually surprised me a bit. There was this slightly surfy, loose sensation to it - something that reminded me of how boards with better powder performance tend to feel.
That said, I wouldn’t go overboard hyping it up. It’s still a true twin, and compared to something directional or even a directional twin, it’s naturally going to be more prone to sinking/nose diving. I figured it would be somewhere around average at best. Not a disaster, but also not something I’d pick for a deep day. If you kept your weight back, it’d hold its own, but it would be a bag leg burner.
Uneven Terrain
Crud/Chunder:
It handled uneven snow about how I expected for a softer, more playful board. It wasn’t terrible, but it also wasn’t smashing through anything. It got knocked around a bit and didn’t feel super damp.
The upside was that it was easy to adjust and recover. Even when it got bounced around, I could quickly correct without much effort.
Trees/Bumps:
This was a much better environment for it. In tighter terrain, the agility really stood out. Quick turns, easy direction changes - it felt right at home weaving through trees or navigating bumps.
Deeper powder would limit it a bit here, but in firmer conditions or shallow powder, it was a lot of fun.
Jumps
This was one of the highlights. So much fun hitting jumps on the Llama.
Pop:
Super easy to access. It was nice and easy for loading up ollies and getting pop without much effort. Total pop was solid too - not huge, but definitely never felt lacking.
Approach:
Approaches felt really comfortable, especially for small to medium jumps. I could make adjustments easily and didn’t feel locked into one line. For larger jumps requiring more speed, it wasn’t as effective, but still doable.
Landing:
Landings were forgiving, especially at moderate speeds. Once things got bigger or faster, it started to feel a bit less stable, but for most jumps, it handled landing really well.
Side-hits:
This is where it really shined. It was just about as fun as it gets for side hits. The combination of easy pop, quick turning, and a forgiving feel made it ideal for spotting and hitting anything on the sides of groomers or off-groomer.
Switch
Switch felt completely natural. Transitions were seamless, and riding switch didn’t feel like a compromise at all.
The asymmetrical design really seemed to help here - it just felt balanced and intuitive no matter which direction I was going.
Spins
Spins were super easy. The board felt light enough and responsive enough to get around without effort.
The only thing I noticed was a slight tendency to want to continue rotating after landing, especially on quicker rotations. Nothing major, but something I had to dial in a bit. Otherwise, it was a great spinning platform.
Jibbing
The soft flex, easy pop, and forgiving nature all made it a board that made it easy to handle rails and boxes. And if it made it feel easy for me (not the most advanced jibber here!), then it must be at least decent!
That said, it felt just slightly more jump-focused than jib-focused overall. Still very capable—just not exclusively a jib board.
Butters
Butters and presses were super easy. Not much effort required to get the nose and tail flexing and tip and tail felt the same – naturally, being a true twin.
It had that sweet spot where it was soft enough to make presses effortless, but not so soft that it felt like it would fold on me. I could lean into it confidently without worrying about over-flexing.
Overall Personality
The Llama had a semi-loose feel - bordering on stable, but leaning semi-loose. It wasn’t overly damp - on the chattier side - though not terribly so and that allowed better board feel.
It had a nice balance between smooth and snappy but overall excelled best when being snappy. I could ride it casually and let it flow, but it also responded quickly when I wanted to get more active with it.
Overall, it leaned clearly toward the playful side. But not ultra playful and didn’t fold at the slightest bit of an aggressive input.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
FACTOR Rating (/5) weighting total score weighted rounded score
Weighted Jumps 4.5 20 18 18/20 Jibbing 4 20 16 16/20 Spins 4.5 15 13.5 13.5/15 Switch 5 10 10 10/10 Butters 4.5 10 9 9/10 Uneven Terrain 3.5 5 3.5 3.5/5 Pow 2.5 5 2.5 2.5/5 Speed 3 5 3 3/5 Carving 3 5 3 3/5 Turns 4.5 5 4.5 4.5/5 TOTAL (after normalizing): 92 90.2174 90.2 90.2/100
WordPress Responsive Table
I came away from riding the Llama smiling and with that little kiss of euphoria/adrenaline you get after a pumped shred-session. It wasn’t trying to dominate any one category, but it made everything feel easy and enjoyable - especially spins, side hits, and messing around at moderate speeds.
It had a bit of a speed limit and wasn’t built for aggressive carving or charging through rough snow, but that didn’t feel like the point. The whole experience was about playfulness and creativity.
If I wanted a board to just cruise, hit every side hit I could find, spin off anything, keep things loose and fun, and regularly lap the park, this would be right up there.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to purchase Online
To learn more about the Llama, or if you're ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
Never Summer Llama 2026 at evo.com Never Summer Llama 2026 at blauerboardshop.com Never Summer Llama 2026 at christysports.com Never Summer Llama 2026 at backcountry.com
WordPress Responsive Table
Never Summer Llama 2026 at prfo.com
WordPress Responsive Table
WordPress Responsive Table
Never Summer Llama 2026 at evo.com Never Summer Llama 2026 at blauerboardshop.com Never Summer Llama 2026 at christysports.com Never Summer Llama 2026 at backcountry.com
WordPress Responsive Table
Never Summer Llama 2026 at prfo.com
WordPress Responsive Table
WordPress Responsive Table
To check out some other freestyle snowboard options, or to see how the Llama compares to others, check out our top rated freestyle snowboards by clicking the button below.
Our Top Rated Men's Freestyle Snowboards
FAQs
Who is this guide for?
This guide is for skiers, snowboarders, and outdoor travellers comparing gear, preparation, or destination choices before their next snow trip.
What should readers do next?
Use the checklist and buying guidance above to compare your current setup, then choose equipment that matches your ability level, terrain, and weather conditions.
Related reading
- YES Sender Pro Snowboard Review
- Bent Metal Logic Bindings Review
- Discover the Best Time to Visit Perisher for Every Kind of Adventurer
Official resources
- SnowSafe alpine safety guidance
- Bureau of Meteorology alpine weather forecasts
- Snow Australia
Related reading
- YES Sender Pro Snowboard Review
- Bent Metal Logic Bindings Review
- Discover the Best Time to Visit Perisher for Every Kind of Adventurer
Official resources
Source: Snowboarding Profiles
