Never Summer Llama 2026 Review: The Jib Board That Makes Carving Easier

The Never Summer Llama is a noticeably light park board that feels more like a high-end upgrade for the intermediate all-mountain freestyle rider.

This snowboard has a slightly stiffer-than-medium flex (6/10) and an asymmetrical twin shape that makes carving feel a little easier to connect your turns. If you’re looking for a high quality “Made in the USA” beast of a board that can lock into a carve on ice, all while making park riding feel a bit easier, the Never Summer Llama is definitely a board to consider.

Summary of Board Specs

How the Llama Rides

I was really surprised by how versatile this board is, both in the park and carving outside of it.

Never Summer’s site rates it at a 4/10 flex with a 4/10 dampness rating, so I was expecting a really soft park board meant mainly for jibbing. However, that’s not how this board feels to ride. It feels more medium flexing and on the damper, more responsive side over a soft noodle of a park board.

Is it the dampest board you can buy? No. On uneven terrain, you will notice the nose start to chatter in this board. However, there is more dampening added than the typical park board. This is because Never Summer added dampening plates under the insert packs and harmonic dampers in both the tip and tail. The dampeners work well to absorb the shock you feel as you ride so the vibrations don’t pass through to your feet.

Overall, it makes for a soother riding feel than what you normally would get from a board that you can press.

Carving Performance: The Main Benefit Over Other Park Boards

To me, the main benefit of the Never Summer Llama is that it’s noticeably easier and more stable to carve with than your typical park twin snowboard.

The Llama’s asymmetrical shape (meaning that it has a shorter heelside sidecut than its toeside) makes connecting your heelside turns feel easier to lock into.

I have a torn labrum in my hip, and the asym shape seemed to make connecting my turns simple and pain-free, where with some twin-shaped boards I am not always able to get the perfect locked in feeling on my heelside (so I skid my heelside turns more than my toeside turns). With the Llama, I didn’t have that issue. It balanced me out, and my turns connected a little easier. That made me feel more confident riding this board, so I charged a little bit harder.

Edge Hold On Ice

The Llama features Never Summer’s Recurve Traditional Camber profile, which is a decent amount of camber between your feet with early-rise, catch-free tips. If you were to look down the profile from the side, you’d notice it’s got a wavy edge.

This wavy edge is Never Summer’s R.I.P. Edge technology. The edge tech uses pressure pockets from the board’s sidecut geometry and profile to keep the board locked in on ice. The main benefit to this edge tech over Mervin’s Magne-Traction or Jones’ Traction Tech is that it doesn’t add any disruptions or serrations to the sidecut. It’s still one solid piece of metal running down your edge, so there is all the grip on ice, but less drag or friction as you ride.

All in all, it feels smoother while giving you an extra level of grip in icy conditions.

A Great Board for Learning to Ride Switch

The asymmetrical twin shape of the Never Summer Llama makes connecting your turns feel easier all around. However, if you are learning to ride switch, the asym shape makes it feel almost like you are cheating through your learning curve.

Because the heelside sidecut is shorter and deeper, it allows you to engage your edge with less effort, even when you are riding in your awkward direction. This is huge for switch riding because it compensates for your body not being as strong or coordinated on your opposite side’s turns, so it helps you get comfortable riding with either foot forward.

Speed and Durability of the Base

The Llama has a base that can take a beating and will still be noticeably fast for you. Never Summer gave this their Durasurf XT Sintered 5501 Base. It’s a higher-end sintered base made with high-quality P-Tex, along with graphite added to improve its glide. The graphite works like a dry lubricant added to the base. It works similar to the non-stick coating on a pan. It prevents snow and slush from sticking and adding friction while you ride. It also makes the base a little harder, so you won’t get gouges or deep scratches from jibbing like a normal sintered base would. 

I’d say the base in the Llama is faster than the average park board, but I wouldn’t say it’s the fastest base out there. It’s more than fast enough to hit every feature in the park, carry you through the flat sections, and allow you to pass your friends on hill. You’ll just have to keep it waxed to maintain its glide. 

Jumps and Pop

The Llama has above average pop to it that acts like a little extra boost off jumps and side hits. It’s not as much pop as the Never Summer Proto Type 3, but I would say that it has around 5 to 10% more pop than average park board.

Never Summer gave the Llama their Carbon VXR Laminate. The carbon configuration looks like this:

It features two V-shaped carbon stringers that start right outside of your bindings and then extend to the ends of the board. This carbon configuration makes the nose and tail snappy and fast to rebound once you load them up to pop. An additional benefit of this configuration is that there is no carbon running between your feet, so the center flex of the snowboard is still softer for presses and molding to the transition of tighter jumps and side hits.

Additionally, there is no carbon restricting you from twisting this board torsionally from toe to heel. This allows you to foot steer and make small adjustments to your board while carving, and then also have an easier time digging in your toes on landings to prevent you from reverting your spins.

Altogether, the Carbon VXR Laminate configuration turns the Never Summer Llama’s tips into a springboard while giving you the jib and landing benefits of being able to twist the center of your board.

This board makes landing new spins feel easier. 

The Llama’s profile also has early rise tips that make spinning feel easier and less catchy if you are off-axis. You simply skirt yourself around and ride away clean.

Excellent for Jumps and Side Hits Under 60 Feet

Overall, I’d consider the Llama perfect for hitting small to medium-sized jumps (anything under 60 feet).

Because of the slightly softer flex, I would not recommend it for the larger pro line kickers, but for 90 percent of us, that’s all we’ll ever hit anyway. 

Jibbing and Buttering

This is a board that was built specifically to jib and butter, but it does take some practice to learn its nuances.

Jibbing

If you remember from the section above, the carbon configuration has left the center of the board between your feet without any carbon stringer or anything that adds extra resistance between your feet. This allows the board to mold around rails to help you balance a little better sideways. You also get the benefit of the carbon in the tips to give you a little extra pop out of the feature, so if you’re trying to get that extra 180 out, the Llama will help you do it. 

Buttering

For buttering, the Triple Camber Recurve profile has early rise tips that help the board feel less catchy as you spin your butters. You just need to keep your weight uphill, and your nose or tail will pivot for you without catching your edge.

The Sweet Spot for Locking Into Presses

The main challenge with this board’s carbon configuration is that it will just take some practice to find the sweet spot to press. The first few times you press it, you’ll see it’s easy to start your press, but the carbon does try to fight you and rebound it back down. The trick is to find the sweet spot in between these stringers. It’s around two inches passed your binding. When you get your weight out over that, you can lock into your press hold it, and get the added benefit of the carbon giving you an extra boost of pop when you’re ready to set it down. 

Pros:

• Versatile: Truly an all-mountain freestyle weapon. It carves. It jibs, and it jumps very well.
  
  
• Rip Edge Tech: Excellent grip on ice while still having a smooth, seamless turning experience
  
  
• High End Feel: Feels higher end than typical all-mountain freestyle with a damper, smoother ride
  
  
• Lightweight: Noticeably easy to maneuver
  
  
• USA Build: Exceptional “Made in USA” durability
  
• Graphics a Skateboarder Will Love: The classic Santa Cruz skate-style graphics are beautiful. The Llama was designed by Jimbo Phillips, son of Jim Phillips, the creator of the Santa Cruz skateboard “Screaming Hand” design.

Cons:

• Price: It’s on the pricey side (about $140 more than some similar boards), but it feels higher end and offers more pop.
  
  
• Powder: It’s just “ok” in the deep stuff. If you’re riding 12+ inches of fresh, you’ll prob want a dedicated pow board.
  
  

Comparing the Never Summer Llama vs the Nitro Optisym

The Never Summer Llama is similar to the Nitro Optisym in that they are both camber-dominant catch free asymmetrical twin boards. However, there are a few noticeable differences you get for your money:

• More Power: The Llama has more pop and a snappier feel than the Optisym.
  
  
• Better Stability: It is a damper board that stays more stable when you are riding at high speeds.
  
  
• High End Base: You get a much faster and more durable base that can take a beating.
  
  
• Built in the USA: The Llama is made in Denver, whereas the Optisym is made in Taiwan at the Playmaker factory.

The only real downside is that the Llama costs about $140 more than the Optisym.

I would say the Optisym is for the rider who likes the sound of the asym tech, but the Never Summer Llama is for the rider who actually wants to make use of it. You will pay a little more for a board that feels smoother to ride and will last you for years to come.

Review Rating Score of the Never Summer Llama

The Never Summer Llama earned an 85.78 rating out of a possible 100 in our All Mountain Freestyle scoring system. This rating system prioritizes carving and versatility, along with park performance.

The Llama would be perfect for the East Coast all mountain rider looking for a board that locks into carves on ice as well as it locks into nose presses on features. It’s for the rider looking to jib, jump, and carve, but knows they probably aren’t going to cruise through a lot of powder.

Overall Score: 85.78 / 100

Final Verdict: Should You Get the Never Summer Llama?

I liked the Never Summer Llama mostly for its jibbing and carving performance. I rode this in the early season here in North Eastern Pennsylvania, and it held an edge on our icy conditions incredibly well. It’s also very easy to butter with. Once you find this board’s pressing sweet spot, it just locks into a press and then gives you a nice little boost of pop out of it.

Overall, it’s a fun board with features that help you ride better. If you have any hip or knee issues, or if you just struggle to get that perfect lock-in on your heelside turns, this board will help you with that.

So check it out.

Never Summer Llama for 2026

See Images from the Review

About the Reviewer

Rider Name: Steve Weber

Field Test Notes: I rode the 153 2026 Never Summer Llama for 8 days in the December 2025 early season conditions at Montage Mountain in Scranton PA

Rider Experience Level: Intermediate to Advanced – I’ve been riding for over 15 years. Park riding is my favorite riding style, so I like to hit jumps and jib over trying to making the perfect turn.

Bindings Used: The Union Ultra Bindings

Rider Weight: 142lbs

Rider Age: 42

Why Trust This Review?

With over 15 years of park riding experience here on the icy East Coast, I know what it takes to have a safe and fun time out on the mountain. I’m an intermediate park rider who can relate to riders of all skill levels. I’ve been writing in-depth reviews just like this one for the past four years, and my main goal with this review is simply to help you find the right board.

I write these reviews as a “for the fun of it” project. They are as unbiased as I can be for someone who tends to ride in an area with icier conditions. You can support this project by making a purchase through any of the links in the post. They point to the lowest offer for the board, don’t cost you anything additional, and tell the retailer I sent you.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment below if you have any questions.

Steve Weber

Steve Weber is the passionate snowboarder, skateboarder, and author behind Board of the World. He understands that most gear reviews focus on having the perfect snow conditions, but his testing methodology is different. Living in Pennsylvania, Steve describes exactly how a board performs when the conditions aren’t perfect. His reviews cover performance on ice, hardpack, and flat-out brick conditions. In other words, he reviews boards for the conditions that East Coast riders actually face.
Bringing 27 years of East Coast snowboarding and 21 years of skateboarding experience, Steve is a 42-year-old intermediate park rider. His recommendations are informed by decades of battling icy conditions, ensuring every review accounts for the board’s performance on the roughest of terrain.
For the last five years, Steve has poured his passion into writing in-depth, unbiased reviews that help riders make informed decisions about the gear they’ll use. He also works part-time at a snowboard shop in Northeastern Pennsylvania, which gives him a direct line to learning about the new gear tech months in advance. When he’s not writing reviews, Steve is often found riding at Montage Mountain and testing out new boards.
Steve’s goal with Board of the World is simple: to help every reader find the right gear so they can have fun outside from the first time they use it.