Never Summer and Breckenridge Brewery are back at it again.
To mark a decade of partnership between renowned snowboard manufacturer Never Summer Industries and craft brew artisan Breckenridge Brewery, the two have dropped something sweet. In celebration of another long-awaited opening day of the Winter season, the pair have teamed up to release a brand-new crushable lager, coinciding with a local artist series collaboration snowboard. The new brew — the Funslinger — named after the legendary NS snowboard, is now available in 12pk cans.
As Breckenridge knows its way around crafting a lager, Never Summer knows a thing or two about handcrafting a snowboard. Stemming from the early days of the partnership, Breck didn’t want to work with just any snowboard company, it had to be quality and performance driven. They didn’t just want a snowboard that looks cool, it had to be one that snowboarders want to ride. Keep your ears open. In addition to a limited number of boards being produced for sale, Breck has got a stash of them to be given away! Watch out for drops at stores, giveaways at events — as Ryan Workman, Director of Marketing for the brewery, mentioned, “any fun, unique way we can think of to give away a board, that’s what we’ll do.”
Through the years, Never Summer and Breckenridge Brewery have crafted an inimitable bond. Inspired by the wild oats sown in snowboarding, NS and Breck Brew are focused on giving the people what they crave. Both are legendary Colorado brands, with products crafted right here in the Centennial State. As Ryan stated, “the love that goes into both stems from the awesome s**t to do here.” Both have been around for over thirty years. It is a perfect match.
Breckenridge Brewery doesn’t take shortcuts when it comes to crafting their beer. Over three decades of experience brewing the finest craft beers has given Breckenridge a stout reputation. Brewed in the heart of Colorado, and sold nationwide, Breckenridge Brewery is more than a typical beer crafter. Their passion stems from the reason we all live here in Colorado. The fresh mountain air, breathtaking peaks, good times with friends, and mellow vibes provide complete serenity — the ultimate meditation. With a namesake of a Summit Country favorite, Breckenridge Brewery likes to take a step back and realize the reason we all do what we do. Workman laid it out — “Breck wants to be your beer whether you’re summiting a 14er or a rooftop patio.” They are the original mountain town brewery.
Not unlike Breck Brew does with beer, Never Summer crafts each snowboard to precision tolerances. Handcrafting snowboards since 1991, Never Summer has built its longstanding reputation on decades of experience in manufacturing the world’s most innovative and durable snowboards. Using only the best materials and technology, and with the love of snowboarding rooted in each step of the way, Never Summer takes pride in every aspect of the production process. Nestled in the capital city of Denver, Colorado, with easy access to the Rocky Mountains, Never Summer has the unique opportunity to extensively ride and test new shapes, materials, profiles, and tech year-round.
For the 10th year anniversary, Breckenridge x Never Summer have released a premium, quaffable lager. The Funslinger name sound familiar? The Funslinger snowboard was a staple in the Never Summer lineup from 2015-2020. The goal of the new beer was to reach an intimate middle ground between a light, thirst-quenching, easy drinking lager, and the complex nuances of a craft brew. This Fall, find the NS x BB Funslinger lager at your local grocery or beverage shop.
Breck and NS have collaborated on beer releases in the past, but this one is special. Previous releases have been one-off productions — the unmistakable Funslinger will be a mainstay. The lager will take on a new look each year, with new designs and packaging to match each release of the annual artist series snowboard. The board will take on a different persona every season as well. This season’s snowboard is a nod to the wild west – a revival of the iconic Never Summer West Bound.
The all-mountain West Bound was a classic in the NS lineup, and one of the only boards in the line outside of the surf inspired Shaper Series to boast the Fusion Rocker Camber profile. The Breckenridge Brew x Never Summer Funslinger West Bound is ideal for any condition, any terrain. 5mm of taper in the tail keep the tip floating in powder and make for easy edge to edge transitions. A mid-stiff flex and the combination of fiberglass, carbon, sintered sidewalls, and rubber damping keep the ride buttery smooth, while providing high speed stability, and an incredible store of energy. Fusion Rocker Camber means a deep, aggressive Ripsaw camber under the rear foot, and a mellower, early rise Original camber in the front, while maintaining rocker between the feet and an overall rocker profile. This fusion of rocker and camber provide the best of both worlds – gravity defying edge hold in the deepest carves, energy in and out of turns, natural float and forgiveness. Power Grip sidecut brings everything together, utilizing multiple radii along the edge creating five points of contact providing utmost edge hold. It’s a great board for any style of riding — cruising groomers, dipping into the trees, laying down deep tracks in bowls, boosting off of side hits, even dabbling in the park.
Breckenridge has close ties to many of the artists in the state. The art this year was from local creator Brandon Casey, IG @reign_cloud. Never Summer spoke with Brandon on his inspiration.
For this year's snowboard, I really wanted to do something a little different. One of the main goals was to use a color palette that had plenty of bright contrast up on any mountain. Character illustration has always been a favorite of mine, so I thought it'd be dope to incorporate animals that are indigenous to the state of Colorado [owl, bear, bighorn sheep, eagle, elk]. A lot of boards I see feature a horizontal layout, so I really wanted to find a way to design something that displayed vertically from top to bottom. I thought what better way to incorporate a bunch of different animals than a totem pole! In some instances, the totem pole represents some form of kinship or close relationship. Breck Brew & Never Summer have worked closely together for years now, developing collaborative boards for the better part of a decade. After all this time, we finally come together for both a board AND a beer — so the totem pole seemed like a good fit to commemorate this long-time bond.
You can learn more about the history and find previous NS x BB boards at the Breckenridge Brewery campus in Littleton, Colorado. To check out the new board in person, find it at the Never Summer snowboard factory, located just off I70 and Dahlia St. The beer is now available at shops around the nation. To find out which shops are stocked up, check out The Breckenridge Brewery Website.
Cheers to another good season.
