Snowboarding throughout history has had lots of different innovations and experiments to try and give boards a different feel or design for a specific riding style. You can experiment with so many aspects of a snowboard like flex, sidecut, taper, insert positioning, and so much more to create a snowboard to perform a specific way. All of these changes don’t affect the snowboard as much as changing the overall profile of the snowboard. Snowboard camber started out with Traditional Camber as the standard profile for the early years of snowboarding developing into Rocker Camber and now into a variety of different hybrid cambers including rocker-camber, camber-rocker and triple camber.
The Start of Snowboarding: Traditional Camber
Traditional Camber was the start to it all, being the oldest and most classic profile found in the snowboard industry. A traditional camber profile has the contact points near the nose and tail with a slight upward curve in the center of the board. It is made for an aggressive snowboarder and holds an edge very well while carving at high speeds with lots of energy in the snowboard. However, traditional camber is challenging for beginners because it takes more skill to turn and initiate movement than other profiles. The camber creates sharp edge contact to the snow and may lead to edge catches and unexpected falls for beginners. The amount of camber can vary in snowboards, from traditional camber, to micro camber, to flat camber.
The Birth of Rocker Snowboards
The rocker snowboard profile, also known as reverse-camber profile, was born into the industry in the early 2000s. A rocker board profile is the opposite of a camber profile in the sense that the contact point is in the center of the board and the nose and tail have a slight rise off of the snow. This makes the board feel more surfy, forgiving, and almost catch free. It also allowed the board to float in powder better. Rocker boards do have their downsides though including being less stable at high speeds and less edge control on hardpack.
The Original Rocker Camber Profile
Never Summer created and patented the Original Rocker Camber snowboard profile in 2008. Combining rocker and traditional camber in one snowboard, Never Summer Industries created a snowboard that shook the industry. This hybrid camber profile has rocker (reverse-camber) between the feet and camber sections under feet that extend to the nose and tail of the snowboard. This profile does almost everything you can experience from both a camber board and rocker board. Rocker between the feet gives you a forgiving catch free feeling, makes easier turn initiation, floats well in powder and puts down proper butters. Camber underfoot provides a stable ride with lots of edge hold and pop. A snowboard profile built for any type of condition on any mountain or hill.
Other brand’s profiles that are similar to Never Summer’s Original Rocker Camber Profile
Burton Snowboards: Burton Flying V
“a more attractive option to all different levels or riders, Burton also have a Flying V... This hybrid profile has a rocker section between your feet, with camber sections under your feet”
Snowboard Robot “Q&A Difference between the Burton custom and process” Snowboard Robot, August 20, 2017 accessed April 10, 2023, https://snowboardrobot.com/difference-burton-custom-process/.
Nitro Snowboards: Gullwing Rocker
“A hybrid camber/rocker profile… Gullwing Rocker offers the best of both worlds for the all-mountain destroyer. The positive camber under each foot supplies riders with the response they know and love while the reverse camber profile in the center allows you to experience unparalleled float in the powder, as well as pressability in the park.”
Evo “Nitro Team Gullwing Snowboard” Evo, accessed April 10, 2023, https://www.evo.com/snowboards/nitro-team-gullwing-snowboard.
Lib-Tech: C2
“Combining central rocker for edge hold and float, with powerful camber towards the tip and tail for stability, pop, and control.”
Tactics “Cold Brew C2 Snowboard” Tactics, accessed April 10, 2023, https://www.tactics.com/lib-tech/cold-brew-c2-snowboard.
Being recognized and developed into multiple boards across the industry, it is clear that hybrid-camber has its fans. We are stoked to help innovate and push the industry to adopt new profiles as well as other technology and experiment. Other companies have given us some awesome ideas that we incorporate into some of our boards today. We are stoked to have so many awesome brands in the industry with different designs and profiles that really gives the consumers on the market to make the best choice and get the perfect snowboard to tailor their own style of riding.
Never Summer’s newest innovation is Triple Camber, creating more contact points with the snow, 100% profile driven. Take a look and see how Never Summer is Revolutionizing snowboard profiles right now!
Conclusion
While it may feel like it is Camber Vs Rocker Vs Hybrid Camber/Rocker, it really comes down to what you prefer and everyone likes a different kind of snowboarding. We just prefer snowboards that make getting down the hill easier and more fun. Check out our Is Snowboarding Hard Blog to see why our boards can make snowboarding easier. We make a snowboard for everyone, so check out our Events page and see where you can demo a snowboard for free. Or come by the factory and take a tour, see what makes our boards incredible right here in Denver, Colorado.
