Construction and Materials

The Mellow is built around Nidecker’s Master Core, which is as refined a piece of carpentry as it sounds – blending poplar, beech, spruce and paulownia. The beech hardwood gives it plenty of strength, while the other woods bring lightweight spring to the party. This is glassed with triax fibres for a torsionally stiff flex that delivers awesome edge-to-edge response. Carbon fibre from the rear inserts to the tail, and from the front inserts to the nose, adds a little extra snap to your turns and keeps the ride feeling dampened even as the speedo creeps up.

The base claims to be ‘sintruded’ – essentially a halfway house between extruded and sintered. It’s made from a particularly dense piece of extruded P-tex (closer to the molecular densities typically found in higher end sintered bases) with added carbon nanoparticles. What this means in practice is that it’s plenty quick, but requires less regular waxing than a full sintered base.

One element worth pointing out is the finish. We love the Mellow’s ash veneer topsheet, which features a matte texture and an organic-looking graphic that screams ‘tree run’.

“We love the Mellow’s ash veneer topsheet, which features a matte texture and an organic-looking graphic that screams ‘tree run’”

Roundup

There are a ton of directional shapes vying for your wallet these days, but anyone looking for a piste carver-cum-pow slayer would be wise to check out the Mellow. It’s got all the hard-slashing performance you need to up your freeride game without being an intimidating race stick. In fact, with that Surfy Camrock and coffee-coloured artwork, we’d say it’s as laidback as a White Russian at your favourite bowling alley.