Academies' Graduate series snowboard offers a true all mountain experience in a traditional camber, directional twin shape.
Traditional camber gives you great pop and control in the turns as well as stability but isn't great if you prefer a more surfy feel in the powder and enjoy jibbing. The Graduate is clearly aimed at those who like to charge hard though and camber is perfect for this. We found the Graduate to have great edge hold right through the turn and we were able to throw it around really easily at slow and high speeds thanks to quick edge to edge transition. A mid-stiff directional flex helps with high speed control and stability, but the Graduate was still a little chattery through chopped up snow - otherwise we found it to be a very stable board in all conditions.
Away from the rails the Graduate feels very playful with great pop and stability in landings and in the powder despite the camber shape the Graduate floats well thanks to the early rise nose.
A good intermediate all mountain snowboarder looking for a bit of speed would really appreciate the Graduate and the price is also reasonable for what is a high performing snowboard. Built in the Never Summer factory the Graduate is also high quality so should last, making it a great value buy.
