2022 Nitro Cannon 203: Initial Impressions Review
Thoughts on a Legendary Big Gun
My first meaningful post is a review. I have some thoughts on snowboard reviews1. But I really enjoyed this deck and wanted to share my thoughts.
TL;DR:
Unreal in deep open pow, more nimble than you’d think but still challenging in tight spaces without forward movement. On the right day this thing is a riot.
Preconceived Notions
“Holy fuck that’s a big snowboard.”
Me marveling at the absurdity of a 203 cm snowboard. I’m about 6’ (182 cm), closer to 6’3” (~190 cm) with boots and my helmet on, AND a few cm of tail are dug into the snow pack in this photo.
I’ve wanted to try out a Nitro Cannon ever since I saw Bryan Fox ride the infamous Big Pink 183 in Depth Perception. Even more so when Nitro upped the biggest size from 183 cm to 203 a few years back. Every time I’ve seen this thing in a shop, I’ve held it and stared at it. As far as I know, this is the biggest mass-produced snowboard on the market2.
When I found a 2022 Cannon 203 hanging out in the demo fleet room at Baldface and knew I had to take her out.
Conditions
1.5 days, hip- to chest-deep blower pow at Baldface lodge. First half-day was sled laps on a down cat day, riding mellow avy-safe terrain without a guide. Second day was the full guided cat experience riding everything from open faces to tight slalom tree run outs.
Rider and Setup
6’, 210 lbs (182 cm, 95 kg) with size 10 Adidas Tactical Advs and 2022 Jones Mercury bindings with hard bushings.
Stance +21 / +6, at reference stance width (22” / ~560 mm) and reference setback (-1.2” / -3 cm).
Damn Near Unsinkable
Holy crap this thing floats. I’ve ridden a lot of pow boards over the years, and I’ve never experienced this kind float before… not even on my Dupraz D1 6' (178 cm3). After a few exploratory runs in hip-to-chest-deep pow, I intentionally started running into into low angle terrain… the kind of terrain I’d normally never consider without an old track to hop into as a safety valve. I was shocked at some of the fresh lines I was able to lay down and ride out.
Check out this video I took barehanding my iPhone4 on The Great Escape at Baldface. That snow is AT LEAST hip-deep at all times. As long as the board’s in frame, the nose never disappears from view even for a moment. It just glides over everything.
And that’s at REFERENCE setback. I could have knocked my bindings back even further to get even more float. Unreal.
Surprisingly Mellow Personality
I’d heard this board is mellower than its length suggests, and I echo that, at least in pow. As long as I had momentum, I felt like I was riding one of my typical low-to-mid-160s pow boards. No small feat for a board this size. I wouldn’t take it through super dense aspen zones, but I was comfortably handling some reasonably tight evergreen zones5 on it.
The flex6 is surprisingly chill. A medium personality, far less intimidating that you’d think from the size. The tail flex was burly enough that I had trouble holding a couple half-assed tail presses and ollies took a bit of oomph, but the overall personality of the board was pretty easy to ride.
Having ridden some bigger open Alaskan lines, this isn’t the board I’d grab for those conditions. I want more power for lines of that sort of consequence and speed. But the board was perfect for the sort of riding I found at Baldface: deep and steep— but not CRAZY steep —moderately tight trees, rarely breaking 30 mph / ~50 kmph in speed.
…But Still a 203 cm Snowboard
I said above: “As long as I had momentum, I felt like I was riding one of my typical low-to-mid-160s pow boards..” Without momentum, I felt like I was riding a 203 cm snowboard. On the last couple runs of the cat day, I ended up swapping out the board for my Moss Swallow 162, and I rode a Korua Stealth 163 my last day after that. A couple incidents prompted the switch to the “short” boards:
I got a sloppy late on the cat day and slipped into into a tree well while scoping a line. On my typical 162-164 pow board, that boneheaded mistake would have cost me 10-15 seconds to climb out without unstrapping. But on the Cannon 203, I had an 10-15 extra cm of tail to anchoring under the snow. I took about 3 minutes to radio my group that I was stuck but ok, dig out enough snow to free the tail, fight to climb out, butt scooch to some incline, and get back to my feet.
On the run after that, we had a low-angle runout through tight trees to get back to the cat. I came in a bit too hot on a tight blind snake slalom turn and nearly nailed a tree. I bled speed to avoid the crash, fell out of the track into a terrain depression, and struggled back to the cat. I swapped out to my Moss on the next cat ride up.
That first one’s fully on me and was avoidable if I’d paid closer attention. The latter is more tied to skill and setting. A ballsier or more skillful rider could have made that turn… I could not, at least not on an unfamiliar line. But I deal with basically no blind, tightly forested, windy, flat run-outs at my typical Tahoe resorts, so that limitation is a non-issue for me in everyday resort riding. My buddies from Idaho who ride Brundage told me basically every tree run involves gnarlier bushwhacking that anything we hit at Baldface, so they’d likely have more issues on a big gun like the Cannon at their local. Or perhaps they’re stronger riders than I am from that experience and would make due.
I can’t speak too much to the resort experience on the Cannon since I rode it with the benefit of snowmobiles and cats, but I ride my Dupraz inbounds. That thing is a LOAD in crowded lift lines, skating at slow speeds, and hanging off my foot on the chairlift. I’d expect similar out of the Cannon.
I Have No Idea…
I have no idea how this board carves or generally handles groomers. I hit a cat road or two, but most every turn I did on this thing was effectively bottomless. I suspect the Cannon would be a lot of fun on a wide open fresh groomer with room to run, but I don’t have any independent confirmation of that.
I have no idea how damp this board is. Take a look at the photos and videos I’ve shared… conditions were DEEP and the snow was light. Every turn felt like riding through a cloud. I could barely feel other riders’ tracks. Great for riding, bad for evaluating dampening. So no clue how this thing plows through chop or deals with undulating terrain.
I have no idea what the upper speed limit on this board is. Fastest I hit on it was about 35 mph / 55 kmph. Fastest I could reasonably hit with the pitch and deep snow accumulations is probably around 40 / 65. I expect this board would hold up fine to at least 60 mph / 95 kmph just fine at my weight, but I’m not sure.
The Verdict
I loved the Cannon. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever strapped into before— more float than my Dupraz, but with a mellower, more approachable personality. I probably wouldn’t enjoy the Cannon in gnarly no-fall-zone fall-line riding— but on this Baldface trip in these snow conditions, I rode some of the most enjoyable lines of my 17+ year riding career on this board. I’d avoid certain zones and certain lines on this board, but the right day, the Cannon will put a Cheshire smile on my face.
It’s also relatively cheap— $529.95 USD MSRP for the 2022 model. That’s literally a lot of board for the price. I’m considering buying one, even though I may only get perfect bottomless resort conditions a few times a year in Tahoe. I’d love to see how it handles on groomer days.
I loved it enough I left this note on it for the next lucky soul to come across it in the Baldface demo fleet.
Spec Sheet Callouts
Really great float despite minimal taper (8 mm) and basically full camber (“Cam Out Camber” is camber with the slightest early rise in the tips). I guess that much nose will do that for you.
Pretty wide open sidecut on the 203, initiating the turn at 9.7 m and closing out at 8.9 m. I can’t speak to how big a difference sidecut makes in pow, but all else equal a big SCR like that sidecut suggests the Cannon would be relatively stable driving up on edge into high speed carves on groomers.
Surprisingly tight sidecut on the 173 at 7.7 / 6.9 m. I expect the 173 to be more nimble and less speed-friendly than its big brother, even apart from the size difference. I have a feeling I wouldn’t care for the 173.
Both sizes relatively narrow for a big boards, only 255 mm at the waist. Not a great board for sasquatches. I’d be careful for boot sizes US 10.5+ and flat out avoid for 12+.
Crap ton of edge on the 203. Nitro doesn’t provide an effective edge spec, only running length… but 142 cm of running length on a 203 translates to a LOT of effective edge, in the ~160 cm range. For reference, a typical 164 snowboard has around 122-125 cm of effective edge.
Interestingly, the 173 seems to have less edge proportionally (114 cm running length / 173 total length = 0.66, compared to 142 / 203 = 0.707). That’s a material difference. Suggests the 173 probably runs a bit looser and is easier to turn proportionally— again, apart from being 30 cm smaller.
Bonus Content:
Here’s Zeb Powell doing Zeb Powell things on Big Pink. Not bad for a 2/10 park rating in Nitro’s spec sheet8.
Here’s me trying to be Zeb Powell. I am not Zeb Powell9.
Keep in mind this review is one random internet schmuck’s opinion– as are all internet reviews. Gear fit is all about preferences, and my preferences may not line up with yours or other reviewers’.
A Boarder Perspective reviews will fall into two categories:
Initial Impression Reviews - Only ridden the board a few days, or only across limited snow conditions. Will provide general impressions, but recognize gaps in my conclusions.
Long-term Reviews - I’ve put at least 10+ days on the board across variable snow conditions and probably run over a few rocks and tree stumps with it. Enough time that I’m comfortable making more concrete verdicts.
I’m sure some niche manufacturer in Europe or Japan or a custom shaper makes boards bigger than 203, but I’m equally sure I couldn’t find more than a handful of shops in North America that carry a board north of 203 cm.
Technically 5’10”. Yes, I am that guy.
…I should probably buy a proper action cam.
Check out the trees in the background of the bonus video at the end of the posts— pretty representative of the tree coverage I was riding through comfortably. Don’t mind the kook drilling new travel routes to Australia.
Caveat that I’m likely the first person to ever take this particular board out, and I never quite know how brand new boards will break in.
FUCK CHYEAH, THIS BLOG MATHS. Me being Asian is just a coincidence. Don’t you stereotype me.
Remember: quality comes from the artist, not the paintbrushes.
I am… a much less skilled artist than Zeb Powell.