# To those who have owned a Ride Yukon 2001



## BoardingBard (Mar 12, 2012)

I'm currently a beginner working on linked turns and I had the opportunity to pick up this board for next to nothing in excellent condition. After I threw on some Cartel bindings it seems to work out pretty well for me. However, would like to learn as much as I can on this board, and internet searching hasn't helped too much.

Basically what I am looking for is a comparison of this board vs the current boards on the market in relations to technological advances so I can get a better understanding of how far things have come in the past 12 years. Also your personal opinions of the board, and your thoughts as to how stiff of a board it is. As a beginner, it can be difficult for me to gauge these things.

Thank you in advance for your time and responses.


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## Scarface77 (Mar 17, 2012)

*Seeking knowledge!*

You can start by doing a google or youtube search on "Camber, Rocker & Hybrid" boards.


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## BoardingBard (Mar 12, 2012)

Scarface77 said:


> You can start by doing a google or youtube search on "Camber, Rocker & Hybrid" boards.


I have taken some time to look into these based on the stickies. Should I guess since you are mentioning this that the 2001 Yukon doesn't take advantage of any of these?


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## flapjack (Mar 12, 2011)

The Yukon is the wide version of the Ride Timeless. It's a stiff wide camber board. What length did you get? I bought a 164 in 1999 or 2000 as my first board. The salesman said I needed the Yukon, "since you're tall and have big feet" he said  It was way too long, and it was not very fun to learn on. I remember feeling pretty helpless on it the first couple of days. Didn't help that I weighed 155 pounds at the time. Once I learned how to turn it, I really got to like it. It wasn't very fun going slow, but when you picked up speed, it was great. Fast and stable. Rode it up until last year.

From this old thread: http://www.snowboardgang.com/ride-yukon-168-is-this-a-good-board-75988.html
_"I've had several Yukons and they were great all mountain boards for someone tall, heavy, and big-footed. If that's not you, consider the Ride Timeless. Stay out of the park with either of them, as others have mentioned, they're stiff and want to be ridden hard, not jibbed."_


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

flapjack said:


> The Yukon is the wide version of the Ride Timeless. It's a stiff wide camber board.


I rode a 164 Timeless for years and still do occasionally.

It's a stiff, cambered, well-dampened beast that plows thru anything and carves like a champ. But...you have to ride it aggressively or it will take you for a ride. It doesn't respond easily to subtle or tentative inputs at lower speeds, so it's not the easiest board to learn on.

Because it is stiff, you'll find a softer board noticeably easier to initiate a turn with. Catching an edge will put you on your ass with the Yukon or Timeless. You will probably find that learning to link turns on it will be more difficult than on a softer hybrid or reverse camber board, but because it is unforgiving, it won't allow you to pick up any sloppy habits. 

Where these boards shine is carving at higher speeds.


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## ilikecoupons (Jan 20, 2012)

yukon is probably not a beginners board. :dunno:


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## srdeo (Jan 29, 2012)

What size yukon do you have? How tall, heavy are you? what size feet?
Athletic or not? What style do you ride or do you want to become? Park, all mountain freestyle, freeride, charging, carving, powder, backcountry etc.

Yukon is a still very good board for what it does, but at certain things it may not be the best option (park).
Not the best board for beginners. If you are heavy and have really short Yukon it may be ok at best.
Between wide width and stiff flex its not the best board to lean skidded turn (beginner). But it is a good board to learn carving etc (intermediate). Definitely would not recommended doing rails. Jumps are ok but not very forgiving on less than perfect landings.

I still ride mine so let me know in more detail what you want to know about.
Is there a board you are looking at?
And do not get rid of Yukon, you will enjoy it later down the line. And you will get nothing for it anyways.


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## BoardingBard (Mar 12, 2012)

Thank you all for the feedback, it is appreciated.

I am 6'4" 270lbs size 12 boot and I consider myself fairly athletic (former strongman). The board is a 169.

It is still too early in the game to pinpoint where I'll end up, however I am the type of person that would like a board that excels at one particular function. I do have my sights on backcountry down the road, but for now I need a good powder and groomer board to ride with my wife. 

I am fully aware that I am asking for punishment by learning on this board, but I am a very determined and persistent type of person, so I would not get easily discouraged if it forces me to learn the proper way, which isn't a bad thing at all. I basically picked up the board, boots, and bindings for $125 thinking that if this doesn't work out to learn on I can use it down the road for a number of things. The bindings broke on the first drop, so picked up Cartels and balanced them perfectly so I feel like I have a lot of control on the board. Obviously I don't know what I would be missing on another board.

If I had to pick up another board I've been eyeing the Never Summer Legacy 166 2012, however if I can get the Yukon to do what I need it to, then I'm content in sticking with it.


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## ilikecoupons (Jan 20, 2012)

BoardingBard said:


> If I had to pick up another board I've been eyeing the Never Summer Legacy 166 2012, however if I can get the Yukon to do what I need it to, then I'm content in sticking with it.


The NS Heritage is better suited for the backcountry and pow, which I think you said you wanted to get into. Still, the Legacy is a great board capable of doing many things.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

Boots and a board for $125 certainly isn't a bad deal. At 270, you've got the weight to flex a 169 Yukon. All in all, you've probably got a fun year or 3 ahead of you. A softer board would help you in your first year, but at 270 (no offense) you'll overwhelm a soft board once you start carrying speed and and putting force into turns. A 169 Yukon will be a good fit at that point. You'll want something newer and "techyier" after that point, but lots of thing will change between then and now.

And for the price of a couple of lift tickets, it's not a bad risk to take. Enjoy!


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## srdeo (Jan 29, 2012)

at 270lb yukon is not overly stiff but still fairly stiff. I've ridden it at that weight (rode it 200lb to 280lbs). same length board also. Does it have a orange base?
At lighter weight it felt too stiff(mostly torsionally), but i could go all out and HAD TO go all out (my feet got tired tho because it was too stiff torsionally). When i got over 250lb, it felt much more comfortable. It will be a good freeriding board for you. Not the most ideal board for a beginner, but at your weight it is not so bad.

I suggest sticking with what you have for now until you are sure what you want. If you've snowboarded more than 5 times you should be able to handle it just fine. Just dont take it to rails and boxes, it's nearly impossible.
You can demo some boards next winter to see if you are missing anything. 

Rocker vs camber is more of a preference. You you can ride one, you can ride the other. Rocker does somethings better than cambered board, but you do give up somethings over cambered board. Rocker will help you in powder, but yukon with extra width floats just fine (may have to set you stands back little). And with legacy you may not have to go as long depending on where you ride. Legacy will feel more like a park board to you, but it's dampness helps with edge hold.
And don't think yukon is a damp board(i think Bones mentioned before). I think older ones werent damp. Newer one got little more dampness, but still no where near Neversummers damper boards

If i was in your case, i would invest in boots before boards to feel more comfortable. If your current boots fit good with good support then you don't have to worry about it.

To answer your question, snowboards have not changed as much as manufacturers wants you to think. They just have more options that fits different style of riding. Yukon is a freeride/carving board. Most of the newer improvement in board tech has been for freestyle riding and making park board handle well outside the park. 

So stick with what you have for now and demo some boards next year before you make any decision


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## BoardingBard (Mar 12, 2012)

Bones said:


> Boots and a board for $125 certainly isn't a bad deal. At 270, you've got the weight to flex a 169 Yukon. All in all, you've probably got a fun year or 3 ahead of you. A softer board would help you in your first year, but at 270 (no offense) you'll overwhelm a soft board once you start carrying speed and and putting force into turns. A 169 Yukon will be a good fit at that point. You'll want something newer and "techyier" after that point, but lots of thing will change between then and now.
> 
> And for the price of a couple of lift tickets, it's not a bad risk to take. Enjoy!


Thank you for your feedback, and no offense taken. Since I train Strongman there isn't as much of an emphasis in shedding weight, so the lightest I'll get is around 250, however by that point I should have the leg strength to make the board see my way regardless of what it thinks .



srdeo said:


> at 270lb yukon is not overly stiff but still fairly stiff. I've ridden it at that weight (rode it 200lb to 280lbs). same length board also. Does it have a orange base?
> At lighter weight it felt too stiff(mostly torsionally), but i could go all out and HAD TO go all out (my feet got tired tho because it was too stiff torsionally). When i got over 250lb, it felt much more comfortable. It will be a good freeriding board for you. Not the most ideal board for a beginner, but at your weight it is not so bad.
> 
> I suggest sticking with what you have for now until you are sure what you want. If you've snowboarded more than 5 times you should be able to handle it just fine. Just dont take it to rails and boxes, it's nearly impossible.
> ...


Thank you for taking the time to explain all of this to me. I have been on the snow for 5 full days and 3 half days. I took a lesson on day one in Park City however one of the guys in the glass did a pretty brutal faceplant just trying a 'J' turn so the instructor babied him the rest of the time and the rest of us were kinda on our own... So I'm pretty happy with where I'm at skill wise for the time invested self taught. I feel I have excellent control over the board, however I'm going to take a lesson from a trainer I got a good recommend on up at Northstar to help me tie everything I've figured out together.

A few people have mentioned how punishing this board can/will be at slow speeds. My tailbone highly agrees with you. I was at Heavenly yesterday at open and was doing awesome on my runs with not as much as a single fall. As it got closer to noon more people started showing up, and since 90% of the mountain was closed due to wind, everyone was hanging out by Gunbarrel (the very flat part). Every time I tried to inch around people sitting down talking the board would sink its edge into the snow and firmly plant me on my ass...

Either way I'm having a blast, and am trying everything I can to sneak up to Tahoe before the end of the season (I live outside of SF). Thanks again for everyone's insights, it really does help =).


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

srdeo said:


> And don't think yukon is a damp board(i think Bones mentioned before). I think older ones werent damp. Newer one got little more dampness, but still no where near Neversummers damper board


I was talking about the Timeless, but assumed the construction was the same on the wider Yukon. I was always impressed by the dampness in such a stiff board.

I've been riding an NS SL for a couple of years now and coming from the Timeless, there was some adjustment needed in terms of a "lighter" touch. In a lot of ways, I'm glad I learned to ride on the Timeless. You really had to ride aggressively to get the Timeless to perform, but when you did, then it really shone and gave me tons of confidence. Mind you, I was a waif-like 170 back then so I needed every pound and a decent speed to flex it, but a good carve laid out an inch deep trench in hard pack. Felt like I was on train track. Going from relatively unforgiving to forgiving and playful was much easier after that.

Keep at it with a lesson from time to time. It's not the sort of board that tolerates poor weighting or balance, so it can be ornery if some bad habits sneak into your riding


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## srdeo (Jan 29, 2012)

Bones, what year was your timeless? How would you compare SL to timeless?


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

I had 2 Timeless, a 2000? (stolen) and a 2003? (the last year it was called the Timeless) before I got an NS.

It's hard to compare the Ride and the NS, they're very different boards. 

The Timeless was a beast for me. I probably was on the lighter end of the weight range for it and until I got some really stiff bindings for it, I struggled to torsional steer it. And because I was little light for it, I really needed speed to flex it so that the sidecut would do its thing. That said, when I had enough speed to flex it thru the range of motion and was aggressive with it, it was excellent: big ripping carves, popping hard out of each turn, etc. Really a joy to ride when you were aggressive. Unfortunately, I live in the east and never got to try it in deep powder

That said, it was too much board for me in the glades and the bumps. And I got older and found that riding the Timeless hard all day really wiped my legs. So I bought an NS with their RC tech. Much easier to torsionally steer and the rocker makes it so nimble in the trees and moguls. It still has good pop and carves quite well, but it feels like it is leaving a thin pencil line when carving rather than the inch deep scar that the Timeless left. 

I have taken the NS out to Kicking Horse and Revelstoke for some stupid deep powder and it performed very well. Not dedicated powder board performance well, but more than good enough for an annual week-long trip. If I lived out there, I'd buy a powder board, but I don't, so I won't.

I still pull out the Timeless and rip up hard pack and courderoy from time to time, but I prefer the nimbleness at slower speeds of the NS SL


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