yes Basic

I rode the 2024/2025 YES BASIC at Brighton Resort and was pleasantly surprised by its performance as an entry-level snowboard. The board was easy to flex, twist, and ankle steer. But the flex wasn’t too noodly soft and felt close to a middle-of-the-road flex. This allowed me to ride with a bit more stability when carving without sacrificing ease of control and playfulness.

The easy-to-control flex, combined with the tighter-radius sidecut, made the board feel very nimble as it naturally arched into tighter turns and engaged the sidecut quickly. While turning, you can feel the UnderBite grip into the snow, which gives a locked-in carving feel. I only started to not feel locked-in when I rode at higher speeds or in rougher/uneven terrain. This was due to the board’s softer flex, which allowed the board to get bucked around a bit or fold slightly at the nose in those conditions. But for typical speeds on groomed runs, no issues.

I took the YES BASIC into the park as well and found it easy to manipulate, jib, & press. The rocker in the nose and tail, paired with the playful flex made nose and tail presses a breeze without much fight from the board. It was reliable on jumps with an average feeling pop from the camber that still got me in the air. The landings felt stable as long as I landed more centered on the board. I wouldn’t recommend taking this board to the big jump line, but it will do just fine on the small and medium jump lines.

I think this board is great for its target audience of beginner to intermediate riders. It carves well, can handle jumps, has a versatile camrock profile for extra float in pow, and has an approachable flex that still provides stability. I’d recommend this board to more confident beginner riders who are looking for an all-mountain board that will grow with them and not hold them back. A board that they can use for several seasons before needing to upgrade. I’d also recommend this board to any intermediate riders who are looking for a playful all-mountain freestyle snowboard that can still carve and handle icy conditions.

My only other complaint would be the name. Sure, it’s a BASIC snowboard that can handle BASICally everything to a BASIC level. Now there is nothing wrong with being BASIC, there’s a reason BASIC is BASIC. And some boards need to cover that BASIC range of gear. However, whenever I recommend this board to riders, the name often discourages them from considering it. Which is a bummer as they then miss out on enjoying a fun, playful, all-mountain deck. So YES, we should work on the name of this snowboard so more riders can give it a try!

- Cody (check out my stats in my rider profile)