Expert Review: Yes. Typo Snowboard
Looking down into the Snorkel Door and Snorkel Nose trails on the East Wall of Arapahoe Basin, trying to eye my line and look for rocks under the snow. All photos courtesy of Max Joyce
About this review: This is my honest opinion of the snowboard which I purchased with my own money in February of 2022.
My take
The Yes Typo is a board aimed at intermediate and advanced riders. It excels in its versatility and carving ability as well.
Beautiful day at Crested Butte with some hard snow and not much room for mistakes.
About the gear
- Model: 2022 Yes. Typo
- Size: 159W
About me
- Height: 6’0”
- Weight: 170 lbs
- Experience: 12 years of snowboarding
Test conditions
- When I bought these: February 2022
- Days tested: 20
- Mount position: 12/-12, 21.5 in stance
- Boots: 2019 thirtytwo TM-2 XLT
- Boot Size: 11
- Bindings: 2022 Burton Cartel X
- Where I’ve used it: Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird, Crystal Mountain, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Copper, Mt Bachelor
- Terrain: Powder, Groomers, Park, Hard Pack, Bumps
How it performs
What I was looking for
The reason I ended up with Yes. Typo in February this year is because my Burton Process got stolen. I wanted something I could take park laps with and still get some nice carves in and hit some steeper trails without it being too sketchy. I already had a powder-focused board at this time.
Why I chose this gear
I went with the Yes. Typo because I needed something with a more twin shape to ride park and switch. One of the things that made me go in this direction is that I had a Yes. Optimistic that I loved, so I was confident in the Yes. Brand.
Some other options I considered were the Lib Tech Cold Brew and the Arbor Element. I went with this, because I didn’t think the Cold Brew would carve as well and I didn’t think the Element would float as well if there were a few inches of snow but not enough for my powder board. I also considered another Burton Process but wanted to change things up.
My new Typo board looking back at me sitting in the snow.
What I love about it
- Speed: This board handles speed pretty easily. Only when getting up to insanely fast speeds does it start to feel loose. The stiffer flex of this board and camber between the feet make it stable.
- Edge hold: The edge hold on this board is very good, aided by the Underbite profile that helps to push your contact points into hard snow. The camber between the feet also helps. The rocker in the tip and tail do take away from the edge hold but only slightly. Something full camber with Underbite or something similar, maybe a bit better. The Underbite can be just a bit catchy at times so, that’s something to watch out for.
- Turns): Turning feels great on this board. The rocker in the tip and tail helps me get into a turn pretty easily, and the directional twin shape lends itself well to making carves. The stiffer flex with the camber helps to drive out of turns as well.
- Groomers: Great on groomers, can really lay out a good carve, and the Underbite grips the snow in more firm conditions.
- Powder: This board floats surprisingly well in the powder. The 0.5-inch setback combined with the rocker in the tip and tail helps keep it above snow around 6 inches pretty easily. In wet snow like in the PNW at Crystal, it is a bit more difficult but still does decently well. In super low-angle powder, it slows down a bit more compared to something fully directional.
- Trees: This board does well in the trees. It’s pretty quick edge to edge to make quick turns and get around obstacles.
- Moguls: The Typo does well in the moguls because it’s stiff enough to respond quickly and also has some camber to push off of.
- Park: This board does decently in the park, but it is a bit too stiff for my liking. I have a little trouble getting into butters and presses as it takes a decent bit of effort to get the tail to press. I also have some trouble on rails, but I’m not very confident on rails regardless. It has a directional twin shape, so the riding switch feels slightly different but not enough that it’s a big deal. It’s stiff enough for bigger jumps and won’t have the tail wash out too hard when landing backseat. I think if someone was in the park and on rails most days, they would maybe want something a little more playful.
- Backcountry: I haven’t taken this board out into the true backcountry but have done some lift-accessed backcountry laps with it and a good amount of hikes as well. It does well on steeper lines and is stable enough for big drops and jumps. The rocker and directional twin shape help keep it above the snow for the most part.
- Weight: The weight feels pretty normal to me.
- Stability: This board has good stability from the camber and the stiffness. Its ability to charge through chunder is solid, and it feels pretty damp, with most of the vibrations not traveling up through my feet because it stiffens up as it gets to the middle of the board. The pop on this board is decent, but nothing crazy.
Issues I’ve encountered
- Durability: I am definitely not that nice to my boards at all and commonly get core shots, topsheet damage, and damage at the tip and tail. That being said, this board doesn’t have the most amazing durability, as I noticed some chipping on the edge of the topsheet. I also noticed some separation at the tail, but I am pretty sure this is just because I hit a stump at high speed, which is my error. The durability isn’t terrible, though, considering what I put it through and the low tide conditions in some areas this year.
- Switch riding: Switch riding is decent with the twin shape, but it is hindered a bit by the 0.5-inch setback. I commonly ride switch on this board to give my right leg a break from riding directional boards, and with my bindings to symmetrical angles (12/-12), it doesn’t feel bad riding switch, but of course, something true twin would perform better.
Some damage at the tail of the board that I think I got from running into a stump.
Favorite moment with this gear
One of the coolest times I had on this board was hiking up the East Wall at Arapahoe Basin to the Snorkel Nose trail. It was about a 30-45 minute hike straight up the East Wall. I had met a riding friend there earlier in the season named Evan, and he had been showing me around A basin. After we got to the top of it, we had to shimmy over/across some rocks and into the entrance. The top had some rocks poking out, but it opened up at the bottom and was the best snow of the day!
Value for the money vs. other options
I think this board is very solid for the money spent on it. At $450, it comes in at about $30-$50 less expensive than many of the other options in the intermediate or advanced all-mountain snowboard category. For example, a Burton Process and Arbor Element are both $500, and a Lib Tech Cold Brew or Jones Frontier is $480.
Final verdict
If this were the only board I owned, I would be very happy with it. It's very versatile with good float, decent park ability, very good carving and turning experience, and overall just a very solid board. The Underbite, camber, and stiffness help give confidence when entering steep terrain or variable conditions.
