November 24, 2021

Niche Fathom Splitboard Review - First Thoughts

Introduction

The Niche Fathom Splitboard is a new board to the Splitboard HQ lineup for the 2021/2022 season. It caught our attention through the zero waste manufacturing process and for the great price point in comes in at. In a market that is now saturated with splitboards from a seemingly endless line of manufacturers, the Fathom had some great user features that we at Splitboard HQ really dug.

Niche Fathom Splitboard Review

Niche Fathom Splitboard First Thoughts

In full transparency we have yet to ride this board, this is a first thought review upon pulling it out of the shipping box. That being said, myself and the Splitboard HQ team have ridden many a splitboard and can get a pretty good feel for the overall performance of a board from the look and feel of it.

UPDATE (Jan 11, 2022): I managed to get the Fathom out over the holidays and it rides very much along the lines of the description below. Has enough float to be great in pow, and the long sidecut allows riders to hold high speed turns without the fear of washing out. I rode it in a 30 degree avy bowl and thoroughly enjoyed pow slashes off the wals and riding fast on the open parts.

My first thought when unboxing it was that it has quite a unique shape to it. It reminded me somewhat of a park style board in the nose and tail. However the Fathom has a long sidecut and felt incredibly stiff when putting it through a quick ‘on the floor’ flex test.

These features certainly fall into the style of board I personally like riding. Stiff with a long sidecut, ideal for going fast and a solid feel in all manner of snow conditions. Riding primarily in the Canadian Rockies zones of Kananaskis Country, 93 South, 93 North and near Sunshine and Lake Louise, we spend a lot of time in the alpine riding everything from light dry pow, to bulletproof proof windslabs. With that all in mind a board that performs well in variable conditions is certainly something I gravitate towards.

Niche Fathom Splitboard Review Photo: The Niche Fathom in 149 cm and 161 cm side by side

The other feature that I enjoy for my boards is the directional camber with nose rocker profile. The camber translates into a traditional, poppy feeling board that also provides a long point of edge contact when side hilling on icy ascents. This is something I consider super valuable in my day to day splitboarding. Now, if you are going to be just shredding pow laps in the trees then this is much less of a consideration.

The one thing that did surprise me, and this is purely anecdotal (as I haven’t used a scale and weighed the board), is the weight of the board. I had read a bunch about it being ultra light weight. At first ‘pickup’ this didn’t feel the case. Certainly lighter than say the Never Summer Swift (on the heavier but ultra durable side of splitboards, gotta love Colorado Rockies built durability), but certainly heavier than the comparable Arbor Coda split.

Niche Fathom Splitboard Review - Sustainable splitboard company There is zero waste from the manufacturing process of Niche Boards

So, after a grand total of 5 - 10 minutes checking the board over my initial first thoughts are:

The design falls into the category of boards I am drawn to. All round, stable and stiff in good and bad conditions
Long sidecut which makes it perform well at speed in big open terrain
Conversely, this makes riding tighter lines feel less ‘carvy’ and more forced in a lot of situations
The stiffness and traditional camber will make for a poppy feeling board that will climb well and perform in challenging snow conditions (on the up and down)
I was surprised by the out of the box weight. Certainly not one of the lighter boards on the market. In saying that it isn’t super heavy either.
Hard to comment without putting a few seasons on it but the Fathom look and feels like it will be pretty durable and take a beating
It seems really good value for the CAD price of $750 + tax
The Niche Fathom won’t be a super playful board designed for a surfy pow feel. More of a big mountain charger kind of board
I love the fact that it is built from recycled materials and there is zero waste. You can see a video below on the story about that.

What the Niche Fathom Splitboard is Best For

The Niche Fathom Splitboard is truly an all round mountain board. From my perspective it is designed for:

The rider who wants a splitboard that can ride most snow conditions well
Climbing in icy or sub-optimal conditions
Navigating variable snow descents
Feeling solid underfoot at all times.
The budget conscious splitboarder
The environmentally conscious splitboarder
Riding fast in open terrain and feeling balanced and reliable underfoot

There is however a limitation to all round splitboards performance. What I don’t think it will be great at is:

Tight tree or couloir descents
As a flexy, floaty, playful pow board
Being the lightest weight board on the market

Photo: Niche utilizes Union Splitboard Clips on their Fathom Split

Niche Fathom Specifications

LENGTH	EFFECTIVE EDGE	SIDECUT RADIUS	WAIST WIDTH	REF STANCE
144 cm	1020 mm	6800 mm	242 mm	520
147 cm	1050 mm	7000 mm	245 mm	540
151 cm	1090 mm	7300 mm	250 mm	540
154 cm	1120 mm	7500 mm	254 mm	560
157 cm	1150 mm	7700 mm	256 mm	560
161 cm	1190 mm	7900 mm	258 mm	560

Niche Fathom Splitboard Review - Bases side by side Photo: Bases of the 149cm and 161cm side by side

Niche Fathom Summary

In summary, at first glance, the Niche Fathom Splitboard seems to be a really well, ethically built splitboard that will fit riders looking for a good price point all round board. It isn’t going to have you buttering and dropping pillows with ease (though, you certainly will be able to, just not its primary design purpose) but it will have you ascending, and descending in all manner of conditions and at a price point that most riders won’t balk at (especially when some carbon models like the Amplid Millisurf Splitboard are running at close to $2K)

The environmental component is just the icing on the cake of a well built and well priced all round splitboard.

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