Traditional resins can be extremely toxic to people and the environment. For our snowboards, we partnered with Entropy Resins to create our one-of-a-kind, Snappy Sap™ Bio-Resin. As opposed to traditional epoxies made primarily of petroleum-based materials, Snappy Sap™ Bio-Resin is composed of bio-renewable materials from the industrial waste streams of the paper pulp and bio-fuels industry.

These natural components help the environment by:

• 45% material sourced from sustainable, bio-renewable materials
• Lower environmental impact from processing – reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, reduced water and energy consumption, reduced wastes
• Eliminates harmful byproducts
• Snowboard benefits:
• Increased elasticity – provides more pop and spring to your board
• Super high adhesion properties help keep your board from delaminating!
• Toughness – combined these benefits make your board bomb proof

The forests that our wood cores come from are managed carefully to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of current and future generations. Our wood cores also come from a sustainable source, which means they are replaced by new trees!

Here are some other requirements of our forest management:

• No use of hazardous chemicals
• No conversion of forests or any other natural habitat
• Appropriate management and identification of areas that need special protection (ex. cultural or sacred sites, habitats of endangered animals or plants)
• Respect of international workers rights and Human Rights, with particular attention to indigenous peoples
• All applicable laws must be followed, with no tolerance for corrupt or questionable business practices

Niche utilizes basalt stringers instead of carbon fiber for added pop, stability, and crazy vibration dampening properties. Basalt is the product of volcanic activity. The fiberization process is more environmentally safe than that of glass or carbon fiber; the greenhouse gases that might otherwise be released during fiber processing were released eons ago during the magma eruption. Basalt is also 100% inert, which means it has no toxic reaction with air or water, and is noncombustible. And basalt is much easier to recycle than glass.

• Our Magma Fiber shows 15-20% higher tensile strength than regular fiberglass. This means better impact absorption, strength, and elasticity.
• Because basalt has a greater strength to weight ratio, less is needed to produce a snowboard. And less material means a lighter board!

We digitally print our topsheets using water-based inks that use up to 90% less solvents than traditional inks, and don’t use any lacquer, giving our boards a beautiful matte finish. This is one of the first things you’ll probably notice when you pick up a Niche snowboard. Most snowboard makers cover their topsheets in a thick, toxic lacquer to add shine. This is not only toxic to the environment; it’s unhealthy for people working in the factory. We use a lacquer-free topsheet material, which makes our boards slightly lighter than other snowboards. It also gives our boards a matte finish with a truly unique aesthetic, and an organic feel. We digitally print directly onto the topsheet, cutting up to 60% of the material and 75% of the energy wasted during alternative printing processes.

Niche uses non-toxic, solvent-free, uv-based inks for printing graphics on all snowboard production.

Niche uses recycled materials in many components of our snowboard design and production. Such components used in our boards include:

• Recycled Base Material
• Recycled Steel Edges
• Recycled ABS Sidewalls

Alternate color schemes are used to avoid extra plastic base material waste during production.

We use sustainable materials in every product we produce. All materials are sourced as locally as possible, in the closest proximity to the factory that we are able, using responsible supply chains with careful attention paid to the entire product life cycle.

Our use of alternative construction materials is what makes Niche unique, and actually give our boards better vibration dampening, added elasticity, and more durability! Traditional snowboard manufacturing is toxic and we want to change that. From harmful resins to the use of trees from forests that aren’t replanted, to the supply chains themselves, there are many facets of manufacturing that harm both the planet and the people who put those products together. We’re certainly not perfect and there is always an unavoidable footprint when making any product. But we firmly believe that even small steps lead to big differences, and we continually seek out even better construction materials and techniques.

Niche is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, and crafted in a small town in the Mediterranean where we source all raw materials as locally as possible. We love our community and actively participate in preserving it and our ecosystem.

When you purchase products from Niche your dollars directly contribute to reforesting the Earth, reinvesting in our small business, expanding more eco technologies, and supporting the small families who run this company.

We also donate every year to supporting diversity and inclusion in snow sports, programs that get children out on the hill, and donating products to shops that focus on increasing participation with BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Niche uses non-toxic, solvent-free, uv-based inks for printing graphics on all snowboard production.

Alternate color schemes are used to avoid extra plastic base material waste during production.