I just recently bought and rode this board in New Zealand (july 2000) and yes, it is the 2001 model.Sofar, I rode it 5 days on very hard packed powder (ice) and 5 days in nice 10 - 50 cm deep powder. I used to ride a Burton floater and before that a K2 fatbob, and an ancient Avalanche board and I have to say the Nitro is by far the the best board I have ever ridden. The board is long and wide, I have shoe size 46 (US 12) with a 0 -0 degree binding stance which is no problem. The board is also very stiff which makes it really stable. You can just haul ass on this thing. I suprised my friends by riding a lot faster than I normally do. The edges are insane, the board carves extremely wel, even on ice. It will just hold the carve, if you have the technique, and trust the board to hold. As this board (a 171) has a big radius, it makes big turns. Hence, you will get more speed. This is not a problem, because the edges give you a secure feeling. Trust the board and all goes well. The only big downside of the board is that it is impossible to ollie high on the bastard. It is very stiff, and I really had to get used to the very stiff tail. If all you want to do is, jibb, wheelie, and wobble around the park this is not your board. BUT freestylers do not panic, this board rules on big jumps. If the ramp is good the Magnum will take off very clean. The board is very stable in the air and even better on landings. It is so big, you will stick more shit than on a short board. The board is medium weight (lighter than my floater and fatbob RIP) and I had no trouble spinning with it. It is a 171 and not a true freestyle board, so it's not freestyle light, but I found it light for an all-mountain board. I did not ride the Magnum in the pipe.(I do expect the board to improve on the ollie part, as all board get less stiff over time, I just have to ride it some more)If you take a standard binding setup the board will have a lot of setback. Which is good in the powder, but not for riding fakie. Riding fakie the board will have a very short nose, which makes the riding akward. Move your bindings forward (which I did) and you will ride fakie faster than you ever did before.Than riding powder: this is what the machine was made to do. This board is made to cruise. It is one of the biggest boards out there (don't forget the big width increases floating ability). This makes it scary fast in powder. It again is very stable, and nice to jump with. Landings are very easy on powder with this board. This boards is for advanced, big riders who like to ride the whole mountain, but prefer powder to the park. You have to be heavy ( I think 80 kgs +) to controll the board. On the slopes it is not an easy board to ride. But if you have the skills you'll ride better than you ever did, and fall in love.So,Good points: scary fast, stable, extreme edge control, it's a ferrari in powder, it lands every jump very well, price (450 euro).Bad Points: because of stiffness hard to jib or ollie, not easy to ride. (that's why I gav it a 9)Thimon (europe)PS. It looks good. Bright (Ferrari) red on top, orange on the bottom. On top it has a tribal between the bindings which stands for 'wisdom'.

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