Finding flow in a place without waves
Growing up in East Anglia, where the surf is as unpredictable as a British summer, I spent more time waiting for waves than riding them. Unlike friends in Cornwall or Devon, we had to get creative to keep our board feel between sessions.
Anyone who surfs, wakeboards or climbs knows what that is like. When the sea is flat or the wake park is closed, you still want to stand on something that moves. That is where the idea for Norst balance boards started.
Craft first
I have always been drawn to the craft behind board sports: the curve of a surfboard, the shape of a skate deck, the edge of a wakeboard. When we started making balance boards we did not want another generic training tool. We wanted something that felt like the boards we ride.
“If it didn’t exist the way we wanted it, we had to build it ourselves.” – Dan, Norst founder
Built in a shed, made in Colchester
We started in my dad’s shed, shaping boards by hand. Today every Norst balance board is made in our Colchester workshop: a 12 mm birch-plywood composite with a 3 mm cork top deck, 80 × 40 cm.
Norst is for people who live for movement, and we make things to be used.
