Snowboards
Jones Mind Expander Snowboard 2022-2023
Whitelines Choice Winner: Best Men’s Freeride Snowboard
PRICE: £540 / €600 / $600
When the Jones Mind Expander first appeared, it was hard to say whether or not it would have staying power. The quality and fun factor were undeniable, but it cut right across the rest of the Jones brand’s identity – a brightly-plumed parakeet amongst a pack of padding snow leopards.
Fortunately for us all, it found its audience and spawned more variants than a certain infamous airborne virus. While we’d encourage you to check out the twin, split, youth, women’s and ‘Ultra’ versions, this year we’re singling out the original and best.
Who Is The Jones Mind Expander For?
The best way to get out of a rut is to dig new ones! If your standard all-mountain board isn’t doing it for you anymore, take this out on a slushy day and see if you can’t rediscover your joie-de-vivre in amongst all the carving and slashing.
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Jones Tweaker Snowboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £470 / €530 / $530
Up til now, the closest Jones got to making a park board was the long-serving Mountain Twin – and even that was more suited to hitting natural features as part of its all-mountain remit. However, what we have here is a bona fide true twin that absolutely belongs in the park, yet is still unmistakably a Jones.
Who Is The Jones Tweaker For?
David Benedek is the rider that comes to mind; a freestyle pioneer who always championed the art of carve (even when it was far out of favour in the snowboard world) and fully understood how a snowboard works on the ground, not just in the air. If you want to Be More Benedek (and we all should), then this will help you get there.
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Jones Twin Sister Women’s Snowboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £490 / €550 / $550
A master of his craft, Jeremy Jones approaches snowboard design like a guy tasked with assembling the large hadron collider. We’re talking about science and evidence based, baby. The Twin Sister has been rigorously tested and meticulously engineered to ensure it’s one of the most impressive all-mountain snowboards available, and it shows.
Who Is The Jones Twin Sister For?
Ladies who want one snowboard to do it all, park laps for breakfast, and fresh powder for lunch, the Twin Sister is a true alpine smorgasbord. You’ll probably want to have progressed past your first few wobbly days on the hill, but otherwise there’s something for novices all the way to pros to enjoy.
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Jones Flagship Snowboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £620 / €700 / $700
As it says on the tin, this is the flagship snowboard in Jeremy Jones’ fleet of freeride weapons. The Flagship is one beefy son of a gun, with a stiff flex and powerful response that excels in technical terrain. As such it’s pretty out of reach for novices, but experienced riders searching for a board for deep days and steep chutes should take a closer look.
The Flagship doesn’t quite use everything in Jones’ arsenal for floatation, but it comes pretty close. A tapered outline, directional shape, extra inserts and 3D shaping in the rockered nose all come into play when you strike white gold. But the Flagship is a solid choice for hardpack days, too. The Traction Tech edges, camber midbody, basalt stringers and triax fibreglass layup make it a dominating force for powerful carving and aggressive charging.
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Jones Aviator 2.0 Snowboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £530 / €600 / $600
Designed in collaboration with big mountain guru’s Victor de le Rue and Jimmy Goodman, the Aviator 2.0 is pure aggression. It’s slightly more freestyle focused than some others in the line, but that’s not to say it can’t handle full send charging.
Full camber isn’t the most popular profile these days, but there’s no disputing its raw, undiluted power. For stability, dynamic energy and edge response, the traditional bend is second to none, and when you factor in the clever shaping tech Jones has used to alleviate the classic hang ups, it ups its game even further. One of the most noticeable things about the Aviator 2.0 is the semi see through nose, this is Jones’ Koroyd Power Core. It’s a super lightweight, high-tech material that absorbs chatter and vibrations but doesn’t diminish the power of the wood core. In keeping with the premium feel of the board, Jones round out the Aviator 2.0 with their Sintered 8000 base, one of the fastest available on the market.
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Jones Stratos Snowboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £560 / €630 /$630
The Stratos is a newer addition to the Jones line, but already has the feel of a seasoned classic. Its versatile shape, adaptable profile and just slightly stiffer than centre flex allow it to blur the lines between freestyle and freeride.
Squarely aimed at intermediate to advanced riders, the Stratos’s freeride-centric outline hides a playful nature and a lot more utility than initially meets the eye. Camber between the bindings, combined with Jones’ Traction Tech edge profile allows for solid performance on groomers, be it deep carves or dynamic edge to edge transitions. A tapered outline and prominent rocker in the nose pairs with 3D shaping to allow for additional float in deeper snow, funneling the snow out of the sides of the board for increased glide. And when you want to take a lap of the park, you’ll find a full sized tail for switch landings, and biax laminates to keep things feeling a bit more playful.
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Jones Mountain Twin Snowboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £490 / €5850 / $550
Every brand has a board that they claim can ride everything, but the Jones Mountain Twin is one that we genuinely stand by the claim. Who’s the Mountain Twin for? The better question would be who isn’t it for. The Mountain Twin takes the tried and tested formula for the classic all-mountain deck and remixes it with some Jones specific flair.
When you take a peek at the rest of the weird and wonderful Jones line you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s possibly a ‘boring’ option, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s won pretty much every industry award out there, including the prestigious Whitelines 100 for its innovative take on a quiver killer. With its blunted outline, versatile profile, industry leading edge tech and adaptable 3D shaping, the Jones Mountain Twin has the chops to perform everywhere you want to take it.
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Jones Dream Weaver Women’s Snowboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £450 / €500 / $500
Jones’ Dream Weaver is a consummate all-mountain playmate, built for every day of the season, from freezing mid-winter bootpacking missions to lapping the park in a shirt in late spring. And we know you shouldn’t buy a snowboard based on graphics, but this one’s pretty dreamy, right?
It’s a more accessible option than something super gnarly like the women’s Flagship or über specific like the Storm Chaser, add this to the fact that it comes in a huge range of sizes and you’d struggle to not get on with the Dream Weaver. To keep it feeling smooth, Jones have tricked it out with their 3D Contour Base 1.0, this subtle bevelling of the nose and tail reduces unintentional edge catches, gives a nice rolling motion to your turn initiation and adds a little extra float in deeper snow. When taking it back onto the piste, you’ll be happy to see the disrupted edge profile when the conditions are sketchy, offering up a little extra grip and bite.
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Jones Solution Splitboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £870 / €980 / $980
Monsieur Jones isn’t the only man to make splitboards, but he for sure is one of the best. Over the years, the Solution has constantly evolved and upgraded to firmly cement it as one of the modern classics; so much so that Jeremy himself has said if he could have only one snowboard, it would be the Solution.
A few seasons back, the bods at Jones managed to do what we perhaps naively assumed was beyond even their skill – adding bevel to the nose and tail. The introduction of 3D Contour Base really ups the performance, plus the additional taper helps to keep it more nimble. Jones uses Karakoram clips that are smaller and lighter than previous years, boltless bridge to provide better torsional stiffness and a more powerful connection, plus a pre cut notch for the tail clip that makes a traditional option redundant.
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Jones Airheart 2.0 Women’s Snowboard 2022-2023
PRICE: £530 / €600 / $600
Head’s up: this season, the most freestyle-focused board in the Jones women’s range has received an upgrade. Think more pop, more playfulness and greater responsiveness. New for 2023, they’ve swapped out the old cam-rock Airheart profile for true camber, designed for slashing banks, popping off sidehits and charging through any terrain – from pillows to frozen hardpack. The medium flex is powerful without being overwhelming, whilst the rails offer rock-solid grip while carving. You’ll feel just as home ploughing through powder as you will during slushy spring park laps. Expect to reach for this board more often than not this winter.
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