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Jones Mountain Surfer 2018-2019 Snowboard Review

Jeremy Jones has made no secret of how the world of surfing continues to inspire his company’s direction. This year he’s revived (and drastically redesigned) the Jones Mountain Surfer, which does away with bindings and edges altogether.

Take the Jones Mountain Surfer to a resort and they’ll probably boot you out; take it to a mellow, untracked hillside, however, and prepare to whoop like a lottery winner. Thanks to the same ‘surf rocker’ profile – created by noted shaper Chris Christenson – as you’ll find on the Jones Mind Expander and Jones Storm Chaser, this thing can stay afloat even at a crawl.

“A rubber pad gives you all the boot grip you’ll need, and there’s a tough leash for those inevitable bail-outs”

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For its 2018/19 return, the centre line of the board has a hollowed-out section that expands towards the swallow tail. Another idea nicked from surfing, it further improves the control and flotation, while the wide spoon nose keeps you out of trouble at the front.

A rubber pad gives you all the boot grip you’ll need, and there’s a tough leash for those inevitable bail-outs. Tech-wise it’s a lot simpler than most Jones fare, but whacking a bunch of clever carbon-enhanced additives on the Jones Mountain Surfer would be somewhat gilding the lily.

It’s more for those who already live in snow-blessed parts of the world, rather than the holiday-maker, but even if you only get to use it a couple of days a year, they might just be the best you’ve had for a long time.

The true noboard purist can pair this with some bespoke boots like the Deeluxe Footloose or the K2 Taro Tamai Snowsurfer, but your regular snowboard boots will work just fine too.

Tester’s Verdict

Mike Brindleywhitelines.com

“Never having had a proper stint on a bindingless board before, the Jones Mountain Surfer was bound to take some getting used to. But to my surprise, the fact that our test board was presented sans leash and the lifts were closed all day, if anything, made my first foray into this growing niche all the more enjoyable.

Hiking hills around the base station, chasing after your board like an idiot and falling on your arse has never been more fun (or, to be honest, knackering).

“The Mountain Surfer proves that losing your bindings doesn’t have to be a complete return to square one”

That said, if you get a good handle on your expectations, the Mountain Surfer proves that losing your bindings doesn’t have to be a complete return to square one. The design is clean but effective as you like: the surf-style kick at the back of the tail pad helps you properly engage the back foot for slashes (and fun cutback-style maneuvers on un-pisted flatter sections) and the mellow concave of the grip gives plenty of traction to play with.

Smaller concaves on the rear underside of the board (where the rails would be in surf-speak) give this a nice combo of loose feel and control, like snowboarding’s answer to a twin-fin.”

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