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The Good Ride Take

The Jones Hovercraft Snowboard Review by The Good Ride

Days- 3
Size 156

Riders- 5'10" 195lbs Size 9 Shoe, 5'9" 170lbs Size 10.5 shoe, 5'6" 185lbs size 11 shoe
Bindings- Burton Prophecy, Flux SF45
Boots- Burton Ion, DC Judge, Nike Kaiju

The Jones Hovercraft seems like it would be awkard anywhere except for those that like a surfy approach to deep powder.  This is where this quiver board surprises you.  All of us at The Good Ride had a blast on the Hovercraft in and out of powder. 

Groomers- Thought this would be average here but instead the Hovercraft performs like a good camber board.  If you don't set the stance too far back you have a pretty good carving board for morining cordouroy.

Powder- This is what the hovercraft is made for so you know it's going to be good.  It's not as slashy as let's say the Burton Fish but when you are on the tail of the Hovercraft it can still get pretty slashy/surfy.  he wider waist, gives this the surface area of a bigger board and along with the special nose the float is exceptional. The taper is minor compared to similar boards of this size but 11mm still does a pretty good job helping you sink the tail.  All in all this isn't a typical powder ride but it sure is fun.
Turn Initiation/Carving- The waist ranges from 25.6cm to 26.4cm which is pretty wide. You would think the Hovercraft would be hard to throw around but it's not bad at all.  The 11mm taper, set back hybrid camber big nose shelps you turn pretty easy.  It's not super easy but right about the middle of easy.  Making quick tight turns like in trees or narrow chutes is pretty easy.  When getting out on normal snow the Jones Hovercraft is really fun to carve out a turn.  We almost had as much fun on the Hovercraft as we did on the YES Pick Your Line and Jones Flagship.  Weather you are making quick tight turns or big wide open carves that send you back up the hill you will be pretty happy on the Hovercraft. 

Speed- This $400 board has a fast base and is pretty damp so picking up speed is not a problem. We'd say the speed is excellent but it's at the low end of excellent bordering on good.

Weight- Feels light but closer to the medium side of light.
Edge Hold- Usually tapered boards like this are not very good when it comes to edge hold but the Hovercraft's mellow magnetraction side cut combined with the hybrid camber shape makes for boarder line excellent edge hold.  Even going out in moderately hard snow the Hovercraft is more than capable.  East Coast ice might be too much for the Hovercraft but snowment is doable.

Flex- This is on the medium side of stiff but very playful for a board of this flex.
Switch- Not very easy but that is expected with a tail like this.
Rails/Jibbing- Don't bother.
Pipe- The hovercraft is actually ok in the pipe thanks to it's edge hold but its directional ride makes your pipe options limited.
Jumps/Pop- The pop on the Hovercraft when it comes to ollie power is acceptable but not super springy. It's still pretty easy to hit a wind lip or cat track.

All in all we were impressed with the depth of the Hovercraft.  We thought it would just be a powder board but it is a great groomer board as well.  The Jones Hovercraft rides big and lives up to it's name.

The Good Ride Take On Jones Snowboards
We all know that Jeremy is a legend but many people are always skeptical about a new company.  Jones Snowboards now has a year under its belt and is making pretty good snowboards with the help of Nidecker Manufacturing.  The quality is not as sterling as Nidecker but they still put out a great board that will last for a long time.  We are big fans of their hybrid camber tech and the very mellow magnetraction that they use with their boards. We like that they offer wide boards as well as regulars.  All in all this is a safe buy and one of the best new snowboard companies out there thanks to Team Jones and Nidecker.

The Good Ride Take on Hybrid Camber
For the most part there are two types of hybrid camber that we see out there these days.
1. Mostly Rocker Hybrid Camber
This type of ride, like many boards, has camber and rocker but unlike other rockered boards the center has a mini camber. This is usually 1-3mm high, sits only between the bindings and then curves up right after. From a distance this board looks like a rocker board but when you look closer you see the little camber between the feet. This is not as loose as hybrid rocker but it’s very close. It is very stable between the feet and easy to one foot or flat base in any condition out there. Mostly Rocker Hybrid Camber is very versatile. You will see this design on anything from Freestyle to Freeride style snowboards. This will work well with all ability levels and riding styles.

2 Mostly Camber Hybrid Camber
There are all types of designs but this type usually looks like a Camber board and rides much closer to an old school Camber board.  ONe thing you will notice is usually when you step on the board the tip and tail rise up a lot more than a normal camber board will.  Some are mostly camber and others have a bit more rocker but you will always notice they have camber.  This allows for a stable, fast carve friendly feeling you get with camber but also makes it more catch free and floaty in powder.  This doesn't float effortlessly like hybrid rocker, mostly rocker hybrid camber or flat to rocker but it does better than camber.  You will mainly see this on aggressive freestyle to all mountain to freeride style snowboards.

Company Information

Jones Hovercraft 2012

Packing the volume of an old-school long board into a nimble all-mountain charger, the Hovercraft is a phenomenon that shatters the stereotypes of your average “pow” board. Blower, crud or crust are no match for the Hovercraft as it floats through it all without sacrificing maneuverability in mixed conditions.

The blunt nose and directional rocker of the Hovercraft
keep you partying in the pow, while the stiff tail and Mellow Magne-Traction lock in stability when the fresh tracks are gone. Add all this up and there is a good reason why you’ll catch Jeremy Jones riding the Hovercraft on more days than not. The addition of the Hovercraft splitboard to the Jones line-up has cemented this board design to Jeremy's feet. Nothing beats fresh tracks from first chair to the afternoon backcountry lap riding the same board you know and love.

Jones Hovercraft 2011

Ideal For powder, chop, crud. The Hovercraft is all about float, packing the volume of a 178cm powder board into a nimble 156cm. A blunt nose and directional rocker will keep you cruising whether you're in blower or crud. The short running length guarantees you'll be light on your feet in serious situations.

Directional Rocker

A hybrid rocker/camber flex pattern defined by more tip rocker then tail rocker and slight camber between the bindings. The rockered tip gives the nose added float and improves maneuverability while the camber underfoot gives you added edge hold and response. A slightly rockered tail maintains the power and stability of a traditional board but helps keep the tail catch-free initiating turns and landing switch.

My experience is that most falls in freeriding start from the nose of the board, you either go over the bars in powder, the nose gets caught under a weird crust and tosses you, or you hit a hard tranny at the contact point of the tip and get bucked. Directional Rocker eliminates most of these falls by moving your front contact point closer to your front foot and allowing you to swivel the board side to side without the tip catching on the snow surface. Thanks Shane! (Shane McConkey was the inventor of rocker.)

Blunt Nose

The Flagship, Hovercraft, and the Solution all feature a BLUNT NOSE that extends the profile and width of the board further toward the tip than a traditional board. Increasing the volume of the nose and tapering the tip profile at a much flatter angle than normal improves float by reducing the drag of the nose against the snow.

How a board glides in powder, crust, corn, or any snow condition more then an inch deep is dictated by its front contact point and just past it. Next time you are in soft snow watch how much snow comes over the corner of the nose near the contact point. The billowing snow means you are plowing through it which is obviously slowing you down. By adding a blunt nose you get the float benefits of a much longer board tip without the added length or swing weight.

Mellow Magne-Traction

Like a serrated knife slicing into the snow, Magne-Traction improves your edge grip by adding multiple contact points along the running length of your board. The Flagship, Mountain Twin, and the Solution all feature a refined Magne-Traction design where the bumps are biggest between your bindings for maximum edge control and smaller outside your feet allowing you to feather your turns without catching an edge. 

Why trust your life to an edge with only two contact points when Magne-Traction gives you the grip of seven points of contact?! I have gotten to the bottom of countless steep, icy faces and thanked my Magne-Traction for giving me the edge control to hold on. Magne-Traction is also a key ingredient for rockered board designs.  Adding rocker to your board makes it glide more smoothly, but it makes it harder to really lock into your turns and hold a solid edge. Though Magne-Traction on full-camber boards tends to feel too locked in, once I started testing different rocker designs it was clear that Magne-Traction was crucial to offset the drift typical of rocker flex patterns.

FSC Wood Core

FSC was established to promote the responsible management of the world's forests. The FSC wood cores come from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations.

Full Wood Core

Poplar core and beech. That gives the board more comfort and is more robust. The real all terrain core.

Film Topsheet

A thin piece of film replaces the traditional plastic topsheet. This eliminates plastic and reduces the weight of the board.

Sintered Base

Fastest natural base material available. Durable, absorbs wax faster and retains wax longer. Our sintered base added with carbon nano particules as well as additives, creates a better glide. This base is specially developed by Nidecker, and is very resistant to impact.

Recycled Base

P-tex scraps are recycled into new bases.

Specs

Jones Hovercraft 2012 Specs

Jones Hovercraft 2011 Specs

Pictures

Jones Hovercraft 2012

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