We had a chance to test out the new Jones Snowboards Storm Chaser in the Colorado backcountry over the last few days – in a variety of conditions. This board looks like a fish style surfboard.  It was helped shaped by Chris Christensen to perform like a dream in deep pow. They even came up with a new rocker profile called Surf Rocker for this board. The board is quite stunning to look at thanks to the Film Laminate over the new Storm core (dual density core made of Poplar and Paulownia wood). The shape is so radical that one would think the board is going to ride crazy and unpredictable. That’s not the case…. read on to find out why!

First, let’s address the shortness of the board. The Storm Chaser comes in 2 sizes – 147 and 157. Wait, only 2 sizes and they are that small? Yes, they don’t need to be as long as a usually board as the shape and width of the board make up for the surface area of a larger board. Pretty interesting! The short size does not mean it won’t float in the pow though! The width and profile force the nose to rise above the snow and the tail to sink into it. It is also surprisingly easy to initiate a turn in as well.

 

The first few days I rode it in the backcountry, the snow was less than ideal. It had been weeks since our last storm and the snow was windblown, hard and unforgiving. Nonetheless, I set out to test the board in these less than ideal conditions and found the board handled the chop as well as anything else he had tested this year. Plus it was nice hiking up with a shorter board. We were rewarded on the 3rd day of testing with several inches of good snow (with more on the way). Now we can see what this board is more suited for – shredding down pow runs with total confidence and an ear to ear grin!

 

Some key features to this board are the new Surf Rocker, new Storm Core, super burly Sintered 9900 base and Mellow MagnaTraction to keep your edge in hard snow (it works well, trust us!) The board has a set back stance and we found it playful and controllable in several different configurations of set back and not-so-set back stances. Jones rates this board at a 7/10 stiffness and we would say that is conservative (we tend to find Jones boards stiffer than most) and that’s a good thing.  When you are bombing down major runs you need that stiff, responsive feel.

The Jones Snowboards Storm Chaser is currently available. This is a worthy board for anyone that’s looking to add a pow slaying machine to the quiver.  Even better?  Jones will be making a splitboard version of the Storm Chaser next season!  Stop by our SIA 2016 Snowboard Roundup to see it.

See also –

 

Mission Jones Pass – 18Jan2015

ThirtyTwo MTB Jeremy Jones Boot 2016