Jeremy Jones creates boards that he rides in the steepest and deepest terrain on Earth. The Jones Hovercraft Snowboard Women’s is a work of art in the snowboard world. It is a uniquely shaped powder board with a light and snappy bamboo top sheet. The blunted nose and swallow tail offer the best powder turns you can dream of, but the Hovercraft also performs up to par on almost every other terrain. If I had to ride one board everyday, in every type of snow, this would be the one.
At first glance this board looks like a throwback to the old school snowboards of the 80s, but on closer inspection it has all the modern shapes, materials, and technologies to ride on any terrain.
The Hovercraft is aptly named as it literally sits above the snow. This board floats perfectly above the deepest powder, this board was built for bottomless days. The rocker in the blunted nose improves maneuverability and directional rocker with camber underfoot makes edge hold and response truly impressive.
While Hovercraft seems to float, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fast, it can rip down any degree slope from trees to wide open chutes. The shape doesn’t sacrifice anything in tight terrain, able to make quick jump turns, fast course corrections and tight slaloms when you need to.
The Hovercraft has unique feel for such a short board, riding more like a surfboard than another snowboard I have tried. For along time this board was the powder board in my quiver- saving it for the deepest of powder days. But I have recently taken to riding it on a daily basis. The Hovercraft performs just as well on groomers and ice as it does in the powder.
The set back camber allows for you to really lay into a carve, and make soul turns down the slope. The progressive sidecut makes for smoother turn initiation and transition.
Even the best of resort powder runs put you back on the groomers at the end. And unlike some other powder specific boards that can’t do a thing on groomers, the Hovercraft can handle chatter and chunder. Just like in the powder the nose pops right over all the uneven terrain, and the edge hold allows for tight turns and clean carving. In addition the base is fast and can hold it’s speed through flat powder sections or down long cat tracks.
The hybrid flex pattern might be the secret ingredient that makes this board great in every condition the mountain can throw at you- tip rocker then tail rocker and camber between the bindings.
Though the swallow shape would make you think going backward was a bad idea, there is just enough rocker in the tail to allow you to ride switch. Though I wouldn’t trust myself for long at high speeds without a proper tail.
The texture of the beautiful bamboo topsheet negates any need for a stomp pad. I would have been torn about sticking something to the easily scratch wood surface, but there is enough grain that it sticks to your snowboard boots, making one-footing no problem at all.
If you like this board, be on the lookout for the Ultracraft Split, carbon splitboard version of the Hovercraft.