Board: Jones Flagship

Size: 161

Camber Option: Directional Camrocker. More rocker in the nose than the tail with camber through the mid section.

Bindings: Rome Black Label

Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy

Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10

My Weight: 200lbs

Resort: Arapahoe Basin

Conditions: Overcast skies with heavy wet snow falling, low visibility, a couple inches on top of the iciest most chundery conditions around.

Flex: The overall flex is just and I mean just past a middle of the road freeride so it’s slightly stiff but not overpowering. You do get more play in the nose and it progressively stiffens back up to the tail. There’s a fair amount of torsional flex but nothing overwhelming.

Stability: This board is stable for the most part. You do get a little chatter in the nose at high speed and you can feel it under the front foot. In rutted out terrain you’ll notice the board at times can get bucked around so keep those knees bent but overall it does a great job of cutting through the chop and staying on top of things.

Ollies/Pop: The snap is there and you will have to load up the camber section to get it to engage. What you will notice is that once you’ve loaded up the camber it activates the rocker in the tail and gives this board a springboard effect. Once that happens you will be getting a nice amount of pop from the board but just note this is still not the snappiest thing out there.

Butterability: The nose is the ideal spot to lock into a butter you just have a bit softer flex and more rocker to utilize. The tail does take a bit more work but it’s not something you have to manhandle and does what you need it to do. I do recommend buttering in fresh snow if possible because that’s where this shines.

Carving: This board has a super smooth and fluid transition from edge to edge. You will notice right away that it takes no effort to engage the edge. It steers more from under the front foot back and while you will have that front foot engaged it locks in more on harder carves from inside the front foot through the tail. The torsional flex is ample enough that you can ankle steer when being mellow and adjust your turns as needed. Overall short quick carves, medium mellow, deep long carves, or hard Euro-carves this thing has you super covered.

Rider in Mind: Resort freeride guy that will handle all conditions with one deck.

Personal Thoughts: The 3D shaping in the board changes the way this board transitions on edge and it’s nice. I mean very nice. Overall this thing is a staple freeride deck for the resort rider and that should come as no surprise since it’s called the Flagship. The nice thing about this board is it’s a consistent ride.

Comparable Boards: Ride Wildlife, Arbor Crosscut, Nitro Suprateam

Recommended Bindings: Jones Mercury, Ride C-8, Union Atlas