Board: Jones Mind Expander
Buy it here:
Christy Sports: https://bit.ly/3zXjwVw
REI: https://bit.ly/3tdEBr6
The House: https://bit.ly/3EegkaI
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3fNPc97
The Snowboard Asylum: https://tinyurl.com/23sclgca
Blue Tomato: https://tidd.ly/3Efpfsv
Evo: https://bit.ly/3t9LauW
Size: 158
Camber Option: Christenson Surf Camber Rocker. More rocker in the nose, camber through the middle, and rocker in the tail. Your standard directional camrocker.
Bindings: Rome Black Label
Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 200lbs
Resort: Copper Mountain
Conditions: Overcast skies, blowing snow, 8 to 12 inches of fresh pow, chop, chunder, a little crunchy pow underneath, and powder corduroy.
Flex: With the new camber profile it feels stiffer than it was. This puts it past a middle of the road flex. You have a little more flex in the rocker section but it’s very minute and then a stiffer section through the middle. The torsional flex is miniscule as well which makes for a more calculated ride.
Stability: By adding a new camber profile to this board it stiffens it up slightly and makes it more stable. The old loose feel of the previous models is gone. This means when you charge into a chopped out pow field it plows through the firmer snow with ease and is less likely to buck you. There’s a little chatter that you can feel on a groomer underfoot but it’s not enough to make you overly worried. By and large the board just got more stable compared to the predecessors.
Ollies/Pop: The camber profile has to be loaded up and you’ll feel that load as this board wants to rebound. The nice thing is that helps activate the rocker in the tail so you get more spring out of it. You’ll find yourself porpoising in pow easier, boosting a sidehit with ease, or launching a roller. Think of it as a powder popper if you will that doesn’t force you to be overly calculated.
Butterability: Now this suffered with the new camber profile. It takes more effort to pow butter on this board. You’ll be putting your weight outside the insert packs and really flexing into that rocker to get it to engage. The whole time you do it will fight you and want to rebound so be aware of that and when you finally do lock it in and are pressing hard as you disengage expect to get a lot of snap out of it.
Carving: The old version was a lot looser on a carve, this changes that. You get more precision and power out of the center back through the tail. This gives the board a better dynamic on a groomer where you can actually rail a carve if you need to. The Traction Tech works and gives edge hold underfoot which can be optimized with ankle steering to drive that board as you see fit. Short tight quick carves or long hard drawn out ones it can handle them all.
Rider in Mind: The resort powder chaser that sometimes has to cross a groomer and lay a trench.
Personal Thoughts: The surfy loose feel of the old Mind Expander is gone and now you get a more precise surfy feel. By that I mean you can set an edge and forget it and know you’re locked in, but also slash a turn in fresh snow with ease. This board just got a lot more stable by this inclusion of the Christenson Surf Camrocker and while the people that loved the soft forgiving feel of the previous version might be upset, I think it makes it better. The one biggest downside I saw to this was it wasn’t as nimble in really tight trees but after a few laps you come to terms with it and learn how to ride it as needed.
Comparable Boards:
K2 Antidote: https://bit.ly/3G2PHXA
Rome Ravine: https://bit.ly/3UuGdZg
Bataleon Camel Toe: https://bit.ly/3TiSrTN
Binding Recommendations:
Jones Mercury: https://bit.ly/3FYwkPh
Union Ultra: https://bit.ly/3TiawS0
K2 Lien AT: https://bit.ly/3WHtyUG
