Surely one of the most exciting new boards for 2017, the Jones Storm Chaser, which was really well received this winter, will now come in a split version. Short, wide powder boards are everywhere right now – surfing and surf board shapes have had such a big influence on snowboarding recently. The Storm Chaser is shaped by legendary surfboard shaper Chris Christenson and packs a big punch in pow for such a short deck.

The new Storm Chaser Split features the new Boltless Bridge – a construction technique that eliminates base hardware – along with the new Ultra Clips from Karakoram, which look to join the board more solidly than ever. I imagine this will be one hell of a splitboard, especially for places like Interior BC and Japan. The Storm Chaser Split will be available in the just the one length, for its first season at least, of 147cm.

 

The Storm Chaser solid undergoes some pretty major changes for 2017. The shape and rocker profile remains the same but the 2017 will feature two new Jones innovations – SPOON and the Speed Channel Tail.

 

Jones Storm Chaser Split 2017
CENTRE – Jones Storm Chaser Split, RIGHT – Jones Storm Chaser, LEFT – Jones Mountain Surfer.

 

Both these features are essentially there to improve glide, float and fluidity. SPOON in particular features on many decks in the Jones line for 2017. SPOON is the beveling up of the edges to create a 3D base contour pattern. Jones himself describes it like this:

” On a surfboard, the subtle shaping of the nose is what makes the entry into a turn so smooth and fluid. The feeling of an effortless surf turn is what inspired the development of SPOON. Instead of having to abruptly tip the board into a turn, SPOON lets you roll your edge into a turn. I’ve been on a quest to design a snowboard that has the glide and edge to edge fluidity of a surfboard for years. Our new SPOON base contours finally cracked the code on how to achieve this next level of board performance. “

SPOON will come in 4 different forms depending on how the board’s character will benefit from the 3D technology. As you’d expect, the most progressive and ‘deepest’ SPOON profiles are on the pow specific boards like the Storm Chaser, Hovercraft and Ultracraft. The amount of SPOON decreases as you move towards the more aggressive boards in the Jones line like the Aviator and new Project X deck. Currently SPOON doesn’t feature on any splitboards in the range – I’m guessing it’s gonna take a while to figure out how the 3D base shaping will work on a splitboard.

The 2017 Storm Chaser also features the Speed Channel Tail. This is also a 3D shaping of the base of the board at the tail in order to increase speed and glide and reduce friction. It’s a similar idea to what YES do with the 20/20. The solid Storm Chaser will also be available in an increased range of sizes for 2017 – 142, 147 and 157.

Look out for a full run down of the 2017 Jones Snowboards line in the coming months.