Board: Jones Snowboards Ultra Aviator
Size: 156
Camber Option: 3D Power Camber. Traditional camber with a 1 degree bevel of the base at the contact points to give it a little bit of lift.
Bindings: K2 Indy
Stance: 22.5 Wide 18 Negative 15 Goofy
Boots: K2 T1 DB Size 10
My Weight: 170lbs
Resort: Breckenridge
Conditions: Gray skies, a mix of ice/firm snow/death chunder, and spring temperatures.
Flex: This version of the Aviator is noticeably softer. Especially in the nose with the Air Lightness technology. It does have that directional flex to it with the softer nose to stiffer tail, but over all it’s still a softer flexing deck. Something more in tune to a middle of the road all mountain freestyle. The torsional give is abundant which makes center flexing it a joy.
Stability: It’s not as damp as the traditional Aviator, but it’s still a smooth stable ride. I did notice that the Air Lightness nose did chatter a bit at speeds which caused those vibrations to resonate back to my front binding. This board isn’t as aggressive as the regular Aviator counterpart.
Ollies: Load up the camber and you’re going to boost. This board has an insane amount of snap and due to its weight reduction you’ll find that you’re getting more pop out of ollies whether hitting a roller or a side hit with a lip.
Pop On Jumps: The feeling of weightlessness in the air with this board is abundant. This thing snaps off a lip and stomps into the landing with ease.
Butterability: The nose on this board is so soft you more than likely will over flex it if you drive your weight into it while doing a butter. I did just that at the end of the day. There’s a level of liveliness to this board that makes it playful and responsive. In my opinion it’s the lack of serious girth to this board, it’s just so damn light.
Jibbing: Ever wanted to do a nose press that felt like you didn’t have a board attached to your feet? Well look no further this deck did just that. I wouldn’t spend a lot of time jibbing on this board, but if you’re feeling frisky go for it and know you’ll lock in to presses and slides as long as you have moderate speed.
Carving: Mellow Magnetraction is just that, it’s super mellow but does give added grip where and when you need it. Railing turns on this board was a breeze. Taking into account the reduced weight of the board and the fact this model was softer than the regular Aviator I noticed that edge to edge transitions were effortless. The cool thing with the reduced weight of this board is how easy it was to slingshot it out of aggressive turns and carves.
Rider in Mind: The guy that complains that his board is too heavy as well as someone that wants a traditional cambered board that can handle the whole mountain.
Personal Thoughts: This board is insanely light, almost to the point that it makes me believe that I could break it if I wanted to. It’s super snappy, real lively, and does a great job of going anywhere on the mountain. Jones has a good thing going with this stick.
Comparable Boards: Rossignol Angus, Venture Zelix, Niche Aether
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This board was loaned to us for review from Jones Snowboards marketing department.
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