From the mind of modern snowboarding`s most influential big-mountain backcountry rider, Jeremy Jones, to the production facilities of European snowboard manufacturing pioneers, Nidecker, comes the Jones Mountain Twin.
This snowboard is marketed as a playful, all-mountain freestyle board capable of slaying man-made & natural features wherever they pop-up on the hill. In our view, the Jones Mountain Twin delivers on it`s promises and actually allows you to do things a jibby twin-tip isn`t traditionally designed to do.
Jones Mountain Twin 160 Wide Intro
The Jones Mountain Twin Wide freestyle snowboard probably isn`t what you think it is.
Can you easily do nose rolls and smooth nose or tail butters like a traditional freestyle twin-tip snowboard? Absolutely. Can you slide rails and boxes? Absolutely. Can you hit the half-pipe or huck your meat off kickers? Absolutely. But to say this snowboard is a freestyle beast isn`t exactly accurate. We`re pretty sure Jeremy Jones and Nidecker didn`t design the Mountain Twin for terrain park dominance, rather, they had a far more inclusive riding style in mind.
Although the Jones Mountan Twin will allow you to slide, huck and flip around the terrain park, this board`s best qualities shine when the entire mountain is your fun park.
The Jones Mountain Twin has its limitations, but overall we think it`s a worthy, everyday solution for riders with diverse needs & skill sets.
Jones Mountain Twin 160 Wide: Ride charactersitics
The nose & tail flexion on the Jones Mountain Twin Wide could be described as mid-soft, yet the even longitudinal flex pattern with 3 mellow magna-traction points along its edge provide solid grip on hardpack. The torsional rigidity is very good (not too soft and not too stiff), giving a sensation of something in between a freestyle & all-mountain freeride board.
We`re not overly impressed with bulletproof icy edge hold, but in fairness, we prefer a somewhat dulled edge along the length of our board compared to a grabby edge with guillotine sharpness. Our only option on more than one occasion was to straightline some hairy, bomb-proof nastiness off-piste as there just isn`t enough longitudnal rigidity in this board to provide complete security on ice like a burly alien-tech off-piste beast Nidecker Ultralight for example.
Likewise, we experienced a bit too much chatter in the nose on hard pistes, but the Mountain Twin`s excellent versatility make this something we we can overlook. Afterall, this is a lightweight, all-mountain freestyle board…not a bulky, damp, giant side-walled piste basher or alpine carving board. Overall though, stability at speed is very good on the Mountain Twin, so don`t get the impression that its a floppy noodle.
As it`s lightweight and quick from toe-to-heel, there is a propensity to bounce you around a bit, but this adds to the playful riding style the board demands. We wouldn`t classify this as a lazy, cruisy board but it`s definitely stable enough to allow for enjoyable all-mountain cruising.
Jones Mountain Twin 160 Wide On-piste Performance
Hardpack carving isn`t necessarily the strong suit of this board, however, this is by no means a poor performing on-piste snowboard.
The mellow magna-traction engages nicely without feeling too grabby and the hybrid-camber/rocker (Camrock) design provides the stability that rocker-only or flat base freestyle boards lack when carving.
This is definitely a playful piste board that wants you to pop-off little features on the side of the trail on your way to the freestyle park or untouched off-piste zones.
Are there better piste carving boards on the market? Sure. But are there better freestyle inspired, free-ride friendly, everyday riding snowboards out there? We think not as many.
Jones Mountain Twin 160 Wide Off-piste Performance (non powder)
We ride almost exclusively off-piste. Unless its complete poo or uber-unsafe snow pack, we`d rather go bounce around some off-piste crud than lay-out high-angle carves on-piste. This board was definitely put to the test off the groomed trail and the Jones Mountain Twin Wide performed extremely well.
Our stability on super nasty, frozen waterfall ice wasn`t always completely re-assuring, but can anyone say they`re overly assured in conditions like that? Similarly, this isn`t really a crud buster either, but after you understand the riding style needed to manipulate the Jones Mountain Twin in less than perfect snow (i.e., point it, pop around, speed check, repeat), you`ll start smiling even when conditions aren`t ideal.
Of note, there were reports of problems with topsheet construction in the Jones Mountain Twin in the past, however, we found it to be extremely durable without any top-sheet delamination problems. Likewise, the sidewalls, although not entirely robust, are very strong and never worried us when purposefully or accidentally bonking the board off of rocks, tree stumps or random farm fence posts out of bounds in snow covered Swiss pastureland.
The folks at Jones and parent company Nidecker are very professional in our opinion when it comes to customer service, so if you ever experience a de-lamination problem, chances are it would be a hassle-free fix.
Jones Mountain Twin 160 Wide Powder Performance
In terms of powder performance, the Jones Mountain Twin is great. This board is not a dedicated pow-slayer like the Jones Hovercraft, but the Mountain Twin exceeds pow performance normally found in freestyle-capable rides.
The camrock design — including early rise tip & tail technology — along with nice longitudinal flex pattern make this a very fun and capable powder snowboard.
We would like to see more power from the tail at the apex of wide, high-speed heel-to-toe pow turns, but again, this an all-mountain freestyle board that does everything very well, not just one hting perfectly. Riding pow on the Jones Mountain Twin is similar to riding this board everywhere else on the mountain. You need to be ready to pop, bounce and play as opposed to lay-out huge arcing turns. That said, we laid-down our fair share of surfy, high-angle toe-side & heel-side pow turnsl, which is a testament to the versatility of the Jones Mountain Twin.
With regard to overall floatation, we were pleased with its ability in knee to thigh-high pow and experienced relatively minimal back leg burn for a board of its design type. Will you feel it the next day after a few hours of pow-play? Probably, but again, this board is not powder specific. In the end, it`s an excellent choice for all-mountain, everyday riding situations including powder.
Jones Mountain Twin 160 Wide Freestyle Performance
Our Jones Mountain Twin slid across a variety of boxes & flat rails, lapped the pipe and cleared table-tops, allowing us to say that it handles admirably in the park.
Micro-adjustements were relatively easy underfoot while sliding atop features and take-offs/landings were stable. The lightweight board construction makes it a super tweakable freestyle stick, allowing for fun, reliable performance in the jib park.
Jones Mountain Twin 160 Wide: Who it`s built for…
We rode this board everywhere on the mountain, in virtually every condition from thigh-high pow to features in the park, bulletproof hardpack to late-season slush. This board was purchased as an all-mountain, everyday, do everything snowboard…and that`s what the Jones Mountain Twin turned out to be.
Is it the best freestyle twin-tip board we`ve ridden? No. Is it the best all-mountain board we`ve ever ridden? No. Does it perform better than every board in powder, on piste or in the terrain park? Not in our view.
But the Jones Mountain Twin performs extremely well in every instance making it an excellent, all-round one board solution for riders wanting a snowboard that will allow them to do everything, everyday and have fun doing it.
This board is also an excellent choice for snowboard instructors, as its versatility in terms of construction features (i.e. lightweight, camber under foot, magna traction and rockered tip/tail) will allow for use in variable riding conditions while teaching, as well as offer a super fun ride when you get some free time to play all over the mountain.
Aesthetically, it`s a beautiful looking board as well, so if you want a shred stick that`s pleasing to the eye you`ve found it with the Jones Mountain Twin. How it looks shouldn`t define which board you choose, but be honest… looks matter in so many aspects of life (for better or worse), so why choose an ugly snowboard if a pretty one like the Jones Mountain Twin is just as good or better.
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