Jones Howler Review

The Jones Howler is not only a comfortable ride through big lines, adverse conditions, and freeride scenarios, but it also flies like a dream when turning down groomers and floating on top of powder-laden pistes. As a matter of fact, it is our testers' favorite board when it comes to carving up the corduroy on a crisp, fresh morning. 

Edging

This absolute blade of a snowboard is crafted with precision, power, and pure carving prowess in mind, and it won the hearts of our testers the moment they slid onto the groomed trails. The Howler has the closest bottom contour to traditional camber out of any other board in our tested lineup, and it shows. From the moment of engaging the first edge, we could feel the combination of bamboo, paulownia, and poplar result in a mid-stiff flex that molds into dynamic turns and pops out of carves, only gaining stability and response at high speeds. It also utilizes sintered base technology that holds onto wax for longer and provides extra speed when traversing cat tracks or attempting to top a hill. 

Our team tested a 160-centimeter-long wide board, which ultimately has the widest waist width out of our entire lineup at 26.7 centimeters. Although it took slightly more to initiate turns,  this board came through with a surprisingly smaller turning radius of 8.6 meters. This, combined with its nearly traditional camber and directional shape, allows for a multitude of long, drawn-out arcs, shorter, more swooshing turns, and even radical, surfy slashes. As our team put the Howler through its many paces, it encountered a varied set of conditions, from perfectly groomed fresh snow to hardpack and icy mogul fields. No matter what, this dominant snowboard held onto its edge thanks to Jones' Traction Tech, a series of protruding points from the edges for additional grip. In slush, it was easy to slide from edge to edge, and once things firmed up, the stability was astounding. When faced with wildly varied and chundery terrain, this board again was able to power through thanks to extra Koroyd dampening built into the core. 

Float In Powder

With a myriad of different design features that all help with float in powder, the Howler quickly stole the hearts of our testers. For starters, it has a unique, minimally tapered shape with a flared nose and tail for added surface area, and it features a 3D spoon tech design. Both of these helped make this Jones board easy and predictable, no matter how deep or steep the snow was.

Despite being directional and designed with carving and powder in mind, this board also incorporates a significant amount of freestyle thought. Its added base area and scoop on the tail meant that our testers could not only land better off large pillows and cliffs, but when riding switch, the early tail rise helped keep us balanced without extra fatigue.

The stiff flex and wide waist aid in this board's solid performance in our powder metric, especially when riding at higher speeds. Once we were down to navigating flatter terrain, it became harder to manage fluid turns and short slashes, making it a preferred board for intermediate and advanced riders. One other feature our lead tester noted is that the Howler has the widest waist width we tested, and will easily accommodate most large boot sizes, including a Men's size 11. 

Stability At Speed

 

When it comes down to the Howler's stability at speed, we put it through a series of speed demon testing, resulting in yet another good score. Firstly, this Jones board has a sintered base, which is more durable and holds wax longer than the standard competitor. Its directional shape and cambered contour help to stabilize this board at high speeds. In addition, this model is made with a unique Koroyd synthetic core material, specifically equipped to dampen chatter from uneven snow and impacts.

Through thoughtful design, the Jones team integrated carbon fiber and flax stringers to allow for a more sturdy flex. This mid stiff flex from the carbon stringers gives the Howler the best of both worlds, allowing our testers to draw out long, high-speed turns while still being able to crank through a tighter arc when needed. Although it's not at the top of our list of tested snowboards, this board carries a radically classic cambered directional blueprint and plenty of ruggedness to go fast down the fall line, absorb chatter, and plow through large bumps all at face-numbing speeds. Or is that just the cold?

Playfulness

After cruising around our favorite blue and green runs to slash and jump everything in sight, we found the Howler to be surprisingly fun. A directional, cambered, and stiffer board doesn't necessarily lend itself to being playful. Still, with just a few well-utilized technological features, this thing was a joy to ollie off of sidehits and cattracks. The core is a high-tech blend of bamboo, paulownia, and poplar, combined with the previously mentioned carbon fiber and flax stringers, making it light, responsive, and snappy. 

Despite the Howler not being the most buttery snowboard, it can handle its own nearly everywhere on the mountain. It is excellent for long, medium-angle runs to steep and gnarly territory, but when our team brought it into the park to press a rail or knuckle huck over a table, it was just too stiff for much flexing and flowing around the terrain park. Pressing and holding a butter on this board requires a decent amount of effort. Despite this downfall, our greatest appreciation for the Howler lies in its contoured base. It has a spooned, early rise nose and tail, which creates a smooth transition between edges, especially for a catch-free feeling when doing an on-snow 360 spin.

Pop and Jumping

The Howler is absolutely packed to the gills with enough Jones Snowboards technology, and we had high expectations for this board. Its core is a hyper poppy blend of three different woods, giving it a dynamic interior build.

One of the coolest aspects of Jones' snowboard designs is their commitment to curbing environmental impacts, which is reflected in their use of next-generation carbon fiber and flax stringers. These are embedded to create crazy pop that snaps easily and forcefully while also cutting down carbon emissions. These two layers are then bonded together with a 27% plant-based carbon, which meets industry standards by reducing CO2 emissions by 33%. The Howler's camber helps lock in those toe-edge landings, and the profile provides a good platform to save any landings that might be off balance with the nose or tail. Ultimately, this is a super poppy board, and our testers noted that it was not only user-friendly but also deemed it fit for hitting some massive cheese wedges or park booters.  

Should You Buy the Jones Howler?

The Howler is not only a high-performance beast but also fun to use on 99% of the mountain. It's one of our favorite models from the esteemed brand and performed very well in all of our exhaustive testing. Its stability, float, and on-edge experience make it a great daily driver. We recommend it for stronger intermediate, advanced, and expert riders looking for a unique and versatile shape for banking turns of every size in every condition. 

What Other Snowboard Should You Consider?

If you're looking for a more playful ride while still maintaining a stiff profile, check out the Rome Ravine Pro with lots of float and a fun shape, or the Yes Airmaster XTRM Fridge, which has a wildly stiff flex pattern but is by far the most buttery ride we tested. If you genuinely want the top of the line out of your snowboards and are looking for the most stable board for steeps and deeps, take a look at the Cardiff Goat Pro Carbon. It is made from partially carbon fiber, giving it ultimate pop and stability when it comes to a hairy couloir or large cliff drop.