Jones Snowboard Ultralight Stratos Review

The Ultralight Stratos is a comfortable and friendly ride that is just as capable under a new riders feet or a professionals. We really appreciated the balance of stability, and playfulness that the Stratos offers, and we think the majority of splitboarders will get along with this shape. Whether it was perfect powder, or breakable crust, trees or steeps, the Stratos was predictable, easy and capable. If we didn't know what conditions the day was going to provide, we walked out the door in the morning with the Ultralight Stratos.

Powder

The Jones Ultralight Stratos has a tapered directional shape that is easy and fun in powder. Along with its shape, the Stratos features Jones 3D spoon tech in the nose and tail which help reduce drag in powder and increase maneuverability. We found all of these features combined to make the Stratos an easy and predictable board no matter how deep the snow was. This board is not a pow specific, super floaty shape, but it never made us feel fatigued or out of balance. There are better and more fun powder boards out there, but the Stratos won't let you down.

In powder the Ultralight Stratos likes to make shorter fast turns and keep its speed in check. If we opened it up and straightlined, the strong flex and large nose kept us feeling solid, but it never felt like that was the preferred riding style of this board. Jumping off pillows and cliffs felt stable, but the Stratos has a smaller sweet spot on the landing and we had to be careful to not send it too much over the nose. Compared to other popular splitboards, the Stratos has a pretty narrow waist width, but our lead tester didn't find it to be much of an issue for his size 10.5 boots.

Firm Snow

In bad snow conditions the Stratos offered one of the most predictable rides in our test. The sad truth is that if you spend a lot of your season splitboarding, you're going to be dealing with some bad snow. Because of this we found ourselves reaching for the Stratos if conditions were going to be questionable, because it was just so friendly. The spoon tech in the tip and tail, coupled with the narrow waist width made us feel like we could easily weave in and out of crusts, or get from edge to edge in firm conditions without hesitation. The Jones traction tech further aided the boards grip in firm snow and made us feel secure. The Stratos is also noteworthy for its dampness. When riding firm snow a lot of splitboards can feel quite chattery, but the Stratos was calm and absorbed small bumps well.

In steep terrain where edgehold can be paramount, we found the Stratos to be incredibly capable. Although the Stratos has a shorter effective edge, we found the narrow waist width and traction tech made up for that and still gave us inspiring edgehold in steep terrain. The Stratos maneuverability made it feel like we could easily get it around in tight places and we found ourselves choosing it a lot for steep couloirs. The Stratos does feel like it has a top speed in firm conditions, likely because of its tighter turn radius, but its security makes us feel like that is a worthy tradeoff.

Playfulness

The Stratos is quick edge to edge and a whole lot of fun to pop off small sidehits. This board does a really good job of marrying the maneuverability that makes tight trees really fun, with the poppiness that allows you to take advantage of side hits as they appear. The Stratos doesn't feel like a big air, cliff dropping board of choice, but that may be a sizing issue. The Stratos comes in a limited size range and our lead tester, who is usually in the 161-163cm size range for normal directional shapes, went with the 159 Stratos, which is the largest size they offer aside from the 161wide. Jones sells the solid Stratos in a much larger range and offers a 162cm. Our lead tester felt like that size would have maybe been better if the goal was logging air time off cliffs, but otherwise found the 159cm to be the right size for daily driving.

The flex of the Jones Stratos lies in the medium to medium- stiff range. It is easy to foot steer with, but still has plenty of strength for carrying some speed. That agreeable flex makes it easy to load up and pop and also makes it comfortable for landing. The tail has a good amount of rocker and is no problem for riding switch if you desire.

Climbing

The Ultralight Stratos is one of the best climbers in our test. Its ultralight construction and narrow waist width make you feel like you could maybe start entering the skimo circuit and shake things up. To help with weight, all of Jones ultralight series boards come in a white topsheet which helps reduce snow sticking so you don't have to carry snow uphill. The sidecut edge features Jones traction tech, but so does their inside edge. While we initially thought this may be a bit gimmicky, we found it offered the best edgehold in the skintrack during our test. For being able to take laps all day when the snow is dumping, or for long days on big objectives, this board makes life pretty easy.

Should You Buy the Jones Ultralight Stratos?

The Jones Ultralight Stratos is a premium splitboard that carries a premium pricetag. While most carbon splitboards are pricey, the Jones ultralight series is significantly more expensive than the rest of the market. We think this boards performance on the up and most importantly the down may just warrant that pricetag for the right user. If you don't want to pay that premium, Jones offers the Stratos in their normal construction at a more common market price. We imagine that board offers all the same downhill benefits, with a slightly heavier uphill cost. We think the Jones Ultralight Stratos is one of the most predictable and agreeable splitboards on the market. If you're new to splitboarding this board is an excellent option for making life easier as you learn how to take your skills from the resort to the backcountry. If you're more experienced the Stratos is a predictable and capable board for any riding you may encounter

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