Jones Solution Splitboard Review

The Jones Solution is described as the company's most refined and tested splitboard. It offers some of Jones' most advanced technologies, including 3D shaping in the nose and tail, and traction tech edges, including the inside edge. The Solution is a pretty classic freeride shape with 12mm of taper, a long 9m turn radius, and a slightly longer nose than tail. The Solution comes in a pretty narrow waist width, so it's worth paying attention to when purchasing. Our testers chose to test this board in the 162W size, which has a 263mm waist width. The closest non-wide sizes, the 161 and 164, both come in at 252mm and 254mm waist widths. This is somewhat narrower than other boards of this length.

Powder

The words that often came to mind when we were riding the Solution in powder were “calm, predictable, and intuitive.” The board really stands out for being something we sort of just forgot about while riding. We would make a turn, and the board simply reacted as we hoped it would. While this may sound dull, it is far from it. In the backcountry, predictability and ease of use stand out as features, letting us focus on the terrain rather than fight an unruly board. The Solution floats great, doesn't burn out our back leg, and is easy to make a variety of turn shapes with. It feels comfortable to make wide-open fall-line turns with it, but it also makes short-radius turns easily when the terrain gets tighter.

Where the Solution takes a unique turn in powder performance over other boards is in the Jones 3D shaping. We have found from testing several of these Jones-shaped boards that this is not a gimmick and provides fun, unique sensations in powder. The shaping really allows the board to roll edge to edge in powder in a smooth and surfy manner. The shaping also provides noticeably enhanced glide. Compared to any other board we tested, the Jones Solution and its other 3D counterparts carried higher speeds for longer in low-angle powder and accelerated more quickly.

Firm Snow

The Solution offers a predictable and damp ride in firm snow conditions. The edge grip of this board is among the top in our test, the traction tech edges provide confident edge hold, and if you're moving quickly, the board soaks up a lot of chatter and doesn't want to buck you out. This will be a recurring theme in this review, but ultimately, we just don't have to think about this board in firm conditions; it holds an edge and is predictable whether it is steep or low angle. Even though we tested the wider version of this board, we found it to be smooth and easy to ride in firm snow. We imagine that if you have a foot that matches the narrower width of the regular-width Solution, the edge hold will be even more pronounced.

The Solution is noticeably softer between the feet than other freeride boards, but it is stiff in the tip and tail. What we found is that this flex allowed us to really easily pressure the front of the board to get the tail around in firm conditions. In low-angle terrain, it's a little slower, but when things get steep, it is quick to pivot around the front of the board and put down accurate jump turns. Being able to easily initiate a jump turn is the first step to being balanced in the control phase of the turn. This feature of the Solution complements its good edge hold by allowing you to maintain your balance throughout the turn, rather than working hard to get a stiff plank around. Alongside the flex, the ample early rise and the 3D shaping keep the board from feeling catchy.

Variable Snow

The 3D tech in the nose and the taper of the Solution make it a breeze in funky crusts and old snow. We could easily turn through crusts without resorting to survival tactics, and it made days out after the storm a good time. As we will keep repeating, the Solution is just predictable in many conditions. If you find yourself riding in the backcountry more days than at the resort and you're often finding funky snow, the Solution is a board that lets you ride those days confidently.

In chop and skied up snow the Solution is a damp ride that allows you to tackle the terrain a variety of different ways. If you want to straight-line the chop, the stiffer nose and tail keep you upright while charging, but if you decide turning through the chop is what you want, the softer flex between the feet lets you navigate the chunder.

Stability

The flex pattern of the Solution is unique amongst freeride splitboards. While nothing new in the solid snowboard world, the softer (but still on the medium side) flex in the middle, with stiffer tips and tails, is something we haven't seen as much in splits. Flexing the board in hand, it feels softer than you might expect and leads you to believe it isn't very stable, but in our experience, we couldn't find a speed limit on this board. If you want to make wide fall-line turns or straightline, the Solution has plenty of guts to keep you feeling confident. In our time on the board, this was true of any snow conditions we got the board into; we especially had a good time riding fast through firm chalky snow.

Where the flex pattern took some adjustment for us was charging through steeper, chopped-up terrain. If you like to really drive from the front foot and dive into your turns, the Solution does tend to flex more just behind the front foot. This gives you the sensation that you're about to over-flex the nose, but unlike other soft boards we've ridden, the Solution always uprighted us as we continued through the turn. Boards that have a softer nose will often give up in this circumstance, and you get off-balance or go over the handlebars. The Solution never sent us over the front, but we did have to center our stance a bit more. Centering our stance more gave us the opportunity to take advantage of the stiff tail, which always felt supportive at speed.

Maneuverability

We found the Solution to be plenty maneuverable for daily riding, but if tight trees are your jam, it may start to feel like a bit of work. The board's edge-to-edge speed was on the medium side. The forgiving torsional flex allows for easy foot steering, and the 3D shape keeps things catch-free, but the longer sidecut radius holds it back from being a fast board. We tested the wide version of the Solution, and given how narrow the regular width is, we assume the board may be much quicker. Ultimately, the board's stiffer flex will keep any width from feeling too fast, but our general impression is that the Solution isn't problematic to get around for experienced splitboarders.

The Solution tends to prefer drawn-out turns over short, tight ones. If you prefer fall line turning and opening it up, this board will cater to you well. If you prefer really fast and tight turns, the Solution wouldn't be our first choice. It makes tight turns without much effort, but it takes a confident rider to pull them off. We found pairing the solution with more responsive bindings helped us move it around quickly.

Uphill Performance

A full camber profile and traction tech edges make the Solution a confident uphill tool. If you can fit on the regular-width board, you'll have the benefit of a very narrow footprint in the skin track, which helps when following a skier's skinny track. The Solution is on the lighter end of standard construction snowboards, but it's not a board for gram counters. Jones offers the Solution in their ultralight construction for those looking for a much lighter option.

For those rocking hardboots we like that Jones doesn't push the touring mounts forward, this leaves lots of space for tech toes. This is also beneficial for softboot setups, in case you have a hankering to set the stance all the way back on a big storm day (not that you have to, though). At transitions, the hardware on the Solution keeps things efficient. The board features classic Karakoram Ultra-Clips, which are simple and function well even if the board is iced up. The Karakoram Tip-Locks are more finicky, especially with gloves on, and we tend to like the regular tip clips more for ease of use. One downside to the 3D shaping is that it doesn't hold skins well and they tend to peel and collect snow here. This made us need to clean our skins more often at transitions.

Should You Buy the Jones Ultralight Stratos?

The Jones Solution is a predictable and fun daily-driver that lets us forget about what's on our feet and just go splitboarding. If you are an experienced splitboarder seeking out a reliable ride you can use all season, we think the Solution is an excellent option. If you are new to splitboarding the Solution can feel like a lot of board, but is one of the more approachable freeride boards we have tested.

What Other Splitboards Should You Consider?