Jones Stratos Split Review By Jay

An Un-Paid, Un-Biased Breakdown Of How The Jones Stratos Split Rides Review by The Good Ride

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Jones Stratos Split Review

I borrowed the Jones Stratos Split for an extended demo and sent it back.

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Size: 159cm
Days: SOOOOOO MANY
Conditions:   Mostly spring with with variable firm up high and suncupped down low

Riders:  Jay (Size 8.5, 5’7.5” 165lbs),
Boots: K2 Ender
Bindings: Nitro Vertical

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Never Summer Swift Split, Korua Pencil Split, Lib Tech Orca Split, Weston Backwoods Split

Shape

Its a tapered directional shape with about ten mils of taper. There is a slight swallow tail in the back.

Turning

It’s got a 7.3m turning radius, so it does turn tight. I like obnoxiously tight trees sometimes. And this board will bob and weave with the best of them. But again, you can make bigger, arcing, drawn-out carves. If you load it, it’s going to pop right back up. Overall, turning on this board has a great feel to it.

Jones Stratos Split Sizing

I’m 165lbs normally, plus a pack. Jones kind of puts me in the middle of the 156 and the 159. When I had the 156, I kind of said, I always wish I had tried the 159 and bought that one. After trying both, I personally like the little smaller one.

The reason why: if you look at where your stance width is in relation to contact points and in relation to float points. The 159 just widens you out. I felt like I was in too wide of a stance for my height. So, I needed to be a little narrower. And the 156 allowed me to do that.

So if you’re a rider who’s on the shorter side, even though the weight is kind of skewing to 159, I might downsize to 156. But again, I have not been disappointed by the float of the 156 and just felt already more nimble, a little more evenly matched for most conditions I was under.

Flex

Looking at our flex, we’ve got a pretty medium to medium stiff flex. This is definitely not a softer board. And this board really has a progressive ramp-up towards the middle of the board. Definitely in that medium to medium stiff zone. But this tail is really, really stiff.

And I will say that’s one of the blessings of this board. If you do get in some chopped-up snow, load your back foot up, and it just pops through things. So I’m a huge fan of how that stiff tail really makes this thing work. It feels like you’re riding a fish surfboard in the ocean. The nose, though, I would say softer, but not too soft. This board is not going to chatter on you a whole bunch.

Hardware

Typical Jones. Amazing attention to detail. Really nice solid clips up front from Karakoram and the rear from Karakoram. Get this thing feeling nice and bonded together again.

Uphill Performance

Here’s one thing interesting about the Stratos. While we said it’s definitely a medium to medium stiff flex when you’re going uphill, I will say this board doesn’t have the biggest spring in your step. I’ve had some other boards in the past that definitely give me a little bit of pop per glide. This feels a little bit more, let’s say, stuck to snow. Not in a bad way. Not like you’re dragging a lot of weight. The board is nice and light, but doesn’t have that nice perpetual glide on boards like the Solution.

Up front again, you’ve got that nice bonus. If you are the person breaking trail for your crew, it’s going to pop up and stay nice and high. Again, that integrated, disruptive sidecut on the inside and outside edges really lets this board come together, lock under control, and give you great traction on the uphill.

Being more of an average board width, I think you’re going to find this board side-hills pretty darn well. It’s not going to be on the narrower side like a Solution, but it’s not going to be a detriment as you are struggling to get weight to that inside edge for better sidehill traction.

Downhill Performance

Those of you who don’t want to ride downhill on a split board — this is the closest thing you’ll find if you like a solid. The way these sidecuts and solid clip attention to detail gives you great tension on that board. Things feel really nice, really familiar underfoot.

Let’s talk about where the board shines and where it doesn’t shine. I love this board in fresh, soft snow. I don’t mind crossing tracks with this board. If you get a day where it is icy and you’ve got rime and things are overly firm, all that energy can make this thing your loaded and poppy little skateboard, which is the negative side. This thing will chatter like crazy and it will force you to check your speed.

I would say that’s the biggest thing with the Stratos. If your conditions are good, grab it and go smile. If conditions are on that early morning alpine mountaineering where you hope things soften up later and they don’t, you’re going to have to check your speed a little bit. It’s not a straight-liner, right, for that reason. It will chatter a little bit at high speed, but again, under good snow conditions, it’s going to hold turns and feel really, really nice. And it’s just going to keep you feeling smooth. It doesn’t stop between turns; it holds speed through the arc. I absolutely love the way this thing feels.

Uneven Snow

We’re lucky enough in town to have a river wave here, and my fish surfboard is kind of how I equate this. You step on the tail, and it just scoots. If you get to chop, step on the tail and it just scoots, it pops the nose up, it gives you power. Get through tracked-out conditions. I would say you’re not going to wind up regretting this in some choppier stuff. If things turn to mashed potatoes late in the day, the board still has plenty of power to punch through those.

Base Glide

When it comes to base glide, the former version of this board had the 9000 series. They have dropped this into the 8000 series going forward. Between the two, I can’t say I noticed a huge difference. Again, Jones makes some incredible bases. And even though they knocked this down to an 8000 series base, it glides just as well as the 9000. And I haven’t noticed any downsides here.

Powder

I’d say this board floats very, very well. The combination of early rise nose and 3D nose helps this thing float incredibly well.

I had one of those days where the lifts were running, and I was on some huge powder boards all day long. 4 p.m. the lift stopped, and I just couldn’t leave. I went back out and skinned another few thousand feet just for some fun. And this board, a 156, which is maybe on the shorter side for my size, floated incredibly well.

I have nothing bad to say about performance in powder at all. It punches way above its width and way above its rocker profile, while still giving you some versatility for other conditions.

Final Thoughts on Jones Stratos Split

Simple summary of this board — this is your playful skateboard for the backcountry. It’s got the versatility to it, and I think it’s going to be an incredible tool to have a blast on. As long as you’re staying away from icier conditions, you’re going to have a lot of good times and a lot of big smiles on this board.