Jones Women’s Howler Snowboard Review by Jordan

An In Depth Women's Specific Breakdown of the Jones Women’s Howler Rides Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
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How The Jones Women’s Howler Was Tested:

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

Size: 145 & 149
Days: 4+
Conditions: I tested the Jones Women’s Howler’s over multiple days in a variety of conditions in the Pacific Northwest. There were a few days at Mission Ridge and early season conditions. Then I rode in my home mountain, Mount Bachelor, in sort of mid to late spring conditions. I was able to get it on groomed, some perfect groomed as well as some slush set up slush, as well as some icy conditions.

Rider: Jordan (Size 8, 5’6”, 135lbs). I’ve tested and compared 100+ boards over the years
Boots: Salomon Dialog
Bindings: Union Trilogy, Union Women’s Ultra
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.

Jordan’s Set Up

19” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-9. Close to Reference.

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Sizing

So I was able to get on two different sizes of this board. I was able to get on the 145 here in my home Mount Bachelor and the 148 at Mission Ridge. Of the two, my preference was for the larger size as it felt more stable in more variable conditions. The board is available in a 145, a 148, and a larger size of a 151. The waist width is 24.2 for the 145 and 24.5 for the 148.

This accommodates a wide range of shoe sizes from six to ideally about a size eight, but can go up to a women’s size nine if necessary.

If you do have a larger foot size, they do also make a men’s Howler with a wider waist width. Or you can jump up to that 151, which will allow up to a max of a women’s size ten. The weight range on that 145 is 100 pounds to 150-pound rider. When you jump up to the 148, it just increases that by about 10 pounds. My weight is 130lbs resting weight, but when I ride, I have a tendency to ride a little bit more powerful. I like a board that sits sort of right in the middle of that weight range for me. I usually look at about 140–145 pounds. That 148 accommodates that weight a little bit better.

Shape / Setback

The Jones Womens Howler has a directional freeride shape that includes pretty significant taper of about eight millimeters. The Howler is set back on sidecut about two centimeters, and also set back on board at a reference stance of 19.3 about two inches. If you do set this back all the way to the furthest inserts, it increases your stance width a little bit to 20.1, but gives you 3.125 inches of extra nose.

This is pretty great considering that Jones has in the past been notorious for having a really wide reference stance. I’m happy to see that those reference stances are shrinking. They’re going a little bit narrower for women riders who don’t like to ride shot wide.

Camber / On Snow Feel

The camber profile is where the Jones Womens Howler really gets interesting. It’s almost a full high camber with early rise in the tip and tail. What is interesting about this camber is that it actually starts in the nose, increases to the midline of the board, and then maintains that high camber all the way to the tail. This essentially means that the peak of the camber extends through the whole back of the board instead of being centered. It is set all the way back and has a large peak that needs a lot of power to flex through.

This gives the board incredible stability in steep terrain that can make the board feel a little squirrely if centered or forward on the board, especially in lower angled terrain. The board never really felt catchy on smooth terrain, but the camber did make the board want to come out from behind me if I didn’t weight it significantly in that back foot. I did lose control over my turn initiation a couple times because I was trying to figure out where my weight needed to be on the board, causing me to crash on multiple occasions.

Due to the complexity of that camber profile coupled with the stiff flex in the tip and tail, I recommend this board for advanced to expert riders who are looking to get out into steep, technical terrain or are inherently back foot dominant in their riding style, or maybe a little bit more of a heavier rider.

Edge Hold

When properly weighted, the Jones Womens Howler has exceptional edge hold. I was able to lock it in on carves and maintain hold during a variety of turning radius. Again, this was highly dependent on the rider’s ability to maintain a back foot dominant riding style. If the weight was transferred forward at all, it reduced the edge hold and changed the board’s ability to lock in.

Flex Personality

Let’s talk about the flex on this. The board actually has a really interesting flex because of that setback camber. What you’re going to find with this board is that it feels pretty flexible through the middle of the board, but if you start to get to the tail, it gets much, much stiffer. That’s because the primary part of this camber is towards the tail. You’re going to get a lot of structure and stiffness in the tail, whereas the nose is much softer and surfier.

That variation in stiffness is what gives the Jones Womens Howler its unique personality and makes it a very distinct ride.

Butters & Ollies

This board was a challenging board to butter and to ollie due to the amount of accommodation I had to do to ride this board. When I was able to get the board off the ground, I was challenged again by trying to lean back foot dominant. If I was in steep terrain where back heavy riding is more natural, I imagine this board would perform wonderfully in butters and air.

Uneven Snow

Not every board is designed for every rider, and I have no shame to admit that this board and I didn’t really align when it came to uneven snow. I did not have a great experience when riding the board in soft, uneven snow or on lower angled terrain. Given the shape and the camber profile, the board was kind of hard to control. The board requires a heavy back foot, and when it hit uneven snow, it felt slippery and even a little bit catchy.

On many occasions, I found myself trying to pull the board back underneath me, and many times I failed and actually landed on my butt. I’ve been riding for almost 30 years. I’ve ridden a lot of snowboards, and it’s always a little discouraging to get on a board that makes you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing.

This board does mimic its directional twin counterpart, the Airheart, in construction and includes a cork insert in the nose of the board. This increases dampening when charging through uneven snow. I wish that I felt more stable in the terrain and the conditions that I have access to because I imagine in steep conditions this board would have ridden much better, and I would have felt a little bit more comfortable on it.

Turning/Carving

Once you figure out how the Jones Womens Howler wants to be ridden, it’s a fun turning experience on smooth conditions. This board requires not only an experienced rider but a self-aware rider as well because it’s a back-heavy ride. As the rider is unable to shift their riding style to be back heavy, and they stay there on the back of the board, it’ll actually start to shift forward and try to take over.

It’s an interesting challenge of staying in the back, loading that camber in the back foot while also trying to maintain control and not really shifting your weight forward in the turns like I usually do. When the riding does come together to compliment the board, the turning is quick, powerful, and precise. I was able to lay down a tight, fast carve with ease and maintain it at high speed while doing it.

Base Glide

The Howler has a mid-level sidecut radius of 7.4 on the smaller board, the 145, and 7.6 on the 148. This lends itself to a pretty versatile turning experience. You couple that with a fast centered base that you see on all the Jones boards, and the Jones Womens Howler is a fun turning board if you can get over the back leg pump at the end of the run. We receive our boards with factory wax, and it felt good as is, but benefited from condition-specific wax. That sintered base thrives when you give it regular maintenance and waxing.

Powder

I was unable to get this board in true powder conditions becaus I didn’t get it tlll late spring. The early conditions I had at Mission Ridge were just groomed. But given the mild taper, early rise in the nose, as well as the already back dominant camber and the back dominant riding that you usually do in powder conditions, I think this board would perform well in deeper conditions, especially in untracked, smooth, steep powder.

Again, this board was designed to be a steep terrain board. I got a chance to talk to one of the Jones riders, Marissa, who is a local here in Bend, and asked her about the Howler. It turns out it’s actually her go-to board for steep, consequential terrain. Obviously, the board is designed for a specific demographic, and she fits right in as she is a big mountain rider.

I acknowledge that my review is limited based on the terrain that I have access to, Mount Bachelor, which is devoid of true big mountain lines. I can only speak to the riding experience in mid to low angle terrain, but I imagine a lot of our viewers are probably in a situation where they either don’t have access to steep conditions or they’re not comfortable going there. So just know that the Jones Womens Howler really does have a specific demographic in mind.

Final Thoughts

I feel very fortunate to have access to next year’s boards. It helps me give you an honest and objective opinion of what I experienced. On paper, the Howler appeared to be a directional version of one of my favorite snowboards to date, the Airheart. In reality, it fell a little short in my ability and my experience to accommodate and navigate the board. This is not to say that the board doesn’t have a place in your quiver. It’s just a very specific demographic.

It is an aggressive, high camber, directional freeride board that requires the rider to be in steep, big mountain terrain or to have a back foot dominant riding style. It was not an easy board to adapt to, especially for someone like myself who doesn’t have access to big lines and tends to ride centered or even more front foot heavy. When the stars aligned and I was able to ride the board the way it wanted, it really was a fun experience. It turns on a dime and it holds an edge so well. I found myself almost kissing the ground. But not every board is made for every rider, and this is a perfect example of that.