I hiked toward the Continental Divide, perched above the back bowls of Copper Mountain, and took in the Tenmile Range. Up ahead, the snow-covered, teepee-like heights of Peak 1 (12,805 ft), Peak 2 (13,580 ft, and Peak 6 (12,573 ft) unfolded before me. Then, as I reached the Ski Patrol shack, I noticed something: the gate above Atlantic Cornice was open.
There, a 1,204 vertical foot face with a roughly 25% incline awaited. With the morning sun at maturity and the snow softening, I dropped in, the pitch appearing like a rollercoaster drop. I made wide, cautious turns. My snowboard, the Jones Howler ($699.99), offered reassuring stability and plowed through powdered sugar-like mounds.
My heart pounded, and my quads burned. My torso seemed parallel with the mountain as I hopped from turn to turn. But I found a flow. And once I did, I surfed the face instead of negotiating it. Part of that was due to the Howler, a board made for technical terrain. Here’s my review.
Design: Competition DNA, All-Mountain Heart
For the Howler’s design, Jones Snowboards turned to two leading freeriders: Freeride World Tour (FWT) Champion, Victor de la Rue, and Natural Selection Tour Winner, Elena Hight. With their input, the company created a board that blends technical performance with a creative spirit.
From Jones Snowboards:
The Howler is a next-level directional freeride board built for making steep, technical terrain your playground. The minimally tapered directional shape is matched with a hybrid full camber profile that offers insane pop, stability, and edge hold. Designed in collaboration with Victor De Le Rue and Elena Hight, the Howler is ready to float down spine lines and stomp huge airs with authority.
Key to the shape is a camber-heavy profile for grip, 3D base contours for float, minimal taper (8mm) for balance, and a mid-stiff flex (4/5). Additional details include a Power Core, Bcomp Carbon Flax Stringers for vibration absorption, and Koroyd Synthetic Core material for dampness and weight reduction. As with all Jones Snowboards products, there’s an emphasis on sustainability, with a Premium Eco Topsheet, Recycled Steel Edges, and Recycled ABS sidewalls.
The graphics feature a shadowy black-and-white mist on the topsheet, with a neon green wolf howling at the moon. The base continues the vibrant, yet mysterious, green-black theme
Pros
• Stability across terrain
• Carving ability
• Powder float
• Balanced freestyle feel
Cons
- 27 cm width delays edge changes
How I Tested the Jones Howler
A board like the Jones Howler deserved a thorough test, so I took a three-day adventure to Colorado. There, I rode at Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain, and Vail, while exploring groomers, steeps, glades, and powder. I spent over 13 hours riding and covered around 78K vertical feet.
At A-Basin, I slashed down Pallavicini’s roughly 40-degree incline, carved mach-speed turns on Copper’s morning groomers, and surfed through powder on Vail’s Baccarat. I’m 6’1”, 180 lbs, and rode a Howler 163W, size 11.5 ThirtyTwo Austen Sweeten BOA boots, and size XL Nidecker Supermatic LT bindings.
Snow Performance: Composed in Any Situation
The first day in Colorado, I took the Howler across A-Basin’s open layout, where crunchy, firm morning snow let the board show its appetite for speed. On the open swath of Lenawee Face, the board’s cambered profile locked into turns, and the mid-stiff flex stayed calm at speed
Later that day, Ski Patrol opened Pallavicini, where a 1,329 ft drop and up to 40% incline awaited. It was late afternoon, snow mist howled over the ridgeline, and I dropped into a natural gully, the board’s nose blasting through leftover concrete-like mounds, and the edges gripped against the slope.
My next stop was Copper, where a perfect sunny morning and endless corduroy let me play Formula 1 driver on the snow. Speeding down runs like Ptarmigan and Bittersweet, the board railed through the grooves, and I threw sprays against the building sunlight.
I also explored steeper terrain like Endeavor and Atlantic Cornice, where I hop-turned and threaded bumps, the board’s sturdy build on display as the edges gouged the hardened surface.
Vail provided an unexpected powder day, and the Howler surprised me with its effortless float. Despite having a camber-focused profile, the diamond-shaped nose and 3D shaping allowed the nose to poke and plane above the roughly 5-inch accumulation, and I surfed down Baccarrat’s roughly 50-yard wide, medium pitch. I took the board into the glades too, where it proved plenty agile between trees.
During the trip, I also threw spins and rode switch, and the board’s twin-like, balanced feel gave it a fun, freestyle board personality. That was refreshing compared to heavily-tapered freeride boards (10mm+), which can feel lopsided during rotations.
Though the Howler provided excellent freeride performance, the 27cm width of my size 163W board sometimes felt sluggish edge-to-edge. I’m traditional, and like longer boards, but recommend following Jones Snowboard’s recommendation, which states “the shape also maximizes effective edge length, allowing the Howler to be ridden shorter than a traditional freeride snowboard.”
Freeride precision, balanced feel
While I could cite specific instances of the Howler’s performance — like composure, edge grip, or float — what really matters is its personality. Across Colorado’s freeride terrain, the board held up again and again, with a character that evoked “I got this.”
Dropping into Pallavicini in a fading sun and gusts howling over the ridge, I knew I had a board that could handle it. Railing across Copper’s early groomers, I could push the speed without fear that the board would wash out. And flowing through Vail’s powder fields, the nose felt like a surfboard flowing through water.
Remember, follow Jones Snowboards’ recommended sizing, and consider riding it a little shorter than your typical board. This is also a stiff, expert-level stick, so if you want something more playful, try the company’s Mountain Twin.
But for precise, imaginative freeriders, the Howler can take you anywhere.
