Hello and welcome to my Jones Frontier review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Frontier as an all-mountain snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Frontier a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other all-mountain snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Jones Frontier 2024
Price: $499
Style: All-Mountain
Flex Rating: Medium (6/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (6/10)
Rating Score: 84.9/100
Compared to other Men’s All-Mountain Boards
Out of the 37 men’s all-mountain snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Frontier’ Specs
Check out the tables for the Frontier’s specs and available sizes.
STYLE:
ALL-MOUNTAIN
PRICE:
$499 - BUYING OPTIONS
$499 - BUYING OPTIONS
Ability Level:
flex:
feel:
DAMPNESS:
SMOOTH /SNAPPY:
Playful /aggressive:
Edge-hold:
camber profile:
HYBRID CAMBER
DIRECTIONAL HYBRID Camber - Jones's "Directional Rocker" - has rocker in both tip and tail (unlike the diagram above) but more rocker in the tip than the tail.
SHAPE:
setback stance:
Setback 20mm
BASE:
Sintered | Jones's "Sintered 8000" base.
weight:
Felt normal
Camber Height:
4mm
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
152 | 249 | 110 - 160 | 50-73 |
156 | 252 | 120 - 170 | 54-77 |
158W | 262 | 140 - 190 | 64-86 |
159 | 254 | 140 - 190 | 64-86 |
161W | 264 | 150 - 200 | 68-91 |
162 | 256 | 160 - 210 | 73-95 |
164W | 266 | 170 - 220 | 77-100 |
165 | 260 | 170 - 220 | 77-100 |
167W | 268 | 170 - 220 | 77-100 |
Who is the Frontier Most Suited To?
The Frontier is best suited to anyone looking for that board that's on the freeride end of all-mountain but don't want a full blown freeride board. They want something that's more optimized towards riding in one direction, but can still ride switch decently. And something that's pretty forgiving and easy to ride and not overly stiff or demanding.
Not quite complete beginner friendly, but would work well for lower end intermediate riders, looking for a board they can progress with and won't have to update for a long time, if ever, depending on how their riding develops.
Frontier DetailS
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Frontier is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Jones Frontier 2024, 159cm (254mm waist width)
Date: April 12, 2023
Conditions:
Plenty of sunshine and prefect visibility.
Temperature was around -3°C (27°F) - and -8°C (18°F) with wind chill. Though felt warmer than that. In the afternoon was -1°C (30°F) and the same with wind chill.
Morning wind 5kph (mph) northerly, afternoon also 5kph (3mph) but WSW.
24hr snow: 5" (13cm)
48hr snow: 6" (16cm)
7 day snow: 32" (82cm)
On groomer: Choppy in a lot of spots, flat and smooth in others. Hard pack with some soft on top.
Off groomer: Freshies! Largely tracked but some good untouched spots too. Nice and soft and light poweder too.
Set Up
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 560mm (22) - reference is 600mm (23.6") but that's too wide for me.
Stance Setback: Setback 20mm (0.75")
Width at Front Insert: 268mm (10.55") at 560mm (22") stance (270mm (10.63") at 600mm (23.6") stance).
Width at Back Insert: 272mm (10.71") at 560mm (22") stance (274mm (10.79") at 600mm (23.6") stance).
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 180lbs
Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Response ADV
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Weight: 3220grams (7lbs 2oz)
Weight per cm: 20.25 grams/cm
Average Weight per cm: 18.71 grams/cm*
*based on a sample size of around 250 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 models. The Frontier was noticeably heavier on the scales but surprisingly felt normal on snow.
Powder
We had a decent amount of fresh powder on the day, which was nice. It wasn't waist deep epic or anything, but it was decent enough and the Frontier felt good in it. Floats better than most all-mountain boards I've tested.
And no big surprise there - it's got a directional camber profiles, directional shape and has rocker before the nose.
Carving
It's not epic for deep aggressive carves, but it's a decent carver. Holds an edge well and doesn't feel washy.
Turning
Ease of Turning/Slashing: Nice and easy to initiate turns on and easy to release the edges to slash with.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Pretty nimble at slow speeds. Has decent edge-to-edge quickness.
Catchiness: Nice and uncatchy.
Speed
It's not an out and out bomber that you can throw any amount of speed at and wasn't expected to be. But it's decent enough for moderately high speeds. You can confidently ride this thing pretty fast.
Uneven Terrain
Crud/Chunder: It can get knocked about and thrown off its line, but it's not something that happens super easily. Pretty middle of road for crud.
Trees/Bumps: I really enjoyed it in trees. It's decently nimble and easy to weave between obstacles with. And does well when there's powder in the trees too.
Jumps
It was easy to setup with and I enjoyed it for jumping for the most part. But wasn't super exciting or anything.
Pop: It was nice and easy to access the pop that it did have - just didn't have a lot of it.
Approach: A good mix of being stable but also easy to adjust and speed check.
Landing: Solid enough, without being a stomper. Doesn't punish you too badly if you get it wrong though.
Side-hits: Pretty fun for sidehits. That easier pop, all-be-it mild pop, and agility helped it to perform well on side hits.
Small jumps/Big jumps: Medium are its sweet spot.
Switch
Transitions were nice and easy and felt uncatchy. But the board is quite directional and did feel quite different riding switch.
Spins
Decent for setting up for spins. Not ideal for landing/taking off switch but not bad either. Not enough pop to be exciting to spin though.
Jibbing
It's decent enough. Good for setting up on approach and didn't feel catchy on features or anything. But lacking the pop to be really good.
Butters
Was pretty to easy to press both the nose and the tail. Nose and tail felt a little different to press, but not crazy different or anything.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | SCORE WEIGHTING | |
|---|---|---|
POWDER | 4.0 | 12/15 |
CARVING | 3.5 | 7/10 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
SPEED | 3.5 | 7/10 |
CRUD/CHUNDER | 3.5 | 7/10 |
TREES/BUMPS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
SWITCH | 3.0 | 6/10 |
JUMPS | 3.0 | 6/10 |
SPINS | 3.0 | 3/5 |
BUTTERS | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
JIBBING | 3.0 | 3/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 84.9/100 |
The Frontier straddles that gap between all-mountain and freeride, but it's more forgiving than the average freeride board - so more between all-mountain and what we would call "mellow freeride". It's two-ender enough to still be OK riding switch, but it's quite directional overall, but without any taper (tip and tail the same width).
It handles carves and speed well enough, whilst at the same time being pretty easy to ride and to initiate turns on.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Frontier, or if you are ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
If you want to check out some other all-mountain snowboard options, or if you want to compare how the Frontier compares to other all-mountain snowboards, then check out the next link.
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