Welcome to this SnowboardingProfiles.com snowboard review. This review will assess the Jones Women’s Flagship as a women’s freeride board.
NB: The Women’s Flagship was the called the Jones Mothership in 2014 and before that. It was renamed for the 2015 model and has kept the name for the 2016 model.
Overall Rating for the Flagship
Board: Jones Women’s Flagship
Price: $599 (USD recommended retail)
Style: Women’s Freeride
Flex: Medium Stiff – 7 out of 10 (with 10 being the stiffest possible)
Rating Score: 86.1/100
Compared to other Women’s Freeride Boards
Of the women’s freeride snowboards that I rated:
- I looked at 10 different women’s freeride boards
- The average score was 79.1/100
- The highest score was 91.7/100
- The lowest score was 63.9/100
- The average price was $530
- The Women’s Flagship ranked 2nd out of 10.
Overview of the Flagship’s Specs
Below are the specs and available sizes for the Women’s Flagship. You may want to refer to these as we go through in more detail.
Specs
Style: | Freeride | Flex: | Medium Stiff | |
Ability Level: | Advanced to Expert | Weight: | Feels quite heavy | |
Shape: | Tapered Directional | Camber Profile: | Hybrid Camber | |
Stance: | Setback 20mm, 30mm or 50mm depending on the size | Responsiveness: | Medium-Fast | |
Feel: | Stable | Edge-hold: | Up to Hard Snow Conditions |
Sizing
The flagship comes in three different lengths.
Size (Length) | 148 | 152 | 156 |
Waist Width (mm) | 239 | 241 | 245 |
Weight Range (lbs) | 100-150 | 110-160 | 120-170 |
Weight Range (kgs) | 45-68 | 50-73 | 54-77 |
Who is the Flagship Most Suited to?
The Women’s Flagship is a freeride snowboard designed specifically for women.
So if you like to carve it up with aggressive lines, like to live in varied terrain including in the backcountry, tree runs, chutes etc and if you have a need for speed and would do anything for a powder day – then the Flagship will be an aweseme companion for you.
Of course you should also make sure that one of the sizes is suitable for you.
Details of the Flagship’s Performance
O.k. let’s take a look at some of the details, before we look at the score breakdown.
Powder
This board was born to ride the pow!
And it’s no surprise that’s the case given its hybrid camber profile. There is a longer rocker section towards the nose that helps keep this board floating nicely on top of the soft stuff.
The setback stance (20mm on the 148, 30mm on the 152 and 50mm on the 156) also means that float in powder is made effortless.
Carving
If carving was like sprinting for a snowboard, then the Women’s Flagship would be like Usain Bolt!
Part of the Flagship’s carving prowess is down to the camber sections in its hybrid camber profile. Those camber sections underfoot allow for greater edge-hold and stability at speed.
Another reason is the stiffness of the flagship. With a 7 out of 10 flex ratings this is one of the stiffest women’s boards going around. That’s definitely going to help it hold on when carving – and will make the board very aggressive.
Speed
Thinking again of Usain Bolt, the same metaphor can be used for the speed of this board – except maybe this time it’s even more relevant!
The Flagship derives much of its speed from its sintered 9900 base. But perhaps more importantly it’s the stability at speed that is most impressive on this board.
The Final Verdict and Score Breakdown
O.k. let’s check out how the Flagship scored in each of the different areas. The most important freeride areas have been discussed in more detail above.
FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
Carving: | 4.5 | 27/30 |
Powder: | 4.5 | 18/20 |
Speed: | 4.5 | 18/20 |
Uneven Terrain: | 2.5 | 7.5/15 |
Jumps: | 2.5 | 5/10 |
Switch: | 2.0 | 2/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 86.1/100 |
Well I think the final verdict is pretty obvious with this one. If you’re an aggressive rider who likes to ride hard and who likes to explore new interesting terrain then the Women’s Flagship should definitely be on your radar.
Wondering about your results. Hybrid Camber and Hybrid Rocker means a completely different ride (like mentioned in “Some Additional Specs”). So not inly Setback should be the difference by thinking about which board!
Best Regards from Germany
Laura
Hi Laura – you’re absolutely right. The two boards will feel very different because of their different camber profiles.
Personally I think the Hybrid Camber is the better camber profile for the free-rider. This is because the camber underfoot should help with edge-hold and stability at higher speeds – and the rocker towards tip and tail is good for float in powder.
THe Hybrid Rocker will have a looser feel. But is not totally unwanted the rocker underfoot though might give it a looser feel it will help with powder float and the camber outside the inserts will assist with edge-hold. So either way around would work but in my opinion the Hybrid Camber works better and I prefer the hybrid rocker more for freestyle. But a lot of people like the hybrid rocker for free-riding so I think a lot of it comes down to personal preference. The fact they make quite a few free-ride boards in Hybrid rocker also suggests this isn’t a bad camber profile for freeriding.
Whilst you can get some freeride boards in traditional camber and full rocker these wouldn’t be the ones I go with. The majority of freeride boards are Hybrid Camber – but (like the GNU Beauty in this review) the next most popular profile is the Hybrid Rocker.
Thanks for visiting and thanks for pointing this out. I may add something surrounding this in the review because you are right this is deifinitely a consideration.
I’m not a snowboarder but would find it difficult to choose between The Jones Mothership Snowboard and the GNU Beauty. Your post is a very useful one for those who’re struggling to make up their minds! 🙂
Hey Kathy – definitely a tough choice between these two boards!
Very clean and non cluttered set up of your website. I’ve never been snowboarding before but would certainly love to try it sometime. This is a very good comprehensive review with a lot of thought put into it. I like the pictorial snowboarding graphics for each of the reviewed boards on the page. As I said earlier even for a non snowboarding person I enjoyed reading your page. Well Done
Hey John – thanks for the feedback! Appreciate it even if you are not a snowboarder….yet 🙂
Thank you for the comprehensive review of two great boards. The site looks great too!
Regards,
Donna
Hi Donna – thanks for your input. It was definitely tough to choose the best board in this one!