YES Jackpot Review: Freestyle Snowboard Review

Who is the Jackpot Most Suited To?

The Jackpot is a freestyle board, bordering on all-mountain-freestyle. Perfect for anyone who likes to spend a lot of time in the park but who also likes to leave the park, lay down some carves and pick up some speed.

The 2021 model got an overhaul and is now traditional camber (or what YES call "modern camber"), where it was hybrid rocker last year. It feels marginally stiffer too, though still not as stiff as what YES rates it, IMO. 

Not really suitable as a beginner board – but for intermediate and up it's a great option.

It’s also great in hard and icy snow conditions, so if you encounter those a lot, then this is a great option.

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 585mm (23″)

Stance Setback: Centered

Width at Inserts: 271mm (10.67") 

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 175lbs

Rider Boot Size: US10 Salomon Lo-Fi

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M 

Weight: 2820grams (6lb 3oz)

Weight per cm: 18.08 grams/cm

Average Weight per cm: 18.36 grams/cm*

*based on a small sample size of around 80 boards that I've weighed in 2019, 2020 & 2021 models. So, bang on average for actual weight and felt about average weight on snow.   

Other Testing Notes

I tested the 2020 model of this board - so usually I wouldn't retest the very next year. But if there are significant changes to a board then I do try to retest. The Jackpot changed enough, so I retested the 2021 model. See the end of this section for the specific changes. 

I tested the 2021 model alongside the new YES Dicey, which is a very similar board, but a little softer and with the same camber profile as the 2020 YES Jackpot (R2-C4-R2).

Damp or Chattery?

Pretty much in the middle of the scale here. Just a hair more damp feeling than the Dicey. 

Smooth or Snappy?

Snappy for sure! A fair way up the snappy scale. Just a hair less snappy than the Dicey. 

Powder

Was fine in the small amount of powder that had accumulated while I was riding, but didn't get heaps to test it in. Based on specs and how past models felt in powder, it wouldn't be amazing in anything too deep. 

Carving & Turning

Regular Turns: snappy and fun like on dicey but maybe just a hair less snappy than dicey

Skidding Turns: Was actually OK for a traditional camber board but not quite as easy as dicey

Carves: Just that little bit more on a carve vs Dicey, in terms of getting it lower and longer and how it held it's edge. For a predominantly freestyle board a very good carver, IMO. 

Maneuverability at slower speeds: just a 1/4 step less nimble than dicey but still super nimble

Speed

Like with carving, the Jackpot performs really well at speed for a predominantly park board. 

Uneven Terrain

Really good in bumps. It's nimble enough to weave well and powerful enough to charge through. 

Could feel the chatter a bit in crud, but overall very good at negotiating both bumpy terrain and crud. 

Let’s Break up this text with a Video

Jumps

The Jackpot was a good jumper before, but with the upgrades for the 2020 model, it got even better. And now for the 2021 model it somehow got better again. This is a jumping machine - fun, snappy, poppy and a stomper on landings.  

Pop: Great pop - feels dynamic and snappy. Has just that little bit more pop vs the Dicey and just that little bit more effort needed to extract it - but overall the pop is really easy to extract. 

Approach: A great balance between being nimble and stable and the approach just feels perfect for all sized jumps. 

Landing: Can really stomp your landing on this board. But it's also not so unforgiving that it destroys when you don't stomp it. So basically ideal. Also because it's a little wider, has that nice wide landing platform. 

Side-hits: Super fun! Nimble, with easy pop and forgiving on rougher landings. 

Small Jumps/Big Jumps: If I had to say, then I'd say medium jumps are the sweet spot, but it performs well on all sized jumps.  

Switch

Really really good riding switch. 

Spins

Nice and easy to get the spin around - the 2021 Jackpot is a good bit lighter than the 2020 model, so that certainly helps. That plus nice pop, which is pretty easy to access, and great for taking off and landing switch, make this board a great spinner. 

Jibbing

It's not a jibbing master, but it's above average there. I'm not a strong jibber but I still felt fairly comfortable jibbing on the Jackpot. 

Butters

Not as buttery as the likes of the Basic and Typo. But still nice and buttery as YES boards tend to be. The 2021 model didn't seem to loose any of it's buttery-ness (that's a word right?!) - despite overall feeling a little stiffer, and having no rocker tip and tail. 

Changes from the 2020 Model

The main change for the 2021 model was the camber profile it went from a rocker-camber-rocker (2-4-2) to all camber (4mm). As far as I can tell that's the main difference vs the 2020 model. 

Changes from the 2019 Model

The 2020 model underwent a couple of major changes, namely: 

1. It is wider overall. From waist to inserts to tip/tail. E.g the 2019 156 has waist, inserts, tip/tail of 252mm, 264mm, 297mm and the 2020 156 has 254mm, 270mm, 305mm. So whilst the waist width is only 2mm wider, the width at inserts is 6mm wider and the width tip and tail is 8mm wider. Quite significant overall. 

2. They adjusted the midbite and sidecut radius. E.g. 2019 156 had a 8.10m sidecut radius vs the 2020 156 with a 7.2m sidecut radius.   

Changes from the 2018 Model

The main change for the 2019 model, compared to the 2018 model is that it now has a 2-4-2 (rocker-camber-rocker) set up for its camber profile. Previously it was 4-4-4, So, there is less rocker there now. This gives the board a slightly different,  more camber dominant feel – but certainly still notice those rocker sections so certainly nothing like trad camber.

So, overall it has a slightly more aggressive, slightly more all-mountain-freestyle, less jibby feel to it. But still butters just as well.

Changes from the 2017 Model

The 2018 model is virtually identical to the 2017 model, except that the stance width options have been narrowed (and the graphic has changed).

Overall, the Jackpot is the kind of board that is so good in the park, that it has to be in this category, but is so good over the rest of the mountain too, that it could easily be called an all-mountain-freestyle board. 

It feels dynamic, yet stable (bordering on semi-locked in) underfoot and is just super fun for jumps and spins - but can hold a nice carve and isn't afraid of a little speed. 

The 2021 model has more camber (no rocker tip and tail now) and has changed the personality of the board a little. It's a little more aggressive, but not by a massive amount. It's even better for jumps (and it was already amazing there). Not quite as good in powder, but in terms of a park board, it's an improvement over the 2020 model, if you like things just a little stiffer and a little more aggressive in your park board. 

If you prefer a little softer and a little more forgiving, then the YES Dicey is the way to go (or the 2020 Jackpot).