Jones Flagship - 2011
Despite having similar aesthetics to the Experience, Jeremy’s pro model at Rossignol, Jeremy is keen to stress that the Flagship is the evolution of his work at Rossignol, the next step. Blunted tips and tails reduce the effect of drag in fresh snow, directional Camrock helps cut down the risk of catching an edge and makes initiating turns at slower speeds a piece of pie. Convinced that full Magnetraction edges were too aggressive for smooth riding, Jeremy has pioneered Mellow Mag, providing the extra grip in the case of an emergency, Carbon & Kevlar reinforcement reduces chatter and provides the guts for stomping monster cliff drops. Jeremy is also the founder of the POW (Protect Our Winters) charity, you can rest assured a huge amount of time and effort have gone into creating a sustainable and green option for big mountain shredders, the Flagship leads by example in this department.
Manufacturer's Description:
The premier big mountain weapon.Ideal for speed, stability, stomping airs, charging down the mountain. The apex of 25 years of freeriding experience, rigorous testing, and the latest construction technologies, the Flagship is a battle proven weapon for all-mountain attacks. The Flagship combines Magne-Traction, directional rocker and camber underfoot for the highest overall performance in even the most demanding terrain and conditions.
Jeremy Jones’ Thoughts:- Stepping into the mountains you never know what you’re going to encounter. The first two turns may be waist deep followed by ice through the crux and chop in the outrun. The Flagship is my go-to board for fast and confident freeriding in any conditions. I have designed this board with directional rocker and a blunted nose to keep the tip up in the deepest of snow, camber underfoot and Magne-Traction for edging on ice, a longer radius sidecut for speed and railing turns, a shortened running length for maneuverability in tight spaces, and a freestyle tail to land switch in powder. This board has no speed limit and no boundaries. This is the Flagship of our line and my life’s work - the ultimate freeride board. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself thanking this board at the bottom of a line.
Recommended for freeride riding.
Recommended for big mountain riding.
High cost $
Available in MidWide.
Rocker Construction.
Freeride Specific.
Green or Eco Friendly Construction.
Year: 2011
Available Lengths (cm):
158, 161, 164, 162W, 168W
Riding Style: Freeride
Specifications:
Full FSC sourced Poplar and Beech wood core
Wood Veneer Topsheet
Reclaimed Hickory Wood sidewalls
High Grade recycled sintered base
Directional Camrock rocker
Blunted Nose and Tail
Mellow Magnetraction
Carbon & Kevlar Reinforcement
Similar boards: Rossignol Experience MagTek - 2011 Never Summer Raptor & Raptor X - 2011 Nitro Pantera LX - 2011 Compatriot Commissioner - 2011 Salomon Burner - 2011
Snowboard Review:
It wouldn’t be right to test the Flagship without a healthy helping of powder.. although the weather on the board test was nothing less than consistently appalling, we did have the benefit of a Wednesday evening dump. The car park was filling up as we arrived at Kaunertal, boots laced up and tight… check… liftpass… check… goggles and gloves… yep. I was all sorted, so I ran down to the TSA tent and pounced on the Jones Flagship. Jeremy and Nidecker deserve some serious credit for producing such a cool looking board, the untreated wood veneer topsheet and Hickory hard wood sidewalls just ooze class. After hurriedly mounting my bindings I ran to the gondola and peered though the windows at the infinite lines below.
Strapping into the Flagship, you immediately notice how setback the stance is, how the nose of the board is relatively stiff and the tail although still firm is little bit softer. Tight turns felt easy to initiate and grip was impressive even on harder conditions, I really enjoyed the transition between edges… this board loves being turned. So the Jones Flagship likes being turned, but it’s also a board that Jeremy and his Jones team mates use when they’re turning up the speed to eleven. As soon as I released the reigns and started charging, the Flagship was in it’s element. Straight lining steep terrain was a bit of a doddle and in the pow I felt like I was flying. As I mentioned before, I was testing the flagship on 12 inches of fresh heavy snow. The rockered nose worked well, staying catch free with absolutely no worry about going over the handlebars or sub-marining, even in the afternoon when the snow was tracked and choppy. So you’ll hear lots of reasons for using Camrock, sure it helps with float and helps with straight line confidence, for me the main reason for Camrock is to make the board more agile regardless of the boards stiffness. If the Flagship was like Jeremy’s old cambered decks on Rossi, then I’m sure it would be a bit of a handful, but it isn’t at all. I really believe that if you can carve, then you’ll get on with the Flagship.
I’ve got to give Jeremy credit for the Flagship. The Flagship is agile, the Camrock works brilliantly to help even inexperienced riders initiate tight turns super easily and the slight Magnetraction and firm torsional flex holds carves like a vice. When you crank up the speed the firm flex and camber between the bindings means the Flagship holds long carves well and when the snow gets choppy the nose rises up and the board is damp enough to deal with those unwanted vibrations. One of the best qualities of the Flagship was that it stomped powder landings on command… although I won’t be dropping any 40ft Jeremy Jones size cliffs in the near future, the Flagship certainly goes some way to explaining how the living legend does it.
Posted by Rich Ewbank in • Jones
User Snowboard Reviews
Want some advice, or have a question about the Jones Flagship snowboard, or whether it is right for you? DON'T POST HERE! Head over to our snowboard forums and our community will be happy to help.
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However, if you have ridden this snowboard and want to share your feedback, then please add your experience below. It helps to add as much detail as possible, e.g board length you used, bindings, rider stats etc.
on December 18, 2010 at 01:15 AM
@fredol - yeah despite the minor issues with the topsheet durability, I really like the board - I have the 161, I am about 5’11” and 185lbs (maybe 190lbs around xmas :D). It was between the 161 and 164 for me as well… in the end I decided that the 161 might be a tad nimbler for the trees and tight maneuvers, but in all honesty having ridden it a few times now, I dont think there would be too much difference on that front - i think either would work well for you.
@Rich Yeah I understand that they wanted to keep the board low impact and taking a pound of plastic of the top is a good thing on that front. But like you said, not much point if people are going to have to end up applying there own top sheet finish anyway. Don’t get me wrong I still love the board… I am just hoping it holds up until I get a chance to find some time to sort out the top sheet - more of a hassle that i don’t feel you should really have to deal with on a high end board.
on December 18, 2010 at 07:20 PM
Rich, The specs on the board are 20mm setback.
When you rode it, how did you run it with the setback?
Nose 2cm longer than tail?
on December 18, 2010 at 11:33 PM
Hey Rich, the wood on the Flagship does seem to be treated, it repelled some water I put on it. Supposedly they treated it with linseed oil or something of that sort. I think the problem is mostly under the bindings, the vibrations tear up the topsheet and allow water to creep in especially if the bindings stay on because the water just sits. My question is if my bindings have padding and the metal base does not actually touch the board, would that solve the problem? I don’t really want to have to apply my own varnish but I will if I have to. Also - if I take the bindings off after each day out and let it dry out might that be a fixer?
on December 19, 2010 at 10:41 AM
JW - I beleive when it says setback 2cm it means the inserts are set back in relation to the sidecut by that much. The nose kick is actually 6cm longer than the tail so in twin terms it’s set back 8cm. The Setback stance just helps you to naturally move more weight to the back of the boards for increased float and increased stability on choppy snow.
Andrew - Actually I didn’t know that the Flagship had been treated with a linsead oil are you sure it’s not linseed fibres used in the construction? If it’s the case, it changes things quite a bit because I don’t know how well a varnish is going to take to a wood that’s been oiled. Also when I saw the watermark onm the board, it had been stood up with the end grain stuck in slushy snow… wodd takes water much more readily at the end grain. If you’re convinced that’s it’s the bindings damaging the topsheet that’s causing the topsheet to take in water (Although a linseed oil should penetrate into the wood and prevent most of it from taking on water) then a binding with some kind of rubber dampening between the baseplate and the board should do the trick. My Drake Supersports and Czars both have a rubber dampening layer.
on December 19, 2010 at 10:55 AM
I’ve emailed Jones Snowboards to find out if in-fact the Flagship has been treated already with an oil and for any suggestions on how to prevent the problem. I’ll post their answer as soon as (and if) I get a reply.
on December 19, 2010 at 04:43 PM
Take a look. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tvj/5213658912/
All the pro-riders seem to love theirs, but I’m curious if their pre-production models were treated differently….
on December 19, 2010 at 05:11 PM
Yep that’s definitely at the bindings… pretty conclusive that picture;) Ok so I guess it’s wait and see what Jones Snowboards say in their reply. I’m sure the damage is superficial but still you don’t want a board looking tatty after a week or two of riding. I wonder if cutting some 1mm thick rubber sheeting to the footprint of your binding and sandwiching it between the binding and the board would help? You could buy it on ebay for peanuts… probably worth a go.
on December 19, 2010 at 06:04 PM
I’m running 7.5 cm longer nose than tail
on December 20, 2010 at 01:36 PM
I took the Flagship out for the first time this Saturday. Despite the high expectations I had from the reviews on this site I was very impressed with the performance of the board. Effortless float in powder, it just goes without needing a weight shift towards the back. Very very stable at high speed, feels like it can take whatever you give it and more. Amazing stability in bumpy snow and heavily tracked powder, it goes where you point it. The stiff nose works wonders in this respect. Holds a great edge in hardpack. Didn’t find any ice, so I cant comment on that. The only negative thing I found was that it needed a tiny bit more effort to initiate a turn compared to my supermodel. Nothing you cant get used to in 10 minutes though. Overall an amazing board. May be I ve been riding the wrong boards for years but the performance of the Flagship is way beyond anything else I ve tried.
Rich, looking forward to the reply from jones on the topsheet. It would be a shame to have durability issues on such an incredible board. Thanks again!
on December 20, 2010 at 05:00 PM
Etsi, stoked you are loving your new board.
No word from Jones Snowboards yet, but the day is just breaking in the US so I’m sure they’ll get back to me at some point.
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