Jones Snowboards F/W 2026/27 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Snowboards F/W 2026/27 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: JONES
Interviewee: Xavier Nidecker (Jones Brand Manager)

How would you describe the 2024/25 snowboard season in terms of market performance and consumer demand?
For Jones, the 2024/25 season showed solid growth across all our collections – from the Freeride and All-Mountain categories to our Freecarver and Surf Series. The all-mountain category remains a cornerstone of our brand, driven by consumers opting for versatility and trusted performance in sustainably built products. In 24/25, we brought that experience to a wider audience with the Rally Cat and expanded our freestyle range with the women’s Tweaker and men’s Tweaker Pro. Their success highlights a new wave of younger riders turning to Jones for a one-board quiver, backed by our reputation for innovation and build quality.

What major trends are shaping the snowboard market (pricing, consumer preferences, rider demographics, retail shifts)?
A new generation of riders is coming through the ranks, with rising demand among 14-20 year-olds. This trend reinforces our All-Mountain strategy, with models like the Rally Cat and Tweaker showing standout growth. At the same time, we’re seeing a broader shift in consumer behavior. While prices remain a factor, more riders are willing to invest in quality. Proven performance, durability and purpose-driven design take priority over short-term savings. In today’s challenging economic climate, they’re leaning into innovation and sustainability, doing more research before purchasing, and increasingly returning to specialty retail for guidance. We support this mindset through in-store clinics for shop staff and our online Gear 101 hub, which helps riders make confident, informed choices about their snowboard gear.

From changing consumer behavior to tariffs and supply chain stress, what’s been the biggest challenge for your brand recently?
The biggest challenge has been navigating ongoing macroeconomic shifts. From rising raw material and labor costs, to unstable exchange rates and evolving U.S tariffs, the landscape is changing constantly, making it harder to build outside reliable long-term plans. That said, we’re in a strong position thanks to our manufacturing partner, SWS, which is outside China, and only minimally impacted by tariffs. We also keep the U.S and European pricing strategies clearly separated to ensure transparency. Europeans are not bearing the costs of U.S tariffs. Despite the uncertainty, demand for splitboards is rising, and our line is built to meet that momentum.

BRAND FOCUS

What is your brand’s core mission or philosophy, and how does it influence snowboard design and development?
Our mission remains: Rooted in adventure, obsessed with performance, committed to our planet. As Jeremy says, “stagnation is never an option,” and our snowboard line reflects this. We continually look to evolve our existing designs and innovate new ones, but we do this within the context of minimizing environmental impact through sustainable materials, responsible manufacturing, and initiatives that protect the mountains we ride.

How has your brand’s role in the snowboard market evolved in recent years?
Our audience has visibly broadened, but we remain steadfastly committed to our brand foundations and core values. As a barometer for our appeal among younger, all-mountain freestyle riders, sales of the Rally Cat and Tweaker series tell the story: momentum’s up. We’ve also made strides in expanding our youth collection, meeting riders at the very start of their journey with performance boards based on the same designs and constructions as our full-size equivalents. Of course, we still build at the premium end for intermediate-to-expert riders in all categories, and our well-established freeride and splitboard lines are continuously refined and continue to evolve. As a result, Jones is now a brand that serves all genders, ages, abilities, and styles, but still guided by our North Star of performance-driven, high-quality, sustainable design.

Who is your target rider for the 26/27 season, and how has this profile changed compared to the past?
Our target rider shares a demand for performance-driven, sustainably made, high-quality snowboards, regardless of where they spend their time in the mountains. Nowadays, very few riders fit neatly into a single category or specific demographic – often preferring to ride to the conditions and terrain instead. “Change your board, change your mountain” is the philosophy that shapes our line. Every board is built for a distinct, experience-driven feel, so the same mountain can be ridden in a multitude of ways. What’s changed is our breadth, not direction. We’ve expanded the spectrum of riding experiences – from technical big-mountain lines through to slushy resort side hits – while staying true to this philosophy and ensuring every board carries the signature hallmarks expected of a Jones snowboard.

Which product ranges do you expect to drive the most growth in 26/27?
Several categories will drive growth for us in 26/27. The redesigned Tweaker 2.0 boards feature a redesigned outline and updated profile for our most freestyle-focused boards. UK-based artist Shaun Gordon nailed the artwork for this series – they look great and really pop against the mountain backdrop. For riders seeking ultimate performance in powder, the Surf Series gets a new look, with the all-new TwinCraft and the redesigned Mind Expander 2.0. Finally, updates to our Pro Construction are set to renew interest across the Pro models within the Flagship, Tweaker, and Mountain Twin collections.

SNOWBOARD SPECIFIC

What trends or developments in construction, shapes, and innovation are guiding your 26/27 snowboard range?
3D Base Contours are central to how our boards glide, turn, and float—we tune them to each model’s intent. New for 26/27, many boards also feature 3D Flip Tips: the base bevel increases in the nose (and in the tail on more twin-focused shapes) outside the contact points, adding end-to-end stability and reducing hook-up in crust or variable snow. Behind every development lies our “Test, Tweak, Repeat” ethos. Every snowboard – from staples like the Flagship to new shapes like the TwinCraft – is refined through multiple prototypes. Jeremy and the wider team test multiple prototypes. We tune camber profiles, evolve shapes, and refine construction. and we only choose meaningful gains over short-term trends every time – often going into these projects without hard deadlines. While we constantly review how to build more responsibly, we never trade performance or durability in the process.

What new materials or material innovations are you using — inserts, edges, cores, sidewalls, resin, glues, base material, top sheet, wax, or others?
For 26/27, our new Pro Construction combines our most advanced materials to deliver maximum power, precision, and durability. We’ve switched to using to basalt-fiber laminates – derived from volcanic rock – which replace more resource-intensive carbon fiber. It’s a material change that lowers impact without lowering the bar, and keeps the construction at the pinnacle of our offering. Our Pro Construction is configured specifically to the Flagship Pro, Mountain Twin Pro and Tweaker Pro 2.0.

How are you incorporating sustainability and ethical production into your boards (materials, processes, lifecycle, packaging)?
Sustainability is the backbone of Jones, guiding every step of production, but never at the expense of performance or durability. All our snowboards and splitboards are made with 100% solar power and are Fair Trade Certified, ensuring ethical and safe working conditions. We build with high-performance, low-impact materials such as bio-based resins, flax and basalt fibers, and eco topsheets made from bioplastics and castor beans. Innovations like the Mountain Twin Pro’s 50% recycled P-Tex base and the use of reclaimed aerospace-grade carbon in our Ultralight Splits and Project X help keep excess waste out of landfill. Our Re-Up Program – the world’s first snowboard recycling initiative – reclaims used boards and feeds them back into production. This process is capable of reusing up to 95% of almost any snowboard, moving us closer to a truly circular lifecycle.

What design directions are you taking — graphics, patterns, collabs, or signature editions?
Big news: we’re launching Signature Stratos boards from Harry Kearney and Ruiki Masuda in early 2026. Harry will be racing his new board at the Mount Baker Legendary Banked Slalom, where he’ll be fighting to retain his title. Looking ahead to the 26/27 season, the Surf Series gets a full refresh. Chris Christenson’s collection pays homage to Moonlight Glassing and Peter St. Pierre, with each board carrying a unique, airbrushed colorway rooted in classic surf artistry. Alongside these, we continue our artist collaborations with RP Roberts and Shaun Gordon for snowboard and splitboard graphics, taking a two-pronged approach that refines our freeride classics while pushing more experimental looks on the all-mountain freestyle side.

Are you focusing on particular rider groups (freeride, freestyle, all-mountain, women’s-specific, youth, beginner) for 26/27?
We’re really proud of the depth and diversity of our snowboard collection for 26/27 and our focus remains on offering a complete lineup for all ages, genders, and abilities. Our boards take riders from their very first turns as mini shredders all the way to ultra-technical backcountry descents. Our lineup spans all-mountain freestyle to big mountain freeride, with specialized Surf and Freecarver series crafted for riders seeking the ultimate glide and turning experiences.

Key Products:

Tweaker 2.0:
The Tweaker 2.0 is a high-performance all-mountain freestyle deck for intermediate to expert level riders, featuring an updated twin outline with a more modern silhouette. The full camber profile with 3D Flip Tips adds pop and versatility, with a wood core that is softer between the feet for maneuverability and stiffer in the tips for stompability. The Tweaker 2.0 is available in men’s and women’s models, plus a stiffer, more powerful men’s Pro model.

202627-Men-Tweaker

Mind Expander 2.0:
The Mind Expander 2.0 keeps the soul of the Surf Series cult classic but features an updated shape and profile for enhanced all-terrain performance and effortless glide. The camber has been extended to the tail of the board and a dual radius sidecut enhances performance when carving creative lines. When conditions are deep, the 3D Base Contour in the nose rocker keeps the board effortlessly afloat.

202627-Mind-Expander

TwinCraft:
The TwinCraft is an all-new, powder-focused directional twin with freestyle soul. Designed by surf shaper Chris Christenson, the TwinCraft’s extra-wide waist and tight sidecut offer effortless float and nimble turns in powder. Designed for blending freestyle with mountain surfing, creative riders will love its playful yet balanced feel and legit freestyle performance.

202627-TwinCraft