The Jones Dream Catcher is marketed as a fun, all-mountain freeride board. This board is tons of fun and exceptionally flexy, making it super easy to butter.
Jones Dream Catcher 2021
The Jones Dream Catcher Women’s Snowboard took me by surprise the first time I rode it. The Dream Weaver is a directional women’s snowboard built upon a camber to rocker profile.
Here is a breakdown of the board's strengths and weaknesses:
Reasons to Buy
- Fun-loving
- Tons of pop
- Good in powder
Reasons to Avoid
- Could have better edge hold in icy conditions
Edge Hold Performance
As mentioned above, we weren't impressed with the edge hold of the Dream Catcher. The Dream Catcher wasn't our favorite for edge to edge performance. It did alright, but still paled in comparison to the grip of the top boards.
The Dream Catcher boasts Jones's Traction Tech edges, which are marketed as increasing the board's grip in firmer conditions, but we wouldn't necessarily agree with this on this particular board, based on our testing. The Dream Catcher didn't earn our highest scores for edge hold.
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We felt that the Dream Catcher isn't the best edge-to-edge and doesn't love to hold turns. It's a softer board, and we felt that it was prone to slipping in choppy or icy conditions.
Very nice edge hold on hard snow and even ice. The lightly serrated edge (Jones’ Traction Tech) along the side-cut helps the Jones Dream Catcher to grip nicely on hard-pack and ice but not too much that it feels catchy. Unlike some more aggressive side-cut disruptions with other boards, it doesn’t grab in softer snow which is a bonus.
Powder Performance
The Dream Catcher delivered superior float and easy handling in deeper snow. The Dream Catcher did redeem itself in powder performance, earning a high score for its solid amounts of float and easy handling in deeper snow.
The directional profile and Spoon Base 1.0 work in tandem to give this board a solid amount of float, and it is quite enjoyable to ride on deep days. It rides great on powder days with a fun, playful ride, and we would happily take it out on storm days, though it can't quite match boards with powder-specific traits, such as a setback stance or fish-like tail.
Rides great in powder with the directional nose, and the added reverse camber in the nose helps a lot too. If you want a lot of directional float then setting it all the way back will get you a difference of 4.5″ between nose and tail or 2.25″ back on board. That’s a lot for an all mountain/one board quiver kind of ride and it can hang with some freeride boards when it comes to directional float.
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Flex and Stability
The Dream Catcher's soft to medium flex makes it far from our favorite at higher speeds. It also gets a little unruly on bumps or choppy terrain at racing speeds, which can be quite unsettling.
While the Dream Catcher didn't earn our highest marks for stability, it makes up for it by being playful and fun. While the Jones Dream Catcher might not be the most stable, it does make up for it by being quite playful. The medium flex of this board makes it playful and fun.
The Jones Dream Catcher has a stable ride that can cruise through choppy snow and charge turns on steeps. It has a fun personality that can play around in and out of the park.
Freestyle and Playfulness
This board is excellent for ollies and will really launch you. The Dream Catcher offers a fun and forgiving freestyle ride and is quite fun on jumps - both man-made and natural.
It's pretty good at stomping the landing, but it is a little soft if you are planning on sending it off the biggest kickers. The Jones Dream Catcher is fun on jibs, the directional nose doesn’t affect jibbing at all.
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The Jones Dream Catcher rides great switch, you don’t even notice that it is a directional snowboard. The camber in the middle along with rocker in the nose/tail makes for a pretty easy ride either way.
Turning and Carving
Really easy and fast to turn and maneuver from edge to edge. I was able to get it on edge without much effort. It holds the turn for a shorter amount of time than other boards with more camber.
Simple and fun to turn. The Jones Dream Catcher is fast edge to edge, its great for small and medium radius turns. The large radius turns are ok but I found the board didn’t want to keep on edge for too long when carving.
It can carve but wasn’t my favorite out of the Jones line for this. The Dream Catcher is quick to respond, extremely maneuverable, and is easy to turn. This made turns in between narrow tree lines feel easy and confidence inspiring.
Value and Overall Impression
The Dream Catcher isn't the best value, as there are other boards that we liked quite a bit more for similar price points. The Jones Dream Catcher by Jones is a fun and flexible board that is great for anyone looking for an all-mountain freestyle board.
This playful and flexy board is an excellent complement to a rider with a mellower riding style, though we feel it wouldn't be the best bet for anyone with an aggressive riding style. The Jones Dream Catcher is a board that can take you anywhere on the mountain.
Sizing: 142, 145, 148, 151, 154 Paige and I both felt fine with the 142. I usually lean towards more playful boards so I like the 142.
For $529.95, I feel like you are getting exactly what you are paying for, a diverse and impressive board that will last! An all mountain shredder, for sure, and an awesome step up for intermediate riders to advance on to.
I love the rooted tree design! It feels so aligned with Jones as a company which I love, and as a tree hugger myself, I am stoked on the graphic. My one quarrel with the top sheet, is that white can be at it tricky to maintain. After just a few days out, I’ve got some scuff marks on it that will likely stick around.
Jones Snowboards: A Company with Values
Jones Snowboards is a Company We Can All Stand Behind! This board is made with responsibly harvested wood, recycled edges, recycled ABS sidewalls and bio based epoxy made with 27% plant based carbon to help reduce emissions by 33%. Not to mention 1% of all sales are donated to 1% for the Planet.
Flex/Buttering: Even though the flex is medium to medium stiff in a shop, it’s really easy to butter on snow. You can feel exactly when you get the board on the reverse camber part of the nose or tail. Holding the butter is very stable tool. It has a medium stiff flex of 6/10 that keeps it stable but still allows you to bend the board if needed.
Summary Table
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Edge Hold | Decent on hard snow and ice, but not the best compared to top boards. |
| Powder Performance | Excellent float and easy handling in deep snow. |
| Flex | Medium (6/10), playful and fun. |
| Stability | Less stable at high speeds and in choppy terrain. |
| Freestyle | Fun on jumps, ollies, and jibs. |
| Turning | Easy and fast edge to edge. |
| Carving | Can carve, but not a top choice. |
| Value | Good for the price, but other boards may offer more. |