Anyone who lucked out and got to grow up in the 80s remembers Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future. Remember the 'Hoverboard'? It was awesome! I allowed our protagonist to successfully keep up with a train, evade hooligans and look good doing it. We all swore we were going to get one as soon as they came out in 20 years or so. I still haven't seen one on Mythbusters yet but Jones Snowboards has taken matters into their own hands.
The Hovercraft is the closest board I've come to that mimics the idea of effortless surfing over and above all on the mountain. At 156 cm it defies what your collective experience tells you. It floats. In the deep and in the steeps it rides high and lets you slash and carve your way. It is short and maneuverable and extremely playful. Still fairly quick edge-to-edge this is an all-mountain shredder. Tons of setback, a short-almost vestigial tail; and a long, pronounced nose combined with directional rocker changes your expectations for the better.
Where I was most impressed was in questionable snow conditions with sun-exposed icy slopes that hadn't seen a storm in a while, chop and crud with lots of tracks; the board still made the conditions fun. The board rose above the crud and powered through the chatter to make a barely-salvageable day enjoyable. The short tail will not land like a board with a longer tail and takes some getting used to. That said this board is amazingly versatile. It may not be the only board but anytime the conditions require a tool that can save the day and make snowboarding more fun - the future is now.
