Jones Snowboards Shralpinist Stretch 3L Pants Review: A Well-Vented, Durable Option for Backcountry Travel
The iconic snowboard and backcountry brand debuted its first-ever lineup of apparel for female snowboarders and splitboarders. Here’s a premiere look at the collection’s inaugural snowboard pants for backcountry missions and resort laps.
Don’t be sad about the end of wildflower season. This upcoming winter already has something huge to celebrate with the launch of ladies’ apparel from Jones Snowboards, adding to the brand’s newly pioneered Jones Outerwear collection.
Cast last year, the brand’s cardinal outerwear featured men’s apparel across three collections: Shralpinist, Mountain Surf, and Uphill. Now, a round of women’s snowboarding and splitboarding pants, jackets, and bibs are hitting the shelves, too.
We snuck in a spring preview with a handful of the new goods, which prioritize sustainability. All of the Jones Outerwear materials are OEKO-TEX and/or Bluesign certified. The majority are 100% recycled, and they utilize PFC-free DWR (except the GORE-TEX Pro fabric).
In short: The Jones Snowboards apparel for women that I’ve tested so far, including the Women’s Shralpinist Stretch 3L Pants, offers ergonomic freedom of movement — without being too baggy — and is made with supple, sustainable yet durable materials plus simple key features.
Jones Snowboards Women’s Shralpinist Stretch 3L Pants
Specs
- Shell: 3-layer 100% recycled polyester fabric and PFC-free DWR
- Waterproof/Breathability: 30K/30K
- Weight: 550 g
- Insulation: None
- Pockets: 5
- Seams: Fully taped
- Zippers: YKK Natulon recycled zippers and YKK VISLON AquaGuard zippers
- RECCO: Yes
- Fit: Relaxed yet ergonomic and as comfortable as sweatpants
- Cuffs: Reinforced interior cuff reaches nearly 7.5 in. across and 8.5 in. high
- Sizes: XS, S, M, L
- Our favorite perk: The material is lightweight and unbelievably soft
- Best for: Backcountry tours and resort laps
Jones Snowboards Launches First-Ever Women’s Apparel in Jones Outerwear
Jones Snowboards was founded by big mountain pioneer Jeremy Jones, in 2008, a year after the legendary athlete launched Protect Our Winters, an organization that unites the global winter sports community to combat climate change.
With a primary focus on technical snowboards, splitboards, and backcountry accessories, the brand recently bridged its mission to include performance outerwear for the resort and backcountry.
After 3 years of research and development, the outerwear was released and organized into three categories:
- The Shralpinist collection features the most high-end, tenacious apparel for alpinism and withstanding the elements on remote alpine adventures.
- The Uphill collection provides movement-oriented performance pieces for splitboarding and endurance-focused or speed days in the backcountry.
- The Mountain Surf collection is made for everyday riding at the resort or on the skintrack. The designs are functional, comfortable, and warm yet breathable.
For 2022-2023, women’s apparel will premiere six pieces total in the Shralpinist and Mountain Surf collections. Tiffany Jones, Jeremy Jones’ wife, took the reins of the ladies’ product development, alongside outerwear designer Heida Birgisdottir.
The overall mission was to create outerwear that’s functional, moves well, and has a unique style. I can say, those marks were met.
Jones Snowboards Women’s Shralpinist Stretch 3L Pants Review
The Women’s Shralpinist Stretch 3L Pants ($450) is a premium investment for committed snowboarders to wear season after season, storm after storm.
The outerwear comes with a lifetime warranty, and the brand has authorized repair centers to help fix any snags you hit, so that higher price tag comes with additional perks.
I put these pants through testing rounds at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, snowmobiling, and on tours in the high-altitude Colorado backcountry.
Smooth, Sustainable Material
It’s a mystery to me how this material is so buttery soft yet tough. While the fabric seems to mark up easily, it is super durable and pliable.
What’s more, its sustainability is at the forefront. The 40-denier face fabric is 100% recycled polyester with four-way stretch. The 20-denier polyester backer is 100% recycled, too. To resist the elements, the fabric is treated with PFC-free DWR. The whole package is OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified, which verifies the safety of the materials for health and the environment.
We had a fairly dry spring in the Rockies, and I didn’t get out in blizzard conditions, but the material does withstand cold wind and moisture well.
Cuffs and Gaiters
Along the cuff is a minimal yet strong quarter-inch wide reinforcement. More notably, the interior of each pant leg is reinforced with a burly material, to protect against split-ski edges during kick turns on the skin track and crampons while booting up a face. The patch reaches nearly 7.5 inches across and 8.5 inches high, which I appreciate.
There are gaiters, too. The one critique I have is there’s no side zipper on the cuffs to help adapt the fit while pulling each pant leg over the top of my boots. Though streamlined, the circumference doesn’t give much, so sliding the pant leg down is snug and slow.
Pockets and Vents
While climbing steep and long ascents, these generous side vents offer ample aeration. The vents are 16 inches long with dual two-direction zippers. There’s no interior mesh panel, which some riders might prefer to help block wind-churned snow or flurries.
The large thigh pockets are among the best features of the pant, given they are 7 inches wide by 7 inches long. Inside each, there is an expandable mesh pocket that is actually functional. Often small mesh pockets are too small. Not these.
Each interior mesh pocket is 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches and is very stretchy, so it easily holds a large phone.
However, pulling my phone out of the mesh pocket is slightly more time-consuming (compared to the larger pocket), given the fit is so compact. I wish the mesh pocket was a tad off-centered or placed lower, so that my phone didn’t tend to slide into it when I aim to put it in the larger pocket.
On the backside, there’s one single zippered pocket, too. One critique of the three exterior pockets is that the burly zipper teeth feel a bit rough and uncomfortable to slide my hands past.
Jones Snowboards Women’s Shralpinist Stretch 3L Pants: Conclusion
Overall, the fit of the Shralpinist Stretch 3L Pant is super well-tailored to movement whether you’re uphilling, backcountry snowmobiling to the base of a climb, mountaineering, or surfing downhill.
The tailored design is ergonomic from the hips to the knees. As I quickly changed stance while driving my snowmobile and pulled on crampons to boot-pack steep terrain, the pants never felt restrictive. At only 550 g, the material feels feathery light on the descent, too.
I like that the fit is adjustable on the fly with the Velcro waistbelt, which I used to help tighten up the fit. There are also stout belt loops, which are wide with a fairly spacious circumference.
Overall, the Shralpinist Stretch 3L Pants are a well-fitting design for a broad range of movement, and the construction is stout. For snowboarding and splitboarding, the pants withstand exposure to various conditions, and the materials are the most sustainable options available. For ladies that shred and want long-lasting apparel, these are a top-shelf choice.
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