Hey everyone, and sorry for the lack of updates during JOI. This week is right behind X-Games when it comes to keeping a guy busy! Anyways, now it’s over and I have the time to write a line or two about it. So, if you followed the contest you’d know that yours truly didnt make it to finals, I had a fantastic time skiing friday afternoon and managed to land my first trick perfect, the double cork 1260 true tail grab. Unfortunately being the first skier in the first run I pretty much knew that I was going to get a low score, so I had to rely on my next two runs. The variable speed had been a factor for me all night, so in my second run I ended up going a little too big to put my trick down, a double cork 1260 mute to reverse tail (that was originally intended to be a 1620, just that when I saw I was going too big I broke out of it at 12, scary!). In my last run the opposite happened, going for the same trick once more but got a headwind and came up short. Bummer, since I knew I had a good trick, but these things happen. I ended up in 10th place which I still feel pretty good about since the competition was fierce and numerous new tricks were being landed.
During the finals, the 15 riders that didnt make the cut got the opportunity to session the jump in between runs, competing in teams for crowd appreciation measured with a decibel meter. My team, consisting of me and norwegians Mikkel Jorsaanstad and Ole Mustad managed to take the win after an epic night of laid out backflips, double backflips, side by side jumping and old school mogul tricks. I love being able to session a jump even though I didnt make finals, Jon sure knows how to put on a good show!
All in all, major props to Jon and his team for making this event happen, after organizing my own (small scale) event, I definitely respect any contest organizer so much more, because I know how much energy, bot mental and physical, goes into making it happen. Hat’s off!
Here’s a bunch of videos for those of you who have missed all the action!
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Alright, well, back to reality, or in my case, back to Whistler! I got a total of 12 hours at home in Stockholm, only to repack my bags before going back to the airport to catch a flight to Vancouver. About to board in 1 hour, can’t wait to be back in the land of deep powder and unlimited amounts of fun. Going to shred with friends and hopefully get a day or two in the heli, then the madness of WSI begins!
Stay tuned!
Jacob
Here’s a look at what went down on the 3rd and final day of the Trick Bag Challenge in Storlien, Sweden! Congrats to the podium, Vincent Gagnier, Maximilliam Smith and Simon Ericson!
Time to go get some more practice on the JOI kicker before the contest starts at 7pm tonight. Kinda nervous because I’m not sure what to throw in qualis, 3 runs out of which the best one counts. The only thing is that the best one probably has to be some kind of triple cork if I want to make it into finals, since 4 people were doing them after only 30 minutes of practice last night… Did a few dub 10s to get the feel for it and they were definitely floaty enough to allow for another flip at the end. I’m going to see how it feels during warm-up today and we’ll see what happens! The jump is definitely the best one Jon’s built since the good old days (06/07), so I am excited to finally get some jumping in! Haven’t been on park skis since february, feels so weird not having 120mm waists underfoot!
Jake
Click here to view the embedded video.
Soooo, just got back to Åre after 3 insanely hectic days in Storlien. Organizing my own event was fun but at the same time a lot more of a challenge than I ever expected. Luckily I had an awesome team behind me, thanks Sportstyle Resorts, Monster, Oakley, Armada and everyone working at Storlien for helping out and making this event happen! Also a big shout-out to Freeride for taking care of announcing and video-making, check out the day 1 and 2 videos right here!
official results:
1. Vincent Gagnier
2. Maximilliam Smith
3. Simon Ericson
4. Steffen Hamre
5. Jonas Rutberg
6. Oscar Wester
7. Robby Franco
8. Oscar Harlaut
9. Per Fernvik
10. Magnus Graner
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
The event in conclusion: Despite variable weather with a lot of gusty winds, blizzard conditions, 40 cms of fresh snow and the occasional sun glimpse, we managed to pull it together and crown a champion at the end. Unfortunately today’s winds made it impossible to hit the big air side of the course, so the finals had to be done on the rail garden only. Good thing the 10 skiers in finals all are rail geniuses and threw down an awesome show, with 7 runs each, all runs count. 630s, 810s, rodeos, 360 swaps and various bonks were aplenty and everyone gave their best. The best part of today was finding out that the concept actually works, and with enough planning and budget next year I think we can take things very far. Stay tuned for a day 3 video dropping shortly!
Now it’s time for me to go enjoy a nice JOI dinner with all the riders in Åre, and best of all, be able to kick back and enjoy being the guest at an event, not the organizer!
Jacob
Drove up to Storlien from Stockholm last night and woke up to 30 centimeters of fresh powder and sun! Pretty decent change from the last 2 weeks of rain that they have endured, and we sure needed it! Starting to build the slopestyle course and rail arena tonight for Trick Bag Challenge 2012, it’s looking good!
enjoying some hot chocolate in the sun
Getting in the snowcat tonight to move some snow around! The list of riders is looking better and better, with names like Vincent Gagnier, Alexander Aurdal, Robby Franco, Simon Ericson and Kim Boberg to name a few. Let’s do this!
Stay tuned for photos of the course soon!
Jacob
Well, last night I was too tired to blog after another solid 12 hour heli mission with MSP and Michelle Parker, so here’s the story of what went down, told in iphone photos:
7am – Pemberton airport
Michelle Parker and MSP filmer Scott Gaffney
breakfast
looking down on scott before sending it off a fun little cliff
michelle getting some turns in
trackz
stepdown for lunch
scoping lines
jibs
powder porn
spines for dinner. pick your line!
WHEW, what a day! It’s 9:30pm and I have just sat down after showering and making dinner. Got up at 6 this morning and was in the air by 7:30. Michelle Parker, James Heim and I flew around with Scott Gaffney from MSP and ended up stacking quite a few shots under a clear blue sky, making it back to the heliport in Pemberton at 7pm. Definitely the most productive day for me this season, and maybe ever. Here’s a few teasers:
our bird for the day
Heimer going big in front of Gaffney’s Red Epic.
stepdown
trackzzz
Michelle “its not orange, it’s salmon” Parker, ready to drop
tasty little stepdowns
Heimer enjoying life
this photo makes me happy
pick your line
on our way home after a long day
Well, tomorrow’s forecast looks about the same so I’m just going to call it a night and get a few hours of well needed sleep. Flying home on tuesday to drive up to Storlien, really excited for the Trick Bag Challenge, and if you want to do it make sure to register asap!
After 25 days of skiing Whistler Blackcomb’s endless stashes of deep pow, shooting stills, sleeping in, drinking beers, hottubbing and just killing time in general, the weather finally cleared up and we got back in the heli! Sometimes you just have to be patient and you will be rewarded. Here’s a little taster of what we were treated with today:
first run of the day
Michelle Parker getting radical on some sluffy turns
6 runs and 3 crashes later
pure bliss
scott gaffney, michelle parker and some creepy moustached guy.
Just got back home and is about to stuff my face with some pizza! Tomorrow we’re right back at it again!
Jacob
Another batch of b-roll shots from Eric Berger. Headed up Whistler Mountain yesterday and got to ski 10cm of fresh absolute blower powder on top of the already soft base. This past week has been absolutely insane snow-wise, hence the lack of blogging.
fresh turns in Sun Bowl
classic turn
morning turns on Flute Mountain with Whistler local Matty Richard
In other news, just saw that almost 30 videos have been uploaded on the Trick Bag Challenge VIP video qualifier site! Wow, stoked to see such a big turnout for the event! I’m going to sit down today and go through them all and try to decide which 10 videos will get lodging, food and registration fee for free up in Storlien 2-4 april. Keep in mind that even if you don’t make the top 10 you are still welcome to the event, we have some great hotel and food prices!
Looking out the window here in Whistler there’s some serious wind on the mountain, but it has also snowed another 12cm of fresh…hard deciding today, since I am behind with emails and the next few days look like MSP heli flying days:
time to get the sunblock out!
Another 5 days here in Whistler, then time to shoot straight back to the motherland to prepare for the event! If you want to volunteer up there (help out with shoveling, managing riders, assisting judges etc), post your email below this post and I will get back to you if we need extra assistance! All expenses in Storlien will be covered.
Stay tuned!
Jacob
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