Jacob Wester

Barcelona Snow Show

November 6, 2009 • 18 Comments

Some people have been asking me why I’m not going to Spain this weekend, like the rest of the pro skier circuit. Just thought I’d clear that out.

I’ve known Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxx for a long time. We used to talk music on MSN back in 2005, as a fellow guitar and bass player we learned from eachother and I remember how he showed me some clips of him and his friends playing music in Spain. I never really got to ski with him too much, except for the last few summers in NZ. This summer we shared a house down there together for a couple weeks, hanging out with his friend from back home, Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx. Theyre both fun skiers to hang out with, not many spanish skiers on the international scene. When I heard about the two of them getting a city big air together down in Barcelona I was stoked, having seen so many awesome skateboard videos from their various skate spots around the city I’ve always wanted to go there to check it out, so I sent Xxxxx a facebook message back in september telling him how I would love to come. Seeing how we used to be cool and all, I must say this came as a surprise (a punch in the face? or how about a stab in the back?), when I opened my inbox a couple weeks ago;

Hi guys,

You are getting this email cause you are someone who’s been in touch with us during the last month around the Barcelona Snow Show. Even if you guys didn’t get a spot to come and compete, or you couldn’t come due to injuries or other difficulties, we wanted to thank you all for your motivation and for believing in that event. For being the first time we’re organizing such event, we’re very happy with the good feedback we’ve had, almost everyone who was invited is comming and a lot of people has got in contact with us in order to be part of the whole thing.

We will keep all of your contacts and we’ll think of you for next years event, you’re already already a part of the event for us.

Phil

Sammy

Mike H

Pk

Roy

Andri

Gus

Colby

Ahmed

Jacob

Leigh

Kai

Mike R

Ken

Tao

Markus

Marco

Oscar

Anders

Frido

Dane

Thanks again and again,

Xxxx, Xxxxx and the Snow Show crew.

–
P.B
I love my friends

uh....right.

How cool, a non-invite! Hey thats what I’m going to do. Announce to the world that I’m organizing an international city big air competition, and then start sending out non-invites to all the people I don’t want there.

I later found out that one of the judges had sent out an email wondering why I wasnt in the comp, seeing how a lot of names he had barely even heard about was on there. This was the reply he got:

.

Hi Xxxxxx (judge),

We’re glad that every rider is motivated to get in the contest but:

From the day one, when we made the first riders list, we were clear that we wanted to do something else, not the same urban big air contest that every city own right now. Freeskiing is not super known yet in our city and our goal is to bring a show that expresses what the sport is about, not only a contest with the best tricks all in a row.

Due to this criteria, the list is now what it is, and we’ve been chosing the riders that we thought would match better with the Barcelona Snow Show concept.

We understand your reasons, thanks for your motivation, but I wanted to make sure that you understood why everything was that way.

Hug

X & X

.

Well, I guess that was about time for me to cancel my flight ticket to Barcelona. It’s a bummer, I’ve always liked city big air competitions. I’ve done Freestyle.ch in Zurich 5 times now, not to mention Berlin, London (twice), Stockholm (3 times), and that one in Oslo back in 05. I wish I was going to Barcelona too. But I guess I don’t match with their concept. And that I don’t express what the sport is about. At least these guys do:

.

Simon Dumont
Corey Vanular
TJ Schiller
Dane Tudor
Xavier Bertoni
Sammy Carlson
Matt Margetts
Andreas Hatveit
Russ Henshaw
Henrik Harlaut
Oscar Harlaut
John Spriggs
Shinji Osada
Patrick Hollaus
Joel Albaladejo
Paolo Martignolo
Tobi Tritcher
Scotty Jordan
Josep Gil
Jaime Puigdengoles
Noah Albaladejo
Luka Melloni
Jon Aguirrebengoa
Pako Benguerel
Elias Ambuhl
Benedikt Mayr
Fabio Studer
Paddy Graham

(invited and confirmed riders)

.

Good luck down there boys,

.

Jacob

jamsesh

November 5, 2009 • 5 Comments

another thursday night jam. starting to get a few tracks going. nothing breath-taking yet, but it’s a good way to pass the time.

http://www.vimeo.com/7458842

Jacob

just a little bit funny.

November 4, 2009 • 12 Comments

stumbled upon this today. made me laugh.

FUNNY VIDEO

Jacob

another paris photo

• 6 Comments

just sitting at home arranging some photos from the last few weeks. found this one of the eiffel tower that I thought was worth sharing:

also thought I’d post my schedule until christmas:

nov 4th – 20th – Gym, working out, maybe going to the trampolines and train? maybe looking at going somewhere surfing for a weekend…where do you think I should go?
nov 20th – 22nd – King Of Style, Stockholm. Big air competition on home turf, should be fun!
nov 23rd – dec 10th – Costa Rica surf vacation.
dec 10th – 22nd – Breckenridge for the Dew Tour.

Stay tuned!

Jacob

Home

November 2, 2009 • 5 Comments

Nothing beats coming home after a trip. I seriously can’t think of anything better, be it a surf vacation to a remote island or a heli ski trip with all expenses paid for, or a concert with your favorite band, that you’ve been wanting to see for ever. None of all that is even comparable to the feeling of absolute peace and satisfaction I get when I step off the last flight of a return trip, knowing that Sofia is waiting for me, counting every minute before I walk through the arrival doors at the airport, ready to give me a ride home to our apartment.
I always used to think the opposite, returning back home felt sad and that I would miss skiing/surfing/whatever I was away for. I would try to make those last few days last as long as possible, cherish every moment, storing every imaginary photograph in my mind, hoping I would not forget them.
I don’t think it is that I have stopped enjoying travelling, I still love it as much as ever, to discover new places and meet new people, learning about new cultures. I just think that I’m feeling like I’m at the right place in life back home, and I’m slowly starting to realize that that’s all what really counts. That I finally have a reason to return home.

But then, after about 24 hours at home, I can’t wait to book the next trip… I guess I just get restless if I stay in the same place for too long.

shots of people today:

Wallisch in the parking lot

B-Dog and Franca the manager

Last night’s winner Russ Henshaw, stoked and slightly hungover.

TJ Schiller, obviously jealous of my super sweet Dalbello europe ad.

Mike Clarke in his Sweet (pun intended) pajamas.

this made my day. look at this guy’s haircut!

airplane sunset view

stopover in Oslo, they just got their first snow…I hope stockholm will get some soon, Im kind of feeling like sliding some urban….yes, thats right, you did hear me say that. keep checking the blog!

Good night

Jacob

5th

• 7 Comments

Just got back to the hotel room after a hectic day out there at Battersea Power station (pictured above), here at the London Freeze in, well, London. Pretty happy about the results, ended up in 5th place. Just getting through to finals is pretty tough these days and when you’re there anything can happen because the top 8 skiers pretty much all do the same tricks (except for Roy and C-Van, sick switch double 9 and nose butter 9!).

Anyways, I obviously dont have any action footy since I was busy skiing, but here’s some random shots!

Colby West. Rider’s lounge. Flannels.

This is a picture of the landing, in pouring rain, at 10 am this morning. No one thought they could pull it off but somehow, using some kind of british black magic, the event organizers and all the volunteers made it happen and the jump turned out to be pretty damn good.

Oscar hanging out with Shinji Osada (right), and friend.

Matt Margetts, you guido.

Todd Walnuts doing some pre-contest warm up jumps into the pile of fatboys.

Spriggs doing the same.

Yours truly, getting the grab.

results top 8:

Russ Henshaw
Bobby Brown
Andreas Håtveit
Benedict Mayr
Jacob Wester
Corey Vanular
Roy Kittler
Elias Ambühl

Good night!

Jacob

London Freeze

November 1, 2009 • 2 Comments

Good morning, it’s 7:22 London time and I just woke up in my Comfort Inn hotel room (big step up from last year’s accommodation, thank you Freeze).

After getting into London Heathrow I was faced with the option of getting a 40 £ taxi, or try to find my way to the hotel myself. As a first timer in the London underground, with a 25 kg ski bag and another 20 kg roller bag, this wasnt the easiest of tasks, but after a few minutes of wandering around Paddington station, inspecting subway maps, and sweating a whole lot (the underground is way too warm for an Oakley ski jacket), I finally made it to the hotel.

Paparazzi shots in the Underground

When I first got to the hotel and saw that I was in a shared room, I was hoping it wouldnt be the gnarliest party animal, or even worse, someone I kind of knew but never really hung out with (always awkward), but it turned out to just be little Oscar Scherlin. Sigh of relief, now I can enjoy my nightly entertainment watching him get home at 4 am with some Halloween dressed up London models.

cheaah

my dinner at 10 pm before crashing in bed. when in rome…

Going to get some breakfast now before heading over to the event and get some practice for the comp this afternoon, wish me luck!

Jacob

from germany to UK

October 31, 2009 • 1 Comment

Waiting for my flight in Munich. Feeling sleepy, having problems keeping my eyes open for some reason, probably from the monotonous 3 hours shuttle ride here.

Thanks to everyone in Brixlegg for joining the video premiere/poster signing last night, good to meet all of you. Here’s a shot of the crowd:

Time for some caffeine. Early bed tonight, then tomorrow it’s ON. http://www.londonfreeze.com/

Jacob

not complaining…

October 30, 2009 • No Comments

relaxing on the balcony at Armada’s headquarters in Innsbruck. feels good to have a day off skiing after a hectic week. going to do a poster signing in Brigslegg tonight at 8 pm, so if youre in that area, swing by and have a chat and a poster.

stay tuned

Jacob

last day on the hill!

October 29, 2009 • 4 Comments

Today was the last day on the hill for me up in Hintertux, Austria. Had another perfect day (so lucky with the weather, haha), and skied all morning with Tobi Reindl and Beni Mayr.

I got a last chance to work on my competition tricks for London and my skiing felt really good. Some days you go out and feel like shit, nothing works, and tricks you have been doing for 5 years feel uncomfortable and you’re scared of even trying them. It feels like everyone is lightyears ahead of you. This week started out just like that, I was struggling with doing decent switch 540s, and I just feeling very unstable in general. Over the week that slowly went away and I was feeling like I actually deserved to be a professional skier again, and today ended with 5 perfect runs and after that I felt like it was time to call it a day and leave Hintertux. Taking two days off now, then it’s game time in London!

Before I left Armada had an autograph session set up in Insider, the best shop in Hintertux. Shared a table with Ted Ligety, GS silver medalist in the WC opening in Sölden last week, so that was pretty cool. Not every day I sign racing jackets!

self portrait in the hotel, after skiing.