Filming for Far Out with Kai Jones

Kai Jones in his First TGR film ever!!!

If you have seen TGR’s latest film Far Out than you know that Kai Jones got his first big segment in a ski film. Kai absolutely crushed it this season, that’s right, he went to school, skied, did the IFSA comp circuit, and traveled to Montana and Utah. All of this at the age of 11! I for one am excited to see what Kai will do in the future and am already impressed by his accomplishments. This season he skied as much as he could while still doing the things kids his age do.Doing some Avalanche Training which Kai participated in and got his Avy 1!

I first met Kai when he was 9 years old and it is easy to see his love for skiing has been there since the first time he hit the slopes. He loves to ski with his friends on the Grand Targhee Freeride team and cheer them on in contests and when just ripping around the resort.

Mini and Mega Bents.

When I look back to when I was his age, my best memories were from skiing. I learned a backflip when I was 12, Kai already has been practicing doubles on the water ramps. This summer we spent a week at Windells and he was learning rail tricks every day we went out. Rails were not even his focus but in Kai’s own words “There are so many ways to ski and I want to do them all!”

192 cm vs. 143 cm

Kai had the week of spring break to get some final filming done for his segment and the weather was looking perfect, with fresh powder falling and sunny days to follow.

The Fam! Kai's dad Todd Jones is the founder of TGR.

Kai and his friend Luke Miele  Our goal for the week was to hit a famous cliff called “Smart Bastard”. Named "Smart” because its has a smooth steep landing unlike its neighbor “Fat Bastard”. Kai was ready for a 50 footer, I was ready for a 50 footer… well kind of, I was as happy to be hiking up and hitting this cliff with a buddy as much as Kai was to have a veteran like me there. The snow was perfect, still light and fluffy from the 15+ inches that had fallen in the late March storm. I dropped first and stomped a big 360 then radioed up to Kai that the landing was soft and it was perfect time to hit the cliff. Kai didn’t hesitate and 3-2-1 called his drop over the radio. I was still breathing heavily from skiing the line and my heart didn’t have time to slow down as I watched Kai make wide swooping turns above the cliff. I filmed on my iPhone and we watched it over and over after skiing.  He wanted to post it on Instagram but me and Todd said there was no way, you gotta save it for the movie Kai!

The top of Corbets!

We probably filmed 8 days in a row during the spring break shoot and Kai always wanted to hit last tram. Filming can be a lot of work, it takes long days and lots of hours to get to the spot line everything up and capture the shots. It was nice to put the cameras away at the end of the day and just get some good old fashion skiing in. On-top of the 8 day spring break session we also did a few days over christmas break in Early January and New years, as well as a late season strike in May to get after the Zero-G and spacewalk Couloirs.

Kai after his biggest stomp ever!

I am really happy we got the weather we did in March because the early and late film shoots were tough and we got some stuff but not the bangers that we did during SB 2018! In early December we lined up the double cliff shot which made it in the film. To get the timing right me and Kai hiked the White Spider boot pack about 5 times that day. If you know the White Spider boot-pack you know it is a straight up the hill hike that gets you sweating immediately. That shot was super fun to line up and time it so we were both hitting the cliff at the same time.

Jackson Hole Hand drag.

        During the late season mission, we went to some famous Couloirs that had spring like conditions but we wanted to shoot with the drone. We had some complications with the drone during spring break, I mentioned the weather was fantastic but there was a pesky wind that made it impossible to get the drone flying for a majority of the key shots we wanted to use it for. Kai wanted to keep the season going and he was not ready to hang up the skis so it was easy convincing Kai to ski at the end of May. Kai even did a late season mission up Mt. Moran, not a small ordeal! Mt. Moran is 6000 feet of vertical with a boat ride across Jackson Lake.

Scoping Corbets from the Tram!

Kai was able to get a ton of skiing in this season all while being enrolled in Public school and getting good grades. I am always impressed with how humble Kai is and how much he cares about his friends and family. Kai says his biggest accomplishments of the season were winning the IFSA overall title for 12 and under and also starr I am looking forward watching Kai compete this year as he enters the 12-14 age category and competes with kids a foot taller than him. Should be an exciting season and can’t wait to ski some more with the next generation of TGR!Hanging out ready to catch first tram!