A Month at Jib Camp- TR

[StuntCok]

What started as "The Unemployment Chronicles" on Poachninja.com, where I had left work to ski the Southern Hemisphere season, ended after only a month and I never even left the first destination of my grand tour, Momentum Ski Camp in Whistler. I was, in fact, only going to spend a couple of weeks in Momentum before going south but I sold out to the almighty dollar (or yen in this case) and was lured back into the working world. With only a little over a month of work and the season still early down south I opted to spend 1 month with John Smart et al. working on my park skillz with the kiddies. I was the oldest camper for 2 of the 4 weeks I spent at camp but the experience was better for it. The kids are the youthful exuberance of the ski lifestyle and I got to feel a part of it.

The photos of the kids and pros are all over Newschoolers and will be in the magazines next year. Here is one (old) man's ski camp experience in pictures.

There was a pro photog named Hans cruising the camp and taking pics. He got my "unnatural pensive" quite well


One of the things I for one looked forward to in camp is coach Rory Bushfield's jury rigged portable bbq. It started with hotdogs but as his confidence progressed he was even grilling fish. I have suggested that he get a beer fridge backpack next year, we will see...



Two new things this year at camp was the introduction of a stuntman's airbag to learn new tricks and me (and fellow mag ForrestBro) with Casio's new high speed casios with auto sequencing. Here we see both in action





Also quite new to me is the "double double" of DH mountain biking almost every day after skiing. Here myself and StillNoProgress (who, as a snowboarder, was at Camp of Champs) in the Whistler bike park. It was the ability to do both biking and skiing that helped keep me in Whistler over Chile, TBH.






In the second week we got fresh snow and got to ski a few inches of pow in the AM! This was at about 1500m



A couple runs of pow turns and I remembered I was at feeride camp so I did the last pow run switch (not quite to the road)


I should also mention, momentum runs a kicking sound system to keep up the stoke



Age does reveal itself in the park. Here a combo of a beer belly and poor flexibility conspire to defeat my attempt at double safety...


The airbag jump got bigger and bigger through the week and they built a quarter pipe hit on the side, where I got to work on my "flat spin alle-oup 5's" or something like that. I cannot remember the terms for the life of me...


Low angle rail shots can even make the most over the hill skier look steezy




Halfway through camp I broke my Armadas and bought these Atomics off of a coach. I didn't realize at the time that they were next year's most hyped ski in the park scene and all the kiddies thought I was sponsored, until they saw me ski





In order to keep it real and a bit oldschool, I hit the odd mogul lane


And in order to keep young I did a few no-pole runs...


Finally, it took a couple of weeks to work up the courage to hit the 75 footer on the far left. By the end of a month I could even spin over the fukker.


So that is my month. Instead of an aborted Southern season, I choose to remember it as a month at ski camp. For a month at least, I was a park rat, not a 35 year old wage slave and that is a good thing. Warren Miller is wrong, if you don't do it this year, you are even less likely to do it in the next year so go for it, go to to park camp and I will see you there next year.

[Skirotica]

You're my hero SC. not that I want to learn the jibber trade, but I am totally impressed by your willingness to get after it with the younguns and live the dream.

As a young 30 something, I'm feeling the need to go after it just a little more to recapture my youth.

[splat]

FKNA, Stunts. Way to get after it!

[moonlightdbag]

an inspiration to us all...but just think if you had rocked a mustache through all that, those kids woulda been so jealous!

[skier666]

fucking awesome man.

[Loon]

an inspiration to us all, thanks for the stoke brudha.

[iscariot]

Sick work SC.

I've been wanting to do a spiny-switch-jibbery summer camp for a while now.

I think this TR has made it a must for next summer.






Also looking to ski Japan in the next year or so...still working on securing my all white Sally fart bag...expect a pm for the planning phase of that trip

[tkm5337]

hell yes. way to rep the AV7

[The Dad]

Schweetness.

[DeeAre]

Da StuntCok keeps it real. Big ups.

[StuntCok]

They Arrived! The other thing I learned at camp was that they made wheelie shoes in adult sizes! Here I am trying on one of the coach's pair for the first time. I since ordered a pair and they just arrived in the office. I think I should probably take them home and work on my skillz before I bring them back in to cruise around the office.

[thefrush]

Solid, solid work. Very nice.

[powbmps]

Yessss! Thanks for posting that.

[shera]

I really liked that, glad I clicked through. Another fine example of divergence between chronological and biological age.

ps - Do some yoga and get the (double) grab!

[Tunco]

Right on!

[road trip]

FKNA! Great stuff, SC! I can't get onto TGR @ work, thus my browsing and posting is waaaaay down. Glad I got on today to see the fun.

[grskier]

Nice... that looks like a blast!

[StuntCok]

For the past couple years or so I did full TRs of my park camp experience. This year, constrained by only having a week off and not having the best weather for shooting photographs I am left with little material for a TR. I am still the oldest kid in camp and old-man injuries (a pinched nerve in the c-6) did, for the first time, make me feel my physical limits of age directly, as opposed to the indirect limitations of age such as a beer gut and a hangover.

Still, I powered through and even bought a full XL outfit off a coach (Gore-tex performance shell and the same colors as Tom Walish, apparently) who was approximately half my weight but the outfit was still baggy enough to fully clothe my mid life crisis!

[fool]

Didn't see your initial jib camp TR last year, but thanks for the bump. It's good to hear us older guys - 20+ in the jib world - still getting after it. Makes me consider heading to Momentum next summer perhaps. Thanks for the stoke.

[nsk040]

I missed this the first time around too - awesome write up. I've been to John's mogul camp 2 years in a row now and have nothing but great things to say about it. The ex-olympic and world cup coaches are phenomenal and I also found being around the kids to be a ton of fun. They have an "adult" week too for those who are looking to get a little more party out of their stay in whistler.

[camplemur]

Also just seeing this. No way I would have considering doing a jib camp, but now you have me thinking. Excellent on all fronts. And the wheelie shoes! Has to happen.

[StuntCok]

I am scheduling my annual Jib Camp pilgrimage and wondering if there are any other old farts thinking of going. I usually go to week 2 or 3 for weather, snow, and a Japanese holiday I can take advantage of. http://momentumskicamps.com/cs/

[drdevon]

Fantastic thread. Thank you.

[moose pit]

FKNA!

That is awesome it makes me want a geriatrics jib camp where oldfarts can ski with out their walkers and canes and attempt to learn new things like steeze and flippy mcwhateverthefucks in a environment where twelveyearolds don't make fun of us! Atleast the baggy look will disguise the redonkulous amount of padding needed to get me near a rail.

Seriously stellar TR.

(P.S. either shave daily or rock a banana that'll fool 'em )

[BassBone]

Wow, great stoke. Way to get after it! You have a great attitude, and it's pretty inspiring to see an older dude huckin' that 75er... Now I have no excuses.