Tamok Spring Preview With Miikka Hast

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

Alaska ain’t the only place to be in April. Jones team rider Miikka Hast has posted up for the spring in Tamok, Norway. Here’s his first dispatch from this off-the-radar freeride mecca in Northern Norway:

I came to the Tamok Valley ten days ago to spend the rest of the season here filming, riding, camping and exploring new terrain. The area got hit by a big storm cycle so we have been waiting for the weather to clear up. Snow seems to be pretty stable and the coverage is the best I have ever seen here! We have had to settle for tree riding so far but the alpine terrain is looking good when the high pressure rolls in. High hopes for a long and good spring time! – Miikka Hast

Settle for the trees? Looks pretty buttery…Photo By Aadne Olsrud.

Blower pow in April! No surprise in Tamok. Latitude of Tamok – 63.39°N. Latitude of Anchorage, Alaska – 61°13′N. Photo by Teemu Lahtinen.

You gotta earn every line in Tamok. Photo by Teemu Lahtinen.

Photo By Teemu Lahtinen.

Just getting up to speed….stoked for more to come from Miikka as the clouds clear and his crew gets into the alpine! Photo By Aadne Olsrud.

Posted in Miikka Hast, The Solution | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Shredding Praxmarerkarspitze With Mitch And Bibi

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

Jones team riders Mitch Toelderer and Bibi Tolederer-Pekarek teamed up with fellow Austria ripper Max Zipser for an epic splitboard trip deep into the Austrian Alps:

Praxmarerkarspitze is a remote peak in the Karwendel Range of Austria. I have been looking at it for years and have always wanted to climb up and ride it. In all the years of looking at Praxmarerkarspitze, I have never seen a track so I wondered if anyone has ever rode it before? At the end of February the conditions were looking good so Max Zipser, Bibi Tölderer-Pekarek and I gave it a go. Watch and enjoy this self-made video on the mission to see how it went down.

– Mitch Toelderer

Posted in Bibi Pekarek, MItch Toelderer, The Solution | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

2013 FWT World Champion Ralph Backstrom

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

Raise a toast to Ralph Backstrom! 2013 Freeride World Tour Champion!

No one deserved it more as Backstrom crushed lines when it counted and he trained harder than anyone to make this dream come true.

“Very few people in the world ride big mountain lines the way Ralph does,” said Jeremy Jones. “It’s no surprise he took the Freeride World Tour crown this year. It’s an epic accomplishment and we can’t wait to celebrate back home with him.”

Teton Gravity Research caught up with Backstrom for an interview after the win. Here’s what he had to say about his line choice at Verbier:

TGR: You dropped first and wound up staying on top.  Tell me about your line choice. Also tell us how nerve-wracking  it was to be in the hot seat for the entire competition.

RB: I knew I was going to be dropping first 2-3 days before the comp; just had a really strong feeling.  The only thing was that I thought the skiers were going to be going first.  When we heard that the snowboarders were going to go first, I knew I still had the 1st bib.  It can be a bit nerve wracking going first, but most riders in AK prefer to go first, right?  I had been in Verbier for 5 days or so before the comp and had picked a line out.  After 2 bad line choices/falls in the prior comps, I picked the first line that spoke to me when I saw the face.  Then, the night before the comp, I kept having these micro dreams/thoughts that parts of my line were too tight for the amount of slough that would be moving, and kept having trouble visualizing individual turns.  So I woke up super tired, and the fog didn’t help me feel any more awake.  I definitely wasn’t in a state to ride a technical line.  I changed my line minutes before I left the judges tent to start hiking to something less technical and less exposed.  It wasn’t until I saw my score that I knew how good my run was.  I had flown passed some features I’d planned to hit, so thought I’d be easy to beat.  I definitely dodged some bullets sitting there at the bottom watching the others come down!

TGR: What was going through your head when you dropped into the Bec?

RB: I was so rushed before we dropped I didn’t have time to think at all.  A couple riders and myself were talking to Nicolas Hale-Woods on speaker phone about contingency plans if the fog didn’t clear.  It cleared right then, and he said, “forerunner in 2 minutes!”  After he dropped, the starter said, “Ralph Backstrom 2 minutes!  No, 1 minute!”  I even forgot to put on my backpack up there.

Check out TetonGravity.com for the full interview with Backstrom.

Here’s Backstrom’s winning run down the Bec des Rosses:

Posted in Ralph Backstrom, The Flagship | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Ryland Bell Winning Run At FWT Kirkwood 2013

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

Freeride World Tour wildcard entry Ryland Bell stomped past the tour veterans to take the crown at Kirkwood. Three stomped 360s and solid shredding in between tricks delivered him the win.

Congrats Ryland!

Posted in Ryland Bell, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Jones Crew Shreds The Lizumer Hutte

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

After three weeks of back to back tradeshows, Jeremy Jones and the Jones Snowboards crew were starting to get a little twitchy. It was time to find pow…now!

Racing out of the ISPO tradeshow in Munich, Jeremy and a posse of Jones team riders, distributors and dealers headed into the Austrian backcountry outside of Innsbruck for a pow surf session at the Lizumer Hutte. The Lizumer Hutte is located in the Wattental Valley on a military installation at 2,109 m. Surrounded by stunning peaks, the Hutte made the perfect setting for shredding, socializing and learning more about the limitless potential of splitboarding.

Not a tradeshow booth in sight out here. “Juxtaposed from the chaos of the tradeshows, getting into the mountains and totally disconnecting is the perfect example of why we are in this industry,” said Jeremy about the mission. Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

“It was a really fun event with low expectations that yielded way better results than anticipated,” said Jeremy. “Location was great, snow was great, but the crew was what made the journey all-time.” Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

German Jones Rep Morritz Grotepass got a sweet taste of what Jones Snowboards is all about barrelling into this bowl of powdered sugar. Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

Jones Snowboards Brand Director Chad Perrin was fired up to earn and burn some turns in the Alps.  Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

There was no time to waste. Blower pow awaited! Bryce Kloster from Karakoram clicks together his shred stick with a quickness. Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

Bibi Pekarek-Toelderer lays into the fluffy stuff only a couple hours from home. Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

Mitch Toelderer blasts an ollie into the untouched. Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

Epic terrain above the Lizumer Hutte.

“One of my goals in starting Jones Snowboards was to inspire people to get into the mountains. This was my first opportunity to share that with some of the folks I work closely with. It was an incredible experience for all,” said Jeremy. Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

Toeside bliss for Chad Perrin. “The echoes of hoots and hollers reverberated through the trees every run,” said Perrin. “No doubt all the military guys stationed in the area could here us loud and clear!” Photo – Hansi Heckmair.

Good times deserve good schnapps! Anton Nigg, the Hutte Boss of Lizumer, made sure the Alpine Tequila was flowing steady.

Big thanks to Klaus Zwirner, Anton Nigg, Mitch Toelderer and all the extended Jones family for helping make the trip possible!

Posted in Bibi Pekarek, Jeremy Jones, MItch Toelderer | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Spine Searching in Turnagain Pass Alaska

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

Norwegian Jones rider Lars Andreas Nilssen and his skier partners Nikolai Schirmer and Joel Chute spent three months exploring the Alaskan backcountry last winter. The crew scored big on the adventure and rode killer spine lines via foot-power which is not an easy task in AK. Check out their first edit from the mission.
Posted in The Solution | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Kashmir Pow Shots With Neil McNab

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

Chamonix splitboard guide Neil McNab just got back from a shred trip to Gulmarg, India. Snow conditions in the Himalaya were all-time for McNab and the crew. Check out the endless faceshots in his POV edit from the trip.

Posted in Neil McNab | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

2013 Avalaunch Ambassador of the Year: Jeremy Jones

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

Jeremy Jones Voted 2013 Avalaunch Winter Market “Ambassador of the Year”

Jones Snowboards is proud to announce that Founder, Jeremy Jones, is the recipient of the 2013 Avalaunch Winter Market “Ambassador of the Year” Award. The Avalaunch awards took place during Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2013 in Salt Lake City. This marks the second year in a row the famed big-mountain rider and environmentalist has taken home the honor. Adding to the stoke, Jones’ environmental foundation, Protect Our Winters (POW), was voted 2013 Avalaunch Winter Market “Company of the Year.”

“It’s an honor to be named an ambassador alongside such an amazing group of athletes,” says Jones Snowboard founder, Jeremy Jones. “What Avalaunch is doing to promote snow safety and environmental responsibility to retailers and consumers is awesome. I’m super excited and humbled to win this award.”

Highly regarded as one of the most influential big mountain snowboarders of all time, Jeremy Jones is driven to emphasize that being fully educated, combined with good decision making, is vital to snow safety while traveling in the backcountry. In 2007, Jones founded Protect Our Winters (POW) to engage and mobilize the winter sports community to lead the fight against climate change. In line with his environmental beliefs, Jones has continually designed a snowboard product line at Jones Snowboards that strives to use sustainable products and manufacturing practices where possible.

Posted in Jeremy Jones, Snow Safety | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Trip Report: Y Couloir, Aiguille Argentiere By Liz Daley

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

No one I had talked to had been in the Argentiere Basin yet this winter so we didn’t know what conditions would be like. Dave Searle (local Chamonix bad-ass: www.davesearle.me, CHECK HIM OUT!) and I decided we’d go have a look  in the Argentiere and check out the Y Couloir on the Aiguille d’Argentiere. If the Y looked good we’d shred it, if not we’d ride back down the Milieu Glacier that we planned to climb up. We had no idea it was about to be one of the most epic descents either of us had ever had!

This is our route up the Milieu. It’s a bigger climb than I remembered, from the Argentiere Glacier to the top of the Aiguille d’Argentiere at 3877m.

I took this picture from Luca Pandolfi’s website from when he shredded it two years ago. This ain’t no LCC Y…

The view from down here never gets old.

Dave Searle getting to the top of the headwall. “It feels like we’re climbing a 8000 m peak!” -Dave. Indeed, it did.

Climbing down from the summit to get a look into the Y.

After some hesitant, thoughtful banter about conditions and whatnot, we threw a couple boulders into the Y, and seeing nothing but powder explosions, we decided to drop in. It looked really steep, I was kind of scared.


I carefully made my way down the steepest part at the top, making turns here and there.

The pitch mellowed out a bit and got really enjoyable.

Photo By Dave Searle.

Photo By Dave Searle.

Photo by Dave Searle.

We thought the snow in the sun might be sun crusted as we approached it… but no. It was rip-able blower! But we keep in mind there is a 30m rappel at the bottom.

After the rappel we shredded down the Amethyst Glacier and the mountains lit up in the sunset. The day didn’t come to an end until I skated across a slightly uphill, rolling glacier for an hour and a half. Dave Searle waited patiently giving nice words of encouragement. We finally got through the broken glacier to the Grandes Montets piste and shredded down 2,500 ft of soft piste in a total white-out fog, in the dark… Could’ve done without the fog fo sho.

Posted in Liz Daley, The Solution | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Introducing The Ultracraft

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Seth Lightcap

After three years of backcountry development and testing, Jones Snowboards is psyched to unleash their latest splitboard innovation, the Ultracraft.  Designed to push riders higher and faster into their mountain playgrounds, the Ultracraft is the pinnacle of fusion between lightweight core construction materials, durability and performance splitboard technologies.  Giving consumers a glimpse into the Jones crystal ball, the new Ultracraft 156 split will be sold exclusively by Jones authorized EPICenter shops worldwide starting Fall 2013.

Bred from hours of testing and prototyping by Jones athletes and engineers, the Ultracraft is the most advanced splitboard ever to hit the market. Featuring the same shape as the revolutionary Hovercraft, the Ultracraft is powered and constructed around a top secret, ultra-light core technology exclusive to Jones, reducing overall weight by 25% compared to the Hovercraft Split.  Unlike traditional splits designed around a solid board platform, then sliced down the middle, the Ultracraft is one of the first splitboards designed as individual split skis before being transformed into a solid board.

“Making lighter splitboards without sacrificing performance and durability has been on my radar since launching our original line four years ago,” says Jeremy Jones, Founder of Jones Snowboards. “This is the answer. The Ultracraft’s design process and exclusive new lightweight mix of high tech materials are game changers in splitboard construction. We’re stoked to launch the Ultracraft as the first evolution of limited edition products sold only in our EPICenter shops around the world.”

Additional Ultracraft Features:
-Ultracraft Split weighs 5.5lbs
-Woodcore: 45% lighter than the Hovercraft Split
-Fiber/Carbon construction: 30% lighter than the Hovercraft Split
-Sintered Carbon 9900 stone grind base
Price: $1,200.00
Available Fall 2013 in Authorized Jones EPICenter Dealers
Posted in The Hovercraft | Tagged , , , | Comments Off