ESPN.com - Jazz Flute!

http://espn.go.com/action/snowboarding/blog?post=4497044

by Colin Whyte

Jeremy JonesJones named this the Brothel. "It took me five years to unlock this thing because there was so many crevasses and seracs in the out run."

Think of it as going to church with God: a spine run primer with Jeremy Jones. If you're a snowboarder who likes the combination of steep, powder and fast, you'll dig this overview from Jones's always-informative blog. What are spines? How do you find them? Where do you find them? What does it feel like to ride them? Jones hits all these points and more but it's not some "check out how much burlier I am than you" ego piece so much as a peek behind the curtain of Jones's long-time fascination with spine runs.
And trust us: he is obsessed.

Jeremy JonesMore accessible spines for the less advanced rider. "So ripe and perfect we named them Avocado."

This isn't a straight how-to either; it's more like a scrapbook of some of the spine lines Jeremy has ticked off in his lifetime. That said, the aspiring aficionado will find plenty of practical advice on choosing lines here. From party runs like "Avocado" and "Sexy Spines" he encourages almost anyone to ride, to Jones-only fare like "The Brothel," "The Prow," and "Dr. Seuss," you'll find enough fluted faces in this post to keep your imagination engaged until the mountains open.
A few thoughts from the man himself on what it feels like to drop into a serious spine garden: "They are so steep that riding them is like standing next to a wall and your whole body is touching the snow. Oftentimes, both arms are needed to hug the spines to help keep you from getting peeled off the wall. The spray from each turn instantly turns into small avalanches and there is no way to beat your sluff so you are forced to work around it and often ride through it. Meanwhile, gravity is doing all it can to pull you off the face and oftentimes you cannot stop if you want to. One slip or misjudged sluff and you may find yourself cartwheeling down a face at 60 mph."
Maybe we'll stick to "Avocado"...

Shop-eat-surf - Jeremy Jones on Jones Snowboards

http://www.shop-eat-surf.com/news-item/3672/jeremy-jones-on-jones-snowboards/-

Professional snowboarder and business owner Jeremy Jones. Photos by Shop-eat-surf.

By TIFFANY MONTGOMERY
March 21, 2012 07:32 AM

I talked briefly at SIA with professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones about his business, Jones Snowboards.

Jones Snowboards was unveiling its third season of boards at the show, and the company has a very specific niche.

The company specializes in all mountain freeriding boards including split boards that can be pulled apart and used like skis to climb uphill in the backcountry, and then are put back together into a snowboard for the descent.

Some split boards by Jones Snowboards

Previously, Jeremy was sponsored by Rossignol for nearly 20 years, and had always taken a great interest in how boards were made.

“My passion is how to make a better snowboard,” he said.

He started making split boards and all mountain freeride boards for selfish reasons, he said. It was the type of board he always wanted, but others weren’t interested in making them.

At Jones Snowboards’ first SIA, his boards arrived after the show had started. Still, the best shops placed orders.

“The industry wants to see rider-driven brands succeed,” said Jeremy, who lives in Tahoe and is also sponsored by Sanuk and O’Neill Snow and is known for his environmental activism.

Jones boards are designed for very accomplished snowboarders.

“My customer has been snowboarding for a long time,” he said. “They understand what a good snowboard feels like. They are passionate, everyday snowboarders not five days a year snowboarders.”

For the next winter season, Jones Snowboards is introducing women’s boards, backpacks and a series of carbon boards.

I asked him if he has encountered any surprises while starting his own business.

“I’ve been in this world so long, it was a pretty calculated decision - I knew what I was getting into,” he said. “I have been surprised by how well its been received.”

Further Unplugged #5 / ESPN

Further, Unplugged: Cold cameras

What it takes to 'get the shot' in the sub zero temperatures of the arctic

Originally Published: March 17, 2012

By Seth Lightcap | ESPN Action Sports

The latest chapter of Jeremy Jones and Teton Gravity Research's Further Unplugged series celebrates the unsung heroes of the movie project: the cameramen. The episode details the gruesome cold conditions and nerve rattling exposure that TGR cinematographers had to suffer through to bag the banger shots on their 2011 expedition to the Arctic Circle in Svalbard, Norway.
The efforts of his production crew on the Arctic trip, and every other frozen adventure he has taken, are not lost on Jeremy Jones.
"You can't even fathom what the cameramen have to deal with on our expeditions," said Jones. "Just keeping the cameras operating in the cold is a huge challenge, let alone the weight they have to carry up the mountain to get the shot. It's incredible what they do. It's an art form."
Teton Gravity Research's head of production, Jon "JK" Klaczkiewicz, was one of the cinematographers who joined Jones in the Arctic. Maintaining battery power and steering clear of unstable snow were Klaczkiewicz's two biggest obstacles on the trip.
"Batteries were a constant day-to-day battle because we only had solar power to charge," Klaczkiewicz said. "On overcast days we never knew if the batteries would last and the cold made it worse. There were a couple times that we had a hard time getting the laptop to spin up because it was so cold."

Christoph Schimpføssl(left) JK, Chris Edmands and Dan Milner at a shooting perch in Svalbard. (right) JK using a splitboard dolly.

The avalanche danger wasn't extreme while the crew was in Svalbard but the potential for a slide was never far from Klaczkiewicz's mind when he was shooting on-slope.
"Avalanche danger is the most unsettling aspect of shooting in the backcountry," Klaczkiewicz said. "When you have a 50-pound camera pack on you just can't move as fast to get to an island of safety."
Shooting between a rock and frozen place does have it's rewards though. Photographer Dan Milner who also accompanied the crew in the Arctic says the shots he has to work for are often the most fulfilling.
"It's often hard for the viewer to appreciate the 5 a.m. predawn starts and 1000-meter climbs needed to reach the shooting spots, but the shots where I had to put in more effort fill me with more personal pride and fulfillment," Milner said. "Perhaps it's due to having your own personal limits pushed, your own comfort zone threatened, to get the best you can. I'm not saying that I'd necessarily want to repeat some of those crampon-and-ax climbs though!"
For Jones, finding cameramen willing to push the limits of their bodies and their equipment in the backcountry was the initial challenge, but after successfully filming "Deeper," the focus of "Further" is simply to get better at it.
"For years I had cameramen tell me 'You just can't winter camp with cameras,'" Jones said. "It has taken us four years of dedicated work to figure out how to do it, but were getting there. The only way we've learned is to make mistakes." 

O'Neill Evolution on MPORA - Jeremy Video & Interview