Marstel-Day Interview

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to Protect Our Winters - Marstel-Day's Rebecca R. Rubin Interviews World Renowned Snowboarder, Jeremy Jones

Our winter playgrounds are under siege - a loss of snowpack as a result of milder and shorter winters are conspiring to end generations of snow-dependent recreation across the globe, says extreme snowboarder, Jeremy Jones. In a newly- posted Vital Voices of the Environment interview with Marstel-Day President and CEO, Rebecca R. Rubin, Jones explains how shrinking glaciers and reduced snow are yet another casualty of climate change, and that without action the future is grim not just for recreationalists, but for businesses and downstream water users.

Extreme Snowboarder Jeremy Jones

Jeremy has given voice to an influential group of individuals that are seeing first hand the devastating evidence of our rapidly warming planet.

Fredericksburg, VA (PRWEB) September 18, 2013

Our winter playgrounds are under siege - a loss of snowpack as a result of milder and shorter winters are conspiring to end generations of snow-dependent recreation across the globe, says extreme snowboarder, Jeremy Jones. In a newly- posted Vital Voices of the Environment interview with Marstel-Day President and CEO, Rebecca R. Rubin, Jones explains how shrinking glaciers and reduced snow are yet another casualty of climate change, and that without action the future is grim not just for recreationalists, but for businesses and downstream water users.
See interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nVTJabDh4Y
"Jeremy Jones is the face of a new generation taking it to the streets in the fight against Climate Change," said Rubin. "When he's not big mountain freeriding around the globe, he can be found in Washington, D.C. challenging Congress and the Administration to protect our winters by taking steps to address the realities of climate change."
In his battle to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change to winter sports, commerce and water users, Jones established the non-profit advocacy group, Protect Our Winters (POW), that is galvanizing the winter sports community around the fight, and enlisting professional athletes to joint him in getting word out to decision-makers and the public. Among his recent accolades, he was recognized as a "Champion of Change" by the White House for his effective advocacy.
Among its various initiatives, Protect Our Winters has partnered with The North Face to educate students about the threat of climate change through its "Hot Planet, Cool Athletes" program. The program has reached thousands of school kids, with pro winter sports athletes give high-impact multi-media programs that provide them with a platform to share their experiences witnessing climate change first hand. With Jeremy's leadership, the group also delivered a letter to Capitol Hill, signed by over 500 professional athletes, corporations and others to protect the EPA and the Clean Air Act's ability to regulate CO2 as a pollutant. The effort led to more than 1.2 million media impressions in outlets such as ESPN, USA Today, The Hill, NPR and others.
Marstel-Day's Vital Voices of the Environment series spotlights critical thinkers and planners, each of whom offers unique insight on the key issues we face now and for the environmental future of our planet. "Jeremy has given voice to an influential group of individuals that are seeing first hand the devastating evidence of our rapidly warming planet," said Rubin.

Sports Illustrated Kids - Winter Athletes Sound the Alarm on Climate Change

http://www.sikids.com/athletes-give-back/winter-athletes-climate-change

These winter athletes have experienced first-hand the impact of climate change, inspiring them to work hard to protect our Earth.

By Mary Kate Campbell

For Jeremy Jones, snow is not just a sign of winter. To the 38-year-old Truckee, California, native, snowfall is a symbol of his career, his passion, and his lifestyle. Jones, a 10-time Snowboarder Magazine big-mountain rider of the year and a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year nominee, worries that climate change will prevent future generations from experiencing the winter season as we know it today.

Jones founded Protect Our Winters in 2007 to unite the winter sports community against climate change through education, activism, and community projects. The idea was that winter athletes were the best spokespeople for this topic. They experience first-hand how climate change is impacting their sports and, on a larger scale, affecting the Earth.

Carbon emissions, often produced by burning fossil fuels (like gasoline, for instance), have contributed to global warming. After seeing resorts closed and areas that once had great jumps for snowboarding shut down due to insufficient snowfall, Jones realized that climate change was a crisis that needed to be addressed. "Our mountains are fine in the immediate future," Jones says. "I will have snow to ride on, but this is for the future generations."

Since 2010, Jones has visited Washington, D.C., three times to spark conversation and bring awareness to Protect Our Winters' cause. Jones says he can see the issue making progress, as more policy makers see that climate change can impact everything from the environment to the economy.

However, the nation's capital is not the only place where change is taking place. Protect Our Winters partners with The North Face and Alliance For Climate Education to visit schools through their Hot Planet/Cool Athletes program. Protect Our Winters educates students about the issue, using an interactive presentation with stories from professional winter athletes to inspire kids to make a difference. Jones says that paying attention to little things in your day-to-day life can help the environment, too. For example, he limits his "carbon footprint" by buying locally grown food. And instead of using snowmobiles and helicopters to get up mountains, he hikes for his snowboarding adventures. "This is the planet you are inheriting" Jones says.

How climate change is affecting their lives

ESPN - Champion of Change

http://xgames.espn.go.com/snowboarding/article/9374451/jeremy-jones-being-recognized-obama-champion-change


Champion of Change

By Colin Bane

Published Sunday June 23, 2013

Since founding Protect Our Winters, Jones has become a frequent Capitol Hill visitor.
Courtesy Protect Our Winters

Protect Our Winters (POW) founder Jeremy Jones was named one of President Barack Obama's "Champions of Change" this spring in a White House ceremony honoring 12 Community Resilience Leaders.
Jones -- 2013 National Geographic "Adventurer of the Year" nominee and Snowboarder Magazine's 10-time "Best Big Mountain Rider of the Year" -- started POW to address the effects of climate change he was witnessing and experiencing firsthand during the filming of his "Deeper," "Further," "Higher" backcountry snowboarding movie trilogy. His last trip to Washington, D.C. was to present a study commissioned by POW and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) detailing the potential economic and job loss in the winter-sports industry and the many towns that industry supports, as snowfall gets increasingly sporadic and unpredictable.
Jones left for a three-week splitboarding adventure in the Eastern Alaska Range shortly after his trip to the White House, but we managed to track him down just as he was prepping for his next mission to Alaska's Denali National Park.
XGames.com: We haven't caught up with you since you were honored at the White House. You've already made several trips to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. At this rate you're going to need to find a suit and tie sponsor for all your trips to Washington.
Jeremy Jones: I still don't know how to tie a tie, but maybe a couple more trips and I'll have that down! The White House Champions of Change recognition was a huge honor, even though we didn't actually get to meet Obama.
I've been to Capitol Hill a handful of times now, and it definitely feels like the conversation about climate change in Washington has changed a bit in that time. Eight years ago this would have been a harder Champions of Change group to pull together, and now there are hundreds of good people out there working on these issues.
I was honored to be among the 12 highlighted this year, but it also makes it all the more frustrating that we really haven't had any big victories yet. There's a lot of work ahead of us on every front.

"Less than one percent of all skiers and snowboarders have gotten involved with our efforts, and less than one percent of all companies in the snow or outdoor adventure industry are part of POW."Jeremy Jones

Are you surprised by how quickly opportunities like this have come up since starting POW?
In certain matters, yes. Going to the White House? I definitely never anticipated that.
But then again less than one percent of all skiers and snowboarders have gotten involved with our efforts, and less than one percent of all companies in the snow or outdoor adventure industry are part of POW.
We have an annual board meeting at SIA and the reality is that there are still only about five companies who meaningfully support what we're trying to do.
So this whole thing is really in its infancy with a whole lot of untapped potential and whole lot still to be done, and you try not to let walking into the White House go to your head.
What are you optimistic about?
We have a couple different efforts that we're doing on the political front and we continue to get better at that, but what I'm most excited about is our Hot Planet/Cool Athletes school program, where we go in with an athlete and a climate specialist and do an interactive presentation to school kids.
The message is, "Hey this is the world you're coming into and here are some people doing some great things to solve some of the problems, and we need you to step up and face this challenge."
You can really knock your head against the wall in Washington, but seeing how enthusiastic the kids are and how ready they are is where it gets uplifting and gives you some hope for what's next.
"Higher," the third installment of your movie trilogy, is now under way. What's different about your approach to this project compared to the first two films?
I've learned so much over the last five years about going into the mountains on foot, finding really special lines, and documenting them. We're just getting started on this two-year project, and already it's been incredible for us.
I was able to ride off the Grand Teton in knee-deep powder on a line I'd been trying to put together for five years now. And the other trip we did this year was in the Eastern Alaska Range.
We thought we'd go in there for 7-10 days and it ended up being 20 days. I rode the biggest and most challenging line I've ever ridden in Alaska. I feel like we're really hitting our stride, and the attitude and vibe of these trips has been really special.
While you were in Alaska in April you got word that your Jones Snowboards sales rep Joe Timlin and some other friends and colleagues were among the dead in the avalanche on Loveland Pass in Colorado. How did getting that news affect that trip?

Courtesy Protect Our WintersA "Champion of Change" is an honor given by the White House to 12 citizens, businesses, and community leaders who are working to prepare their communities for the consequences of climate change.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time I've gotten a call like that. But that doesn't make it any easier. I was literally driving to the airstrip and got the call an hour before I was going into the mountains for three weeks. The last thing I wanted to do at that point was go into the mountains, and I pretty much crawled into them that day. I would say "timid" is an understatement.
But as sad and horrific as it was for us, and the mood of the camp at the start of that trip -- which was at an all-time low -- crawling into the mountains is actually the attitude you want to have. You don't want to come into serious terrain full of testosterone, over-amped and overconfident.
But being out there was also a good place for us to work out those thoughts in our head and begin the healing process. I went and rode the biggest line of my life, and did it thinking of Joe and those guys.
It was very emotional, and we ended up naming the mountain Mt. Timlin out of respect. All five of those guys were in our thoughts that whole trip.
Is there any one message you really hope comes across in your films?
The bottom line is I've made thousands of good calls in the mountains and they don't mean anything tomorrow when I go into the mountains. We're all one bad call away from not coming home.
The dangers are real, and rule No. 1 is: Come home. The words "ride to live another day" probably go through my head a hundred times every day when I'm making decisions in the mountains.

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  Jeremy Jones accepting climate award

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  King of the mountain: Jeremy Jones

"Champion of Change" Award from The White House and President Barack Obama

http://protectourwinters.org/pow-founder-jeremy-jones-honored-at-the-white-house-2321

 

 

 

 

 

 

POW FOUNDER, JEREMY JONES HONORED AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Washington, DC - April 12, 2013 – Jeremy Jones, pro snowboarder and Founder of the global nonprofit, Protect Our Winters was honored yesterday at a White House ceremony along with other “Champions of Change,” in recognition of “ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.”
Jones is being recognized for his contribution to raising awareness about the impact of climate change on the winter sports industry by creating Protect Our Winters, a foundation established in 2007 to unite and mobilize the global winter sports community against climate change.
The ceremony took place at the White House on Thursday afternoon.
Twelve Champions of Change were honored for working to prepare their communities for the consequences of climate change. These individuals are leaders and innovators working tirelessly to build community resilience by preparing for increasingly extreme weather and other costly climate-related impacts.  The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative.
“As we take action to reduce carbon pollution and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy, we must also take action to prepare for the impacts of climate change we are already seeing, including more frequent and severe extreme weather,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.  “This week, we look forward to welcoming Champions of Change who are doing smart, innovative work to protect the health, safety and prosperity of their communities in the face of climate change.”
“This nomination and to be recognized by the White House is an absolute honor for me.  It’s also a testament to the work that we’re doing at Protect Our Winters and how important fighting climate change is to the future of our sport and economy,” said Jones.
Additionally, earlier this week, Jones and 75 other winter sports athletes also sent a letter to President Obama today urging the President to take action on climate and clean energy.  The letter was hand delivered to the White House in a separate meeting after the Champions of Change ceremony.
“Without a doubt, winter is in trouble,” the letter states.”  At risk are the economies of tourist-dependent states where winter tourism generates $12.2 billion in revenue annually, supports 212,000 jobs and $7 billion in salaries.  Those are the jobs and businesses owned by our friends and families, generators of billions in federal and state income.”
The letter calls on Obama to follow through on the promises he made in the State of the Union address to fight climate change. He can do so by using executive authority currently available to reduce carbon pollution emitted by America’s power plants, the largest source of carbon pollution worsening climate change, and by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline, which would add millions of tons of new carbon pollution to the atmosphere.

Rolling Stone - Snow Athletes Fight for Climate Change

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/winter-is-in-trouble-snow-athletes-fight-for-climate-action-20130411

'Winter Is in Trouble': Snow Athletes Fight for Climate Action

'The least of our worries will be that skiers and snowboarders don't get to go play,' says pro boarder Jeremy Jones

Jeremy Jones in Alaska

Greg Von Doersten

By Brooke Jarvis

April 11, 2013 11:46 AM ET

Winter may be coming to Westeros, but here on Earth, it's in jeopardy.
That's the message of some 75 professional skiers, snowboarders and climbers – Olympic medalists, world champions and X Games winners among them – whose chosen sports' dependence on snowy winters makes them particularly worried about the effects of climate change.
The athletes have signed a letter to President Obama "on behalf of 23 million of us who love winter and depend on it for our economic livelihoods," asking him to live up to his inaugural promise to take meaningful action to slow climate change. Specifically, they ask him to block the Keystone XL pipeline, which would import carbon-intensive oil from Canada's tar sands, and to require carbon cuts from power plants. "Without a doubt," the letter states, "winter is in trouble."
"It wasn't hard to get people to sign," says Jeremy Jones, a 10-time Snowboard Magazine "Best Big Mountain Rider of the Year" and the founder of Protect our Winters, the nonprofit group that coordinated the letter. "We could go out and get 98 percent of mountain guides to sign on tomorrow. People who are in the mountains on a daily basis see undeniable changes to our winters."
Jones will deliver the letter today while being honored as a White House "Champion of Change." He founded Protect Our Winters after being shocked to witness the loss of snowpack in northern Canada in 2005. "It was a slap in the face," he says.
The Fossil Fuel Resistance
The letter notes that a changing climate won't just harm winter sports fans; it will also threaten jobs and small-town economies across the country. A report by Protect Our Winters and the Natural Resources Defense Council estimated that winter sports add more than $12 billion to the U.S. economy and support more than 200,000 jobs. A number of studies have shown that climate change is not likely to be kind to the ski industry, which is already struggling through short seasons and unpredictable snowfall – the result of drought as well as milder winters. According to one study, no resorts in Massachusetts or Connecticut are likely to survive the next 30 years. Park City, Utah, may have no snowpack left by the end of the century.
Of all the expected casualties of climate change, the winter sports industry may not be the most morally or existentially stirring. But its importance to fans makes it a rallying cry –and the same changes that threaten its long-term viability also put drinking water and agriculture at risk. "If we get to the point where the ski resorts all close because there's no longer any snow," says Jones, "the least of our worries will be that skiers and snowboarders don't get to go play in the mountains."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/winter-is-in-trouble-snow-athletes-fight-for-climate-action-20130411#ixzz2fBBMwygq

High Country News - Interview with Auden Schendler and Jeremy

 http://www.hcn.org/issues/44.12/can-the-outdoor-gear-industry-wield-its-power-for-conservation/the-ski-industry-climate-hawk

The ski industry, climate hawk?

Audio - July 23, 2012 by Cally Carswell

Aspen Skiing Company Sustainability VP Auden Schendler, and professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones on why ski corporations and pro athletes should step up to the climate crisis -- and how they can do it.

Listen to the interview at the link above.

Washington Post - Protect Our Winters mobilizing skiers, boarders

This Associated Press feature was picked up by multiple publications nationwide including the Washington Post and Huffington Post.

CATHERINE TSAI, Associated Press

This April 10, 2010 photo provided by Protect Our Winters shows Jeremy Jones at the Fairweather Mountains near Yakutat, Alaska. The backcountry snowboarder says he's seen the effects of climate change up close in 18 years of heading to Alaska for deep powder in the winter. "Our season ends a week earlier than it used to. The glacier we use to land on, we can't anymore," Jones said. It's part of the reason he formed Protect Our Winters in 2007 to unite snowboarders and skiers behind saving what they love. Coming off a ski season with weak snowfall in much of Colorado, Utah and the Northeast, there's a sense of urgency to what the group wants to do next, namely making Congress pay more attention to climate change. MANDATORY CREDIT: GREG VON DOERSTEN Photo: Protect Our Winters, Greg Von Doersten / AP

DENVER (AP) — Backcountry pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones says he's seen the effects of climate change up close after 18 years of heading to Alaska for deep winter powder.
"Our season ends a week earlier than it used to. The glacier we use to land on, we can't anymore," Jones said.
It's a big part of why Jones formed Protect Our Winters in 2007 to unite snowboarders and skiers to save what they love.
Coming off a shortened ski season with weak snowfall in much of Colorado, Utah and the Northeast, there's a sense of urgency to what Protect Our Winters wants to do next — get Congress to pay more attention to climate change.
Protect Our Winters has distributed money to groups working on projects like renewable energy and climate education. Last fall, board members, including Olympic snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler, delivered a letter asking U.S. senators to support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has proposed stripping carbon dioxide from the list of pollutants included in the Clean Air Act.
Though it was just a letter, it gave the group a taste of its greater goal of building a constituency that can get Congress to act.
"Now people are desperate for a way to engage," Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability for Aspen Skiing Co., told fellow Protect Our Winters board members at a January meeting.
Protect Our Winters wants to convert people's love of winter sports into political activism. The U.S. has an estimated 21 million snow sports enthusiasts who tend to have higher-than-average incomes, according to the snow gear manufacturers' trade group SnowSports Industries America.
The way pro skier and Protect Our Winters board member Chris Davenport sees it, skiers and snowboarders are a tribe of like-minded people vested in protecting the mountain snows that they spend vast amounts of money to play in.
In January, in a windowless Denver conference room with high ceilings and fluorescent lights, board members brainstormed how best to mobilize the roughly 32,000 people who have "liked" the group's Facebook page — and not letting let them turn into "slacktivists" who only own a sticker or T-shirt.
The board fantasized about one day becoming as influential as groups such as the National Wildlife Federation, which claims 4 million members.
A few weeks later the nonprofit group, based in Pacific Palisades, Calif., launched what it calls its POW Seven — seven steps supporters can take to support its mission. They run from reducing emissions by using a clothesline to dry laundry, for instance, to "higher-friction" actions like evangelizing to businesses and politicians.
"There's no worse way to try to ignite a fire than putting out matches," said Matt McClain, who works with Protect Our Winters and the like-minded Surfrider Foundation, which could be a model for Protect Our Winters' growth.
A handful of surfers in Malibu, Calif., started Surfrider in 1984 to protect ocean coastlines. Today, it has about 50,000 members it can mobilize for local campaigns, like urging California counties to consider banning single-use plastic bags.

 

NRDC - Climate Change is Impacting Winter Sports

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/tspencer/skiing_snow_blog_2312.html

Theo Spencer’s Blog

Climate Change is Impacting Winter Sports

So far, it hasn’t been a great winter for skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers and folks who depend on a lot of snow for their recreation and livelihood. Some states—Washington and Alaska—and some ski areas like Taos in New Mexico, and Telluride in southern Colorado, have gotten dumped on. But most resorts across the country are hurting for snow and hurting for dollars as a result. (See my colleague Kelly Henderson’s recent blog post on this topic).
Some people have been arguing that this is just a normal fluctuation that comes with El Nino and La Nina weather patterns as well as the position of the jet stream, and that a warming climate has nothing to do with it. You can see evidence of this in the comments in response to Kelly’s blog.
Those weather patterns certainly do effect seasonal precipitation. But what we’re seeing this winter is part of a trend which is the result of more than just the current La Nina weather pattern. It is also the result of a buildup of heat-trapping carbon pollution in the atmosphere. As the US Global Climate Change Research Program states, “Snowpack has reduced over the last 50 years, due to temperature.” See their very helpful map of the trend in decreasing snowfall near bottom of page 42.
NASA scientist James Hansen shows in a recent paper that heat-trapping pollution has loaded the climate dice. Not only are severe heat waves becoming much more likely, but the warmer atmosphere holds more water. In the summer that means heavier down pours when it rains and more extreme droughts when it doesn’t. In winter it means that a larger share of precipitation comes as rain rather than snow, but when it does snow we can expect bigger blizzards. California skiers know how frustrating this can be. Last year big blizzards often made it impossible to get to the slopes, and this year has been patchy at best.
Negative human impact on the climate and winter recreation hasn't been lost on people like professional snowboarders and skiers. Protect our Winters (POW) was founded by one of the pioneering and most celebrated boarders, Jeremy Jones, after Jones noticed that so many of the places he was riding all over the world had less and less snow as the years have gone by. Jones and fellow advocates Grethen Bleiler (an Olympic silver medalist), and extreme skiing champion Chris Davenport, have taken their argument to Washington, lobbying members of Congress to pass legislation to cut carbon pollution. Big retailers like The North Face, Patagonia, Vans and O'Neill are behind POW--these companies make a lot of money selling winter gear. Less snow and shorter winters mean lower sales.
Other internationally known winter sports athletes, including two time Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott, are also getting involved in helping boost support for cutting heat-trapping pollution
In a related development, as the Washington Post reported recently, the Department of Agriculture released a new plant hardiness zone map that shows generally warmer low temperatures for winter than the department’s previous map from 1990. The zones cover all 50 states and Puerto Rico and were drawn from the average winter low temperatures between 1976 and 2005 at 8,000 weather stations. The Agriculture Department did say, though, that the new map is not specifically a tool to measure climate change and that many of the boundary shifts are the product of better and more complete data and sophisticated computer algorithms.
As to the trend of overall human-induced warming temperatures, check out the recent New York Times article reporting on a new striking video NASA produced showing how temperatures around the globe have risen since 1880.
While weather does fluctuate year by year, and El Nino/La Nina do have an impact, the long-term trend is less snow and earlier snowmelt. This means more frustration for snow sport enthusiasts and a negative impact on the snow sports industry just as we are seeing in so many parts of the country this winter.

Mother Nature Network

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/4-professional-snowboarders-who-double-as-environmentalists 

improve your world

4 professional snowboarders who double as environmentalists

Global warming is a real problem for athletes who depend on the snow.

By Shea GuntherFri, Feb 03 2012 at 9:14 AM EST

OLYMPIC-WORTHY: Gretchen Bleiler competes in the women's halfpipe in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Professional snowboarders have awesome jobs: They spend their days on mountains riding chairlifts and ripping runs down snow-covered hills. Depending on their focus, they might find themselves spending the day in a halfpipe nailing down highly technical tricks or up in the backcountry dropping huge lines for video cameras filming from nearby helicopters. While the smart ones also put in time in the gym lifting weights and doing yoga, the bulk of a snowboarders' training time is spent in the mountains, outside on the snow collecting wintry vertical gain and drop.

 

Given the huge amount of time that they spend in the great outdoors, it's easy to find professional snowboarders who double as environmentalists. Climate change could bring some serious disruption to winters in places like the U.S. and Canadian Rockies and the French Alps, disruptions that could shorten seasons and drastically cut snowfall totals. In the face of the damage that climate change could bring to snowboarding, it might be harder to find a snowboarder who isn't an environmentalist. But the world needs every advocate it can get, and the following four snowboarders have heard Mother Nature's call and stepped up to help spread the message that we need to do something before it's too late.

 

Gretchen Bleiler

Bleiler was born in Ohio and lived there for the first 10 years of her life. When she was 11, her family moved to Aspen, Colo., and she started snowboarding. Four years after she started, she turned pro and has since become one of the strongest riders in the world. She's a three-time X Games gold medalist, Olympic silver medalist, and was the first female rider to land a Crippler 540, a difficult inverted trick that had been the sole domain of the male riders and which helped spur more female riders to pursue more challenging inverted tricks.

 

She has her own signature clothing line produced by Oakley and was the first action sports female to score the cover of ESPN Magazine.

 

Not content with being just one of the world's best riders as well as a fashion designer, Bleiler has become a vocal and passionate advocate for the planet. She's given talks about climate change at schools and universities, has worked closely with StopGlobalWarming.org to promote their campaigns, and sits on the board of directors for Protect Our Winters, the nonprofit advocacy group started by fellow list member Jeremy Jones to unite the snow sports world in the fight against climate change. And if that isn’t enough, she started a company with her husband, Chris, to sell the ALEX Bottle, a cool concept in water bottles that makes it easy to customize size and colored designs.

 

Jeremy Jones

Jones grew up snowboarding in New England and attended Carrabassett Valley Academy, a small private school at the base of Maine ski resort Sugarloaf that allowed students serious of on-mountain training the freedom to pursue their sport. A typical school day for a student includes three or fours hours of time on the slopes in addition to the regular high school work load. Jones was initially a racer but transitioned into big mountain free riding (ripping runs on crazy steep high mountain peaks) where he excelled.

 

In 2007, Jones started Protect Our Winters (POW), the nonprofit mentioned above. POW's mission statement stresses that its focus is on "educational initiatives, activism, and the support of community-based projects."

 

Its "Hot Planet/Cool Athletes" series brings professional snowboarders and skiers into schools to talk to kids about how important it is to care about the environment. POW also pulls no punches when it comes to the dangers of coal, saying, "Coal is killing snow … that’s a fact. Mining and burning coal is the dirtiest and most environmentally destructive process to generate power — the resulting CO2 has a direct negative effect on climate change." Amen. In September 2011, Jones traveled to Washington, D.C., (along with fellow listee Gretchen Bleiler) to deliver a letter to Congress signed by more than 500 professional snowboarders, urging politicians to protect the EPA and the Clean Air Act.

 

As a sign of his deep commitment to his cause, Jones swore off the use of helicopters and Sno-Cats in getting to the start of his runs high up on mountains (both are staples for top big-mountain riders) and he now hikes up to whatever he's set to ride. In 2009, he dropped his long-term board sponsor, Rossignol, and started up his own snowboard company, Jones Snowboards, so he could have more control over the sustainability of the boards he rides.

 

Forrest Shearer

Shearer grew up in California, picked up snowboarding back in the winter of 2001, and hasn't looked back since. The now-professional rider spends most of his riding time on big mountains ripping down steep slopes and is deeply involved in environmental advocacy work though Jeremy Jones' Protect Our Winters, where he regularly speaks to kids in schools about how important sustainability is to the world. When he's not hiking some peak in the French Alps or throwing himself down a steep Alaskan slope, Shearer can be found making tracks in the mountains near his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. Check out this great video profiling Shearer and his environmentalism over at TransWorld Snowboarding.

 

Seth Wescott

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott was born in North Carolina but grew up in the mountains. He went to school at the Carrabassett Valley Academy, an elite private school for kids focusing on skiing or snowboarding that fellow list member Jeremy Jones attended, and specializes in the boardercross, an intense race event that pits four riders against one another on a crazy course packed with jumps, speed rollers and other obstacles that each rider must navigate in a mad dash to the finish line. He took home the gold medal in the event at the 2006 Olympics and repeated the feat four years later in Vancouver.

 

Wescott got his start as an environmental activist and advocate through the friendship with Jones that had developed during their shared time at Carrabassett. He's participated in Hot Planet/Cool Athletes program and spoken to thousands of kids about the need to do something about man-made climate change. Wescott still lives in Maine (he built his home at the base of Sugarloaf using green materials and practices) and is on the board of directors for Maine Huts and Trails, a nonprofit organization that works to protect and preserve the Maine wilderness.

Jeremy wins "Ambassador of the Year", POW wins "Company of the Year" at OR

Ambassador of the Year
Superior athlete exemplifies snow safety & stewardship values, a pillar in the snowriding community, striving for excellence in all facets of life. They could be a skier, snowboarder, telemarker, snowmobiler or ice climber.

• Andrew McLean
• Chris Davenport
• Dean Cummings
• Jeremy Jones  (Winner)
• Steve Christie

Company of the Year
A company that goes the extra mile through philanthropic endeavors and stewardship initiatives not by just giving back, but by creating ideas that initiate action. They create a philosophy that's infectious within the winter recreational community.

• Backcountry Access
• Black Diamond Equipment
• Mountain Hardwear
• Patagonia
• Protect Our Winters (POW) (Winner)

Press Release:
Protect Our Winters (POW) was given the title of ‘Company of the Year’ last week during the inaugural Avalaunch Winter Market Awards in Salt Lake City, Utah. POW Founder Jeremy Jones was also awarded Ambassador of the Year at the event, which was presented by Outdoor Retailer.


“This award validates our mission and shows that the winter community supports our actions,” comments Chris Steinkamp, POW’s Executive Director. “There are a lot of great companies in snowsports and while revenue is one benchmark, it’s great to see success being redefined and equal consideration given to companies that are focused on doing good.”
Read below for more information on POW’s big win:

Pacific Palisades, CA – Jan 24, 2012 - For the Company of the Year award , judging criteria extends beyond the bottom line and includes philanthropic endeavors and stewardship initiatives.  Consideration is given to projecting a philosophy that is in alliance with the winter recreational community. The awards are in collaboration with Outdoor Retailer and are created to honor those who have broken new ground in the snow sports industry. Winners are selected by industry peers who voted during the Outdoor Retailer show last week.


“I can’t think of a company more deserving than POW. Education and discussion are invaluable when it comes to protecting our winters and influencing how we act in every day life. We’re excited to see what mountains Jeremy Jones and crew will overcome this year and beyond,” explains Avalaunch’s Tate Chamberlain.

Wend Magazine - Jeremy Interview on POW

http://www.mygazines.com/issue/51064/21