Showing posts with label backcountry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label backcountry. Show all posts
January 12, 2012
January 1, 2012
Snowboarder - Props to Jer in "Big Mountains are Getting Huge"
"Big Mountains are Getting Huge"
Writer - Blair HabenichtJeremy Jones is a rider I always viewed as an anti-hero of snowboarding, not giving much thought to anything else but riding big, scary lines. And yes, he has been the most recognized big-mountian rider of the decade, but in comparison to the media attention that freestyle commands, Jeremy's past coverage and global influence has been relatively light and directed almost solely at freeriders. That has changed, tough. After "Deeper" came out, the increase of backcountry travelers in the Pacific Northwest was undeniable, which I doubt was a geographically isolated incident.
His abandonment of helicopters and snowmobiles in as endearing an endeavor rider of his caliber has ever taken in an attempt to show the possibilities of riding big lines are hard to get to, yes, but nonetheless available within most snowboarders budgets and locales. That may not have been his goal, but it was accomplished. And in branching out by filming and marketing his own signature movie, Jeremy has also managed to capture the attention of another audience that has no real interest in going out and riding the terrain themselves - an audience that see snowboarding as a sport, not a lifestyle.
This is the tipping point for Jeremy, from anti-hero of a lifestyle of riding big mountains, to a hero whose face can now be used to sell headphones at Best Buy. This is no slight to Jeremy; it simply reflects the current market trends and that his ideas and lifestyle are what people desire in their own existence.
"The people filling up the backcountry are not influenced by mainstream advertising. They are people that want to keep evolving their snowboarding and get away from crowded resorts. In this crowded world of constant connectivity and increasing rules and laws, the backcountry is a place to cut yourself off from society and experience freedom." - Jeremy Jones
December 15, 2011
Kronicle - Jeremy photos
Jeremy finds his place in Backcountry Snowboarding's newest Magazine Kronicle (Winter 2012)
2 page spread - Jeremy Jones Mt. Dana, Yosemite
contents page - "Jeremy Jones rallies a sunset lap in the Sierra Backcontry, Calif."
Jones Snowboards Ad
October 17, 2011
Elevation Outdoors - 3 page Feature
Click the link below for the full article:
The Core: Jones has infused new energy into snowboarding by heading deep into the backcountry. Photo: Seth Lightcap
Jeremy Jones laughs and jokes as he waits under a blazing sun for his final, somewhat unusual, snowboard run of the season. It’s July 3, and he is competing in Squaw Valley’s annual pond skimming contest. Jones lives in nearby Truckee, Calif., on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore and has participated in Squaw’s summertime splash-fest many times. The goofy event, which features wild costumes and embarrassing wipeouts, is a way for Jones to unwind with friends after a long season of traveling to the world’s most extreme snowboarding locations. Jones would have no problem clearing the pond, but this year he plans to tank. “I’m going to spray the crowd and take a dunk. I’m sweating and need a swim.”
It is a rare occasion when Jones can enjoy wiping out on his board. Jones is an eight-time Big Mountain Rider of the Year who has performed in more than 50 snowboard movies. His career highlight reel includes some of the sickest, most pucker-inducing descents ever filmed. His helicopter-assisted runs down 70-degree spines in Alaska elevated big mountain snowboarding to new heights. Now 36, an age when adrenaline athletes typically back off the throttle, Jones is charting a new, more eco-friendly course for his career.
Last winter, his movie “Deeper” reimagined the snowboard movie, a tired genre of plot-less action sequences and tedious park and pipe big airs spliced together with hero music. He did this by using no helicopters, instead relying on splitboards, crampons, ice axes, ropes, harnesses and a butt-load of ballsiness. Operating from remote base camps, Jones and his team climbed every peak they rode, from Antarctica to Alaska to the Alps. “Deeper” was widely praised for a documentary style that not only showcased some of Jones’ most daring descents, but also showed the risks, and drama, of getting up mountains on foot. Helicopters, after all, are ambulances when things go wrong.
Jones is now halfway through filming his follow-up, “Further,” produced by Teton Gravity Research (Jones is the brother of TGR founders Todd and Steve Jones). A webisode and trailer were released this fall in advance of the film’s debut in late 2012 – view the trailer here. “Further” continues the adventure travel narrative, with Jones again eschewing choppers in favor of daring human-powered ascents. “With ‘Deeper’ I went deeper into the mountains than I ever had before. With ‘Further’ I’m going even further afield and ticking off destinations I’ve always wanted to hit.”
Located above the Arctic Circle, Svalbard is home to the northernmost shred-able mountains in the world. Jones and his crew spent one month on the Norwegian island last spring, 700 miles from the North Pole, a trip that required an ass-numbing 17-hour trip across fjords, glaciers and desolate expanses of ice on beefy, tracked snow machines. Operating from a base camp on a glacier, Jones and his riding partner, Norwegian superstar Terje Haakonsen, assaulted the island’s 5,000-foot peaks. Jones describes the trip as “dream-like.” The sun never set. The weather was mild. His favorite memory is of a high-speed descent in rosy pink light at 2 a.m. “Every aspect all around us had good snow so everything was in play and you never had to go to bed.” Thankfully, Jones never had to face off with one of Svalbard’s greatest hazards: hungry polar bears. When venturing outside the protective fence around the base camp, Jones traveled with a heavily armed polar bear guide. “Polar bears can really shut down your scene up there. We were happy to not get hunted.”
Jones’ month-long trip to Japan’s high Alps, by contrast, was unexpectedly humbling. The “Further” team endured fierce winds and huge snowstorms while winter camping. “It was definitely not the typical tree-pow cruising that you see in a lot of films from Japan,” Jones says. “We were dealing with 5,000 feet of vertical climbing from the valley floor to the highest peaks, low temperatures, big winds and really tricky snow evaluation conditions. We couldn’t even get on some of the peaks because of the weather, and we got turned back a lot.” Despite the adverse conditions, Jones and his crew bagged incredible footage, including a blind roll-over from a cornice that rivals anything Jones has ridden in Alaska.
The Core: Jones has infused new energy into snowboarding by heading deep into the backcountry. Photo: Seth LightcapJeremy Jones laughs and jokes as he waits under a blazing sun for his final, somewhat unusual, snowboard run of the season. It’s July 3, and he is competing in Squaw Valley’s annual pond skimming contest. Jones lives in nearby Truckee, Calif., on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore and has participated in Squaw’s summertime splash-fest many times. The goofy event, which features wild costumes and embarrassing wipeouts, is a way for Jones to unwind with friends after a long season of traveling to the world’s most extreme snowboarding locations. Jones would have no problem clearing the pond, but this year he plans to tank. “I’m going to spray the crowd and take a dunk. I’m sweating and need a swim.”
It is a rare occasion when Jones can enjoy wiping out on his board. Jones is an eight-time Big Mountain Rider of the Year who has performed in more than 50 snowboard movies. His career highlight reel includes some of the sickest, most pucker-inducing descents ever filmed. His helicopter-assisted runs down 70-degree spines in Alaska elevated big mountain snowboarding to new heights. Now 36, an age when adrenaline athletes typically back off the throttle, Jones is charting a new, more eco-friendly course for his career.
Last winter, his movie “Deeper” reimagined the snowboard movie, a tired genre of plot-less action sequences and tedious park and pipe big airs spliced together with hero music. He did this by using no helicopters, instead relying on splitboards, crampons, ice axes, ropes, harnesses and a butt-load of ballsiness. Operating from remote base camps, Jones and his team climbed every peak they rode, from Antarctica to Alaska to the Alps. “Deeper” was widely praised for a documentary style that not only showcased some of Jones’ most daring descents, but also showed the risks, and drama, of getting up mountains on foot. Helicopters, after all, are ambulances when things go wrong.
Further
Jones is now halfway through filming his follow-up, “Further,” produced by Teton Gravity Research (Jones is the brother of TGR founders Todd and Steve Jones). A webisode and trailer were released this fall in advance of the film’s debut in late 2012 – view the trailer here. “Further” continues the adventure travel narrative, with Jones again eschewing choppers in favor of daring human-powered ascents. “With ‘Deeper’ I went deeper into the mountains than I ever had before. With ‘Further’ I’m going even further afield and ticking off destinations I’ve always wanted to hit.” 
Located above the Arctic Circle, Svalbard is home to the northernmost shred-able mountains in the world. Jones and his crew spent one month on the Norwegian island last spring, 700 miles from the North Pole, a trip that required an ass-numbing 17-hour trip across fjords, glaciers and desolate expanses of ice on beefy, tracked snow machines. Operating from a base camp on a glacier, Jones and his riding partner, Norwegian superstar Terje Haakonsen, assaulted the island’s 5,000-foot peaks. Jones describes the trip as “dream-like.” The sun never set. The weather was mild. His favorite memory is of a high-speed descent in rosy pink light at 2 a.m. “Every aspect all around us had good snow so everything was in play and you never had to go to bed.” Thankfully, Jones never had to face off with one of Svalbard’s greatest hazards: hungry polar bears. When venturing outside the protective fence around the base camp, Jones traveled with a heavily armed polar bear guide. “Polar bears can really shut down your scene up there. We were happy to not get hunted.”
Jones’ month-long trip to Japan’s high Alps, by contrast, was unexpectedly humbling. The “Further” team endured fierce winds and huge snowstorms while winter camping. “It was definitely not the typical tree-pow cruising that you see in a lot of films from Japan,” Jones says. “We were dealing with 5,000 feet of vertical climbing from the valley floor to the highest peaks, low temperatures, big winds and really tricky snow evaluation conditions. We couldn’t even get on some of the peaks because of the weather, and we got turned back a lot.” Despite the adverse conditions, Jones and his crew bagged incredible footage, including a blind roll-over from a cornice that rivals anything Jones has ridden in Alaska.
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