Austria

I’m on a plane heading back to the states after a crazy week in Austria. I flew over for the 20th “Air &Style” stadium kicker contest…pretty much just an excuse to rip some runs in Arlberg with my longtime friend Jamie Lynn and Volcom’s Pat Barraza.

My legs were weak with jetlag and I was more than intimidated by the triple cork ready kicker. It was surreal dropping into the scaffolding jump at night in front of the massive crowd. It was a “leap of faith” as I dropped in for the first time… heart racing, tripping out and totally mind fucked by the whole scene overload.

It felt really good to be done paying the dues at the contest and jump on the train to Arlberg. My friend Blackie picked us up and we wasted no time getting into right into some killer shredding… it snowed over a foot and was dumping super hard as we took hotlaps with friends.

It kept snowing and things just got better as the rest of the days of our trip passed. We rode till exhaustion, cooked food at Volcom team house and spent some time painting and catching up over a few beers.

Thanks to Billy,Jan, Tommy, Pat, Blackie, Holtzi, and Jamie for the good times.

Bruce Lee Quote

I posted a photo of my son Mylo doing his version of a flying kick on our trampoline last week and some friends referenced my first pro model graphic. It made me think about what inspired the artwork. I remember reading this quote from Bruce Lee when I was a young kid and it had a profound effect on my way of thinking. It fueled a fire of perseverance for the intense passion and desire I felt, and still feel for riding today. It helped me decide to pursue snowboarding as a career and is why I chose to have the martial arts theme on my first pro model.

"Bruce Lee"

pro model snowboard circa 1993

Instagram of Mylo that sparked a reference to my original graphic.

 

 

Beach Happy 1993

When I got back from Chile I had a nice surprise on my desk among the stacks of junk mail and bills. Wooly sent me this original copy of Beach Happy. This was our So Cal “scene zine” back in the day… brings back some fun memories for sure.

Volcom Ad 1993

 

"America's first Boarding Company"

Heckler Magazine 1997

I found this old magazine at my sisters house, pretty random but brought back good memories of when I first moved to Jackson.

cover shot

Rock Pocket

It’s crazy how filled in the “Rock Pocket” is in this picture.. I mean there is hardly even 10 feet of cliff showing. It’s a reminder of how big the winter of 1997 was in Jackson. I think it was the biggest recorded snowfall… 2011 might have been bigger but there was way less people fighting for tracks back then and the powder was plentiful all season. Regardless the riding in JH hasn’t let me down and I can’t wait for another season.

Jamie Lynn in JH

This past winter came and went as seasons do. It felt like a lot of the winter the conditions were challenging due to sketchy snowpack or unseasonably warm weather. Despite that I had some good days riding at home in Jackson. Some of the really fun days shredding were with my old friend Jamie Lynn. It was amazing to see Jamie riding solid after not shredding with him for awhile. We started calling him “one and done” because he’d be hanging back chill’n then once inspired he’d step up to hit whatever was going down and stomp it first try.

Look for him at volcom.com this fall to see the sessions from the trip.

Jackson hole mountain resort

Art lessons for Mylo