COVER Girdwood, AK in the spring of 2024 was a momentous trip for Kai Jones. After breaking both his legs in a crash in the Tetons in March 2023, Kai flew up to Alaska with two of his idols, Ian McIntosh and Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and skied some of the biggest terrain of his life. Decades ago, McIntosh and Cattabriga-Alosa had learned from Kai’s uncle, Jeremy Jones—getting to pass that big mountain knowledge back through the family felt like a full circle moment. Read more in Kai’s profile beginning on page 074. Photo: Nic Alegre TIPS UP 01 • “The weather forecast called for sun all day long in Kamifurano on Hokkaido, Japan. Hidemitsu Okada and I started skinning before sunrise and returned to the car for a lunch break. We chatted with locals to find out more about the area, then we went back out in the evening for a few turns in the cold air and a beautiful twilight session.” Photo: Takahiro Nakanishi 02 • “The Mt. Baker Seshup first happened decades ago when a group of snowboard-ers decided to hold a low-key session on the Grandma’s step up after the lifts closed at nearby Mt. Baker Ski Area, WA. Since, it’s grown into quite a gathering. In the past couple years, the Seshup combined forces with Tre Squad’s Brain Bowl for a mid-May DIY festival of sorts, merging the step up with a hand-dug skate bowl made of snow. Here, Gus Bullock airs right as a shadow fell over the jump on the first evening of the three-day gathering. By the end of the weekend, the hand-built jump had seen over 1,100 airs and the landing was a giant crater.” Photo: Colin Wiseman 03 • “Sunset park shoots are a special occasion, especially on your home hill—that’s when all the cameras need to come out. Lukas Duckworth follows Rylee Hackler for just one more clip as she hits the big line at Sunshine Village, AB on a spectacular April evening.” Photo: Max Ritter 04 • “Jim Ryan can make just about any skiing look good. Steep couloirs in the Tetons are no exception and may be his specialty. Here, he jumps for joy finding some surpris-ingly good snow in the Apocalypse Couloir in Grand Teton National Park, WY.” Photo: Cam McLeod 05 • “Jordy Kidner at Shames Mountain, a wicked little ski hill near Terrace, in British Columbia’s northwest. It’s a community-run hill managed as a co-op, and the few lifts only run four days a week. Beyond the lifts in the Shames backcountry, the opportuni-ties are endless, the snow is deep and the people are few.” Photo: Mattias Fredriksson 06 • “April 6 was one of the best storm days of the season in the Wasatch. It had snowed about five inches overnight then raged all day, easily another foot.” Colin Becker in Alta, UT. Photo: Lee Cohen 07 • Veteran racers wax their skis the night before the Inferno Downhill, the longest amateur downhill ski race in the world. The first Inferno race took place with just 17 competitors in 1928, dropping over 7,000 feet from the Schilthorn to the Lauterbrunnen over almost 10 miles. The historical race, which routinely sells out, is capped at 1,850 competitors sent off in 12-second increments. Mürren, Switzerland. Photo: Cam McLeod 08 • Bobby Brown sending it over the Million Dollar Highway (CO highway 550) between Ouray and Silverton, CO. “I’ve been dreaming about this gap forever,” says Brown. “I’ve driven over Red Mountain Pass so many times and just looked up and envisioned gapping over the cars. We were filming in southern Colorado, and when the conditions lined up, I knew it was time to check this one off the list. The first hit was by far the scariest thing I’ve done. Huge thank you to the crew that came to help me make it happen.” Photo: Brett Schreckengost 09 • “Marcus Caston marching up the wind buff following a big storm and massive wind event at Mammoth Mountain, CA while we wait for the rest of the lifts to open. Who needs powder when there’s California wind buff?” Photo: Cam McLeod The Ski Journal 015
The Ski Journal Volume 18, Issue 1: Page 15
