Category Archives: Ski Updates

New Frontiers & Fame

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[audio: http://www.jakecast.com/wp-music/theanimal.mp3|titles=Animal|artists=Miike Snow]

Blam. New Frontiers on the JCDC (JakeCast-Dot-Com…duh).

First time leading a route outside. An awesome moment to:
A) Realize you are far more uncomfortable with heights than you thought
B) Realize skiing, biking and programming have left you with no upper body strength
C) Scream in a high pitched voice that you can’t find the next hold
D) All of the above…


Remember kids, there is no where to wash your hands if you mess up while peeing with a harness on. That thought and this picture are totally unrelated.
…just don’t use the same handholds as me for a couple days

Here’s a nice shot of Philipp, my awesome german belayer, staring at the camera and giving it a nice pose.
You know what he’s not looking at? Me. Confused 90′ above him. Haha.

Philipp resends the route, making it look easy.

My other German associate, Dajana, learning to climb in an awesome trial by fire.

I tried to cheer her on in her own native language, but unfortunately my German is a bit rusty (read: non-existent) and all I could manage to shout out was: “Wo bewahren sie ihre toilettenpapier!”
…which roughly translates to ‘where’s the toilet paper’

Philipp took this moment to tell us that he’d been to this area a week before, but that giant pile of rocks wasn’t there…Haha. I’m not fucking laughing.

I’d be happy if I could just find the one flat spot to sit without getting stabbed in my ass by every rock in Utah.

Dajana finds a furry friend scrambling around the rocks. A weasel.

Philipp on-sights a very confusing 11+. Show-off.

I bring a lot to this team.

I get stuck on Philipps 11+. I don’t care where I’m climbing. I just want to be in the sun.

…And that’s a wrap.


But Wait! If I’m going to suck at a new sport, I have to at least keep the ski fame coming strong!
Snowbird’s Website

The University of Utah’s latest ski ad with some very familiar helmet cam.

Preview of HelmetCast #20. So good.

Jake

Spring.

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Welcome to Spring.

Facts from the field.
7 feet in the last 7 days.
37″ in the last 48 hours.
33″ in the last 24 hours.
22″ in the last 12 hours.
…
2 more feet tonight.

Escape from little yesterday.

The road is shut with no estimated reopening as are the lifts at Snowbird. I predict tomorrow is the perfect day.

Peas and carrots.
Jake

Hammer Down

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Well, Day 1 of the World Freeskiing Championships just wrapped up at my home mountain of Snowbird, UT. Sunshine and temperatures of 52°F caused conditions on West Baldy (Qualifier Venue) to range from coral reef to slush. A big cut was laid down on the men competiting (19 of 55 made it to Silver Fox on Friday), but the most disappointing fact of the day was JCDC (jakecast.com …DUH) Athlete Nik Aksamit threw down the GNARLIEST line of the day and for some reason didn’t qualify.

After being nominated as one of Frankie’s favorites in the athlete meeting after today’s event (the announcer’s views on what the best lines were), Nik found himself sitting in 22nd position. This is after sending the biggest air in the gnarliest section of the venue and then straightlining the last half of the zone through huge icy moguls right into the finish. Don’t believe me yet? Just check out the World Freeskiing Tour Homepage picture from today, featuring the Aksamit sending it HUDGE into the pocket.

World Freeskiing Tour Homepage featuring Nik Aksamit

Close-up of Nik going huge!

Tough break buddy, we all thought you were top ten for sure. At least we can take solace in knowing that we are so gnarly that even if we don’t make the cut, we still get featured in the headline photo.

Video of Frankie’s Favorites from the athlete meeting this evening (I’m in the purple shirt and Nik has a haircut like a child molester).
Scroll to 1m 20s for the JCDC spotlight moment.

The good news is tomorrow temperatures are supposed to drop and the clouds are going to movie in, which means it won’t be variable conditions throughout the day. It’ll just be coral reef and ice all day long. I am so fucking stoked.

See you tomorrow, #16.
Jake