a m a g a z i n e f o r e v e r y t h i n g o n p l a n k s

CHOWDER

Flippin’ Tippin’

Plank Sakin’ history

Kimberley issue

s h r e d t a c k u l a r p e o p l e g i v i n g u s u n b e a t a b l e t i p s

a b r i e f h i s t o r y l e s s o n o f e v e r y t h i n g i m p o r t a n t

t h i s m o n t h ’ s f e a t u r e d m o u n t a i n r e s o r t

$7.99 September 2017

Inside

FOUNDER................................Jessie Foster

PUBLISHER..............................Jessie Foster

EDITOR....................................Jessie Foster

ART DIRECTOR........................Jessie Foster

DESIGNER................................Jessie Foster

PHOTO EDITOR.......................Jessie Foster

ASSOCIATE EDITOR................Jessie Foster

ONLINE EDITOR......................Jessie Foster

VIDEO EDITOR........................Jessie Foster

SENIOR WRITER.....................Jessie Foster

ILLUSTRATOR.........................Jessie Foster

COPY EDITOR..........................Jessie Foster

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CHOWDER

Relaxation by the river.Stress free family fun.

Your own personal shangri-la.

To book your perfect holiday contact Brian VanBuuren at 403-512-5541 or visit vbhomes.ca for more informationKimberley’s MINER SHACK CHOWDER

Gear, Guts and Glorythe best new gear for you and your crew out on the hill

Après Skiwhere to head for the best partying, booty-shaking, bud drinking and all around good tim

ing

The Scream

in’ Semen

skiing is progressing quicker than altzeimers,

stay on top of those new throw-downs

Photography Funthis art of m

aking skiing a beautiful thing, the best photographers com

ing out of the west

On the Cover. Th

e Underflipperthere’s a certain level of talent required to not crush any lim

bs.. nothing lam

er then an injury that takes you out

8

13

211

35

4769

90Tips from

the Prosthe park crew gives us the low-dow

n onhow to im

prove your spin game

Chow Guidethe best places to hit for som

e grub aftera long day of hot-doggin’

Papa Hodge

this month’s m

ost special athleteis Jack H

odgson

Townsite and D

ynamite

this month’s featured resort

is Kimberley, B.C.

121

Jack Eric Hodgson is a force to be reckoned with in the ski community. He has traveled extensively in the past few years to follow his dreams of becoming a level 4 ski instructor. This task is not for the faint of heart and it takes hard work, dedication, a thick cra-nium and an even thicker set of gonads.

“Sometimes I get scared to try new tricks, but then I just tell fear to frigg off.”

His roots stem deep in small little island they call the United Kingdom. His father stuck him onto a pair of skis at the ripe age of three; he has never once looked back except of course while riding past you in switch. Every year he has honed in on his skills, slowly working towards an uncommon goal he calls freedom.

In the past three years he has been on skis over 430 days. Now this is a number that is inconceivable for the common jerry. He has had his fair share of tum-bles, yet somehow like a panther always seems to bounce back onto his fur-less paws.

“If you’re not falling, you’re not trying.”

He has done seasons in Japan, Australia, Poland, Canada and soon to be New Zealand. It was in these places that he discovered that there is nowhere in the world he would rather be than planking down a hill.

Nuzzled in between Canberra and Melbourne is where you would find a yearly rail-jam in the midst of a winter wonderland they call Hotham. It was here that Hodgson placed third at his first ever attempt at the competitive side of freestyle skiing. This gave him a thirst for blood and ever since has been out to be the very best.

He believes that being a ski instructor is a way of life more than anything. It is a way to travel the world, meet like-minded crews along the way, occasionally work a few hours but most importantly, keep fit for the ladies. Keep it up Mr. Hodgson, keep it up.

“Because of this lifestyle I have chosen, I get to keep skiing until the day I die.”

Featured athlete of September 2017

A Brief Plankin’ History

In the Stone Age, hunters used their own types of skis to follow the herds they were hunting. It sped them up, giving them a fair chance in the snow against the elk and deer. Fast-forward some nine decades later and Norwegian military units were organizing brigades of ski troops against the Swedish armies. Now we have goggles that can tell us the weather, record our decent map and even give us our speed statistics.

Skiing is a tradition that has transcended generations. It has withstood the test of time to become one of Canada’s most beloved sports. Here’s a timeline of some of the most iconic dates of skiing history.

1843 1868 1902 1908 1924 1926

1936 1967 1979 1992 2009 2015

The very first public skiing competition was held in Norway.

In North America and Europe, steam trains started carrying passengers and skiers into the mountains.

The Norwe-gian consul-ate introduced the Japanese to ski equip-ment because too many Japanese soldiers were dying from snowstorms.

Germany created the first ever me-chanical ski tow, this was powered by a water mill.

The first Win-ter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France.

The first ski shop in the United States was opened in Boston under owner Oscar Ham-bro from, non-other than, Norway.

The very first chair lift was introduced in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Now senator for British Columbia, Ontario’s own Nancy Greene won the over-all World Cup title in the first alpine World Cup season.

Freestyle is recognized as a sport by the International Ski Feder-ation (FIS). They brought in new regu-lations re-garding the certification of Olympic ath-letes and dif-ferent jumping techniques to eliminate the dangerous el-ements of the competitions.

Freestyle skiing was added to the Winter Olym-pics. Moguls became an official med-al sport this year, with aerials and ski ballet added soon after.

After Shane McConk-ey’s death, skiers from around the world came to compete in Squaw Valley for the first, and only, of-ficial G.N.A.R (Gaffney’s Numerical Assessment of Radness) games.

Norwegian freestyle skier, Øys-tein Bråten, becomes the first recog-nized person to flip both on and off of the same rail. Underflip 450 on and misty 450 out to be exact.

Coach Mackay Takes on the WorldWe sat down with an infamous young buck in the skiing community. Aaron Mackay has been coach-ing freestyle for years, skiing since he could walk and has been known to be a fairly steady dare-devil. In his own time he enjoys pushing the sport and his skills to the next level. It all started with his family’s influence and they have continued to propel him to where he is today. Here’s what the fellow had to say.

When did you start skiing and how did you get into it?My parents first put me on skis at age 3. I’ve been skiing ever since.

If you could go ride anywhere in the world where would it be?If I could go anywhere it would have to be Japan. They seem to constantly be getting insane amounts of snowfall and I’ve al-ways wanted to experi-ence Japanese culture. Spring park skiing is a blast but nothing beats deep and cold mid-winter storm ski-ing.

What’s your favorite part about coaching?Coaching is a lot of fun and its very rewarding to be able to impart my knowledge of the sport to the younger kids that are as excited about skiing as I am. My favorite part about coaching is watching my athletes progress over the season both technically as skiers and as athletes and people in general.

Have you done any urban riding you could tell me about?Street skiing requires a lot more work than virtually any other kind

trick at the moment; It’s relatively easy and always fun.

Can you tell me about some of the comps you’ve entered?The most prestigious event I ever competed in was the Youth Olym-pics in 2012, where was given the opportunity to go to Austria and represent Canada in half pipe. I had a pretty gnarly crash in compe-tition and bruised my hip and tail-bone quite badly but I still ended up competing and I finished in 6th place. The experience was something I’ll never forget and I can’t wait to get back to Austria and Italy for skiing and adventure.

How do you plan on taking your skiing to the next level?I’m currently work-ing on improving my fitness and gaining knowledge about the backcountry so that I can begin to spend some serious time tour-ing and one day back-country sledding. I also try to push myself on rails and on the moun-tain but now that I’m not competing I spend a lot less time hitting big jumps and taking massive impacts.

half-pipe events. He’s one of my favorite peo-ple to ride with, he’s got really clean style and his trick selection is always really interest-ing so he’s super fun to watch. We also like to ride similar terrain and features so when we ride together we can power lap and get a lot done. He’s incredibly hard working and its super tight to see him succeed at a really high level.

Who’s your main influ-ence in the ski world?When I was young-er I really looked up to guys like Sammy Carlson, Tanner Hall, Rory Bushfield, Chris Benchetler, Pep Fujas, Mike Henituk, Josh Bibby, Eric Hjorleifson and of course TJ Schil-ler. I would see all of these guys in movies and on the Internet when I was still a young ski racer and I would dream of doing the tricks and hitting the jumps that they were. When I got a little old-er I started to get really inspired by dudes like Dane Tudor and Can-dide Thovex. What’s your favorite trick in the bag?A simple cork 360 is probably my favorite

of freestyle skiing. Generally the risks are a lot higher because you’re falling on stairs, concrete and metal as opposed to snow or ice. Street skiing is incredibly rewarding, and it’s always a lot of fun to get to spend the night adventuring in the city and skiing with your friends.

What’s the scariest feature you’ve hit or the scariest thing that’s happened to you while skiing?There have been a few urban rails over the years that have scared me pretty good. I’ve definitely had lots of scary and painful mo-ments/crashes. Up until I had a huge accident at C.O.P. I was a little bit more of a fearless/careless person and I’ve definitely been relatively cautious since then.

I’ve heard your broth-er is a pretty amazing skier, tell me more about that.My brother is a really dope skier, he con-tinued to compete in half-pipe after I stopped two years ago and he has since made the Canadian national team and made finals at multiple world cup

The more you quiz:

Chow Guide

This is your chance to prove yourself up against the most knowledgeable people in town. See if you can figure out which signature dish aligns with which restaurant on the next page. Good luck and God bless.

1) The most perfectly cooked crescent

2) Potato skins with waffle fries

3) A tuk-tuk burger with mukky fries

4) The hunter’s calzone

1) f : City Bakery & Tea Room 2) i : The Stemwinder 3) c : Pedal & Tap 4) e : The Shed 5) a : Kinbari Sushi 6) g : Stonefire 7) d : Delights 8) b : The Elks 9) h : Burrito Grill

a

f

e

d

c

b

i

h

g

5) The French kiss roll

6) The pineapple express pizza

7) Chocolate blacksmith handmade gelato

8) Bags of chips

9) Basa fish and shrimp quesidillas

Kimberley has one of the most magnificent atmospheres of a Bavarian-style town in the west. As of late, the culinary scene has grown into something that cannot be ignored by any food lover. There is a wonderful multicultural mix of cuisines,

including gourmet Italian, German, Japanese and Mexican choices for the whole family.

Making tracks since 1994

T h eB a c k C o u n t r y Brig

ades

www.backcountrybrigades.ca

Exploring the Unexplored