JOSS/JOI
Jon Olsson is pretty much the man. This guy just gains more and more popularity each year, vaulting him to a level of celebrity status that has yet to be passed in the ski world. I mean he drives a Lambo with a rocket box for pete’s pots. In the past, Jon has thrown together an event called the Jon Olsson Invitational, where some of the top riders in the world come to compete in what is basically a massive and epic big air comp. Despite its inauguration nearly three years ago, JOI was substituted in 2008 with a new comp; a comp where the format was not a one-day throwdown, but an extensive and impressive 7 day ski-party. In its place came the Jon Olsson Super Sessions.
Enough said. Anyways...
JOSS is a week long JOI, where riders are to produce their own bangin’ 5 minute video and photo slideshow, obtained from 5 meaty features across Sweden. Best edit = 1st place. 2008 Marked the first JOSS, and in the end it was so successful, its return was inevitable. Here the world laid its eyes on skiing so fantastic, snowboarders dropped their planks and swapped sides, babies stopped crying, and the element of invitational competitions would change for eternity. Here is a fantastic video summarizing the week of JOSS last year. I highly suggest watching this if I am making no sense so far.
Last year’s winner, Sammy Carlson, produced a segment so sick it hurts my eyes to watch it again.
This year’s format for JOSS is slightly different, however the principal is still the same. Instead of individuals, teams were made up, each consisting of 2 riders from the same country, 2 filmers and a photographer. Here are the teams for this year:
Team USA
Rider 1: John Symms
Rider 2: Colby West
Filmer 1: Mike Thomas
Filmer 2: Josh Finbow
Photographer: Alex O’Brien
Team America
Rider 1: Simon Dumont
Rider 2: Tom Wallisch
Filmer 1: Josh Berman
Filmer 2: Tyler Hamlet
Photographer: Nate Abbott
Team Canada
Rider 1: TJ Schiller
Rider 2: Ian Cosco
Filmer 1: Darren Rayner
Filmer 2: Neil Sotirakopoulos
Photographer: Damien Cromwell
Team Sweden
Rider 1: Jon Olsson
Rider 2: Jacob Wester
Filmer 1: Johnny Decesare
Fimer 2: Drew Lederer
Photographer: Mattias Fredriksson
Team Norway
Rider 1: Andreas Håtveit
Rider 2: PK Hunder
Filmer 1: Jon Håtveit
Filmer 2: Filip Christensen
Photographer: Thomas Kleiven
Team Europe
Rider 1: Laurent Favre
Rider 2: Henrik Harlaut
Filmer 1: Christian Sander
Filmer 2: Joakim Aslund
Photographer: Erik Wibaeus
Team Down Under
Rider 1: Jossi Wells
Rider 2: Russ Henshaw
Filmer 1: Kris Ostness
Filmer 2: Rob Norman
Photographer: Tony Harrington
JOSS has been going off so far this year and is almost halfway done. Check out Jon-Olsson.com, where there are daily updates of each day’s activities and some behind the scenes stuff. Also check out www.josupersessions.com, where Jon’s alternate filmer covers more of the ski side of things, along with tons of interviews and updates from the riders and their teams. Check it out!
Cam
