At this point in Jared's career, we’ve come to expect some heavy shit when new footage drops. That type of clip affiliation usually comes from a decade’s worth of video parts, but somehow he managed to circumvent that by a few years. Up until now, we thought Jared’s section in Knights of the Brown Table was as good as it gets, but here we are.
After watching him take the backcountry scene by storm over the last few seasons, it’s promising to see the level of charge that prompted it all remain one of the only constants. We saw this first hand last season when he linked up with Arc'teryx to film for Every Island Has A Name, and fortunately for us, he was sitting on a decent amount of unreleased footage. Jared tapped in Minibike (Jake Price) to oversee the edit, not only adding another part to the list, but doing it with his close friend—not to mention one of the greatest in snowboarding history.
As we like to say…sit down, crack open a spliff or light up a beer, because this type of footage doesn’t come around too often.
Filmed By: Willem Jones, Jonah Elston, Evan Lavallee and Dan Liedahl
Edited By: Jake Price and Jared Elston
Photography By: Silvano Zeiter
A Post-Season Follow-Up with Jared
Sometimes a part like this can leave you with more questions than answers. The WTF moments are hard to wrap your head around, and given they often elicit more “how’s” and “why's” than anything else (sure did for us), we decided to hit Jared with a few lingering questions around Every Island Has A Name and Mechanical Bull.
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Why did you want to remix your footage from Every Island Has a Name?
The main reason was that there was a significant amount of footage that wasn’t used in the feature film that I felt should see the light of day.
What’s your favorite clip from the project and why?
Haha, probably Aito [Ito] breathing. He was so helpful and fun to roll with in Japan last year.
You worked with Jake Price on this. How did that happen/was he down/any backstory?
Jake has always been a spiritual guide for me, as well as my favorite filmmaker. I put together a first draft and had to ask for his blessing. He graciously offered his help and we ended up changing the music to those two Yachty tracks—a choice I would’ve never considered doing. This was my first time recently editing my own footage beyond Instagram. I always loved making season edits as a kid and to get to sit down and learn from Minibike was a dream come true.
What’s the weirdest or most unexpected thing you saw while filming for Every Island Has a Name?
I think just rolling with the Euro’s in general was funny to adapt to. I enjoy their process, but very contrasting to the two-years prior spent with the Brown faction.
Did you have any, Oh shit moments where things almost went wrong while filming? Any close calls?
I mean the avalanche was probably as close as I’ve come to dying on my snowboard. It was the first sunny day of our AK trip and I pulled off of my initial line because it was about 4x bigger than it looked from the glacier. Naively, I realized that my “backup” option was also on the same scale. I knew it was dangerous with the exposure below, and wanted to call the heli to be picked up, but felt the pressure of a high budget production as well as my own ego, so I decided to ride it anyway. Our warmup runs showed zero signs of instability, so I felt confident in the snow, however the sluff on this pitch ran way faster than expected. I wanted to stay as far away from the rider's left bowl that flushed into the death exposure, so I rode as light footed as I could on that first heel side turn. The sluff started to multiply quickly and after getting the biggest backside turn of my life, it caught me on my exit into the riders right ramp. I knew it was make or break when I saw the 10-foot wide river of powder barreling down the fall line. I had no choice but to try and ollie through the cloud of snow and sluff while trying to maintain my toe edge. It hit me and I instantly tomahawked, but luckily had enough momentum to get to the other side of the sluff and regain my edge before the brunt of the avalanche came down. My life definitely flashed before my eyes—I thought it was game over. At that moment, I felt that it was possible I would have survived the fall, but watching the video now, I’m not so sure. A lesson in humility and sluff management that came at a price cheaper than I probably deserved and for that I’m thankful.
How was filming with Elena for the first time?
We had known each other a little through the Natural Selection Tour and some Arc events, but proud to call her my friend after traveling the world with her last year. She is truly one of the greatest of all time, and being able to see her stoic, calculated approach to the mountains, crew dynamic, and filming was very pro.
Who did you rely on most for support during the filming season, and why?
Willem Jones is a legend. I was definitely being a bitch in Japan and he was able to give me some good perspective. He’s always down to have a good time and provide some comedic relief in times of stress and anxiety.
How many days did you have last season where you woke up and just didn't want to snowboard?
Hmm I’m not sure, I don’t really get that way unless I’m at home or the snow sucks. I got to snowboard more for myself last year than I ever have in my “career” and it was so refreshing. I love this shit.
What’s your ultimate "day off" look like, and what was your best "down day" last season?
[Laughs] The perfect down day consists of planning to go out but then bailing, hitting a nice breakfast, smoking some weed, and watching a couple of mid-2000’s comedies. We were on some obnoxious shit last year in AK and took the heli out to a glacier beach and shot guns and had a fire on one of our down days. Completely epic.
Photos From Mechanical Bull
