Upon tuning into the highly anticipated five-year Jetskis video and watching what seemed to be the street version of Tanner Hall’s iconic “my ankles are broken” clip, I decided I had better grab my headphones to watch this video. I was going to write my thoughts in real time, but now I’m 13 minutes deep and locked the fuck in. There’s no time for pausing, I have to watch this video in its entirety to get the full experience.
What I just witnessed was one of the purest forms of action sports media (or whatever you want to call it) I’ve ever seen. Snowboarding, skateboarding, BMX, whatever… This video delivers in every way. It has a consistent feel the entire time, like maybe these guys are sketchy. They seem mysterious, like I can’t put my finger on exactly what's going on with them. Independent, raw, creative, and lacking any signs of commercial intention. I don’t know the slight nuances between tricks, other than what looks like a back lip or 5050. The technicality of tricks is a non-issue in a video like this, anyone could watch this and know this is some badass shit.
From our limited ski knowledge, ZOOTSPACE hit in 2020 the way your favorite project did for snowboarding—resetting what a full-length could look, feel, and sound like. Five years of filming later, Jet is back with a follow-up that puts their lives on the line every other clip. The mixture of segments, all chalking up about two minutes-ish each, do an amazing job of keeping you entertained, serving a full-feeling section without getting stale. When you watch a video, it’s not about doing the most progressive trick. It’s about making the viewer feel something. And I can say with certainty; that video made me feel something. Enough of this, let’s hear from the crew themselves.
Featuring: Sydney Smith, Ian King, Goose Bolton, Thomas Woodley, Tai Howard, Paddy Flanagan, Charlie Gnoza, Seamus Flanagan, Sam Gnoza, Maximo Hasaj, Andy Partridge, Harald Hellstrom, Yuta Negishi, Christain Franchino, Mike Brewer, Joel Magnusson, Lauri Kivari, Dakota Cannole, Jussi Pallaskivi, Ryan Funke, Pierre Verville, Oliver Hoblitzelle, Leeroy Maarhuis, and Amir Eldood.
Interview by Caleb Kamins
What is Jet Skis?
Rick Sanchez: A one word text from Tom, six or seven years ago. I think he was on a plane—plane thoughts are different.
Tom: I was on the plane.
Jetskis: The meaning changes everyday. Some days it has a stressful connotation because some kids' mom is emailing about skis that haven’t arrived, and other days it’s a reminder of the best times of your life.
Sydney: A group of people with a shared intention to show our love for this sport. If the brand didn't exist, we'd all still be doing the same thing: going on trips, hanging out, filming. The brand is simply a vessel for us to carry out these impulses—it gives us structure, goals, and, at times, even some financial support. We are a family, and each of us is a key stone in the wall.
This might be the first five-year snow project of its kind. How much of this was intentional planning versus pure accident?
Paddy: A lot changes year to year. The initial idea of a five-year video was always the plan. Every year there were plans, and every year there were accidents. We just dealt with what was in front of us.
Tom: One night Sanch hopped out of a time machine and told us we had to do it.
Ian: Right after we dropped ZS, Sanch was like the next vid we make is gonna be a five-year.. I was definitely shook.
Charlie: When I was on the US Team they all used to make fun of me for making a “seven year project.”
40: I remember Sanch saying the next vid we do is going to be a five-year. No one’s ever done that before to my knowledge. I thought it would be smart to go big then do smaller projects that probably wouldn't be as pivotal as ZS. Also it was a bit unhinged, which I'm a fan of.
This film follows Zootspace, which felt like it reset expectations for full-length ski videos. Did you feel pressure to make something just as “important” or impactful, or did you try to block that out entirely?
Rick Sanchez: 100 percent. Felt that way right up until the premiere, then realized the new video was something completely different on acid.
Charlie: There was a magazine called “Sno-Void” that featured an article on ZS after it came out. There was a quote in there that basically said “they’re making a new project, will it exceed the Zootspace video or are they doomed from the start to even try?”. It was looked at as a joke for a while, but I think subconsciously we all thought about that quote.
Rick Sanchez: Shout out Theo for keeping that mag alive for a couple years. But yeah, that one kept me up at night. We’re not going to mention who said it because he wears 5 panels.
Sydney: I think the climate of street skiing has really changed since the ZS video was made. While we were filming for that, there weren’t a lot of brands / big name pros filming full-length videos. So, to me, the ZS vid was kind of a “we have each other, we have a filmer(s) and that's all we need” video. We didn’t need a budget.
In part to the ZS video, I think street skiing has a much brighter light on it now. We’re seeing Olympic-level skiers filming full street parts, as well as more crew videos, and I think brands are starting to recognize that this is something they should be funding. With that being said, not that we ever were, but we’re no longer the only ones doing this, so for me the big question was “what separates us from the rest, and how do we reflect that in the video” To me the answer is written in the sand.
Paddy: ZS was something we could build off of. We saw what worked and what didn’t. Five years is a long time so I think pressure was on everyone from the start and by the end it was relieving to know we put in our efforts.
Do you draw inspiration from snowboarding?
Sydney: I draw a lot of inspiration from snowboarders’ trick and spot selection. I don't snowboard much but I feel like y’all can't really lock in on rails, whereas skiers can do the little scissor to lock in, which really changes what can be done.
I love how snowboarders mostly do entry / exit tricks (2 on, 180 on, 2 out, 5050). It seems like a lot of it is just completing crazy spots. That is how I like to view street skiing. The terrain park is for switch ups and pretzels, and I think a lot of skiers try and translate that to the streets. Street skiing is a perfect opportunity to tackle terrain you wouldn't encounter anywhere else, but I’m also saying this to defend my lack of tricks [laughs].
Charlie: I think we all draw inspiration from a bunch of different things. Personally I think I draw inspiration from my friends. I definitely have a few friends who ride and who inspire me. Shoutout Team Elevin and Cooper Whittier.
Tom: Seven years ago, in an Airbnb, Sanch pulled up a WOP video and it changed my spot selection entirely.
If there were one snowboarder you’d trust to get clips in this project, who would it be?
Charlie: Sami Luhtanen
Rick Sanchez: Sullivan Platte
Ian: Bunsen Delphino
40: I will also propose Bunsen Delphino
Amir: Kamal Eldood
Mike B: Luke Haddock (that’s my brother in law haha). Also, shout out Technine and Forest Bailey.
Harald: Snibudi
Lauri: Kiril
There are clear nods to some iconic spots that Jed, Forest, and Louif have hit. Is that a tried-and-true approach, shared terrain, or just good ideas rising to the top?
Rick Sanchez: I smoked a cig with F Bailey once.
Tom: Yeah that was cool I saw that.
Jetskis: It’s about one thing and one thing only, that golden pin baby. Sometimes found in a roller blade video, sometimes sent to you by Jeff Holce, and sometimes found in the back of a photo of a kid holding an ice cream cone.
Lauri: Shoutout to Family Thingy for letting me join their late spring mission and sharing a couple spots with me.
40: Shoutout to Sangwich and Co. for letting me tag along on missions in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Getting out with borders who bring a unique approach, progressive mindset, and high standards in spot selection, execution, and videography has been a truly treasured experience.
Top snowboard videos you genuinely fuck with.
Sydney: All the Paid Programming videos. Also shoutout Dan Babulo, Upper Management, Jeremey Allen—fuckin love you fellas!! And Team Elevin…Sullivan and those guys are the best.
Paddy: All the Impaler videos, Good Sport, Tuesdays’ Child, Dustbox's I wanted most.
40: Lucas Magoon and Chris Bradshaw’s old Technine parts, Jed’s pull backs in Shoot the Moon, Working for the City (1 & 2), Dillon Ojo, Dope Industries, Party Snake, Impaler Mag, Chuuch/Sangwich videos.
Charlie: Jake and Dillon’s parts in Landline. are crazy. Paid Programming always has sick videos too. Also, shoutout to the Dustbox and Team Elevin too!
Amir: Anything Colton Feldman or Paid Programming drops.
Mike B: GBP Rutland - still run that back.
Harald: WOP and PCP.
So a lot of ski crews are full-time riders. This one isn’t. How did real life shape how this project came together?
Andy P: AP flies out for a Saturday with no spot, mostly flops, but sometimes it'll work out. Much love to the gang for letting me derail everything and somehow get back to work on Monday [laughs].
Rick Sanchez: One weekend we traded and I flew to Utah just to film that roof at the green school in Park City. [Child] Labor heads thought that I was insane.
Ian: Finding time between work, responsibilities, and random life changes over the last five years made this project special. A lot of trips would be just a few people during the week, and then those with jobs / other shit going on would show up Thursday or Friday night and reenergize everyone to make a lot more possible.
Sydney: I think fitting in passion between real life (work, school, relationships) only makes the product all the more genuine and real. When passion becomes your full time job, it gets framed in a new context where the product needs to reflect the freedom in which it was created.
To speak for myself, I had one winter after high school where I had no job or school for like four months, and I put so much pressure on myself to ski as well as I could because it was all I was doing. It eventually made me sick. Through the years of filming the Jet video, I’d be day dreaming about spots at work and school, and when I finally got on a trip it was like fuck all that bs, its time to start living for real.
What’s the dynamic like?
Charlie: When I first got on Jet five years ago, I met this dude Sanch on the balcony of some house party. I knew he made ZS so there was obviously some pre-established respect from my end. Long story short, I told him I wanted to be one of the best street skiers ever and he dapped me up and said let’s do it together.
There were more additions throughout the years with some of the Euro guys like Lauri and Harald. Amir was one of the last additions that glued us all together. Dynamic was always like a family. These guys were more than just dudes I was filming with; they became my best friends super fast and felt more like family than anything. New or old, there’s not any of us who wouldn’t do anything for the other. I see all these dudes at my wedding, and that’s what made the crew so special. We managed to spend five years without getting sick of each other.
Jetskis: It's funny to hear this from Charlie’s point of view. Lauri and Harrald have always been there bro—you’re the new addition. But, towards the end, they were definitely putting more of their efforts towards this video. By the way, that balcony was at TBond's house, the guy who jumps into the pool in ZS.
The dynamic between us has always been the same, but how we were filming at the very end of the video was definitely not the same as the beginning. During the Zootspace years, we were all young, spending multiple weeks on the road as a squad. Seven years later, and now some heads have jobs and can only film on the weekend—or whenever they can get time off. Andy P once flew from Utah (after work on Friday) to the East Coast 3 weekends in a row. Great vibe when it would work, but sometimes he was going home with Nathan.
What do you think about us posting this on Torment? Does being posted on Torment mean anything to you?
Tom: The majority of ski culture can be pretty goofy sometimes so it’s cool when homies are able to sift through that and see the similarities/passion on the other side of the sport.
Ian: Love and respect to Torment.
Charlie: Snowboarding's response to this has been super sick. Not something we expected. I don’t think it will affect how skiers see the project, though. I bet a lot of them won’t even notice. This is for our friends…the boarders.
Mike B: We <3 Snowboarding.
How much hate do you think we’re going to get for posting a ski video?
Charlie: You aren’t doing anything right if you have no haters.
Mike B: Definitely some but I think most people are past the segregation of skiers vs. snowboarders. That shit’s kinda fried…who cares.
Pierre: I think more people will appreciate it than hate it.
Tom: Probably the same heads that hop in the comment section shitting on snowboarders when they're just a washed up skater.
Would you hope snowboarders might pull inspiration from this the same way skiers borrow from snowboard films?
Charlie: Anything is possible.
Tom: Hearing anyone say they were inspired by something you did has got to be one of the most gratifying things, doesn’t matter who it comes from.
Jetskis: We would hope to keep biting Tommy G for eternity in Airbnbs across the world. But let's see, if there is one thing I would hope snowboarders take from this, is to not let the industry divide them. If anyone from Team Elevin leaves to go film for some big company, they are gonna hear from unc.
Is there anything skiing does better than snowboarding right now that doesn’t get enough credit?
Rick Sanchez: Milfs.
Tom: TBond.
Leroy: Iron crosses, maybe shoveling stairs too.
Harald: Dayjobs.
What part of this do you think skiers will argue about the hardest?
Paddy: The whole five year idea behind it. People thought we were crazy. Why put out something if you’re not hyped on it? Good things take time.
Charlie: People are gonna love to try and compare this to the ZS video.
What’s the wackest shit in skiing at the moment, and how does this project avoid that?
Sydney: Hating is important, but needs to be backed up by constructive alternatives. I enjoy the “let them cook” mentality. We all make different choices, but at the end of the day it's the same emotion that makes us enjoy things, and make us feel good about ourselves. If I think something is corny, I remind myself that that person is doing something they love, and, to be honest, if you’re being cringe maybe you're doing something right because we are all way too insecure in this world.
All that to be said, the future of our sport rides on criticism and holding each other to a high standard, which I think is lacking a little bit these days. If you and your friends are working on a project, it's deadly important to speak up if you don't like something. Compliments don't make change—they encourage continuity.
Jetskis: Within any creative space there's going to be things that aren't favored by others. There would be no objective good without the objective bad—and vice versa. However, I think the wackest thing in skiing is skiers saying "skiing is wack.” It’s usually said by someone who might not like how certain groups are functioning within the industry.
However, it is what you make it, and that mentality will never provide a positive future. I’m even a little worried that us having this publication come out on a snowboard website will make it seem like we have that mentality. We could've been salty and said "we hate the skiing industry.” Instead, we love the industry because it provided us a place to bring forth what we thought was missing. We all love skiing and everyone who skis. Even if you're doing quadruple flips or 10 switch ups on a rail. You're awesome. And in our defense you guys were the first to reach out [laughs].
Tom: Forced B-roll. I’m tired of seeing slow zoom shots of homies carrying their shit around and pointing at a down bar.
Harald: Homies pointing at dive bars in slowmo.
Rick Sanchez: I’ve never seen a homie point at a down bar.
Paddy: Egos. “I have this much budget, I have that, etc,” most of us don’t have other sponsors / priorities in skiing. We’re just homies who like skiing together.
Charlie: There are like a million snowpant companies that all really suck.
If this video disappears in five years, what do you hope people remember about it?
Charlie: We lost a whole year’s hard drive while filming for this.
Rick Sanchez: Goo had to return to the office on Monday.
Paddy: Multiple jobs, relationships, moves across the country and a video later…
Ian: I hope people remember that the video made them excited to go ski, snowboard, and just get out to hang with their friends.
Pierre: The feeling.
What's next?
Charlie: Try and convince everyone to do it all over again.
Paddy: Amir Eldood and Charlie Gnoza.
Ian: A wife and kids.
Mike: Enjoying a cold one in Cabo.
