The first stop on the Canadian Jib Academy tour went off this past weekend at Mount St Louis.  Salomon athletes Iannick B., JD Zicat, Sandy Boville, Jamieson Irvine, Dave Bishop, Denise Jaworsky and myself made the trek to this southern Ontario gem.  Mother nature paid us back from last year's rainy weather and rewarded us with bluebird skies and early spring conditions.  The park at Louis was unbelievable and comparable to the caliber usually only seen at large resorts on the west coast.  With a plethora of jumps and rails to showcase their skills on, the kiddies wasted no time getting down to business.



photos: Pippin Lee

The day commenced with a thigh-burning warm up session led by JD.  In the morning everyone spun laps and tried to showcase their skills in hopes of earning a spot in the 15-guy and 2-girl final.  Spinning hot laps can leave quite the growling belly and everyone was eager to chow down on the free and delicious lunch provided.  The kids were given an extra hour to shred after lunch before the finalists were announced.



photo: Pippin Lee

Male finalists:


#19 – Isaac Vickers


#69 – Matt Wilcox

#41 – Matt Crowford


#4   - Evan McEachran


#8   - Max Vidricaire


#15 – Jack Struthers


#39 – Emil Pasini


#25 – Kent Christensen


#3  – Reid McEachran


#21 – Mitch Johnston


#13 – Edward Davis


#33 – Jack Irvine


#20 – Jordan Lazareth


#23 – Lucas Vianna


#46 – Blake Cameron
 


Female finalists:


#31 – Nikki Blackall


#47 – Dara Howell



The final was a two run format: one run on the lane with one jump and a bunch of rails and then a second run on the jump line.  The girls were throwing down with solid 5's on the jumps and smooth rails.

Dara Howell
. photo: Pippin Lee

For the guys, Matt Crowford held it down to secure the 3rd place spot, "Matt Crowford was skiing like one of the coaches with so much style, throwing down harder on the jumps than Eminem at a rap battle" -Sandy.  Evan McEachran threw the styliest flat 3's you've ever seen from a 12 year old to end up in 2nd place, but it was Matt Wilcox's 5 to switch 5 to cork 9 that prevailed to give him the top spot and a trip to Mont Tremblant where he will compete for a chance to go to Mammoth in May.



Matt Wilcox. photo: Pippin Lee

PODIUM BOYS:


1 – Matt Wilcox


2 – Evan McEachran


3 – Matt Crowford
 


PODIUM GIRLS:


1 – Dara Howell


2 – Nikki Blackall



All in all it was an awesome day that showed how fun a "contest" can be when it just feels like you're shredding the park with your friends all day.  Thank you to Salomon for putting on another amazing and super fun event!  A huge thank you goes out to all of the sponsors: Skullcandy, Smith Optics, SBC Skier, Newschoolers, and Mount St Louis.



photo: Pippin Lee

I filmed all day due to a knee injury so check out the edit!  After almost losing all of the footage to "corrupted" SD cards, I managed to glue some pieces together for my second edit ever!