Salomon Jib Academy Ski Wentworth

Words by Vincent Gagnier
Photos by Virginie Tisseau

The second stop on the Canadian Jib Academy tour went off last weekend at Ski Wentworth, Nova Scotia. Salomon athletes Alexi Godbout, Iannick B, JD Zicat, Sebastien Eaves, Jen Crichton and myself made the trip to Halifax.

The weather wasn't on our side for this stop (it rained so much), but it didn’t stop the Salomon crew and all the competitors from competing for a trip to sunny Mammoth in May. The park consisted of two rail features up top followed by four jumps in a row, and every skier seemed stoked on what the park crew had done for the event. 

The day began with a warm up session led by JD Zicat, the future fireman! After some early laps through the park, we could already tell that this event wasn't going to be a bust, as there is a lot of talent in Nova Scotia. After the morning laps we had some jam sessions on the rails for about half an hour, and then moved to the kickers. In the morning every lap counted for the competitors because only five skiers would find themselves in the finals to battle for the grand prize. 

Seb Eaves, Alexi Godbout, Vincent Gagnier and JD Zicat.

Iannick B

As we waited for lunch to be ready (and drying off a bit!) we had the idea of having an arm wrestling tournament, divided into two categories: 13 and younger, and 13 and older. Some of the matchups were really tight and awesome to watch. The two winners were rewarded with two limited edition Salomon New Era caps.

Arm wrestling contest at lunch.

Autograph signing.

Then after the hot dogs were all gone it was time to announce the five finalists, so Alexi got on the mic and named the names of Devan Arsenault, Chris Slaunwhite, Andre Aikens, Jeremie Boutout and Ryker Brennan.

Mike Porter and Alexi Godbout.

The finals were a two-run format. The guys were killing it, and some of the highlights included a front flip off the first flat box, a steezy flatspin 360 from Jeremie Boutot, a one-handed trucker driver slide, followed by controlled airs on the jumps and a cork 900 on the last jump from Andre Aikens.

The Finalists

It was a tight race for first between Jeremie and Andre, but at the end of the day, Andre was the smoothest and had the cleanest run of the day, and will be heading to Mammoth in May for Salomon Jib Academy Finals!

Andre Aikens (1st), Jeremie Boutot (2nd), Chris Slaunwhite (3rd)

Results

1) Andre Aikens
2) Jeremie Boutot
3) Chris Slaunwhite
4) Ryker Brennan
5) Devan Arsenault

Vincent Gagnier

All in all it was an awesome day that showed just how much fun the Jib Academy can be, even with horrible weather. Thank-you to Salomon for putting on another amazing and super fun event, and a huge thank-you goes out to all of the sponsors: Skullcandy, Smith Optics, SBC Skier, Newschoolers and Ski Wentworth.