Words by Virginie Tisseau

Photos by Andy Campbell

Video by Jordan Sullivan

The third and final stop of the Canadian Jib Academy tour went off for the first time in BC at Silver Star Mountain. Salomon athletes Chris Rubens, Mike Henitiuk, Brandon Kelly, Megan Gunning, Iannick B, Silver Star Freestyle Head Coah Jeremy Cooper and local riders Kieran Nikula and Emma Whitman all gathered at Attridge’s ski shop in Vernon to kick start the weekend with an autograph signing session for the lucky locals!

Chris Rubens, Mike Henitiuk and Brandon Kelly

When a ton of kids showed up the morning of Jib Academy they were all pumped and ready to show us what they’ve got, and the heavy snow didn’t stop them from giving it their all for the chance to win a trip to sunny Mammoth in May. And after some early laps through the park, we could tell the talent was there. The park had all sorts of crazy features with sick rails, boxes and crazy jumps. Big shout-out to the Silver Star park crew!

After shredding for a few hours in the morning it was time to enjoy the BBQ, and then once everyone was refueled, it was back to the park before the coaches decided who made finals. The level of skiing this year was insane. It was obvious that everybody there was killing it and wanted that trip to Mammoth so bad. After some a lengthy decision making process, the following 15 skiers found themselves in the finals to battle for the grand prize:

Anatole Tuzlak

Dustin Cressey

Noah Morrison

Hunter Visser

Gavin Petznick

Tanner Gordon

Sheldon Hunter

Thomas Rutkowski

Tyson Oland

Riley Culver

Thomas Pool

Logan Dobson

Will Finch

Jake Ondrik

Tashi Townley

The finals were a two-run format that included rails and two jumps. All the guys were pushing really hard and unfortunately the unexpected happened, as Tashi Townley from Revelstoke, BC went to big on a cork 9 and broke his femur. On behalf of the whole Salomon team, we wish you a speedy recovery Tashi!

Tyson Oland

Will Finch

In the end, taking the number one spot and a trip to the amazing resort of Mammoth Mountain in California was Noah Morrison, who showed us that he not only has a huge bag of tricks (including the cork 9 blunt and stylish rodeo 5 he threw in his run), but he’ll unload them all with ease.

Noah Morrison

Results

1) Noah Morrison

2) Hunter Visser

3 ) Anatole Tuzlak

Noah Morrison (1st), Hunter Visser (2nd), Anatole Tuzla (3rd)

A huge thank-you goes out to all of the Salomon Jib Academy’s sponsors and everyone involved: Silver Star Mountain, Skullcandy, Smith Optics, SBC Skier and Newschoolers.

Enjoy the rest of your season!

Salomon Jib Academy: Silverstar from SULLY on Vimeo.