SNOW, SURF, STREET & STYLE
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ISSUE 41 FEB/MAR 2013 COOLERMAG.COM
BREAKING THE RULES WITH
JESS KIMURA ISSUE 41 FEB/MAR 2013 £2.95
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contents
issue 41 feb/mar 12 Features and fashion 48 Foam Born
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY & THIS PAGE: aza shade. STYLING: BRITTa BURGeR. . HAIR AND MAKE-uP: MIchelle dacIllo. SET DESIGN: penny MIlls
Ellis Scott behind the scenes of the Swatch Girls Pro
54 Wild T hing
Breaking the rules with Jess Kimura
60 One plank or two?
All you need to know about splitboarding
66 Where the Wild T hings Are
Lea Brassy’s love of big, cold, remote waves
68 Goddess of Gravity
Steffi Marth is on a mountain biking mission
70 T he power of positive thinking Child prodigy Alana Smith on her future goals
72 Sweet Goodbyes
Our lowdown on end of season festivals
76 Shark! Attack?
Is targeting sharks in their natural habitat the best solution?
78 Daisy Does Drawing
Capturing magic moments with artist Daisy Campbell
80 Fashion: Snow Land
Five London photographers shoot their favourite snow monster
92 Fashion: Wish you were here
British seaside style shot by Lydia Garnett coolermag.com
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contents
On the edge with Jess Kimura
54 Regulars 12 Welcome 14 Contributors 16 Eye candy
A photographic banger to set you on your way
18 News
Bits, music, film, lit, eco and a pro’s favourite things
32 Subscriptions
Get the mag brought to your door
33 Style
Winter sport and street fashion trends
100 Travel news
Mountain biking in Alaska and yoga in Brisbane
102 Travel: Live like a local in‌ Chamonix 105 Competitions &Stockists 106 Travel: 10 of the best Eco ski lodges and hotels 110 Why I ski: Lena Stoffel PHOTO: Joel FRaseR
112 T his is me:
Volcom girls marketing manager Lina Stenvall on life
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STYLING: BRITTa BURGeR. HAIR AND MAKE-uP: MIchelle dacIllo. SET DESIGN: penny MIlls. ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY: Joel FRaseR
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WILD THING JESS KIMURA IS ONE OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN IN SNOWBOARDING RIGHT NOW. FACT. HER BALLSY RIDING, HELL YEAH ATTITUDE AND DOWNRIGHT AWESOMENESS HAVE MADE HER A GAME CHANGER – JUST DON’T EXPECT HER TO PLAY BY THE RULES WORDS BY SUSAN GREENWOOD LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY BY AZA SHADE
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Jess Kimura knows a thing or two about trucks. And four-wheel drives. And converting them into places to live. And this frankly, forgetting the immense snowboarding talent and burly personality, makes me warm to her immediately. ‘Actually I’m currently running a Subaru Forester which I have kitted out for living in and I can tow my sled with it,’ she says. ‘I’m totally sustainable out of that thing and it’s invigorating because I can’t just sit inside and watch TV, I have to seek out adventures and go exploring.' ‘And I can park outside the bar or party and have a safe place to sleep. I’m probably going to have to convert it back to a truck soon in order to move sleds in winter but I’ll miss my wagon life dearly.’ ‘Savage’, ‘loose cannon’, ‘trail-blazing’, ‘compelling’: these are just some of the adjectives that have been used to describe Jess’s riding, riding that delivered a Rider of the Year nod in 2012 at the Annual Riders' Poll. She approaches her snowboarding with a no holds barred passion, with an energy and balls-out, come what may approach which leaves you goggle-eyed going ‘Jeez did you just see that?!’ Despite spending pretty much an entire season in 2010/2011 injured (ripped MCL, blown out hip et al) she still managed to put down a part in Capita’s Defenders of Awesome which won her an award for best video part to pop on the dashboard next to that rider of the year gong and women’s readers’ choice award. And you know how she did it? Because she kicks ass, she charges, she believes in herself and nothing, including a vagina and a social response to constricting femininity, is going to stop her pushing boundaries. ‘I don’t think we need to go out screaming “look at us, we are GIRLS,”’ says Jess. ‘Why even bring the gender thing into it? I don’t really believe we have true all-round respect from the guys yet and we might never. But I believe in action over talk so let’s stop talking and go out and show the world what we can do.’ COOLER 55
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'I BELIEVE IN ACTION OVER TALK SO LET’S STOP TALKING AND GO OUT AND SHOW THE WORLD WHAT WE CAN DO.’ It seems bizarre these days, with women like Jess, last month’s cover girl Enni Rukajärvi, Anne-Flore Marxer, Kimmy Fasani, our own Aimee Fuller we could go on, that the issue of gender should still come up in snowboarding. But it does, and it’s getting quite dull. Jess is happy to wade in which is refreshing and may be a reason why people see her as ballsy and outspoken – she simply hasn’t got time to waste being something she’s not. ‘I can remember way back when I was young, thinking that something wasn’t right, that girls and boys shouldn’t be treated so differently and should be given the same chances to succeed in whatever they choose,’ she muses. ‘I think my participation in sports from early on helped with that. And my best friend was a boy and we grew up together exploring the outdoors, building forts, fishing and camping. He never treated me like I was any different and his mum acted as though it was normal so I guess I was lucky there. ‘The riding will always be my bottom line. Certain people will always look for something to talk shit on – it detracts from their own shortcomings. Now that I have a voice, I feel like my riding can speak for itself but it took me a long time to get there. Before I could scream and yell all I wanted but no one was listening.’ coolermag.com
Some of those screams and yells are inevitably part of her riding style, a style which sees her charging hard in exactly the direction people don’t expect. ‘For me, snowboarding is about what I want to do, not what someone else thinks I should do. If people expect me to go big, I’ll just do butter tricks on the ground until they send me home. I don’t want to do what everyone else does. I want to do something different.’ And the slams that she’s famous for? ‘The pain thing isn’t even an issue for me. When I fall and it’s physically painful … well I kind of expect that out of any day of riding. But the issue is when I get injured and snowboarding is taken away from me. It sounds cheesy but that’s what really hurts; not being able to do what I love. I believe I already have injuries I will feel the repercussions from later in life but I have a chance right now to do something most people will never get and I’m not going to waste it on being too careful because I’m scared I’ll fuck up my face.’ But getting injured did make her change her habits slightly. Now she trains. Pretty hard by all accounts in order to minimise the possibility of getting injured and to recover quicker if she does. ‘And I also started training because I wanted to take my riding to the next level and that shit takes physical power. I wanted to get as strong as a guy my size, or COOLER 57
' I DON’T WANT TO DO WHAT EVERYONE ELSE DOES. I WANT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.' someone else to choose who they want to feature on TV or invite to a contest.’ I get the feeling that Jess wouldn’t go even if she was invited. Unless everyone expected her not to go and then she would. Which seems a little like pigeonholing her especially when she says she’s not ruled out ever trying for the Olympics. That was unexpected. ‘Yeah maybe one day,’ she laughs. ‘When the FIS have loosened their grip on our throats.’ For now, she’s just going to keep on riding, for want of a better phrase, balls out. ‘Snowboarding has given me this kick ass vessel to fly on and spread my message,’ she says. ‘The most inspirational thing anybody ever said to me was that I could be whatever I want to be. I know what I’m capable of. People have only seen the tip of the iceberg.’ Jess Kimura is sponsored by Capita Snowboards, Volcom, Electric, Union, Coal, Nixon, ThirtyTwo, Etnies, Nike, Monster For more news, vids and photos of Jess go to coolermag.com/tags/issue-41
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at least as close as I could with hard work and determination. Like an experiment in what would happen if I eliminated the ‘excuse’ of why women and men aren’t equally as physically capable.’ Jess made her mark as a rails and park rider, a direction she went in in the early days back home in Vernon BC because it meant not having to spank out for a lift pass – she could simply ride the terrain on her doorstep. Now she’s looking for a new challenge by moving that street style out onto the hill. ‘As soon as I get the same confidence as I do in the street to see features and possibilities out there, I think my style will transfer across,’ she says. ‘I want to do the same kind of riding in the backcountry that I do in an urban setting, just on natural features. I don’t think it will be easy but I don’t want it to be.’ She’s in a good place to tackle backcountry riding. This season sees her based out of Squamish, just 30 minutes south of Whistler, then moving – in her truck presumably – to wherever the snow is. Two film parts are in the pipeline: one for the new Nike team movie and one for ESPN’s X-Games video contest. Perhaps we’ll see things drop online? “Social media has definitely helped get my point across through my riding. Before you had to be on TV to reach a large audience. The internet has helped level the playing field because it’s no longer in the hands of
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competitions 1
2
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Prizes from the gods
ENTER THESE COMPS – THEY’RE MORE FUN THAN THE FIRST POWDER TURN OF THE SEASON, EXCEPT NOT AT ALL ACTUALLY
1. WIN A CAPITA ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER’ SNOWBOARD If you’ve followed our test reports and board reviews closely this autumn, you will have noticed that this was one of our favorite shred sticks of the year. Not only thanks to the uber trendy graphics with our feathered friend, the owl, but also because the flexy twin shape is super fun to ride and play around with on the slopes! Perfect companion for those slushy spring days… Head over to coolermag.com/win to enter and check out the rest of the range from Capita on capitasnowboarding.com 2. WIN A PAIR OF YEAH YEAH BINDINGS FROM K2 With their petite, female specific high backs, the K2 bindings are among the comfiest bindings to ride and the Yeah Yeahs are especially tweakable for that extra bit of steeze! Watch Julia Baumgartner and you know what
we mean. Her riding also shows that they work just as well on rails as in powder, so head on over to coolermag.com/win for your chance to win this bag of talent and check out k2snowboarding. com for more steezy goodness. 3. WIN AN OUTERWEAR COMBO FROM ZIMTSTERN But not any kind of combo you can buy in the shops - the Rockette jacket and Rifle pants are only available to the select few as there was only a limited amount of 15 pieces produced each! So if you fancy rocking this heavy canvas with 10k breathability/ waterproofness values, better head over to coolermag.com/win quickly and have everyone and their mother cross their fingers for you… But in case you don’t get lucky, zimtstern.com is full of other nice stuff…
4. WIN A CHERYL MAAS PACKAGE FROM PLANET SPORTS Celebrating the Netherland’s rail slayer’s addition to their snow team, Planet Sports have decided that’s reason enough for you to celebrate as well! And so they’ve put together a little prize bundle consisting of her signature boots for Vans, a Nixon ‘Time Teller’ watch and a Planet Sports goodie bag package. All you have to do is answer an easy-peasy question on coolermag.com/win but in case that’s too hard, you’ll find all you need to know on planet-sports. com
We want our special friends to have the best chance of winning these kickass prizes, so make sure you like us at facebook.com/ coolermagazine before you enter these comps
Prizes subject to availability, winners will receive alternative prize packs to the same value if listed products aren’t available. For clothing competitions please state your sizes on entry. Prizes are shipped by a third party and may take up to 8 weeks for delivery.
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