Friday, December 18, 2015

Bails Edit

Man, I really wanted to come up with a better name for this video. The nature of these video necessitates a generic and self explanatory name though. I wish I bailed harder. I've become timid the last few years with my shoulder. So with a fresh joint, here's to bigger and safer bails in the future.

 
Crashes - By Jacob Boyd from Jacob Boyd on Vimeo.
Me not landing things.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Lately: Gym Power

It's not very hardcore, but I haven't been completely demoralized by missing the couple storms that hit the PNW lately. I can that feel my body isn't ready every time that I'm tempted, then I am grounded and switch to thinking about training to become ready. I take the pressure I put on myself to do scary stuff of skis and create pressure to reduce injury; it's a good place to be.

My medicine comes at the gym. I've spent a lot of time there the last few months. Lifting weights, jumping around, and riding stationary bikes. Sometimes I just juggle a soccer ball because it feels so good just to move randomly. The thing is, no matter the dedication I put into big lifts and jumps, the movements that will save my shoulder are small and precise. It's hard to tell what goes on in there and it takes as much focus as my biggest lifts.

I'm getting close now, maybe just weeks away before my shoulder is strong enough that I can go 100% on skis.


Gym work from Jacob Boyd on Vimeo.

This is an example of what I've been working on. A balance drill in which there is some risk of falling, but I still get to test some challenging balance skills. 

Friday, December 11, 2015

Lately: Inspirations

Anthony Boronowski used to live down the street from my highschool. I spotted a badass black truck one day at lunch and from the sponsor stickers on it I deciphered it was his. Ant kind of lived on like, skid row. 

Anyways, I was into this edit when it came out a few years ago and I've come back to it because I plan on sled skiing a lot around Whistler this year and this edit is all Whistler zones. I guess he spins left naturally but that doesn't stop him from bringing confusion with big right cab fives and sevens. Every trick is super clean too. Such a raw edit. 

Also, I may have copied the yellowy and colourful filter on my 2014/2015 season edit, but not consciously. 


Thursday, December 10, 2015

Lately: Inspirations

I've been watching a lot of skiing since I moved to Whistler a week ago. First was the Nimbus Independent release After the Sky Falls. As a two year project and also featuring Eric Pollard this film was much awaited and didn't disappoint. The filming composition was innovative for a ski movie and the skiing was   I also finally got down to watching Candide Thovex's Few Words which was more informative than inspiring, still good but something of a let down after all the hype. When it comes to documentary ski films I preferred the more fast paced and raw editing style of Like a Lion, Tanner Hall's flick. Candide's best recent footage can be seen in his Candide Kamera series which still blows my mind (big double to cork 10?).

Inspiration for skiing doesn't just come from ski movies though. Some music hits the right spot and suddenly start to visualize tricks. I was listening to the CBC late one night coming home from work and Rod Stewart came on. I had categorized Stewart as a soft rock popstar simply not worthy of trying. A week later though and I've listened to The First Cut is the Deepest 20-30 times. This is such classic rock and it takes me right to a glorious pow day. The song is about finding new love and getting over an old heartbreak, a little like getting over the shit show that was the 2014/15 ski season and then falling back in love with deep snow. 

Lately:

In August I underwent a shoulder stabilization surgery. In the following months I experienced the biggest changes in myself since I finished high school and moved away from home. The initial two months after my surgery didn't go as planned. I was slapped in the face with reality; beyond using my body I didn't have much going for me. I became angry from confusion and wouldn't leave the house for days at a time. One night I found myself in a club with a sling on, which in retrospect is a total loser move. I was the most depressed I'd ever been.

I managed to get a job a two months later once my sling was off. I put out 25 in person applications and eventually scored a bartending gig. I was starting to train for the season and physio was going extremely well, but I would indulge in the occasional night out and totally fuck up my routine. I justified drinking by thinking that it was my only way to meet girls. The allure was omnipresent though but even if I partied once a month it would compromise the entire next week of training. 

So two months later,  I was a lot physically stronger (and now a competent bartender) but not entirely satisfied. I was moving to Whistler soon and my confidence regarding my ski career and my shoulder just wasn't there, so I made a big change. I quit smoking pot. It was time to see how could go without it, as I had smoked regularly for the last four years. I also quit drinking, which is something I had always wanted to try. I've always been the victim of nasty hangovers. It's going to be hard but the longer I endure this clean lifestyle the better I feel. I don't want to look back when I'm 40 and wonder if I could have done better. 

Now that I've quit pot I can more honest on this blog. Weed was a large part of my life and I wasn't comfortable talking about it, thus there is now one less barrier. Skiing is a sport in which there is rampant pot use amongst athletes but due to the corporate nature of sponsors it is concealed, yet there are sports such as skateboarding that don't hide the lifestyles of their athletes. If you're a talented skateboarder you can do what you want, and that's the way it should be. This way, people from all walks of life can become successful athletes. With these freedoms the more impressionable (myself included) can get the wrong idea, and certainly weed doesn't work for everyone.

I've always to write in this blog much more candidly and this is the first step. I'm going to swear too, no one can stop me.

So all said, I'm stoked at the moment. Expect more frequent posts starting now and skiing content in early January. Bails edit coming soon, too.

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