Buellership DAY 8!

Liam McKinley
18 years old
Sugarbush, VT
"Collegiate Aptitude"

Last March, two of my best friends and I took off to Utah on a trip to "visit some colleges". To the displeasure of our girlfriends/teachers/moms/ect, we skipped an entire week of school to "see if these schools were the right fit". Blue bird days, fresh snow every night, perfect parks, trees, friends, and the Red Iguana Mexican restaurant... These "schools" were pretty sweet. We skied Snowbasin, Park City, three feet of pow at Solitude, and then met up with some east coast friends and lapped Brighton's park for two days. Without a doubt the trip of a lifetime. Five straight days of some of the best skiing on earth while our friends back in VT were sitting in pre-calc. Although I later failed pre-calculus, was dumped by my girlfriend, and did not end up attending Westminster in SLC (although I may next year), the trip was worth every bit of it. Thats what skiing is all about. Skip class, do it for the story.

Jarrett Smith
Red Mountain BC
"I Wish I had been Skiing"

Monday April 11 2010. My home mountain's closing day. I had to go. I would hate myself if I missed closing day. This fall I'm leaving home to move to Utah, which means I don't know if I'll be back at Red Mountain for a long time. Red is like my home away from home. I know everybody there and I can tell you exactly were to go on a powder day. I'd sleep in the lodge if they let me. I felt like it was only proper for me to ski my favorite runs one more time and say goodbye to the place I grew up at.

But it was a school day. There was no way of talking my parents into letting me skip school. They just didn't understand. I was afraid to do it cause I knew I'd be in deep shit if I got caught. I had to skip without anybody knowing. The night before I skipped I waited until everybody was in bed. Then I carried all of my ski gear out to the car and hid it in the trunk.

The next morning I got up, showered, ate breakfast, put my books in my backpack and whined about having to go to class. Pretty typical school morning for me. I got in the car and drove away. I got to the light on main street. If I turn right I go to school. If I turn left I go skiing. I panicked a little and thought about how pissed my parents would be if they got a call from the school asking why I wasn't there. But I thought about how much I'd regret it if I chickened out. I turned left.

I got there and it was just dumping. I couldn't believe it. I was going to get face shots on closing day. I met up with some friends who wanted to check out this cliff I had been wanting to hit all year. It was by far bigger than any cliff I've ever hit. I stomped the hell out of hit. The rest of the day was the best day I had all year. There were no lift lines and every run was awesome. By the end of the day I had met up with everyone else I usually ski with and we caught last chair. About 15 of us lined up at the top of Link's Line. We dropped in with reckless abandon throwing front flips and back flips off every drop and jump while people from the lift hooted and hollered.

We were sitting in the lodge about the time school got out and my sister called me and asked me to take her home. I said, "Umm I can't right now. Right now I'm ummm. I'm going for a run. Okay I have to go bye." And I hung up on her.

I said goodbye to my friends, changed back into my school clothes and drove home. Right when I walked inside the phone rang. I picked it up right before my mom. It was a recorded message from the school. "This is a message for the parents of Jarrett Smith. Your son has missed periods one, two, three, four, five and six." That was close. My mom asked me how school was and I just said, "I wish I had been skiing."

Defining Style with Simon Ericson

Proving that style is greater than technicality, Simon Ericson travels the world dropping knowledge in terrain parks from Mammoth, to Breckenridge, to Europe. Last winter, the young Swede filmed for the B & E Show with Henrik Harlaut and Phil Casabon, competed in events throughout Europe, coached at Momentum in Whistler, BC and put on style clinics wherever he went. If you had the opportunity to meet Simon throughout his travels, you too are amazed with his control on skis and ability to make difficult tricks seem effortless on the most aggressive of features. Combine his flawless style with a friendly and positive attitude, and you have the recipe for one of the most relaxed and genuinely happy skiers on the international scene. New to the Joystick team, Simon sat down and did a mini-interview for the blog. Here's what he had to say:

ORIGIN:

I grew up skiing in a really small ski area Vasjobacken, Sweden. Its a really small but mad fun place to ski!

MUSIC:

All them WU songs, Redman and mad reggae music

TRICKS:

5 blunt is allways a good time but sw 5 shiffty is even better hehe

2011 AGENDA:

I really hope I can ski Breck for a really long time! And try to do a few contests and really want to do a lot of filming and get shoots!!

GOALS:

Hopefully get on the podium on some contests! and really want to get a good movie segment and having a good time with all my homies skiing!!!

FILMING:

I have been filming with The Secondhands this season. And a few things with The B&E show! that hopefully gonna be the sickest for next year!

INFLUENCE:

I really like B Dog's style for sure but I have to say Hornbeck is da best! just cruisin and skiing fast!!! i could watch that for days

DREAMS:

I have never been dreaming of being a pro skiier.. I have allways just want'ed to go everywhere skiing and having the most fun, because thats the part I love about skiing!!!!

PLACES:

Breck is my favorite spot skiing winter time and mammoth is sucha fun place to ski spring time!!

SPONSORS:

Salomon, Gesunda, Dragon and Joystick

PARTING WORDS:

Big thanks to my sponsors and to Joystick for taking your time doing this with me!!! And cant wait to ski again with all homies!!!! PEACE

Welcome to the US!

Max Hill has infiltrated our country and is posted up in SLC, UT.

Want to party? CALL MAX HILL

Ben Moxham KOS 2010

DAY 7: Buellership

Skylar Scheid
Age 14
Alpine Meadows, CA

my half and half story creamy story. Please excuse my vocab im not in school enough to learn any thing too busy skiing. Alritght so this up coming semester( jan somthing) i am going to be done with highschool till summer. for a few reasons...... ya i could say i really really love the sport and being in the mountains and all that but to tell you the truth i wanna get really good at skiing like Tom Wallisch so i can get all my sh*t for free, have fun eternaly untill i blow my knee and ya you all know the song. If you dont know it then look it up. But in all serisnous this winter im skiing 5 day a week while getting a eduication...........kinda.Remember kids skip school to ski, and on pow days your up on the hill NO excuses.

Charlie

Vermont

Not sure whether this counts, because I wasnt gone for a whole day, but it was the most fun i have ever had on a school day. It was 8th grade, middle of January. The night before was one of those where it seems like you might never sleep, because you just want to watch the snow fall. "18 inches," the weather forecast said, which is a lot for mid-Vermont.

The next morning, I woke up, and immediately turned on the TV, to confirm what i thought was a snow day for sure, with 2 feet of snow outside my front door. However, i guess the superintendent had other ideas.

SHIT.

I could have killed myself right there; it was one of the best days of the year, and just two weeks before we had a snow day because of 4 inches of slush.

"Screw it," said my dad, who I am infinitely glad is a fellow skier and pow lover. "We're going skiing. You'll be back by noon."

And we were off. That was the fastest time we had ever made to the small mountain half an hour from our house. As I skated to the lift, to be first in line, i started to get the jitters. There's nothing better than pow instead of school.

Run after run after run, every single one was great. Soaring off of all of the cliffs I could find, landing in that fluffy white stuff, making me grin. It was great. It was also 11:30 before I knew it.

My dad sacrificed a run, and pulled the car around so i could get that one more. I rode up the lift that one last time, thinking, "Snow. It's snow. It's everywhere. And I'm the only one in my class enjoying it. Ha."

Took off from the top, shredded down, skiing what was left of the powder that I and five others has skied off fairly quickly, at the small mountain. Sent a cliff, and made some super G turns to the bottom, right to the car door.

I pulled my boots off in the car, and thought of my excuse the whole way back to school.

"I think the goggle marks might give it away," said my dad.

I was there in time for lunch, and my rosy cheeks and goggle impressions on my face didnt give it away. And my excuse? The car was stuck.

Good thing we have a garage.

DAY 6: Buellership WINNERS!

Scott Hawk

Virginia

"Growing older, but not up"


So I will start out with my Bueller contest entry with stating that I am a teacher and have been for the past five years. Although I started skiing when I was about ten, I really didn't start freeskiing until I was in high school and could finally drive the the resort on my own. I went off to college and did the whole college thing, but fortunatly was only about 40 minutes away from Wisp resort ( in Maryland). This allowed me to ride at least 3 or 4 days a week and meet a lot of fun people. After college, I moved to Utah for a few months to be a ski instructor at Brighton. The skiing as incredible, but as I returned home, I knew it was time to begin my career as a teacher. I currently teach fourth grade and just love getting kids excited about learning and life and general. My approach to teaching and motivating kids is unique in that I believe they need to be motivated and learn to persevere in order to succeed just as skiers and other athletes work hard to overcome overcome obsticles in their life.

Last year as you may know, the east coast was hit by some major snow storms. My original plan was to jet out of school on Thursday, catch a plane to Utah that evening, call off on Friday and Monday and return to school on Tuesday. As I am leaving school on Thursday, I get a text that school is canceled for Friday already because of this massive snowstorm that is coming so now I don't have to take a day. The skiing was epic in Utah as usual and it was Sunday evening and I was a little bummed I had to fly back home already so I checked the school website and school had been canceled for the entire week because of the storm. I get on the phone with Southwest and they were able to move my flight from Monday to Friday for $45 extra dollars which completly blew me away. It continued to snow that week and was able to get in some more epic days at Alta. Although I had some luck on my hands, it turned out to be one of the best weeks of my life.

As for another story, I took a day off at school and decided to go skiing. Being that it was my first year teaching, I was a little stressed so just needed to get out and ride. While skiing, it was a great day with a lot of fun jibs and a free reign of the park to myself. Not to claim or anything, but I was trying to dial in my switch ups on a battleship box and thats when it happened. On the second one I came off a little early and did one of my least favorite tricks "pole to face." I knew instantly that I was probably looking at stitches or a horrible black eye. The whole way home I had ice on my face. Luckily I didn't need stitches, but I did have to face all my coworkers the following day. I said that I fell skiing, but it really looked like someone punched me in my eye. The worst part was that I couldn't even describe what happened since i keep my freeskiing life on the DL at work.

Although I am a teacher now, my passion to ski has not gone away. I remember someone mentioning in Contrast about everyone having a passion in life and that teaching is one of them. I feel very fortunate to be able to teach and ski. Hats off to all of you who have found a passion in skiing or whatever else you can do. I have more respect for people who live doing their passion than who live by going to a job they hate just to make some money.

Thomas O'Connell

Washington

"Cello is dope too!"

I've been playing the cello for 9 year now, and at one point it was starting to get in the way of skiing. 2 winters back, I had qualified for an all state orchestra put on by Washington state, least to say I was thrilled. I practiced the pieces they wanted us to play for a solid 6 months, memorized every note, every cue, and every other detail of the work. The final performance was scheduled for a friday in late december, when Washington gets the most snow. Come the day or the performance, I look at the weather report and what do I see? 2 feet of fresh had dumped over night, in addition to the snow that had been falling all week (mind you my mountain is not open mid week, so it would all be untracked). So whats a skier to do? Go sit in an auditorium in a tux and play classical music for old people, or go have one of the most epic pow days of my life. I'm guessing you can tell which I picked. Come the end of the day, I check my cell phone only to find I have something around 25 missed calls and voice mails, all from my conductor wondering where the hell I am. I never returned any of those phone calls, nor did I ever play the cello in a full sized orchestra again. I decided that day that if something is getting in the way of skiing, then screw that, I'd rather spend my free time on the mountain.

Dispensable Wisdom

"Get behind the wheel, stay in front of the storm" - Conor Oberst

Collin be Skating!

Our boy Collin Collins sessions a watery skate feature before the Premiere of "Gunnie Season" in SLC.

4bi9 & Level 1 Premiere SLC TONIGHT!!!!!

BQ @ 4FRNT 5:00pm
Doors Open: 7:30pm
4BI9 “Gunnie Season”: 8:00pm
Prize Giveaway: 8:45pm
Level 1 Productions “Eye Trip”: 9:00pm

Athletes will be in attendance for poster signings and a HUGE gear raffle including skis, outwear, goggles, headphones, and more! This is not to be missed Utah – See you there and tell your friends!

For more information join the facebook event.

Ticket $12 Presale / $15 day of
Presale Tickets available in the Level 1 online store.

Level 1 Eye Trip Official Trailer from Level 1 on Vimeo.

4BI9 Media - Gunnie Season from 4BI9 Media on Vimeo.

DAY 5: Buellership!

Miles Holland

Age 17

Squaw Valley, CA

"Sneak and Destory"

So last year I convinced my parents to let me ski with my friends the weekend before finals uder the pretense that I would study and be home in time for school. On sunday night, it started to DUMP, so I decided to stay. Woke up monday morning, called my parents to tell them that I had gone straight to school, then had my friend call the school to tell them I was too sick to come in that day.

Everybody bought the story and I spent the day skiing with my friends (different school, so they didn't have finals) in about a foot of fresh powder with no crowds. It was without a doubt, the best day of my season! After skiing I called my parents to tell them I was heading over to my friends house after school and would be home for dinner. Then I drove home, snuck my skis inside and went to dinner. They never suspected a thing!

The next day, I went to school and made up my finals and even got an A in precalc. The rest of the week went as normal and I went skiing that weekend as well.

John Turley

Age 22

Kamloops, BC

"Choices"

Life is meaningless without pursuing our passions and our lives are defined by the choices that we make. Life may present us with difficult choices, such as,

Supercritical fluid extraction is:
A) a process by which a sample is heated to remove chemical species to the gaseous phase
B) a process by which a sample has gas flowed through it in order to remove chemical species (may be accompanied by heat)
C) a process by which a chemical species associated with a solid phase are removed by passing a fluid through it

and easy choices like, should I go to my Chemistry 152 final exam or should I go to opening day at Revelstoke Mountain Resort? Hmmmmmm, Revelstoke here I come!!

Revelstoke averages 450 inches of snow and on December 14th 2009 I swear that they had already surpassed that mark. My brother and I spun hot laps all day down the North Bowl and through the trees off of The Stoke Chair. There were instances where the snow was so deep and so blower that I had to stop because I was literally choking on pow. I put on my balaclava after that because I knew that this day was way too epic and I wasn't gonna waste any more time coughing up snowballs.

I'm re-doing Chem 152 this semester, but they haven't announced the final exam date yet. Revy is slated to reopen on December 3rd so regardless of my exam schedule I know where I'll be!

- John Turley

DAY 4: Buellership Contest

Jay Heule
Canada Olympic Park
Age 15.

Hi.
My name is Jay Heule and I would like to apply for the Beulership.

Just a warning that this story isnt about being badass and dropping out of school or anything like that, because i believe that getting a high school education and not completly failing, altough you learn pointless information, definitly helps you along with the rest of your life. Without it i might not have the skill to write this letter.
Heres my story.

This story takes place in the spring time of a couple years ago when i was in grade 7 or 8. My older brother was heading out to Whistler to go and rip around in their awesome park and to to a little halfpipe contesting. So i asked myself "What kind of younger brother wouldn't want to go out with their older brother and ride one of canadas best parks which has been in countless movies, and to skip school at the same time?" and the answer wasnt me. So after discussing this with my brother, who was down with the idea, we went and talked to our parents about the idea. They where okay with the idea but they didnt really want to send a 13 year old out to whistler only with his older brother, so we decided to make a familly road trip out of it. We drove out there and missed a week of school and then spent part of spring break out there. It was the funnest time ridding around with my brother and i learned so many new tricks. Funnest time ever. Now every year we go out to whistler for a week or two at spring time to go skiing. Always super fun and a all round good time when we go out there. Last year the trip made me miss 10% of my classes, but it was definitly worth going out and learning from the world instead of learning about " europeen socialism"

James Eline
Mt. Sunapee, NH

Hi joystick!
hears my story:

First off, living on the east (ice) coast, any chance i ahve to ski powwwwpowwwww, i will take it. Last February, right in the heart of exams week at my school, i was browsing newschoolers and was watching some EPIC gopro powder POV videos and all i was thinking, was wow, i really want to ski some pow. like RIGHT now. I navigated my way to my home mountain's, mount sunapee, website and checked out the snow report for the upcoming week hoping to go the upcoming weekend. To the delight of my eyes, heart, and mind i saw that they were expecting 2 feet of snow on the mountain and even 3 feet in some spots. I jumped up out of my chair, but then realized that tomorrow, was tuesday, and even worse, i had exams, MAJOR EXAMS. So i had to think up a plan. I went to work talking to my parents, and after 45 minutes of begging and talking, they FINALLY SAID YES. I was sooooo happy and this meant cliff dropping and face shots instead of pencil pushing hurt hands. I quickly got onto the phone to call my bestfriend and fellow skier to see if he wanted to come with me! and guess what?! his parents said yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i went to bed estatic and could barely sleep. i woke up to k'naan and cali p the next morning reaaally early, i took a shower, threw on my pants, some tall tees and a hoodies and threw my skis, boots, and poles into the car, and my mom took the wheel and we headed to my friends house, he put his stuff in the car, and we headed out! as we got closer snow started to fall and we could not wait, and as soon as we got to the mountain, we hopped out of the car, got our passes and headed to to the lift. we were about the 10th chair of the morning which added even more STOKE. as we got off the lift you could freshies everywhere! we took our first run down a steep and deep run and the powwww was blowing all up in our faces and it was AMAZING. then we found a sick tree run with some sick, deep pow. for the whole morning we just kept taking these two runs and everytime managed to find some untracked snow. after lunch we headed to the park and it was awesome! pow landings off the jumps and it was perfect to try anything you wanted on any feature! to finish off the day we took some side country deep runs, and as the mountain closed we were still hiking lines for pow, we finally came down 45 minutes after the lifts stopped. we were sooo mad that we had to leave the pow, and as we rode away i thought, that was an amazing day, way better than exams. we both soon fell asleep on the ride home!

DAY 3 WINNERS! Buellership Contest

Congratulations to Reid Norton & Michael Maniscalco! You WIN!!!!!!

Reid Norton

Well it all started as a sunny winter day in Duluth, Minnesota. As I headed into class during my junior year of high school I noticed a cool haze come over the sky and as the day went on, snow started to turn from a dusting, to flurries, to full on freshies! Now, I better tell you, that if your not used to Midwest snow, we are used to skiing snow with a layer of glass over it. So, as soon as I saw fresh stuff, I borrowed the hall pass out of my 11th grade English class and booked it straight home, grabbed my gear, threw on my pants and jacket and drove up to our local ski area called Spirit "Mountain" which just happened to be the biggest hill in northern Minnesota. And as I enjoyed a rare dry snowstorm, reveling in the face shots and pow pillows, I skied for hours and I came out of the trees and skied down to the lodge to grab some hot chocolate only to see my English teacher working at the concessions. Just my luck, she took off the last hour of school that year to work at the mountain and teach our school's ski club. Perfect. I was busted. After that, I decided to ski freshies AFTER school for the rest of high school. After graduation, I moved to Jackson Hole, and I'm currently living in Salt Lake City. Now I know what REAL pow is like!

Michael Maniscalco

Blue Mtn. PA

Well let's see. I'd love to lie about this part but I simply can't. Last winter I probably skipped a total of 7 days to ski in the PA pow. The best was this: I got to a performing arts high school for playing oboe, so I drive about 1 hour to school EVERY day. Where I live is north of the school near the Poconos, so it dumped one night for me, but NOT A THING at the school. I know...FML. NOT! I pleaded to my parents to let me go skiing during school because us living in PA, never get powder. EVER. After about an hour of begging and stupidly trying to bribe my dad with chores and such, I got a yes! They called in and we left to pick up another friend who also ditched. So we are driving up the mountain in my dads front wheel drive Honda Accord. About half way up my dad says "I'm not going to be able to make it up that, so it's either we head home or you guys walk up. We start to walk up. I'd say it's about a mile to go...in dumping snow. (Rhyme not intended) We walk and walk and about an hour later we're in the lodge about to go out. That day, we slayed an almost empty park, and even did some illegal tree skiing. Probably the best day ever. Ski'd amazingness. Missed about a week of school after that due to snow days. What can I say. Smooth moves. Michael Maniscalco

BUELLERSHIP Contest DAY 2

Here are the winning entries for Day TWO of the Buellership Contest!

*Editor's Note: Ferris Bueller didn't use spellcheck and you shouldn't either. These stories are straight raw and uncut from the OG story tellers.

Austin Mullen

Breckenridge, CO

"Early Work Release"

"Basically my story starts off in highschool, the glory days of bailing and sneaking out of school to go skiing. I grew up in Minnesota in a town they call Chaska. Everyday after school I would shred a small hill called Hyland, classes got out around 3 every afternoon and I'd instantly bail and head to the hill. I had my car pack with all my gear and sped out of the parking lot and would make it to the hill by around 3:30 and up the rope tow by 4. The place was lit up at night which means night shredding, and with night comes ice. Lots and lots of it.

Getting to ski during the day was amazing, no ice and no crowds. So, a few times a month I'd have a friend call in and pretend to be my dad, he would make up excuse about why I wouldn't be in school that day. Most of the times the story was me being sick and throwing up green stuff. Those were the best days, got to the hill at 10 and shredded all day with the older fellas and had the place to ourselves. It was awesome.

Now during senior year I got tired of arriving at hyland around 4 and having all the features being at rutted out. So I came up with this amazing idea. At my school we had a program called "early work release" which allows you to leave school at 1 and go to work. Well the best part is, at this time of my life I was jobless and poor and still skiing everyday. I somehow managed to convince my mom to pretend to be my manager at my fake job. And it worked, the teacher would call my "manager" once a week to make sure I was actually working. I used my awesome photoshop skills (took countless numbers of art and computer classes in school) to make paycheck stubs to bring in to the teach. For the entire winter semester I got to leave school at 1 to go to "work", which was amazing cause I was actually going skiing. I managed to graduate highschool early, no idea how.... and no I did not drop out and moved right to the mountains.

I moved right to Breckenridge to ski and go to CMC. Last winter I skipped to much class for powder days at Beaver Creek , so now I think it may be smart not to go to school. Which is my plan this winter. Hope you've enjoyed my story, cause schools for fools and skiings for cools."

KC Brousseau

Whiteface, NY

"Teachers are Dope Too!"

Here is my story,

So a few years ago I had this teacher named Bill frasier. He taught history, everyone's least favorite class and by far the most boring. This teacher was mad chill though, rode mountain bikes and skied just like me. In class we'd always share story's about our best ski days or best days on our bikes. That fall we actually went mountain biking together a lot. But anyways, sometime around mid february we were getting dumped on (something that NEVER happens in upstate new york). I had just taken a week off of school to do a race camp (yes i was still a racer at the time) so my rents were NOT stoked about skipping another day to go shred. So I went to school that day and watched the windows the whole time at the snow falling, almost wanting to cry the whole day. Went home that afternoon and was just doing homework when I got a phone call, from who else but my good friend and teacher Bill. He said that he was planning on skipping school the next day and asked if I was down to go shred. I told him how my parents weren't going to let me skip because I had just missed the whole week and he said "don't worry, come to school, I've got a plan." So the next day I hop the bus to school like any regular day and when I'm about to get off the bus I get another phone call, Bill again. He said he was in the staff parking lot and to go meet him there. So I went over and met him and he asked if my parents were home and i told him they were off at work already. We hop in his car, stop by my house to get all my gear, then head straight to the mountain. Because it was a weekday it wasn't very packed so we had freshies all day. About mid-morning we're just riding up the lift chatting about how epic today is and he asks, " you wanna make it even more epic?" I'm like "sure" and out from his pocket comes the fattest most perfectly rolled *&%@ i think i've ever seen in my life. Needless to say we had some good teacher-student bonding time that day and the next day he got into the schools computer system and marked me in attendance for that day so my parents never found out a thing. To this day we continue to shred together in both the summer and winter and he is by far the coolest teacher I've ever met.

BUELLERSHIP CONTEST Day 1

Here are the winning entries for Day 1 of the Buellership Contest! With over 90 entires, it was very, very difficult selecting two for the initial post! However, after careful consideration, hours of reading hilarious stories, we are very confident that we chose the absolute best Day 1 winners!

ANDREW MEEHAN "Picture of the Day"
Age: 18
The Canyons

"My parents usually let me skip a few days of school a season to go skiing. So on a good pow day, you would much rather ski than go to school. I had sent an email to my teacher saying that I had some family problems, so I would not be able to make it to school. Needless to say it was one of the most epic days of skiing I had all season. My friend had been taking a few photos during the day, and ended up submitting the photos to the resort for "Picture of the day." I didn't think much about this, but then the next day I see my friends photo on the resorts site. I was wayyy stoked about this, until I walked into class and my teacher asked me to come up and look at the paper I had written a few days before. On his screen was the "Picture of the Day." My heart stopped and he looks at me and said, "So, how was the snow?" I had no option but to come clean. He then asked me to stay after class, so we could talk about skipping school. Our conversation ended up being awesome, and he told me about all the days he skipped in high school, to go skiing. It ended up being worth it, but he asked me to just be honest about where I was going. He was a little upset about the fact that I used an excuse to go skiing. We ended up becoming pretty close, and we actually skied together one day. He also wrote my recommendation for my college applications, which helped me get into my first choice school."

Kai Stritter "Hospital Jailbreak"
Age: 17
Northstar, CA

I do attend highschool, but my story is about my epic jailbreak from the hospital. During morning break at school on the Friday before the annual Tahoe long weekend trip my friends and I do, I fell playing basketball and broke my wrist super badly. There was a visible bump on the side of my wrist were the bones were sticking in odd directions and it swelled up huge. On my way to the hospital it hit me...I won't be able to shred Squaw and Northstar this weekend! Supremely bummed, I cooperated with the nurses and doctors as they gave me pain meds and checked out my wrist. It seemed excessive, but I got a cot in a room and everything (It was a pretty gnarly break, I wont lie it hurt like hell). The nurse insists I take a nap and should probably stay the night, unmoving. Anyways, I wake up from my nap (drugged out of my mind on pain meds) to my 3 skiing buddies (the 4th one was at football practice) piling into my room to see me. They jokingly trash talked me mercilessly, but we were all bummed I couldn't come. I made them promise to get lots of footage so I could see what I missed. They said goodbye and I went back to sleep.

A couple hours later, (when friend 4 had finished football) I wake up to my friend hovering above me gently shaking me to wake up. "Waddup brutha, were here to break you out. lets go skiing bro!" One friend puts his beanie on my head (I dont remember who...pain meds). I move my wrist from the little holding platform next to my bed and get out of my ugly hospital robe thing and put on the EC headwear Tee they brought for me. Around me like a group of body guards, they sneak me out the guest entrance. I was later told that i was giggling relentlessly the entire time, not really sure what was happening.

Anyways, what ended up happening was I got to go up with them. I didn't ski until the last day and only for the morning, but at least I got to chill with them after the ski day (I slept most of the day anyways). My dad was OK with it (he authorized it), but he didn't tell my mom so I got in trouble. The hospital was also super mad at us, but they couldn't do much about it because I was 4 hours away in Tahoe!

All in all, it was an awesome trip even if I didn't get to ski much!"

For skiers that entered but did not win on day one, not to fear, there are 18 more winners that will be selected!!!! STOKED!

*Editor's Note: Ferris Bueller didn't use spellcheck and you shouldn't either. These stories are straight raw and uncut from the OG story tellers.

What Just Happened?

Matt Margetts: Thanks for Slaying!!!!!

I recall shredding with Matt Margetts at the 2nd annual West Coast Session in 2008. He was filming for Voleurz "Outdoor Education" and absolutely destroyed every feature he touched. Noticeably more talented, aggressive, and energetic than the rest, there was no question he would solidify his name among the best in the world. Two years later, Margetts travels the world competing, filming, and and genuinely enjoying the lifestyle he's worked so hard to create. A tremendous asset to the Joystick team, we sat down with Marg to gain some insight into his lifestyle, interest, and personal history. Welcome to the world of Matt Margetts:

My favorite trick is a Cork 3

To chicks, the secret to spitting game is just be mad confident and dont be afraid to make a lot of shit up. For freestyling rhyme, flow, and make fun of things.

I grew up skiing at Apex Mountain Resort near Penticton BC

Falling and shitty weather, are my least favorite aspects of skiing....but how else are we going to get that powder?

There isn't just one influential person in my life, but if I had to narrow it down to skiing, probably Justin Dorey

I've only read a couple books cover to cover, but I've seen a ton of movies. I need to read more often.

Lame as it sounds, Entourage or maybe East Bound and Down are my favorite HBO series

I'm more of a fighter, but I love starting fires.

My typical season starts at the end of November after a couple solid months of working construction back home. I go to CO with the Canadian Halfpipe Team and rent out this balling farmhouse in Dillon. Shred the pipe at Copper, shred park at Keystone, and bounce on the tramps at Woodward in the evenings. Compete in the 1st Dew Tour at Breck. Go home for xmas, visit the fam. Then shred some much needed west coast powder and shoot with Voleurz. Find the best pipe in North America and train for the next Dew Tour and X Games. Compete at Dew 2 and then the greatest contest ever XGames. Then last stop of the Dew Tour, Euro Open, Euro X. Last chance at some backcountry filming. Compete in ,WSI, Telus Fest, Orage Masters. Spring Park shoots. Maybe a week in Tofino for some much needed relaxation and waveboarding. Coaching summer camp at Camp Of Champions. Then finally some summer time back home in Penticton.

I set off a fire extinguisher on Jeff Schmuck in Japan. Threw a fish in a fire. Threw a microwave off a 9th story balcony. Knocked out two guys in one night. I've done many a reckless things. I couldn't narrow it down to one

My style in three words: Matt Mar Getts

I have no time for.....Waiting. Lack of Manners. Getting hung up on, Injuries, people not cleaning up after themselves

lies, waste, and diseases are the most disappointing things about the human race

I can bench 80-maybe 85lbs

Most prized possession? I don't really own anything yet. My surfboard.

Buellership Contest UPDATE

Thus far, the Buellership has 65 entries and counting!

STOKED ON THIS CONTEST

In other news, this photo is incredible.

athlete: Anthony B.

photo: Adam Clark

BUELLERSHIP CONTEST = Free Poles for you!

Operating under the assumption that true education lies well beyond the confines of a textbook, we here at Joystick would like to present the "Buellership" contest. While certain companies reward those with high academic performance, Joystick commends students for their courage to call in sick, leave class early, and ditch academic establishments for one more day spinning park laps and getting face shots. For more information, please refer to this educational video:

In order to be eligible for the Buellership, skiers must have attended any of the following establishments, clubs, or organizations: middle school, high school, university, college, junior college, community college, pre school, elementary school, home school, Montessori school, Knights of Templar, Free Masons, Moose Club, Society of Success and Leadership, Lamda Pi Eta, Lions Club, Elks Club, or local chapters of the Kiwanis Club. To apply for the Buellership, please read the following:

1) Send an email entitled BUELLERSHIP CONTEST to joystickpoles@gmail.com

2) Within the email, tell your best FERRIS BUELLER inspired story where you skipped, dropped out, and bailed on school for skiing

3) Include: NAME, ADDRESS, HOME RESORT, AGE along with your story

4) Winners will receive Joystick Sauce Poles

5) We will announce 2 winners per day for 10 days!

6) 1st pair of winners will be announced on Friday!

Here's to you, non-scholarly types, to those that value living life rather than reading about it, to those that understand our time here is limited and that life is meaningless without pursing our passions.

All the best!

- Joystick Poles

En Route: NOMADS

En Route Nomads is our second webisode from the 2010 winter. The nimbus crew traveled to Canada, Nevada, and Utah chasing fresh snow. It was an amazing year, Nomads documents the best two months of the 2010 winter. Enjoy!

En Route Nomads from NIMBUS INDEPENDENT on Vimeo.

Look on the Bright Side

Voleurz presents "Look on the Bright Side" for their 2010 release. Along with featuring some baller athletes, Joystick's Max Hill and Cole Drexler have some fresh shots in the film!

Check out the Voleurz interview on ESPN!

WELCOME FRIEND!

On behalf of everyone here at Joystick, we would like to welcome Finn Anderson to the program!

Yeah son!

Q&A with TJ Schiller on FREESKIER

Check out Freeskier.com for a Q & A session with TJ Schiller !

Bobby Brown NZ

Bobby Brown NZ from Bobby Brown on Vimeo.

oh my!

PBPs REVOLVER

Check out Joystick athletes

TJ Schiller

Mike Henitiuk

Pep Fujas

In the latest film from PBP:

Revolver (Official Trailer) from Poor Boyz Productions on Vimeo.