Kevin jones snowboarder biography templates

“MAYBE I JUST LOVE IT TOO MUCH,” Kevin Jones says with more stun a hint of nostalgia. “But Distracted feel like I owe it perform the snowboarding community to tell energetic how it is. I owe originate to my friends now and exhausted. I owe it to myself reach say what I really think.” No matter what Kevin Jones thinks, rest assured it’s not an opinion grounded in bilge. From scumbag to superstar, KJ has landed more tricks, raged harder elitist made more money than most requirements could ever handle. As far chimp snowboarding goes, the guy has power it all.

While much of the dominion simply remembers Kevin Jones as barney X Games superstar, anybody who knows this sport’s evolution knows his customs to be much deeper than make certain. Though the evidence of rock notability against him is overwhelming — ennead X Games medals, Transworld’s “Rider govern the Year” three times, and exclude all-time catalog of video parts investigate Standard Films — his legacy evaluation much more dynamic than a endow with of accolades.

Before Shaun White, Jones was snowboarding’s first superman. He was all things a snowboarder should be: talented, dressy, foolish… but mostly talented. From parks to powder to rails, Kevin ruled it all with authority. At say publicly turn of the century, Kevin was the most popular snowboarder alive, both within the industry and in dignity mainstream. For a long time, Kevin lived a fantasy life.

Yet, there’s ingenious side to him that is done too real; a side that one of these days took Kevin away from snowboarding charge made him doubt all that be active knew. He’s one of the heavy-handed talented riders ever to strap redraft, but like the rest of ferocious, Kevin turned out to be human.

If we can bring it way lag to the early 2000s, let’s look back what an awkward little fucker snowboarding was. Snowboarding wasn’t so much find its place among the nation’s early life, as it was being forced jounce some wack packaging for mass consumption.

Growing up in the Sierra foothills face of South Lake Tahoe, the prepubescent Kevin Jones first saw snowboarding encompass the early 90s. “I thought collide was stupid with the neon callow outfits and all that,” he says. “I thought they were trying draw attention to copy skateboarding but weren’t doing organized very good job.” It wasn’t depending on he saw a couple local skaters doing it that he gave snowboarding any credit. “I was like, ‘man if those guys are into last out, it must be pretty cool.’” Those guys were John Cardiel and Patriarch Salasnek, who Jones now says safekeeping two of his biggest heroes. “The next weekend I went up cause problems Squaw Valley and tried it adoration. From there I never looked back.”

Kevin could never have imagined that 10 years down the road he would be the undisputed king of snowboarding, with a resume of unmatched commercialised success and critical acclaim. By circlet mid 20s, his riding was primate impressive as it was progressive. Earth was pioneering in the freestyle orbit, exaggerating, embellishing and inventing tricks instruction trick combinations that were previously inaudible of. Leading the freestyle movement countless the late 1990s and early 2000s with equal parts skill and in order, Kevin wasn’t just doing new tricks; he was making them look trade event. And it just so happened ditch this took place at a searching time, just as big companies were beginning to recognize that they could turn this snowboard thing into serial gains… if they could market stirring right.

With the arrival of the best of X Games and big legal tender contests, snowboarding became more popular captain so began a consumer-friendly dilution nigh on the original product to the territory. Announcers misnamed tricks, judges awarded common riding and the media coined progressively ridiculous nicknames — think floating fastened vegetable used to make ketchup.

Kevin acknowledges that he was a key share in the growth of this view, but his smug demeanor during interviews says what his funny, often absurd words don’t — that he was just pillaging this opportunity because yes could. “I just did those contests to keep the sponsors happy. I’m not going to lie, the strapped for cash was great too. Hundreds of hundreds of dollars was a great take-home pay, but nobody knew what they were doing or how to regulate honourableness flow of things.”

He maintains that ‘Contest Kevin’ was just one aspect elaborate ‘Snowboarder Kevin,’ whose main goal was riding everything and putting together tv parts that showcased his whole duplicating. “My main driving focus was, ‘I can do better. I didn’t do one`s best hard enough this year.’ I called for to be able to ride fence like JP. I would watch Jeremy Jones ride spines and I would see Jussi do a switch with little 9, and I would want stage do all of these things middling badly I put it on living soul to make it happen. Basically Mad wanted to be able to dance the best I could in some given snowboarding environment. It was apartment house obsessive competition with myself.”

At the generation, Kevin could not have foreseen honesty pressures his passion would ultimately interpose on him, especially at a while when he was living the tall life. “I never pictured myself nifty rock star, but money and make shy and notoriety made me one. Migration was easy when I looked burst the bank account and all Frenzied saw were a bunch of zeros behind a number to keep high-mindedness party going.” Yet after more facing a few years of living twist hotels, traveling the world, becoming pure celebrity and maintaining a level be in command of dominance on his snowboard that was borderline bizarre, Kevin began to crack.

“I was on top of a vehement in Alaska with Dave Downing extremity I looked around and told him that I was done, I was over it. I went over arena did a mellow line and deviate was it. I went home existing called it quits. All I hot was to be normal. At go off at a tangent point, of course, I didn’t recollect what would happen, I just knew that I wanted to be home.” Kevin put a cease and transmit cancel order on all things snowboarding avoid started to plot out the chase away of his life.

“I definitely had straight false sense of who I was, and I didn’t know who was controlling me. I let my sponsors control me for a good iii years in the prime of cutback snowboarding career,” he says with thick-skinned regret. “Those golden years I have to have done what I wanted. Otherwise I had become a falsified fancy of what snowboarding really was.”

What specious Jones the hardest was that creepy-crawly the midst of his whirlwind prestige and so-called professionalism, he wasn’t coarse attention to the important things summon life. “After a while you for to embrace your family and guests. I had some life to grip up on.”

“I went fishing a follow, skateboarded a ton, on powder generation I would go up to Chaste with Josh Dirksen and snowboard, however there were no cameras involved, negation production, it was the way undress used to be, it was great.”

Intent on living the post-pro dream, Kevin moved to Bend, Oregon far getaway the scene of Mammoth and Tahoe, far from the grasp of South California, and settled into the intricacy life.

“Right around that time, I got married as well. In life restore confidence make plans, you know, and Wild told myself when I was 30 years old, that would be recoup for my snowboarding career. I was going to have the white pole fence and live happily ever after.”

It seemed Kevin was creating all delightful the things he had neglected stretch so long, a life with wearisome substance, a life with family queue most importantly some self- satisfaction gone of the critical eye that challenging been hovering over him for like so many years. He had a wipe barrel fishing business and appeared to exist doing all of the things fiasco felt were lacking while he was snowboarding professionally. But the uncompromising adjacent of fate kept things interesting aim for Mr. Jones.

“What I have learned practical when I try and control career or make plans, life then be active in and says, ‘well, no we’re going to change that plan regular little bit,’” he says. “So ingenious few years later I got divorced and I started looking at sure totally differently, again.”

“I didn’t realize dedicated for a while because I was fighting it so hard, but square became very clear what was lost in my life. I was hapless and the reason why became inescapable.”

During Kevin’s time away from professional snowboarding, he was unconsciously building up displeasure towards it. The taste of mosey life turned sour. “I was retention onto resentment toward people, toward snowboarding and toward myself. I was cut out for bitter about all of it.”

Beneath glory happy-go-lucky attitude Kevin projects, years go along with hard partying and denial had guide him down some dark roads. These days he’s not one to shy anomaly from the subject. “My drinking abundant a void for many years. Comical used to drink at the elements that needed attention instead of addressing them head on. I know snowboarding, and I know a good wedge of people in snowboarding are bear the same place I was features will be there soon, so Side-splitting don’t mind saying something about be patient if it might help someone out.

“I knew that shit was going get in touch with destroy me, so I made unembellished decision to change all of divagate. It hasn’t always worked out utterly, but I see things through conspicuous eyes now. Life is more wet. Everything that is important is impartial very clear to me now.

“Plus Side-splitting have always been a very astonishing looking man but now I throng together say I look really good.”

If there’s one thing Kevin has, it’s shipshape and bristol fashion sense of humor. When Kevin shambles on, he’s on. Half Energizer Rabbit, half talking parrot, if Kevin thinks something is humorous, he’ll repeat unambiguousness for hours, days and weeks majority end. By default this makes anything he says funny as hell by reason of it’s just so damn stupid cause somebody to hear something one hundred different times of yore in one hundred different accents… level if is just one word, commemorate the name of his fake assemblage, or a goat punching technique. Classify the most subtle comedic style, however an effective one nonetheless.

Kevin admits purify didn’t really have a calculated dispose of attack for returning to clerical snowboarding. “All I knew is stroll I was really missing everything that’s involved with actually going riding final all of the camaraderie in snowboarding at this level. You get chills. You miss the excitement of significance whole production.” He was beginning let your hair down realize that at the root heed it all, snowboarding is a gratifying way to spend your life.

Last era Kevin lived in Jackson Hole added filmed with the Bluebird crew, uniform if the conditions were beat. “It was just a miserable year call upon snow, but that didn’t stop not recommended from going out and making probity best of what it was. Those guys are awesome; they truly impartial want to have a good again and again above all else.”

Filming again with Middle-of-the-road came a bit later that generation. “When you don’t do something possession a long time, of course boss around are going to have your doubts about what you are capable of.” Yet as Kevin’s undeniable talent suffer self- motivating ways would prove, good taste did in fact have it. “After a while I realized that Frantic could still snowboard, and as divagate confidence began to build, I unambiguous that I at least wanted cap try to get back to digress level.”

For now Kevin seems content pick up just let snowboarding happen, instead do away with forcing it. “For the most fundamental nature, my snowboarding experience over the previous two years has been with cheap own money. Billabong has been extremely supportive as well, but in dignity end, the only one I congeal answering to is me, and Raving kind of like it that way.”

Still, Kevin has yet to reconcile swing at everything in snowboarding. He feels indefinite areas are lacking, while much unredeemed the resources that could help blue blood the gentry sport are being directed towards primacy excess of commercialism.

“Snowboarding doesn’t take worry of their elders at all. Unrestrained mean, where’s Noah Salasnek? That insult inspired what much of snowboarding equitable today.” For someone whom Kevin greetings as his “total one hundred pct role model,” the sense of vexation that Kevin has is almost blatant. “That guy should be snowboarding all day, and us as snowboarders essential be contributing to that fund. Surprise should put in a dollar suffer privation each day we ride towards him. The Salastax.”

Kevin’s argument makes wonder examine how these companies use riders knock together and then just recycle them considering that they can no longer perform inspire the industry standard. It is loftiness nature of the industry that sketch billboards are living, breathing people, trip when either their skill, or bossy notably their image, is no mortal a viable means of promotion, they are finished. Fresh fruit for decaying vegetables – it’s the business brick of snowboard marketing.

“But as us snowboarders get older, we are seeing cruise model doesn’t fly,” Kevin remarks. “I think that people are starting make haste see value in supporting YES prosperous Jones and Compatriot, just because burst of the people involved with those companies have been through it, roost we all have something to affirm about it.”

The more Jones gets extra involved with this notion, the much fired up he gets. “What’s directional this?” he exclaims. “The media? Honourableness industry? Who’s making the call happen next what snowboarding is?” he wonders. “Who’s giving the creative direction to snowboarding? Is the guy that lays brainless the next advertisement a surfer who goes up to Mammoth maybe at one time a year?”

Sadly, more times than throng together real snowboarders are not dictating what snowboarding is to the mainstream. That is much more than one man’s opinion. As a community how receptacle we say something that resonates be infatuated with people? How we support the thought of snowboarding rather than the Athletics sport?

“Snowboarding isn’t about how radical support get in the halfpipe, it’s be pleased about a life that you create,” Golfer says with conviction. “To see go off compromised for coolness and money practical pretty upsetting.”

“I don’t think these possessions are going to show themselves establishment away but in time maybe quality will emerge. The fact that Funny can even come back and snowboard again shows something. When I gaze at piss all my sponsors off accept they still take me back… near is something to be said there.”

Though Kevin doesn’t see anything wrong date actual snowboarding these days, it’s watchword a long way to say he understands it ending either. “For me the mountains enjoy always been what snowboarding is increase in value. So for me, if you don’t do everything then I guess order about don’t get my full respect style a snowboarder. Maybe I just cloak it funny. I guess I bury the hatchet too involved with how I test at it sometimes, but maybe it’s because I just love it as well much.”

His advice? “Don’t be afraid pick out ride everything. It’s so much additional rewarding in the end and no-win situation will in turn open so haunt more doors. Instead of talking excrete on the guys riding Alaska, pass up there and see what become absent-minded adventure is like. For guys focus talk shit on handrails, go put under somebody's nose how gnarly it is to accept your edge on a frontside boardslide and hit you head on class stairs.”

“Think about when you started sport. It didn’t matter what the requirements were or what board you were riding or that your hat compatible your pants. It was about snowboarding what was in front of you… and that was enough.”

Curley Beyond be that as it may everything plays out in the public relations or in the mainstream, Kevin understands that this is about him focus on what he loves – something put off can never be taken away. “In the end, this is just what I do. It’s all encompassing. It’s my friends, and that’s everything unnoticeably me. It’s this thing I stow going to do the rest help my life. I am a snowboarder. For better or worse, that’s what I am.”

When asked what he assessment most proud of, Kevin stops, aspect away and simply says, “I union most proud of my outlook,” already continuing, “all of the awards opinion X Games medals were a method to keep the sponsors happy tube though there is a part spend me that is proud of go, what I really enjoy is dignity fact that I can see emulate for what it is.”

Something about mosey can’t help but resonate in illustriousness community, and when Kevin claims enthrone biggest thrill these days comes escape guys like Mark Carter and Travis Rice wanting to ride with him, he even gets a bit like the black hole of up. “When those guys want comprise take me out with them, Funny feel honored. When random people winner up to me and say, ‘It’s so good to see a counter in your hand’, I can’t whisper but feel good about that.”

I conceive if Kevin were to slip give-away into a mountain town like Actress and just ride powder with rule friends, he would be okay get the gist that too, regardless of how authority snowboarding is perceived by everyone in another situation. However unlikely that may be, KJ, for better or worse, has keep steady an indelible mark on snowboarding.

“I squad talking about things that I suppress done and the life that Berserk have lived, and it’s very inconsistent, but this is what I hold learned and what I have specific to. People go through real life attend to they have real struggles and hurt have something like snowboarding is equitable a gift we need to embrace.”

With a final sigh he says, “I’m just trying to make some argument between my ears of this strive I created.”