Empire Attire

By: Felicia Dumont

Athletes in the snow sports industry are notorious for traveling the globe to ski against the top competitors at the best mountains in the world. Freeskiing is saturated with young boys and girls who are eager to shred every peak on the planet. There are extreme benefits to this profession, like the opportunity to learn of foreign cultures and their people, but being on the road all the time is not all perks. Living out of a suitcase, eating out at restaurants, and always sleeping in a hotel bed, couch or a buddies floor can be tough on your emotions, immune system and family. So, courtesy of the professional athletes and industry friends at Empire Attire, we would like to provide all you traveling snow sports athletes with 10 tips on how to successfully live on the road.

Photo Credit: Torin Yater-Wallace

1. Peter Olenick

“Bring more clean socks and undies than you think you’ll need.”

2. Simon Dumont

“Get an agent.” Agents really help with managing travel. They will help you sort out where you need to be and when.

3. Jossi Wells

“The best tip I can give, and it’s pretty legit coming from me because I always take too much, when it comes to packing, pack what you think you need.  Then cut it in half and you’re good to go.”

4. Torin Yater-Wallace

“Don’t drink soda, ever.” Torin is still working on his travel skills, first being how to sleep on a plane, a trick not yet mastered by the young ski star. 

5. Luke Van Valin

“Always pack your bag the night before your flight, specially if your going to the after party.”

6. Jake Largess

“Pack as many socks as possible”

7. Gus Kenworthy

“Make sure you travel in jeans because getting a boner in sweatpants is not very fun on a plane”

8. Colby West

Click to Listen “Colby West Travel Tip“

9. Brian Schroy

“Stick to one airline.” That way you can rack up frequent flyer miles that provide you with priority through long lines and gets you upgraded to first class.

10. Michael Spencer

“Make sure you have one carry on that just has everything you would ever need where ever you go; computer, phone, passport, toothbrush, toothpaste. If you have all of that in your carry on who cares if you bags get lost, you can go anywhere.

Jossi has always had a passion for photography and social media. With the help of his iPhone and the artsy application, Instagram, he has been able to cleverly document his winter travels. Take a look at Jossi’s 2011/2012 season from his own point of view and be sure to follow @jossiwells on Instagram.

The US Freeskiing Grand Prix at Copper has come to an end.  It might have been the first halfpipe competition of the season, but it sure did not appear that way.  There was no holding back in the finals for this talented group of athletes.

Simon boosting switch

For the Empire team, Jossi Wells, Simon Dumont, and Sarah Burke advanced to the finals.  Peter Olenick decided to compete in qualifiers, after a long time out due to injury.  He took it very easy in his runs, being that it was his first day back in the pipe, but the crowd went wild for his flares and 900 at the bottom.  Jossi boosted high with effortless style, which the judges rewarded him for.  He decided to stay away from some of his more daring tricks, since he also had a season full of injuries last year. Jossi still earned a respectable 8th place finish.

Peter Olenick back on his feet

Simon took a serious digger at practice last Tuesday.  He shook it off in true Dumont fashion and decided to compete in qualifiers on Wednesday. Simon qualified 3rd in his heat, throwing down a safety run.  He decided to go for it in the finals, putting together one of the more technical runs of the day.  Unfortunately, Simon was unable to get enough speed for his double 1260 on his last hit and ended up in 9th.  The competition season is very young and Simon will be the man to beat when he puts his run to his feet.

Simon peeps the competition

Sarah Burke was a trooper in the women’s competition.  She put down a solid run in qualifiers, which did not get scored as high as she would have liked due to a couple butt-checks. On her second run, she took a gnarly fall on the deck but got up with a smile.  She advanced to finals with her first run, but could not quite stick the run she wanted.  She finished the competition in 7th place.

The kids line up for Jossi

By Brian Schroy

This past weekend Gus Kenworthy and Jossi Wells were busy at work for the 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games. The action began in the halfpipe where Jossi finished in second place and Gus took home the gold. Gus’s winning run featured a left cork 900 tail grab to a right cork 720 tail, back to back switch 720 mutes, alley-oop flat spin 540 Japan, and a left cork 1080 tail grab to finish it off.

The next day was the highly anticipated slopestyle competition, where Gus and Jossi managed to do it again. Gus received his second gold medal and Jossi took home another silver. Gus started his run with a 450 to switch off of the down rail, straight into a switch 270 on to rodeo 630 off the cannon box. In the jump line he stomped a double cork twelve sixty mute into a switch right 1080 tail into a switch 540 onto the lily pad and a rodeo 540 off.

The final men’s event for freesking was big air. Gus continued his streak by qualifying in first, but had a little trouble in the finals. He finished with a solid sixth place result. Jossi found himself on the podium with a bronze medal for the third contest in a row. This is a great start to an early season for these two Empire rippers. Jossi faced some injuries last season and it is great to see him back on his feet and killing the competition. Hopefully, this event will foreshadow what is to come in the upcoming competitions.  

Check out Empire team member switching up his snow steeze by going from skis to the board. Check it out below.

Empire’s own Simon Dumont and Jossi Wells have been chosen to help resurrect Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. Here’s a killer behind the scenes look at the upcoming commercial.

A new Jossi Wells edit from the Backyard Battle back in April.