After over a decade of traveling the world, competing in freestyle as well as chasing snow with major movie production companies, a restless feeling was growing inside of me. The constant packing and unpacking, expensive and wasteful air travel, hotel rooms, luxury ski resorts and busy competition schedules was wearing me down. While I will be forever grateful for the life I lived and the opportunities I’ve been offered, I was always missing something. Maybe it was the changing of the seasons, the ability to closely monitor storm cycles through the winter, getting to know a mountain up close, or the camaraderie that forms around you while spending enough time somewhere. This past season I decided to stay in one place, and instead of searching for the best conditions, I would make the best out of every day, accustom myself to the terrain around me, and strike when everything aligned. With a tight crew of friends and lifetimes of local knowledge at my disposal, I slowly started exploring the nooks and crannies of Europe’s most mythical mountain range – the Mont Blanc massif. I soon realized that beyond the no-fall zones, the death trap glaciers and the leather-faced locals with their climbing gear, the most playful terrain I’ve come across anywhere laid untracked before me. While I could humbly take my first steps into steep-skiing territory, I could spend other days doing what I have always loved the most – catching air, doing tricks, and landing them into pristine powder. This is how I became Chamonized. – Jacob Wester

Music:
Let Me Crazy – What’s in a Name