J Skis founder, Jason Levinthal, started J Skis on the foundation of collaboration. Since the brand’s inception, Levinthal has partnered with engineers, skiers and artists to produce the most unique set of sticks for the ski community, and the 2018-19 offerings are no different. Below you will find this year’s limited edition artwork for The Metal, The Masterblaster, The Max, The Vacation and The Friend. Each pair are hand-signed and numbered by J himself to ensure you’re getting truly one-of-a-kind planks.
While driving across the United States with his wife, UK artist Luke Dixon was inspired by the wildlife in America’s National Parks for his Wolf Walk design. Originally created for Dixon’s clothing brand, Bearhug, this is the first time the design will be on a ski, featured on The Metal. Only 400 pairs are available in this design.
Athens, Georgia-based tattoo artist David Hale returns for a second collaboration with J skis on The Masterblaster River design. The design’s powerful yet smooth, infinite flow mimics the feeling of taking The Masterblaster on buttery groomers and fresh, untouched pow. Only 400 pairs are available in this design.
The Arcade design for The Max is inspired by the hard-core gamers of the ’80s. No headsets with microphones or bluetooth controllers to play this game, just a pair of hands and a joystick is all you need. J Skis is only making 200 pairs of this design, so get your hands on them while you still can.
Back by popular demand with a revamp in design is The Vacation’s Brotherhood II. Sticking with last year’s legendary theme, the evolution in design has Giray Dadali, aka “Ahmet’s Brother,” and his friends, aka “The Brotherhood,” flipping the script and chasing the yellow jackets off the hill—for good. Only 400 pairs are available in this design.
For Ryan Schmies, designing skis is the perfect blend of passion and profession. The Wisconsin-born artist earned his first claim to fame when he designed K2’s Public Enemy when he was still in college. Since then, Schmies has made a name for himself as an artist in Washington, designing hundreds of skis and other products for ski brands in his 20-plus-year career. Growing up skiing on a small hill named Cascade and now tearing up the Cascade Range in Washington, Cascade only made sense for this design on The Friend.
