Photos by Flip McCririck
Nike 6.0: Had you been to Austria before? If so, how many times had you been there before? If not, what where your expectations?
Jossi Wells: I had never been to Austria before. I had seen photos and video of the boys there before and I was so excited to go and shred terrain that I had seen in the movies.
Jossi, stoked to shred Austria.
Nike 6.0: Explain the bus and our arrival to Zurich from California…
Jossi Wells: When we walked out of the airport in Zurich, we had a huge tour bus waiting for us. Pretty much felt like a rock star! Haha. It was all tricked out inside and traveling in it was more of a luxury and fun than a lame long drive. It had 2 flat screen TVs, 12 beds, some dope couches, a bathroom, kitchen, pretty much everything you could want was in there!
Jossi gets some much needed rest on the Bus.
Nike 6.0: Describe the St. Anton region…
Jossi Wells: The mountains are huge and rather intimidating, but at the same time there is such a relaxed atmosphere there. It’s really quite amazing.
Nike 6.0: Describe the snow conditions we faced…
Jossi Wells: The snow we had when we were there was pretty shocking, super sun baked and just not exactly the ideal conditions for what we wanted to do. We made the most of it though and hiked around to find areas where the sun hadn’t affected it yet.
Nike 6.0: Why is it important for the 6.0 ski team to take trips like this?
Jossi Wells: All the athletes on the Nike team are heavily into the competition scene and it was really nice to get a break from that whole scene and get out into the real mountains. It made us so much more stoked and ready to go for it when we went back into competition.
Nike 6.0: Explain the lack of opportunity some park skiers face…
Jossi Wells: Now days, the park skiers are so focused on learning new tricks and getting as tech as they can in the park. They are forgetting totally about the big mountains that are out there and how much fun they are. I am one that has been affected by the park buzz. I had always been so into real skiing and blasting down a mountainside, but the last few years I find myself training so hard in the park and pipe that I had forgotten all about it. It was sick for me to go out and get the opportunity to go back to my roots and do some real skiing.
Jossi puts a hurtin’ on the backcountry in Austria.
Nike 6.0: What are your expectations of the next Nike 6.0 trip? How can trips like this progress your skiing?
Jossi Wells: Oh man, I hear we are going catskiing in BC. And after the last Nike trip, I’m leaving my expectations open, because last time totally blew my mind so I have no idea what it’s going to be like this time! These trips are awesome for me, because it gets me as far away from a park as possible and I can completely forget about the pressures of the competitions and my progression. Nike kills it!!!
Jossi with the Nike 6.0 crew, Sammy Carlson, Simon Dumont and team Manager Riley Poor.
Watch Simon, Sammy and Jossi tear it up in Austria on the Beat The Streets tour this past winter. Edit from Riley Poor, video footage courtesy of Poor Boyz Productions.
