An original member of the New Canadian Air Force, JP Auclair is a skiing pioneer. JP continues to catch people’s attention year after year, whether it’s because he skied a crazy line or was building houses for those in need in Kenya. Recently, JP caught us up on his summer plans, upcoming film segment, handrail missions, and new happenings with Alpine Initiatives.
FS: How has your summer been going?
JP: It’s been going really well. I’ve just been at home catching up with my family and friends, just hanging out. I’ve been doing some stretching and various other things to stay in shape. Plus, starting to slowly edit my segment with Poor Boyz.
FS: This segment has been in the works for almost 2 years, right?
JP: Yea. Two winters ago I decided to take some time for myself and try to accomplish some personal goals. I took some avalanche classes and did some true freeskiing.
It was nice to get out in the backcountry and just ski. I spent a lot time by myself. No cameras or photographers, just the mountain and me. I did shoot some powder and big mountain footy early, but decided to just hang onto it and use it for the segment I’ll have this year.
FS: How did this season turn out for you?
JP: It was good. I decided to focus on some more freestyle stuff. I spent some time in the south of France building jumps and even did some urban. I got back into doing some handrail missions and was hanging out with kids who were like 15 and super young. It was fun because they thought it was cool I was trying it, but I didn’t know whether to take that as an insult or compliment. It was fun though.
FS: We’ll look forward to seeing you slaying rails in your upcoming segment. Do you have any summer plans?
JP: I’ll be spending some time in Whistler. It’ll be cool because we are going to edit this year’s Poor Boyz movie in Whistler throughout the summer. TJ Schiller has also said he will teach me some new tricks while up on the glacier this summer, which will be cool. Oh, and I’ve also talked to Seth about taking a trip to South America.
FS: Sounds like you are keeping busy. Do you have anything mapped out for next season yet?
JP: I do have a few tentative plans. There is a project in the works with Julien Regnier and Elina Sirparanta that I am excited about. I’ll continue to work with PBP on my segment next year and also want to get involved with the Rocky Mountain Sherpa’s, (https://www.rockymountainsherpas.com) I really like what they are doing.
FS: Is there anything new going on with Alpine Initiatives?
JP: For me, it’s hard to stay active with Alpine Initiatives as much as I’d like to in the winter because I am skiing so much, but I’m working on stuff this summer. In a few weeks I’m going to Colorado for a board meeting. Also, we are continuing to raise money in efforts to make a housing community in Kenya and support what we are doing over there right now. I try to make it over there as much as I can to make sure things are going smoothly.
Make sure to check out our site, we’ve posted a new video and you can stay up to date with everything that is going on. (https://www.alpineinitiatives.org)
Alpine Initiatives Kenya Project Intro from JP Auclair on Vimeo.
