Adventurer of the Year: Jeremy Jones

Jeremy Jones, snowboarder.

As I write this, we have only one week to vote for our favorite “Adventurer of the Year” at National Geographic. And the choices don’t get any easier with Jeremy Jones.

Jeremy Jones has done what few top athletes in their sport have ever done – walk away. After establishing himself as one of the pioneers of big mountain, big line snowboarding in the ‘90s and after making some 40 snowboarding films, and founding Jones Snowboards, Jeremy walked away from the world of fat sponsorships and heli-skiing to go off the grid. To take himself and his friends deep into the mountains for some of the purest boarding out there. Backcountry.

For those unfamiliar, backcountry snowboarding (or skiing) is really a combination of mountain climbing, winter camping, snowboarding and just plain survival. Grab your ropes, your ice axes and crampons, if you’re serious, you can have the most spectacular mountains in the world all to yourselves. But it’s work. And you better not screw up. Because there’s no ski patrol to haul your ass down to the hospital. There’s no cell phone reception or saint bernard dog with a cask of cognac. There’s just relentless cold and risk of avalanche that will bury your ass, making you one with the glacier.

Here’s the trailer for “FURTHER” Jones’ newest film about this brave new world.

Any guy who will reach the pinnacle of his sport and say, “what’s next?” Any guy who will climb 10 hours (and 9,000 ft) in the middle of the night to make a run at first light… any guy who is THIS determined to experience the mountains in their purest, most remote form – regardless of hardship – this is our kind of adventurer!

Jeremy Jones with his splitboard in Alaska. photo: Teton Gravity Research

In fact, adventurer is too timid a word for Jones. He’s really an explorer. What else can you call a man whose sole focus is discovering new lines, opening new territories, innovating new skills and new technology, like the splitboard, which can be skinned and worn like skis for climbing, then clipped back together for the run?

What else can you call a guy who isn’t satisfied with his own enjoyment of the mountains, but uses his success to rally supporters to put environmental pressure on Washington (Protect Our Winters)?

Jones is a man walking his talk. No b.s. No half measures. He loves the mountains, he loves to shred. He inspires, he innovates, he lives to lead. What else can you want for Adventurer of the Year?

Don’t forget to VOTE! Deadline Jan. 16, 2013.