The Snowboarder's Journal - The Snowboarder's Journal 20.3
OVERSHOOTING THE ROCK JUMP
Words: David MacKinnon 2022-11-30 08:22:10
“I had never been to this zone prior to this day, but I had seen photos of the Rock Jump before. It was an extremely quick build, and before you know it the session was going off. Matt Belzile goes switch backside 720.” Photo: Ben Girardi
The Rock Jump is a real Canadian classic, yet it’s relatively young among the Whistler backcountry’s go-to spots. A picturesque tabletop utilizing a prominent volcanic boulder as a kicker, the gap was pioneered in 2014 by zealous boarder Mikey Pederson. Since then, the feature has hit the limelight—and has arguably been blown out. Whatever your perspective on “same spot syndrome,” there’s no doubt some incredible snowboarding has gone down on the now-iconic feature.
Mikey first saw the gap in 2012, two years before he’d eventually come back to hit it. He was an up-and-comer with the Yes. squad, riding with older pros who were showing him the ropes when he pointed out the potential jump. They told him it wouldn’t work and quickly moved on from the idea. “Honestly, that was discouraging,” Mikey says. “In my mind we were supposed to be out on the hunt, but it felt like nobody was willing to take a chance on something new.”
Still, a seed was planted and the rock jump bubbled in the back of the young ripper’s mind. Two years later, Mikey decided to make the spot happen on his own terms. He convinced his friend Talon Gillis to camp out in the zone to help him bring his vision to life. “I knew we could make it happen,” Mikey says, “and Talon was down to spend the time out there.” The duo went Lost Boys on it, lodging in an Arctic Oven tent and letting the chain saws bark to build out the feature. “We hit it on a low-snow year,” Talon says. “Normally you can fill the gap in with snow, but we dragged fallen trees to put in the transition to the lip. It was wild.”
Mikey opened the jump with a straight air and Talon backed him up with a backside 360. The former went to battle with a backside 720 but conditions deteriorated early in the fight. Given their remote locale, they made the right call and pulled the plug. But their inaugural session paved the way for countless more, attracting riders such as Beau Bishop, Rusty Ockenden, Keenan Filmer, Pat Moore, Jamie Anderson and many, many others. It’s the backdrop of various advertisements, has been featured heavily in major snowboard films, and it’s instantly recognizable in magazines internationally. Overexposed or not, Mikey and Talon’s innovation opened up a new stalwart in British Columbia’s backcountry freestyle mecca.
“What excites me most about snowboarding is the adventure of finding new terrain,” Pederson says. “When we discovered that jump that’s what it represented.” While Mikey has since moved on from Whistler and settled farther north, working on establishing new shred zones and letting his innovative spirit flourish, the bounties of his creative eye and exploratory ethic remain. The rock jump is still there for those who seek it out, an instant classic turned timeless tabletop.
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