The 8-times X-games medal winner and perpetual mind-blowing freeskier Jon Olsson has decided to push the limits with his newest of ventures… sideline reporting for the Jon-Olsson video blog.

Jon fans need not worry, this short career detour is only a temporary result of his recent surgery on his right knee. The surgery to repair his meniscus was a minor one and everything has gone as planned. Jon is eagerly targeting a mid-October return, hoping to take part at the Icer Air in San Francisco. “I have been a bit worried since I haven’t felt that the knee has worked 100% during my training in New Zealand. The decision was in my hands so I thought it is better to do the correction now and don’t risk anything in the future. It was just a small operation so I should be back on skis in a month. I’m really positive about it, this is my first injury in my career, so it was about time and luckily it’s just a minor thing,”

As for Olsson’s venture into the world of sideline reporting… Jon didn’t do too bad. His work at the recent Freestyle.ch games in Zurich produced a couple of cool vids. to check-out. Needless to say, Jon’s ready to give this new gig up and head back onto the mountain and into the air, which is right where he belongs.

Clips from the Freestyle.ch 2008…

The fun continues in Sweden at the JOSS. Each day Jon has unveiled a new jump with great results. The step up hip, the old school aerial jump, the JOI gap, and the rhythm section so far. Each day the level of riding is pushed also. Today was no exception to that with all sorts of doubles being thrown, including the double cork 1260 by both Jacob Wester and Jon himself. A lot of the competitors followed the double trend throwing Kangaroo flips, double fronts, and other variations throughout the day. Competitors also threw down huge spins and small floaty spins. Grabs were tweaked out to the max with the massive amount of air time and float off the jump. Look forward to remaining features to be hit through the rest of the week. Click here for video coverage.

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Today marked both the final of the Swedish Open and the continuation of the Jon Olsson Super Sessions. The day began with the Swedish Open showcasing the local talent and there was plenty of it. The open brought out a lot of young kids that threw down in hopes of winning the grand prize, an invitation to the next Jon Olsson event.

Oscar Sherlin and Kim Boberg battled the day out but in the end it was Kim that was victorious. The Jon Olsson competition format was a jam session with Jon and Phillou Poirier judging the field. Competitors threw everything from switch 5’s to 10’s to switch 10’s. After the day’s events ended, the Super Sessions continued with a night session on the rhythm section.

The rhythm section is a bmx style section with 3 jumps back to back. Once again, it took a while for the athletes to adjust to the unique jumps, but in the end the riders threw down as usual. Simon Dumont rode a sick line consisting of a massive lawn dart to a double frontflip. Colby West zero spinned all three jumps. Jacob Wester and Sammy Carlson were also going huge right of the bat and laying down super stylie, smooth tricks. The session was under the lights allowing riders to go well into the night. It seems Jon has done it again with every feature he builds bringing out progressive tricks, huge air and style in spades. For video click here.

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Jon Olsson Super Sessions day 2 has come to an end. The day started with riders hitting the step up hip feature. It took a moment for the athletes to adjust to the jump but soon after the practice session things got going full bore and style was the name of the day. Andreas Hatveit, Sammy Carlson, Jon and Oscar were all killing it.

Andreas was throwing down his signature rodeo and cork 7’s, such money tricks. Sammy threw down his ultra smooth flat spin 3’s and 5’s all afternoon. Oscar spent the day styling out 360’s boosting huge off the hip. Not all the riders were all that into the hip style step up (why? I’m not sure) and the day ended with Jon changing the jump for future sessions in the week to come. Look for updates coming soon. For video click here.

Day 1 Recap.

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Today was the first day of jumping and filming at the Jon Olsson Super Sessions and it was amazing. The jumps are huge which is giving riders maximum air time to bust out their stylish tricks. I would say riders are going close to the 120ft range off the jump which is insane for a comp jump. All invited riders that were able to ski today threw down in a big way, which is what you’d expect when you get all these guys together and give them a 120ft jump to session on. All types of spins and rotations were laid down through out the entire day. Jon sure knows how to put on an event! Check out the video here.

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In the past, Jon Olsson has held his signature invitational, JOI, upon feeling he had completed the task of reinventing big air comps he decided to step it up and create the Jon Olsson Super Sessions, or JOSS.

The idea is similar to the JOI, but differs in the fact that the event is held over a longer period of time and there are five different features instead of just one big-air kicker. There are 8 of the world’s best skiers, filmers, and photographers invited and 2 more spots in each of these categories is being chosen by Jon via submissions. In the end 10 of the best skiers, filmers and photographers will compete in an 11 day session for $20,000 in cash and prizes. The winner will be determined by professionals in each of the 3 fields and awarded the $20,000. Here is a list of invited riders and their filmers and photographers.

Rider Filmer Photographer

1. Colby West Christian Begin Damian Cromwell
2. Simon Dumont Riley Poor Blake Jorgenson
3. Sammy Carlson Dom Janiszewsi Nate Abbot
4. Jon Olsson Johnny DeCesare Mattias Fredriksson
5. Jossi Wells(is injured) Steven Rozendaam Erik Seo
6. PK Hunder Filip Kristianssen Alex O’Brien
7. Andreas Håtveit Jon Håtveit Vegard Breie
8. Charles Gagnier Erik Simard Charles Spina
9. Jacob Wester Andreas Olofsson Ben Zucker
10. Mike Clarke Drew Lederer Annaleah De Masi

Each skier will have a three minute video segment and a 2 minute slide show displaying their skiing on the five features. Once all videos and slide shows are judged there will be a 2 part video open to the public. Part one; a behind the scenes look at the competition and a compilation of the 10 rider segments and slide shows. During the competition there will be daily updates available at josupersessions.com and other news pertaining to the contest. This is a new type of contest that will display talent and progression within the sport.

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Designed by both the best park skier (Jon Olsson) and pipe master (Simon Dumont) in the sport, the North American Open sets out to set the standard for open competition format. Instead of the typical two run format, all competitors will have the privilege of a full day jam on a course hand built by Jon Olsson himself. Jon has assured that all the jumps will be big enough to throw any trick but at the same time be as safe as possible for the riders. Not only will this be a chance to ski a great course but also a chance to meet and ski with various pros. As an added privilege, all competitors are free to ask any of the pros questions or advice throughout the jam.

Competitors will be hand picked from the jam by either Jon, Simon or TJ Schiller. Once qualified, judges from both the X Games and the Jon Olsson Invitational will select a winner from the finals. The focus for this new competition format is more on having fun than it is competing. Hopefully all who compete will have a good time and want to come back and ski in the comp next year. If nothing else they should be excited to ride the one of the best courses ever built for a slopestyle. For more information and video check out the Open Freeski Website.

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