A day in the life: Jason ShuttRegular Fall-Line blogger, pow shredder, ski judge, carpenter and all round fearless dude – Jason Shutt – talks us through one of the last 2000+ days he has enjoyed in the Portes du Soleil...
Interview & photography by James Bryant
"On a typical mid-winter day I’ll get up between eight and nine, check the forecasts and the weather and try to head up the hill with an idea of checking out a few spots. I’ve spent 15 or 16 winter seasons in Chatel, in Les Portes du Soleil, but I’ve been living here all year round for eight or nine years. Now, when I go riding, it is very much skiing for myself and enjoying the conditions. I can pretty much do whatever I chose to do.
Judging at the North Face Ski Challenge
I also judge freestyle and freeride, kids from 12 to 18 as part of the North Face Ski Challenge. If I’m judging, it’s an early start, about 7am. We have a lot to get through, from the rider registration to doing the lead-ins to promo films etc.
Last year I followed the whole competition circuit, five international qualifiers across Austria, Norway, Sweden, France, Italy and then the final in Val Thorens, France.
The North Face Ski Challenge competitions run over two days but we arrive in resort two days before to check out the park and make sure it’s up to standard. We also have to allocate a face for the freeride competition. That can be tricky as we’re looking for a challenging freeride face that is suitable for everyone from 12- to 18-year-olds.
This year, during the qualifying stages, we ran a coaching session. I would try and ski with each group and explain what freeride judging is about and how to read a face.
On the freestyle day we will run training in the morning and then they get two or three runs (depending on weather and time) where the best run counts. The judging is very much just based on the tricks. We run slopestyle (rails and jumps). Technicality of tricks, style and clean landings are the name of the game.
The level was really good this year – the freestyle was incredible. Some of them still need to improve their actual skiing technique though. We like to impart the idea to the kids that they should be aiming to be skiing when they’re older (I’m now 38) but in order to do that they need to get good at the technical side of their skiing.
If I could give any advice to any young skiers out there, it would be to ski in all conditions possible – that’s how you get good. Ski a lot, ski all the time, ski in all conditions and spend a lot of time on your skis. You tend to get a lot better if you spend a lot of time on your skis.
Skiing in Les Portes du Soleil
The terrain here in the Portes du Soleil is pretty varied. The actual area is aimed at more of an intermediate level – which is good because it means a lot of the difficult areas don’t get tracked out as quickly.
I’ll normally start the day on the Pierre Longue chair. From there it’s up to the Chaux des Roses – which is one of my favourite areas to ski. Although the runs tend to be short there’s some really accessible off piste and there are lots of different levels; challenging stuff, cliffs and more open stuff. The rotation is very fast so you can get a lot of runs in very quickly. In fresh conditions it is ideal.
As things start to get tracked out then I’ll move further afield to the more secret spots, where less of the holidaymakers tend to go.
The whole Portes du Soleil is really good. You can get down to Morgins from Chatel, and in Les Crosets are some accessible couloirs. Avoriaz, with the extra altitude, can hold the snow a little better – we tend to ski off the back down towards Prodains.
When I’m riding I’m looking for good snow conditions and areas I haven’t been to for a while, or areas that I’ve been waiting to come into condition. It’s a constant process of chasing the conditions, looking at aspects on the hills that might be a signifier of good conditions in other areas.
I look at forecasts and check with piste-patrollers but it is the local knowledge I’ve built up over the years that informs my decisions on where to go and what will be safe.
Time for lunch?
If I’m having lunch on the mountain I’ll tend to stop off at the Plane Dranse area. If the conditions are good I probably won’t stop for lunch.
At the end of the day I’ll grab a few beers at L’Escalier in Chatel. A friend of mine runs it so I’ll stop by to catch up with a few people and chew the fat. Otherwise I might be running off to do boot fitting in a local shop.
I’ve been here so long, I know almost everybody around the place. It gives me plenty of opportunity to bump into people and ski with them.
There’s a really strong freestyle and moguls ski club based in Chatel-Evian. I ski with some of those guys. They’re a little more freestyle orientated but I’m always seeing them out and about on the hill.
Weekends tend to be when I don’t ski, as it is normally busier.
Funding the dream
There were a lot of people based in Morzine last year that I knew from Sheffield Ski Village, which was where I first got really into skiing.
I had first skied when I was eight or nine; the headmaster of my junior school was Swiss and he used to take a small group of kids to Switzerland each year to go walking and stuff. The year I went we were offered to go skiing one morning and I just took to it straight away. I knew it was something I wanted to do.
The next opportunity I had was when I was 13 and then, when I was 16, Sheffield Ski Village opened up. I was one of the first volunteers that went to help build the place, lay matting and stuff, in exchange for free skiing. After college I went off to do a ski season and that was that – I’ve never looked back.
Chatel was the first place I got to, purely by chance, someone gave me a recommendation for a job here as a ski guide. I did the first year as a ski guide and after that I decided to do a season ski bumming, finding work wherever. Off I went, odd-jobbing and skiing everyday.
I work as a carpenter during the summer. In 2002 I got a double fracture of the pelvis while I was filming in Verbier with Warren Smith. It meant was that I wasn’t mobile for three months.
I thought I’d give it a go staying in France for the summer. I approached a friend who ran a business, explained I wanted to learn a trade and he took me on. We work very closely with a lot of Chatel tradesman; we’re the only English tradesmen on the site. It can be quite full-pressure over the summer. The first couple of years while I was still training I would ride in the summer, coaching on the British Ski Camps in Saas Fee with Warren Smith and Pat Sharples. As I got busier it meant I didn’t have time for the skiing but it actually wasn’t too much of an issue as summer skiing is so freestyle orientated, and that was a part of skiing I’d made a conscious decision to do less of.
After heading home I tend to get my gear off and flop down in front of the TV or check emails. Laura, my wife, tends to do most of the cooking although I can hold my own in the kitchen.
I tend to be a night owl, I find sleeping necessary rather than pleasurable so I like to get out a bit and I have a weekly DJ slot at the Escalier. Normally you will find me in bed between midnight and two am depending on the day.
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Posted by Online Editor - Mon, 13/12/2010 - 4:50pm
Regular Fall-Line blogger, pow shredder, ski judge, carpenter and all round fearless dude – Jason Shutt – talks us through one of the last 2000+ days he has enjoyed in the Portes du Soleil...
Interview & photography by James Bryant
"On a typical mid-winter day I’ll get up between eight and nine, check the forecasts and the weather and try to head up the hill with an idea of checking out a few spots. I’ve spent 15 or 16 winter seasons in Chatel, in Les Portes du Soleil, but I’ve been living here all year round for eight or nine years. Now, when I go riding, it is very much skiing for myself and enjoying the conditions. I can pretty much do whatever I chose to do.
Judging at the North Face Ski Challenge
I also judge freestyle and freeride, kids from 12 to 18 as part of the North Face Ski Challenge. If I’m judging, it’s an early start, about 7am. We have a lot to get through, from the rider registration to doing the lead-ins to promo films etc.
Last year I followed the whole competition circuit, five international qualifiers across Austria, Norway, Sweden, France, Italy and then the final in Val Thorens, France.
The North Face Ski Challenge competitions run over two days but we arrive in resort two days before to check out the park and make sure it’s up to standard. We also have to allocate a face for the freeride competition. That can be tricky as we’re looking for a challenging freeride face that is suitable for everyone from 12- to 18-year-olds.
This year, during the qualifying stages, we ran a coaching session. I would try and ski with each group and explain what freeride judging is about and how to read a face.
On the freestyle day we will run training in the morning and then they get two or three runs (depending on weather and time) where the best run counts. The judging is very much just based on the tricks. We run slopestyle (rails and jumps). Technicality of tricks, style and clean landings are the name of the game.
The level was really good this year – the freestyle was incredible. Some of them still need to improve their actual skiing technique though. We like to impart the idea to the kids that they should be aiming to be skiing when they’re older (I’m now 38) but in order to do that they need to get good at the technical side of their skiing.
If I could give any advice to any young skiers out there, it would be to ski in all conditions possible – that’s how you get good. Ski a lot, ski all the time, ski in all conditions and spend a lot of time on your skis. You tend to get a lot better if you spend a lot of time on your skis.
Skiing in Les Portes du Soleil
The terrain here in the Portes du Soleil is pretty varied. The actual area is aimed at more of an intermediate level – which is good because it means a lot of the difficult areas don’t get tracked out as quickly.
I’ll normally start the day on the Pierre Longue chair. From there it’s up to the Chaux des Roses – which is one of my favourite areas to ski. Although the runs tend to be short there’s some really accessible off piste and there are lots of different levels; challenging stuff, cliffs and more open stuff. The rotation is very fast so you can get a lot of runs in very quickly. In fresh conditions it is ideal.
As things start to get tracked out then I’ll move further afield to the more secret spots, where less of the holidaymakers tend to go.
The whole Portes du Soleil is really good. You can get down to Morgins from Chatel, and in Les Crosets are some accessible couloirs. Avoriaz, with the extra altitude, can hold the snow a little better – we tend to ski off the back down towards Prodains.
When I’m riding I’m looking for good snow conditions and areas I haven’t been to for a while, or areas that I’ve been waiting to come into condition. It’s a constant process of chasing the conditions, looking at aspects on the hills that might be a signifier of good conditions in other areas.
I look at forecasts and check with piste-patrollers but it is the local knowledge I’ve built up over the years that informs my decisions on where to go and what will be safe.
Time for lunch?
If I’m having lunch on the mountain I’ll tend to stop off at the Plane Dranse area. If the conditions are good I probably won’t stop for lunch.
At the end of the day I’ll grab a few beers at L’Escalier in Chatel. A friend of mine runs it so I’ll stop by to catch up with a few people and chew the fat. Otherwise I might be running off to do boot fitting in a local shop.
I’ve been here so long, I know almost everybody around the place. It gives me plenty of opportunity to bump into people and ski with them.
There’s a really strong freestyle and moguls ski club based in Chatel-Evian. I ski with some of those guys. They’re a little more freestyle orientated but I’m always seeing them out and about on the hill.
Weekends tend to be when I don’t ski, as it is normally busier.
Funding the dream
There were a lot of people based in Morzine last year that I knew from Sheffield Ski Village, which was where I first got really into skiing.
I had first skied when I was eight or nine; the headmaster of my junior school was Swiss and he used to take a small group of kids to Switzerland each year to go walking and stuff. The year I went we were offered to go skiing one morning and I just took to it straight away. I knew it was something I wanted to do.
The next opportunity I had was when I was 13 and then, when I was 16, Sheffield Ski Village opened up. I was one of the first volunteers that went to help build the place, lay matting and stuff, in exchange for free skiing. After college I went off to do a ski season and that was that – I’ve never looked back.
Chatel was the first place I got to, purely by chance, someone gave me a recommendation for a job here as a ski guide. I did the first year as a ski guide and after that I decided to do a season ski bumming, finding work wherever. Off I went, odd-jobbing and skiing everyday.
I work as a carpenter during the summer. In 2002 I got a double fracture of the pelvis while I was filming in Verbier with Warren Smith. It meant was that I wasn’t mobile for three months.
I thought I’d give it a go staying in France for the summer. I approached a friend who ran a business, explained I wanted to learn a trade and he took me on. We work very closely with a lot of Chatel tradesman; we’re the only English tradesmen on the site. It can be quite full-pressure over the summer. The first couple of years while I was still training I would ride in the summer, coaching on the British Ski Camps in Saas Fee with Warren Smith and Pat Sharples. As I got busier it meant I didn’t have time for the skiing but it actually wasn’t too much of an issue as summer skiing is so freestyle orientated, and that was a part of skiing I’d made a conscious decision to do less of.
After heading home I tend to get my gear off and flop down in front of the TV or check emails. Laura, my wife, tends to do most of the cooking although I can hold my own in the kitchen.
I tend to be a night owl, I find sleeping necessary rather than pleasurable so I like to get out a bit and I have a weekly DJ slot at the Escalier. Normally you will find me in bed between midnight and two am depending on the day.