Athlete to Athlete Interview

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Greg Child with Jeremy Nobis

April 2000

The North Face athlete Greg Child uses his unique perspective to get to know the rest of our athlete team - who they are, what inspires them, and what lies ahead.

My first glimpse of Jeremy Nobis came one day at The North Face when skier Rick Armstrong plugged in a video of extreme skiing in Alaska. In one blindingly fast set of turns a small dot sped down a huge powder-strewn mountain wall. Everyone watching the video gaped in astonishment that such a steep monster of a mountain face could be skied so fast and so in-control. "Who was that madman?" I asked Rick. "That was Jeremy. He's goin' for it." I caught up with Jeremy at his home in Park City in mid-April. He'd just returned from an exhilarating spell of wild skiing in Alaska.

Greg:

Sounds like your AK trip had some great skiing…

Jeremy:

We had some unheard of weather up there-an 8 day clearing, which never happens in AK. We were killing it. It was really good.

Greg:

Where were you skiing?

Jeremy:

We were in Haines. Southeast Alaska, near Juneau. It's a small town and we were heli skiing north of there, close to the Canada border. We poached a little snow in Canada too.

Greg:

OK. So let's start this by defining the term "free skiing." What does it mean?

Jeremy:

We started using the term free skiing because we were so burned out on the word Extreme. But what we do is for sure extreme. So you can call it whatever you want. But it's about off piste, backcountry, big air, big mountain, steep, deep powder…

Greg:

Well, that sounds extreme.

Jeremy:

Yeah, it fits, doesn't it. SO it's extreme skiing (laughs). If you can think of another word for what we do, let me know.

Greg:

When I'm looking at the films of what you and your friends ski I want to call it Big Mountain Skiing.

Jeremy:

Yep. It's about big mountains, for sure. We try to ski big faces in one shot, and we also try to film it when we can. We're forced to call it Extreme because these runs are "no fall situations," because falling is out of the question. But I just had my first fall in years, last week. I took a thousand foot ride. At first everything seemed mellow, when I started sliding, but soon it became clear that I could not stop. If there had of been any exposure-cliffs, for example-I would be dead.

Greg:

So how did you manage to walk away from that?

Jeremy:

I'm a little bit sore, but that's about it. I was skiing powder and hit some bullet-proof hard pack, I hooked an edge, I started to recover and thought I'd be fine, then I did a back somersault in some slough and suddenly found I was fighting for my life, trying to stop. I had to give up and just ride the fall out over the bergschrund ( a crevasse at the bottom of the mountain).

Greg:

So give me the technical details of this crash landing.

Jeremy:

OK, I was skiing a spine of snow, went to a position where the snow changed in a runnel and then my tails hooked. I did a somersault, then I went to try to stop myself but couldn't. I lost my skis, tried everything-digging my heels in, everything. I could see the bergscrund coming up, I was worried that I might not have enough speed to clear the hole, so I had to give up and slide over it. I made it over, though and came to a stop.

Greg:

Sounds risky!

Jeremy:

Yeah. I left both skis stuck in the face. It was late in the day and there was no time to go up and get them. It was a pretty serious bit of mountain.

Greg:

What was it called, that peak?

Jeremy:

It doesn't have a name. There's lots of unnamed peaks up there in the Haines area, and this was a big fat one.

Greg:

Was that the first tumble you've had in a while?

Jeremy:

Oh yeah, I haven't fallen that bad in my life. I've flipped and somersaulted in powder and recovered but that was nothing.

Greg:

What was going through your head when you were falling?

Jeremy:

At first I was focused on trying to stop, but then kind of laughing I said to myself "Oh boy, the heli guide isn't going to like this one." But all in all it was pretty calm. I started thinking survival thoughts. I was never scared, just thinking all the time of what was coming up.

Greg:

How steep was the face?

Jeremy:

It was about 45 to 55 degrees. I had always thought it would be impossible to stop on terrain that steep but now I truly believe it. After the first ten feet if you can't stop you'll never stop.

Greg:

On some of the mountains I've seen film of you skiing, I've been staggered by the speed at which you get from summit to base. Have you ever timed these descents and measured them vertical?

Jeremy:

We do a little bit of that measuring. It's not a race, but we make some rough measurements. People are paying more attention to that aspect of it, on the big faces. And sometimes we have to ski them fast and in one shot because when we are filming in real film, it is expensive and the camera man might have only a minute of film left in the camera. So we have to do it fast before he runs out of film. But if you want a number I'd say the runs up in AK are 2700 feet and they were going down in 30 seconds.

Greg:

That's amazing.

Jeremy:

It's pretty quick. I was pretty much straightlining it. That was in a region around Val Dez called the Cauliflower Region.

Greg:

Val Dez is famous for its ice climbing too.

Jeremy:

Yeah, it is. It's a great winter playground, but Haines is almost more incredible. Its on the border of Glacier Bay and Mount St. Elias. It's bigger vertical than Val Dez. St. Elias is Himalayan in size, and there is also Mount Fairweather nearby.

Greg:

Was this past AK season a good one for skiers?

Jeremy:

It was warmer up high with good snow, but with high avalanche danger, especially around Val Dez. We stayed away from there for the most part as people were getting avalanched and taking rides. In Haines the snow pack was better.

Greg:

Lets talk about your trip to India in the Himalaya. What did you think of your first visit to the third world?

Jeremy:

It was quite interesting to see how people interact and live in India, especially the reactions to us. I had always dreamed of going to the Himalayas. It made me realize that this was only the start of my visits to the Himalaya. There is so much I want to do there.

Greg:

What was the peak you went to climb and ski?

Jeremy:

Deo Tibba. In the Manali Region. It's a 6000 meter peak.

Greg:

What did the local villagers think of you guys skiing their peaks?

Jeremy:

Some of the local guys were mountaineers, and another Indian guy was a former ski racer for India. They were great guys, they helped us out a lot in getting there and finding our way around.

Greg:

Are there ski areas in India?

Jeremy:

Yes, there is an area in Manali, with lifts, but it was all dirt when I was there. No snow at all. It has been a bad year for skiing there. Maybe global warming…

Greg:

Yeah, I've noticed everywhere in the Himalaya that glaciers are receding over the years. Did you use helicopters over there in India?

Jeremy:

Yes, and we also hiked to the tops of quite a few peaks. But for the big peaks we used helicopters. We used the services of Roddie Mackenzies Indian Heli ski operation.

Greg:

I know Roddy from years ago, back in Australia. He was one of the crowd in the rock and mountain climbing scene back there.

Jeremy:

He's a funny fellow, a great guy. He was up there in the helicopters trying to make "ice bombs" to drop on the avalanche slopes. These were non-explosive bombs, if you can call them that. They were big blobs of frozen stuff and pipe that would be dropped from choppers. But he never got them to freeze because It was too warm.

Greg:

Very creative. Do you ever use explosives to control a slope?

Jeremy:

No, I never have. Not in the backcountry. Some heli operations use explosives, but there are lots of dangers, using explosives, and probably lots of legal implications. So we dig pits and test the snow.

Greg:

Give me a run down of what you do to police the avalanche risk when you ski backcountry.

Jeremy:

We start by digging a 2 meter pit and check the snow layers in that. Then we spend the whole day checking different faces in the zone you are skiing. We'll dig more pits in different places and make some ski cuts to check the layers a bit more thoroughly. We'll watch the conditions at different times of day. But there is always risk. It can vary. There are pockets from place to place that present different conditions at any time.

Greg:

On a big-mountain ski day, what do you carry?

Jeremy:

We have packs of 20-30 pounds containing Ice axe, shovel, screws, we wear harnesses in case of crevasse falls, we carry ropes, extra clothing like a down jacket, food, water.

Greg:

Does that add a lot to the difficulty factor, to carry so much gear.

Jeremy:

It definitely changes things, and can make it a little harder to ski. But we need all the gear. Even on the runs where we do 2700 feet in 30 seconds. On every run we need that gear. We try to go light as possible. But you're out on a limb on those faces. You need the gear.

Greg:

And you carry avalanche beacons, of course, right?

Jeremy:

Oh yeah. Currently I use a Tracker made by Backcountry Access. It responds to several signals. I've used Pieps for years too.

Greg:

Have you had to dig many folks out of avalanches?

Jeremy:

I had to dig a camera man and a guide out recently. The cameraman was buried neck deep, the guide was deep. That was in Val Dez. It was a three foot fracture. I've seen a couple guys take big rides.

Greg:

Tell me how you started skiing?

Jeremy:

I started at age 7, I raced from 8 till 25. Then I started getting into the bigger mountains from about age 25. Dynastar skis asked me if I wanted to be one of their Extreme skiers around then and I decided to go professional. I was quite seriously into mountain bike racing then too, but skiing took over. I entered some extreme ski competitions and began working with ski film projects like Teton Gravity Research. But I feel it all came together for me as a professional free skier on one run.

Greg:

How did you do in the extreme ski comps?

Jeremy:

I've done 3 comps. Its always a process of trying to figure them out. On my first run I'd have a solid run and place third. On my second I'd always have a fall. On my third I'd always win it. But that would place me fifth overall because of the fall, which means you're kind of out. I got a second place in one comp which was a "Chinese Downhill," where you had to do a lot of tricks.

Greg:

Recently you were judging a comp?

Jeremy:

I was in Girdwood judging the Red Bull comp. It was cool to be in the judge's side. I don't have a great urge to compete right now. I was happy to be part of the process of keeping the sport healthy and alive. Some of the young guys skiing now are great to watch.

Greg:

Are the standards on the rise?

Jeremy:

Levels are getting better. Cool stuff continues to happen. Lots of new expression is coming in to the sport. And on these big peak extreme comps you cannot check out the runs. You only get to scope them with binoculars. It is purely on sight.

Greg:

But aren't the last competitors skiing over other people's tracks?

Jeremy:

That's just the nature of the comp.

Greg:

Who are the hot new skiers you've seen?

Jeremy:

Some young guys are kicking butt. Hugo Harrison, a Canadian is doing really well, I saw him in this last comp and was impressed. The young skiers are late teens to early 20s.

Greg:

That's the age for having maximum go for it.

Jeremy:

But not necessarily on the big mountains. There are so many variables that only experience can cover.

Greg:

What do you think of skiing 8000 meter peaks. Like Hans Kammerlander on the north ridge of Everest?

Jeremy:

I'd love to be doing that sort of stuff but its going to be another 5 years or so before I do that sort of thing. Admittedly I don't have the skills for climbing Everest. But I'm into climbing big peaks with good lines. I know, though, that after one or two big mountains it is addictive, and I feel that there is no limit to my skiing.

Greg:

Without giving away any of your secrets, what is the next big expedition you want to do.

Jeremy:

Oh, there are so many things. Yeah, I dream of Everest from top to bottom on skis. And McKinley. By new ways if possible. But as you know, it'll never be full pow all the way down. Conditions are very variable and it is serious mountaineering up there.

Greg:

Do you experiment with new shapes of skis?

Jeremy:

We re always trying new things. Skis are getting fatter and fatter for powder, and we've also been playing with twin tips.

Greg:

What are they?

Jeremy:

Tips at either end for maneuverability. If I had such a ski on that fall I described my tails wouldn't have dug in. It's a new thing. Its like snowboards, eh? I've tried a few pair, the idea is not nailed down yet but I feel they will ski better. They are "boaty." Good for powder. Very acrobatic.

Greg:

What kind of length do you ski?

Jeremy:

192 cm to 194. Some of us use 198. I like longer skis. As far was width, I use 95-100 mm in the foot. Tips up to 120 or 125 mm. Typical world cup race ski is 63 under the foot. That is 3 cm narrower than the skis we use on the big mountains. For that reason big mountain is are shorter too. We also are making lighter skis now, although we put more metal in the edges for our type of skiing. And then we play with stiffness, damping …these kind of skis can't be bought in the stores…

Greg:

What do you think of the pure speed ski descents? Like the late Steve McKinney's world of racing?

Jeremy:

That is pure speed, where the run is packed out and is often very icy, just for speed. It is done in France, for example, in Les Arc. The perfect terrain is hard to find. They move at 155 mph. You don't even free fall out of a plane that fast. You can't do that in the backcountry. I might hit 80 or 90 mph but no more.

Greg:

So what is your favorite place to ski?

Jeremy:

I love AK for the height and the big peaks. I'm going to Greenland soon. We'll approach the peaks by sea kayak. I'd tell you the name of the peak we want to ski but I cannot pronounce it.

Greg:

How do you get there?

Jeremy:

Fly to Baffin Island, then take a heli from a US base to Greenland, to Manistioq. That's near the Arctic Circle. Then we'll boat in to a hut where we'll camp. There are graves around there of ancient Inuit people, where the skeletons poke through the tundra. There are caribou, seals, birds; you can dig clams out of the tide zone.

Greg:

Any Polar bears?

Jeremy:

Don't think so. Anyway we'll be in the mountains most of the time. There shouldn't be polar bears up there. There isn't anything for them to eat.

Greg:

Except skiers.

Jeremy:

Right. Ha ha.

Greg:

Good luck on the expedition. See you at the next trade show.