DIY | WHISKY JACKS

By Mathew Wanban

Today almost every local mountain boasts a rad park accessed by high-speed chairlifts and  maintained by a full-time park staff. So, why would anyone go out and build a DIY park? Years ago some of the first Bone Zone edits came out and I was hooked on the idea. A place to build what you want and ride how you want, with no patrol, or corporate kooks to tell you otherwise.

Early in the fall, The Buck Hunters crew were out in the woods in an undisclosed location near Kelowna, BC. Armed with chainsaws, nails, hammers, and creativity they went to work. After many long autumn days building rails and features, we were blessed with the final ingredient: snow. Whiskey Jacks instantly became the spot we all dreamt of, an ever-evolving setup where the crew could hang out by the fire, sip beers, and snowboard hard. I caught up with some of Whiskey Jack’s truest OG’s to answer the question: Why DIY?

 “It creates a truly unique community where friends can hang and have a good time without needing a pass. It takes ‘boarders back to the roots of ‘boarding–having fun with friends.” —Jesse Sorenson

 “We can go and recreate any spot I want to hit. Everything you imagine, you can create. Through years of trial and error we’ve created an environment for boarders to do as they please.” —Micheal Rowan

“The features are a mixture of deadfall we lumber jacked and rigged together while the others were made, and donated by T-rex excavating.” —Brooks Coble

The biggest allures to this zone (aside from not having to pay for lift passes) is the freedom. You want to learn a trick on a transfer rail and take it to the streets? Perfect. Let’s set one up and get it down. Have a crazy feature in mind that you’ve been nagging the local park crew to build? Go to the zone and build it yourself. Along with the effort comes the reward of ultimate independence and creativity. Whatever we imagine, we can build, there is nobody around to tell us what we can and cannot do.

Get a group of friends together, be creative, hype each other up, and have fun riding snowboards. That is why we built this, and will continue to do so for years to come.

Photos by Zuzy Rocka