RIPPING | JACK MACDOUGALL

Jack is a big fan of snowboarding, everything about it, from the culture to ripping laps with the boys. He has just put in his first season snowmobiling in the Whistler backcountry. And that first season was spent going up with guys like Kale Stephens, so you know he ended up learning a lot. You can't say enough good things about Jack. He's mellow, talented, and super humble—just a good kid from Grande Prairie, Alberta. The sky's the limit for Jack, and we're hyped to see what he'll do in the years to come. Attaboy, Jack! - by Rob Lemay

JACK MACDOUGALL

Age: 21

Sponsors: Dope, DC, Salmon Arms, The Source, Union, Nixon, Coal, Airhole. 

Place: Whistler, BC.

Do you still ride with any friends that you grew up riding with?

Yeah, I’m lucky enough to live with Gav [Gavin Sorg]. We’re pretty much from the same place. He moved to GP [Grande Prairie] when we were in high school. He’s originally from Dawson Creek, which is an hour away. I grew up riding with him and Lucas [Trace], too. He’s also out here in Whistler getting it. We get to see each other on the hill which is pretty sick. Getting laps in with the boys.

I asked around and everyone kept bringing up the story of how you beat Mark McMorris in a Big Air and won some decent biscuits. Can you fill us in?

I don’t even know. I feel like it was the jump. Everyone was struggling cause it was stupid slushy. The jump was more like water. It was more wakeboarding than snowboarding. I thought if I could take off decently, I could land.

You did a couple of triples, right?

Yeah, Back Triple and Cab Triple. Only the 12s though, kind of lame. I tried a Front 3 and fell, but because the takeoff was so soft people were struggling. I got lucky ‘cause it was so slushy. Lucky day I guess.

What was the payoff?

$20,000

$20K!

Yup. Now, it’s crazy to think of because I work a whole summer to make that. It was sick. But I definitely spent it way too fast.

You stepped away from competing after that.

Yeah, straight up, as soon as it happened, I thought, that’s kind of it. I don’t think I could do it again. It’s so expensive to travel and compete with the little money I have. And how much I work in the summer to make it happen. I might as well reinvest into trips where I can film and do more of what I want than doing the same run at contests. Now I’m trying to get clips and hopefully film a good video part.

How does winning a big air like that compare to winning the ECS quarterpipe invitational?

Well, the big air was pretty sick because I got paid. But the ECS is dope because it’s all the snowboarders that I look up to. And if you make it through to the Super Finals it’s because they want to see you board.

You won it two years ago, right?

Yeah, and Jadyn [Chomlack] won it this year, and I got to judge, which was sick.

You seem to kill it riding everything. Do you have any tricks that are harder for you?

I try to maintain some versatility and ride everything, but not doing contests makes it hard to keep my jump game up. Not a lot of my friends want to hit the jumps. It’s not that I don’t like rails, but I definitely like jumping a lot more.

You spent last year sledding with Kale Stephens. How did you guys link up?

They saw clips of Jadyn [Chomlack] and me and they were down. They just came over one night. It was Kale, Browner [Chris Brown], Max Jenke, and Brockle [David Brocklebank]. They asked us to be on Airhole and hooked up two old sleds for the season.

Tell me about the time you went sledding with Brin Alexander.

Oh yeah, up Zipper-Mouth Creek. It was with Kale and homies like Shin Campos. There were at least 10 of us. I went to pick up Brin and we trailered up with his sled. I was so excited and didn’t check anything and he was so excited, too. We drove for almost two hours on the highway and when we finally got to the spot, the corner right before the parking lot had a log across the road that we had to drive over. I look in my rearview and the sled is flying off the trailer into the trees. We looked a little closer and realized there weren't any straps tying down the sleds. It could have been a lot worse than that. It was gnarly. Check your straps!

Lesson learned. What does this next winter have in store for you?

There’s one contest I’d like to try and get into. They’re doing a big air in Edmonton and that would be cool to sneak into and see if I can do some tricks. But other than that, I want to film and learn more. I do want to get street clips, but mainly I want to focus on backcountry and finding new jumps and going big. Going upside down twice would be dope.

Nice man. Is there anyone you want to thank?

My Mom. For sure. Big ups because she’s the sickest. The Source, Dave, Mark, and Brett. Without them, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do a lot of the stuff I’ve done. Kale, Max, Browner and Brockle. We would not be in the backcountry without them.

How are those Dope boards treating ya? Which one’s your favourite?

They’re so sick. The Stathis is the best. The green one that came out last year. That thing goes. 

Watch Jack's Part in Donkey Piss this year.