This summer, Dragon Soop partnered with AfterJam on their inaugural annual freestyle camp in Les Deux Alps. Plied with Dragon Soop of all flavours, the team headed out to meet with the senders in camp. It didn’t take long before our intrepid gang of skiers and boarders were in full swing, getting after the best of the conditions in the glacial snowpark!

Les Deux Alps in summer time boasts a huge array of activities and simply provides the best of both worlds. Sunny park laps are on offer all morning with prime time Soop in the sun available in the valley long after the lifts have stopped turning. Many afternoons were spent nursing sore bodies by the skatepark, where some of the more versatile shredders in the group honed their skating skills. AfterJam’s travel package includes a 6-day mountain bike pass as well as the 6-days of skiing with access to the swimming pool, the driving range and a glorious lake spot with phenomenal views. This place really has it all and was the perfect summer retreat for the 35 stunters on camp no matter what they were in the mood for after the few hours of snow fun.

Alongside the members of the group who came to brush up their skills for upcoming trips and competitions, AfterJam brought its stacked team of riders and ambassadors; Jamie Ogilvie (AJ’s first ever team member), Jack Nichols (AJ’s resident snowboarder at the time), and Luca Wasser (the Swiss style God) were on hand to show us all how it’s done, and provide some much-needed pointers. Jenna Brennan (another recent team rider acquisition) was showing off her skills in Les Deux Alps, this trip happened to be in the middle of a mammoth summer skiing road trip and it showed - those days she had spent previously in Zermatt really paid off and she was throwing down all week long! The ambassador crew was firing on all cylinders too with Jack Foreman outdoing himself as a coach and as AJ’s resident butter master, flexing his skis at every opportunity while Joel Davies had the dial set to 11 all week. Joel’s deep bag of tricks and full throttle skiing approach had many awestruck, his efforts culminating in a solid double front flip attempt which we can’t wait to see him stomp this season.

AfterJam’s first team snowboarder, sideways slide coach, and Dragon Soop enthusiast Jack Nichols had this to say about the week;

“There’s nothing like kicking back with a chilled glass of Stingray by the lake after a morning of charging through the slushy park with your pals. The AfterJam trip is the pinnacle of summer sending and has something for everyone – pick your poison: ski board, skate or MTB, and wash it down with a Soop!”

Whilst the AfterJam Freestyle Camp had more activities than many of us knew what to do with, the primary focus was, of course, the skiing. With lifts turning from 8am-1pm and world class coaching there really was no excuse to not be dialling in new tricks all week. Two team riders; Luca Wasser (ski) Jack Nichols (board) and ambassador Jack Foreman (ski) were dropping trick tips all over the place and also held a Freestyle 101 session for those new to the game. Unfortunately, the OG Jamie Ogilvie was nursing a couple of broken wrists so was taking it easy when strapped into his planks.

Whilst the on-hill activities were mainly limited to skiing and boarding the Les Deux Alps Snowpark provides an hill spot where riders congregate to take in the sunshine, rest those bodies before some more laps or simply watch those in full flow taking on the very progressive rail section. Naturally accompanied by a can of Dragon Soop!

Les Deux Alps Snowpark was kept in prime condition all week by the incredible park team. The AfterJam and Jibworx crews teamed up the shapers to get the set-up competition ready, ambassadors, team riders and those on the holiday all put in a big shift to get the set-up up and running perfectly for the final day competition. The vibes were good on hill as snow got shovelled and rails got shifted. This is something the AfterJam crew plan to expand on in future trips due to the reception that the opportunity to learn and build features got at this year’s camp. It’s super satisfying hitting the set up you and your mates grafted to put together on the penultimate evening as the sun went down.

The week culminated in the Jibworx competition, 3,200m above sea level with a field of over 60 riders from 10+ nationalities battled it out for the coveted prizes on the awesome park set up containing; a couple of rail transfers, a double kink and a beautiful jump gave riders all sorts of angles to play with and there was no shortage of awesome tricks going down. Supporters on the side of the slope were all kept going by Dragon Soop and the noise was epic throughout with FourtySept spinning tracks all afternoon turning this competition into its own raging piste party too.

The energy was through the roof all week and many battle scars, hazy tales and top tricks were taken away by all. Some even left with some matching tattoos, we’re still not too sure how sound the translation is either… this week really was one that will be remembered for a long while to come. Or at least until next year’s outdoes it. This week has everything you could want all in one place and the support from Dragon Soop definitely gave the homies the pick me up they needed, whenever they needed it.

AfterJam has no shortage of dope events coming up, with the biggest and best freestyle competition and rowdy slopeside party The AfterJAM going down in February, tickets are already going fast and at time of writing are 80% sold out! Keep up-to-date with what the AJ lads are getting up to by following their Facebook and Instagram and get yourself over to their website where they’ve just released the first few big instalments of their Winter garment drops! Keep your eyes peeled for the next AfterJam freestyle camp, it’s going to be a belter.

Photo credits: AfterJam
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AfterJam X Dragon Soop – Freestyle Camp 2019