I have trouble wrapping my head around Christmas in the summer, let alone how someone growing up snowboarding from July to September can make it to the level that Jake Koia has. Born and raised in Queenstown, New Zealand, Jake has beaten the odds criss-crossing hemispheres chasing the snow to become the globally recognized snowboarder that he is today. Now 25-years-old and poised to become one of the elite snowboarders of our time Jake has recently joined the YES snowboard team of movers and shakers and looks forward to the opportunities it will bring. I managed to get Jake on the phone while he was back at home in New Zealand enjoying their winter. The self-proclaimed "really, really hungover" Jake broke down his outlook on snowboarding, backcountry vs. contests, the ups and downs of chasing winter, snow-mobile headaches and living 18 hours in the future.

How does a kid in New Zealand get into snowboarding?
Growing up here around all these mountains I ended up having my first day snowboarding when I was nine years old, so pretty young. There weren't a lot of people snowboarding back then. I was one of the only kids my age snowboarding. Then I just kept at it and started traveling when I was, like, 16-years-old. I got to go to Japan with some sponsors at the time, and a trip to Bear (Mountain), and from then on it's just been back-to-back winters, you know? I'm 25 now, so it's been quite a while.

That's nine years of the eternal winter.
Yeah, that's pretty crazy, eh? (laughing) It's starting to take it's toll for sure. Not so much injuries, it's just living in the cold all the time (laughing). I treat New Zealand as my down time, you know? But this season has been pretty busy so far and lots more to come. To keep my job I have to keep my presence up in New Zealand and Australia, you know?

Speaking of which, I couldn't help but notice that you managed to get two covers in the southern hemisphere this ‘winter'.
Yeah, that was pretty cool, hey? (laughing) Two came out at once and they are the two biggest magazines in the Southern-Hemi, which are Australian - New Zealand Snowboarding and Transfer Magazine. That was pretty awesome for sure (laughing). I didn't see those two coming. Usually you have, like, some warning, you find out before hand, but those two were a surprise. I guess it didn't hurt having the YES boys over as the guest editors for the Australian - New Zealand Snowboarding Magazine (laughing).

BS 720. Barker sequence.

When you first got into professional snowboarding did you have a set plan to chase the contest circuit or focus more on freestyle riding?
Uhhh, I kind of knew straight away that I wanted to make a career out of it, but at the start you really don't know how it works. You don't really know what you need to do to get to that next level. You always have people pulling you in different directions. I had some coaches and they probably told my parents, my mom, what the best thing for me to do was and then she would just tell me to do it (laughing). I was traveling a lot with the junior team and I that was definitely the way I went for a while. I had some pretty cool sponsors at the time, one was just a New Zealand outerwear company, and they were super involved with what I was doing and took me on that trip to Japan where we just shot photos and cruised. I was pretty stoked on that. I'm still doing a few competitions here and there for sure, like slopestyles and big airs but definitely trying to concentrate on freestyle backcountry.

Was it tough to align your sponsors to that direction in your snowboarding?
I don't know. I started riding for Oakley early on; I think I was fifteen when I got my first contract with them, and it was for three years or something (laughing). And I'm still riding for them now. I've been riding for them for so long, and all my sponsors have been really supportive regarding whatever path I wanted to follow. They haven't pressured me to do any competitions at all and I haven't even done well in any for god knows how long. There's definitely no stress there, you know?

It seems that you have spent a lot of the northern hemisphere winters in Canada, what brought that about?
Actually, the first time I went to Canada I was traveling with Anthony Leffelaar - he runs Vivo headwear - my first trip to Canada was with him. We didn't have any major plans. We just wanted to ride Blackcomb and Whistler for a season and it was awesome. Wait, actually, the reason we went over to Canada in the first place was because of Endeavor [Snowboards]. We had both started riding for Endeavor and they are based out of Vancouver. That was the main reason we went the first time and we've just been going back ever since, I don't really know why (laughing). I kind of just base myself there and then move around a bit during the season. This last season in Canada was probably the least amount of traveling I've done in years. I took one trip to the States early on for the start of the Dew Tour and I didn't do well in that so I just started filming and kind of stayed put. Usually I just post up in Whistler or Vancouver and then move around from there, doing a couple contests and shoots and what not.

Do you have a backcountry set up in Whistler? A truck, sled combo?
Yup, I've got a truck and a sled there that I just store it over the summer. I've had four snowmobiles actually. The first one I had I got off Gaetan [Chanut]. That first year I wanted to ride backcountry but didn't really realize that you need to have a truck (laughing), and just all the shit that goes with it. I just bought a sled and then it sat there for a season. I think we were having a really bad snow year that year so I spent most of the winter in Salt Lake City. I rode it once I think (laughing), and it blew up or something. Then I bought some sled neck super-short track with like a 121 or something and stored that at Rattray's (local mechanic shop) for the summer. When I went to pick it up the next winter, it was gone, no real explanation. It kind of sucked; I had just bought it for like $6500 or something. That was the year I was filming a bit with Standard so I had to buy another one straight away. That sucked. I just traded that one in for one of the new E-Tecs, I can't wait to get back and rip that thing.

Seeing as you stuck around Whistler for most of the season last year, who did you end up riding and shooting with?
Mostly it was with Mikey Pederson and Brendan Keenan, and I was filming with the Sandbox guys. The previous year I was supposed to film with them as well but I broke my ankle and it took like six months to heal so I didn't get much done at all. I was pretty stoked to put something out there for people to see, you know? We didn't really get that much snow in Whistler. There were some hard times, for sure, but I'm happy to have a part just for that reason. I find it a bit of a relief to be having some shit coming out so I can show people that I can actually snowboard (laughing).

Where do you see snowboarding going for you? Do you have a little momentum now coming out of last winter?
Right now I'm just trying to get through this winter in New Zealand. We've got quite a bit going on down here. For the northern hemi, basically I finish up down here in September and then I start planning out the coming season up there. So far I definitely want to be involved in the YES movie they've got going. I'm going to film for that and probably still try to film with Sandbox as well. I'd really like to try and make it to Alaska! I'm going to try and keep some budget aside for that and find the right crew to go with. I guess we'll see...

Jake proudly rides for Red Bull, Oakley, YES Snowboards, Flux Bindings, Grenade Gloves, Mons Royale Layering and Snow Park New Zealand.

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Related:
Red Bull Performance Camp Videos
Diaries Down Under Episode 2
Behind The Scenes with Sandbox