It’s very easy to draw parallels between the late, great Mr Craig Kelly and Jake Blauvelt. Both rippers started out on the contest scene but at the height of their competitive careers, packed it in and for their true calling in the deep powder of the backcountry. Jake went from the icy parks of Vermont to the deep powder of Mount Baker and hasn’t looked back since. A key member of the ‘second wave’ of Forum riders, he had a series of awesome video parts in films like That and Forum or Against ’em, before deciding that actually he wanted to go his own way. He sacked his agent and headed off to Costa Rica to surf for a few weeks before retuning and signing to Ride and Oakley. When Adidas were looking to start making snowboard boots, this free-spirited Mount Baker dweller was the man they asked to help them.

If you haven’t seen it yet, their ‘Welcome: Jake Blauvelt’ teaser is a great recap of his career so far, a career that looks set to reach new heights with what looks likely to be one of this season’s biggest releases, Naturally. The two-year project follows Jake around the world and features fellow Top 50-ers Eric Jackson, Kazuhiro Kokubo and Terje Haakonsen. If this doesn’t make the man a superstar, then I’ll eat my beanie.