BOUNDARY RANCH

Jonas Guinn is gnarly. On a cold morning at his family’s Boundary Ranch in Kananaskis, Alberta, CA, Jonas is already dusty and dirty. He swaggers over to greet me like a weathered ranch hand, with calloused and cut hands, beat up cowboy boots, hat, and black pants. But like a sore thumb his Grenade sweatshirt sticks out as the only evidence of his connection to the shredding community. And although I had heard that you should never trust a man with a mustache, this morning Jonas is clean-shaven and greets me with a hearty Canadian grin.

I am at the Guinn ranch on one of the strangest SNOWBOARDER errands yet, sent on a special mission from the highest authority to bring back deer skulls and antler racks for a jib at Superpark. And for such an errand there would be no better place to go than Jonas’ as he uncovered a pile of skulls drying under a tarp. Deer or moose? Eyes in or out? Skin on or off? Jonas and I laugh as we pick out the best skulls for Bridges when something odd hit me. “Who is speaking Spanish?” As it turns out, the Boundary Ranch, where Jonas is working this summer, hosts tours of internationals looking for a real taste of the cowboy past that lingers in the mountains surrounding this remote region of Alberta.

Jonas leads me over to the rodeo that they are hosting for a bit of buckin’ broncos and carnage. The visitors are enthralled, decked out in cowboy hats and cheering as riders fight for their 8 seconds of fame.

Spending time with Jonas is refreshing, as he is such a unique personality in the professional snowboarding world. To see him ditch the fashion, the trends and simply be himself shows the nature of the Canadian culture. Most people probably couldn’t pick out Jonas in a crowd of cowboys. I take it that’s just the way he wants it. With that, I take my decaying deer heads and head back to the hill.