Tahoe-based skier Aaron Scott Fox's Instagram bio reads, "nowhere near talented, just obsessed." That's half true, because he is obsessed. Who else would put out so many crazy lines on such a consistent basis, all while remaining humble throughout sharing them?
But he's also definitely talented. From casually laying out backflips on the steeps of Palisades Tahoe with the likes of Miles Clark and Connery Lundin to recording POVs of himself hitting iconic, high point lines from Dr. Robb Gaffney's Squ*llywood guide, Fox can almost always be found scoring "in spots."
We caught up with him to ask about a particularly popular clip he shared this winter of him hitting "A. Fox jump", coined by none other than legendary ski filmmaker Scott Gaffney.
Watch below (you may need to go to IG, music sometimes has trouble on our site)!
Another angle:
How did you decide on this particular line?
Whenever it's a bluebird powder day (or really any day) this jump is always in the back of my mind.
The snow looks fresh but maybe heavy? What were conditions like?
The snow was definitely fresh in this clip, but it was also late March and east facing so we knew the snow in the landing was starting to get a little bit heavy. The jump usually stays in play until the end of the season, which is one of the things I love most about it.
Back in December 2017, I was with Scott Gaffney and Connery Lundin. We skied a couple Squ*llywood Lines in [Mainline] Pocket and then worked our way down the skier's right ridge and noticed a natural kicker. We were throwing flips and having a grand ol' time with only a few minutes of work.
Ever since then I've been posting backflip shots on social media and it's been becoming more and more popular.
I get a lot of DMs from people asking, "where is that jump?", "Can I hit it with? and, "You think it's in today?" A film crew from Warren Miller even shot it this year.
Mainline is known for its Squ*llywood lines, but this looks different… why is this such a cool spot in your opinion?
I think it's a cool spot for many reasons. One, it's extremely photogenic with the palisades and the Lake in the background.
Two, it's on Mainline Pocket where many ski movie segments have been filmed.
And three, it's becoming a world class jump, where people are actually visiting Palisades specifically to hit this jump. It has a perfect in-run and a long steep landing. It's in play a majority of days and can be accessed through a short hike and even shorter hike if Emigrant is open.
Who built the hit?
I built the hit with Miles Clark this day - the jump took roughly 5 minutes to just step out. The snow was perfect for jump shaping.
Did you hit any other sick lines that day since conditions lined up?
We just hit A-Fox jump once that day and spent the rest of the time all over the resort, including one on Granite Peak. But sometimes I will spend almost all day just lapping the Pocket, getting upwards of 5 hits in.
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