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Checking in With JJ Thomas

By Niki | October 6, 2009

We just got an e-mail from Tactics One Percent For The Planet team rider JJ Thomas, who has spent the last few months in New Zealand shredding. Read his story and check out the pics he sent us of his travels.

I just got home from a two month trip at the prettiest place on earth — New Zealand. I was on the South Island staying around the town of Wanaka. The first month I was in town, I stayed at the Alpine Motel with my teammates from ISTC (International Snowboard Training Center). We did a comp, rode powder and managed to party a little too (as seen in A Day in the Life of Josh Sherman, Episode 6).

After the comp, everyone went home but a fellow shred, Grant Heileman, and I decided to stay another month. We got hooked up with a family whose son shreds with ISTC too. Benji Sutherland and his family took us in as their own. We stayed on their farm outside of town where they grow their own food and run a catering service for whoever needs a good authentic New Zealand meal (usually movie sets). In a nutshell, it was paradise — snowboarding every day possible with home cooked food (that tasted better than the best restaurants in the States) followed by fishing trips to the coast on our days off!!

I’m happy to be back in the States, but I now have a favorite country to visit… New Zealand! If you haven’t been there — go. It’s paradise on earth. Good food, friendly people and tons of sheep.

Happy fall. I’ll be here with more updates as the winter unfolds!

JJ Thomas

JJ Thomas and Andy Finch