Has former moguls skier Jason Starr found a new
frontier for skiing? BY BRYCE HUBNER
SHOOTING STARR
STARR SURF SKIS
In case you missed the Waxroom report earlier this season, on
Jan. 20, freeskier and pro surfer Chuck Patterson skied the most
famous big waves on the planet at Maui’s epic break, Jaws (yes,
skied) — a place where waves can literally surpass the height of a
10-story building. Strapped to Patterson’s feet that day? A pair of
surf skis designed and built by former freestyle skier Jason Starr.
“When Chuck surfed that legendary break,” says Starr from his
home near Burlington, Vt., “it was a huge day for skiing, because
it’s a whole new arena for the sport.”
Starr, a newspaper journalist by day, has spent more than a decade
divining, designing and constructing Starr Surf Skis, and though he
wasn’t alone in wanting to ski waves, it’s his design that’s made it
a reality.
“I have to say that Patterson, along with other people like pro skiers
Mike Douglas and Cody Townsend, also had the idea to ski waves
on their own,” Starr says. “[Over the years], we all came together
through the grapevine, basically, and realized that we were working
on the same thing.”
The idea hit Starr in 1998 during a trip to Santa Cruz, Calif., a
year after he graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder’s
journalism school.
“I had road-tripped from Boulder and it was the first time I ever
SkiRacing.com APRIL 7, 2011 | 63
