JOSSI WELLS: Catching up with the Kiwi Phenom
Jossi Wells was having the season of his life. At just 17-years-old, the Wanaka, New Zealand native eased into this season earning a silver medal in Slopestyle at the Winter X Games. He then battled out the US Open Big Air title with Colby West scoring another second place. Finally, Jossi landed himself a gold medal in pipe at the 48 Straight in Squaw Valley. The winning momentum continued on to the Nippon Open slopestyle and a solid win at the World Superpipe Championships in Park City.
While Wells sat comfortably at the top of the podium, suddenly, things came to a halt. At the 48 Straight in Sun Valley, Wells made a minor error that caused his winning season to fall short. He clipped the edge of the pipe, tearing his MCL. Fortunately, the knee injury happened near the end of comp season and he will recover in time for winter in New Zealand. Now that life has slowed down a bit, Jossi took some time to tell us what it’s like to have a younger brother on his tail, what he’s “a bit bummed on,” and how he plans to overcome his injury and wind up back on top.
Your most recent victory was at the World Superpipe Championships in Park City. The field was limited to an elite group. What was it like having your younger brother, Byron, a part of that group?
Byron has been killing it this year! He's really been stepping his game up, which gave him a spot in the event. We don't get to compete together much anymore, so it was nice to be there for each other.
Can we expect Bryon to close the gap between the two of you in the next couple years?
Byron is definitely going to progress really quickly in the years to come, I’m hoping he doesn't close the gap too much! Byron wasn't the only family member at the WSC with you. Who in your family travels with you and what does it mean to have them involved with your skiing?
My Dad and other little brother (there’s four of us) Beau were there too. Dad comes over and manages us so we don't get up to too much mischief.
The tables had definitely turned at the WSC compared to your pipe results at WX Games. Has anything changed in your pipe skiing from three months ago to now? I’m a lot more hungry to win now. Last year I was happy if I podiumed, but this year I wasn't. I wanted to win, I didn't train any pipe before (W) X this year and it really showed in my skiing. I didn't like coming in 5th, so I used that as motivation to make sure I was ready for every comp after that.
At the 48 Straight stop in Sun Valley things took quite a turn for you. You've been at the top of your game all winter, and in a second, it came to a halt. What happened and what does this mean for your season?
Yeah…Sun Valley wasn't that sweet for me. Once again I knew what it was going to take to win, so I was training super hard in practice to make sure I had my skiing right where I wanted it. There's only so long you can ski at a level that I was trying to and its really hard to do it perfect every time. I was doing a right 9 and clipped the deck a little when I came back in and it caught my left leg and bent it up to the side. Thus, I tore my MCL (Grade 2). Injuries are a huge factor in our sport and you just have to deal with it sometimes.