Three winters ago, the original session at the Jib Farm went down. With Bjorn and Erik Leines leading the charge joined by Max Legend, Zac Marben and Matt Seifert the session proved what you can do with some imagination, farm land, heavy machinery and a good crew of riders. Since that winter the Jib Farm has been on a hiatus of sorts, but this Fall Bjorn got back in the saddle (of the backhoe), and started with the re-design and improvements project for the upcoming season. We caught up with him for a re-cap of the changes and a taste of what you will get to see coming from it this winter.

When did the original Jib Farm idea come up?

The Jib Farm went from a thought into reality back in the summer of 2006.  I had wanted to build a little practice rail so I could get my jib skills dialed in when the first snow fell.  What started as a small project, has multiplied into a full on park.  

Re-cap the first real session on it?

Well, the first session took a long time to come together.  We had been waiting on snow in the Midwest, and every time it snowed, it seemed too hard to leave the deep pow of the mountains to head back and ride it.  Finally we made the call to get a crew lined up to meet in Minneapolis. On hand were filmer John Cavan, TWS writer Evan LeFebvre, photog Andy Wright, along with riders Max Legend, Matt Siefert, Erik Leines, and Zac Marben.  It was getting warm and there was only about three inches of snow around, but after doing some snow farming with the backhoe, and shaping everything up, the session got under way. We rode hard for 2 days.  It was awesome to finally see some action after working all those hours and dreaming about shredding it!

What made you decide the upgrade the Jib Farm?

It had been a few seasons since it was ridden last and it was time to make things bigger and gnarlier.  It's rad to have a blank canvas to shape something out of.

What are some of the features?

Well, I changed the drop in angle to be steeper for more speed, and built up a quarter pipe around the entire smaller tank drop in so you can access features on all sides.  There's a bulldozer cab transfer to another cab, a C curved rail made out of 8 inch pipe, an improved qp tank at the bottom that links into a 50's era pickup truck jib and a new rainbow rail set up that has multiple take offs.  There’s also a bigger jump and a landing with a take off ramp that can be moved to make the gap bigger and bigger.  There’s even a custom winch system for reaching higher speeds.



Where did you come up with the idea of the winches being made of Choppers?

A friend named Doug E. Fresh of Fresh Tip Design.  He designed and hand built the winch in his garage.  It has a cool attachment that you can put it into a receiver of a truck for doing urban missions.

How many hours of dirt work have you put into it this summer and fall?

Oh man, a ton.  But I enjoy doing it; it's sorta like playing in the sand box... probably about 140 hrs.

What is your dream crew for a session at the Jib Farm?

Any of the shred bros really.  It's all about having a fun crew and rippin it.  Celtek Clan riders like Bittner, Bennee, Brisse, Bode, Kale, Deadlung, Mule, Marben and dudes like Paxon, Lazz, Eiki, LNP, Will.  All the bros.  My goal is to have lots of sessions in the coming seasons!



For more news and Rome SDS happenings keep an eye on www.romesnowboards.com, www.facebook.com/romesnowboards and www.twitter.com/romesds