*Note: I’ve since stepped away from SkiPresse to pursue the next phase of the dream.
Some kids want to be astronauts, some girls want to be veterinarians and some boys want to be ballerinas… as for me, there were four things I wished for and dreamed about day and night while growing up, call it a six-year-old’s bucket list: First, I wanted to run my very own car company, second I wanted to own a ski shop, third I wanted to own a ski hill and finally, I REALLY wanted to run a ski magazine. That last one was the key to the entire fantasy as I would create actual paper mock-up ski magazines in which I would place fictitious ads for my car company, my ski shop and my ski hill… A magazine where I would write articles about pretend ski trips to Chile and Alaska and talk about the coolest gear and include stuff like Rossignol Strato reviews and incisive exposés on Marker Explodomat bindings… ambitious dreams for a kid who had nothing but time on his hands at various boarding schools and summer camps.
Many of you chastised me for my vague FB post last week where I hinted at big news just around the corner… News I dared not divulge until it was official. Well Now it’s official. Yesterday I was handed the figurative keys to a very real ski and bike magazine.Yesterday the tremendous team of owners and publishers of SkiPresse : : CyclePresse, led by the incredibly kind Charles Duhamel officially welcomed me aboard. Words fail me tonight as I try to convey how honoured I am to have been chosen as the next Editor in Chief of this venerable publication. It’s an incredible honour to follow in the footsteps of two amazing editors in Pat and Anne-Marie who, for the past eight or so years, have been putting out (against all odds) the best French language ski and bike magazine on the continent.
That awesome responsibility now falls on my shoulders… and I aim to make Anne-Marie (who recommended me as her replacement) and Charles (who put his trust in me) look like absolute geniuses for believing in me.
Ski Presse has always held a special spot in my heart. I’ve been a reader and a die hard fan since it’s very beginning when Jean-Marc Blais created it a million and a half years ago as a newsletter for his travelling ski school. Over the years he grew it into nothing less than a media empire spanning from Germany to the US and coast to coast across Canada …and while the print magazine landscape has changed almost as dramatically as the ski business since that heyday, Ski Presse may have contracted in the past few years but it has endured and steadfastly remained a beacon of skiing and biking thanks to the efforts, patience and devotion of people like Benoit, Guillaume, Monique, Anne-Marie and especially Charles.
My goal is to continue the job of returning this icon to its former prominence with the help of great collaborators such as Bernard, Lyne, Eric and others and to create the relevant, interesting, compelling and dynamic content that our readers expect and by doing so hopefully we can lure advertisers who will not only recognize the value of our product but also want to support us and be part of this exciting adventure. I have big dreams and ambitions for Ski Presse/Cycle Presse… but one step at a time, our next issue is half done and I can’t wait for what the future holds: killer articles, English online content, amazing gear reviews and so much more!
The best part of all of this is that my family at Mont Sutton and Zoe are all supporting me in this crazy new venture of mine. Which is a pretty big deal since I’ve grown quite attached to the Boutique Expérience Sutton… we still have so much to accomplish and I love ski retail much too much to give it up just yet. So yeah, days off are for other people. I’m all-in at the shop and at Ski Presse/Cycle Presse!
Here’s to living your dreams and checking off boxes on your bucket list.
JF® 
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