A shaper’s story

https://musiciselementary.com/2024/03/07/gkxxa7vx Let me introduce myself for those who don’t know me yet. My name is Dries. I was born in Belgium, a country as flat as a pancake. My interest in boardsports started at a young age, when my brother introduced me into the skateboarding scene. We basically went out skating every damn day, right after school, until dawn. It was an awesome time, since my parents just let me go wherever, as long as my big brother was there too. At the age of 16, I went on my first snowboarding trip with some friends. I know it sounds cliché, but I immediately was hooked on this sport! A couple years later, I started riding my local indoor dome a lot and travelled as much as possible. I studied for 5 years, which was an awesome time, since I got to travel a lot. I remember driving up to Austria almost every weekend, skipping classes on Friday’s or Monday’s, just so we could go riding! After I graduated, I just couldn’t settle with a 9 to 5 job in Belgium. So I decided to look for a job in the Alps. And what better place to move than to Laax… So yeah, the past two winter seasons I’ve been living in this beautiful place in Switzerland. I initially got a job in a sports shop in Disentis, which was a bit of a pain, having to commute 40 minutes back and forth every day. So I kept looking for a job in Laax, and after just one week, I got hired to check tickets at the gondola stations. That’s what I did for two seasons, and what I initially planned to do this season again… But then I got that one relieving phone call from Mattu. He’s one of the main guys behind the awesome Snowpark Laax, and he called me to ask if I was interested to work as a shaper this season. Only two days after the call, the contract was signed, and I was raking takeoffs in the park!

So it’s been just two weeks now, and Nicki asked me to share my impressions with the Reverse Magazine. So far, I’ve had a great time joining the shaper crew. I’ve always looked up to these guys, ‘cause they put down a killer park year after year. Therefore, I’m more than stoked to be part of this crew.

https://www.goedkoopvliegen.nl/uncategorized/3aw61q5p It’s all kind of new to me. I mean, for sure I’ve held a rake before and I shaped some rail takeoffs, but working in the world’s best snowpark obviously gives me the thrills. Luckily, the guys have been very welcoming and helpful. Most of them carry a huge bag of experience and they’re all willing to share their expertise with this rookie. Although I haven’t been doing this job for a long time, I’d like to share my pro’s and con’s with you.

Pro’s:
• You’ve got a lot of time to ride your favorite snowpark.
• You’re first up on the mountain, every damn day! It’s awesome to see the sun come up from the top of the Crap.
• You’re the last guys up on the mountain, every damn day! So not only do you get to see the sun come up, you also enjoy epic sunsets!
• You get loads of fancy gear.
• You have input in the park’s design. So there’s a big chance you get your favorite obstacles in the setup.
• You’re part of an awesome crew of motivated shredders.
• You get to ride a f*ckn’ snowquad, how sick is that?!

https://ncmm.org/uzc4m98v77 Con’s:
• When you’re late at work, you have to bake a cake for the team. And yep… I already managed to oversleep on my third day! Haha. Fuck…This usually doesn’t happen to me though… Luckily, the guys we’re cool about it and my awesome cake made up for it! It’s not really a downpart of the job though, since you get to eat some of the cake too! 😉
• When it’s cold AF and nobody’s up there, you’re the one who’s freezing his balls off to maintain the park… ‘Cause you never know, the next day might be a bluebird!

I guess I’ve been really good this past year, since Santa brought me the best present ever. I’m super stoked to be a part of this awesome crew behind my favorite snowpark! The past two years I’ve always been working on Christmas, so I’m kind of used to it already. To me, celebrating Christmas is mostly a family thing anyways, and since I’m living over a 1000 km’s apart from I don’t mind having to work on this holiday. I’d rather let my colleagues have the day off, so they can join their families for a nice Christmas dinner. And honestly, this job doesn’t really feel like work, since it’s participating in constructing my favorite playground!
Thank you guys for reading, and hands down to all the guys from the team for teaching me the tricks of the trade!

https://www.lcclub.co.uk/3x9l6ild Pictures: Dries Meesschaert & Nicki Antognini
Words: Dries Meesschaert
Location: Laax, Switzerland
Thanks to: Laax resort, the shaper team and Ride Snowboards for supporting Reverse