Student-Skier Profile: Jake (JakeCast) Kirshner

Jake Kirshner, editor-in-chief, publisher and founder of the world-renowned blog JakeCast, has been electrifying Internet audiences with his powder-packed POV video romps down the gnarliest of Wasatch descents since 2007. That’s the year Jake made his way from the Bay area of California to the towering mountain peaks of Utah and began his college career at the University of Utah.

While Jake is not quite as well known as his U of U classmates Tom Wallisch and Grete Eliassen, he does flat-out rip it on the hill, as evinced by not only his JakeCast episodes but also his participation in big mountain comps such as the Freeskiing World Tour and the U.S. Freeskiing Championships.

Kirshner maintains his mountain sport lifestyle, recording 100+ days of shredding the Wasatch each year over the last three seasons, while pursuing a degree in Computer Science, one of the most difficult degrees to ascertain at the U with its long legacy of being at the forefront in the field (the founders of Adobe, Atari, Netscape, and Pixar are among the school’s alumni).

When questioned about his non-Cade lab accomplishments, Jake had this to say:

“I did a rad spread eagle off the cat track near the blackjack moto, but I think it was an accident…”

Studying the complexities of binary code and the wonders and possibilities it produces has helped Jake pursue his true passion: recounting the amped-up antics of his mountainous endeavors, whether it be the sending of his 160-lb. frame off gadzoom glory air, the summer ascent and descent of Twin Peaks, mountain biking the Wasatch, or rock climbing/scrambling up Mt. Olympus. And he serves up all the adrenaline-laced adventures with the witty and clever humor that only a computer coding geek can provide.

While we’re not going to anoint Jake with the University of Utah Student-Skier of the Year just yet, he is in the running. In the meantime, enjoy one of the finer JakeCasts ever produced, below:

HelmetCast 12 from Jake Kirshner.