Jeremy Jones is a pro snowboarder, owner of Jones Snowboards, surfer, climber, father, husband and founder of Protect Our Winters (POW). Protect Our Winters’s mission is to engage and mobilize the winter sports community in the fight against climate change. POW started in 2007 by pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones who witnessed first-hand the impact of climate change on our mountains. After having been turned away from areas that had once been ride-able and seeing resorts closed due to lack of snow, Jeremy saw a gap between the winter sports community and the action being taken by us all to address the problem. Snow-based recreation in the United States is estimated to contribute $67 billion annually to the US economy and supports over 900,000 jobs. So when we look at the cost of inaction, it’s serious business. POW represent the global snow sports community – there are 23 million of them in the US alone. Clearly, it’s time for us all to step up and take responsibility to save a season that fuels our passions but is also the foundation for our livelihoods, our jobs and the economic vitality of our mountain regions. Protect Our Winters is the environmental center point of the global winter sports community, united towards a common goal of reducing climate change’s effects on our sports and local economies. POW was founded on the idea that the collective power of the winter sports community is massive, and if we can all work together, the end result can be revolutionary. IAMECO Warrior interviewed Jeremy Jones as a Swatch Proteam athlete. The Swatch Proteam is a group of athletes who commit themselves to future generations as Eco Warriots. The represent in that sense the energy, passion and philosophy of Swatch. From Free-skiing and Surfing to Snowboarding, Mountain Biking and FMX (Freestyle Motocross), these charismatic women and men are consummate professionals in and outside of competition. They all have one thing in common -- the ability to inspire both in life and sports. Always a leader and innovator in his sport, snowboarding legend Jeremy Jones has stepped forward to take a proactive stand, establishing “Protect Our Winters” as a non-profit environmental initiative. Taking a cue from research and reaction of environmental scientists and snow sports enthusiasts alike, Jones is working with Board companies and others to establish a “green” re-direction within the manufacturing process of snowboarding and ski products, as well as creating programs through POW to educate the snow sports public about how simple daily lifestyle choices can greatly reduce ozone depleting gasses, which have a direct impact on our planet’s climate shifts and, of course the more evident effect on reduction in global snow pack levels from year to year. For more information about Swatch Proteam, visit: www.swatch.com/zz_en/proteam For more information about the non-profit environmental initiative “POW - Protect Our Winters”, visit: http://protectourwinters.org/ For more information about IAMECO Warrior, visit www.iamecowarrior.com With thanks to Swatch and Jeremy Jones Directed by Roger Moenks