The following article was originally printed in the October 2025 Issue of Slush. To get more articles and subscribe, click here.

Jess Kimura could’ve coasted on her legacy. Multiple Video Part of the Year awards. Street footage that set the bar for a decade. But instead of letting that speak for itself, she forced snowboarding into a new era.

The Uninvited was her answer. A self-funded film project that put riders on screen who the industry had overlooked. She didn’t wait for a lane to open, she bulldozed one. Suddenly the conversation around who deserved coverage and a platform shifted, and the rest of snowboarding had to catch up.

What started as one film has now blown up into an international event series. The Uninvited Invitational runs the biggest independent prize purse in snowboarding. Period. It’s the kind of stage Jess never had, and now it’s changing what opportunity looks like for everyone coming up. And worth mentioning—because the photos here make it obvious—when it’s time to strap in, Jess Kimura is still all in. Her influence reshaped snowboarding off the board, but on snow, she’s still pro for a reason.

What led you to envision The Uninvited Invitational going international, and how you ended up in Japan?
When we took the Uninvited to Europe for the past two years as a regional qualifier, we didn’t expect much. And I’m someone who believes in the girls, believes that there is undiscovered talent out there. But those events blew my expectations wide open. The riding level was just as high as the finals, and so many riders came out of the woodwork that I can’t believe aren’t already pro snowboarders. Livia, Klaus, Telma… I could name a dozen more. The second year we did the Euro event, I was thinking we would see the same players, but there was a whole new onslaught of talent that, once again, we had never heard of.

So many girls are out there who just need an opportunity to be seen—girls that could literally change the game as a whole, given the chance. It’s clear that the Japanese girls are on another level, with even less support and recognition. I’m proud of what we accomplished over two years in Europe, but now it’s time to put our resources and energy into Japan.

Once you knew Japan was the move, how did you start making it real? Did you go through Miyon for contacts, or how did you narrow down where the event would take place?
We’ve learned from working with Woodward that the resort must understand and value what we are trying to do, otherwise we are doomed. We started with research to find out who had the infrastructure. First, a park crew that understands how to build a street setup. Second, resorts with the right features we could use. We found a few resorts that had the features, but the management wasn’t supportive. Or a resort with a super eager park crew that didn’t have the infrastructure.

My friend Toshi, who owns Trick Star Skate Shop, was the best at breaking it down. He’d explain, “There’s this resort, they have an actual handrail in their parking lot, but it just sold, so they’re not gonna let you do it.” In the end, we found a sick resort with a sick staff who understand what we are trying to do—Nekoma Mountain.

Is Google Translate seamless for this?
It’s pretty sick, but what I’ve learned from communicating with Miyon over the past 10 years is that there’s a certain way of writing in English you need to put into Translate. If you’re casual and use slang, it won’t translate right. When they send things back that they’ve translated into English, you can see the words they’ve used.

For example, instead of “riding,” it’s “sliding.” You just learn the vocabularies that translate and stick with those. It’s a pretty funny thing to learn.

The Uninvited finals have such an impressive prize purse—probably the highest for an independently run contest. When you’re handling all of it, how do you approach asking for money? Is that something that comes naturally, or something you struggle with?

Does it come naturally? Hell no. I’ve had real mental breakdowns over this. I hate asking for things. And it’s such a huge amount of money to raise. On top of that, we need enough to run operations, pay staff and media, buy confetti cannons—all these elements to try to curate the perfect experience for the girls.

We’ve had people help with partnerships in the past. Sharalee Hazen was one—it was just me and her the first year of the event at Boreal. Circe Wallace stepped in to help last year when we were in a tough spot after a specific mental breakdown of mine [laughs]. But now we’re doing it ourselves again. And trying to get the money—it’s the worst part.

But at least there’s a light at the end of the tunnel—the payoff is literally a payoff for snowboarders. Is it rewarding in the end?
The writing of the checks is heaven. It’s hard to do this event, it’s all day every day, year-round, and you start going crazy. But when I sit down and write the checks, filling in all the amounts—it’s the best. I’m on top of the world when I’m doing that.

You put on these contests that show off the level of women’s snowboarding. Is hitting the course after the contest exciting, or nerve-wracking because you’re riding with girls who look up to you?
I usually ride the course after everyone is gone. Maybe in years past I’ve hit the hip, but the event has to be fully over. And even then, there’s still so much shit that needs to be taken care of logistically. Once that’s handled, we’ll hike back up, Ben will make it nice again, and we’ll hit the quarterpipe or hip.

As the years have progressed, from the outside the Uninvited looks so official. Is there something you hope grows or changes?
I couldn’t do it if Nirvana and Abby didn’t both work full-time year-round on this, but they are also doing so much. Having more help is the goal. Being able to outsource more would be the goal. It’s already better this year than it has been any other year, but it’s hard to maintain. There’s a lot of rejection, dead ends, and so much stress. To have a bigger team, we have to pay salaries, which means raising even more money. And on top of that, I always want a bigger prize purse.

What’s been the most unexpected joy of putting this contest on?
The goodie bags. I go way over the top—stickers, temporary tattoos, purple holographic packaging. This year I made 100 sticker packs and wouldn’t let anyone help. It’s so calming. I even sticker the cowbells. When the party’s about to happen, the goodie bags are being made, the decorations are going up—that’s when I love it.

Two final questions. First, Darrah. Do you think giving her a commentating role has provided a chapter two for her career?
We’ll see. But honestly, she did it herself because she has such a great personality. Snowboarding is just one part of what I wish more girls were involved in. Beyond riding, there are all the other jobs, and while the industry is changing, in a lot of ways it’s still the same. I think it’s important that girls are part of those roles too.

Second, can you give me a fun fact about Ben Bilocq that the world doesn’t know?
He’s obsessed with discount bakery items. Nothing satisfies him more. At first I thought he just really liked pie, because every day there was another 50% off pie on his table with a spoon in the box—no plate. For his birthday one year I got him the nicest pie from Granville Island, and he was so bummed. In his mind, it was a waste of money when he could have just gotten a discount pie. He loves discount pies.

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