Since we know Will Wesson and his family pedigree, we had no doubt that on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, during the ABC/ESPN broadcast of the XGames, that he would become the 2016 World Champion.
- Will’s Grandfather: Rufus Wesson, a former executive of Eastman Kodak, built race boats as a hobby. He was also an accomplished extreme skier when no one knew what that meant. He dropped into Tuckerman’s Ravine in the 30s and took ski trips to the Swiss Alps in the 50s and 60s.
- Will’s Father: Morgan Wesson, published author and movie maker. Morgan tells us that young Will, at age 13, came up with the idea of building a ski terrain park and making snow in their backyard in Victor, New York (near Rochester). Morgan told us, “Naive as I was, I said to Will, ‘If you can figure that out, OK,’ thinking the kid had no idea what that could actually involve. Five minutes later he appears with the Backyard Blizzard website, calling me on this bluff. We headed to Boston to get one. He built most of his backyard terrain park with stuff left by the roadside – abandoned lumber and plywood, PVC and other bits and pieces, plus Astroturf used in his Cousin Bess’s wedding tent.”
Will Himself: Long-term free skier celebrity for the LINE Traveling Circus, with wildly popular YouTube episodes, including “Fried Ice” (China) and “Cold Turkey” (U.S.) and having a devoted following of over 100,000 viewers. Morgan told us about a new feature documentary, Small World, from Level One on Vimeo.com, which features another video about Will.
During the XGames competition Will was locked in a three-way tie that included Ski Legend JF Houle (based on the judges’ technical scores). The creativity scores of Will’s daredevil stunts, along with the professional quality of his 90-second video, carried the day with the consensus of the judges (some commenting that they had not ever seen anyone ski across suspended chains and jump through the branched trunk of a large tree). Will expressed relief on camera in accomplishing the latter without breaking any of his own limbs!
Will’s Championship Day is a definite hallmark for his family legacy of action photography, extreme skiing, and the grit to tackle the unthinkable challenges.
Comment from Will’s Father, dated Feb. 22, 2016: “Dana, The fan vote went 32% Tom Wallish, 24% Will and 17% to our close friend Ahmet. Tom has a lot of pros helping him, so this is a surprising tally on Will and the excellent network (from a snowless state!) your SG companies and family networks can muster … Will immediately bugged out for Japan, where he managed to figure out the train schedules to the mountains and dropped off the radar. He still has “ride a palm tree” and “drag race Sprinters” on his bucket list.” ~Morgan
Comment from AquaNew’s Dana Gourley: “Morgan and Georgia, Rob and I wish the best for your globetrotting son. The Watt-Ahh Sprinter may not win in drag racing against the Traveling Circus Sprinter, but neither van can keep up with Will on the icy rails! Now, riding a palm tree down here in Florida is indeed an Ahh-some bucket!” ~Dana and Rob