Hey DSI from the mountains of Andorra!!

Myself (Jason-DSI) and Andy SB are here at the launch of The Big Snow Festival event taking place at the Arinsal ski resort.

We’ll be reviewing and capturing moments from the events that take place and giving you all a general overview of the goings on from the week. Each day I’ll be talking to artists and people involved in the event to give you all an insight into what goes on around these sort of clubbing and activity concepted events, along with any other mad stuff we can get on camera for you.

Sunday – Day 1

Loads of travelling done today, but pleased to say that it’s all gone very smoothly. Transfer from the aiport was clean, and withing about 30 minutes of landing, we were on our way to the event. There’s been a lot of hype built up around this, so the expectations are high. After 3 hours coach journey consisting of us wetting ourselves to a rather funny DVD, we arrived in Arinsal in good spirits.

Check in at the event was painless, and glad to say that the room we’ve been given at the Solana Hotel is situated right next to the swimming pool, sauna and steam room, which was a bonus.

Not giving any time for us to rest, the first night was under way, hosted by AWOL, where residents Mickey Finn and Darren Jay headlined the opening precession at the Surf Club. It was quite clear to see that the travelling had a huge impact on the night and it’s clubbers, as you’d expect. It was a low turnout for this event, but it was expected, and I think we can put that down to most people wantuing to get some shut eye before the slopes opened at 9AM on Monday.






Monday - Day 2

We were up to the slopes at 9am along with the majority of people that arrived on the Sunday. More clubbers are expected later in the week as The Big Snow Festival offers a cheaper half week alternative to those that want to go from Wednesday to Sunday.

The view from the ski lift as it ascends is so peaceful that I wouldn’t give a damn if it got stuck there for a while. You’re in a bubble type lift, so you get a really good chance to have a look around.

Whilst Andy has taken the option to learn boarding from a friend, I’ve chosen to do skiing as I’ve ice skated for years, and felt a bit more comfortable with it. After just one day, both Andy and myself have got a good feel for our chosen methods.

You can get a discounted package for £189 for your weeks lift pass to the piste, hire of equipment and 15 hours of lessons (3 hours a day). This is a group lesson though, so you do have to allow for others to catch up with the exercises, and it can be a little time consuming waiting for your turn. The lessons are very relaxed though, so if you want to do your own thing to one side, then you can.

If you don’t know how a piste generally grades the difficulty of their runs, then there are 4 main types. Green is the easiest, then blue, then red, then black if you’re just a crazy fucker with a death wish. Just after my lesson, I headed just off to the left of the ski school, and headed down the slope in front of me. Little did I know that I’d just entered a ‘chicane style run with 20 turns downhill (a blue run by the way!) I totally shit myself… Fell over 4 times, and was overtaken by at least five kids under the age of five all giggling at me and my strewn body position. This was pretty steep learning curve, but I eventually made it.

After the slopes closed, it was straight down to the pub for a well earned beer and a fight… of the Sumo kind, thanks to these two lads… Watch out for the car mind!

Tonight’s main events are Calvin Harris at the ‘El Cau’ club and Judgement Mondays @ Surf (guess who’s headlining there). Calvin played from 11 until 12.30. I was only there for the beginning, but it looked near on a thousand people had crowded into the room for the kick off moment.

Then we shot over to see Judge Jules play, and as soon as Calvin finished, everyone from the club had the same idea and bolted across to see Jules playing the anthems. It did get a bit crowded in there to be honest, and at one point I just stood out in the side room talking to some of my new found friends and waited for a few revellers to throw the towel in for the night. After that it was home to bed for an early rise to the slopes again.

Check back here tomorrow where we'll bring you all of todays antics and goings on, as well as an interview with BK and Anne Savage. We've also asked Julesy to answer a few questions for us, so hopefully we'll have some answers for you on that front

Congratulations on a wicked event to kick of the first full day of the festival. Did you expect the club to be as busy as it was?

I didn't really know what to expect, but after an 8 hour door-to-door trip and jumping straight on the decks on arrival in Andorra, the lengthy slap into the mountains was very rewarding!

What made you decide to get the 'Judgement' brand involved with The Big Snow Festival?

The chance to get involved with something new and fresh really excited me.

Are you a keen skiing and boarding person?

I'm not the world's best skier, but I love it all the same. The clarity of cold clear fresh air at the top of a mountain is a unique experience.

A lot of DJ's are over here for a couple of days to get a go in the mountains. If you were to come back next year, do you think you'd take a couple of days to get up there and have a go?

Most definitely- I'm already making plans!

Aside from Ibiza, where else is Judgement Sundays going to be most present at this year?

BCM in Mallorca, and Marbella is just being prepared.

Where in the world are you seeing a clubbing scene grow the most?

It's big in just about every developed country of the world, but Brazil and Argentina have seen massive growth and awesome parties in recent years.

Do you have any album projects in development at the moment?
Judgement Sundays 10 year anniversary edition compilation due early summer on Warner Music.

How are you keeping yourself at the forefront of dance music with so many DJ's now bringing different things to the turntables (or CD turntables and laptops, as the case may be).

First and foremost by loving what I do, and secondly, by making shed loads of my own versions of tracks to keep my sets different from others'. I don't think you can fool anyone- if your passion is there, it's apparent for all to see.

The Judge has spoken!!

Tuesday – Day 3

Up in the slopes again all day today, and my legs are bloody killing me. I swear it’s these boots! I’m just about there with the basics now, but am becoming particularly cheesed off with my competence to perform a face plant. Andy’s stacked it a few times on the board too and it’s taken a toll on his legs a bit. We’ve not spent that much time together as I’m still in ski school whilst he’s out cruising the peaks. Other than that though, things have gone really well honing our new mountain skills.

Being up in the slopes really takes it out of you, especially on your legs, and at about 2am I was pretty much ready to call it a night, with Andy about half an hour behind.

Wednesday – Day 4 – PADDY’S DAY

The Irish certainly didn’t want to waste any time today in starting celebrations, and I was passed a hip flask of Jameson before our lesson started. This is going to be a bit of a messy day I’m thinking. I was also given a Guiness hat I was told I had to wear through the lesson (which I conveniently lost rather quickly).

Our ski groups have been divided and I’m off with some of the better skiers now to tackle a blue run. Although I’ve picked things up quick, it’s good avice to get the basics nailed properly, and throwing yourself into a higher experience group is not something I’d advise if you’ve never done this before.

Andy’s been off to the freestyle park and has managed to get a couple of shots of the boarders practising for the ‘Big Air’ demonstration tomorrow afternoon.

One thing that I must say for the area is the locals attitude to the festival. You don’t feel like your invading their territory, like you might feel somewhere like Ibiza. You’re also well taken care of out here when it comes to food and drink. The food is quite highly priced in the mountain I must say, but in the main town, it’s pretty closely priced the UK. Generally portions are much larger than you usually get. The drinks…. Let’s just say they don’t measure, they just pour until they feel like they’ve given you enough. There’s no need to order a double unless you want your entire glass filled with spirits. Here’s a picture for you of a standard single whisky and coke!

Evening time again, and it’s straight into the Derby Irish Pub, which is owned by two South African twins, Darren and Dean (who are also my ski instructors). Quite rightly, their Guiness is shipped directly from Ireland, and none of the Irish people were questioning this as they dispersed of barrel after barrel and got jolly with an Irish cover band to celebrate into the night.

Night entertainment wise, Goodgreef are bringing in their big Radio 1 guns, Eddie Halliwell and Kutski. The 2 DJ’s have had a busy week as it goes already, with Kutski finishing a set in London, and then shooting to Manchester to catch a flight out here, while Eddie’s just done the eve of St. Patrick’s day in Ireland, and he’s also been in Asia this week too, so very little time to sleep. (Who still wants to be a global DJ then?). The club filled up in eager anticipation for Eddie as it does with any festival, and some of that barmy army of his managed to sneak win with their “Eddie, Eddie!” chants. Eddie got stuck in with 3 CDJ’s, Lemur pad and mixer to pull off trance and techno set that kept everyone lively including the Irish. Stepping in next Kutski kept the hardstyle accessible to the crowd with the vocal samples, and some technical scratching.

Eddie's taken some time to talk to me about a few things. Enjoy the video, because I’m off for now to catch up on some well earned rest!

Thursday – Day 5


I started the day with a truly glorious stack, falling straight off the chair lift at the top whilst trying to get off. Luckily, a fellow skiier dragged me away from the next incoming chair lift… Thanks Gerr (for tripping me over, and then dragging me 5 metres : p )

I didn’t get to do much of my lesson today as the Big Air demonstration was taking place about three quarters of the way up the mountain. This is a chance for the real nutters up here to use purpose built jumps or ‘Kickers’ to get some good height either on their boards or their ski’s, and if they have time, pull some shapes. The wind has been up a lot more today, which isn’t ideal

Andy’s been getting really close to the action to get you the best photo’s today. He caught them by getting his camera right under the lip of the jumps, and we even got pictures of him on the job so you can see what sort of things our DSI Pro’s get up to in order to keep the best pictures coming in for you to enjoy.

Tonight is the eagerly awaited performance of Pendulum, which for a completely different clubbing experience, is taking place up the mountain. You only get a 45 minute window of time to get yourself up the mountain lift (the Gondola) as they’re then powered down until near the end of the show. Even some of the locals have bought tickets for tonight as it’s the first event of it’s kind up here.

One DJ that is quite possibly the hardest working DJ of this event is a guy called Lee John. He's been around at the start of almost every event that's happened out here warming things up. Definitely one of the unsung heroes of the week, and whether it's more chilled beats up the mountain in the day, or building things up for the evening DJ's to take over, his sets have been well presented for the time of day or night that he's playing.

As the sky darkened to the sounds of a duo DJ act called Stereo:Type, a few clouds drew in, and it helped for the setting to get darker more quickly. This is when the show really came to life with the lighting and a visual projection shot straight onto the mountain. Stereo:Type’s sound is very accessible, and the set covered big tunes from house, dubstep, and drum n bass supported by some amazing scratching.

When Pendulum took to the decks, a precession of (I’m guessing) about 25 of the ski instructors dropped in a zig-zagging formation from higher up the mountain carrying fire lit poles. The crowd went nuts for and cheered them all the way down, and then the attention was firmly back on Pendulum and MC Jester until the show finished.

Back down the lifts then, and on to Kissdafunk at El Cau to finish our night off with Rob Tissera, Jay Funk and Mickey Slim, who played part of his set back to back with Pedulum. Brandon Block was over at Surf tonight, but I’m more a fan of Kissdafunk myself, so decided to stay there until the close.

Friday – Day 6

Woohoo, I got my certificate for skiing today! Another things to chalk up on the board. I actually learned something new this week that I’ll know how to do forever. You won’t get that from many other club events. It does put you on a bit of a high note to have that sense of achievement, so I took a couple more goes up the mountain to celebrate.

Saturday – Day 7

Things were a lot more relaxed in the day to do what we wanted, so we went to the slopes at about 10am and did a few blue runs and even a red which was pretty terrifying it was so windy.

Then I took a look round some of the different hotels on offer, and if you want to take a look on the Arinsal page on DSI in a few weeks, I hope to have some info up about a few of them. If you’re looking to come out next year, then you can have a look and make your minds up from there.

The final evening of entertainment featured Jaguar Skills, Rawkus Noize and a 45 minute Pritchard Vs. Dainton (from Dirty Sanchez show). Both known for putting themselves through excruciatingly painful tasks, this live performance contained some really disturbing but compelling stunts, and was again a good change of entertainment from the DJ’s. Here’s one of the tamer of the stunts below, but if you want to some of the more of the more shocking stuff, then take a look on my Youtube account.

Summary

It's been a great week out here, and I'd recommend to anyone to get themselves to an event that doubles up with daytime activities. Don't over-do yourself in the first 2 days though, or you'll spend time in payback. Pace yourself, and have fun.

I'd like to thank The Big Snow Festival Team, Thomas Cook and Nielson staff for having me over to review the event and looking after things. Also, cheers to Andy SB for his amazing photo coverage (check out his galleries on the event page), and hello to all my friends that I met out there if you're reading this. Look forward to seeing you there next year.


J x x