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Being Smart: John, Julia, love, life, family and work

She was The Bond Girl. A long-legged acrobatic skier from England who’d learned her stuff on a plastic-covered slope in Southampton (with a whopping vertical drop of 110 metres), Julia Snell was a sophisticated young athlete with a promising future.
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In Love Julia and John smart

She was The Bond Girl. A long-legged acrobatic skier from England who’d learned her stuff on a plastic-covered slope in Southampton (with a whopping vertical drop of 110 metres), Julia Snell was a sophisticated young athlete with a promising future.

He was the dashing Canuck. A hard-charging mogul skier who’d grown up on the wild-west slopes of coastal B.C., John Smart was a rough-around-the-edges jock who wasn’t afraid to point ’em straight down the hill when the going got tough.

How these two individuals came to fall in love, settle in Whistler, start a business (or two), get married and raise two sons is one of those grand Snoweater stories that make this mountain culture of ours so endearing.

But first, let’s deal with the Bond story. “It was 1985, and I was studying French at the University of Grenoble,” recounts Julia, who was then a member of the British Freestyle Team . “I wasn’t living in a particularly nice part of town, so when this man in uniform knocked on my door, I wasn’t sure I should answer.”

Luckily she did. “He had a telegram for me,” she says, a smile dancing on the edge of her lips. “‘You’re booked on a plane out of town tonight,’ it said. I couldn’t believe it. I’d been picked for the opening sequence of the new James Bond film, A View to a Kill.”

And it couldn’t have worked out better for the young skier. The sequence went off without a hitch, the fee she earned from the shoot paid for her whole competitive ski season and “I got to attend the film’s premiere with Duran Duran and Princess Diana,” says Julia in her still-very-posh English accent.

“From then on,” adds John, “Julia was ‘The Bond Girl.’” He laughs.

John insists he noticed Julia long before she even knew he was alive. “It was at a 1987 World Cup event at Mont Gabriel, in Quebec. I saw this girl doing her thing on the dance floor and I totally fell for her. But I was just a rookie on the team back then. And she seemed to know everybody…”

Unlike alpine skiing, where men and women rarely race together, the World Cup freestyle circuit is a fully integrated affair. Which, as the Smarts suggest, is a much healthier way of doing things. “It was way more social,” argues John. “There was a lot of camaraderie between the teams. We all competed hard on the hill, for sure. But when it was over, it was over. We were all good friends.”

And the freestyle parties from that era are legendary. But I’m getting sidetracked…

Although smitten, John didn’t let the dark-haired English beauty get in the way of his skiing. By the winter of 1989, he was a World Cup stalwart with a legitimate claim to event podiums. And Julia finally started paying attention.

“I think it was at an event at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary,” remembers Julia. “There were only three of us on the British Team at the time and I was doing my best to try and help a teammate with some technical problems she was having with her skiing.” She stops. Smiles at the memory. “Well, I saw John skiing down the hill, and he looked pretty hot. So I stopped him and said: ‘Can you watch my friend and give her some pointers?’”

“And that was just the opening I needed,” says John. No matter that Julia was engaged to a banker back in the Olde Country. No matter that British Columbia and England were thousands of miles apart. Somewhere, somehow, someone had decreed that these two young skiers should be together. John was just heeding that call.

“So that’s how it began,” says Julia. “We dated on the circuit for eight years. We definitely road-tested our relationship…”

And the banker? “Well,” answers Julia. “I was supposed to get married in England on Canada Day.” She laughs. “But I cancelled the wedding and came to Canada instead.”

It was after the 1992 Olympics in France, however, that things really got rolling for the young couple. “I was pretty excited about my Olympic experience,” remembers John. “And I really wanted to share my excitement for the sport with others. So when I got home and somebody suggested we start a summer ski camp here, I thought: ‘Why not?”

And so was born the Smart Mogul Skiing Camp — now known as Momentum Ski Camps.

John shakes his head in wonder: “Wow! Sixteen years. That’s how long we’ve been running those camps. Amazing…”

“Yes,” interjects Julia, “and we were only going to do it for 10 at most…”

From hosting 43 mogul skiers over three weeks that first year, the Smarts’ summer program has grown to the point where it now hosts 450 freeriders and bumpers during a six-week period. “It’s always been about love of the sport for me,” says John. “And that’s why it’s so important to hire the right staff. What I’m looking for in a coach is a personable athlete who is the best in their discipline but who also has great enthusiasm for skiing. That’s totally key.”

Julia: “It’s not just about skiing. There’s a social connection that’s created there too….”

John: “And people come back time and time again for that connection. One of the things I’m most proud of is the number of coaches we’ve hired over the years who actually came through our program as campers or went on to do well on the pro circuit.”

Need some names? How about Mark Abma, Shane Szocs, Anthony Boronowski, Sarah Burke and Rory Bushfield , to start with? Or how about the fact that both defending Olympic mogul champions — Dale Begg-Smith and Jennifer Heil — are former Smart Campers as well? “It’s not like we’re trying to take any credit for their skiing,” tempers John. “It’s just cool to see kids you’ve worked with do so well on the world stage…”

In 1996, with two Olympics and 22 World Cup podiums between them, John and Julia finally moved from the road test to the real deal. “My parents love John,” Julia confides. “Our marriage was a very positive thing for them.” The camp was doing well. The two were pursuing various projects. One might think they had enough on their plate...

But John had other ideas. “I guess I’m the kind of guy who just can’t say no,” he sighs. “When somebody suggested we start a ski camp, I said sure. When somebody suggested we start a clothing line, I said no way! Two weeks later I said sure…”

It was just too good a deal to pass up. His Japanese partner would take care of all the production and distribution details. The only thing John would have to do was give him design input and stick his logo on the clothes. “And that’s really how SMS started,” he says. “It began life as a mogul line, but quickly morphed into a freeride line too.”

And it worked. “At first everything was made in Vancouver. And we sold direct. We weren’t very big, so our overhead was manageable.” One of only a handful of “boutique” lines to venture into the more youth-focused freeride look, SMS soon had some of the biggest names on their team roster. “But then things started getting more competitive,” sighs John. “We were so small. Suddenly the big companies started stealing our athletes.”

To make matters more complicated, John’s partner wanted out. John now had a decision to make. Keep going or shut down? “So I decided to keep going. And I decided to go head-to-head with the big guys. Without any experience, without really knowing WHAT I was doing, I decided to move our production to China.”

He laughs. “I had no idea. I walked into it blind. I was completely taken out of my world and plunked down in an absolutely foreign place.” He stops speaking. “And you know what? That’s what I find so fascinating — so attractive. I’ve learned so much…”

And the company has endured. No small feat given the rude shakeout that’s occurred in the clothing trade these last few years.

Today, SMS is a Whistler-based business with a global reach. “We’re a true 21 st century company,” says Julia, who now juggles work and kids (Luke 7 and Kai 5). “We have a small staff at Function. And everyone else is connected by computer.”

“We’ve weathered the storm by moving forward in small steps,” adds John. “We’ve been around for 10 years now and that experience is reflected in the quality of our product. But the challenge remains: How do we grow fast enough to stay competitive with the big players and still keep it fun…”