In 1990, an argument between Val d’Isere and Chamonix over who had the best skiers resulted in the first ever ‘Boss des Bosses‘.

This bumps competition expanded to include, in differerent years, Verbier, Zermatt, Meribel, Courchevel and Val Thorens and became one of the highlights of every season worker’s season.

Boss des Bosses >>> The ChamJam
By 1996, the Boss was just part of a much larger event called the ‘ChamJam’. It’s easy to forget with the proliferation of music/action events in the Alps now that the ChamJam was a game-changer. It was the first event to feature the ‘new school’ of snowboarding action, bringing in the music that fits so well with the freestyle scene.

ChamJam 2003

The last ChamJam...

The beginning of the end
Unfortunately 2003 saw the ChamJam bite the dust as an attempt to ramp up the scale of the event by creating their own arena – a giant marquee erected in front of the old ice-rink – failed spectularly. Complaints on the first night from locals (rumoured to be close friends of the mayor…) meant the venue was closed down early on the first night and was unable to open on the second night. Although the last night did go ahead, it was too late to recover financially and the ChamJam never reappeared.

Of course, talk to Chamoniards and season workers from the time and you’ll hear a hundred different reasons why it all went wrong. Here we are just going to focus on the positive – the ChamJam was a forerunner for many major events that now take place every winter. At its peak, it was the focus of freestyle in the Alps.

The ChamJam…chapeau!