Matt
Kass
letters-Gabe Taylor
shots-Greg Jeske, except noted
You
know when you see someone and you could’ve sworn you met
them before, but you can’t quite put a finger on
where you’ve seen them?
That has never happened with Matt Kass. Matt leaves an impression
on whomever he comes in contact with. Anyone who knows Matt
can attest to what I’m saying.
He’s not one to sit back and listen to people mindlessly
babble about whatever it is they need to get off their chests.
His opinions are soon known to all those in the near vicinity.
Matt talks louder and faster than anyone I know. He’ll
throw in his two cents in two seconds.
However, the fact that Matt couldn’t keep a secret to save
the free world in not why he is so memorable. Many remember
Matt for his wild and mislead youth. There’s a neighborhood
that will never forget Matt. See, when he was in sixth grade
he turned his mom’s electric toothbrush into a tattoo gun
and took his artistic urges out on the limbs and torsos of all
the kids on the block.
If you are ever at the beach in New Jersey and you see a guy
with a two foot happy face on his back, ask him if he knows
Matt, then run. If scarring the local Jersey youth wasn’t
bad enough, he had the inclination to charge ‘em 10 bucks
a pop. This brings us to another one of Matt’s qualities.
He makes Ted Turner look like a financial dunce. Matt owns two
condos at the age of 21 and will probably own another before
the age of 23. Quite an achievement for a man with a pig tattooed
on his leg, who has lived on his own since the age of 16.
"In the year that i've known Matt he's supprised me a lot;
from deep theological discussions to the misfortune of his Jersey
ink. He's a brilliant mind with an eye for artistic value and
everytime his voice is liberated from it's projective chaimbers
I blink at the speed of his lips. But
inbetween those bursts of jibberish, I found a friend. Someone
who holds the thought of Jesus, ever pressing in there mind,
always calling on there heart. this is the substance of friendship
i share with matt that goes beyond our own lives.
-Greg "the remote" Jeske
Matt’s days of being a wild and crazy bachelor have long
since passed. The days are long gone when Matt would drink himself
into an inebriated frenzy and get kicked out of whatever house
he was in. His middle name might be “mischief,” but
Matt is now a man of faith and by the time you read this he
will be married.
What Matt is really known for is his skills in the halfpipe.
What impresses me the most is how Matt is always pushing the
session. He’s always hiking 200 feet above the hit. Sometimes
I’ll become inspired to do the same and I’ll bomb
down the pipe, then sketch out in the flat-bottom and catapult
myself into the air completely out of control. Then I usually
land on the deck and bounce into the flat bottom where the wind
is knocked out of me. At this point I begin swearing to myself
between gasps of air and jolts of pain.
Anyway, Matt goes really high in the pipe and more or less has
his own trick, the kasseroll. Matt’s skills aren’t
limited to the pipe either, he has been known to do some mean
frontside five double grabs in the park. Matt’s also been
in the backcountry practicing for a possible job with Cal-Trans:
sitting around watching other people shovel. This is one of
Matt’s favorite backcountry pastimes. Actually that’s
not completely true, Matt will gladly build a backside hip.
Heck, I’ve seen Matt try and build a hip behind a straight
jump that was already built.
When I ask people about Matt, a smile always appears. “Where
do I start?” is the comment which precedes a barrage of
stories and anecdotes. The point is, he always leaves an impression.
If you ever happen to be in Mammoth and overhear a loud kid
talking about stock portfolios and capital gains, introduce
yourself to Matt Kass. It’ll be a memorable experience
for sure.
You
know when you see someone and you could’ve sworn you met
them before, but you can’t quite put a finger on
But
inbetween those bursts of jibberish, I found a friend. Someone
who holds the thought of Jesus, ever pressing in there mind,
always calling on there heart. this is the substance of friendship
i share with matt that goes beyond our own lives.