The 2012 edition of the most prestigious ski big air contest in history, the Jon Olsson Invitational, is returning to Åre, Sweden on April 3rd - 7th.

Although JOI is an invitational event, each and every year Jon Olsson offers the chance for anyone to win an invite to his event via an online video qualifier, but this year there's a twist! So in conjunction with Jon Olsson, we're excited to announce that Newschoolers will be the exclusive host of not one, but two online video qualifiers for all 10 spots that are available!

JOI Invited Riders

1) Jon Olsson

2) Elias Ambuhl

3) PK Hunder

4) Andreas Håtveit

5) Jossi Wells

6) Jesper Tjäder

7) Gus Kenworthy

8) Jacob Wester

9) Nick Goepper

10) Kai Mahler

11) Ole Christian Mustad

12) Fridtjof Fredricson

13) McRae Williams

14) To Be Announced

15) To Be Announced

16) To Be Announced

17) Video qualifier

18) Video qualifier

19) Video qualifier

20) Video qualifier

21) Video qualifier

22) Video qualifier (reserved for a skier who has never been to JOI)

23) Video qualifier (reserved for a skier who has never been to JOI)

24) Video qualifier (reserved for a skier who has never been to JOI)

25) Video qualifier (reserved for a skier who has never been to JOI)

26) Video qualifier (reserved for a skier who has never been to JOI)

The first video qualifier, the JOI Open Video Qualifier, has 5 invites available, and is open to anyone and everyone, whether you've competed in JOI in the past or not.

The second video qualifier, the JOI Rookies Video Qualifier, also has 5 invites available, and is only open to people who have never competed in JOI before, as Jon wants to see some new blood at his event, in the same spirit as when he invited 'rookies' to JOSS a few years ago.

The Jon Olsson Invitational in Åre, Sweden. Photo by Ananda van Welij

To enter, upload your video to one of the JOI Video Qualifiers between now and Sunday, March 11th at 9pm PST/Midnight EST. Your videos must be no longer than 1 minute, and must feature your best 5 tricks (and remember that this is for a big air competition, so anything rail-wise is irrelevant). Once the deadline for entries has passed, you, the Newschoolers community, will have one week (from Monday, March 12th - Sunday, March 18th at 9pm PST/Midnight EST) to vote for your favorites in each JOI Video Qualifier, and then the top 5 highest rated entries in each contest will receive invites to the Jon Olsson Invitational in Åre, Sweden!

The winners will be announced on Monday, March 19th (which will give them two weeks to arrange travel in time for the arrival date of Tuesday, April 3rd), and will receive entry into JOI, free accommodation and partying in Åre, and of course, the infamous JOI key! *Please note that travel to and from Åre, Sweden will be the responsibility of the winners, and will not be covered by Jon Olsson or Newschoolers.

2011 JOI winner Elias Ambuhl. Photo by Ananda van Welij

Click here to enter the JOI Open Video Qualifier, and click here to enter the JOI Rookies Video Qualifier, and for more information on the event, check out http://www.joibigair.com along with Jon Olsson's Facebook fan page.

On behalf of Jon Olsson and everyone at Newschoolers...good luck!