Sponsors

Jones Snowboards, ONeill, Swatch, Scott/USA, Samsonite Out Lab, Go 211.com, Clif Bar, Black Diamond, Backcountry.com, Blue Bird Wax

Awards

Eight time Snowboarder Magazine Big Mountain Rider of the year 2000-2008
Two time Transworld Snowboarding Riders Poll Winner, 1999, 2001
Snowboarder magazine Top Ten Rider of the Year, 1999
1st Place, Verbier Extreme Contest 2005
2nd Place Big Mountain Pro 2007
Squaw Valley KT Award Extreme Athlete 2005
Verbier Film Festival Best Athlete Segment 2005
Mens Journal Top Ten Toughest Men in America, 2004
Outside Magazine Top 25 Outdoor Athletes, 2001

Winner of the 2008 Big Mountain Pro

General Media

Starred in over 25 Action Sports Movies (Standard Films, TGR, Absinthe Films, Warren Miller)
Three covers on Transworld Snowboarding Magazine, 1998, 2005, 2008
Monthly Column High Life, in Snowboarder Magazine, 2002-2006
Featured in National Resource Defense Committee’s Keep Winter Cool commercial 2004-current
Featured interviews or photos in every snowboard specific magazines around the world.
Top five riders for film exposure the last four years and winner in 2002 as rated by Transworld Magazines Film Exposure Meter.
Top 20 riders for print media over the last 4 years as rated by Transworlds Print Exposure Meter
Each of the last four years have averaged over a hundred pages of print media world wide.

Hobbies
Surfing, Mountain Biking, Rock Climbing, Reading, Photography, Yoga, Chess

Certifications

Level Two Guide Certified, American Avalanche Association

Other

Founder and CEO of Protect Our Winters (www.protectourwinters.org)

Interview Quotes

Could snowboarding and freedom be synonyms?

The attraction of snowboarding is the freedom it gives you. With a snowboard on your feet the sky is the limit. You can do anything and go anywhere. This is not just for pro riders. It is for everyone.
The other amazing thing with snowboarding is how easy it is to get away from people and enjoy the solitude of the mountains. Its almost impossible in surfing but with snowboarding it is a short hike from the top of the lift or the side of the road.

What was the most memorable moment of your life on snow?
The first time linking turns on a snowboard. It was behind my house in Vermont twenty years ago. I had been working on it for 3 years and it finally clicked.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Riding Powder

How do you define your own personal freedom?

We all have the freedom to do what we want to in our life. I chose at early age to set up my life around being in the mountains.

Do you recall a moment where you really felt free?

Graduating high school, hoping in my friends car and heading to the west coast. Up until that point in my life I was restricted by school, parents etc. I had been planning moving west for years and to finally do it felt incredible.

What does it actually mean to be a freerider?

There are no restrictions as a freerider. It means finding new things to ride or riding old things in a new way.

How do sponsors influence, or have influenced, your freedom?
I have worked hard to maintain my freedom from December to May and my sposnors respect that. To have the ability to go where I want when I want. This is key to score good conditions. I do not track specific storms but I track what spots are having a good season, what spots have a dangerous snow pack etc. So having the ability to adapt your schedule is very important.

Is progression in “your line of work” different than progress for, say, a street rail guy or a halfpipe
ripper?
Progression for me is different. Part of my progression comes from my skills on the hill which is pretty similar to a street guy. There is this whole other progression though that is all about the mountains and lifestyle. I have set up my lifestyle to be able to ride the best snow on the best mountains and do it safely. This is what has gotten me from Cape Cod to where I am today and has kept my stoke alive. Now I am starting to evolve that into spending more time hiking and camping in the mountains so I can get closer to the mountains. It is hard to explain but I see a clear road ahead of me in snowboarding that will keep it fresh, keep me progressing as a snowboarder and keep the stoke alive for the rest of my life.

Snowboarding has put so much energy into trying to be skateboarders and try and get that 15 year old kid stoked. It is all good but the problem is that I am seeing riders get older and they feel that if they are not in the park learning a new trick then there is not a place in snowboarding for them. So these older riders are moving onto surfing or skiing or other sports that they do not get hurt at. Skiing (dont shoot me for saying this) is more of a lifestyle sport. They have the whole park seen but they also have this whole other lifestyle aspect. Going out and taking some runs with your family and having a nice lunch on the mountain is totally acceptable in skiing where in snowboarding you feel like a loser if you are not working on front boardslides.

What is it in your personal approach to the mountains hat inspires you or makes you think differently about your own approach?
There is a fine line Big Mountain riders walk. On one side is stupidity and on the other is too conservative. You have to be so in tuned with the mountains and your riding to have the right balance. You have to feel it in your gut and you have to do it for yourself. When you bring the thought of money and fame into the mountains then that is when bad thing happen and people cross the line.

Do you feel like your progress since becoming a big mountain style
rider has gone in a straight line?
My riding is very personal. Often I am by myself when I am filmingor with one or two other riders. I do not know what else is going on in snowbarding. 100% of my focus is on progressing my riding and riding to the edge of my ability with out going over it. I do not know if what I am doing will hold up in the edit room and I do not care at that time. I worry about that stuff in July when the film comes back.

All season I put in my days and try and push it everyday. Half the season I spent just getting my level to where it was last season. My progression comes at the end of the season and the only way I get there is from days on the hill pointing blind rolls and dropping over the edge. By the end of the season, if the conditions are right then that is when I really go to new levels. Because of this by the end of april I am hardly sleeping because I know those are the days I have been working my whole life for and the tomorrow may be the day and I could ride the best run of my life. This is why the end of the season is so hard for me. I know it will take me 11 months to get my level back to that point again.