Masters of Vision

Interview

Paying his dues:

“I know what it means to start at the bottom. I started with prehistoric gear from a YMCA ski swap as a kid. Moving to Colorado opened my eyes to more opportunities. If you were good enough, Ski Club Vail had a racing program that ultimately led to the US Ski Team. After I got my first taste, all I wanted to do was race.”

Figuring it out:

“Heading into my freshmen year of college, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I ended up skiing out of Crested Butte while attending Western State College. I’d seen the Crested Butte Extremes on TV and it just hit me – it’s all I’ve wanted to do since. I was inspired by the movies – they made freeskiing look like so much fun.”

The changing game:

“There came a point in time where you couldn’t just jump off cliffs anymore – you had to do tricks while doing it. I’d only been doing 360s and 720s off natural jumps or small cliffs, so I started working on inverts. When High North Ski Camp started up in Whistler, BC, they asked me to come up as a coach. The conditions were soft and they were using water ramps, which helped you take tricks from the ramps to the snow. You could land on your head without serious injury – or even death – so it gave you confidence to try new things on snow. Things you never even thought of doing before. I just went crazy, doing back flips off every cliff I could find.”

Limitless inspiration:

“I used to be really into watching moto movies and seeing those guys go crazy, hitting sand dunes and big dirt jumps. Today, I like watching others that push the limits in every sport. At the end on the day, it’s all about one-upping yourself. Having a complete love for the sport and trying to find that next perfect moment. Being in the mountains, skiing great powder – I don’t know what else I would do.”