REFLECT.
REFLECT 9. MT. BRIGHTON, MI - CAMERON STRAND 11. FERNIE, BRITISH COLUMBIA - GUSTAV OLHSSON 12. BRIGHTON, MICHIGAN - CAMERON STRAND 13. HOLLAND, MICHIGAN - CAMERON STRAND 14. CLEVELAND, OHIO - CAMERON STRAND 15. PETOSKEY, MICHIGAN - CAMERON STRAND 16. MICHIGAN - MARK WIITANEN 19. unkown 21. MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN - DUSTIN BOLINGER 22. GRAND HARAFU, JAPAN - BRIAN WOLFE 23. PETOSKEY, MICHIGAN - CAMERON STRAND 25. Ohio - KEVIN CASTANHEIRA 27. MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN - MIKE FORESTER
TOGETHER 29. OHIO - KEVIN CASTANHEIRA 31. MT. BRIGHTON, MICHIGAN - CAMERON STRAND 33. MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA - JURI LAGINOV 35. MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA - JURI LAGINOV 37. ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA - PETER HARVIEUX 39. ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA - PETER HARVIEUX 42. FERNIE, BRITISH COLUMBIA - GUSTAV OHLSSON 43. marquette, michigan - mike forester
When did you start sliding snow sideways? Back in the 1986 with breadbags over my socks in Vans Hi-tops. Nice! Who or what got you into it back in 1986? A couple pals were doing methods out of a local golf-course sand-trap and borrowing their boards out for launch’s. I tried it for days on end and it blew my face-off with fun! Since then, standing sideways on my red sled was over. So you then went and got a board. Where was your first visit to a ski hill?
time. I liked being there most every day. I still like being here or there, on the snow, most every day. So how many season passes did you buy there before you decided you’d start buying all over the map? I think it was 5 season passes at Hyland Hills and a few at Spirit Mountain (in Duluth). A year or two out of high-school I was bobbin’ and weaving to Montana and Colorado. What was your first trip to the mountains?
We built little kickers around town and tried to sk8 em’ for the most-part. A year after I got my board, I went to Wild Mountain in Minnesota a few times to learn the carves. The carves... that was cool cuz my Burton-Elite had metal edges and after E got rid of the bolt-in effin’ thaang was on!
In 1991,’92, and ‘93 I did some Bridger and Big Sky, Montana winter break trips with a hi-league Christian youth group. My pal was part of the church and invited me to some youth-group-sing-alongs to get me in on the deal. These holidaybreak/Montana trips became something I looked forward to the rest of the year. I’d ride Hyland and get it dialed for Montana mountain-jibs!
How was the vibe at Wild? Were there a lot of riders?
What led to your first season away from home?
It was pre-season, the first in mind... a couple older guys in high-school drove us out there to shred. They rolled the windows down in the car to cool us off and get us ready in the back seats. The vibe was amazing- just like bmxing or skating. Not too many people were on the hill now that I think about it. But in my circle of pals, it seemed like a lot of my friends.
All the shreds that were close to me in me in high-school moved to Breckenridge in ‘94, ‘95, ’96, so Summit County was a spot I would frequent. At that time, I was playing in a band called Premium and we would book tours out to the West Coast and back with snowboarding stops and days off to shred. I saw a lot of the Rockies to the Cascades and got to strap-in between shows. We did some fun tours, and then I landed in Breck CO in 1998 with a band break-up and the seasons galore in my future!
It sounds like those were special days. When did you get your first season pass? How did that affect your life at the time? Well, buying my first season pass at Hyland Hills (in Bloomington) changed a lot for me in that I realized that once I saved enough money for the pass, I could just ride. Ride how I felt- for 2 hours a day or all day. The money and daily pass pressure was off and I could be there all the
What were some highlights of that first year of nothing but riding on your plate? The first season of no-tie-downs in the Colorado was sweeet! All I needed to commit to was many more. My crew in Breckenridge grew up together, ripped it
and now lived all over each other in a messy house. We bounced ideas of each other and explored every day. Big pipe and park was new and fun for us and getting out of the Denver-weekend lift lines to Loveland Pass was a mellow introduction to backcountry. Riding every day without working or playing shows was the best ever for me and something I wanted to do again and again. So ya, go home to work hard and save and be cheap and then a season at the end of the tunnel. You worked hard to save to do seasons. How much did that play a part in the enjoyment of that season of rippin’ sticks? It played the biggest part ever. Once I was there, knowing how hard I worked to be there made me really appreciate the riding, digging, and being outside all day, everyday. Oh ya - the late summer countdowns at work...only 120 days of work left...101 duuude. I got my pass and put the cash in it’s place for the winter early ‘till the day I would leave and be shredding was madness- working overtime ‘cuz there are 4 snowy months coming up of no funds and thrifting in the alps. When did you cross the pond and what made you go to those MTNs? 1999 was the first trip to AuStria in the “family resort” of Saalbach. Then 2000 season was in St. Anton am arlberg, 2001 back to Saalbach, 2002 Saalbach again... loved it over there man! I flew over there to check on my drummer-friend Ron and our pal Rich. Rich grew up in Germany and grabbed Ron for a season over there. Our band kicked Ron out and we had to make up in the Alps so I went over to shred and give some hugs. Oh the Alps... Damn- so you just jumped in! What stuck out to you about being in Austria for a season to ride, besides the Mtns? Well, besides the powder sitting around all week for my snowboard to crush, I was lost over there, and I think that’s what I
liked the most. I didn’t know my way around and didn’t speak any German. I just made it happen every day. I couldn’t really translate to hear people braggin’ or bitching about life or snow, and that was sweeeet. I liked how many other kids from other counties were around town as well. Fuck yeah, I can vibe on that. How many new homies followed you? So many people ripped lines and then hiked out of rivers with us: Swedes, Danish, Germans, Finns, Slovaineans, Italians, Swiss, Americans... and Austrians!!! Explore, explore. Bushwack. Get lost. Get found. Celebrate! I toured some local folk’s on their own goods. Weird. All of them got to rip fun lines with my homies and me. Any random Austria stories? What about the Speilberghaus stories? Ahhh yea, the mountain restaurant/alm way up there from the Saalbach city...a snowcat ride up and wicked-fast rodelbahn (tobbogan) down next to a riversketch. Speilberghaus! People got more wrecked on that sled-ride into town than on their skis/boards. That would not fly over here in the States at all. SO RAD! There were always sleds down in that river from the night before that we would see on our backcountry missions. I remember our 30 min hike to Amsel and our steep kicker filled run that ended with a Weissbeir in your face and leiderhosen dressed men jammin’ squeezebox- on a full moon even. Mountain top party night, but drop in early at 9:00 in a rainstorm! ...make party! Haha, so you’re on top of the mountain? Oh yeah, that’s not so clear... hike 30 min from top lift (last lift up) to a far-away peak for a full moon run but get jacked on rainy weather. Every other drop into the great Amsel run/Speilberghaus has been nothing but amazing. To the top!
Your trips have taken you from Amsel run to Grand Harifu town. What pushes you to these lengths to pursue new destinations? Explain your personal motives to slay snow all season. Working year-round is not fair and new experiences in unfamiliar places always rule. Snowboarding is the best way I know to travel and the most fun way to see some snowy-down-hill-landscapes anywhere. Coming from Minneapolis and knowing that what I grew up riding here can hold up with world-ride & jib-travel, keeps me stoked on how simple it can all be. Midwest riding makes the most out of the least which turns back into the most, ya know? I love riding an icy curb-hit in the rain or mandatory nose-pressed hotpow with summersaults when the temps rise and the snow gets sloppy. It’s all fun just to be out there. I like to see how far the money I saved for a season of ripping can go; it’s a game for me. I justify my flight and season’s rent costs by staying as long as I can and being cheap/thrifty. I like meeting fellow snow-shredders in far away non-English-speakin’ spots with the random “whoop” in the park or off the lift…letting plans/trips unfold with random ideas or people with loose style is real and makes it all worth it for me. I do these trips because I am. With this much passion to ride new spots, see new things, make new friends, and be, how did you feel when your knee decided it didn’t want to support you after a larger-than-it-neededto-be air to flat, in Austria none the less?! That set me back for sure - put me into a not-so-good place- like under Austrianknife after a misjudged park kicker with sketch travel insurance and not the best German tongue. But it’s fixed, and that is all I could ever want! Learn from it and deal with it! Simple. That’s it. I later’d my knee because I was silly with bad judgment just once and now I have to train my brains out to keep it tuff the rest of my snowboard time. I like keeping it tough the
rest of my snowboard time. I like keeping it tuff tho. I feel lucky and this last season in Fernie B.C. was a trophy of hard-work and luck . So you broke your shit and made plans to do a season anyway? I had to, and I wanted to see how my Austrian knife/hamstring-ACL would hold up. Plus my Swedish Sofie girl was coming over to shred with me all winter. What the hell else? Get lame and chill with the chillers? Fernie B.C. was sweet in 2004 and it was ready again yo! How did this season go then? I pointed it! 128 days in on my knee and ripperstick! The most ever for me, and not a day of work. Fernie had 70+ days of hard snowfall in 120 of lift operation. 40 some feet in Fernie which was slick. I think it had the most in BC. this season. We got to check out Kicking Horse, Banff, and Lake Louise as well. Friends visited from the middle U.S.A. and Europe - with mad tours of the steep inbounds and out. You were there dude, you know how it is in the B.C. Rockies!!! Sofie and I ended our season with a month in my van at Mt. Hood (with only 5 showers) on May 18th riding the park in the funslush! Finished the season in Hood, in a record snow fall season, livin’ in your van after a full season in Fernie- not a lot of cats would do that. We could chat forever but any last words or shoutouts? All my family and friends and lover, thanks. Thanks Peter, good talking life with you. Corduroy whoop-whoop!
There are those of us who are particular to a level that some can’t understand. This is a quiet drive which others often perceive as arrogance. People with this level of particularity can be hard to read and can appear awkward in some situations, but it never means they don’t care; it merely is a hint that their focus on their own situation is taking precedent to yours. This can, like everything, be viewed as a fault or a strength. I see it as the strength and resolve to push yourself to new levels- always wanting to do better than before, never happy with your own reached goals, setting the bar higher as you approach it. This attentiveness to detail is readily visible in style. Often it makes the hard look easy, the shaky look smooth. These are the results of all this self-battery, but it may take longer to recognize and understand this characteristic in people. The following interview is pre-07/08 season, after the toll of attempting to film for two major movie projects. After this interview, things changed but Brenden Hayes’ quite particularity hasn’t. Take some time to get to know people outside this medium called snow; they’ll often surprise you.
When did you start snowboarding? I was a Freshman in high school; well, I rode a few times in grade school. I was a skier. My friend Danny tried it out and he told me that I should try it so I rented a board. We did that in eighth grade- like once or twice. Then freshman year I bought my first board and I was a snowboarder. I was fifteen, the tender beautiful age of fifteen. You started to ride here in the Midwest? What was your local mountain? Brandywine…not so much Boston Mills. The ski school we had was at Brandywine. I never went to Boston Mills because we were in school anyway during the week. Once it all started getting going they were the place that had the park that we went to. That’s where we had our little crew and everybody, like the Porters, was always at Brandywine.
You had a very successful part in Autumnline’s movie Never Felt Better last year. Coming into this year, you had two opportunities; obviously Autumline was there again and you had an opportunity to film for Rome, one of your sponsors. I know from earlier conversations you were pretty gung-ho on both. How did that pan out for you this season? At the beginning, I was psyched on both. I was pretty naïve. I thought I was just going to be meeting up for a little while for one and then going on to the other one- jumping back and forth- and it was going to be sick and mellow. I realized pretty quickly that it was gnarly. I couldn’t do it. It was a lot of work? It’s so much work. When did you move out to Tahoe? This will be my third season.
So who was your first crew of friends that you just rode around with? It was the Porters- we did USASA, Chip, Nate Bedecker- Nate did this clothing company called Squadron, this kid Bellbalser…there were a ton of us the first few years. It was cool- you could just go alone and there would always be someone there.
How was that experience- moving from the Midwest where you’ve kind of grown up and trying to make a go of it out West?
...the visual result of effort...
Definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever donewhere I’ve lived in a place my whole life and then moved to the complete opposite end of the country where I didn’t know anybody really and there were no crews really to hang with or anything. I just knew that if I wanted to do something with snowboarding I just needed to get out there and do it so I did, and it was pretty crazy. The first year, I was kind of living with some people I didn’t want to live with, but just doing what I had to do and I had an awesome time. It was super fun. Then now, as the years go on, I kind of figure it out more and more. It just gets better and better the more people I meet and the more I get used to the area where I livewhich I guess I can call home now since I’ve been there for three years.
Something concrete- for sure.
You left here pretty early to go back
What’s an early session you remember where you were just like, ‘This is what I want to do. I just want to slide snow sideways’ I think it was when we started filming. The first time the Porters made this tiny little edit- it was a couple minutes long- we all watched that and we thought it was the coolest thing ever. That was when it was the coolest for me. Just filming and seeing the footage is cool.
for what…to finalize the movie or to hang with family? I worked at High Cascade as a coach again this summer. We premiered the movie this summer so it was all done and all taken care of. I came back here to see Matt get married- Matt Porter, the one that makes the movie with his brother Adam- and hang with the family. I like to come home and hang with all the friends that I knew forever that I only get to see a few times a year now. I try to come home whenever I can. I come home in the spring, I come home for Christmas, for a little time in the fall for the premieres, and just whenever cause this is still my ‘home’. When you were home last time you had some extracurricular activities going on, huh? Yeah- playing music. The band that I used to be in- Baby Bear- they let me play a song with them. I’ve been playing drums since I was in grade school- playing in crappy little bands through high school. Music is cool. I like playing music. I wish I could have my set in Tahoe. I wish I could play more- play with a band. How does that reflect on your snowboarding- do you feel like they intertwine at all or is that a separate thought process? I’ve never really thought about it. I’m sure they do. Everything does. Everything influences everything else. I’m sure there are some similarities like when you’re writing a song to when you’re making a video part. When you ride are you just thinking about the effect of riding like, “ Alright, I’m just going to ride this line and hit that, set up this rail, and then jump up on it,” or is there music rattling around in your brain? When I’m doing something, I’m pretty good at focusing in on that. If I’m hitting a rail or something I’ll focus in on what I’m doing whether it’s snowboarding or video
games- Guitar Hero- I just hone in and the most important thing is what I’m doing at that moment. I’m lucky that I can do that. So back to the movies- I talked to you throughout the year about the season and it sounded like it was a little rougher for you in terms of getting the different zones. snow year so that affected the season for you. I know you thought that if we had a lot of snow you could film from late November/early December all the way through April, and the snow didn’t really cooperate with that. I also remember you calling me at times when you weren’t feeling up to snuff. You had taken a few diggers; you had stories about the effort being put forth and being let down when you couldn’t take it where you were trying to go. When I start something out, sometimes I’ll jump up ahead to the result without even having done any of the work. Take the beginning of this season, for example, where I had this opportunity to do two movies. Right when that happened I was thinking, “Okay, I’m going to have a part in these awesome movies,” and that was even before I started filming. I already started thinking about what I was going to have in a year without having even put forth the effort yet. It was like I was just going to jump into the future and, “Oh- it’s done,” but when they started filming and I had to do these two things, it just got harder and harder and harder. This was the first season when I ever really felt the stress of filming video parts because it was one of the worst snow seasons I’ve ever experienced. “Okay, it snowed two inches in Michigan, let’s go there. Then, next week, it snowed in Montana, let’s go there.” You have to change your flight, and you have to drive 21 hours, and you have to be there and do this for a week, and then you have to be in Oregon. I’ve never had to jump around so much. It was so stressful. There was a time from late December to late February/early March where I was in my house in Tahoe for a total of maybe three or four days. It was crazy being gone for that long. That was
the first time I’ve had to deal with that, but now that I’m thinking about the next season, my plan is to do the same thing over again and be on the road as much as I can. What have you learned? I learned that when you’re filming for a movie like Any Means or what Autumnline has become now, it’s not what it used to be. I grew up filming with Matt and Adam and we didn’t even have to go anywhere. We just stayed here for so many years just kind of doing the same thing. As the weather changes and as snowboarding grows, you have to go to new places, and it gets so much harder than it ever was before. This is the first year I ever felt that. It was definitely a shock for me. This year I say that I’m ready for it, but I don’t know if you can ever really know what’s coming. Where was your favorite destination last year? Where did you have the most fun? Whenever I can come back to where I live in Ohio to film that’s always awesome because it’s familiar, but the coolest thing about snowboarding and filming video parts and being able to travel is you get to go check out new places. The best new place that I got to go to was Montana. Casey Neefus and I snowmobiled in Montana for a week and rode powder. That was the first time all season I rode powder and it was awesome. That was definitely the coolest place I’ve ever gotten to go…that I can think of. Just being in some crazy remote location with nobody around except a couple snowmobilers- no snowboarders. It was super cold; I got frostbite on my nose snowmobiling out to this spot. I hadn’t even strapped into my board yet and I got frostbite. It was like -40 degrees every morning. To any normal person that sounds like hell, but it was awesome. Did you experience any scary moments up there?
Well the drive there was scary. Casey bought an ’88 Ford truck- or a Chevy- I don’t even know what it is- but it’s the crappiest little truck. He bought it in Oregon for $1,200 and we drove it. To get to the spot that we went to it was supposed to be about 20 hours. We were both in Tahoe and we got the call from our team manager at 6 o’clock at night. “Hey- you have to be in Montana tomorrow,” so we just picked up and left. We drove and just kept on driving. The next day, we drove all day and then at night we were in this pass called Teton Pass- just west of Yellowstone. It was really hot and sunny that day, and all the snow melted and turned into water. Then that night it froze so this whole pass was this solid sheet of ice and we were slipping all over the place. I was driving and Casey was asleep. A bunch of times I thought we were going die. His transmission was going out on his truck so we thought we were going to get stranded in the middle of Montana wilderness so that was pretty crazy. Then, a couple days later, I was hiking up the side of this face to do a line. . I was probably half way up there and this huge slab broke off like 20 ft from me. It was gnarly avalanche conditions. If I had ridden the line I had wanted to do it would’ve taken me off some gnarly cliff and I would’ve been done. The backcountry perspective is definitely a learning experience. We obviously don’t have too many avalanche conditions here in the Middle. Do you feel like being where you’re from has had a positive or negative effect on you? It’s been positive. Midwest people don’t grow up having everything handed to them; they don’t have awesome mountains, tons of snow, and amazing parks. They don’t get to ride powder and all this stuff so it seems to me that people from this area want it more. When we finally get the chance to go someplace cool and we get the chance to kind of make this a career, we work harder because it’s
something that’s earned. I just got lucky because Matt and Adam were two of my best friends, and we grew up making movies together. We all kind of came up together so I have this outlet to show people the progression I have every year. Look at all the snowboarders from Minnesota- people from this area just have an amazing drive. They just want to get out there and handle business. When you were first coming up, who were your influences? Who really fueled your fire? Who did you watch and get stoked? The first year I started snowboarding I kind of did it just because it was something to do. I had never seen a snowboard movie; I didn’t know what the deal was with it. I thought it was like skiing. I didn’t know snowboarders spun or jumped or hit rails because our resort didn’t have a park the first year or two I was snowboarding. Then, the first year I bought a board, we bought Technical Difficulties. So I was influenced the Forum guys and anyone who was in the movies. I had The Resistance, Whitey movies, and I bought the Mack Dawg movies every year. I was down for J. P. Walker. You know, who wasn’t? I was into all the M3 guys like Mikey LeBlanc, Blaise Rosenthal, Chad Otterstrom, and Scotty Wittlake of course. I always thought Gabe Taylor was awesome. A couple weeks ago, when I got asked who my top three favorite snowboarders are Gigi Ruff was on that list as well as Mikey. Those were some of the first people that I ever saw and now they’re still some of my favorites which I think is cool. It’s Corduroy’s opinion that snowboarding is a pretty simple activity that’s fun and enjoyable and can bring people to a new place in their life. We’re trying to give you an opportunity to reflect on that place and share with other kids in the snowboarding lifestyle. Here’s the obligatory shout out section. Give love to who you need to.
Alright, shout outs: mom and dad, Pete Harvieux, Brad Alband, Mikey LaBlanc, Matt and Adam Porter, Brad Schiffel, George Kleckner, Andy and Kelly Blumberg, Chip Bleakney, Robbie Sell, Mike Paddock, Josh Reid, High Cascade, Kevin Strout, John English… I think that’s it. I hope I didn’t forget anybody.
Where and why did you start sliding snow sideways? I liked to go sledding at my house. We had this plastic snowboard, and I liked that too. Then my sisters started snowboarding- they were like the first girls to snowboard in Mt. Brighton- and they invited me one day. So they were basically the reason I started…and because I was curious. What pushed you to progress to where you are now with it? The first day I went there were maybe ten kids from my grade- I think it was 5th grade. The whole attack just happened in New York and we were bummed so we wanted to do something new and fun. We just started going, and it was really cool to wear sweatshirts. I had this big coat so I wore my sweatshirt and was like, “This is fun,” and then we just kept going every day. So it’s just a matter of riding daily with your friends? Yeah, it always has been. It brings out the good vibes. Most of my old friends are still snowboarding today so it’s cool. Do you feel the best at your home mountain or do you like to get out and explore more?
How has that shaped your ideas about what you’re going to do this year in terms of traveling and what you would ultimately like to do? I would like to do something like what I did last year. I’d like to make it overseas but anywhere else is fine too…just somewhere new and completely different. It opened me up a lot. It’s good to keep in touch with all those people I met too because it’s good to have a variety of friends. At the end of the year I asked you how your season went and if you had learned anything new and you said you learned how to ride your snowboard better. What does that mean to you? I spent a lot of time riding every day and riding different ways every day. As for tricks, I didn’t try new ones, like landing perfectly, as often so it wasn’t perfect… nothing’s perfect…not as dialed. I felt a lot more comfortable with everything. This year I’d like to improve certain skills. You want to take those new skills and perfect them? Yeah, perfect them.
I like to explore, for sure.
Even though nothing’s perfect?
You traveled last year and you were able to go overseas…
Right, right. I’m excited. I want to try handrails a lot this year. I found the perfect one. It’s miniature so it’s good for me, and there’s one right next door that’s good for my friend Cameron. His is a double kink, mine’s not. You can hang out together and progress! I’ll be over here and he’ll be over there. It was really funny when we found it.
Over the ocean, yeah. How was that snowboarding experience for you? It was nuts being in a different country with people that don’t speak English as their main language. They were all really nice to me. It was bigger than Mt. Brighton. The whole thing was to the extreme… …Rock the mic like a vandal.
You have a pretty tight crew of riders. How does having a good crew of friends that are really close contribute to your daily riding experience? You guys always look like you’re having the best time in the world. It’s inspiring.
Yup! It was a good experience.
Everytime we ride, it’s really good. It’s
It’s cool because this weekend we met all these other kids and got to know them a lot better. They’re from the Pontiac area, and we’re Brightoners. Everyone got along really well so it’s pretty exciting. We’re not going to ride with them everyday, but we know that people are there to ride withthat locals can ride with non-locals.
were too strict, and at times I wasn’t enjoying it so I just wanted to go have some fun, and come back, and go have some fun, and come back.
So you’d like to travel and you’d like to perfect your tricks this year that you learned last year?
Are penguin slides a signature Marie move?
Right. I’ll try a little bid harder to set some more…uh…goals. It was pretty laid back. Is it important for you to have goals? Does that motivate you? Yeah, goals are good to have ..smaller ones or something to give you a poke on the back and then go for it. How do you feel about the contest environment? You’ve had success in it and you’ve done really well. It’s kind of a difficult concept from my point of view. It’s good. It got me started. A lot of my friends were competing so that got me into it a lot more. We all went on weekend trips around Michigan together. It was something to keep us all busy. I just kept going and rising next level to next level- I was not expecting that- so it was working out pretty smoothly. Then I realized that sometimes competing is a little bit ridiculous. I felt kind of annoyed because so many rules were set. Snowboarding shouldn’t have any rules. I was getting sick of it at one point, but then a competition in Switzerland came up and that was a great time. I’m starting to get pickier about whether or not I want to venture into contests. What’s that attributed to? Is it your maturity as a rider or the fact that’s not the style of riding you are pursuing? It’s a little bit of both. Maturity let me see other kinds of tricks and what other kids were doing. The competitions were
Cruise around and do cartwheels? Yeah, penguin slides!
That’s what I do when I’m lazy and Mt. Brighton is iced over so I can’t really snowboard. It’s the alternative snowboarding. Do they sell separate penguin slide passes? They don’t now, but they will. How has the sponsorship arena been for you? Obviously you’re an up-andcoming rider- you’re getting the first Future interview in Corduroy magazine! It’s going really well. It took off a lot of pressure and it definitely opened me up to a bunch of new companies and people. I would never know all the companies as well if I didn’t have friends riding for them and getting hyped on each other. I’ve met a ton of people randomly. For example, if Rome throws a Pre-Jib or an event, there are all those people there. I think it’s a good part of snowboarding; it gets people really excited. Was that a dream for you- to be a sponsored girl? Do you aspire to progress to that level and travel the world, earn a check, and get incentives? That’d be fun. …have people use your face all over to sell product? Scary, but good. How was Ms. Superpark? That was one of the best experiences I’ve had by far- being able to ride with all of the girls that I’ve seen in movies
and magazines. Everyone was incredibly friendly and introduced themselves. Most girls knew each other from before but I was new to everything. Riding in May was so awesome! Sun and slush. I got to meet Marie-France. Riding with her was inspiring. She got her tricks; they’re in the new video. Everyone was super excited, “Yeah- she did it!” Everyone was really supportive of each other. When you look at snowboarders, who inspires you to ride harder? Who do you draw inspiration from? I would imagine both men and women. On a regular day, I ride mainly with the guys. They push me to try harder things I’m usually scared of. At Ms. SuperPark, I saw how much the girls killed it, and I was inspired in a different way. I’m inspired by anyone who isn’t afraid; anyone who just goes for it and doesn’t hold back. Can you define your own style? No, not really. I can define it. It’s called sqweaks. That day you’re thinking of I lost my voice and everything just came out sqweaky. I just like to have fun and everything else added together. I’m not sure how to describe it. You went to Camp of Champions this summer. How was that? It was a fabulous time. Everything was really free- free for riding. I had a coach, Chris Dufficy; he’s quite the character. We were called Team Speedo. Everyone was just really cool with each other. I saw a lot of people from last season and learned some stuff. Cameron got a photo of you wallriding. Oh yeah, that one. I didn’t make it quite to the top that time That’s okay; it’s a cool photo. Good style- you’re wearing like a shirt-dress.
I ran out of everything so I just started wearing kind of random clothes. The town’s really cool there. I like Canada; it was my first time in that part of it. It’s beautiful!
Bubble tea! The day after the Architecture concert I couldn’t find a parking spot- it was pouring rain- I parked in a no-parking zone to go get my bubble tea. I got strawberry snow bubble with black bubbles.
You went to a lot of places this year.
How has being a Midwestern rider shaped your riding? When you travel and you meet people from other places like California or Utah or wherever, how do you feel about growing up here snowboarding?
Yeah, I did. I don’t regret any of it. There were some doubts when I got off the plane and all my stuff was missing. I was like, “This isn’t going to be a good trip,” but it was okay. Camp of Champions… I like Camp of Champions. It was fun. Cameron’s gone there for like eight or nine years so he feels at home. It was crazy for me. He knew his way everywhere and I kept getting lost. On the first day I got there I was lost for two hours by myself… ...in the circular weirdness that is Whistler Village, navigating by bars and bubble tea.
I’m proud of it. For sure. I like the Midwest and feel everyone’s very together on everything and it’s happy. It makes me happy. Everything’s small, but that way I can look forward to stuff when I go somewhere else. When I tell people I’m from the Midwest they’re like, “Ohhhh,” and I’m like, “It’s better than it sounds. It’s a lot more fun.” “But you don’t have any mountains.” “We get by.” I’m sure I wouldn’t be the same person if I wasn’t from the Midwest.
So you like sewing. How did you start sewing?
myself to the most expensive dinner I can find.
Really randomly. Someone asked, “Hey, do you have a sewing machine? Do you want to sew my snowpants?” I’m like, “I guess so,” and they turned out ok so we all sewed our snowpants and made t-shirts and stuff like that.
And pay with change?
You kind of have a button fetish don’t you?
No, I’ll probably cash it in because it’d get really heavy. I’ve already made over a hundred in less than half a year from people giving it to me, finding it, my friend Chris’ basement. Finders keepers. What else should I finish with? I like my car! Marie, how old are you?
Yes. I just recently bought a huge jar of buttons.
I’m 16.
Yeah, buttons everywhere. What about change?
Oh my god. How’s driving on the sidewalks?
I collect change. My friends now know to give me their change.
I haven’t made it that far yet. How many accidents have you had?
Does that make you a lot richer? Yes. I haven’t figured out what I’m saving for yet, but I think I’m going to treat myself
Uhh, two. One was with my car and one was with my mom’s minivan. I crashed into my new friend’s card. I didn’t know
her at that time, but it was a good way to meet a friend! Yup, crash into her sister’s car. The bumper falls off. Yeah, it’s going good. Do the obligatory shout outs to the homeys and what not. Okay. I’d like to say thanks to my mom for being an awesome travel partner and past travel agent, my friends from my hometown who are still hanging with me, everyone else from around the entire mitten, you, and everyone else I’ve metthey’re all important to me. I don’t like to name specifics. I’m trying to think of some final words but nothing’s final so… That was great final word right there, “Nothing’s final.” Nothing’s final; it just keeps going.
1-7. FERNIE, BRITISH COLUMBIA - GUSTAV OLHSSON
1. HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JASON KELL 2. MT. HOOD, OREGON - LINDSAY WEINERT 3. WINTERPARK, COLORADO - TODD WESTPHAL 4. mt hood, oregon - lindsay weinert 5. winterpark, colorado - todd westphal 6. RED MOUNTAIN PASS, COLORADO - ED HERBOLD 7-8. MT. HOOD, OREGON - LINDSAY WEINERT
1. CAMERON STRAND 2. ECHO MOUNTAIN, COLORADO - DAVE LEHL 3. CAMERON STRAND 4-6. ECHO MOUNTAIN, COLORADO - DAVE LEHL 7-8. whistler, british columbia - cameron strand
SAFARI 90. mt. hood, oregon - dj ward 91. PORTLAND, OREGON - DJ WARD 93. BOZEMEN, MONTANA - MIKE FORESTER 95. ECHO MOUNTAIN, COLORADO - CAMERON STRAND 97. COLORADO - ED HERBOLD 99. BRIGHTON, UTAH - ANDREW BURNS 100. (TOP) BRIGHTON, UTAH - ANDREW BURNS (BOTTOM) BEAR TOOTH PASS, MONTANA - TERRY JACOBSON 101. brighton, utah - ANDREW BURNS 103. CAMERON STRAND 105. PORTLAND, OREGON - DJ WARD 107. MT. HOOD, OREGON - DJ WARD 109. BIG SKY, MONTANA - MIKE FORESTER
LAUNCH IT 112. PETOSKY, MICHIGAN - CAMERON STRAND 113. brighton, michigan - cameron strand 115. mt. hood, oregon - dj ward 116. fernie, british columbia - gustav ohlsson 117-118. minnesota - peter harvieux 119. BRIGHTON, MICHIGAN - CAMERON STRAND 121-122. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - CAMERON STRAND 123. MINNESOTA - PETER HARVIEUX 124. MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - PETER HARVIEUX 125. OHIO - MATT PORTER 126. OHIO - KEVIN CASTANHEIRA 127. minneapolis, minnesota - nate harrington 128. mt. hood, oregon - lindsey weinert