Interviewed by Dan for his final year project at Nottingham Trent Uni. Thought I’d post up my response, as the questions were good and summarize my first season snowboarding.
It’s nice to see my images used also. They seem to work pretty well.
Click below to read the interview..
WHAT RESORT DID YOU CHOOSE FOR YOUR SEASON ?
A: Whitewater, Near Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
WHAT WERE YOUR REASONS FOR CHOOSING THAT RESORT?
A: Quiet location, small town, cheaper than the bigger resorts, good terrain and snowfall.
WHAT DID YOU / ARE YOU LOOKING TO GET OUT OF THE SEASON SPENT IN WHITEWATER?
A: To level up my snowboarding skills and live a life in the mountains.
DID YOU GO IT ALONE OR GO AS A GROUP?
A: I went out with one other person and I met one of his friends while out there. We spent half the season as a three, and slowly broke off to do our own thing.
MEET ANY COOL PEOPLE AND HOW DID THEY INFLUENCE YOU?
A: I met some of the coolest people. Being in a small town where
everyone has similar interests is really inspiring. I was pushed to try tricks and features I would have never done on my own. I have those people to thank for helping me progress.
FAVOURITE ASPECT OF THE RESORT YOU SEASONED?
A: Its a very small resort with only three lifts. There is a great deal of terrain covered by these lifts, which was awesome. I loved how empty the runs were, I would often get from the top to the bottom of runs with out seeing another person! Another great feature is that the resort has no cell phone reception or wifi, this means people actually talk to each other and are not constantly on their phones.
DID YOU FOCUS ON ONE PARTICULAR AREA OF SNOWBOARDING? IF SO WHICH AND WHY
A: It was fairly varied. There was a little terrain park with some decent kickers and rails, but the resort has so many natural features that we spent most the time just free-riding those.
COULD YOU SEE YOURSELF DOING ANOTHER SEASON? IF YES WHICH RESORT WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
A: I would love the opportunity to do another season. If I was to do one again I think it would be at the same resort. But I would like to check out the other local resorts also.
BEST THINGS ABOUT YOUR SEASON ?
A: Meeting and working with the Sweetgrass Production team. Got to photograph and ride the first skate-style snowbowl in North America with them. We also did some night shoots up the mountain which included building big kickers and firing lots of fireworks… that was pretty sick.
ANY WORDS OF WISDOM FOR ANYONE THINKING OF DOING A SEASON?
A: Try your hardest to save money before you go. If its your first season your better off trying to go the 5 months with out working and just be a ski bum. That way you get to fully enjoy the experience.
BEING A RECOGNISED VIDEOGRAPHER AND PHOTOGRAPHER, DID THAT HELP YOU ON YOUR SEASON?
A: Yes massively. I see the time and effort I put in to my work as a form of currency. By which I mean, it allows me to get into situations where it would other wise cost a lot of money. For example I was invited to go backcountry sledding with a pro rider. I wasn’t paid, but that didn’t
matter because I was gaining invaluable experience. It all seems to
accelerate also, the more I did the more opportunities came up.
THE QUADCOPTER, DID THAT GET A LOT OF ATTENTION IN RESORT?
A: Yes a lot. I was told by multiple people that it was the talk of the town! haha
HOW DID YOU COME ABOUT YOUR ACCOMADATION? IT LOOKS SUPER COOL.
A: It was super cool.. it was one of the fate things I guess. We were
looking for a place to stay for about a week, it was proving really hard to find anywhere decent. One evening we checked the notice board
outside the library and there was a message saying this group
of people were looking for three housemates for the winter. There was three of us so it seemed perfect. Went to meet them the next day and got along great.
The place was amazing, a nine bedroom retreat center in the summer. The only down side to it was the location. We were up a 2.5km logging track in the middle of nowhere, which meant driving to the ski hill took about 35mins.
WE HADNT HEARD OF NELSON BEFORE, HOW DID YOU COME ABOUT IT AS MOST PEOPLE THINK OF WHISTLER WHEN THEY THINK OF CANADA.
A: I’ve done plenty of ski resort towns in Europe, I knew Whistler would be the same thing… lots of partying and very busy. I was on the hunt for something completely different. I wanted to experience the real Canada and Nelson somehow ended up being the spot for just that.
PROUDEST MOMENT OF THE TRIP?
A: Attempting and landing my first backflip on a snowboard. I was
bricking it before hand, but was so stoked when I landed it.
WHATS NEXT FOR YOU NOW YOU HAVE RETURNED?
A: Keep working on a freelance basis until I can work out the way to my next adventure.
ANY ADVICE FOR THE BUDDING PHOTOGRAPHER / VIDEOGRAPHER ?
A: Yes, work really hard, keep going even when things seem pointless and worthless. Set your self a goal and keep working towards that no matter what it takes. And most importantly, enjoy what you are doing.
Nice one Dan.
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