NOV. 2011 BIG MOUNTAIN GOLD STRUCK IN SILVERTON WOMEN’S DOUBLE BACK IN THE BACKCOUNTRY R: Justin Van Der Poelen P: Geoff Andruik NOV. 2011 BIG MOUNTAIN GOLD STRUCK IN SILVERTON WOMEN’S DOUBLE BACK IN THE BACKCOUNTRY R: Justin Van Der Poelen P: Geoff Andruik
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LOVE, MAN,” STORY, BUT THIS BRIT HAPPENEDTO HAVE LARGER-THAN-TYPICAL BALLS AND
DECIDED HE WOULD HANDLE THE MATTER
HIMSELF AND GET OVER TO THE STATES.
The ollowing year, Nate let the fats o Forest Row to live in
Crested Butte where he worked as an instructor or a couple oyears before continuing on to Breckenridge. The dude’s been afterit ever since, spending the past eight seasons in Breck, carving out
his own place on the contest circuit. Now there is a new contest in the mix, and whether you like it or
not, there will be snowboard slopestyle in Sochi and the UnitedKingdom and Nate Kern will be a part o it. “I have been invited as
a part-time guy for the team, being based here in Colorado, so I can
train with them whenever I want. That’s what I am doing onthis trip.”(A month-long October trip to Austria with the U.K. National team).
Nate is looking to ollow the likes o Jenny Jones and JamieNicholls - helping to urther develop snowboarding in the U.K. He
hopes a strong showing on a global stage will grasp the attentionand support of Britain’s communities, making it a bit easier for kids
that are interested in boarding to get their stab at it.
“As ar as the opportunities in the U.K., it’s night and day (in
comparison to the U.S.), there are no real mountains or snow inthe U.K. other than what we have in Scotland and that’s morecomparable to the Midwest,” says Kern. “Kids who have only
indoor snow domes with man made snow and a ew rails reallyhave to get out there and nd unding or parental support to get
BRECK, BRITAIN AND THE OLYMPICS ALL
HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON, NATE KERN.
LADY KILLERS
BY MIKE GOODWIN
P: TERRY RATZLAFF
NATE
K ERND.O.B.: As young as you eel.
RESIDES: Breckenridge, CO
HOMETOWN: Forest Row, England
SPONSORS: DC, Breckenridge Resort, GoPro, Me.Glad, Drop MFG, Bawbags, Aerial7,
over to Europe - like with the British team. It’s totally dierentthan most places in the world. There really isn’t any backing, even
on the British team, other than your individual sponsors you getsupport rom. The unding or snowboarding (in the U.K.) is prettynon-existent as o now.”
Nate’s pride is apparent when he speaks about his home countryand he hopes the governing bodies in U.K. sports will support awider feld o athletes with the coming o the 2014 Olympics. “I’m
really hoping to see some changes coming into next summer withqualiying or Sochi starting,” says Nate. “From that I believe it will
help get more exposure or us that has seemed to lack also. Top
coach, Hamish Mcknight, who has been involved very closely overthe past years, has been amazing as a coach and with workingtowards getting the unding we deserve that seems available tonearly all other countries.”
But there still remains a season between slopestyle’s debut to the
circus that is the Olympics and it will be a season unlike any beoreor Nate. It will be a balancing eat o short and long-term goals –time split between Dew Tour stops and some personal fne-tuning.
“It’s amazing un traveling,” says Nate. “I love it, going to dierentplaces and riding in dierent events, but I think with where I eel I
am at right now, having fnished the season last year a little early
with my knee. I think I really want to spend more time this year in
Breckenridge in training and getting ready - kind o building up or
the next season. Taking a step back a little bit and trying to workon my riding, consistency and obviously the level o tricks I need tobe ocused on doing. That’s kind o my aim this season. And tryingto get out in the backcountry and have some un.”
broke my right side at the end oit too. They were small, but very
irritating setbacks.
SO YOU’VE PRETTY MUCH
DONE ALL THE SNOWBOARD
TRICKS OUT THERE, WHAT
ARE YOUR PLANS FOR NEXT
YEAR? WHAT’S THE NEW SHIT?
Hmmm… I´m just going to
take it day-by-day, if I want to
learn something new it has to
be more in the moment, if the
timing is right. You know, perect
day, perect eature, good times
with friends, you know, a “lets
send shit,” type session.
W H A T ’ S U P W I T H
NORWEGIANS? IT SEEMS
LIKE THERE ARE A LOT OF
PARK JUMPERS COMING
OUT OF THERE THESE DAYS
WHEN IT WAS JUST ANDREAS
FOREVER. HOW ARE THEY
GETTING SO GOOD?
I got a lot of my motivation
rom Andreas or sure! He pretty
much set the bar. Plus it’s all wehad. The backcountry in Norway
is super hard to access. We do
have lots of rails though.
BEFORE THE LAST X GAMES
YOU WERE FAMOUS WITH
THE SNOWBOARDERS IN
THE SNOWBOARD INDUSTRY.
THEN THEY HYPED UP YOUR
TRIPLE CHUCK A LOT, AND
NOW YOU’RE PRETTY WORLD
FAMOUS. I KNOW YOU DIDN’T
EVEN LIKE THE TRICK YOU
DID. IS IT WEIRD THAT IT GOT
SO MUCH HYPE AND YOU
DIDN’T EVEN LIKE IT?
Haha yeah, that was pretty
weird. That was some in the
moment shit, with a perect day
and good times with friends.
Not a perfect feature though. I
wanted to do it like the frst one
I did back in Norway, but just
couldn’t.
I WISH I COULD DO THOSE
TRICKS ON PARK JUMPS,
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT
THE PEOPLE WHO HATE ON
AERIAL SNOWBOARDING? DO
YOU THINK IT’S JUST BECAUSE
THEY CAN’T DO IT?
I don’t really care. It’s just
snowboarding and I love every
part of it. I can still do backside
180’s and tweak my grabs.
YOU’VE SNOWBOARDED ALL
AROUND THE WORLD THE
LAST COUPLE YEARS. AFTER
MEETING YOU DOWN IN NEW
ZEALAND A FEW YEARS AGO
I’M SURE YOU’VE BEEN TO
SOME COOL SNOWBOARD
SPOTS. WHERE’S YOUR
FAVORITE PLACE SO FAR?
Hell yea bro, that session was
so sick! I think I like Tahoe
the most, just because it has
everything and I have been
there the most. It feels like a
second home by now.
ANY GIRLS ON THE SCENE
THESE DAYS OR ARE YOU
ROLLING SOLO?
I have Nicole man. She has been
faithful to me and she is down
to get nasty.
BY CHAD OTTERSTROM
P: JON PACIARONI
D.O.B.: 02/18/87
RESIDES: Trodenhein, NorwayHOMETOWN: Trodenhein, NorwaySPONSORS: His Mom, DC, Oakley, Vestal, Park City, Rockstar Energy Drink, AWSM,Contour, Kicker, Torstein.netSTANCE: Regular
TORSTEIN
HORGMOf: 15b: -12 22.5 in. 147 cm. (ra il) / 150.5 cm. (park) / 158 cm. (pow)
Watch and learn. It is a simple concept that most peoplehave heard beore. For Kimmy Fasani it’s more like – watch,land and ride out o a double back fip. This Mammoth Lakenative denitely set the tone early in her season last year.She separated hersel rom all other women currently insnowboarding, by taking a risk and just going or it this lastJanuary. She now holds the title or the rst emale rider to landa double back fip in the park and powder and it happened righthere in Silverton, Colorado.
Kimmy Fasani grew up in Truckee, Caliornia and has beensnowboarding since she was seven-years-old. She has competedin a number o competitions including the X Games and the Dew
Tour. During the last year, she spent the majority o her timelming with Standard Films. When she wasn’t riding, Kimmywas planning her wedding, which took place in Mammoth Lakethis September. It didn’t take long to realize that Kimmy, was ahumble, down to earth badass. She said, “I eel very ortunateto be in the position I’m in, it’s been a un time.” Unortunatelyshe missed the world premier o her part in Standard Films’TB20 at Snowboard on the Rocks. It’s okay, we understand. Ahoneymoon in Arica with her hubby Chris is a legit excuse. Forthose o you who were not at Snowboard on the Rocks, thecrowd went wild and denitely gave props to Kimmy while theywatched her part in TB20.
There was little preparation or the double back fip that day inSilverton. With no real training other than our back fips in aharness and a background in gymnastics, Kimmy didn’t know whatto expect. She admits to being a visual learner. “I learn by seeingthings. I just get the eeling rom watching other riders.” There wassome additional YouTube prep the morning o the jump. She waswatching the rotations and placement rom Eero Ettala.
Lie is a little like Ro-Sham-Bo, it is all about the choices youmake. As you get older, these choices become more substantialand can impact your lie ar more than you would ever expect.When Cheryl Maas decided to invite Kimmy and Hana Beamanto Silverton to lm with her or her upcoming webisode series,Open Air , none o the ladies knew how their simple choiceto - invite and accept - would impact women’s snowboarding.Everything about the trip to Silverton was on point – the peopleshe was with, the Colorado weather and Kimmy’s mentality. “Igot to ride with two really amazing riders, Cheryl Maas and HanaBeaman. We all just share the same passion. We are out theresnowboarding because we love it.”
The day the ladies and both lm crews arrived in Silverton, thesnow was dumping. Kimmy said, “The snow just did not stopcoming down.” Most o their rst day on the mountain was spentbuilding the jump in the backcountry. Ater joking with Cherylabout how cool doubles in the backcountry were, Kimmy madea choice that it was time to land the double. She only decidedto tell her lm guy what was up. She said, “I don’t know howit’s going to go, but you might want to be on it. When I saw the jump area and that there was really no consequence unless Imessed up as a rider, I decided when we’re building the jump, itwas denitely going to be the place that I try it.”
ALTITUDE SICKNESS
BY TIFFANY HARDER
P: JEFF CURLEYR: KIMMY FASANI
D.O.B.: 04/25/84RESIDES: Mammoth Lake, CAHOMETOWN: Mammoth Lake, CASPONSORS: DC, Zeal Optics, Skullcandy, Cli Bar, Mammoth Mountain, SnowcreekAthletic Club, Mimi’s Cookie BarSTANCE: Gooy
KIMMYFASANI : 18
b: -15 21 in. 151 cm. (backcountry)
“IT’S A MATTER OF KNOWING YOU ARECAPABLE. MAKING SURE YOU TRUST
The last eight years I’ve been reading a lot of books , watching
documentaries and digging deeper on things. People guide usaround like sheep, ruining the world and our environment. Ourwinters are most likely getting worse. We are going to leave our
kids with a ucked up world to live in.
Being a consumer, you are either being a part o the solution orpart o the problem. The frst step is to know what really goes on,
what we are doing, and knowing how to do your part to help. Iyou do nothing, you are a part o the problem.
It comes down to the way it is with the oil companies, plastics,and all the crap we consume. They do the nastiest shit to otherpeople or money, like cigarette companies, ood companies,
pharmaceutical companies, banks and real estate people, it’s sonasty. The only way we can change anything that goes on in thisworld is to know how it aects everybody.
Snowboarders are dope because they aren’t like the suit types,they go ater their passion. Most kids grow up to learn how to
chase money, they only have a passion or cash. It ’s about theculture o money. Chasing money, sorry, that’s just not real lie.There’s no purpose to that. As you get older and wiser you startthinking about “what’s my purpose?” Really, we were put on this
earth to help other people. That’s why rich people and a lot owealthy people are not very happy because they are ocused onthemselves. You are supposed to be ocused on helping other
people. That’s what lie is all about. There is no better eelingthan helping someone out. To help anybody, you need to beeducated, then take action and build yoursel into a leader.
Know what’s going on around you and then do things that make
sense. Help, and have a purpose in lie. Don’t just sit there andtake care o yoursel.
I have a tab on my site (markrankmontoya.com) that says, “defnenecessity.” It has three starving black babies in Arica and anEscalade on 22s. Defne necessity you know. “Oh, I gotta have thiscar.” This is like airy tale land over here man. I’ve been traveling,
going over to Brazil and seeing dierent places. I have to say mosto the world is ucked up. We only care about ourselves.
Be somebody and stand up! Don’t be an ignorant consumer.Your passion or snowboarding is dope, but when you aren’tmaking any money and don’t have any extra time you can’t
help anybody. I watch a lot o pros go rom pro snowboarderback to an employee. We have so much power. I just witnessed8,000 people and i you could actually get them to put down a
joint or a beer or a second and watch the right movie or right
documentary they would get pissed and say, “how do I help?”
Everybody needs somebody next to them telling them to stayaway rom ucked up riends and amily, people that say, “youcan’t do shit. Why don’t you just get a job? Why don’t you go toschool?” Instead, go ater your passion, not the money. “What are
you going to be when you grow up? A doctor? A lawyer?” Why?So you can make your amily proud? Don’t go or the money.Go or your passion, be happy, and make a living. You will be
somebody that has a purpose and think about other people. It’ssuch a dope eeling to help so many people that I do right now. I
Lately everyone is talking about how terrible the gas mileage
is on their car or SUV. And it’s true, we all drive a bunch o gasguzzlers. The thing most people don’t think o when they talkabout how wasteul these things are is that there are all kinds othings out there that are way worse on uel eciency than a caror truck. Construction equipment is a huge oender. Anotherhuge waste o ossil uel is something we see everyday at our localresorts, snowcats. And most don’t even think twice about how badsnowcats are on uel. EcoGroomer is a company that is coming upwith a solution to this problem.
One reason or lit ticket prices being so high and getting higherover the last ew years is because snowcats are so terrible onuel use. While this isn’t the sole reason, and may not be a hugeconcern or us season pass holders. Season passes have also goneup every year, but not nearly as bad as the day tickets. It alreadycost a ton to operate a world class ski resort, add the rising uelcosts and it’s no wonder that a day ticket cost almost $100.
Dan Osborne, CEO o EcoGroomer, came up with a potentialsolution. Osborne says, “the idea or the EcoGroomer is somethingI’ve been thinking about or a while. Every time I was on themountain I’d see 10 or 20 groomers in ormation and it just
seemed like such a waste o uel and resources. It really justbugged me.” Osborne says he got the idea or the design romseeing a tractor pulling something called a gang mower alongthe highway. The tractor was mowing grass three times as wideas itsel and the idea hit him. “Why don’t they groom snow likethat?” Osborne says he spent roughly the next month researchingthe easibility o his idea, and he concluded that it was doable.What he came up with is basically a tool that is placed onto anexisting snowcat, “like a boat trailer,” says Osborne, to triple theamount o snow a single cat can groom. There are a bunch obenets to this. The rst is that a single cat would use less ueland create less pollution while grooming more area. I each cat
MORE GROOM,LESS VROOM
in a feet can groom more area, resorts can cut uel cost and usesignicantly less, maybe as much as approximately 30%, becausethey wouldn’t have to run as many cats at once. The EcoGroomerscan create an extra 200% in the surace area groomed by aeach snowcat. They would also save a lot o money on labor,because they wouldn’t have to pay as many people to operate thesnowcats at one time.
EcoGroomer.com says that i major ski resorts in the U.S.converted just a portion o their huge snowcat feets toEcoGroomer, it would save over 20 million gallons o diesel uelby the year 2020, and would cut operating costs by nearly $150million. I this happens, lit ticket and season pass prices mightactually go down a bit. Here’s something to think about, what iresorts continue to operate as is. It’s very possible that in time,there will be no more grooming. Diesel costs will continue to rise,labor will be expensive as all hell, and eventually grooming mightstop all together because it would just be too expensive. Thiswould mean no more groomed runs to fy down at mach 3. Nobueno, my riend. The EcoGroomer is meant to groom about 60%o runs at a given resort, the “meat and potatoes grooming,” asOsborne calls it. Green and blue runs can be groomed in abouthal the time and resources. Terrain parks and steeper runs will still
have to be done using current methods, which is simply the natureo the beast.
EcoGroomer seems to really be on to something with this idea.The company is already gaining major support rom all over theski and snowboard industry. Numerous resorts, including Aspenand Lake Louise have oered to take part in the testing o the rstprototype EcoGroomer models, scheduled or this season. I allgoes well, we could be seeing the rst production EcoGroomers inuse as early as 2012/2013 winter.
IT WOULD BE TERRIBLY INACCURATE AND GROTESQUELY CLICHÉ TOSAY THAT SILVERTON MOUNTAIN SEPARATES THE MEN FROM THE BOYS;
BECAUSE IT DOES MUCH MORE THAN THAT. SO I’LL JUST SAY THIS,IF YOU ACT LIKE A BITCH ANY TIME YOUR FRIENDS WANT TO HIKEUP A RIDGE, OR IF YOU’VE NEVER GONE A FULL SEASON OF RIDINGWITHOUT ONCE TAKING A CHAIRLIFT, OR IF YOU’VE NEVER POINTED IT
STRAIGHT DOWN AN 8-FOOT-WIDE ICY ASS CHUTE; THEN MAYBE YOU
SHOULD KEEP YOUR PANSY-ASS AT HOME FOR THIS TRIP BRO.
The easiest, or should I say, least lie threatening, run at SilvertonMountain has a 35 degree pitch, and i you know anything aboutavalanches, you know that’s in the perect pitch range or slides.
While we were there, there was very recent evidence o one o thebiggest slides I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. Just picture hal oA-Basin breaking loose at once. It was obviously controlled though,
you could see the powder marks rom the blast near the crown othe slide. But ear not, the helicopter at Silverton Mountain isn’t just
there or a quick ride to some o the best runs in Colorado. Theavalanche control team utilizes the heli as a valuable avy mitigation
tool, tossin’ charges on that shit all day. Constantly bombing perilous
cornices and wind loads, these guys are setting o more charges in
the subsequent weeks ater a big storm than most resorts set o all
year. (I was also told that they totally blew up Shaun White’s private
halpipe when he was done with it, yesss).
Speaking o heli rides, i you’ve got the cash to throw down, you can
get a taste o what it’s like to be Travis Rice or a ew brie moments.
I say brie because i you’ve never been on a helicopter, the rushis insane. So is getting dropped o with your bros at the top o apeak with zero tracks on it. A total time warp, it could take threehours and you wouldn’t even know it. So make sure your GoPro isdialed in and charged up proper because you’re defnitely going towant to review the ootage when you get back to your room, just to
confrm that you weren’t dreaming. Single drops are listed at $159each on the website, $320 or two heli drops with some exclusive
Oh yeah, leave the outlet-shopping girlriends back in the city orthis trip, Silverton is defnitely light on the “resort,” there’s not exactly
a Kikapoo’s Tavern ull o hottie/hippie cocktail girls waiting or youat the bottom o the lit. Silverton Mountain is ully ocused on thesaety and quality o their riding instead o their amenities; they have
a tent or a main lodge, and an old ass school bus or a gear rentalshack. You can rent all o the required avy gear (beacon, shovel,probe), along with some serious strictly-powder boards to make your
day even better. Silverton Mountain provides a truly one o a kindexperience or those lucky/smart enough to make it down there.
SILVERTON MOUNTAIN IS FULLY
FOCUSED ON THE SAFETY ANDQUALITY OF THEIR RIDINGINSTEAD OF THEIR AMENITIES;THEY HAVE A TENT FOR A
MAIN LODGE AND AN OLDASS SCHOOL BUS FOR A GEARRENTAL SHACK.
Remember, it only takes a small number of situations to makean avalanche. A steep slope, an unstable layer of weak snowunder a stronger layer, and a trigger that often times is caused
from the victim or someone with the victims crew. Please, usethese resources provided and take an avalanche course beforeyou head out into the Colorado backcountry.
Avalanche Forecasts for ColoradoColorado Avalanche Information Center(http://www.colorado.gov/avalanche)
Red light alert, there are couple o new girls on the scene andtheir style is defnitely here to stay. Petrovsky & Ramone aretwo Dutch emale artists, who met as riends that love to traveltogether and create stories that document their lives. Theyare now partners in a creative agency where they specialize inashion photography through a documentary style approach.Amsterdam is their home tur and their ofce is located in theworld amous Red Light District. I had the opportunity to catchup with Petra Petrovsky and she helped provide me with the lowdown on their coee preerences, avorite color o clothing aswell as what a 360 on a snowboard means to them.
Petra, a casual snowboarder o seven years and one hal o thisincredibly creative emale duo has lived quite the journey. Shebegan her photography career as an assistant, spending a massiveamount o time on ashion based photo shoots. She had a desireand a contagious energy to portray people through the natural,organic moments o lie, which can be incredibly difcult toachieve through a traditional studio setting. So, she began takinglots o photos in her down time. She would linger ater shootsand hang out with models ater a long day in the studio, shebegan casually capturing peoples true personalities in their purestmoments. She described this to me as a goal o hers, “being pureis the aim and importance.” Petra began ocusing her eorts onportraying human emotions through lie’s unexpected moments.
Petrovsky & Ramone’s photo work ound a new home or this
upcoming season in the snowboard industry. A mutual riendo theirs, who happened to be an art director or BataleonSnowboards asked them to link up on a snowboard design, butdidn’t approach them with a defnite goal in mind, just an idea.So they sent some photos over to him as graphic possibilities.One year later, they received a phone call with the great newsthat their photos were going to be used as a snowboard graphicon the Evil Twin Artist Edition. Petra explained to me that sheknew what a 360 was, but her grab knowledge defnitely neededsome work. “This Bataleon design project may turn into anannual project or us, we are already working on designs or nextyear’s model.”
Petra is a naturally born artist. She has been both behind thecamera capturing each the moment as well as in ront o thecamera as a model. She fnds inspiration through old Frenchmovies rom the 1960’s and ̀ 70’s generation o flm. She doesn’tpay attention to the current magazines or even to the currenttrends, because she eels it may alter their approach to naturallycapturing the essence o a moment. She said, “it’s good to showyour emotions in your work, this way you are communicatingthrough them and people can then recognize them and otentimes relate better!” When discussing music, we both couldequally relate to how important music should be applied to their
work environment to help develop a comort level on a shoot.Petra added that this situation was probably very similar to howmusic is used with snowboarding, complimentary to the style othe content.
It was a pleasure getting to know more about yet another graphiccreated or a snowboard that I’m sure many people will enjoy onslopes around the world. I hope the best or these talented ladies.Thanks or reading up on another story behind the creation o agreat snowboard graphic. Here’s a ew acts to take in rom aninside look at Petra’s lie and what she enjoys most.
Camera Body: Canon 5D (but also loves shooting analog)Lighting: All types, but natural lighting is seen throughout a lot o their work
Film or Digital: A healthy mix o both
Coffee: Defnite yes, and it’s always available on a large percentage o studio sets,
which makes it difcult to avoidSunny or cloudy weather: SunnyBlack & white or color: ColorOwns a dog: No, not enough time, she can barely keep her plants aliveFood choice: Love pasta, lots o vegetables, sushi, and Dutch ood which wasdescribed as potatoes and cabbage
Music: Mood dependant, hip hop also some Fleetwood Mac, and Omar Souleyman
Colors of Clothing: Reds and Oranges
Powder or Ice: Snow and anything but rain.
Where to fnd them: petrovskyramone.com or their blog, http://shotby.nl/blog
“I did a tour with Warsaw Poland Bros., and Chris (rom Warsaw)
would give you the worst looks if you fucked up,” says MTHDSguitarist/vocalist Johnny Schleper, “and it transferred to me, now
I give (my band) the look.”
Over the past few years, The MTHDS have been getting looks not
just from within the band but nearly everywhere they turn, andhave taken the opportunity to imprint their name and their styleinto the minds of an ever expanding base of music fans around the
region. Their 2011 summer tour included everything from an annual
festival in Minnesota, small mountain town bars and Midwest towns,
all the way up to the Global Dance Festival at Red Rocks.
Despite their increasing notoriety, The MTHDS remain the typeof guys that will feed a starving journalist a dinner of lobster
and mussels when he joins them at their manager’s house for aninterview. Their personalities light up the room, as the eveningcarries on and the drinks go down the guys feed off each other,each one elevating their voice just a little higher than the guynext to him as they discuss the history of the band, how they got
established in the Mile High City, and how they got the hook up on
Seattle’s reshest seaood.
“Some Christian rock band from like Nebraska or something hadalready claimed the name ‘The Methods’, but we already had lyrics
that used the name. So Lawrence came up with MTHDS, ‘MusicThat Heightens Dierent Senses,’ says MC Nick Dillen.
The MTHDS originated in Vail in 2007, and although they have been
in Denver for a while now, their ski town roots still shine brightlythrough the style they bring to the stage. “It’s taken some timefor sure. It’s hard work, you gotta deal with the shows that no one
shows up for, and we had to learn to understand why there was no
one there, because we were in a new market,” says Neil Yukimura,
the band’s multi-instrumental whiz.
“My dad has a ski shop in Vail, and we all came together assnowboarders. I’m a skier actually, though,” says Johnny. “Theriding has been cut way back since coming up here.”
“What’s successful about us, I think, is we are able to be bookedalongside a lot of different acts and we’re able to do it,” saysbassist Chris (Chip) Chipouras. “People have come up to us atelectronic festivals and been like, ‘man that was like a breath ofresh air.”
“It’s taken some time, but Denver is good,” says Johnny. “We’vehad good work with (manager Adam) Strouhl, putting in time and
putting us on the right shows.”
As far as riding and playing shows in the same day? “Usually if
we have shows, we try and ride one of the days, because we areusually playing two shows,” says Chip, cracking the claw on a bright
red crustacean. “It’s tiring man, if you go up and do a two day, and
get up and try and ride all day, your show the next day is just not
the same energy as the frst night.”
With all the ups that have been happening, The MTHDS are alsocompiling a pretty good list of crazy experiences as well. Theydealt with some van problems on their Summer 2011 tour. “Wewere headed from Fargo to Sioux Falls and we blew out a bearing
on the van. But in the end, we ended up saving money because we
had a tow from AAA for 100 miles, saved us 100 miles of gas. We
got towed right to the venue,” says Johnny. “We spent eight hours
trying to fx it the next day, and were late to Lincoln, Nebraska.”
With all they have been through, it is easy to tell by the wide eyed
grins on their aces that these guys are doing what they love, andkeep themselves entertained through the tough times and thehours spent riding in a smelly, over-crowded van. Even the stories
they tell of harder times conclude with laughs and smiles all around
the table, and there is no way it is because o the lobster.
The MTHDS play around Colorado constantly, so be sure to check
them out. Download their music, and make a donation if you fee