Next up for our "Gettin to Know" series, we wanted to interview a rider that we felt had some serious game! Someone who is out there breaking the limits of what snowboarding is, a real risk taker. For us it was simple... that person would be Scotty Vine. Check it out:
1. Ok Scotty, lets get right to it. How old are you and where's home?
I will be twenty six on the
13th of September. Home for me is this giant space ship that orbits around the sun. People call it Earth. I have yet to find somewhere I call home specifically, but I will be based out of
Big Bear for the first half of the season, and then heading to
Tahoe for the second half.
2. Is California where you are originally from or is this a transplant spot? If you transplanted, where's your childhood spot and what mountain did you grow up riding?
I was born in my parents home in Crestline, CA. It was where I spent my childhood until I started realizing that there were much more interesting places the world has to offer. In the 1998/99 season I started snowboarding at a small resort called
Snow Valley, and interchangeably went to Snow Summit the following season. When Snow Summit bought Bear Mountain I started riding Bear as my local mountain ever since.
3. What got you into snowboarding?
My mother signed me up for snowboarding lessons. I was eleven at the time and after my first day I wanted to quit, but she didn't let me. I'm glad she put me through it because looking back that could have been a major turning point with what I did with my life.
4. At what point did you realize that you wanted to be a professional boarder and at what age did you go Pro?
After winning my first slopestyle contest in the
USASA series at Bear Mountain at age fourteen, I was hooked. I did contests off and on but never really knew if it would lead me anywhere in the industry. It was fun but it just never seemed to pick up and take off. At age seventeen I attended Superpark 9, at
Lake Louise in 2005, and that was the turning point in my decision to really pursue a career as a professional athlete. It was just an awesome environment to be involved in.
5. Was there any influential inspirations that lead to your decision to pursue that pro status?
Yes, certainly, but probably more than I could mention. I watched the
Mac Dawg productions and Defective Films movies and studied them because they had such an impact on my understanding of how the filming side of the industry worked. Now most of the people I look up to in the sport are people like Jaeger Bailey, Nick Visconti, Markku Koski, Bode Merrill, Scott Stevens, Erik Leon, Curtis Woodman, Chris Bradshaw, and the list goes on. In the end I chose to stick to snowboarding because it was the only thing that fully satisfied my need for adrenaline.
6. You are on top of the game right now with your one foot tricks. When did you start trying one foot tricks?
I started doing one-foot tricks when I was 14 after I saw
Josh Dirksen do a one-foot backflip at the X-Games Big Air event. It was one of the sickest things I've ever seen on a snowboard because it was different, and harder than the other tricks being done at the time. Shortly after that, I stayed away from one foot tricks until I filmed
with Pheel Good Inc. Then I took another break from one foot tricks
until I had the chance to film with Defective Films in my first real
introductory part in the snowboarding industry in the movie Child
Support. Again I took another break, until 2010/2011, then I dedicated more than half of my time riding park days to making sure my back foot was out of the binding the entire time. I started small and just slowly built up to hitting a 60 foot jump in
Mammoth's main park around mid winter. Toward the end of that winter I learned the first one-foot frontside 720, and from there I just wanted to keep landing new tricks.
7. Question from the snowboarding memes folks here; how does your lead ankle feel after practicing your one footed aerial attack?
Much stronger than necessary. There is no difference in muscle mass, but there is considerably more stamina in the amount of energy the muscles can exert. Snowboarding in general is just the application of applying and pulling pressure to control the edges of the board and stay upright, so riding one-footed simply changes the dynamics of that, where the front foot compensates for the lack of control from the tail end of the board.
8. You recently were a part of Arbor's BOTB competition and hands down, the video edit was superior! Congrats on the win btw!! You however, were the icing on the cake at the very end of the video. You said "this quite possibly might be the best trick I've ever done" or something similar, and then pulled off the sickest one footed double back flip. I got chills every time I watched it! Was this your best trick to date? What was going through your head right before you pulled it off?
Thanks, the Battle Of The Brands 2013 turned into a bit of a joke in the finals though. I'm just glad it's over. Also, I'd like to correct that quote real fast as well. I said it was the
"Best JUMP I had ever hit", and
"we'll see how it goes." I didn't put any icing on the cake. What was going through my head was years of contemplative thought that guesstimated the likelihood of landing the trick. Trying to figure out how to control it in the air was the hardest part and the thought of it was racing in my head on repeat over and over while trying to visualize it. After spending over two years analyzing it in my head I was pretty convinced it was going to work on that jump because it was shaped perfectly. It was the exact jump I had in my head for the duration of how it should feel to be able to feel comfortable trying that trick. Matt from
Boreal Mountain did a phenomenal job shaping it.
9. What board were you on when you pulled that amazingly awesome one footed double backflip?
That was the
Westmark board from
Arbor Snowboards. I've been riding that board for a few seasons and I trust it with my life. This coming season I will be riding the Westmark in a color way I helped influence for in the 2014/15 board line. I'm excited to try it out! It'll be in stores in two seasons.
10. So when did you sign on with Arbor and what was it like to land a sponsor as big as them?
Arbor wasn't a big sponsor when I signed onto them in 2011. Their core snowboarding team was under development and went from a backcountry based effort into a leading action sports company who just knew how to do the right marketing. They still aren't that big, really. Arbor just knows how to find A team players in the industry who fit into the Arbor Collective family well. They are just incredibly talented artist, so it worked. From Arbor's team riders all the way to the actual art department, we all just love to create, and we love what Arbor is all about. I have grown with the company just as much as the company has grown with me. It's a mutual investment of time and effort in an ever changing industry.
11. Arbor's got a sick team. Do you ride with these dudes often or do you ride with other people?
I rode with lots of friends at Bear Mountain, Mammoth, Tahoe, Boston,
New Hampshire, Washington, and Oregon in just this last season. Over the course of the winter also I worked with an incredibly talented filmier,
Matt Devino, to make a web series called #ThePostCardSeries. It showcases various traveling points during my season with a twist. These destinations had a couple guidelines: We had to be traveling to somewhere interesting, and we included Arbor team riders who were available to film. Overall this worked out pretty well and gave me an opportunity to ride with some of the regional, on deck and pro riders on Arbor I normally don't get to ride with often. The entire project was really fun and I want to do a repeat of it this winter.
12. What are your plans for this up coming season? Any competitions you plan on competing in or any backcountry terrain you plan on shredding?
This coming season I have a couple projects in mind, but mostly my focus will be invested into the next web series and video part. I would like to ride
Bear Mountain for the first half of the season, and then move to Tahoe for better backcountry/street access for the second half of the season and travel constantly. Nothing goes according to plan usually, so each winter is a series of curve balls and plans change on the fly.
13. If you weren't snowboarding what other sport would you be into?
Soccer would have been my next sport of choice. I used to be pretty good at it until I quit for snowboarding. Now days I don't keep track of it though. I've found my niche in snowboarding.
14. Snowboarding is a sport like any other, it requires that you be in good shape physically. What do you do in the off season to keep yourself in riding shape?
I disagree that snowboarding is like any other sport - it's a calculation game of weight distribution. A person doesn't need to be in the best shape to be a professional rider - I know plenty of people who fit that stereotype. Though, I feel like being in shape makes a difference in longevity, so I keep myself in good physical shape in season with a workout program I developed by mixing isotention and stretching. It allows me to work out anywhere, without weights, and specifically strengthen my back and core so that I can take slams and just get right back up again. I also have a balance ball that I use to keep my overall balance up to par with what I deem as "normal." The balancing ball also helps build the muscles in my legs and feet so I have a better overall sense of stability since it works similar muscles I use when riding.
15. What Pandora station are you listening to now? (If you're not listening to Pandora what's playing in your Ipod, etc?)
These days I'm all over the map with music. From Folk, to Indie, to Electronic and Classical music. As long as it is composed well with a finalized tone to it, I like it. Alt-J and Atmosphere are a couple of my favorite Pandora stations these days.
16. Do you jam while riding and if you do, any suggestions on what to listen to for all the kids out there who one to get crazy like you?
Whatever gets someone most pumped is always the best answer. I like riding to Hip Hop because it creates good flow and variety. Surf Rock Radio on Pandora is also really fun to ride to - if you haven't tried it, I definitely suggest it.
17. Any people or sponsors you would like to shout out?
My parents probably deserve the biggest shout out. My mother is now the assistant ski school director at Snow Valley, the resort I learned to ride at, and my father owns his own construction business and they have both taught me so much. Also, without my sponsors I wouldn't be where I'm at today. Arbor, Bear Mtn,
Sandbox,
Flux,
Elm, and
NXTZ are the companies that have had my back and support what I've been doing for years. They help out so much and I truly appreciate it. My athlete advisor, Brad Farmer, also helps me out a lot.
18. How do you decide to tackle the upcoming season and do you have a manager or someone to help you out?
For the most part I plan the majority of winter through meeting with team managers from each company I ride for. It's a good way to catch up, see how the companies are doing and see what I can do for them in the coming season. Brad Farmer, as my athlete advisor, helps make decisions occasionally but mostly helps out with the financial side of negotiations. He's not an agent, and I didn't want an agent, so we ended up being able to work with each other on good terms. We just keep track of opportunities that come up and try to plan the best way to go about things to maximize time and exposure.
19. You coming to Colorado for Snowboarding on the Block?? If you are, what are your plans for this, like will this be casual good party fun for you or do have an itinerary for meet and greets and other biz stuff??
Yeah I'll be there! My birthday is on the 13th, then the rail jam on the 14th. It'll be a short and fun trip out there. Through the course of the day I'll be cruising around saying hi to people I know from Colorado. I'm pretty excited to head back out there!
20. Whiskey, beer, or none at all?
I am not an alcohol connoisseur, but I do like tequila if I'm celebrating. I like IPA and Amber Ales. Blue Moon is always a good call after tequila as long as there isn't an orange in it. I keep it pretty mellow on the drinking these days. I like to be able to function normally the next morning.
21. Last question, who's your favorite rider of all time and why?
If I only get to choose one, I pick Shaun Palmer - that dude is a boss!
Scotty, thanks for your time brotha! It was a pleasure gettin to know you and we will see you at
Snowboard on the Block!
If you folks are on Twitter or Instagram, get on over there and give Scotty a follow. You know he will be putting out super cool content all Winter long! His Twitter handle is
@ScottyVine and Instagram
@ScottyVine.
Thank you for checking out this "Gettin to Know" series with Scotty Vine; until next time... Stay
Shift'D!
