The weather wasn’t looking too good but everyone I spoke to told me to make my way and “see what happens”.

I also had new planks from Armada to try out so I figured, even if it was stormy, I could still go for a couple turns. Turns out I had an amazing three days! Fresh track on the north face of the Aiguille and hot lapping Les Grands Montets.

A huge thanks to Andreas, Bjarne, Tof, Tom & Ben for letting me tag along, for setting up bomber anchors and opening routes!

Read Andreas Fransson’s account HERE

Read Ben Briggs’ account HERE

All shot on GoPro
Edited on Premier Pro CS6

Music:
Riders On The Storm by the Ahn trio
Ahn trio Facebook 

I found out about the Ahn trio when I say them live at the Chilkat Center in Haines Alaska! Chris Booth had even made it into local blog that night “A blond young man wearing a suit and dress shirt with matching bow tie ”

Follow Bjarne’s facebook as he will surely come out with an edit of his own soon enough, you should check out his latest work while you’re at it.

While filming for “Sunny” with Level 1, Alex set up an urban jump at a school outside Sapporo. We showed up about the time school ended so a few kids kept walking directly under the jump. Rather than waiting for them to cross, Alex convinced the kids to stand under the feature and throw up peace signs while he sent tricks over them. Not bad!

Kyle admiring his mural after day 2

It’s all in the details 

The early stages 

KNOR and his creation 

From across the way 

Spray! 

Multi-tasking at its finest! 

K*NOR

The brain 

Re-tracing the brain for added contrast

Marker 

Stencil 

Almost there…. 

LASERS ! 

Kyle and his final project “Idiot Boy”

Originally from New England, Kyle joined the Armada family almost 2 years ago and is responsible for countless ski graphics, logos, t-shirt deigns, and other artistic concepts. He graduated RISD with a concentration in design and absolutely dominates painting, drawing, product and print design, graffiti, calligraphy, and many other ventures. To see more of Kyle’s art, check him out online: 

INSTA: @desthrash
WEB: www.kyle-norris.com 

Madsteez’s twitter description reads ART!ST: V!S!ONARY: WEENA!SSANCE MAN. While most people have never met a weenaissance man, these photos may shed additional light on the subject. 

This here is Evan. He’s a super mellow, unsuspecting dude with an incredible eye for unique art. You’ve probably seen his work on Nike shoes, Hurley’s campus, and a variety of surf boards, skateboards, and buildings in SoCal. 

The creative process with MADSTEEZ

Steez overseeing the paint delivery. 

Evan blending colors on an open ski box. Wet paint : ) 

The office & warehouse

Evan mixing colors and changing brushes.

Legs

The face of a hairy fool!

STiNK.

Post mural pigskin toss with Evan and Steez 

Eazy-e spotting the landing after a huge backflip! 

STiNK’s finished product. 

MADSTEEZ and his mural of Eazy-e. 

For more info on the artists, check out their websites: http://madsteez.com/ and http://stinkone.com/

HOW WAS YOUR SEASON?
This year was pretty sick following around Henrik and Phil and getting back into skiing after being hurt for a long time. This year was the year that I needed to get confidence back, ski with young kids that are on top of their game, and figure out skiing again. It’s changed in a big way in the last 3 years. As an artist keeping up with the times, it was cool to get back into some urban riding, which you will see in The Education of Style. I took all last summer to get super strong, so I can get back to my old ways of skiing.

CONGRATS ON YOUR 4^TH PLACE FINISH AT SCI! HOW DID THAT GO?
Sammy Carlson Invitational was my first big air in 7 years. I had a debate whether I should sit on the sidelines and watch my friends ski or go out and shred with them. There was no pressure and I just got to ski and ended up getting 4^{th –} which was pretty funny. It was good to do a contest, get the butterflies again, and get back into the start gate before next year. 
I think a lot of contest kids put a lot of pressure on themselves and I’ve been through it for so long now, the more fun I have, the better I do. This year was the biggest blessing in disguise, I skied better than I ever have. You will see it in the movie, this is the best segment I will ever have in my life. Henrik and Phil are aliens and we couldn’t have done anything wrong this year.

WHAT KEEPS IT FRESH?
When I got hurt, I realized that skiing is it. I love it. That’s what I love in life. To have something taken away from you for so long and return with so much pain, you know you have to do so much more work to get back to where you want to be. I think what keeps me going is the injury and staying focused coming back. The other part of it is the young kids and how much fun they look like they’ve having. No matter if it’s on a rail, a jump, a pillow line in AK or anywhere. We all get that same smile and keep the spark alive. 

Skiing with kids who really get the program is huge too. There are kids that go out there from contest to contest just to make money, but then there are kids that get it. They get what the sport is, what they’re trying to accomplish, where they’re trying to go with it, and what it all entails. In all reality it’s building a culture behind it. I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by kids who want the culture and move the culture for years and years on end. I really give props to Henrik Harlaut and Phil Casabon because I really feel like they have led the charge in this new generation of having fun with skiing and not just matching  people trick for trick. Those guys can go on the bunny slope and make it look way more fun than Bobby doing triple cork 1620’s. That’s nothing bad,  I think it’s awesome. Watching Bobby send triples is sick! It’s sick as F$&#. But, if you can watch Henrik and Phil do little ollies in a snake run and it’s fun to watch, there’s something to that. That’s something in the making. I can’t even really tell you what it is, but it’s sick to see this year because it’s different and it mixes up the formula. 
For a while, it was kinda the same. A lot of us were going to the contests, trying to win, and moving on to the next contest. There was an elite group that also went out and tried to film, but there were a lot of kids that just went to the contests. I’m glad that I was one of the kids who got to go out and film because it spawned kids like Henrik and Phil and Sean Jordan and Clayton Vila and the Martinis and the kids that I really enjoy watching.

WHAT ABOUT KIDS SIMPLY FOLLOWING HENRIK AND PHIL? ISN’T THAT COUNTER PRODUCTIVE?
You know what, it really does. But in everything, you’re gonna have kids that just want to follow, but you’re also going to have kids that look and Henrik and Phil and say HOLY S%*#. These kids just did something so big and something so different with skiing and it might open up some other kids mind. It could open up some kid’s mind who wears skinny jeans, with not even close to the same style, but it might make them realize a different approach. Now, it’s not so much how far we can progress the trick, it’s on a level of how big of an artist can you be out in the mountains and how unique you can make your skiing look.  I watched a skate edit the other day called Altered Route with Kilian Martin. I watched that it and it was like, “okay, that’s where action sports are going.” Everybody can do everything now. It just comes down to who has the creative mind to go out and put it on film and make people look at things differently. I feel like Henrik and Phil and a handful of other kids like Will Wesson and Andy Parry and a lot of kids that have lead the charge. 
I think we’re at such a cool state in skiing where it’s just now starting to blossom and we’re seeing more kids do more of this and more of that. I think 10 years from now, our sport could be just as cool in the eyes of the media as skateboarding or surfing or BMX. In action sports and in the media, we all like to say we’re all equal, but let’s not beat around the bush; there’s a bunch of snowboarders that talk s$&% on skiers, there’s a bunch of skateboarders that talk s$!@ on snowboarders, there’s a bunch of surfers who talk s$*% on everyone else. If we can all come together as one there’s no bulls$@%. The way I look at it, we have to burn all that out, because everything is based on creativity. No matter if you’re on wheels, on snow, or in the water, we’re all smiling the same way. If we can all feed off each other and bring that creativity to the next level, we can take our sports to a whole new playing field. 
What’s cool about action sports and skiing. In these sports, the world is your playground. If you have the brain to go out and do something  no one else has done before, you can achieve something really great. The more people we have doing something different, in 10 years from now, it’s going to be pretty sick to pop in a ski video.

WHAT ABOUT THE FIS WITH REGULATION?
I’ve always been an advocate of wanting the Olympics to go through, but now I feel as though I should have put my foot in my mouth. Where skiing has gone and what it’s done, it’s something that I didn’t think it was going to do. Everything we have done is absolutely insane. It kills me to see an organization like FIS controlled by 60-year-old dudes in huge offices, that don’t even ski, making rules about our sport. I look at freeskiing and it sucks to see it turn into racing. Especially for me, because I had a hand in creating this sport and now I look at all these dudes that don’t event ski that are dictating the future of contest skiing and I can’t help but think, what gives those dudes the right to have a 300 page rule book about what we created? That to me is some bulls%&$.

IS THE OLYMPICS A STEP FORWARD?
Olympics is going to be good for one person. The dude who wins.  I look at FIS and it’s going to regulate skiers. You’re gonna have the stylish kids and then you will have the FIS and USA kids that want to follow a regulated program. You will also have the Clayton Vilas, the Sean Jordans, and the Dale Talkingtons that will push a different style. Who’s to tell? The Olympics haven’t even happened yet. For me, the more posts that come out from FIS, I feel like they’re shooting themselves in the foot. I wonder if they’re just doing it to try and get a rise out of everyone to create controversy so everyone keeps talking. At this point, I just hope FIS gets their program together and listens to the athletes.

My whole thing is pushing as hard as I possibly can, do everything I can; I want to make that Olympic team but if it ain’t right, I might have to go the Terje route and give away my spot.

IF THEY OLYMPICS WERE NEXT WEEK, WOULD YOU COMPETE?
No.

NO?
No. Serious things need to change right now. You know what I mean? 
But, I’m gonna tell you this right now. I’m going to still work my a#@ off everyday and push for that goal. If there’s a possibility, I’m gonna get my team spot. But, if I don’t agree with it, I’m not the dude that’s not going sell out to be a worldwide icon to make money. I’m here for skiing first and foremost. I’m not here for NBC and Dick Ebersol. I’m here for my sport and that’s just what it comes down to.

WHAT WAS YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST MOMENT FROM THIS SEASON? SOMETHING YOU SKIED AWAY FROM THAT YOU THOUGHT WAS IMPOSSIBLE EVEN 1 YEAR AGO.
Probably in Hood in May. We found the perfect jump, had the wickedest session, and I got to stop 2 tricks that I didn’t think I would stomp again ever out of a park or pipe. After I stomped the tricks, I looked up and Henrik and Phil and they were just as happy for me at that point then they were for themselves the whole season. That right there made everything in my brain realize this pipe shit is going to be too fun to go back to next year. 
Thinking about competition is crazy right now. 4 heavy hitters in our sport: Rolland, Dumont, Wise, and Perkins all have blown out knees right now. To go back to contests next year, I just want to be safe and have fun. That’s just the main thing for me. The more I’m having fun, the better I’m doing. That’s a beautiful thing about being 28 or 29 years old, you actually grow up a bit. You’ve been through a lot of s$&%. You know how to control your brain, you know how to control your emotions. I’m not saying fully, because I’m still a hot head; but to go back into contests next year with a clear mind and have the feeling that I had 3 weeks ago really gives me motivation to come out and go nuts. I want to just prepare myself so there’s no stress. I want to get my mind so strong, my skiing so strong, and my body so strong that when I’m standing at the top of the pipe; I can look at every competitor that’s nervous and almost kind of laugh because I know I did everything I possibly can to prepare myself for that moment.

HOW DOES THE PREPARATION FOR SKIING COMPARE TO ACTUALLY SKIING? DO YOU DAYDREAM ABOUT SKIING AS YOU’RE WORKING OUT?
That’s it right there. You can’t be thinking about anything else. It’s not fun to go to the gym really. I’m starting to enjoy going to the gym, but that’s just because I think about what it’s going to do for my skiing. Every leg press I do, I think about deep landings on jumps, every squat I do makes me think of landing dead flat in the pipe. If you can make it fun, and dedicate your life to skiing, there are ways to enjoy it. The preparation is part of the process and the preparation can suck. You can bust your ankle on a trampoline, you can go in the gym for 3 weeks without getting stronger, and there’s a bunch of frustrations, there’s a bunch of highs, there’s a bunch of lows, but that can’t get in your mind because once you enter life outside of skiing, those highs and lows will go way more extreme than something minor like hurting your ankle on a trampoline. There’s always stuff going on in life, your family members can get sick, or you can’t pay mortgage, or your don’t have insurance and you’re injured. There’s so many situations in life to worry about, so when I think about my situation and my struggle during preparation, I can always take a step back and realize that it’s not even struggling. I’ve got it so good right now and if I ever forget that I can take a step back and think about the people that really don’t have it good in life. That’s just the perspective that I’ve gained over the last couple years, we live great lives, and I don’t want to complain about anything. As of now, I’m healthy, I’m hungry, I’m ready. It’s fun with the preparation and it also can be frustrating, but that’s life and it’s all part of it.

DOES SKIING HELP LET GO OF LIFE PRESSURES?
Yeah for some reason, and I don’t know what it is. Maybe being outside or doing something really fast….but a lot of the way we ski, you can hurt yourself really easily, but that’s never in your brain because you’re going so fast, and so big and that’s your feeling of life. When you get older, you have responsibilities, there’s bull$%@ out in the world, you learn about everything. The world isn’t that cool of a place in all reality. Life is beautiful. The world is beautiful. But how people are, how the system works; man, once you get older and realize how it goes, getting out in the mountains and escaping from everything is perfect. You can get away, progress, get that adrenaline, and get those scared feelings of not knowing if a trick is going to work.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SKI EDIT THAT YOU SAW THIS YEAR?
FCD 1.0 by Karl Fostfedt and Dale Talkington. It’s really sick man. It’s a Park City edit. Some Mobb Deep some Kymani Marley, just a nice stylin edit. I got to hang out with Karl this winter and the kid is a stand-up, solid human being. I really enjoy meeting young kids that are hungry for skiing and fired up on the sport. Just like Dale Talkington. Super humble kid, super righteous dude and to have a little cameo in the edit is cool. It’s cool that skier’s can come together like that. With all these edits coming out, skiing speaks for itself. It’s almost like skiing is a language and everyone can relate to it. I remember back in the day hanging out with Shoya Okazaki [Japanese pro skier]. He couldn’t speak one lick of English and he traveled with us for three straight years. But when we were skiing, that was our communication.  He was on our level everyday just through watching us ski and watching him ski. To see that translate through time is crazy. Now there’s so many different skiers from so many different countries, it’s pretty weird to see. What we started back in the day is now a worldwide thing where everybody from every country is on the same tip. They get it. and it’s crazy to think, how many people back in the day got it? Maybe 40 that actually understood freeskiing? How many people today get it? and that’s only in 15 years of what we’ve done. 

It feels good in the heart to look back and see what we created. Looking back and seeing the big picture and being part of something like this from day 1 is really unique.

IS IT CRAZY TO LOOK AT KIDS IN TERRAIN PARKS AND THINK YOUR SEGMENTS HELPED INFLUENCE WHAT THEY DO EVERYDAY?
Well it might be a trip for them standing next to me, but it’s a trip for me to stand next to JP Auclair too. He’s still dominating. I look at him and think HOLY S$%@, its JP. It’s a beautiful thing man. People like him, myself, Jon Olsson, CR, Evan Raps – we all saw something big back in the day. Whether we thought it was going to get this big or not, we all saw it. To be in this day and age and think it all spawned off of us looking at JP, JF Cusson, and Vinnie being like, “that’s what I’m going to do, F#$@ mogul skiing.” Then all of a sudden, 12 years later, there’s an entirely new crop of kids looking at us for that same influence. It makes me think, “yo, what just happened?” In all reality, all we did was go out and ski. At the end of the day, that’s all we did.  We might have looked at it a little different than most people, but at the end of the day that’s all we did. That’s really crazy man. Think about Glen Plake, Scott Smidt, and Wayone Wong. They must be looking at skiing just the same and thinking it’s really impressive. There’s a big history behind this and it’s crazy to know where we’ve been and see where it’s going to go. Let’s just hope FIS doesn’t f$*# this up. But it won’t because we’re too big now — we’re too strong of a community.

10 YEARS AGO, YOU SAT DOWN WITH A GROUP OF ATHLETES AND HELPED CREATE ARMADA. WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING INVOLVED WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS? 

Yeah, It’s pretty crazy man. We’re right by Hurley and our building is just as big. We’re a ski company that’s only been around 10 years and Hurley has been around I don’t know how long. We’re doing something right, and that’s a big thing. To come in here and have my brother working, and Hans and Chris, and just seeing people from the very beginning and helping turn this into what it is. It grew up into the sickest family of good people and that’s why it’s getting where it is today.  The first couple years it was tough finding the right formula. Through time, if you stick with it you will find the formula, and we did find the formula. Not only did the skis get better, but we invented technology; elf shoe technology, and better skis for powder riding and park riding that no one had ever created. To be a new company and set trends that companies 40+ years older are following, that’s got to scare the s$*# out of people. We’re coming in like bullies and pushing people aside being on the cutting edge. We’re not out here to make money, we’re out here for skiing first and foremost and I don’t know if a lot of companies can say that.  I feel very happy of the way things went and I feel proud of all the hard work that everyone has put in. We’ve all put in blood sweat and tears for 10 years and we’re still going. No matter what happens, ARMADA is here to stay and nobody can f$*% with that.

This interview took place in August, 2012. For more athlete interviews; check out the TEAM page of our site.