Interview Tuesdays: Garrett Brittain Revealed
by Josh Wisenthal
The first time I met Garrett Brittain was at a screening of PBP’s “The Game� in Montreal. Rocking the original Level 1 Productions t-shirt, Garrett wowed me with a plethora of stories about some dude named Josh Berman who had made a ski movie called “Balance�, which, much to their amazement, had been purchased online by someone other than the kids who starred in it. To no one’s surprise, Garrett got blotto that night and heckled Murray Wais from MSP. The last time I saw Garrett Brittain, he was taking a pee in the woods of Tremblant. Meet Garrett Brittain, photographer of extreme ski situations.
JW: Why don’t you start by introducing yourself.
GB: My name is Garrett Brittain. I am a skier.
JW:How did you become involved in newschool skiing, freeskiing, whatever you want to call it?
GB: As a ski-obsessed pre-teen, I was able to catch onto the whole newschool movement at its inception. Johnny D’s “State of Mind� will be burned into my brain for the rest of my life. My longtime buddy Scott Hibbert and I got real involved with it all and the rest is history.
JW: What about Level 1 Productions, when did you first hear about it, when did you jump on board?
GB: I met Berman in Vermont a year or two into the whole revolution at Josh Novotny’s house where we were all convened for the Anti-Gravity Grail comp at Mount Snow. Berman was coming off knee surgery and had been filming that whole winter. He had some early edits together which we were all blown away by. Unbeknownst at the time, it was the early makings of his first film, Balance. We all teamed up and that fall L1P was born.
JW: What does Level 1 mean to you?
GB: L1P is lots of things to me. First, it’s the child of a whole helluva lot of talent, creativity, not only from Berman, but from an entire class of inspired athletes. It represents my friendship with the sport and the great people involved.
JW: What do you think about photography as an artistic medium, as compared to, say, film or writing?
GB: I love it.
JW: How is your personal outlook expressed in what is presented to the audience?
GB: All I try to do is emulate stuff by guys like Winterton, O’Brien, O’Connell, Abbott. Guys who have been at it for a long time and who’ve given skiing that awesome look in their photos. Your outlook is formed from all sorts of places. I try to present through photography how awesome skiing is and how good the athletes I shoot with are.
JW: Allright, I’m done waxing philosophical. Tell me about your season. Any good trip stories?
GB: Awesome season. The best pre-season to date, shooting urban all fall and early winter with the man, the myth, the legend David Crichton. Finished school for good at Christmas, and did the L1P travelling roadshow thing for the rest of the winter. No single trip I took was better than the other. I was just glad that I got to travel throughout the U.S. and Canada to places where I otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance to. Overall though, I’d say sledding all week in Crested Butte with Rainville, Liam, Solberg, Berman, Steele and the Two Plank lads (Corey and Ben) is real tough to beat. Sorry about the sled, boys.
JW: Who pushed it hardest this winter? Who is the rookie of the year, and which grizzled veteran will surprise everyone?
GB: Well, Vanular and Rainville are just two machines that are on a mission. Those kids are so good it’s not funny. You can’t not mention Gagnier, the new king of slopestyle. Couldn’t happen to a better guy. I’ve gotta shout out DC here though. No one will know it, but he was on the biggest charge in the world at the start of the season. As soon as misfortune is done running it’s course with Dave, everyone will see how great of a professional he is. Dan Marion is the newest kid to make the big step and he impressed the hell out of everyone.
JW: Let’s talk tricks for a moment. Doug Bishop mentioned in March that he would puke if he saw another kid pull a right-side corked 1080. Any thoughts?
GB: I’ve always been an advocate of style over tech stuff. You watch any comp too long and you want to puke. My interests lie mainly in the freewheeling backcountry stuff and urban skiing. Lots of the guys started getting the switch take-off and landings dialled out there. Big stuff. That’s what I’m into. As far as the right side 10’s go, you can’t deny someone like Gagnier who’s got all the tricks and shows them off the way he does.
JW: At the Orage Masters, Bushfield attempted a switch double back, Hibbert tried a switch-back to railslide, and I even saw Philou Poirier pulls his famous switch-back in competition this year. What’s the deal? Are these now officially “ old school� manoeuvres? Are “ throwback� tricks in these days, like Larry Bird bball jerseys and Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars running shoes?
GB: I wouldn’t read into it that much. Everyone’s just having fun. Though those tricks aren’t necessarily at the forefront of what’s “in�, it’s still all good.
JW: Scenario: it’s 2010, the Winter Olympics are in Vancouver-Whistler. Where do you see skiing? Where do you see yourself? GB: I’m sitting in front of a TV cheering on Sidney Crosby winning hockey Gold. Seriously.
JW: Why should every kid in America, and the world for that matter, be stoked about the release of Shanghai Six?
GB: Everyone should be stoked on the freshest cut of progression out there.
My weiner is probably harder than yours.
