Hello Newschoolers. Its been a while since my last post. I was lucky enough to have Andy Parry, aka The Wizard Trick King, answer a few questions for me about the ups and downs of life on the road, dealing with the career side of skiing, and injury management.

I've met Andy a few times on LTC and have always enjoyed his honesty and candidness. I hope you all enjoy this short read!

What have you been up to for the last few years in skiing and in life?

Over the last few years I have been running Tell A Friend Tour, filming for Line Traveling Circus, and working on a small program called Kids Ski for Free. During the summers I have been doing random construction work when I can.

A question I’ve asked you in person before, but I want to ask again. How is life on the road during the LTC tour?

It's good! We have a good formula for filming so the biggest issues we run into are where to go and who to take. Our filmer and editor Jake Strassman does a really good job and makes us look like we know what we are doing.

How did LTC all begin?

We went to Jason Leventhal the founder of Line and proposed a web series that turned into LTC. YouTube was somewhat new at the time and Jason saw the opportunity in it. He helped hook up our first trip to Mount Hood and we kinda took it from there.

Does the career aspect of skiing ever make skiing less fun for you?

Yeah definitely. Knowing I have to do X,Y, or Z and it's -30 out can make things difficult, or you have been traveling for days and need to go get something done. Finding sponsors sucks. I'm also not a huge fan of social media and that's so intertwined with being a pro these days.

Who influences your style of skiing? Any ski “idols”?

Plenty of people. Anyone that has a smooth style and looks like they can actually ski well. Much of that influence doesn't really translate into my skiing unfortunately. I go through periods of, "damn I want to do that, or ski like that" and I try and fail. Cole Drexler, Jarred McCarll, Max Hill, Mike Hornbeck are a few examples of people I would like to ski like but can never get close to.

Idols? Probably Candide Thovex. He is still a top dog in the game, extremely respected and gives off such a humble vibe. His skiing says everything.

Why wizard trick style? (The world must know.)

If you can't be good be different.

With all the stunts you guys pull on the LTC, how are injuries handled on the road?

Probably not well. Not much preventative maintenance is being done on the road. Or well off the road for that matter. I try to stay in shape but it's hard to make it happen with working during the off season, and then being on the road makes it difficult. I try to get stretching in but I'm not good at staying consistent with it on the road.

Have you had any injuries skiing? Was physical therapy ever utilized by yourself to rehab or prevent injury ?

I have done ACL and Achilles. Both sucked but the Achilles sucked way more. I did PT for both and my ACL PT was awesome. Never felt stronger. Achilles wasn't as good. I was living over an hour away from my PT so I didn't get to go as much. I also had to get back to work so I didn't have a chance to go hard. Money is also a factor. PT is expensive, surgery is more expensive and insurance sucks.

What is your fitness routine like before, during and after the LTC tour?

I got a gym membership this fall and went a couple times a week but between work and hating the gym it was hard to get into a proper rhythm. I also don't really have a routine, or what to do. People say, "oh just do this", and the next person say, "oh don't do that. Do this". So figuring out what exercises to do is kinda hard, and figuring out what works for me takes time and consistency that I don't really have. Getting into PT or a personal trainer would be awesome but who has the money for that.

Thanks again Andy, one of the realest. #TeamAndy