Photo Credit: Steven Wells

The NS crew sans Twig rolled up to RED Mountain Resort the other week and while we were there we caught up with the legend Dane Tudor for a slackcountry lap up Mt Roberts just off the resort. And, amongst the huffing and puffing up the skin track, we spoke all things skiing; from his youth growing up in Rossland, BC, filming with Poor Boyz Productions, his sponsors and much more!

_

NS: So we’re basically skiing in your backyard, can you tell us what makes Rossland/RED home for you?

Dane Tudor: First and foremost, the mountain and the community make Rossland and RED home to me. I’ve been riding here ever since I could walk. I would be up here every day skiing. I'd be out after the lift closed, my mom would be at the patrol shack, worried about me, trying to get the patrollers to go out and find me and I'd be out hitting jumps with my buddies somewhere on the mountain and coming down late.

It's been an awesome place to grow up.

_

Right, given the type of skiing and terrain here at RED, how did you end up being one of the best park skiers in the world?

Yeah, that's a really funny question. A lot of people actually think that I was a park skier and then I was a big mountain skier and it was definitely the reverse. I grew up ski racing with Red Mountain Racers. That was an amazing opportunity for me to learn ski racing technique and just get really grounded in the fundamentals of skiing. That’s what enabled me to start riding big mountain. Growing up at RED, we have so much amazing off-piece terrain, so I was always ditching gates anytime I could to go ski the pow and jump cliffs.

I idolized Seth Morrison at the time when I was super young, Mark Abma and a few other guys too. So I was always up on the mountain just throwing backflips and Lincoln loops and stuff like that.

Pretty much most of the time crashing as you do as a young kid. It was pretty funny actually, I was on Newschoolers back in the day and I'd be posting these videos and I was definitely a fired up kid. Just saying all kinds of ridiculous stuff and all the other kids would just light me up and just talk a bunch of shit to me. My account's still there, so you can dig it up. See all the funny stuff.

As far as park skiing is concerned, when I started skiing professionally in 07-08, I moved out to Whistler and I started filming in the backcountry which is what I'd always wanted to do. At the same time, I started training in the Black Park, because I wanted to really develop my trick set. Growing up at RED, we didn't really have that much of a park so I learned 5s and switch 7s and that was pretty much it.

I really wanted to grow my bag of tricks so I was riding the black Park doing switch 5s, 7s and 9s really just starting that process of progression. From there, I would go to New Zealand in the summertime and ride park there, I think I went there for like two or three years in a row.

I'd met up with John Spriggs I think around 2009, riding on the glacier at Whistler and he invited me to come out to Colorado. So I would go to New Zealand ski there all summer and then I'd go straight to Colorado and start riding park down there. That just really upped the park game for me.

I put the time in and did some Dew Tour but I don’t think I accomplished exactly what I’d hoped in that area, I kind of got to the point where I just wanted to go back to filming. I felt like the rest of the guys had a bit more of an advantage because they had grown up riding park and had a few more years on me. I think at the end of the day though, I was a ski racer turned big mountain rider with a park influence. I think that shows in my riding and film projects.

_

_

You've had some pretty legendary segments over the years. Is there a segment in particular that you're most proud of?

Honestly, it’s all the segments, I’m really proud of producing a segment pretty much every year - other than 2013 when I got injured. I'm definitely super proud of the fact that I was able to produce year on year and either produce award-winning segments or segments nominated for awards. And just really keeping that consistency going and staying true to myself and the style of skiing that I like to do.

I think it speaks volumes as far as being able to consistently produce year over year for 15 plus years, that’s probably what I'm the most stoked on for sure. Otherwise people really remember me for Every Day Is A Saturday. That whole film was such a huge game changer for skiing, at the time, and I'm really stoked and grateful to have been a part of that.

Also my X Games Real Ski segment in 2014 was a big moment for me. Doing that first switch triple in the backcountry, and yeah, just throwing a bunch of dubs out there and having a good time. And then like some of my AK segments with TGR. It's a pretty broad base really as far as the segments are concerned and what I'm stoked on.

_

Can you tell us a bit more about that switch triple and how you ended up being one of the first people to do that trick?

Growing up, Sammy was a huge inspiration of mine and I loved watching him ski. He was in the films before I was skiing professionally and I always thought he had a sick style and energy. I incorporated a lot of his style into my skiing, inspired by his switch 5, switch dub 9 and of course the switch triple. Sammy was the first to do a switch triple 12, in 2010 at the Sammy C invitational, on that huge jump. That was so badass.

I put down the first switch triple 12 in the backcountry while filming for my X Games Real Ski segment in 2014. I was hitting this jump with my buddy, Elliot Bernhagen, I'd already done switch five, switch dub nine, seven and dub 10. And yeah, he goes, “you should try a triple” and I said all right and I just went up there and did that switch triple 12 and landed it first try. Yeah, it was just a surreal moment and an amazing experience and a super cool opportunity to do something for skiing and also to push myself.

_

You also did the first switch triple in a public park right?

Yeah, I really wanted to get into X Games Big Air so I went out and it was my mission to do a switch triple in the park and make a video to send it to X Games to try to get in.

I had put together pretty much a whole park video with Craig Lamond. I'd done both ways switch dubs, dub 10, dub 12, switch dub 10 and the switch triple 12 to cap it off in hopes of getting into X Games Big Air, which didn't end up happening, which is fine, you know, these things happen.

But that was super cool, people were really fired up. It was the first time someone was really throwing a triple on a public park jump and kind of showcasing that it's possible to do a triple cork on a jump other than a massive super park jump.

_

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1106845/--YouTube

The movie we all had on repeat growing up...

_

Every Day Is A Saturday is legendary. How did you end up filming with Poor Boyz?

So, when I started skiing professionally in 2007-2008. I linked up with Jeff Thomas at Theory 3 Media and at the time, he happened to be an affiliate to Poor Boyz Productions. It was a good fit for me because I grew up watching Poor Boyz.

And since Jeff was affiliated with PBP I thought, “this is sweet,” and we went from there and started filming in Whistler with Jeff in 07-08. The next year he moved on from Theory 3 Media and transitioned into Poor Boyz and with that transition he wanted to bring his crew with him, so myself, Charley Ager, Brenden Kelly and Riley Leboe all made that switch. It was a dream come true for me.

And what happened when things wound down with Poor Boyz, where did you go to next?

Jeff made the decision to move on from Poor Boyz around 2012 and at that same time, I was actually switching sponsors from Solomon to Scott Sports and I had been watching TGR films and I was really stoked watching Sage and McIntosh riding AK and I just thought they had the best AK program. I really wanted to ride with those two guys and experience the Alaska style with TGR and get some really amazing footage with them.

So that was really what made the switch for me.

_

So Dane, you've had a bit of reshuffling of the deck with some sponsors recently, what's new with your support?

I've been working with Pangea Creatives, a couple of young guys in the States running an agency. They've been really awesome and connected me with Nivis Gear, a startup company out of the U.S It’s been really cool wearing their jacket and just testing out the product and being part of a start-up.

It fits super nice and the material feels great, it’s really waterproof and I’m stoked to be representing a new start-up brand and to be working with people that really care about skiing and its core. I’m really excited to see where it goes.

_

Is there any one you want to give a shout out to who’s supported you along the way or inspired you?

I would give a shout out to all the riders out there in the park, the streets, in the back country, big mountain riders and ski racers… yeah, pretty much everybody!

All the OG riders are just so sick, and they've contributed to the sport in so many different ways. So a big shout out to them and thank you!. Also, to Salomon and Scott Sports thanks for the support over the years. Being a part of those teams and families really got me integrated into the culture of skiing and the culture behind skiing. Being involved with the brands and the creation of the products was always super cool.

And yeah, big shout out to Nivis for bringing me on this year and Pangea Creatives. I’m really stoked to keep the ball rolling and for myself to just keep that soul and passion of skiing alive and to be creative with style and really just enjoy the soulful aspects of skiing

_

Moving forward, this season and the future, what can we expect in terms of your style of skiing?

I’m definitely looking to become more creative and a lot more playful in my style as I get a little older, I definitely still am stoked to push myself.

I'm very much attracted to big mountain lines and step down jumps and all that kind of stuff. So I'll still continue to do that. And I'd like to just mix in more kind of playful buttery skiing and just really controlled style and being creative and just thinking of different ways to ride the mountain.

It's not always about the gnarliest tricks and biggest lines. It's also just about creativity and the Art of Glide, you know. It's all about sliding out there!