How would you compare that to snowboarding today, with its Olympic status, big brands and commercial sponsorships?
Of course it was very different back in the early days. I mean, snowboarders weren’t even allowed on chairlifts, so that gave it way more of an outcast kind of feel. But more than anything, the spirit of snowboarding is still the same. It’s about individual style and passion and living a lifestyle that you love. All the money, corporate sponsorships and Olympic gold medals in the world can’t change what snowboarding is really all about – having a great time on the hill with your friends. You didn’t just create a brand but were actually instrumental in turning snowboarding into a bona fide sport. How hard was it back in the eighties trying to convince resorts to open up to snowboarders? Initially it was a nightmare. It was a lot of hard work communicating with the resort owners. We just lobbied them and showed them what was going on. If there were issues, we’d try to talk them down and address the whole thing using common sense. We couldn’t have done it without the local support, but at
