interview by Mike Rogge

                                           The Gnarbarian himself

Where are you from?

I’m originally from Windham, Maine. Born in Maine, been a Maine-ah my whole (beeeeep'n) life.

"Too many kids listen to hip

hop... Where’d the metal go?" 

Who are your sponsors?

Ugh…that’s a good question (laughs). My sponsors are Ski The East, they pay me the most (laughs), Electric, Poc Helmets, kind of Dynastar, and the Bag and Kettle Brew Pub.

What have you been up to the last few years?

I’ve been competing a lot to keep my sponsors happy and I still have the competitive drive so I’ve been skiing a lot of halfpipe. I’ve done well. Lots of top 10’s, top 5’s, couple podiums at maybe not the biggest events. I’ve just been trying to ski hard and whenever I’m not competing, I’ve found a love for hitting natural features and skiing a lot of powder. I’ve been living out in Utah the last couple years… well, this year in Utah, last year in Summit County. Again, I’ve just been trying to ski hard.

                                           Gettin the skrilla

Tell me about the Meathead trip to Bohemia?

Mount BROhemia! Well, I was at X Games and Rooster came up to me, well, we had a couple of drinks and I was blabbering my mouth to Rooster and he was telling me about a couple trips they had planned. One of them was this Mount Bohemia trip and at first I was like, “What?! Michigan? What’s going to go on there? It can’t be that sick.” I went home that night and checked out their snowfall totals and they were just getting slammed! I became interested in the trip and kept calling Rooster and was like, “I want to be on this trip! I want to be on this trip!” We ended up heading out there this past March. I went with Geoff McDonald and Giray Dadali. We got…not powder but just really nice spring conditions and the terrain was way above my expectations. The terrain around the resort and the backcountry were just phenomenal. It was a really cool trip and I think the footage turned out really well and it should turn some heads, especially because it’s East Coast Michigan stuff. We snagged a lot of shots and it was really productive. It was a good trip.

                            Michigan what what!?!  Bohemia backcountry

Happy to be back on the East Coast filming with Meathead?

Yeah, it’s fun. As I said, I grew up in Maine skiing the ‘Loaf and you know, the east is where it’s at. This is where the best skiers come from. I’m stoked to be here and giving props to the East Coast but I do miss out West. It’s sick to be here though, hanging out with the crew.

You’ve been telling us for weeks now to “keep the shred alive.” What does that mean exactly?

What does it mean to keep the shred alive? I’m glad you asked me that. Keeping the shred alive is just all about skiing hard all day and skiing because you love it. It’s not about things like getting hooked up by sponsors or the corporate side of things. It’s about skiing for yourself, having fun, and constantly pushing yourself. To me, shredding is when I’m scaring myself, feeling the adrenaline, and it keeps me pushing it and wanting to be a better skier than I was before.

You’ve said that some of the skiers today are “soft.” Care to elaborate?

Yeah…(laughs). Some skiers are soft and I feel like they’re in it for the wrong reasons. They’re not keeping the shred alive. For me, it’s first chair, last chair, last call. You gotta go hard all the time. There’s some people getting soft out there. Too many kids listen to hip hop... Where’d the metal go? Where’s the Gnarbarians? Let’s get that back. In the end, it’s going to boil down to, “Who’s keeping the shred alive?” That’s just what it comes down to. Just ski hard and have fun.

                               Holdin it down with the URI gals

Tell me about your relationship with The Hammer.

My relationship with The Hammer is recent. I met him about three weeks ago at Ski Sundown, which is a great resort. I really liked it. We were skiing a bump comp down there. It was called the Ski Sundown Spectacular something…(laughs) I don’t know, something like that. I met him down there and got to hang out with him and (Radio) Ron. I’ve seen Hammer ski in the videos and I knew he ripped and it was just really cool. I have some mogul background and once I started skiing the bumps, he was like, “Yeah, this kid can ski.” He had told me he thought I was just a park rat and I kind of pride myself on being an all around skier and skiing hard. I got to hang out with him and I’ve actual developed a big interest in old style skiing so he’s hooked me up with a couple pairs of straight skis, all 200 cm . It’s been cool. I’ve been to his house, met his wife, went on a trip to the Chic Chocs with him, just lots of bro-ing out. Great guy!

"For me, it’s first chair, last chair, last call."

How’s it been balancing college with skiing?

Balancing college and skiing is difficult. It’s becoming progressively more difficult. I probably won’t be in school next fall. Missing that late November, early December training in Summit County is, with the way the level of skiing has gotten, you just can’t get away with it anymore. I figured before, “Why not get 15 credits under my belt?” but I went into X Games this year and the Mount Snow stop of the Dew Tour not as prepared as I would have liked to have been. It was cool though because it forced me to really dial into my tricks early on because I didn’t have a buffer time to get ready. The way my life is, I’m at school in the Fall which is cool from a social standpoint because I’ve made friends in so many different places. This year though, something’s got to give and I’ll probably end up taking summer classes and just skiing hard in the fall and preparing myself for the comp season.

                                                          Be like water

What is Marionating?

Marionating doesn’t exist. It happens when you get a stupid injury filming with a stupid company like Meathead Films… (laughs) Just kidding. Let me clear the record here: I will never be able to pay Meathead back for all they’ve done for me over the last month. Geoff, Rogge, and Rooster have just hooked it up. I’m in a tough time right now with my foot. I fractured my second metatarsal…

How’d you get injured?

(laughs) …Well we were up in the Chic Chocs and I had this idea that I really wanted to jump off an iceberg into the ocean. It was a really really sick sunset shot, and the time was right. We walked way out, like a 150 yards out. The tide was high and we had some locals take a look at it and they determined it was deep enough. Actually, they thought it was too deep and if something happened they might have to dive in and get me. Anyways, I just busted a FATTY cannonball into knee deep water… (laughs) …and broke my second metatarsal in my foot. Not my proudest moment but if you’re going hard, things are gonna happen.

What do you enjoy doing in the summer?

Going to school in Rhode Island and growing up in Maine, I’ve always been around the coast. When I was about 12, one of my dad’s friends took me surfing and I kind of fell in love with it. Ever since then I’ve been surfing hard. I started shaping my own boards and the University of Rhode Island has got some good waves close by and a good crew of local surfers down there. Whenever I’m not skiing or going to school, I’m surfing and skating as much as possible. Shaping boards has been a really cool experience. I’ve probably shaped about 10 boards now and they’ve come along way. The entire process has been really fun and riding them is great too.

  Testing out one of the boards in Costa Rica and successfully throwing some buckets

Can you explain the dynamic between people from Maine?

Oh yea, oh yea. I’ll tell you what, when yugh bourn in Maaine, it’s in yah blood forevah and you can tell one Maine-ah from the next, I’ll tell you that. There’s two kinds of Maine-ahs actually. There’s the coastal Maine-ahs and then you get up to the Northern woodsmen and that’s a little bit more Canadian. I’ll tell you what, one Maine-ah will nevah leave anotha Maine-ah hangin’ that’s for suure. Roostah’s got that in his blood, he’s got that goin’ for ‘em at least.

"Your best skiing comes out when you’re having fun and keeping the shred alive."

Words of advice for the young Meats out there?

You know, I’ve been reading this book by Bruce Lee recently called The Warrior Within and he really focuses on water being a metaphor and not trying to be constant but always trying to change shape and I relate it to skiing in that you should try to not get stuck in a rut and always try new things when you’re skiing or on your feet. That’s one thing I’ve really taken from his literature that’s influenced me in a positive way. Another thing is, with social interactions, you need the three ingredients:

1) Be Genuine

2) Be Positive

3) Just have that sparkle in your eye

That’s really it. Being positive just goes so far. If you go into a (video) shoot positive, things will come out positive. Your best skiing comes out when you’re having fun and keeping the shred alive.

                      Halloween in RI. Garth with that sparkle in his eye

Shout outs?

I’d like to thank my family, my mom Vicki, my dad Peter, my sister Sarah for always supporting and putting up with me. My sponsors over the years, Dynastar has been such a big help, Electric, Poc, and DNA. I’m not sponsored by DNA now but they were really instrumental in getting me to where I am today. The Meathead guys, Level 1, and all my friends that have pushed me.