Tommy Czeschin was born into a life of mountains and lakes, so it’s no surprise that he loves snowboarding and water sports-but what’s shocking is that he was able to go pro in both. Not too bad for the quiet kid with talent who started ski racing and was the forerunner for the Jr Olympics before seeing snowboarding and making the switch. Within 5 …

Red Gerard has won every slopestyle event out there: The Olympics, X Games, Dew Tour, World Cups, Grand Prix, you get the idea and Red is only 23 years old. While his life will be defined by his Olympic Gold, Red’s snowboarding career isn’t all about contests. He’s just as comfortable taking his trick vocabulary to the backcountry and laying it dow…

The X Games is the pinnacle event in action sports, and while it’s not what it once was, the new ownership group, MSP Sports Capital, plans to not only turn that around but make the X Games property bigger than ever. There’s a lot of excitement around the new regime and its plans, and the X Games media team invited me down to get my unbiased take o…

Ace Kvale has lived the ultimate ski bum life but he’s no bum, Ace is a legend. A Midwest kid who hitchhiked his way west at 18 for bigger mountains and a better lifestyle. After a few years of resort hopping, Ace made his way to Europe, connected with Marko Shapiro, and became part of the original Clambin Crew. He started out living in a chalet in…

Bobby Brown was a dominant force at contests starting in 2010, and by 2017, it looked like he was on his way to his second Olympic Games, until that dream was taken away by injury. Knowing that traditional contests weren’t in his future, Bobby pivoted and took his tricks to the backcountry. Now, his pro ski life is totally different than when we ta…

While Lucas Foster is not a one-trick pony, when he landed his Alley Oop Double McTwist in the pipe, his career and his life totally changed forever. What’s crazy is that Lucas grew up in Telluride, a place without a halfpipe, meaning Lucas came up learning his tricks at contests with barely any practice. Nowadays, Lucas has all the resources avail…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! Join the cast of Grease at.... Where: Hartland International School, Dubai When: from June 12 to 15, 2024 Timings: 7:30 PM daily and a 2:30 PM matinee on Saturday, June 15 Tickets: https://ticketslover.com/dubai/events/mtdxb-presents-grease. In this episode Katheryne Nicole Alday and Stephen King interview …

Outside Festival is a first-year event in Denver aimed at bringing the outdoor industry, the consumers, the brands and the athletes together. I’m hearing this called the intersection of SBSW and CES for the outdoor industry. Outside has swung for the fences a lot over the years, and I travel to Colorado to see if the event lives up to the massive e…

Peter Olenick changed halfpipe skiing when he landed the first double in competition. His “Whiskey Flip” defined Peter’s life on and off snow; he went big, took chances, and partied his face off during his legendary career. He was on top of the contest world during one of the most run eras. On the podcast, we talk about not being cool growing up, A…

Jeff Thomas is an award-winning filmmaker, a once-sponsored skier, and a guy who was born to be a baseball player. While he can still throw the ball at 85 mph, the day Jeffy’s dad showed him the brochure to high North Ski Camp in the late ’90s, Jeff’s life went from boring baseball to the epicenter of the new school of skiing. At camp, he met his h…

Zach Miller is different than any World Champion I’ve had on the podcast. While he appears to be able-bodied, Zach has Cerebral Palsy, a neurological disorder that affects his mobility, posture, and balance. Zach found snowboarding through a hospital program, and that changed his life. Today, Zach is a Paralympian who travels the world to snowboard…

Scotty Lago had a path to pro snowboarding that’s different than almost anyone I’ve interviewed. Most high school dropouts don’t have Olympic Medals to go along with a grip of X Games and Dew Tour hardware, but that’s what Scotty Lago did. Along the way, he was part of the legendary Frends Crew, he filmed with Grenade, he filmed with Travis Rice fo…

Dane Tudor has had an incredible pro ski career that’s been going on for 15+ years, and while he’s getting older, Dane shows no sign of slowing down ski-wise, and no brands seem to care for some reason. When I say no signs of slowing down, in 2009, when Dane was 19, he won “Male Performance of the Year,” a huge award in skiing. Then, in 2023, 15 ye…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! Embark on an auditory odyssey with us as Stephen King and Mikhail Skornyakov uncover the melodic intricacies of forging a career in music, in our latest interview with professional saxophonist, composer and conductor, Maksim Mintcaev. Join us for a session resonating with insights, where every note is an in…

Jake Hopfinger created a name for himself in skiing at the Kings and Queens of Corbet’s in Jackson Hole. The double backflip he threw there for a 3rd instantly made his name known worldwide. While the dollars and travel budgets are now coming in, Jake was once an aspiring D1 East Coast ski racer who could never finish a race. Then he quit racing, m…

Jessica Sobolowski-Quinn is a lifer in the ski industry. She’s skied more powder than almost anyone on the planet over the past 20 years, which is what you’d expect from the owner of one of Alaska’s premiere heli operations, Points North. But Jess didn’t grow up chasing powder in helicopters; she was a D1 ski racer who made her way to Palisades aft…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! The curtain rises on an enthralling discussion about theatre and acting in the UAE. With a special collab with Redbeat MDX and the arrival of Desiree Barreto to our team, we gain a deep insight into the creative minds of playwright Alex Broun and actor/producer Osman Aboubakr. Alex Broun: https://alexbroun.…

Colter Hinchliffe is living proof that the Aspen rockstar ski bum dream not only exists but it can thrive if your heart is in the right place. Colter spent his life surrounding himself with the only thing that mattered to him - Skiing. And between growing up near Aspen, dropping out of college to shred, moving to Alta, and returning to Aspen, he ma…

The Pain McShlonkey Classic is arguably the most important event in all of skiing. The coveted Golden Saucer is up for grabs, and this year, 60 ski bladers had KT early ups on a Saturday pow day. The weekend's goal is to raise money in the name of our time's most important skiers and personalities. While Shane McConkey didn't look like an elite lev…

Elyse Saugstad is not only a Powder Award-winning skier known for her impressive movie segments over the years, but she’s also a woman who’s put her career on the line to better the treatment of women in big mountain ski competitions. Throughout Elyse’s career, people have said no to her, but she’s never taken no as the final answer. On the podcast…

Jess Kimura’s life has never been easy. Yeah, she’s a pro snowboarder who travels the world to ride, which sounds like a dream - But, hearing about the path that led Jess to snowboard superstardom, I doubt many people would trade places with her. What she has achieved is incredible. On the podcast, we talk about life lessons of the skatepark, leavi…

Maggie Voisin’s life has been defined by skiing, family, and the highs and lows that come with both. A three-time Olympian and 7-time X Games medalist, Maggie knows what it’s like to achieve her goals and experience the highest of highs. But, between losing a brother to suicide, untimely injuries, and countless knee surgeries, she’s also experience…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! An experiment with music podcasts. Here is a <10minute playlist of four songs I've been practicing this year: Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift Lift Me Up by Rihanna Flowers by Miley Cyrus Take My Hand by Lady Gaga Do let me know what you think. Arrangements and backing music from Hal Leonard, the world's largest s…

Kaitlyn Farrington grew up on a cattle ranch in Bellevue, Idaho. Life growing up was all about hard work, rodeoing, and, if there was fresh snow, skipping school to head to her home mountain of Sun Valley. Eventually, she switched from skiing to snowboarding, earned a scholarship for the Sun Valley Team, and things happened quickly. She went from b…

Mark Mackay is a country music star in the making, but his background as a ski rep makes him the perfect new business episode. His road to Nashville included stints with Rossignol, Dynastar, and Atomic, all by the time he was 20. He was the head sales rep in California when Atomic started exploding, he had a dream job, he was young, and he left it …

Andy Hetzel is the Rick Kane of snowboarding. Hailing from Arizona, Andy’s first love was skateboarding, then punk rock. This eventually led to Andy finding snowboarding and moving his life to Breckenridge. He competed early and often and achieved pro status, but Hetzel won’t be remembered for contests, well maybe as the reigning World Mogul Champi…

Greg Stump, the legendary filmmaker behind ski classics like Blizzard of Aahhh’s, The Maltese Flamingo, Groove Requiem in the Key of Ski, and Legend of Aahhh’s, is back on the podcast. Stumpy is promoting his March Residence at the Isis Theatre in Aspen this March, where he is screening the incredible films mentioned above. On the podcast, we discu…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! Discover the truth behind the curtain of sustainability promises, as we unravel the complexity of global commitments to a sustainable future. Is the global political and corporate leadership really committed to the long haul, or are they merely ticking boxes to appease a growingly conscientious society? The…

Nick McNutt’s ski bum story is one of the best. After ten years of dirtbagging it, Nick became a big-name pro skier and one of the faces of TGR movies. When Nick moved to Whistler at 17, he quickly became the skier other skiers were talking about because of his huge switch landings…something that wasn’t too common back in the day. While he filmed w…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! Embarking on a PhD can be a journey fraught with decisions, but none more crucial than the choice of a supervisor. In the grand finale of our incongruent series, we reach the climax of my doctoral tale, navigating the academic landscapes of Glasgow, Exeter, Westminster, and Portsmouth to uncover a mentor wh…

Ross Reid is known these days as the Nerdy About Nature guy, a modern-day Bill Nye, helping educate the digital world about what's happening in nature. But Ross isn't just an internet influencer; he's an award-winning filmmaker who spent 20 years in the ski industry, working with the best athletes in the world. On the podcast, we talk about growing…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! Embark on an academic voyage with us as we dissect the daunting financial mountains aspiring scholars must climb. Episode 4 of 'The Incongruent' peels back the layers on the high costs of PhDs and DBAs, and contrasts them with the more wallet-friendly doctorates by publishing or thesis. Our conversation doe…

Logan Pehota comes from ski royalty bloodlines. His dad, Eric Pehota, is a ski mountaineering pioneer, a badass in the big mountains. Logan's journey to ski stardom took him from racing to slope-style to the Freeride World Tour to where he is today, dropping the biggest cliffs and huge tricks in the backcountry. If you've seen a Matchstick Producti…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! Embark on a journey of discovery with us as we investigate the practicalities of academic research and its implications for real-world business challenges. Our latest installment of the PhD pursuit series promises insight into the intricacies of proposing a study that's not only manageable but also fraught …

Colby West is a big personality in skiing and has been for almost a decade...but didn’t start skiing until he was a teenager. When most people were getting into the sport, Colby lived an isolated life where he spent his free time mimicking different voices and spending the rest of his time in the woods…And then, he found skiing through a school pro…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! Embark on an intellectual odyssey with us as we unveil the secrets to pinpointing the academic "Goldilocks zone" for PhD research topics—a pursuit that's neither too mainstream nor too obscure. Our journey in this episode is expertly guided by analytical titans like Google Trends and the Gartner Technology …

Parkin Costain is a child prodigy, a kid born to pro level athlete parents, Parkin was in the backcountry before he could walk. He was learning to read lines, manage risk and enjoy adventure at a young age and then, at the ripe age of 7, started competing in big mountain contests…Those evolved into film contests, sponsors, and a career filming with…

Gerry Lopez may be the most legendary guest I’ve ever had on the podcast, so it’s fitting that I kick off Season 8 with Gerry. This OG surf god single-handedly invented what relaxed style looks like, and it was all inspired by his other passion, yoga. Gerry is famous for so many things, but his legacy will be remembered most for pioneering Pipeline…

Chris King and Graham Zimmerman are two of the power players over at Outdoor Research. Chris is OR's VP of Brand, and we discuss his career that took him from behind the lens to behind the curtain. Graham is OR's Athlete Team Captain, the Athlete Director at Protect Our Winters, and one of the most accomplished climbers of the 21st century. On the …

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! This is the first of a multi-part series where I attempt to prepare a proposal to undertake a PhD-grade research project. I'm using two papers to help me: Perry, C. (2002) A structured approach to presenting theses: Notes for students and their supervisors. [Online]. Accessed 12 June 2015. http://users.ugen…

Part 2 with Ingrid Backstrom is a much heavier episode. Ingrid and others were changing the face of big mountain skiing, and when you take that kind of risk, there’s bound to be consequences. This week, Ingrid and I talk about working in a male-dominated industry, gender differences in the mountains, risk, losing people in the mountains, and a lot …

Ingrid Backstrom ushered in a new era of women’s big mountain skiing when her award-winning segment in Matchstick Productions’ “Yearbook” set the ski world on fire. While she was her high school valediction, Ingrid parlayed her academic scholarship into a life-changing time on the Whitman ski team. Then she graduated, dropped out of the real world,…

Todd Jones has defined what action sports looks like to the masses and, more importantly, to the core of these sports in the most authentic way. He’s been doing it for 30 years, and his baby, Teton Gravity Research, continues to reinvent itself with new product categories, a network of retail stores, the community they’ve built online since ’96, an…

Todd Jones and the company he helped found Teton Gravity Research, has had a huge impact on Skiing and Snowboarding. This private school-educated kid from Cape Cod became passionate about sliding on snow at Stowe, then became a certified Deadhead in high school, and college was all about leaving private college life to become a dish dog in Jackson …

Nick Goepper won three Olympic medals in slopestyle, then called it a career and retired. Fast forward a year, and Nick is out of retirement, and he has his goals set: rebranding himself and making the Olympic Halfpipe team. On the podcast, we talk about how hard that will be, all things Goepper, and then I do a mini-podcast with the man behind the…

AJ Kitt is a US Ski Team Legend and was the face of US Downhill at a time when the US Skiing’s image desperately needed a re-fresh from the Bill Johnson era. AJ’s a 4X Olympian, which is incredible, but also the most screwed-over athlete ever by FIS, which is unfortunate. On the podcast, we talk about going fast, understanding sponsorship early, Bi…

Cory Côté's career has included some of the most interesting jobs with the biggest players in the business. His story starts with a difficult childhood, where he used team sports to take him from Canada to Washington and then transitioned from athletics to art. From gigs with Ames Bros to record labels to designing (in-house and out) for some of th…

Dave Moe is the most unique, eclectic guest I’ve had on the podcast, and he and his brother may have had more of an impact on the sport of skiing than anyone else I’ve had on the show. The Moe’s started Powder Magazine, and Dave Moe was the gonzo journalist who traveled the world in the name of Powder. On the podcast, we talk about early Seattle sk…

Tanner Hall is arguably the greatest all-around skier of our time. He’s a rare athlete who’s found success in the moguls, in the streets, in the parks, in the X Games, in the backcountry, in the movies, and on the Freeride World Tour. It doesn’t get more complete than that, and the crazy thing is that now, at 40, he’s skiing better than he ever has…

Spill the tea - we want to hear from you! Discover the transformative power of student awards as we converse with a distinguished panel of educators gathered for the 2023 edition of Middlesex University's Annual Learning and Teaching conference. Promising to build confidence, generate connections, and encourage collaboration, these accolades are mo…