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 after college. From there, she met famous friends, started skiing rowdy lines, lined up sponsors, and traveled the world to film for a decade and...

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 made the right contacts to make the dream come true. He was tending bar in Aspen, making handfuls of cash, allowing him to travel anywhere in the...

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 level athlete, he was way more than that: the funniest guy everyone knew, the most inclusive, the most awesome, and McShlonkey weekend is a way to...

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, we talk about growing up in Alaska, ski racing, college in New Mexico, ski bumming turning into a pro career, and a whole lot about gender and...

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, leaving home at 16, being broke, snowboarding, mental health issues, losing snowboarding, love, losing love; oh, there is so much in this must-listen...

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 experienced the lowest of lows. Throughout it all, Maggie innovated, inspired, and spent a lot of time on podiums. Inappropriate Questions asked by Ashley...

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 being nobody to the World Cup to being named to the stacked US Team in a matter of years- she was always the underdog. But, in her biggest moment,...

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 all for the lucrative world of medical sales. Soon after, he had a life-changing epiphany on a paddleboard and, within an hour, quit his job, broke...

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 Champion. But, outside of that bump title, Andy and the skate-influenced crew he rode with, you know, the Palmer and Ranquet types, helped create the...

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 discuss stories from each movie and talk about many players, including Glen Plake, Scot Schmidt, Mike Hattrup, Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Christian...

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 with smaller production companies, TGR’s 100K Collab contest was the thing that changed his life…and he didn’t even win. On the podcast, we talk...

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 up at White Pass, his brand Rime Knits, his time with Poor Boyz Productions, K2, his Tamashii project, Nerdy About Nature, and much more. The...

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 Productions film lately, you know how giant Logan goes. On the podcast, we talk about his dad, high-risk logging, contests, how money dictates his contest...

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 program. Colby went all in on the sport, working all year to pay for High North Ski Camp. When he got there, he found a mentor in Shane Szocs, who...

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 TGR. We talk about it all and more on the podcast. Jake Hopfinger asks the Inappropriate Questions Parkin Costain Show Notes: 3:00:  His...

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 on a board shorter than ever seen before, and then leaving it all for Oregon and snowboarding. On the podcast, we talk about Hawaii, localism,...

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 podcast, we talk about his new book "A Fine Line," his journey to the mountains, and so much more. This one's a business and athlete episode. ...

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 more. Elyse Saugstad asks the Inappropriate Questions. Ingrid Backstrom Part 2 Show Notes: 3:00:  Norway Bushfield/Hoji story, male-dominated...

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, moved to Palisades, and became one of the faces of skiing in the 2000’s. It’s part 1 of an incredible story, and Jessica Sobolowski-Quinn asks the...

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, and their movies featuring the greatest athletes. In Part 2 of the podcast, we pick up where we left off and talk about the movies, the athletes, and...

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 Hole. The rest is history. Part 1 of the podcast we talk about The Dead, the early Jackson days, battles with ski patrol, pioneering Alaska with...

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 scenes of Nick’s rebrand, controversial pro skier Steve Stepp. This one’s a little different; think two guys, one mic. Nick Goepper Show Notes: ...

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, Bill Johnson, the World Cup at 18, the Olympics, and so much more. US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Famer Chad Fleischer asks the Inappropriate...

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 the most influential brands in action sports...You've seen Cory's art and work. These days, Cory has Mystery Made, his brand and design house in West...