MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2019

74 ML BLUE WINTER 2019 all the travelling. But all the while our focus came through our dad. It was never about how fast, or results, it was all about style. We grew up watching his ski movies like Warren Miller’s Steep and Deep , so it was with guys like Scot Schmidt, Ingemar Stenmark, all staples of technique and style, it was all about what felt good. We went through the racing programs, but my dad would pull us out to go on trips to Vermont, a couple times a year, and it was all about going as fast as you could and looking as good as you could. And getting sketchy along the way. The technical skills we developed over those years are just irreplaceable. ML: And how did you get into freestyle? SM: There was a group of us in these racing camps, we’d be pushing ourselves in the park. Even on our days off, our coaches would tell us to stop skiing. But we’d use our own money to buy tickets to ski the park and one kid had a video camera. We made ridiculous home movies; a bunch of ski racers with downhill suits, arms flapping out the back and hucking corked 7’s in the park. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but it felt good. We could goof off and have fun. Our dad hated freestyle skiing. He totally supported the racing, but if we were gonna freestyle we had to get a job, buy our skis and do it on our own. Which we did. Which created so much turbulence in our family life, just from values changing. And whenever our dad would go away, we would build these jumps on our parent’s farm and our mom would tow us in with a snowmobile to practise spins and whatever. We never built a landing, it was too much work, so we’d just build a kicker and land flat. At the time, that’s what you did. There were no other options. ML: Sounds like a recipe for injuring yourself. SM: Our mom’s rule was always “no flips”. So we’d always save a big backflip or a corked 7 till the end, then mom would shut it down. I have 34 screws and four plates in my body. I’ve had 12 concussions, two seizures, and I’ve broken 11 bones. Racing was all concussion. And that was one of the major factors to giving it up. Then when I went to the park, it was all blunt trauma; you’re falling from the sky and just hitting, and you’d snap or break. The rehab from all that introduced me to pilates. The preventive measures were never there. We’ve cleaned up our act. We’re passing a more refined system to the next generation. But with all the same values. ML: You’re a damn good skater too. How does that fit into it? You’re a skier first, right? SM: Skiing was always number one, but of course it’s seasonal. With skateboarding there were no rules ever. There is no path, it’s just trial and error. The culture of skateboarding formed our new outlook and perspective on skiing. Even our thoughts on our tricks, they were all inspired by skateboarding. I don’t care who you are, everyone wants to be a skateboarder. It’s the coolest thing ever. $200 and you’re ready to rock‘n roll. “Our mom would tow us in with a snowmobile to practise spins and whatever. We never built a landing, it was too much work, so we’d just build a kicker and land flat.” ABOVE COLIN FIELD. BELOW Showing the kids how it’s done at the Collingwood skatepark. ERIK MORTVEIT