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Danny Kass: That was lesson number one: Get off the lift and survive.We were on the same mountain you won an Olympic medal at, right?
Yeah, we were actually just like 200 yards from there. Park City in 2002.
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It’s true. It’s hard to compare the two, really.Come on, which one was better?
That’s pretty tough, actually. Well this year, I would have to say teaching a Victoria’s Secret model was better. But at 19, nothing really beat getting to compete in the Olympics in Park City.Yeah, definitely not the same thing. I just meant that Park City must hold a special place in your heart.
Yeah, it really does. Every time I get to go back, that’s one of the things about the Olympics that’s so cool, the Olympics really branded the resort for a long time—like 50 years. So to go back and see all of the same signage and everything still up about Salt Lake City, and all the memories I have with my family, and all the wild times with snowboarders after that fact, definitely are some of the greatest of my life.I didn’t realize this until I got to Park City but Deer Valley, not too far from where we were, is exclusively for skiing, and there’s no snowboarding allowed. Does that piss you off as a snowboarder?
No, I think it’s kind of funny, because the sport of snowboarding has grown so much, and there are still these resorts that are kind of holdouts. So it kind of shows you who thinks they run the world, you know?Did they ever give a specific reason behind the ban?
No. If there weren’t so many amazing resorts in the states, it would be a big deal. But snowboarding is kind of fun for me, because the 90s kind of invented all these new events like half-pipe and slope-style and stuff, and it’s kind of cool because going into even these next Olympics, you’re going to see some of the biggest ski stars in the world are going to be from our side of the world, not the old ski-style of the world. So I think if they ever have a training park with little rails or jibs or anything, they’re already influenced by snowboarding.
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Oh, yeah. I think the best half-pipes in the world were always in Vermont for me, and getting to go ride elsewhere— those reports like Loon Mountain, New Hampshire, and resorts all over, even my home mountain of Mount Creek, have been some of the best parks in the US. It’s not really where you’re at, it’s who you’re with.How tough was it to get back on the snow after your knee surgery in 2011?
Yeah, it took a long time, especially with certain injuries. And that’s the thing with snowboarding that people don’t realize when it kind of becomes your job, is that you’re gonna ride with certain injuries. So, I actually tried out for the 2010 team after I’d fractured by tibia in my ankle, in about six weeks I was trying to compete on a fractured ankle. I wasn’t even going to heal for least eight weeks for the bone, and for the ligaments up to five months. So that can be pretty tough. And with the knee injury I had, I just kind of gave myself time and came back. And it was really fun, because I got to do film for this video Absinthe, and a little bit of Absinthe’s crew, and the name of the video is Resonance. And I spent the whole winter as I recovered from that mainly shooting photos in Europe and all over Austria and Switzerland to come out with a video part, which is something I hadn’t done in years, because competing kind of limits you to kind of the limelight of competition in snowboarding, and you don’t really get to focus on the other aspects of freeriding and shooting and stuff. So it was pretty cool to come back from that injury, because it is a little bit of a head case, you just kind of work your way through it and get mentally back as well.Do you think that you’re going to continue competing in the future?
It’s kind of funny, because I’m not really required to compete anymore, and kind of my obligations are more to shoot snowboarding. My goal in life is to keep snowboarding fun a bit. But I’m still going to do some exhibitions. For me, I kind of grew up more in the East Coast and Jersey, so there’s something about liking to show off, and getting to ride in front of huge crowds is sort of a push and a rush for me. So, I may not be done yet.My last question for you, since I was arguing with someone earlier around the office, and I feel like you can settle this for us, since you have a background in both. Which is harder: skateboarding or snowboarding?
They’re actually pretty similar, and they’re both pretty dangerous in the sense of doing tricks. Which one’s harder? For me, I would have to say snowboarding, because it’s more of my job, and skateboarding has always been my passion, and I’ve always gotten to enjoy just doing it and riding it and never had to make it more than that. But I don’t know—skateboarding seems like it’s one of those things if you’re 30 years old and you wanna learn it, it’s going to be pretty interesting. I would have to say skateboarding would be a little bit harder for older people for sure, but when you’re 12 years old, I mean, they’re pretty much the same from 12 to 20.@notsovanilla
