Snowboard Canada “Who Dat” Interview: Adam Chuntz
Who Dat: Adam ChuntzSnowboard Canada
Age: 23
Years riding: 12
Years sponsored: Seven
Sponsors: Endeavor Snowboards, Vans Boots and Outerwear, Nomis, Flux Bindings, Beaver Wax, Spy, Hustler Boardshop, PunkAssCanucks, Ogio flow
Board and bindings: Endeavor Hi-5 155 with Flux Super Titans and Endeavor Colour 153 with Flux E.X.P.s
Stance width: 23”
Angles: 15 front, -12 back
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Current residence: Whistler in winter, Collingwood in summer
Vehicle: Black ‘05 Toyota Tundra crew cab
Snowmobile: ‘07 Ski-Doo Summit X 144 (still can’t believe that one)
Preferred terrain: Pow or a perfect jump in the springtime
Off-snow activities: Clicking on my computer, hacking the mainframe, watching the Food Network, skateboarding, skim-boarding, hanging out with my girl, and going to the beach whenever possible
Partners in crime: Morgan Parker, Andrew Burns, Brad Martin, SS 128, Blue Mtn Crew, Nomis Crew
Shred hero: Dev / Terje
Favourite trick: B/S 180
Ideal conditions: zero degrees, blue skies
First setup: Black Snow Legend
Last trick stomped: F/S 360 off a natural windlip
Intro:
Adam is successful because he can convert his ideas into reality with the greatest of ease. This usually means piecing together insane runs through the park, or using some sort of digital trickery to create new designs. His creativity and consistently optimistic attitude ensures you will always have fun whenever he is around. I have seen him transform boring designs into dope pieces of art, and often when I ride with him, I find myself having a great time hitting a tree branch he found, or trying to jib a lift pole (I still don’t know how he can bonk and then spin off them so fast). The first memory I have of Adam is watching in amazement as he was doing McTwist 1080s when he must have been 16. It seems every time I ride with him, I get that same feeling of amazement as I watch him continually progress and add new tricks to his arsenal. I still don’t know how he can spin so fas,t though, maybe it’s all that tea he drinks, or the constant beat of all that drum and bass in his headphones……BOOM SELECA! – Morgan Parker
When we just talked, you were in the Roundhouse lodge in Whistler, grabbing something to eat with Colin Adair and Brad Martin. How does it feel to finally be living in Whistler?
It’s rad to finally be living hear for longer than a few weeks at a time, especially because I’m not stranded without a vehicle and not couch-surfing. The only downside to being here is missing everyone back home like my family, friends and girlfriend especially.
You drove out there in a convoy of Ontario shreds defecting to the West: Gong show or good times?
I’d have to say good-time gong show: lots of laughs and some hairy situations, but we made it here somehow…
What was your code name for the radios? Give us the backstory…
Even though we thought radio codenames were a good idea, they didn’t really last too long. However, my code name was AC Slater… not very original and definitely not my favourite Saved By The Bell character!
Who had the best one?
The best code name probably went to Cartwright. His name was Nature’s Nipple and I still don’t really know where that one came from.
Was it hard not checking email for so long at a stretch? You’re pretty well known as a ‘checks their email every five minutes’ kind of guy…
The internet situation was not as good as I would have liked, but in a lot of ways it was nice disconnecting for that long. The crappy part was when we did find internet, the pile of new emails was huge!
Any good stories from the road? I heard Cartwright got into it with the MTO…
Aside from the icy, windy, snowy, hilly roads, the shady motel rooms, the copious amounts of fast food and coffee, and the ridiculous two-way radio conversations, there wasn’t really anything too crazy to report. And yes, Cartwright had a little run-in with the MTO somewhere in Manitoba I think, but he escaped with just a few tickets and a warning for towing a trailer improperly or something.
So what’s your Whistler survival strategy? Straight shredding or will you continue to work on your web design?
I don’t think I really have strategy to survive here, but if I did it would definitely involve avoiding late night 7-Eleven trips and boxes of KD. But really, I’ll be shredding during the day and sitting on my laptop clicking away at night trying to get by.
Tell us a bit about your business…
My business is called Intersection Design, and I started it with a friend from university named Andrew. We just figured, why not try to make some money from stuff that we enjoy creating? It has evolved to somewhat of a full-time gig, yet still allows me to shred full-time!
What are your riding goals for the season, being your first in Whistler?
My goals are definitely changing each day that I’m out here, but overall I want to push my limits and get as much video and photo coverage as possible. My goal for tomorrow is to not get my sled stuck.
Did you buy a sled? What’s the situation with getting it around?
Yup, I bought an ‘07 Summit X and I tow it around on the back of my truck like everyone else in this crazy town. Still need some ramps to get it on and off though, because I’m sure people are getting a bit annoyed with me asking to borrow theirs.
Any apprehension about the sledding side of things? Not so many opportunities to practice in Ontario…
Sledding is definitely harder than it looks, and I have so much respect for people who rip around the mountains on these machines and make it look easy. The few times that I’ve been before I never really got to drive much, and I sure as hell didn’t drive up and down big steeps. It’s a whole other ballgame sledding in the backcountry and I’m throwing myself right in the shit.
Things really came together for you last year–what would you attribute having such a good season to?
Well, the weird thing is that I was having the worst season before anything started going well for me last year. I bruised my heels really badly early in January, so badly that I couldn’t walk for a while and since then it felt like none of my gear was my own and everything just felt off. Sometime in March my heels stopped bugging me as much, and I felt like I had to make up for lost time so I just pushed myself really hard and it paid off. I got to travel a bunch and win some money too!
What are you going to miss most about Ontario? Getting banned from Blue Mountain Village?
The best part about Ontario is how much fun everyone always has shredding together. There is way less attitude because we all are just there to shred what little terrain there is! The entire Blue Mountain banning thing is just beyond lame, but whatever. Apparently that’s what I get for peeing in a bush!
Your lady just told me she had an unfortunate encounter with a deer in her car recently – is it tough not being around to save her from dead mammals and the rednecks who want to eat them?
Yah, that was one of the scariest days I’ve ever had. I hated being here because there was nothing I could do, but thank God she is okay (too bad she wrote off her car because of it). I wanted to hop on a flight and go kick that deer in the face for running out in front of her.
Has heading West always been the plan?
It’s always been in the back of my mind, and I’ve been out here lots before for a few weeks at a time, but never really living here. It’s strange for sure, but it allows me to focus on riding and that’s what I need to do right now to see where it takes me.
Who would you say has been key in helping you get there?
Where do I start? Definitely having the support and push from my friends, family and girlfriend were the deciding factor. Also, my sponsors have been a big help for sure. They are all really stoked that I made the move and have allowed me to do so with quite a bit of help!
You’ve worked really hard to get to this point; looking back, would you do anything differently?
I think I was naive in the last few years about snowboarding because I used to just let my riding do the talking, and I think I needed to market myself a little bit more. But overall, I’ve had so much fun snowboarding and I’ve met some great people along the way, so for that I wouldn’t change a thing.
-end-
