November 2, 1999

Intros by Jason Landry and Blaise Rosenthal

Interviews by Matt Peterson and Cathy Cohn

Photo: Whitey

The one word that comes to mind when I try to explain Chad is progression. Chad spends his time focusing on the things he cares about. Obviously, Chad is a pretty good snowboarder, but he�s also progressing as a person. When we lived in Minnesota, I thought Chad had simply solved some sort of riddle that enabled him to be a little better at snowboarding every time I saw him ride. The real secret is, he just didn�t have anything better to do. �Jason Landry

I�d like to say a little about my friend. Chad is one of those people you think you have figured out right away. You go on thinking this for a while, and then one day you realize he has you all figured out, and you have no idea what he�s thinking. In that instant, you�ve become fortunate enough to begin to really know Chad.

I�ve been around the world with Chad, countless contests and on plane rides that seemed like they�d never end. Together with our friend, Kendall, we created Millennium Three Snowboards. During all of these adventures, I�m constantly rewarded as I witness Chad�s unique approach to life�s experiences. If Chad is your friend, he�ll be there for you; if Chad is riding, he�ll be amazing; it�s as simple as that.

�Blaise Rosenthal

When did you start snowboarding?

I don�t really remember the year, but I think I was in about sixth grade. I had a plastic Black Snow Legend. I just rode in my backyard whole year. I ended up breaking the highback that winter, so I had to buy a real snowboard the next year.

Did you stay in your backyard the next year?

The next year I went to the ski areas a few times, but I mostly stuck to the hills around my house until I got my [driver�s] license, then I started to ride more ski areas. Backyard riding was super fun, though�we had jibs everywhere. My friend Glenn and I stole this handrail from a park nearby and set it up in my backyard. We were back there all the time.

Who got you into snowboarding?

My brother Andy. He was into skateboarding when he was younger. He started snowboarding in high school, so I just sort of followed. Then he got interested in other things and I kept riding. I still snowboard with him sometimes, when I�m home.

Do you keep in touch with your family much?

They all live in Minnesota, so it�s hard. I try to make it home for the holidays and the off season for a little bit. Plus, I have a cell phone now. So that helps out a lot when I�m traveling. My family is pretty important to me�I always keep in touch some way.

Photo: Ruben Sanchez

Are you still riding with the same group of friends you grew up with?

Yeah, I�m still riding with most of the same friends I rode with in Minnesota. We all ended up moving to Breck. Some of them have moved away to pursue other things, but I still keep in touch with my first crew of snowboard friends. They had a lot of influence on me.

Tell us about the season you and your friends were banned from Trollhagen and forced to ride at Wild Mountain.

Well, my friends were really into causing trouble on the hill. Enough so that they were forced to move to a different mountain. It seemed the management at Trollhagen didn�t like fighting too much, so all my friends got kicked out. Except me, I always seemed to be gone on the fight nights, but I left anyway because all of my friends did. It was worth it because Wild Mountain was better.

Would those be the same friends you were with when you were skateboarding in Minneapolis and a security guard got so pissed he actually threw his walkie-talkie at you?

Well, it wasn�t exactly like that, but I�ve been arrested for jaywalking and skateboarding on a sidewalk. The cops were chasing us for no reason. One of my friends got beat up and maced. We all had our fingerprints and mug shots taken. We got off, though, because when the cops were chasing us we weren�t actually skateboarding we just had our skateboards in our hands, and there was a walk sign when we ran across the street.

When you were ripping your gloves on the towropes back in Minnesota, did you ever think you would be traveling the world snowboarding?

No, not at all. It just sort of happened, ever since I moved to Colorado. I never really thought it [being a pro snowboarder] would happen. It�s rad, I�m getting to see places and meet people from all over the world I probably never would have otherwise.

Where exactly have you been?

I�ve been all over the U.S., but never to Canada. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with all of the Fourstar guys�that was super fun. I went to Japan last year for ten days. I also went to Switzerland, but I got sick on the airplane over from staying up too long and from Blaise making me drink when I was already tired and sick. I got to fly home early because my throat was so swollen shut I thought I was going to die. I actually flew straight into Vegas from Switzerland for the Snow Industries trade show and had no ride from the airport and didn�t know where to find anyone. I called my friends Jake and Matt on their cell phone thinking they were in Tahoe. It turned out they were driving to Vegas and were about ten minutes from the airport. My Europe trip turned out to be the best ever because of this.

How�d Vegas treat you?

It�s great, I�m not really into gambling and hookers, but the trade show is fun for about a day.

Where are you living now?

I live in Breckenridge, Colorado.

That place is flat. Why don�t you move somewhere where the riding is better like Utah or Tahoe with the rest of the pro bros?

Because of all the people I know around here�there�s a cool scene. I�ve lived here for four years and I call this place home. I�m sure the people are the same everywhere, but I don�t want to start over just for better snowboarding. Besides, we have the best park in the world here.

Tell us about your Summit County freshman year.

We lived in the ghetto of Breckenridge. I worked at the Farmers Korner gas station, and our place was so trashed it got to the point where if something broke, we couldn�t call the landlord because if he saw the place we would be kicked out. Besides that, I mostly snowboarded.

What drove you to quit your illustrious counter-management career at the local trailer-park gas and gift shop? I mean, with free cigarettes and all.

Well, the truth is I ran out of money, all the snow was melting, we were getting evicted from our apartment, and my roommates were all into drugs, so I went home [to Minnesota]. Plus, I slept on a couch all winter because I was too lazy to fold it out into the bed.

If I�m not mistaken that would also be the season you acquired the Cheetah bird.

Yeah, it was my first snowmobile. It lasted all winter for 33 dollars a piece�I bought it with two other friends. We called it the Cheetah because of the Cheetah-skin seats. It was a 1974 Polaris and we sold it for 50 bones at the end of the year. I have a new one now that�s getting fixed up for the season. We have backcountry access right out the back door of my new house in Breck.

Backcountry, huh. I guess that would mostly mean filming. Would you say filming takes up most of your time?

Yes, it seems like whenever I travel that�s all I do. I�m stoked on it. It�s by far my favorite part of snowboarding. You get to ride with the coolest snowboarders when you�re away from home, and you also get to hit the best jumps. It makes it easier to push myself while snowboarding. It also makes being away from home easier. If I�m not going somewhere new I don�t like leaving home.

Would you say you like filming better than contests?

It goes both ways, I�d rather go film then go to a contest. What I really like is filming and doing contests at home where I can go home to my own room, food, and house. It makes me feel more comfortable and content.

Speaking of contests, is it true you used to be a gymnast and a diver, and if they�d let you do big air in a Speedo you�d practically be invincible?

Sort of true. I did that for a little bit, but mostly bounced on my trampoline. I felt stupid in a Speedo so I quit that shit fast. I�d have to say the tramp has helped me with the monkey flips everyone does in snowboarding now.

I can think of a few people who might like to see you do big air in a Speedo. Oh, which reminds me, what do you do when you�re not snowboarding?

As much as I can. I deal with the business side of snowboarding. I play video games, and I like to be active so I do a lot of skateboarding. I also go the gym a little bit. I like to chill, just hang out with my friends at home. I�m getting a digital video camera and I think we�re going to make a movie next year. Just for everyone we hang out with. It will have snowboarding and us raising hell in Summit County.

Do you play a lot of video games?

I used to, not as much anymore since I have so much going on. But I will get sucked in every once in a while. I�ve definitely mellowed out on it, though.

When Coolboarders 4 comes out are you only going to play your character or are you going to give Blaise�s character a whirl, too?

Yeah, I�ll probably play them all. I just hope I�m not the shitty character. You know how there are always a couple characters that are better. It�s gonna be pretty weird seeing myself on the screen, though, especially in animation. I think the game is going to really be good.

Do you spend the rest of your free time cruising for chicks in your new car? Does it help with the ladies?

Yeah, that pretty much fills the rest of my time. I don�t know, I haven�t tried too hard. I�m still hangin� with the same ladies I was when I had my old car.

Back to snowboarding, what is the dumbest thing you�ve ever done snowboarding?

This one is easy. I was in this big-air contest at Copper last winter. During practice, all my friends were at the bottom serving me drinks. The time came for me to jump and I went, landed my trick, but when I got to the bottom, everyone jumped in front of me. I caught my toe edge on purpose for the camera, and also to avoid running into everyone who was standing in my way. Anyway, I went straight to my shoulder and separated it; it took me out for two months.

You�ve been snowboarding for a while now. What makes you get up in the morning and ride every day?

I do it for the love of snowboarding. It�s something to do with your friends and have a good time at. It�s also sort of become a job for me, if that�s what you want to call it. I feel like I have to do the best job I can now that I�m getting paid for it, which I don�t really mind doing.

Are you still learning as much now as when you were an aspiring snowboarder?

As far as snowboarding goes I am progressing at the same level. Being able to travel and having so much freedom, I�ve learned more about who I am than I ever thought I would.

I hear you and your friends are really into playing games, especially in the snowboard park.

Yeah, we play pig, like the basketball game, in the Breck park, only we use snowboard tricks.

I guess you probably spend most of your pig-playing time with the Hellcats right?

Yeah, it�s our crew, everyone we ride with in Summit County. It�s all the real snowboarders in Summit.

What about the other games you guys have all those rules for, like the sandwich-smashing game, or the buffalo club?

The sandwich-smashing game is one of those dumb games Kurt Rein plays. It�s if you don�t have a fry or something on top of your burger someone can smash it. I was at Tyrol Basin last June for a contest and I went the whole weekend without eating a non-smashed sandwich. Marty deserves credit for that, Kurt and his stupid f�king games!

And the buffalo club is a drinking game. You always have to drink with your left hand. If you�re drinking with your right hand and someone catches you, you are required to slam whatever you have left in your cup. And yeah, I get buffaloed all the time. I suck at those games.

Not so long ago you were unemployed, how did you resolve that problem?

It was about two summers ago, and my friend Blaise and I were riding for this snowboard company that cut us, so we didn�t have board sponsors. We went to Mt. Hood to snowboard for the summer. I had a few offers from different companies, but nothing I was really stoked on 100 percent. We�d go over to our friend Kendall�s house every night and talk shit about what we were going to do. All summer this went on. Blaise got really annoying, but we put up with it. We knew what we wanted but there weren�t any companies that had it. We talked about what we would do if we had the chance to do our own thing. We waited it out until the end of the summer when this guy, Mr. Yoshida, who had been in the snowboard game for a while said he�d back us with the money to create our own line of boards. Kendall came up with the name Millenium Three, and it went from there.

So you guys came up with the concept for the new snowboard company?

Yeah, I guess, it happened so fast. It all started with us talking shit at summer camp, and now we have total say in the direction we want the whole company to go. It�s the coolest thing to be a part of something like M3.

I guess that�s about it, what are you going to do next?

I don�t know, I don�t really have any plans for my future besides snowboarding right now. I guess I�ll just keep on doing it; it�s going well for me now. I guess I should say what�s up to everyone.

Shout outs.

I�d like to say thank you to my parents and my whole family first of all for backing me. Everyone who�s been there: Jake Weber, Matt Swanson, Marty Carlson, Glenn O�Neill, Justin Barnes, Francis Boll, Jason Landry, Matt Peterson, Kelley Jensen, Woody, Jake Gatenby, Danah Graham, Marcus Samperio, Ben Cooley, Sean Teadore, everyone at Mt. Hood, Kendall Whelpton, Blaise Rosenthal, Peter Line, Micah McGinnity, Karin and Stephanie Steinbeck, Laura, Shannon, Katie, Maggie, Robyn, Cathy Cohn thank you very much, Jake Anderson, Josh Zickert, Nate Dog, Ryan Knapton, Jeff Meyer, Romey Thornton, Mark Miller, Steve Ruff, Raul Ries, Veronica, T. Wood, everyone at Four Square and Fourstar, Eddie Lee at Thirty-two and Etnies, Jeff Jewitt at Smith, Junpei at Flux, Todd at GMC, Shane Wallace at Active, Pete and Joe at Fobia, Scott at Cal Surf, John at Mountain Wave, Chris at the Big Hit, Jay at the Alt, Steve Astephen, Doran, Roger, Arden, Marty at KingPin, Kurt Rein, Mike McIntyre, Whitey, Brad Kremer, Kurt Heine, Ross Steffey, Rob Rici, Kelly Flynn, Chris O�Connell, Jeff Potto, the whole M3 team and Mr. Yoshida. Everyone else I forgot � sorry.