Interview with Professional Snowboarder Louie Vito
Photos
What's up OnTheSnow Community?! Paul D. here introducing to you the first of many interviews with today's hottest professional snowboarders.
Today's edition features 20-year old U.S. Snowboarding Team member and Halfpipe mack-daddy Louie Vito.
He was kind enough to answer a few questions about his riding, his summer, and the upcoming season:
Paul D. (PD): How's the summer treating you? Are you competing in the Burton New Zealand Open 2008? I know you took 2nd place in 2007, so I'm sure you're gunning for that #1 spot? Are you competing in any other competitions in the Southern Hemisphere this summer?
Louie Vito (LV): I am actually not going to compete out there this summer. I came out to Summer X-Games and hung out there, and we did a BME kickoff party with Lil Jon and then DCMA Collective. Grenade did a party with 3 6 Mafia. It was a good week.
PD: I read that your home mountain is Mad River Mountain, but that you went to high school in Stratton Mountain. I've been riding for what will be 13 years this season (mostly in the Tahoe area), and I have never been riding in the Midwest or the east coast. What am I missing? Can you tell me and OnTheSnow visitors what you like best about Mad River, and Stratton? Or is there another mountain that you would like to mention?
LV: Mad River is only 5 minutes from my house in Ohio and they have night riding so I rode that place after school everyday and all night on the weekends. They are starting to get their park together so I love riding there when I go back. I like just cruising that place and finding unique lines and pretty much just cruise around and relax while I'm there. Stratton was a big mountain for me when I moved there. It is definitely cold and icy, but if you can ride Vermont, you can pretty much anything. Now I am living in Utah so I get to ride Park City and Snowbird during the winter.
PD: Are you planning another Louie Vito Rail Jam (at Mad River) for winter 2008-09?
LV: There is for sure going to be another Rail Jam. As long as people keep coming, I'm going to try to keep it going. EVERYONE should come check it out.
PD: Do you have a favorite mountain in Tahoe (or elsewhere)?
LV: When I am in Tahoe i am mostly in Northlake, so I like to go to Northstar and then when it snows I go cruise Squaw.
PD: Is there anywhere in North America have you yet, but wish, to ride?
LV: I went to Alpine, WY to snowmobile with Danny (Cass) and Grenade but I am still trying to ride the actual resort in Jackson if I ever get the time.
PD: What's your summer training regiment like?
LV: haha, hmm. It isn't as good as I want it to be, but I try to go to the gym as much as possible, try to eat healthy, and try to skate. There is a lot of "trying" because it is hard to do some of that when you are traveling around.
PD: I'm already looking forward to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. I think it will be one of, if not THE, biggest, most uniting snowboarding events of the new millennium. Are you amped for 2010? What kind of affect do you think it will have on the snowboarding industry?
LV: I think the Olympics as far as snowboarding is concerned is getting better every time they have the Olympics. The Vancouver Olympics I think will be the best so far: 22 ft. pipe, should be a good cut and plenty of snow, and everyone in the US will be able to watch it real time because it is in North America. So I gotta step up and get there! ha.
PD: You been making HUGE waves since 2005 with some great finishes, and have been riding consistently in some major competitions ... My question is: What, so far, has been the major highlight of your career?
LV: I always try to set goals before the winter starts. It helps me stay focused on what I want to do. I try to just keep the progression of my riding moving. It is tough for me to say which was my best finish. Two years ago I qualified 2nd at X-Games and ended up 5th which really broke me out into the mainstream snowboard scene. I was stoked to win the overall Grand Prix title and win the new Chevy Truck because I lost it in the tie breaker the year before. But I was also stoked on 2nd at Vans Cup because there was a lot of good riding going down there.
PD: A couple questions from your MySpace profile: Who's your #1 favorite rap artist? I gotta get you onto some of this San Francisco Bay Area rap, cuz! Some of that hyphy music - Keak da Sneak, Mac Dre, E-40 ya dig!! Devin the Dude makes my short list too ...You're riding in the halfpipe speaks for itself, but I see that you have almost 3,000 MySpace friends ... has MySpace helped to foster your career or spread your name out there at all?
LV: Yo, I got some Too Short and Mistah Fab on my ipod right now actually. ha. Myspace is a good way to network yourself. I write back to pretty much anyone and everyone as long as the email just isn't like "hey". You gotta keep in contact with the people supporting you and supporting snowboarding.
PD: Last question. I'm in the market to buy a new board this summer. I've stayed true to Burton throughout the years, but I am looking to get something different. What can you tell me about O-Matic boards?
LV: O-Matic is rider owned and driven. We make good boards at prices you can afford. Everyone at O-Matic just wants people to be stoked on snowboarding and have fun, and thats what we are all about.
Check out Louie Vito online at louievito.com and at myspace.com/louievito
Paul D.
Today's edition features 20-year old U.S. Snowboarding Team member and Halfpipe mack-daddy Louie Vito.
He was kind enough to answer a few questions about his riding, his summer, and the upcoming season:
Paul D. (PD): How's the summer treating you? Are you competing in the Burton New Zealand Open 2008? I know you took 2nd place in 2007, so I'm sure you're gunning for that #1 spot? Are you competing in any other competitions in the Southern Hemisphere this summer?
Louie Vito (LV): I am actually not going to compete out there this summer. I came out to Summer X-Games and hung out there, and we did a BME kickoff party with Lil Jon and then DCMA Collective. Grenade did a party with 3 6 Mafia. It was a good week.
PD: I read that your home mountain is Mad River Mountain, but that you went to high school in Stratton Mountain. I've been riding for what will be 13 years this season (mostly in the Tahoe area), and I have never been riding in the Midwest or the east coast. What am I missing? Can you tell me and OnTheSnow visitors what you like best about Mad River, and Stratton? Or is there another mountain that you would like to mention?
LV: Mad River is only 5 minutes from my house in Ohio and they have night riding so I rode that place after school everyday and all night on the weekends. They are starting to get their park together so I love riding there when I go back. I like just cruising that place and finding unique lines and pretty much just cruise around and relax while I'm there. Stratton was a big mountain for me when I moved there. It is definitely cold and icy, but if you can ride Vermont, you can pretty much anything. Now I am living in Utah so I get to ride Park City and Snowbird during the winter.
PD: Are you planning another Louie Vito Rail Jam (at Mad River) for winter 2008-09?
LV: There is for sure going to be another Rail Jam. As long as people keep coming, I'm going to try to keep it going. EVERYONE should come check it out.
PD: Do you have a favorite mountain in Tahoe (or elsewhere)?
LV: When I am in Tahoe i am mostly in Northlake, so I like to go to Northstar and then when it snows I go cruise Squaw.
PD: Is there anywhere in North America have you yet, but wish, to ride?
LV: I went to Alpine, WY to snowmobile with Danny (Cass) and Grenade but I am still trying to ride the actual resort in Jackson if I ever get the time.
PD: What's your summer training regiment like?
LV: haha, hmm. It isn't as good as I want it to be, but I try to go to the gym as much as possible, try to eat healthy, and try to skate. There is a lot of "trying" because it is hard to do some of that when you are traveling around.
PD: I'm already looking forward to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. I think it will be one of, if not THE, biggest, most uniting snowboarding events of the new millennium. Are you amped for 2010? What kind of affect do you think it will have on the snowboarding industry?
LV: I think the Olympics as far as snowboarding is concerned is getting better every time they have the Olympics. The Vancouver Olympics I think will be the best so far: 22 ft. pipe, should be a good cut and plenty of snow, and everyone in the US will be able to watch it real time because it is in North America. So I gotta step up and get there! ha.
PD: You been making HUGE waves since 2005 with some great finishes, and have been riding consistently in some major competitions ... My question is: What, so far, has been the major highlight of your career?
LV: I always try to set goals before the winter starts. It helps me stay focused on what I want to do. I try to just keep the progression of my riding moving. It is tough for me to say which was my best finish. Two years ago I qualified 2nd at X-Games and ended up 5th which really broke me out into the mainstream snowboard scene. I was stoked to win the overall Grand Prix title and win the new Chevy Truck because I lost it in the tie breaker the year before. But I was also stoked on 2nd at Vans Cup because there was a lot of good riding going down there.
PD: A couple questions from your MySpace profile: Who's your #1 favorite rap artist? I gotta get you onto some of this San Francisco Bay Area rap, cuz! Some of that hyphy music - Keak da Sneak, Mac Dre, E-40 ya dig!! Devin the Dude makes my short list too ...You're riding in the halfpipe speaks for itself, but I see that you have almost 3,000 MySpace friends ... has MySpace helped to foster your career or spread your name out there at all?
LV: Yo, I got some Too Short and Mistah Fab on my ipod right now actually. ha. Myspace is a good way to network yourself. I write back to pretty much anyone and everyone as long as the email just isn't like "hey". You gotta keep in contact with the people supporting you and supporting snowboarding.
PD: Last question. I'm in the market to buy a new board this summer. I've stayed true to Burton throughout the years, but I am looking to get something different. What can you tell me about O-Matic boards?
LV: O-Matic is rider owned and driven. We make good boards at prices you can afford. Everyone at O-Matic just wants people to be stoked on snowboarding and have fun, and thats what we are all about.
Check out Louie Vito online at louievito.com and at myspace.com/louievito
Paul D.
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