THEY SAY THAT A PERSON’S TRUE AGE IS DEFINED BY HIS ACTIONS RATHER THAN NUMBER OF DAYS HE HAS LIVED. IF THAT IS CORRECT, SAMMY LUEBKE IS OLDER THAN ANIMAL CHIN. AN OPENING PART IN STANDARD FILMS THE STORMING SHOWS YOUNG SAMMY SMASHING PILLOWS IN BC AND PUTTING DOWN HEAVY LINES IN AK WITH SAVAGERY WELL BEYOND HIS 21 YEARS. WHETHER HE INHERITED THIS MATURITY BY DEFAULT FROM HIS ALASKAN ROOTS OR WHETHER HE JUST HAS A DIFFERENT EYE FOR THINGS, SAMMY IS ALREADY AT A PLACE IN SNOWBOARDING THAT MANY OF HIS PEERS WON’T LIKELY FIND FOR ANOTHER TEN YEARS. THIS LIB TECH, OAKLEY, STANDARD FILMS, JEFF CURLEY, MOTHER-NATURE LOVING, HIPPY WARCHILD HAS ALREADY REACHED A LEVEL THAT IS TO BE RESPECTED AT ANY AGE. AFTER GETTING TO KNOW SAMMY IT BECAME CLEAR THAT HE DOES THIS ALL FOR A REASON. OR TO BE MORE CLEAR, A “REISEN”, AS IN THE CHOCOLATELY, CHEWY, CARAMEL CANDY.
SO WHEN I CAUGHT UP WITH YOUNG LUEBKE THAT WAS THE FIRST THING HE DEMANDED.
Sammy, you OK? You sound kinda fired up?
Dude, just gimme a Reisen.
You don’t need a Reisen man. Remember when we had that bag of ‘em in BC? If you had one all you would do is keep asking people if they need a Reisen... all day.
You’re right, I don’t even need one any more! But I’m telling you, I can probably find a Reisen somewhere.
Fine. For now let’s go without a Reisen. But first let me ask, why do people always say that you are older than your age suggests?
I have been around for so long, I guess. But truth be told, I still am young as shit — just turned 21 in July. I think it’s probably a combination of me being around and riding with guys since I was really little, and also in what I choose to ride. I like park and all that stuff but it is just so much more fun to go out and shred and freeride. That’s just me though. Whatever floats your boat is what you should be into.
It seems like you have based a lot of your decisions strictly on what you want to do, not what is the usual way to go about things for a young professional rider. Maybe that’s where the maturity thing comes in.
Yeah. I love snowboarding. Freeriding I get to go out and do what I want. I don’t have to stress on putting down a nasty trick in order to be a good snowboarder. Out in the backcountry I can just peel off whatever; I just find it more enjoyable, that’s the bottom line. It’s kind of like skateboarding, where you are just slashing around without much in mind, grinding here, ollie there, ya know.
Do you think what you do is more impulsive?
Oh it’s way more impulsive to go out and ride without worrying about what kind of trick you are going to chuck off a jump or whatever. Whenever I have stuff planned out in my head, it never turns out the way I see it anyway, so it’s better for me to get out there and just see what happens. Nothing is really that premeditated.
How do you think that affects your learning curve?
I think it just makes you a better rider. Riding instinctually you know where you are more, you find that center and just ride. After that, doing tricks comes natural because you are really on top of your board and the feeling is like, “If I want to do it I am going to do it.” Freeriding just helps you really feel the body and board connection. So when it comes time to spin or float a trick you are already super comfortable. But there is always a time though when you see a feature and of course you want to try this trick off that, but there is something about freeriding that just opens those opportunities all over the mountain. You never know what it’s going to be like either, and I think that has its appeal too. A lot of times with filming all I am concerned with is riding the line clean–there isn’t time for much else.
What are some things about freeriding that people don’t realize?
There is so much out in the backcountry to play with it’s crazy. Once you get a certain mentality going you realize that you don’t need a manicured run-in or a groomed landing. You start to see everything differently and all kinds of stuff appears. I think that’s good-looking snowboarding.
What about backcountry knowledge?
Anyone going out into the backcountry should be very aware of what can happen out there, and with that comes a certain amount of education that you need. There are dangers for sure, so be cautious of your decisions. There is never a reason to do something that isn’t safe. There are risks we all take and I always keep it in mind no matter the conditions, because anything can happen at any time. It’s way better to not do something then to find out later that it wasn’t a smart choice. There is plenty of stuff to ride. You don’t have to go for the craziest shit every time.
I think that there is a level of respect that you get just by turning away from something as opposed to trying to push it when there are doubts.
You should never go chuck your meat because you are trying to get the gnarliest shot or do the gnarliest trick. We are not trying to go kill ourselves. There is definitely a time to go out and push it and a time to chill. Of course, sometimes at the end of the day you might realize you pushed it a little too much but, you learn from that. It’s crucial to take it day-by-day and just roll where you are comfortable. You live and learn out there. Each day you take something you learn into the next session.
Tell me about your season this year.
This year was just different because I really focused a lot on filming. I learned a lot about being patient and not stressing too hard because there were a lot of down days. It was a pretty simple winter when I look at it. I drove up to BC with my sled and put a lot of time in filming in the early season before going to AK for two months. I spent 30 days in Haines and rode probably six. Then I went to Valdez for another couple weeks and had a little better luck with some sunny days and good conditions. This year was my first time in a heli, so that was rad.
How was riding with Xavier De Le Rue in Valdez?
Jeeeeze! Riding with him was just sick. The guy is a madman on a snowboard. He knows where to be, where to make his turns and where to ride fast. I mean what better person to be teamed up with for my first time heli-ing in Valdez? Definitely a great person to be with. I was kind of blessed in that respect. Pretty much the most epic thing ever.
Were you more scared than stoked?
I was definitely scared, but I was more stoked. That is the kind of riding that I have always wanted to do so I just went with it. I love riding lines; it’s what feels natural. But at the same time everything is so much bigger up there. When you are riding something that has never been ridden or hit that year, it’s wild. Xavier helped a lot with my decision-making when we were out there. He helped out my nerves by pushing my confidence level.
Standard Films seems to cultivate its riders by allowing them to be where they excel.
The first video I ever saw was TB 4. I was probably 5 years old or something. I didn’t even realize that was right out my back door growing up in Alaska. So getting an opening part in this year’s movie is crazy to me. I have been watching those movies for so long now and this is exactly the kind of riding that I want to do... I really don’t know what to think.
Do you think that you were destined for this kind of riding being from Alaska?
No, I don’t think so. I was so young when I lived there that I really had no idea about what was going on. But at the same time we never had parks or pipes or anything, so I was riding natural stuff the whole time just trying to get some air off natural windlips or gullies and stuff. So I took that knowledge into the contest scene when I moved to Truckee a while ago. I think that competing for a while helped me get to where I am though. I have seen snowboarding from all angles and am pretty confident I know what I want to be doing with it.
For the record how long have you been going out to bars?
Ohhh...OK. For the record you can just say since I turned 21.
I see, so if one thing is clear in this interview let’s make sure it’s that. What exactly happened when you did turn 21 though?
I went to Reno and got some crazy stomach flu, went home and puked in my room all night. I definitely puked on my birthday, but not from drinking.
One might call that karma.
Yeah, I suppose.
What’s up with you and the music? Kanye or Jay-Z?
What! Nah. Good jams. Always good jams. Long hair freaky tunes. I like a little reggae. Not reggae all day though.
No John J-ggae?
JAAAAHHHH! No man. I just got back from a trip and I was in the Reno airport and all these scrubs were there going to Burning Man asking me, “Dude, are you burning?” or “You burn bro?”
I thought you were the Burning Man.
Dude. You’re pushin’ it. Now I need a Reisen. Just one.
