BlackStrap has been making moves this winter. Partnering up with NST, signing some big names, all from their homebase in Bend, OR. Adding to the recent Dustin Craven announcement, BS just added a hometown hero in Gabe Ferguson to run their gear when it gets cold. We caught up with the youngest Ferguson brother as he wraps up his winter filming for a new project with a last minute trip up to Whistler. – Clavin

What you up to?
I got three hours left on a drive right now. I’m behind Parker and then Nick is a ways behind me I think.

How many miles do you think you’ve driven this season?
Dude, I’ve put 800 miles on my sled and about 6,000 miles on my truck.

Are you gonna try to sell your snowmobile at the end of the year?
Yes, my sled will be for sale at the end of the year. It hasn’t crashed into anything. It’s a great sled. Anyone should buy it.

If you were being honest with yourself, would you buy your own sled?
This year… I would buy my own sled, but in past years definitely not.

How was the trip? Did you guys get some good stuff?
Yeah, we did. We were in McCall (Idaho). The snow was really good the first day and then it got super baked and warm, but we got some good stuff. Hot as fuck yesterday. It’s like 50/60 degrees out there, but it’s colder up in Whistler so we are headed there and hopefully we can get a good day or two.

What are you what are you filming for right now?
We’re just filming for a movie Sam Taxwood, Nik Baden, Parker Szumowski, and I are doing. Ian Boll is our producer guy, but we don’t really know what it’s called yet… it’s a loose program.

Excited to see whatever it is. I saw you took a fall pretty hard when you were on this trip, correct? You had a nice one on the gram?
No, that was Nik. I should have tagged him.

Yeah, now we have a useless question. I was going to say, did your balaclava stay on?
A balaclava would have probably helped him. He probably would have landed. I had mine on and landed some stuff.

How do you stand out on a snowboard team when you guys all wear face masks?
That’s a good question. I don’t know. It is the best sponsorship for wanting to rob a bank for sure. 

I can wait. I got all the time in the world for you to come up with one… and you have a three-hour drive.
(ten seconds later)…You don’t wear pants.

See, good answer. How did the BlackStrap team come about?
I got hit up to be a part of it with Mason Lemry and Dustin. Pretty sick. It’s a company from Bend. So it’s awesome to support that.

Does wearing a facemask get in the way of smoking weed while snowboarding?
It does, but if you have a good facemask, like Blackstrap, they come down below your chin easy, making it easier for you to smoke.

What about getting that weed smoke smell in your balaclava, is that a problem?
That’s not a problem, this material is nice.

You’re coming off a big year with Brown. Congrats on winning movie of the year, how’d that feel?
It was epic, was really hyped for all the boys. Had a fantastic time filming with everyone and Butters is the shit, made us all look good! It’s epic filming with the homies. It just opens up your whole winter more.

Did you party hard when Parker won Rider of the Year this week since you are all together?
No. We are saving our partying for Canada or Vegas. Hahah, we are putting our full movie budget on black after the year is over… or this week if we just head there instead of Whistler.

Highlights from this year so far?
Just snowmobiling and being in the mountains. Weird ass year with low snow, so I feel like I haven’t been snowboarding that much, but the little times or the little trips I have been on, I feel like I’ve been getting good snow. So just, yeah, hanging with good homies and being in the mountains.

You got any plans and steps on what you want to do with your career coming up here shortly?
Yeah, what I want to do in the future is start to just explore more… create and explore. Getting over going to the same zones and hitting the same stepdowns and same jumps. So I’m really trying to get out into new zones and ride bigger runs and explore a little bit.

Last question. You are one of the guys that stays pretty healthy year after year. Not many injuries. You got any secret tips on staying healthy?
Yeah. If you want to stay healthy… just sit in your car forever, eat burgers, and that’s about it. 

Safe driving.
Later Clavin.