Interview by Alex Narwocky

Can I please have your full name, nickname, place of birth, home mountain, favorite restaurant, mother's maiden name, and the last four of your social.
Scott William Conerly the first. Portland Oregon. Mt. Hood. The Rendevous bar and grill. Peacock. None of your biz.

What is the title of your job and how many athletes do you have to babysit on a regular basis? Or, that's a trick question because you've put together an unstoppable team of mature adults?
I am the Snow Marketing and Team Manager for DAKINE. I think Dirksen is the only mature adult on our team. And Bryan Fox depending on his mood.

So you have been employed by Dakine since December 1st, 2007? Do you remember that life changing day like it was yesterday? Can you tell us how your position has evolved throughout those years to what it is today?
Yes, I've been with DAKINE for a little over three years now. Randy Torcom and I were friends for quite some time before I worked there, I had shot some photos for him, etc. We did this video interview on DAKINE one day and Randy took me to lunch. He mentioned they needed a TM and we discussed it. I applied, interviewed, got the job, and have been there ever since.

Have you taken on more responsibility for the company since the recent departure of Torcom? Is there more pressure on you now to make decisions which say… 2 years ago you really didn't have to worry about?
I have taken on a lot of the snow marketing responsibilities but we have such a solid team at DAKINE that there really isn't a ton of pressure. We all work pretty well together. As far as Torcom is concerned he left at a pretty mellow time and had gotten most of his major responsibilities out of the way so it was pretty smooth transition. I am twice as busy as I have been but come on now, this is snowboarding. This is my dream job.

You just got home from The Legendary Baker Banked Slalom, right? Do you feel that events like this are on the verge of extinction because of the evolution of our sport at the moment? There seemed to be some talk about the lack of media exposure from the weekend. The Dew Tour took center stage with the Grammy's coming in a close second. What are your thoughts on what we can do to impact the generations to come about why we started snowboarding in the first place?
In my humble opinion The LBS is the best "contest" in snowboarding. It's such a timeless place and an event that everyone looks forward to no matter the weather, conditions, etc. I hope it will be around until I'm old and grey. No matter what worries are in your life at the time of the LBS the moment you arrive in Glacier all your troubles seem to melt away.

The bigger more serious contests are good for snowboarding too, in the sense of exposure for the sport. If some kid sees the Dew Tour or X games and becomes interested in snowboarding then that's great.

I remember when you started with DAKINE and came to Bend every winter with Johnnie Paxson for every single rail jam that went down. I also distinctly remember how hard he worked and how much support you had for him. I always had that feeling of being a NBA scout at one of Lebron's high school games, but I was at a railjam in downtown Bend watching Paxson double backflip a sketchy 25 foot icy jump. Was there a defining moment for you when you realized how successful he could become?
About 6-7 years ago we were all up at Meadows during a Mack Dawg shoot. The same one that Eero Ettala did a double backside rodeo 1080 over the step up gap. Johnnie was working for the Meadows park crew and did the sickest switch back 5 I'd ever seen. To this day that is a pretty serious jump and right then and there I knew Johnnie was gonna be good. We have been helping each other out since then. He is family at this point.

Is there anyone on the team that drinks more milk than Paxson on the daily? Could there be a direct correlation between his milk consumption and shots in the bag per day?
It could be, however I heard Milk is pretty bad for you. I'm sure MFM has a shit ton of info on that one. Johnnie is an extremely focused individual and puts everything towards his snowboarding. He doesn't let distractions get in his way like booze, or the party scene. Dude is dedicated to making the most out of being a pro shredder.

There's been an influx of Northwest talent over the past years. Do you feel that snowboarders growing up riding Baker, Bachelor, Hood, etc. become more well rounded professionals because of the natural type of terrain they have had access to all their lives?
The Northwest has always produced amazing riders. From Craig Kelly, to Mike Estes, to Jamie Lynn the list could go on forever. I think the terrain is a big influence but it's really the group of riders you grow up around.

Austin, Curtis and I were just talking about how good Lucas Dabari is and how rad it would have been to watch all you heros come to Milanos year after year to for the LBS and then one day be having dinner with them all, while your mother makes you the best food in Washington.

You've got one of the most talented teams in the game, and everyone on seems to deserve being on it. Do you think it's easier to lock down such talented athletes because of the quality of the gear?
Absolutely. Everyone on any of the teams, Am team, international team, legends team, etc. are all on the roster because they LOVE our product. Rarely do we ever go after riders. It usually stems from their interest or relationships that we've built. That was Chico's program, then passed on to Torcom, and now myself. On a personal level it's awesome to be able to have access to this product and use it, test it, and try to put as much input towards it as possible.

Do you have any major plans for the future involving the team as a whole? Trips, videos, etc?
We have been working on a bunch of interviews, website updates, webisodes, product videos. I have a trip coming up with Chris Owen. That should be all time.

Technology is developing rapidly these days, are there any new ideas you guys at DAKINE have developed in order to reach a broader group of consumers?
I can't give you to much insight on this but we are always working on developing new innovative products to help our consumers that participate in any of our sports. Lately we have been focusing on using more "Green" products. Our regen collections have been a big hit using 100% Recycled PET pack fabrics regrind buckles. As time goes on I'm sure it will grow bigger and better.

Something a lot of people don't know about is that your dad helped bring the culture of snowboarding onto the scene at Timberline. What was it like growing up having you dad play such a role in our sport in the Northwest?
I was super young when all that stuff was going down, but growing up at Timberline completely shaped who I am today and that is why I'm so committed to being a part of the community up on Mt. Hood.

My Dad is the man and it's always cool to hear people say "Yeah, I worked with your Dad on this contests back in the day, or this series" etc. It's a good feeling for sure. My Dad saw the potential of the sport and it's growth and was able to work with people like Mike Estes, Chris Brunkhart, Craig, Jamie, etc. The list goes on and on. He really just hooked up tickets and let them do their thing. He helped formulate the "Bone Zone" with Mike Estes. Still a timeless little gully.

When I was 19 I ended up winning the Timberline Classic years later and that was a super good feeling as my Dad had a lot to do with that contest.

In other professional sports if a player ain't puttin up those points then he's usually traded or cut. Rarely do you have a player that's tight homies with the owner so he's guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup no matter his batting average. What are your thoughts on the level of which the professionals in our sport should be at? Putting out video parts every year, full contest schedules, etc.?
I think the top riders know what they need to do. Ejack, Austin, Dirksen, etc. know what needs to be done in order to get their job done. Last year I had to film these videos for GORE-TEX and really wanted Eric to go. When I told him what we were doing he didn't even hesitate. Dude flew in from Mexico to get it done! That's the level of professionalism that snowboarders should be at. They get there job done no matter what the task is. It's not always fresh pow and hot tubs.

As far as Ams working harder. If that is the case then they will eventually become pro snowboarders. There are steps to making it as a professional: Work ethic, production, attitude, tact, etc. This comes into play in all facets of a snowboarders career: Contests, photographers, filmers, etc. Some Ams might be the best riders ever but if they don't have all the elements to make it easy for people around them to help their careers then they aren't gonna get very far.

Do you feel that there are "professional" snowboarders now with little talent and a pretty face strictly used for profitable marketing?

Not really anymore. Those days are over. With the state of the economy or whatever you want to call it, companies don't have room for riders not working for their spot.

Do you think that the number of role models or "heroes" in our sport have decreased with riders focusing more on doing it for the money rather than the love?

No way man. There are still so many hero's coming out all the time dude. I couldn't believe Mark Sollars part, Total hero! John J, Hello! And of course all the young guns on DAKINE are heros (Shamelessly promoting them). I don't think contest riders are as influencial though. I know from personal experience I have watched so many shred videos over and over again and those are the riders that stick out in my mind. Contests can be rad, but it's only one day. A segment takes an entire year and in some cases two years.

You just dropped some news about a little future endeavor which will be taking shape in the next few months. Can you fill the world in on the details and the role your playing in all of this?

Yeah man Tim Snail (Volcom rep for 20 years in the Northwest) decided to start a snowboard shop in Welches and asked me to be a part of it. Were calling it Mt Hood 26 Board shop to honor a timeless shop that used to be around back in the day. The shop is going to be sick! We really want a positive place for the youth market to be able to feed off of. My roll will influence the marketing, team, sales, etc. My main focus will still be DAKINE, but when Tim got the ball rolling on this I had to get involved. Really stoked to grow a business that supports the community I grew up in.

Exciting news for sure, has this been an idea for years and now it is all coming together? Do you guys have any worries about current economy affecting the future of the shop?

Tim came up with the idea a long time ago, and the more he talked about it the more I wanted to be involved. The origninal shop was owned by our boys Gabe and Josh Linn, Jason Hutchins, etc and it was soooooo dope. We wanted to show them some respect and get a good following going again. There aren't many shops close that do what we want to do. We are both from Welches, live in Welches, and love the community and want it to be an even better place for kids to grow up.

I think the economy is turning around and we are headed for brighter times. We aren't out to make millions we are out to help introduce a healthy lifestyle to kids and parents. If it wasn't for snowboarding who knows where I'd be.

Any last words from the Body?

Thank you to all my friends and family, God, all that stuff. DAKINE, My mom and dad, Colleen, Shawna, Wiegand, Snail, etc. etc.