From our latest volume of print (dropping next week) highlighting the people, product and places that make snowboarding what it is!

Snowboarding’s chilliest rider, Gabe Ferguson, on the current king of Bend, off-season status and a potential Brown Cinema sequel.

T. Bird: Big Dog.

Gabe Ferguson: How are you doing, Birdman?

How the hell are you?

I’m not going to lie, Birdman…I am a little banged up this morning.

Yeah? What’d you get into?

Dude, yesterday was actually hilarious. I woke up, I got out of my bed at noon and Dru [Brownrigg] just hit me up. Dru hurt his foot mountain hiking, so he is not working. So we just went to his grandparents’ pool that they had [and I] drank a twelver with Dru pretty fast. And then after that it was just all a blur.

That sounds like a beautiful start to summertime.

It was a beautiful start to summertime. Yesterday was the solstice, though, huh?

Yeah, yesterday was the longest day of the year, I believe.

That’s always a good one to go get a sunset or something. And I did not do that. I didn’t appreciate nature very well yesterday.

Well, no, but I think what you did was you emphasized the longest day of the year by day drinking, which is smart.

Yeah. See, I like where your head’s at with that one.

After a long winter of filming, give me your kind of wind-down process. What does a typical off-season summer day look like for you in Bend, Oregon?

Just getting to [go] camping and start getting outside and enjoying all the summer shit. I’ve already gone backpacking twice. Went on a big-ass river trip and hit the desert. It’s just about camping and getting out there.

One quick thing I wanted to know, seeing as freeriding was just named an official FIS discipline: Are you down with that? Would you ever try to make the Olympics if freeriding was an Olympic discipline?

No. For me personally, I don’t think I would try to make the Olympics for freeriding. I think it’s pretty dumb that FIS declared that as a sport or whatever. I don’t know…I just think that’s kind of stupid. Obviously snowboarding is super fun and rad, however you want to do it. And I think when you turn it into that sport thing, it gets lost. It’s kind of wack.

Is Brown doing a follow-up project? Do they have any plans in the future to make another film? 

We are doing a smaller film with Nik Baden, Parker Szumowski, Sam Taxwood, Mason Lemery and Curtis Ciszek…and myself. We didn’t film with Butters [Brock Nielsen], but I’m pretty sure Butters is going to edit it. So I think it will be a little Brown piece. And then even next year, me and Parker and Nik, I think, are going to try to do something again with Ian [Boll] and Butters to keep it rolling.

Tell me two things that people would never know or assume about you.

I like to paint and I fall asleep with the TV on every night.

Who was your favorite snowboarder growing up?

Well, because I was a contest kid doing the halfpipe shit, my favorite boarders were Luke Mitrani and Mason Aguirre and Danny Davis. Just Frends crew style. Luke Mitrani was my favorite, though. I always just thought he was the sickest. He was Jack’s younger brother, and I’m a younger brother. I was like, “Hell yeah, this dude’s the shit.”

When you started getting into backcountry riding, who were some of the riders that you were looking at for inspo?

Obviously watching movies and video parts, I was always a big Nicolas Müller fan. And also Wolle [Nyvelt]. Wolle is, I think, my favorite snowboarder. His Optimistic? part is my favorite shit.

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a lot in my 20 years in snowboarding. I’m nearly certain that Wolle has the best backside powder slash of any snowboarder who’s ever lived.

Dude, I think he’s just actually the shit. He snowboards so much still and just rips all the time. Yeah, he’s the shit.

Give me the best part and the worst part about living in Bend, Oregon.

The best part about living in Bend, Oregon, is that I’m close to my family, and I love that shit. The worst part is that it gets so fucking boring after a week of being here.

If you had to move anywhere else, where else could you see yourself living? What’s your vibe?

I think I could live in Canada. I could live in Nelson, British Columbia, or maybe even Squamish or Pemberton. But I don’t see myself moving. But if I did, I think I would try to position myself just in the bigger mountains and in the shit.

And then looking at the pro-snowboarder residency in Bend, you’ve got Trav there, you’ve got yourself, you’ve got Ben [Ferguson], you’ve got Mase [Mason Lemery], Jared [Elston]. And then there’s Curtis [Ciszek] and Austin [Smith], too. Who’s the current unofficial king of Bend? 

The king of Bend? Honestly, I’m just going to stoke him out a little bit. I’m gonna say Ben; he’s our new young king. [Josh] Dirksen and Austin and Curt, though, they’re kings too. It’s hard.

Now that the winter’s done and you’re winding down, when do you start kind of thinking about snowboarding again?

Dude, I’ve been wanting to go to Hood recently because I’ve been seeing the boarding up there and it looks pretty fun. But literally my two shred dogs, Jared and Mason, both left town for the summer, so I’ve got no shred dogs to go rip with.

I live in Portland. I’ll be your shred dog, but I can’t really hang on your level.

Dude. Let’s shred-dog it up. But I get so bored fast. It’s only been summer for a little bit. I’ve been doing summer stuff for three weeks and I feel like I need to start snowboarding or doing something again. I’m jonesing. I’m going to go to Hood soon.

Let’s make it happen. Thank you for your time, Gabe. You’re the man.

Hell yeah, Birdman.