Mark McMorris makes his jump in The Style Experience FIS Snowboard Big Air World Cup qualifiers in Edmonton on Dec. 9.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Few snowboarders ascend to the status of being a household name. Mark McMorris, three-time Olympic medalist and 21-time X-Games medalist, might be as close as it gets in Canada.
We caught up with McMorris in Whistler, B.C., as he prepares to head to his home province of Saskatchewan to host the first event in the Burton Mystery Series, a worldwide snowboarding show that’ll also facilitate the funding and installation of a world class terrain park at the Optimist Hill, a ski resort in Saskatoon.
He talks about how snowboarding can feel like both fun and work, how he takes care of his body with healthy eating and rest days, and how learning to surf as an adult has been a humbling experience.
For a lot of people, snowboarding is a great way to detach from work. For you it is work. Is there a time when you’re able to not feel like you’re at work while riding?
Any time I’m in the act of snowboarding doesn’t really feel like work. It’s just what I love to do. Sometimes if you’re doing a contest and the weather is bad or you’re trying to figure out a run, you can get really frustrated and it can get annoying, but if you just take a step back and look at it as a whole, that I get paid to do this and that this is all I ever wanted as a kid, this is a dream job. So I don’t feel frustrated too often.
What do you get up to when you need time off the board?
Saskatchewan native and three-time Olympic medalist Mark McMorris is preparing to bring the first event in the Burton Mystery Series to his home province.Jennifer Lang/Supplied
Pretty much every month of the year I’m chasing winter, so when I step away, I like to go to somewhere where there’s no snow and completely remove myself from the sport, and usually that means getting on my skateboard. I also have a place in California and I spend a lot of time there – I love to surf. Picking up surfing as an adult has been extremely hard and humbling and really quite the experience.
Pretty much everything that you said about not working was all physical activity. Is there anything that you ever feel like you need to do to not be moving?
I definitely prefer when I’m able to move my body and I find that to be the most peaceful and helpful for me. I’ve definitely found other avenues to keep myself busy and out of trouble, like coming up with goals that I want to achieve. I also really love editing footage and making things on the computer and my phone and working alongside my team to come up with ideas. I definitely try to be heavily involved in all my partnerships designing clothes, boards and goggles, coming up with campaigns, marketing myself, you know.
Snowboarding has branched out so much these days, from competitions to backcountry riding. What kind of riding feels best these days?
What feels best is being in the best conditions: It’s sunny, there’s good snow and I’m with my friends. That’s like the ultimate, being in the backcountry and riding stellar conditions. Not a lot is topping that these days. But I mean if you’re at a contest and you’re riding really well and you have a really good showing that gratification is pretty amazing too. I love that feeling of knowing you did your best and that you rose to the occasion. I’ve been working on that for well over a decade. I know that feeling and I know it’s amazing and I still search for it.
I think most people when they think of snowboarders, they think of drinking a lot of beer and eating greasy food. I’m assuming that’s not you as a top performer?
Yeah, it’s definitely changed a lot to be a snowboarder nowadays. You have to be an athlete. For sure partying and having a good time is still part of some sides of the culture, but it’s changed a lot and if you want to be at the top of your game, you’ve got to treat yourself like an athlete. A day at a contest for me is not burgers and beers and just laying around watching TV. I think that stigma around snowboarders needs to change because yeah, we’re still a super unique community and there’s a lot of self-expression in this sport and everyone is different. But I think it’s cooler than ever to take care of your body.
So when you are picking and choosing your battles, if you’re letting go for a meal, what’re you having?
I love eating sweet potato fries.
What! Sweet potato fries are the healthy option.
Hah, well, I just love fried food when I’m trying to let go. But I mean, I’m also not the pinnacle example. I’m not eating salad every day all the time, but I’m getting better and I’m getting older so I’ve got to get better
You spent a lot of time recovering from some pretty brutal injuries before making an amazing recovery to win bronze in Slopestyle at the Winter Olympics in 2018. What did you learn during that period of forced rest?
I learned that I love snowboarding a lot. I definitely learned that I can’t take it for granted and I’m not invincible and I’ve got to watch my back and be careful with it all. You can start to almost feel invincible at some point if you don’t get hurt for a long time. Having the thing that I love the most taken away from me two seasons in a row, breaking my femur and then the next year hitting a tree, it was pretty tricky, but it’s a really good time to learn a lot about yourself and learn what you actually love.
A lot of people are like why would you keep doing this? And, well, it’s truly the thing that makes me the most happy. I obviously snowboard for myself first and foremost, but being able to like be a positive role model or inspire someone or help someone with their rehabilitation is pretty neat.
What do you love about going home to Saskatchewan?
It’s always a ton of fun seeing friends and family, and now to be able to bring something as large scale as the Mystery Series to my home province feels pretty special. We’ve been fundraising for the Optimist Hill in Saskatoon since 2016 and we have a magic carpet put in there now and it’s a place where kids that live in the city that don’t want to drive hours to a resort and pay that kind of money can go snowboard after school. So it’s a really accessible, affordable way to snowboard on a daily basis. For us to be able to come there and host a Mystery Series in my home province pretty special.
Did you start riding in Saskatchewan?
I’m from Regina and I grew up on a super, super small hill. But that’s the thing, I always try and drive that home that you don’t really need a big slope to learn the fundamentals and become a good snowboarder. At the end of the day, what we’re all trying to do is share how much fun snowboarding is with the people that don’t know it yet.