Photos by Damian Cromwell www.damiancromwell.com and Bryn Hughes

Whats Different in your world and what have you been doing this summer?

Well I don’t have to paint as much (laughs). I've been hangin in Whistler, biking and getting ready for winter. I've been water ramping, and overall there have been a lot of new experiences in the last year.


What were some of the Highlights of last season?

It was my 1st time in europe and I spent over 2 months in the US mostly in Jackson. I had the funnest season of my life and am really stoked about skiing.....which is always the case, but even more pumped than ever before.


What was your time in Europe like?

I went mostly to Chamonix and the to La Clusaz. I also spent one day in Italy at Courmeyeur. It was really really bony but the mountains were massive with nobody around and crazy lines everywhere. If it had been filled in I can't even think about how sick it would be. It was a really different feeling, there are these old rickety gondies and we were the only guys there. If Italy has a good snow year I want to go back for sure. It was like the peak chair at Whistler times a 100.


Chamonix is known as a steep line mecca - what was it like when you were there?

I was in Cham a week and half it was a shit show. There were spring break punters everywhere and not a tonnne of snow so we didn’t’ get to ski a lot of the bigger lines. We ended up building some good hits and stuck to what we know because we weren’t there for long. Cham is pretty amazing though, the people just buzz, you no concept of space – it’s a bit different.


Who were you with and did you scope some lines?

The lines were really boney but you could see the potential. I was always looking at the peaks, heard a lot of serac drops and wathed Eric Roner and Karrina Hollekem do some ski base jumping and and that was pretty crazy. I was skiing with Dylan Hood and Micah Black.


Whats up with La Clusaz?
I was there for the Candide invitational, massive hits and crazy stuff!! It was pretty sick and scary at the same time. It’s a cool big film festival. Bushfield, Cory Vanular, Chris Turpin, Mauro Nunez, and Laurent Favre were all killing it, just crazy!

So the early season got you in with TGR.
Yeah, I was in Jackson a lot of the time prior to Europe, pretty much from early january to late february. We were trying to shoot the whole time but we didn’t get much done until weeks and weeks later, because we were just trying to find snow. We didn’t have much visibility for a while and so we just sussed out the Mountain and the snowpack for a bit. It stopped snowing, warmed up and the terrain park was open so I skied that for a week or 2. Then I headed to Snowbird for the comp, I still hadn’t shot much, but after the comp we got a good day in with Pete Obriend and Mark Andre Belliveau. We had a great day on the sleds and then momentum gathered a lot after that day. From there I travelled with Eric Roner and we would drive back and forth from Utah to Jackson depending on where the best snow was. Some of the best footy we got was on about 8inches and some of the best was on 6-8 inches of fresh, and we just needed to perform. Every ounce of energy was spent trying to get footage and make it happen.


What was it like working with TGR for the first time?

TGR helped me out a lot. When I was in France I got to check out the Dynastar factory and see what its all about over there. Europe was the last time that I shot with TGR and it such an amazing experience. Lots of hard work and some really fun times.

Where did the season take you after Europe?

I flew back to Canada in early April, got to the airport and then went straight up to northern BC to shoot with Focus productions out of France. It was up to Atlan for 10 days, awesome! We helied 2.5 days skied some unreal stuff. It was a wicked experience to be so close to AK and skiing such Big Lines. My first line, I got out of the heli onto this shark ridge and had to grab this rock and settle into this sugary snowpack. I was trying to trying not to push the heli over and holy crap! – That was the first line of the trip after not skiing for a week, it was one of the biggest rushes of my life!!


Dynastar put you on their international team this year. What is that like?

It was so good to make it there. I started from the botton and worked my way up, I knew there was opportunity and I knew they were serious cause they offered me a contract before anyone. Then I just focused on staying strong and healthy. TGR needed another Dynastar athlete, so I shot with them and there was an opening on the Int’l team and I got it. Its been something that I've been working towards my whole life and it feels great to be in such an awesome position.


What do you do to prepare for the winter?
Its kinda automatic once fall rolls around and the air gets colder I get stoked to ski and I start to hit the gym, work the muscles I need to strengthen for skiing, core, legs, back. I keep biking until the snow comes down to the village. I'm really strict about the training, no missed days keep a good schedule. I really kick it up in September. The stronger you are you don’t have to worry about falling as much. If you are super strong and flexible then you can take a few hits and keep going.


Words of advice on how to live a good life?
Do what you love and things will follow. If you do that you don’t have to worry. It wil always get you somewhere that you want to go. Staying devoted is really important. You need the patience to climb towards what you want and if you don’t have that patience then you wont get there. You have to be willing to do what it takes. Make the sacrifice and have the discipline to get there.


Dana is Sponsored by:

Oakley, BASE