Peakz: You’ve been riding hard with Golden as your base for 6 winters. Is Golden played out for you or are you still stoked on riding around here?

RJ: A little of both. I’m still finding new places that I’m stoked on but some of my old favorite zones are getting busy. Still, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Peakz: In a recent Skier magazine article they flogged Kicking Horse Resort for not living up to its hype, do you think that’s true?

RJ: You have to be here on a fresh pow day to understand the potential of the Horse. And you had to be here 5 years ago, sucka! Also, the surrounding backcountry is what makes the hill so sweet, to me anyways.

Peakz: You rode more lines last season than many will in two or three seasons. How do you have so much motivation to get out there?

RJ: My motivation comes from the group of friends I have who just want to get out there and go. I also really like the aspect of exploration. It stokes me to find new places to ride and to try and get to them.

Peakz: You carry cameras everywhere you go but you don’t seem as concerned with ‘getting the shot’ as some other film crews I’ve seen.

RJ: I like to capture what’s happening. I used to be more concerned about ‘the shot’ but now we just shoot what we’d be doing anyways. It’s more fun that way.

Peakz: If what everyone says is true about you, then you are the most underrated snowboarder in the Kootenays. Why haven’t you blown up and gone fully pro at snowboarding.

RJ: I’m not sure, but I guess I don’t really like to tell people what I’m doing. I’d rather just show them the pics and vid at the end of the season. I don’t like how pros have to be in constant self-promotion mode.

Peakz: Maybe it’s because big mountain riding is so small on the radar in the snowboarding industry. Why do you think that is?

RJ: Riding biglines is hard and expensive. You need to practice a lot to get good at it and that means you need easy access to the backcountry. The Horse (Kicking Horse Resort) was good for that for me. Now my sled gets me to the goods. Park and Pipe are just so much more accessible for more people and that’s where the fashion show is.

Peakz: How did the big snowfall of last winter affect the whitewater rafting guiding this summer?

RJ: This year we had the highest water I’ve ever seen. I had my first flip and there were some scary moments. We couldn’t run the lower canyon [on the Kicking Horse river] for a month and a half; last year there were only 3 days when we couldn’t do the lower.

Peakz: You’re off to some island to work for the latest Survivor show. What are you going to be doing there and will you ever want to come back to ice and snow?

RJ: I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing; I’m just trying to figure out what Tribal Council is and you can count on me to be back in December.