Chris Southwell

Chris Southwell is a world class snowboarder currently based in Verbier, Switzerland. Travelling around the world and showing off his skills he is currently the Number One ranked British Freerider and competes on the World Freeride Qualifying Tour. Sportsvibe caught up with Chris to find out all about the world of snowboarding.

How did you first become interested in snowboarding?

When I was growing up my Mum was running a ski school, so in the school holidays I would always head up to the mountains and I fell in love with the sport straight away. I remember the first time I went down the slopes someone flying past me on a snowboard, I immediately thought that looks like great fun and I have been hooked ever since.

When did you realize that you could actually make a living as a professional snowboarder?

When I was 17 I went to the British Championships, it was my first ever competition and I came 2nd in my age category. I was also on the podium in all 4 events that I entered. Straight after this I was selected for the Junior British Team and even got my first sponsorship from Oakley. I decided I absolutely loved this and it was all I wanted to do.

You compete in freeriding events, what exactly is freeriding?

For me Freeriding is the true expression of snowboarding. Basically it is using every aspect of the mountain, which means finding the steepest lines and the best approaches for getting air. Nothing is manmade and absolutely everything is natural, you really get to express yourself.

How do you get judged in a freeride event?

In a freeride contest the judges are looking at the overall impression you make coming down the mountain. This is how stylish and fluid you are, as well as how technical and difficult your line is. It puts together all the best aspects of snowboarding as you combine skills from racing and free styling.

Would you like to see Freeriding in the Winter Olympics?

No, freeriding will never make it to the Olympics, the reason being every contest is different, and it doesn’t really fit in with the mentality of a freerider. It is much more about expressing yourself. Obviously it’s great to see snowboarding at the Olympics as it is such a global event but I don’t think that it fits in with the sport. I think it would destroy the sport too much.

What’s the best thing about being a professional snowboarder?

Personally I absolutely love all the travelling as I get to travel all over the world from America to Japan and all over Europe. Plus I get to do something I love. Even through the bad times when I get injured I absolutely love it, you are out in the mountains and it’s a whole different world. It’s a dream come true.

Have you ever had any bad falls on the slopes?

I have actually had quite a few bad injuries. I broke both my ankles at the same time, I have dislocated my right elbow, dislocated my left shoulder, damaged the ligaments in my right shoulder, injured my kidney and I’ve had concussion quite a few times. But for me it is all about coming back stronger, I use quite a lot of psychology for that.

So is a lot of your training psychological?

Definitely,  when I dislocated my elbow the pain I went through was unbelievable, so now every time I get hurt I go through the footage to see where I went wrong and try and cut out all the elements so next time I know what to look out for. Sometimes we are going down runs and we can’t see anything so a lot of our preparation is actually before we start riding. We have to look at what line we are going to take and which jumps we are going to aim for and then when you are at the top you mentally prepare yourself and you have to then rely on your judgment when you are going for it. I never ride a freeride blind.

What has been your biggest success to date?

I got second at the Czech spot ride last year, plus the year before I was third at the Scandinavian Big Mountain Championships. I also think a great achievement is making a career out of snowboarding. Being able to do what I love and make a living out of it is pretty lucky. 

What do you hope to achieve in the sport?

At the minute I am on the freeride qualifying tour, so I actually want to get onto the world tour but they only select the 15 best riders from around the world, so my aim is to get on that. One of the big things that I also really want to do this season is do my first 100ft cliff. My brother really wants to do that as well.

Your brother is a professional skier, do you have friendly rivalry between each other?

Well if I see Nick go off a big cliff then of course I have to do it as well, or I want to find a bigger cliff and a steeper line. But that’s good for us to have, if Nick does something amazing then we will always praise each other and we are always trying to help each other improve. It’s the sort of partnership we have.

What advice would you give to any aspiring snowboarders?

If you want to do this professionally, then you need to make sure you are ready as you don’t want to jump into this too early. If you take on a run without doing your homework that you could ‘cliff out’, which is when you suddenly come face to face with a 300ft cliff. If you work hard and enter the smaller events then it’s all worth it as the competitions are huge. Last week we had two helicopters following us and filming so the events are really popular.

What do you have planned for the rest of the year?

I have a few more qualifying events for the World Freeride Tour but I am also taking part in the Big Snow Festival out in Andorra. It’s going to be great as I get to show off some of my tricks. Plus we will actually be doing some night demos while live music is performed which is going to be incredible.

Have you been working on any tricks for the event?

As a freerider I don’t get too much spare time to work on anything, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. In fact I might even try a double flip which I have never done before.

Chris Southwell is sponsored by Dare2b ski and snow wear.

The Big Snow Festival is taking place in Arinsal, Andorra from the 14th – 21st March.

www.thebigsnowfestival.com