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The Fine people over at SBC Skier had a nice conversation with the unique and talented man, who goes by the name of Rob Heule, and happens to be quite a nice guy, with some refreshing insight into the worlds halfpipe and ski scene. The conversation went as follows:
http://www.sbcskier.com/features_article?news_id=977
Definitly interesting and worth your 5 minutes to read it.
You'll find Rob Stomping rodeo sevens oozing with style in Fernie's backcountry. The next day, expect him to be two-seving 75-foot wooden hand rails in Calgary. A week later you might find him shredding a burly pillow line at Revelstoke or boosting a gigantic dub flat nine in Whistler's superpipe. It's an old adage in our community that a pro skier should be good at everything. Well, Rob is. But he doesn't care, he just loves skiing.
Raised splitting his time between hard-charging lines in the Rockies and spinning laps at Canada Olympic Park, the Calgary native has a recipe for cooking with tomorrow's top-tier skiers. Last winter, Rob spent time competing around the glove and took top spot in the halfpipe super hit at both the Aspen Open and Whistler's World Skiing Invitational. Rob's been turning heads all over the world, expect yours to be turned in the near future.
Age: 19
Years Riding: My parents had me rippin’ when I was 2 years old
Hometown: Calgary, AB
Now Hangin’: Fernie, BC (for the summer)
Accomplices: Jay Heule (brother), Voleurz fam, the Spaniards
Sponsors: The North Face, Surface, Voleurz, Shred optics, Joystick, Bula, Phil Park
Off-Snow: Cooking, taking photos, surfing, enjoying the outdoors
Rob Whalen Photo
Role Model: My parents are amazing, I really look up to them. Anthony Boronowski has influenced my skiing a lot since I was young. He hooked me up with Joystick (my first sponsor) at High North ski camp in 2006, I was pretty amped about that!
Favorite Ski Segment: Too many to count. Pollard, Pep, Tony, Tanner. My favorite/first ski movie I’ve seen is still session 1242 on VHS.
Chair lifts or Stair Steps: I’ve been pretty big into riding in the city lately. So many possibilities. I drive around and think, could I ride that? It’s a challenge. I also love lappin’ the park with my friends, and first chair on a pow day is always good
Tight or baggy pants: Been shreddin’ in jeans for the last couple seasons
Favorite Quote: “Just Giv’er”
Last Purchase: I’m glad you asked. I just bought a lift kit for my 98’ GMC Safari. Lifted van, why not?
Travel Essential: Maple Syrup. Don’t leave home without it.
Top 5 songs: JFK 2 LAX - Gang Starr, Paranoid - Black Sabbath, Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum, The Chain - Fleetwood Mac, The Weight - The Band
Hey Rob, how’s it going?
Awesome, just cooked up some pasta for dinner, havin’ a beer after a long day at work.
What are you up to these days?
I’m living in Fernie, BC for the summer/fall. I grew up skiing here and have a cool little spot on the ski hill. I’ve got a great job landscaping with a boss who knows what’s up, which allows me to get some skiing in during the long summer months. I’m heading out to Whistler to ride COC and do a bit of coaching, then down to Mt. Hood for Surface week at Windells. I’ve never been down to Oregon, so I’m looking forward to checking it out. We’ll see if it compares to Canada haha.
Tell us about your season.
Well, it was pretty jam packed to say the least. I did a bit of everything with everyone, and had a wicked time doing it. I went down to the States a few times for contests, and was able to compete in all the Dew Tour stops.
In between the contest schedule I was back in BC doing rail trips with Mack Jones and Colin Vaykovich. Those two guys ski so hard and have a blast doing it, and I can’t say enough good things about them. Pat King (Voleurz/PYP filmer) is also the man - he has spent so many late nights freezing his ass off waiting for us to land tricks.
Got my fill of powder skiing at Christmas time with my family at an amazing backcountry ski touring lodge just north of Nelson, BC.
My Spanish friend Jaime Puigdengoles has been dying to come to Canada and ski in the city, and this year I got the chance to show him, and a few friends around Calgary. He returned the favor when I was over in Europe, and I spent some time hanging out in Barcelona, and skiing in the Pyrenees.
I spent my spring in Whistler, rippin’ park laps, doing some shooting with Voleurz, and finishing my spring off with the 2011 Volympics.
When did you get introduced to the Voleurz crew? What is it like being part of the family?
Let me think, I’ve met the whole family over the course of the last 4-5 years just skiing. I was introduced to Darren (Rayner) last fall at one of the movie premiere stops and we both were stoked on what each other was doing. Things fell into place after that, and I started shooting with them this season!
The best part about working with Voleurz is that everyone’s out there to have a good time and there is never any pressure. You’re just shreddin’ with your friends, pushing each other. That’s the biggest difference between their films and other movies in the industry, and I think it shows!
How do you approach riding pipe?
Most of the pipe skiing you see these days is in contests. Rather than trying to play to the judges and do the same run (and same double flips as everyone else) I’m trying to do what feels best to me. The thing I like about pipe skiing is the ability to link tricks and put together a run that looks good as a whole, not just trick-trick-trick. It’s the fastest way to connect airs on skis, therefore the most challenging to make look smooth and controlled.
Are there any other pipe riders out there that get your respect for trying to push things in a different direction?
For sure. I know there’s a couple guys out there with the same outlook as me. I really enjoy watching Duncan (Adams) and Joss (Christensen). I like Doreys approach to riding as well, and he put out a pretty banger video this season from Breck. I also love pipe skiing from back in the day - watching riders like Dave Crichton, Eric Pollard, and Dash Long gives me ideas.
It’s no secret that your creative tricks might not always score as high as a big, technical double. Do you ever see this changing?
Unfortunately I don’t. Here’s a quote from a snowboarder named Danny Larsen that I like:
“When getting the highest score is the main goal, creativity suffers. Who wants to risk losing points doing something new when what's "best" has already been established?”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool to see people pushing the limits of skiing so far, and I don’t have anything against doubles, but it’s just not what feels good to me. I choose to do other things, and push myself in other ways. To me winning isn’t everything.
Do you think the inclusion of halfpipe skiing in the 2014 Olympics will deter people from just skiing pipe for fun?
I really hope that everyone is doing it for fun. These days winning seems like the ultimate goal. It gets pretty intense when you are waiting to drop into the pipe and everybody else is pumping themselves up to throw doubles. I can see why people might shy away from riding pipe, but I’m going to keep riding as long as I’m enjoying myself.
Will we ever see you skiing for the Canadian Halfpipe Team?
I’ve given that question a lot of thought over the past year or two. I know it would be a pretty amazing experience, but I love so many other aspects of skiing that I’m not willing to give up. To me, it's more of a lifestyle than a competitive sport. Everyone who competes always complains about how all they do is ski pipe all year. I never want to be in a position where I’m saying that. I can't see myself ever being labeled as a pipe skier.
Do you have a favorite event of the season?
If you’d asked me this last year I would have said the Orage Masters, unfortunately this year it didn’t take place. That contest represented the true essence of skiing, put a smile on everyone’s face, not to mention one hell of a good time. It’s almost an anti-contest contest.
Alex Font Photo
