This coming December 29th will mark the first ever B-Dog Off The Leash. A street event located at the iconic spot in Parc de la Rivière Grand-Mère, Shawinigan. We've talked to Phil about his most recent project and the upcoming event.
Hey Phil! How's the beginning of your winter going? Sick to see you killing it in the streets once again.
Doing good so far, not as much skiing as I would like to because I'm doing a lot of administration, management, editing, and social connections for the projects I've put up in place but I try to ski at least 2 hours a day. Right now I'm on a pretty busy schedule, you know trying to juggle the event and the release of Once Upon A Style's motion comic. But it's all good. I'm still keeping sane.
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Activity was a masterpiece; skiing, filming, and editing wise. As a street skiing fan, I just have to ask this first, how crazy was that ender from your perspective?
Thanks for the kind words! The ender has been something that has been on my mind for years so once it was time to do it I was pretty much ready. It just built up organically. My original goal wasn't really to do it on the side; I wanted to 50-50 but it felt like something was missing for how much effort I put into preparing the setup. The 50-50 was cool but it wasn't really enough. I decided to try it railslide style and almost died on the first attempt but I saved myself with my arm. And that's how the trick came to life. It was an error at the beginning but it all worked out in the end. It was stressful at first but I had foreseen it so it wasn't as stressful as it could have been.
I wasn't really sure about the physics of it. Like what was going to happen, if I was going to land too far or too close. That's basically what stressed me out but then after the first try when I bailed I put myself in the right state of mind, in a state where I knew I couldn't afford to mess around.
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It was nice to see a bunch of shots at the abandoned spot in Shawinigan. Is there a spot you like coming back to and kinda try to one up yourself on?
I try as least as possible to redo the exact same spot but I like going back to zones like the abandoned spot you're talking about in Shawi. This one pretty much has unlimited possibilities when you have good snow. You just gotta go with a bunch of homies and shovels and there's a good chance you're going to get a clip after the session. That spot in particular is a gem.
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Speaking of Shawi, You've just announced that you are organizing a street event there at the end of this month. What inspired you to make this happen?
It's the spot. Especially where it is located. It's like an oasis the middle of the city but it's kind of in nature. I've spent hours and hours over there either skateboarding or skiing. There is like a natural slope that goes to the rail where the event takes place. It's super amicable, and the rail is very inviting at the beginning of the season. We're gonna shape the spot to be as optimal as possible but at the core it was really just simply this zone that was asking to be celebrated, since it has been filmed in many ski and snowboard movies.
You've obviously had a big impact on Quebec's ski scene in and out of the streets. Are there any young guns you're fired up to see take it to the next level?
Personally, the two young guns that I am most excited at the idea of watching them ski is Edouard Therriault and Thomas Galarneau. I really like their style and their approach to skiing. Every time they put something online I think it's in good taste and something I've rarely seen. They really are at the forefront of the evolution of our sport right now. I'm excited for a lot of people but these are the two main guys that I really hoped would accept the invitation.
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If all goes well, do you plan on making events like this happen more often?
So this one is B-Dog Off The Leash street edition, and we're going to have the park edition in March at Wild Mountain, Minnesota. As for the street edition, I probably will try to keep it in the Parc de la Rivière Grand-Mère because there are a ton of spots and I might just go around and build different setups but when it comes to the park edition that one will probably be moving from resort to resort.
The goal is to bring it back annually in order to give a chance for skiers to get known and at the same time bring back the camaraderie spirit of our sport.
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That's so good to hear! Now, I was wondering; what kind of format can we be expecting from this event?
It's not a competition but if riders do good they can win cash (it's cash for tricks) and at the end there is a trophy for best style. This one is rider voted so this is always a good way to judge. I've never seen anyone complain when it is rider judged because ultimately they're the ones who know better.
You and the streets are so closely intertwined, it's sick to see you putting on something like this. Final question, is there a street shot or part from your career you are most proud of, and why?
Mmm... I think the part I'm the most proud is probably the first Real Ski I've done and in there, there are 2 or 3 of my favorite shots I've ever had in my life. Among others the opening shot where I do a nose butter 360 into a long 6 kink. This one had been years and years into my mind and it was during that year that I realized I could use the sidewalk to do something better than just hitting the rail and I was really stoked of the result. I was really satisfied because it was a long battle, around 6 hours of hiking and it's a really long hike from the bottom to the start ramp. That's why I had this reaction of throwing my hat. I was really really on cloud 9 after that one. I'd say that's one of my favorite shots I've ever had.
In the same edit there is the switch 50-50 on the wooden rail. That was really crazy to jump on it when I couldn't see anything. It was like the second time I'd put my skis on that year so it was like ''Holy shit, I'm actually gonna do that?''. The fact it worked out really set the pace for that year even though it was exhausting energetically and emotionally.
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1083600/P1766013--2--mp4
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