Cover photo by Mark Clinton
Finn Bilous is good vibes incarnate. From surfing to shredding sunny park laps and sending some of the biggest lines in some of the worst conditions on the FWT he always has a smile on his face. And style. With everything he does. We caught up with the Kiwi legend who follows the footsteps of the Wells brothers and of course, older brother Hank, while also treading new ground when it comes to what can be done on a FWT face. He discusses why Kiwis are so adaptable, the differences between big mountain and park skiing plus the direction he wants to see competition skiing go.
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Hi Finn, how's your winter been? Where have you been?
I’ve been living in Squamish, BC this Northern Hemisphere winter, last year I was based out of Revelstoke, BC. Honestly, I’ve been traveling so much this winter that it’s just been a base. I was planning on spending more time here but, with such fluctuating snow conditions, it has meant a lot more time on the road
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Hasn’t North America had decent snow this winter though?
Yeah, it was quite late though. The early season was pretty dry and then it started turning on around the start of March. There’s been quite varied temperatures this season, so there’s been lots of instabilities in the snowpack, at least around here.
Couple of podiums and 4th overall on FWT2014. Photo by FWT
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Tell me about your 2nd Freeride World Tour, that you did this winter?
This season has been a rollercoaster, the fluctuating snow conditions meant a lot of changes to the schedule of the FWT. I’ve been running around and on the road a lot more than I’d anticipated. However, I felt like I’d learnt a lot from my first season on the FWT last year. It was nice to take some of the things I’d learnt and put them into my runs this year.
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Yeah, people were definitely talking about you. That 360 off the Hollywood Cliff in Verbier. I was talking to some judges and they were just like: ‘who does that?
Haha thanks, that one was pretty satisfying. Last season, we went to Verbier for the comp and inspected the face for a full week. Unfortunately, the weather/conditions didn’t line up and the entire face avalanched the morning we were supposed to run the contest. I’d planned to do that same run last year, so it’s kind of been percolating in the back of my brain all year. To have the conditions line up this year and get the opportunity for redemption was super rewarding.
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So, will you be back on the Tour again next winter?
My plans for next winter aren’t determined yet. I’m still figuring out what I’m going to do...
Photo by FWT
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Ok. Now you've got two seasons on the FWT also X Games, and a couple of Olympics. In terms of skiing and in terms of competing, what are the differences between park and big mountain skiing?
Each discipline has its own little codes of conduct. For me, skiing has always been multi-disciplinary. I guess I was just lucky to grow up in an area (Wanaka, New Zealand) where you have access to all different types of terrain and I never really realized that it was uncommon to ski such a variety.
It seems as we get older, we tend to get funneled into one lane in life and specialization becomes more of a thing. I guess I just never really enjoyed that, I like the contrast between all of the disciplines within skiing.
The skiers that inspired me the most, were always people who could ride a bunch of different terrain and display their own unique style and approach throughout them all. That’s something I’ve strived for in my own riding.
Photo by Mark Clinton
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You mention Wanaka and I was going to ask, do you think growing up in New Zealand prepares you differently for life as a skier? You guys all seem to be pretty adaptable
Generally, we don’t have the best snow conditions in New Zealand, so I think you get more creative in finding different ways to enjoy the mountain. I think that ultimately creates a more well-rounded skier. If you’re looking for pow days in NZ, you’re not going to have many! You end up riding the park a lot more and I think that shines through, with the riders that come from NZ.
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Growing up, were you mainly inspired by Kiwi skiers or riders from elsewhere? Who did you watch when you were growing up?
Jossi Wells has had a big influence on me as a skier. Coming from Wanaka, he was the first pro skier that I got to watch in person and see excel on the world stage. He showed many Kiwis that it was possible to make it to the global stage and I’m lucky to have as a mentor now.
Outside of New Zealand, people like Candide, Sammy Carlson, Sean Pettit and Markus Eder. They’ve all really inspired me and are still the people I like to watch the most today.
Jossi Wells passing on some wisdom. Photo by Edjoy
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That’s a pretty well-rounded crew! They’ve all proved themselves in the big mountains too, is that why you base yourself in Canada now
I’ve only just made the switch to living up in Canada in the last few years, but the terrain is super unique here. The way that the snow forms the pillows, I haven’t found anywhere else and that’s definitely the type of riding that I’m drawn to at the moment. It’s a nice place to call a home base.
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We know you’ve had a busy season with the tour, but have you been able to squeeze any filming in?
I actually missed one of the FWT stops. I decided not to go to Georgia, originally because I’d planned to go to another event. Unfortunately, that event got cancelled last minute and it was too late to book flights and get over to Georgia! Thankfully I got a call up from Matchstick Productions and they invited me on a film trip down to Tahoe. I shot with them for a couple of weeks, between Tahoe and Utah in February/March. I guess that’s the reality of the competition schedules these days. If you want to have some diversity in your season, then you’ve got to say no occasionally. It was a hard one to do, because watching the Georgia stop, it looked pretty damn good, but was so sick to get the invite and go film with the Matchstick crew.
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You’re in MSP’s next movie, is that your first-time filming with them?
Yeah, first time with Matchstick. I did a little bit of shooting with TGR last season and have done some smaller personal projects with my partners, in the past. We did a short with Quiksilver called ‘White Noise’. I’d like to do some more of those types of projects in the coming years.
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Just going back to the FWT, obviously, you’ve been on the tour before and after the FIS takeover. What direction have/would you like to see it go in?
I think it’s in an interesting space right now. When that merger happened with FIS, I tried to stay open in my opinion, because I didn’t know what it meant and I think there are a lot of great people working in the organization at the FWT. While those people stay in charge, it’s in good hands. I do however worry for the future of the FWT, given what has happened to the Slopestyle and Big Air scene under FIS. I witnessed that first-hand, having competed in Slope/Big Air throughout those years. I think Freeride Competition still has lots of those raw unorthodox elements, which track back to the rebellion of freestyle skiing’s roots. I personally don’t want to see that being diluted into some structured box. I also think more broadly in the contest space, that it would be sick to see more of those hybrid style of backcountry events, such as Natural Selection that we’ve seen in the snowboard space. I think we’re really missing that in skiing right now. Even the way that FWT is going, there’s more and more freestyle being incorporated into runs, and I’d love to see that style of riding on terrain that caters for it the best.
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Kind of like Red Bull Infinite Lines...
Haha yeah. I haven’t skied in the Infinite Lines yet, but like Red Bull Line Catcher and Cold Rush, those events had really good potential. I’d love to see what they’d look like in today’s space
Photo by Theo Acworth
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When you’re picking your line on FWT, do you aim to go more for big lines or a line where you can do bigger tricks?
I think it depends on the terrain and the fact that you’re given. Last season, I saw my wildcard invitation as an opportunity to showcase maybe a different style of skiing on the Freeride World Tour. I really wanted to push the freestyle side of things, taking lines that were maybe a little less foreline, more cross court and jibby. Coming back this year, we were given some more traditional ‘freeride-oriented’ faces that lent themselves to more falline skiing. Especially with the events in Verbier, being on the Bec Des Rosses, its almost as freeride as it gets in the comp scene. It’s been a cool challenge having to adapt my riding to those bigger and more exposed faces and I’m stoked to have put down some runs in a variety of different terrain.
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You said nothing’s set in stone, but. Do you have any idea what you’ll be doing next winter?
I’m really enjoying the direction I’m going with my skiing at the moment so I’ll be planning to continue spending more time in the backcountry, learning and shredding with good friends and family. I’ve got some new visions and concepts I’d like to bring to life with my sponsors and we’ll see how much competition plays into that plan.
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Cheers Finn, well done on a good season! Anything else you want to add while you're here?
I guess I’d like to just say a huge shoutout to all the homies who I’ve got to spend time with in the mountains over the past few years. From the park to the alpine, it’s the community that makes this shit so damn fun! Appreciate you all and hyped for more in the future! Chur.
Photo by Jessy Braidwood
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