Our Utah crew is a unique mixture of intellectuals and delinquents, but we love em anyway.  I put together a quick interview with them.  Read on to learn about a group of kids who followed their dreams and moved out west.  Featuring Brady Perron, Jeff Kiesel, Witt Foster, Steve Stepp, and LJ Strenio.

How did the

last season go for you?

Brady -

last season went So well…  I traveled a

whole lot doing little trips with friends to find some new snow and what not.

Got to meet and greet, go to school, do a whole lot of skiing and socializing..

filmed a segment with my homey AJ ..4bi9

Jeff -

it was fun, didn’t really compete which was sort of a new thing for me hah,

just chilled around went to school and just filmed a whole lot with all the

4bifriendlies. Good times.

Witt -

Great! Lots of snow, and fun times playing around in it with my friends.

Steve -Last season was

pretty sick. I got a good amount of shredding in but tore my meniscus in March.

That sucked.

LJ -

Last season was the most intense fun wild ride of my life! Competition wise it

went okay, I didn’t win anything big but I made it to finals in most of the

comps and had a great time learning new stuff. Got to film a bit at the end of

the season too which was fun.

All of you moved to Utah from the East.  Why Utah? 

And what has the move done to improve your skiing?

Brady - This is zion to the

mormon community.

Jeff - school real close to

great skiing is why I came out, and since then I’ve had so many options of

different kinds of skiing all so close to my home, so I’ve just been shredding

a lot of stuff I wouldn’t be back in New Hampshire really easily.

Witt - I came out here once

for a trip when I was younger, and thought it would be awesome to live here. I

never really knew how to ski pow before I moved here, but after spending a few

years here its all I ever want to do.

Steve - I moved to Utah

because I knew a lot of friends from competitions were moving there. I ended up

living with some really cool people. Utah has helped my skiing tremendously.

Don’t know how though, probably just the ill snow and irie vibes.

LJ - I chose Utah because I

had a lot of friends that had moved out that way and it seemed like the place

to be. I spent the second half of my senior year of high school there and

sealed the deal to come to college here. The move has improved my skiing in all

aspects I think but most importantly it has kept my vibe in check, I’m here to

have fun and though I want to compete and shoot tons, I want to keep that fun

too. I don’t want what I love to turn into work. HA!

What do you

do when you’re not skiing?

Brady - I do music, gatherings, Frisbee, longboard,

play with the dogs, sew, battle fifa, and doing the twist

Jeff - pretty much the same as brady seeing as I’m at

that house all the time. But I started skateboarding this past summer and

really enjoy a nice mini ramp.

Witt - Nothing beats a good Grateful Dead track.

Steve - Skateboard, study, guitar, stack cheddar

LJ - When I’m not skiing, like in the summer I work

at the water ramps in PC with John Kutcher but I love to go running, jump on

the trampoline, go skating, edit something fun, play some video games such as

skate or Call of Duty.

Where is

your favorite place to ride?

Brady - Probably grizzly/pc

Jeff - where the snow at?

Witt - The jersey booters

all over little cottonwood.

Steve - Park City dog!!

LJ - That’s a tough one, I

have a ton of places I love to ride for different reasons. I’d say if I had to

ride one park for the rest of my life it would be Loon’s park, it’s dope! I

love PC a lot too, so much fun stuff to do. And my home mountain Smuggs will

always be one of my favorite places to shred because I know it better than I

know the creek map in COD4.

What’s a

great day of skiing to you?

Brady - most days

Jeff - any day I don’t yell

or get hurt

Witt - I like Brady’s

answer

Steve - Wakin’ up early,

starting the day with a hot cup of pure Columbian coffee and shredding PC till

4. Then stopping at Davanzas for lunch. Can’t beat that

LJ - Everyday of skiing.

Literally anything. If I had to make one up it would consist of shredding with

friends, listening to good music, HUGE nice jumps with soft landings or maybe

tons of powder and some sick cliff lines.

Who are

your influences?

Jeff -  mostly Dave Crichton, always real smooth and

on point.

Witt - Anything I see that

looks cool on snow gets me pumped.

Steve - MikD is a big

influence…Tommy Wall too because we grew up riding together.

LJ - ah Everyone I enjoy to

watch is my influence. I'd say my biggest influences are probably Wallisch and

Will Wesson, I not only like both of their skiing but also like to try to do

some of their stuff with my own twist on it, if I can do it at all.

When did

you start skiing?

Brady - like 7,8 or 9?

Jeff - When I was 5.

Witt - I don’t know, let me

think, It was real young.. 3 or 4, I think.

Steve - Started when I was

13…. should have been earlier!

LJ - I skied for the first

time when I was like 3 and up until I was 7 or 8 I skied for a week every year

during family vacations up to Vermont. Once I moved there I started skiboarding

and then when I was like 13 I switched back to skiing.

How many

days do you get on snow per year?

Brady, Jeff,

and Witt - Whole lotta days.

Steve - No idea, I might

start counting this year

Sorry Steve, this picture is just too funny to not put in.

LJ - I have no idea, definitely over 100, I think I'll get at least 150

this season.

What’s it like being part of the 4bi9 crew?  Do you guys usually all ride together, or is

everyone getting more spread out?

Brady, Jeff, and Witt

- As far as filming, we don’t really try to bring 30 of us to one zone. As far

as everyday park skiing, a large crew usually ensues. Filming is a small, more

productive project…less people is usually best. We fight as to who gets to go

where haha… and AJ slays it, in every aspect…he’s always down.. to film, get

down, get up and get out

Steve - Being part of 4bi9

is the most hilarious shit ever. We have 2 groups of 4bi9’ers in 2 different

houses, its wild. Everyone’s so laid back and funny, and super fun to ski with.

Everyday is like a party! Yea we all pretty much ski together whether its BC,

urban or PC.

LJ - Riding with 4bi9 is

dope, all the kids are sick and good friends of mine. Everyone is also way into

different stuff so it's pretty spread out but we still all get to ride together

a ton, though I'm not one of the CORE 4bi9ers.

Has your perspective on the sport changed at all

since becoming a part of the industry?

Brady - I’ve realized the

youngness of our sport and how its so impressionable.

Jeff - I think I’ve become

more critical of what’s considered “good” in the industry…whether its riders,

companies, competitions, etc.

Witt - Its been a lot of

fun to meet and become friends with some people that I have looked up to for a

long time.

Steve - Yea it has a lot. I

notice it more when I try to remember how skiin was when I just started. It’s

sick to know people in the industry and its really fulfilling. I haven’t found

anyone I dislike; that’s a good sign.

LJ - Nope I like to think

of the industry as something that feeds off the sport, not the other way

around. Skiing to me, is what skiing was to me 10 years ago... skiing.

I don’t see you kids enough.  Are you going to come to Colorado for an

extended period of time?  I’ll teach you

the finer points of retail, and how to grow a proper beard.

Jeff - I am man enough to

grow a beard, but I like not having that stuff on my face! And as for coming to

Colorado, not anytime soon for me since I just hurt my shoulder and am out for

3-4 weeks.

Steve - Shoot, you

obviously didn’t see that stash I had going for November….so epically grimey.

Hahaha, but really, I’m tryin to go to CO a little more often this year. Hook

me up with some tickets!!!!!

LJ - hell yeah, That’s what

online classes are for!