“Bryan showed up in Haines, AK, in early March two seasons ago. It was his first trip there and he was shooting for Drink Water’s Energy . He literally walked off the plane and right into the heli and was out shredding that eve-ning. During a rare early season five-day high-pressure window, Bryan, Austin Smith and Curtis Ciszek went on a frenzy opening up all the classic Haines zones for the first time of the season as the only film crew in town. They sent the rest of the snowboard film industry into a panic via their Instagram feeds and, before they knew it, five other crews were in town. But by then the weather window had closed and Bryan and crew left with big smiles and no idea how good they actually got it.” Photo: Andrew Miller Words John Laing B ryan Fox isn’t one to brag. On the contrary, he’ll tell you about his shortage of natural talent. It’s not that he lacks confidence in his boarding abilities, but its more a reminder that he has worked hard to make it as a professional snow-boarder. Bryan understands that content management and media relations are just as important as talent in this industry, and he knows that passion, dedication and drive are part of the formula for a long-lasting career. That, and the ability to stand out through your ideas as much as your riding. These days, Bryan’s primary mission is to follow the snow. Earlier in his career you may’ve seen him sliding rails and hitting cheese-wedges, but he’s earned the right to spend more time riding pow on his snow-mobile or stepping out of a heli in northern environs. Still, he remains connected to snowboarding’s grassroots through by throwing events like the annual Drink Water Rat Race at Mt. Hood’s Timberline Lodge and Ski Area, where you’ll find heavy hitters like Jake Blauvelt and Terje Haakonsen on site to race a 45-second hell track every July. Through a conscious focus on diversity and media presence, Bryan has built lasting relationships with strong brands like Smartwool and Quiksilver, while also earning the right to design a collaborative board line with his Drink Water partner Austin Smith for Nitro. Indeed, Bryan’s got his hand in many pots, and he’s not afraid to stir them up on occasion. Whether you agree with him or not, his is a strong voice in a sometimes-homogenous industry. He has the work ethic to make himself heard. And that’s a good thing. After all, snowboarding was built on disruptive behavior. Outspoken from the get-go, Bryan has been known to play devil’s ad-vocate. You may not always agree with him, but he is quick to point out the hypocrisy of traveling the world to snowboard while at the same time touting environmental responsibility. And he’s never afraid to call things as he sees them, even if his views sometimes clash with the predominant liberal ideology of the snowboard world. Now 34-years-old, Bryan’s been at it for a decade-and-a-half. He migrated from inland SoCal to Portland, OR in 2002 and took early cues from riding Mt. Hood with Scotty Wittlake, which led to criti-cal industry introductions. From there, he filmed with People, Mack Dawg and Videograss. He’s since ridden around the globe, wheth-er on Alaska and British Columbia missions with Travis Rice and Quiksilver, or working closer to home on shoestring video projects like The Rascals —a Mt. Baker short produced in conjunction with Wittlake—or Drink Water’s Energy , Pathology Project and Mediocre Madness movies. Along the way, he has surrounded himself with influ-ential riders who speak to different niches in snowboarding. BRYAN FOX 069
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 15.3 : Page 69
