PREVIOUS SPREAD Scott is as humble as can be, yet sharp as a knife—that applies to both his brain and board control. The precision of Scott’s riding on full display: nollie backside 360 melon grab with just the right amount of tail scrape in Seattle. Photo: Tim Zimmerman Scott front flips into a mountain bike feature in Utah, unstraps his foot midway through the feature then launches a judo air off it for his part in T32M (2020). “He is the reigning supreme king of creative snowboarding.”—Jesse Burtner Photo: Andy Wright SCOTT HAS FUN BEING A DAD . By the way he talks about them, there’s not a shred of doubt that he adores his family. But between jug-gling Violet, Maddy and this phone call, he seems overwhelmed. That happens sometimes. “I wasn’t prepared for being a parent,” he admits. “I haven’t had a job besides snowboarding in quite a while. Before that, it would’ve been snowboard coach, and in the early days I worked at McDonald’s and skate shops. The time management that’s involved to have kids is really hard. It was shocking. I’d be staying up till 3 a.m. watching a 20-year-old 411 [Video Magazine], and I just can’t do that now. I have to prioritize. There was a time a year ago when I was having a really hard time mentally about how to categorize everything in my life. I was having these panic attacks in my late 30s—anxiety-based panic attacks—because my brain could not focus with all these different heavy things to deal with, like keeping a little kid alive. It was really overwhelming. I went to see some people about it, and that helped me through it, but, man, it was tough. For so long I was living in this bubble of fun snowboarding. My disci-pline was snowboarding. Outside of snowboarding there hasn’t been much discipline.” Scott’s fatherly reflections mingle with his mulling over of his career. “It’s a whirlwind, man. I can’t believe how quick it’s gone by. It used to mess me up, how quickly time went by. I was living in a time where I felt like there was a safety net around my job. I still felt like my stuff was fresh, but that changed over the past five years. I’ll step back and look at my stuff and be like, ‘You really think you’re still supposed to be a paid snowboarder?’ I didn’t get my first paycheck till I was 24. I never thought at 38 I’d be getting paid to snowboard. We’re talking terminal ages for a snowboarder. I’m pretty lucky. In retrospect, it’s surprising that fun, play-ful and quirky riding has gotten me as far as it has.” A lot of things have changed since Scott’s first video part. Social me-dia has largely killed the full-length snowboard film format that he holds so dear. It’s good, it’s bad. “Companies have cut back hard on making videos and the opportunity to film like that, so for the past few years I’ve gone pretty much Instagram only,” Scott says. “Stuff just leveled up with the platforms—the leveling up of positivity getting flown at you has increased, but also the level of negativity right in your face—so it’s a double-edged sword. Sometimes on Instagram I’ll get my feelings hurt pretty hard when one of my favorite pros sees a video of me that was shared to a magazine’s account and they throw shade. But there’s also some legendary pros who have become my friends and who like my snowboarding more than I would have ever anticipated.” It’s hard for Scott to accept that kind of shade because sometimes he struggles with the imposter syndrome that comes with success. It’s difficult because there’s an extra layer of exposed vulnerability when you present yourself as kindly and lightheartedly as he does. It’s important to note that Scott truly embraces every aspect of snowboarding. From the top-level boundary breakers to those still figuring out how to piece together their first video, Scott sees something of value. And that’s one of the things that makes him so damn good. “If there’s anything that makes Scott go down as one of the greatest in history, it’s going to be because he’s so invested in the entire culture of snowboarding on every level,” Jesse says. “He loves every bit of it. He pays attention to all types of riding, every rider, and nerds out like he just started.” Scott has flowed through the shifting media landscape gracefully, continuously inventing and contributing to the community. He’s stacked a larger Instagram following than most pro snowboarders, and has even done some notable work behind the lens and in the cutting room with instant classics of his own, such as Suzy Greenberg 270: The Movie (2020)—a heartfelt 45-minute love letter to the late ’90s and early 2000s with up-to-date boarding from dozens of current pros, ams and random friends. He accidentally uploaded the video with its quality set at 480p which gave it a consistent and fitting grainy look that really ties it together. Just another instance in which unexpected things worked out for the better. As he navigates snowboarding’s ever-changing atmosphere, Scott con-tinues to improve in other aspects of his adult life, too. That’s in part because he takes what he learned through filming and applies it to everything else. “You get in this bubble with doing a mini-shred trick, and it’s fun. A lot of times we find ourselves trying these tricks forever. You wouldn’t think it would [require that], but it does. One day Jesse told me, ‘En-joy the battle.’ And he’s right, you know? You’ve got someone out there filming you. Just be grateful… There are times when I’m not having the patience with the kids that I wish I had, and it should be more like, enjoy this battle. Because everyone tells you that these times fly by in the blink of an eye, and they do.” 052 THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL
The Snowboarder's Journal The Snowboarder's Journal 20.4: Page 52
