Adam Chuntz is a hard guy to track down. If he's not out on his sled in the Whistler backcountry, he could be beside me in a bar in Ontario, with me thinking he's still in Whistler. Starting out in Ontario, Chuntz has made the move out west...and back...and out west again. Not one to put down roots, he's made the most of his mobility and followed the snow and good times, even if it means doing the unthinkable and coming back to Ontario mid-season. While not snowboarding, he's busy keeping food on the table with the business of web and graphic design (and keeping his own blog intact). At 25, somehow he's figured out how to balance both, surfacing with a full spread of sponsors and a successful business. Read on kids: there's a message in here somewhere.
Appropriately enough, I caught up with Chuntz via the interweb over MSN while he was in Whistler.
Matt: How's whistler these days?
Adam: Whistler's finally starting go off! It's been a long time coming for sure! We've only had 3 serious snowfalls all year, and the funny thing is, Ontario and the rest of the East coast have had it all year.
M: Are the west coasters jealous of Ontario? Maybe just a little? Even though most would never admit it...
A: It's probably best if I shut my mouth on this one...but no one can deny that earlier this season that was the general consensus. I spent 6 weeks [in Ontario] in December and January!
M: Understandable. You'd hate to be kicked out of Whistler for admitting there might be something of merit in the east.
A: Yah, it's pretty much social suicide to compare the 2...haha.
M: You're still pretty back-and-forth between the east and the west. Any thoughts on putting down some serious roots in one?
A: Ideally I'd love to settle down in one place for sure - kinda sick of feeling like I am always living out of a bag. As far as one place goes...I'd be a fool to not want to live in the mountains, or at least be able to see them out of my window.
M: Sounds like the siren song of Vancouver calling, with all it's earthy women and Starbucks...
A: More like jagged rocks, the ocean and Blenz!
A: Scratch that! Moguls coffee is way better.
M: So what do you give Ontario credit for? With so many people claiming Ontarian origins, is there anything that Ontario has done for you as a rider in Whistler?
A: Ontario is the truth! Because there isn't great terrain it forces you to be creative, otherwise you'll go insane. Ontario definitely grooms good riders, as it forces us to ride in the most unbearable and crappy conditions... the only thing we really suck at (at first) is landing in pow!
M: Growing up in Ontario, did you get your hands on a sled at all?
A: I wish! My first sled experience ever was in Collingwood a few years ago hitting this tow-in goal post jib. I sat on the machine and couldn't get over how fun it was and that was just doing donuts in a school field.
M: Needless to say, it didn't prepare you for the serious task of riding in the backcountry?
A: Hell no! That shit is so much harder than it looks! Luckily I had a lot of heavy snow days last year to learn by getting myself stuck all day. Not to mention some good friends yelling at me all day to lean more and hold the throttle down.
M: Digging yourself out and heaving a sled around seems to make everyone learn faster. Or become a park rider pretty quick. How necessary is sledding on the path to becoming a name in snowboarding?
A: I think unless you've got ridiculous skills in the street, you have to sled to stand out in any way. With the amount of kids flooding snowboard parks these days, it seems like every one of them can do every trick in the book. So taking those park tricks to the backcountry and building jumps that should require a physics major to create all adds up to the next level of your riding.
M: Where do you classify yourself in the scale of snowboarding? Somewhere between local hero and international pro?
A: I wish I knew....haha. Seems like that line gets fuzzier everyday. If I were making a real living doing this then it'd be a lot easier, but the fact of the matter is, it's hard to make it in this industry and frankly there isn't much pie to go around.
M: If you're not making a living on your board, what's your day job?
A: More like night job! In order for me to snowboard professionally and travel, I have to bust my ass at night and in the off season doing web and graphic design just to try and pay for it all and pretty much bankrupt myself each year.
M: Is there a point where you have to commit to one or the other?
A: Not sure if I can even answer that right now. Anyone who snowboards knows the feeling it gives you, and that makes it all worth it. But, there comes a time when you have start figuring the rest of your life ... I think I'm starting to make that plan, but we'll have to see where things go.
M: Did you go to school for web and graphic design before snowboarding became a possibility?
A: I (somehow) did both at the same time... got an honours bachelor degree and tried pushing my snowboarding all together. Light workload or no school during the winters and 120% or more course loads the rest of the time was the recipe!
M: Impressive. So tell me about the design company you're involved with: Intersection Design.
A: It's my company I started with a buddy, Andrew Lockhart, from University. It's a small design company that offers pretty much everything you can imagine for print and web solutions. Funny enough, a lot of work stems directly from the snowboard industry so it's pretty rad to work with my friends on both levels with riding and design.
M: Does that make working while trying to make it in snowboarding easier, if the work is mostly snow-related?
A: You'd think it would, but sometimes it's hard to focus on it because my mind is in 2 places with it all; as a rider and a worker. I think it'd be easier if the industries I did design work for were really unrelated so I could treat it as work more.
M: I guess you're turning snowboarding into work on several levels, and you'd hate to burn out on something you started because it was fun.
A: Exactly! but I'm finding new ways to have fun with both and expanding the types of people and clients I work with for both riding and design.
M: That seems to be the secret. I don't think I've heard anyone so excited about riding as Jesse Fox after he decided to hang up his pro boots and go back to riding for fun.
A: It seems like that is the secret for sure. If everything stays the same all the time you'll get bored of it and move on. The beauty about snowboarding is that as long as you're with your friends and having a good time it doesn't really matter what you're doing as long as you have a board under your feet. As lame as that sounds, it's true!
M: It's not lame at all. It's why we arrange our lives around a "past time"; a "hobby".
A: That's the ticket! The trouble is for those who don't ride, they wont truly understand what that all means.
M: Their loss.
A: Yup! More pow for us!
M: Thanks? Shout outs? Big ups?
A: All my friends and family for being there from day one. The OG's in the shred game for making me want to follow their footsteps. Everyone else in the industry like you guys and the magazines who keep trying to push the sport and everything to do with it so that we can all evolve and keep doing this! And of course my sponsors: Max and Ry Guy at Endeavor, John at Vans, Andre at Nomis, Trini at Spy, Ry Guy and Paul at Flux, Matt at Beaver Wax, Dave at Hustler. Thanks Matt! PEACE!
M: Nicely done. And for some wrap up, how old are you?
A: Bah! Shit question.
A: hahaha
A: 25 now...but I dunno if want people to know that!
M: Yeah, but you're a very accomplished 25.
Check out Chuntz's promo footage from last season:
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Related:
Triple Challenge '09 Big Air (photos)
Opening Day Ontario