Show notes
On today's episode of Pro Files: Well Seasoned - E Stone. He got his start as an aspiring pro with a number of flow sponsorships. Upon graduating high school he promptly moved to colorado - in no small part to watching the seminal Mack Dawg film The Hard, The Hungry and the Homeless. And in his first season out West he started what many would consider one of the important brands in the history of the sport Tech 9. In this episode we hear all about the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur in the sport of snowboarding. Indeed, starting a brand is no get rich quick scheme as many might expect - it is in fact lon g hours, empty bank accounts - and doing something you believe in. During his time running Tech 9 Ethan picked up another skill - becoming a photographer - then senior photographer for snowboarder Magazine. But riders want to ride - and E Stone is a rider, starting The Bombhole podcast with pro snowboarder Chris Grenier. This is an interesting episode - the backstory of a legend in the sport, lessons from playing multiple positions across the industry and healthy passion for the fun of snowboarding. Today's episode brought to you by Artilect http://artilect.studio Cardiff Snowcraft http://cardiffsnow.com Tow Pro Lifts http://towpro-lifts.com Owner Operator HTTP://owneroperator.us United Shapes http://unitedshapes.us 686 Outerwear http://686.com Electrovoice Microphones http://electrovoice.com ••••••••••• M Mark_sullivan00:03 Yeah, I got. I got a few good ones that tookck this one out theres. one got sponsored for this one. E Ethan00:08 Really? M Mark_sullivan00:09 This is uh, electro voice M Mark_sullivan00:12 y. That's a good mike. too. M Mark_sullivan00:14 this is the Mac Daddy. Though, E Ethan00:16 that thing looks dude. M Mark_sullivan00:19 Yeah, so too ki. what you got? Yeah, E Ethan00:20 Yes, sorry, it took me a minute to get this all figured out. M Mark_sullivan00:25 worries that worries. E Ethan00:26 Not used to talking to about myself. You know what I mean. so it's uh, M Mark_sullivan00:29 I know we're going to change that right here. It looks like you got some sound padding on the walls there behind you, too. E Ethan00:36 that's not what it M Mark_sullivan00:36 that's E Ethan00:37 is. It's some mirrors or something, E Ethan00:40 and I got a dog next to me. M Mark_sullivan00:43 nice. nice. M Mark_sullivan00:45 right on. Well, uh, you know, maybe we should kick this thing off Interview with E. Ste, normally a guy who's behind a Mike. asking people questions today. I' get to ask him some questions. How you doing today? Ethan, E Ethan00:57 I'm doing good a little nervous. M Mark_sullivan01:00 Little nervous. Why are you nervous today? E Ethan01:02 I don't know, dude. I'm not used to talking about myself' chilling here with M Mark_sullivan01:08 Okay? E Ethan01:08 the O. Know, M Mark_sullivan01:10 Oh nice. E Ethan01:12 he doesn't talk though M Mark_sullivan01:13 Oh yeah. E Ethan01:13 he's not order of the interview. M Mark_sullivan01:15 yeah. E Ethan01:16 You just want to laugh. M Mark_sullivan01:16 you always got to have a dog as part of the interview. Though E Ethan01:19 Yeah, true. M Mark_sullivan01:19 that always makes sense. E Ethan01:21 Yeah, so I'm M Mark_sullivan01:22 So E Ethan01:22 a little nervous, but I'm hyy. to talk with you. M Mark_sullivan01:26 right on. Well, I'll make it pretty easy on you because I'll just roll back to right in the beginning of your snowboarding career. Um. Arizona Snowball. How did you get there and what were you doing snowboarding in Arizona? E Ethan01:38 How did you know I was in Arizona? M Mark_sullivan01:41 I know these things. E Ethan01:42 You know these things. you know. I went there with Bloto. Um. he grew up there, E Ethan01:48 So I was living with him in Vail at the time and we kind of had a bunch of similar sponsors and uh, oh no, let me trace this back. Actually, I went. I, I met Bloto there. I'm I'm actually wrong. I'm a little. uh. I got some memory issues so that's where I met Bloto. I was traveling around with. Uh, E Ethan02:09 I think they were called Hollywood films at the time, M Mark_sullivan02:12 Mhm. E Ethan02:13 and Uh, E Ethan02:15 kind of working on my first time filming snowboarding E Ethan02:19 And it was Uh, Rick and Tillion was the filmer and uh, I think I just jumped in the car with these guys that went on a filming trip. E Ethan02:29 I think that was when I got my first photo in East Infection E Ethan02:33 with your magazine, was actually on that same trip. But yeah, we stopped in Snowball, and uh Bloto just happened to be there and started shooting with us. E Ethan02:43 And uh, that place was awesome. E Ethan02:47 I think Uh, M Mark_sullivan02:48 I would say. actually, that mag that mag was play or mag, because I got a copy of it right here. E Ethan02:52 Player magazine, not East infection. Yeah, it was your magazine All right. M Mark_sullivan02:57 Yeah, Yeah, that was my mag back in the day. M Mark_sullivan03:00 You know that that's how I got started. But you were actually one of the writers we featured in that mag. E Ethan03:05 That was probably my first published photo anywhere. E Ethan03:09 It was like a seven twenty sequence or something. I don't think it was M Mark_sullivan03:13 Yup, E Ethan03:13 at. Uh in Arizona. I was on the way to Arizona, somewhere in Utah, I think, E Ethan03:18 but uh, yeah, that was awesome. M Mark_sullivan03:19 So you had dreams, though of being like a pro writer, being filming movie parts doing the whole thing. E Ethan03:24 Yeah, I moved out from Vermont, Kinda got fueled by the hard, Go hungry and the Homeless. That movie I think that came out when I was in eleventh grade E Ethan03:35 and uh, kinda just made me want to move to where those guys were And that was Bracken Ridge, and uh, right when I graduated from high school, I just made the move. I actually graduated a half year early, so I could get out there even sooner, and uh, I remember when I told my mom she straight up cried 'cause I wasn't going to go to college. E Ethan03:56 and uh, she just thought I was throwing away my life and there was no future, E Ethan04:00 but I did it anyways and just uh made the move to. We couldn't get to Brack and Ridge where we wanted to move 'cause all the housing was filled up, so we uh, moved to Vale, which actually ended up being dove because we kind of met a really good community with people like ▁j two and Nj, Adam Merriman, um Tarquin, And uh, yes, I was just kind of following that dream of trying to become a pro snowboarder, M Mark_sullivan04:29 So what kind of job did you work in Vail when you first arrived? E Ethan04:33 all dishwashing, E Ethan04:35 and M Mark_sullivan04:35 All dishwashing. E Ethan04:35 Uh, Hydro ceramic technician was the uh, official term, but uh yet, M Mark_sullivan04:41 Okay, E Ethan04:41 basically you know in Vale there there's a lot of tourism. Obviously, this, it's a lot different than it was. Uh than it is. Now you know, now it's even crazier. but back then I mean the only jobs were really working for the mountain or working for Uh, a restaurant E Ethan04:57 and I lived, Uh, moved out there with all Egu lay, and then a couple of other good friends from Vermont, and we all just got dishwashing jobbs. I think we had eight of us in a two almos, seven of us in a two bedroom in Uh, Avon, Colorado, which is just right next to Vale, E Ethan05:14 and Uh, M Mark_sullivan05:14 and were you a sponsored writer at the time? do you like sponsored? E Ethan05:17 when I moved out there, No sponsors. Um, E Ethan05:21 but quickly E Ethan05:23 through meeting people like ▁j two and all that you got introduced to a lot of different raps and picked up some sponsors. Um, I got picked up by six, eight, six pretty early, and that's how Uh. Bloto was riding for them as well, so I think that's why we met him at Snowball Snowball and Uh, Scott boards, and E Ethan05:44 Um, E Ethan05:46 I was kind of like a rap rider for Original Sin, but I wouldn't consider that sponsored. like when I moved out from Vermont, Just like a little bit of board flow. You know, M Mark_sullivan05:56 Okay? So you're in Colorado. You're starting to shoot video. You are starting to take photos. You know. I mean, at what point did you decide that like? Okay, Actually, I'm going to start a binding company Because E Ethan06:10 you know that. M Mark_sullivan06:10 you started that pretty early on in Vail. E Ethan06:12 Yeah, we actually started that our first year living in Vale, and uh, what we were doing was go in the Home Depot and getting metal brackets, and my buddy from high school. ▁j, three would kind of cut them into the parts we needed to make the first baseless bindings, and uh, we would use straps from just whatever available binding was out there, and the highbas as well, And then at the Uh, he worked at the Beaver Creek. Uh, he was a snowmaker and W had access to like the shop at Beaver Creek, the workshop, and was able to use like a metal bender to. We would just cut like diamond plate metal into uh heel cups and then bend themem on this uh bending machine they had up there, And so we had kind of the first baseless bindings going, And he made Paris for myself and for Tarquin and forer all, Lee and uh, My dad came out and saw what we were doing and he was like, Oh, I could help you guys get these made, actually manufactured for real, and uh, so we made some samples and then we went to Uh, the trade show that year, which I was eighteen. So this was like nineteen ninety four. We went to the trade show in San Diego, E Ethan07:27 and Uh didn't have a booth or anything. We were just kind of walking around and we met a uh, Japanese distributor and they saw what we had, and Uh instantly made a giant order and all of a sudden we were just a company and they ended up being our distributor for the the whole time we were a company, too, which was pretty cool. So like twenty three years or something, M Mark_sullivan07:47 Okay, so how long did you like try to wear two hats in that you were trying to be a team rider for different brands and then you were starting your own brand? How long did you keep both of those balls in the air? E Ethan07:57 I would say until uh, around ninety nine two thousand, I moved out to Co, to Utah from Colorado, and Uh, the mountains out here were a bit different than Colorado, As as people know, they're a little bit more aggressive. The jumps got a little bit bigger and snowboarding got a little more serious. I was riding with Marco a lot, kind of following him off jumps and he was just so good and I would end up, you know, trying to go as big as him and then just eating shit. End up worked after the day, like barely able to walk. trying to follow Marco. You know, so I kind of realized I just wasn't on this dues level and maybe I should start focusing on Uh, Tech Nine a little bit more, and at the same time, Bloto kind of uh, gave me a camera, so I started shooting photos as well, which got me to be able to still be out with guys like Marco, but not, uh, didn't work. M Mark_sullivan08:53 Was that his nice way of being like your riding is and cutting it? E Ethan08:57 No, he. it was actually, he. Uh, He had gone to the East coast. He was working for Tech Nine at the time as our team manager and he kind of snuck off to the East Coast for a meeting with Burton, and uh, I think he felt bad that he was taking the job and leaving Tech Nine, so he just handed me down his camera. But yeah, maybe it was a kind of a nice way to say, Maybe maybe you're not uh as good as the rest of the te. M Mark_sullivan09:21 Okay So so now you're running Tech nine and you are starting to learn how to be a photographer? Take us through that of like what it was like to, actually, you know, get your chops developed for taking photos of. People, how long did that take? E Ethan09:33 You know, I was pretty blessed. In that sense, I was able to uh, go out with guys like Kevin ▁zacher, and Nate Christensson, who were top photographers at the time. I used to shoot with them on the other side of the camera, so they let me come out, and uh, kinda just stand right next to him and ask him any question I wanted And why they were doing what they were doing and what their settings were. E Ethan09:59 And and Ah, they basically topy the ropes, and I think both of them went to photo school, so they're pretty well trained at what they were doing. I know, ▁zacher did for sure. Um, so yeah, I just got to stand there and and was able to ask them anything, and and learn pretty fast and shoot the top talent that they uh were shooting. so uh, eventually they were kind of like man, you gotta. you're getting better shots than we are. You gotta kinda get off on your own. now you know that eventually they, they sent me away, But at first they were as cool as it, kids, and taught me everything I needed to know about flashes and light. It was filmed too, so it was a little bit harder than digy. and uh, yeah, they really gave me everything I needed to know, And's why when photographers asked me questions now I'm always really nice about answering them. because Uh, those guys did that for me, you know, 'cause some guys M Mark_sullivan10:51 Yeah, E Ethan10:51 like Andy Wright was a little more competitive. He would never let me come out with them. M Mark_sullivan10:56 Okay, so M Mark_sullivan10:55 no, okay, but you're still friends with Andy Wright, Correct. E Ethan10:58 Yeah, no, Andy's the man he was. He was kind of the top top photographer in the streets for all those years, so it was uh, always shooting with the people I wanted to be shooting with too, so I kind of got his scraps for for years, which uh M Mark_sullivan11:12 Oh yes, E Ethan11:12 ended up working out. M Mark_sullivan11:14 so what was that like? Like? If you were going to go go to a spot to shoot photos Andy Rightr was already there. Did you have to kind of turn tail and go go home? E Ethan11:23 Yeah, it was pretty competitive and then, even as they got more competitive with, uh, I think in Utah, back then there was like ten photographers living here. Um, so you had to have your crew like lined up, or else you wouldn't have anyone to shoot. And Uh, obviously the Ridrs wanted the most established photographers they could have. So for a new photographer it was always pretty hard. Um, but you just had to keep fning. M Mark_sullivan11:47 So so who was that crew? Who were the guys that you would shoot with regularly? E Ethan11:51 Um. You know what one one thing I had that a lot of people didn't have is they had access to the Tech Nine team, so that did help me out a bit of. If Andy was out with a bunch of yii' crew, let's say, or, uh, robot food or something, then I would always have whatever tech Nine Ridrs were hanging around, and then at the same time Cole kind of started f o d t. So that was always a crew for me to to kind of join up with no matter what, and he was always kind of grabbing new riders that no one had heard of at at the time, like Daryl Mathis or Justin Habble, who ended up becoming big pros. so no one knew who they were at that time when I was shooting them. During the time they were kind of cutting their teeth and figuring it out, so it kind of just all worked out. I M Mark_sullivan12:39 right? So who? who was your first photo published? And how long did it take From the time you picked up a camera Ti, the time you actually got a photo published. E Ethan12:37 guesse I think it was pretty quick and uh, my memories is horrible. but I want to say it might have been Bobby Meeks at Brighton, and uh, it was like the first year I was shooting. Um. He was my roommate at the time, so I had access to like…
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