Ryan Scardigli “Diggles” Hump Day

Hire Diggles for your next wedding or bar mitzvah!

Ryan Scardigli, aka “Diggles”, says he doesn’t ski anymore, but that’s bullshit and he’s still an idiot skier to us. And, while that’s horrible and would normally ban him from ever having an interview on Yobeat, Diggles happens to have a hand in the snowboard world. From being a part-time filmer for COMUNE, spending the Winter in Europe working at MethodMag, and running with Tahoe’s bad boy club, Diggles has become a niche pleasure in snowboard culture. His edits are rad, his impact has been felt and if he would just admit he’s a stupid pole grabbing ski-freak his next interview could maybe not be all about the bullshit, horror and humor that is his life. — Nick Lipton

Why the fuck should Yobeat interview a skier?

I find it ironic actually. An ex wakeboard journalist interviewing an ex skier. But yeah. You got me. I skied for most of my youth, and was even pretty good at it. I realized how lame it was when kids started layering tall t’s and wearing helmets over their beanies.

Was it hard telling your parents that you’re gay?

The gay rights movement is the civil rights of our generation. That being said, if I were gay, I would try and be proud of it to show kids that it’s ok to be different. Too much hate these days. We should focus all that hate towards stuff that matters. Like maybe we should go out and lynch oil executives. Those dudes are fucking up our lives way more than a little butt love between two consenting adults.

On the job, shooting Curtis Woodman.

What’s the worst injury you ever got skiing? Do you think that was God punishing you for skiing?

I broke my collar bone once when I was around 12 trying to learn 360’s and yes it was probably a spiteful god damning me for being a two planker. Ahaha

Do you even like snowboarding?

Very much so. Outside of it being super fun, snowboarding has given me the opportunity to see the world, and get paid to do it. My problems today are what I like to call “white girl problems” Seriously couldn’t be happier with my life situation.

Ryan sent this edit as PROOF he snowboards. Whatever, we’re still not buying it.

How much do you weigh? How tall are you?

I am 6’3″ That’s 190cm for my imperially challenged friends, and I weigh a staggering 155lbs or 70.3kg

Would you rather bone Brendan Gerard’s girlfriend or Ben Rice’s girlfriend?

Is a three way with Brendan and Ben an option? How about Danyale, but she has to wear a ball gag and Brendan has to watch.

Three-way?

What was the weirdest thing you tried in Europe?

I didn’t get into too much weird shit, but when Ben came to visit in November he got all drunk, we were sharing a bed in Amsterdam, and he swiped my butt crack with his fingers. He swears he thought he was back home with his lady, but I’m not buying it.

Would you rather live in the USA or Europe?

I like both for different reasons. The good ol USA will always be home, but I enjoy traveling a lot, and in Europe it is really easy to be somewhere completely different in just a few hours. I know everyone that hasn’t been there thinks it’s just one big continent full of techno and shitty style, but every country is so different and offers so much. It would be like a German kid coming to the middle of nowhere in Texas and going “the US sucks. Bunch of redneck farmers” when we all know there is a lot of really cool stuff here as well. Euro snowboard kids are cool, because they all really love snowboarding. I can’t think of any of them that do it to be cool, or whatever it is. They just love doing it, and they’re really good at it. I think if some of the hater population was to ever hang out with these dudes, they would see that we’re all pretty similar, and are just looking to have a good time on the snow.

What are you doing now that you’re back from Europe?

Well I’m back for the summer, dj-ing some weddings, helping out my friend Matt at his bike shop in Tahoe, and just enjoying myself. I plan on going back to Method Mag in September, as long as everything works out. It was a great season, went to 15 countries, met a lot of cool people, but it is definitely nice to be home for a bit with old friends.

When in Europe…

Do you have any tattoos?

Funny story, I found out that Mikkel Bang and I both have similar ass tats this year in Spain, everyone was showing their tattoos and we both pulled our pants down at the same time and we both have kiss marks on our cheeks. His doesn’t say “dad” though.

Why aren’t you allowed into Canada?

Well technically I’m a felon. I got into a bunch of trouble growing up and from what I hear, the mounties are not big on criminals in their country. I think it’s almost been long enough now that it might now show up. Maybe I’ll give ‘er a try this season.

Do you really prefer to be called “Diggles” to “Ryan”?

Diggles is a name I was given at my first job, boot fitting at the Squaw Valley Sports Shop when I was 15. Pretty much no one can pronounce my last name correctly except for Italians, and this dude Uncle Boozy had a particularly hard time with it, so he just called me Diggles. It stuck, and that’s been my name for almost ten years. I do introduce myself to most people as Ryan and let them decide. And always prefer to have girls call me Ryan, because someone yelling out “Diggles!” in bed isn’t that hot.

You’ve done a few projects with COMUNE. Which was your favorite?

I am most proud of the PSOTRATSOC1983 video that we put out at the beginning of this season. The guys rode really hard last year, and I think the video came out great. It was a lot of fun spending a season with all those dudes. I also have to give it up to Kevin for putting together Spring Break. We both shot the action stuff together, but he is on another level with his editing.

Do you ever wish they’d just use a shorter name so it fits on your resume better, or whatever?

Hahaha, I guess I never thought about that. I like the names Corey comes up with. Kind of a humorous take on all the ridiculous names people title their movies that have nothing to do with snowboarding.

What’s it like hanging out with Corey Smith? Tell us something people don’t know about him.

Corey is awesome. Such a massive presence and always thinking of really cool stuff. I am really glad I was able to work with him on those projects, and hope to do more with him in the future. Something people don’t know about Corey? That’s hard. He has astma, and doesn’t like hiking. But then again who does?

Tell me about the Warp Wave project you’re working on now. Why VHS/Super 8? Don’t you know they have digital now or are you really that hip?

Warp Wave is a project that Eric Messier and Gray Thompson are doing next season that is still in the planning stages, but yeah it will be shot on VHS camera, and I will be one of the filmers. I think it’s going to be really cool to see it all come together. Some really cool riders have confirmed their interest as well as some of my favorite filmers and photographers.

He may not really snowboard, but he knows LOTS of people who do!

Do you think your average snowboarder gives a shit about art?

I think they should at least try and take some interest in the arts. It doesn’t have to be stuff I’m into or anyone else is into, but there is so much awesome art being produced, and it’s good to focus on thing soutside of your comfort zone sometimes to help you put things in perspective. That being said, check out the Drop City contributors at COMUNE to get started on finding the art that speaks to you.

What do you think about the overall state of snowboard cinema? Who’s doing it well and who should just hang it up already?

I think there is a lot of really cool stuff going on in snowboard cinema land, a lot of copying of cool stuff, and a lot of shit. That being said, some of my favorites right now are: Joe Carlino, he just does everything so clean and precise, something I can’t even attempt to do, Johannes Brenning (Helgasons.com) I call him Rainman because he is like an idiot savant. His concepts are out of this world, and he isn’t afraid to do something totally out there. Jake Price is one of my all time favorites. If you haven’t seen 9191 you are blowing it. Kevin Castanheira is incredible, and will probably move on from snowboarding to make award winning movies some day. I also want to say how cool it is to see all the new kids. The high def camera market has gotten to a place where anyone can buy a camera and start making stuff. Shit, Woodward has camps geared towards video production. I’m not going to tell you who I think should hang it up, because that isn’t very nice, and I’m sure there are plenty of people that don’t like the wild shit I put out there.

Some of the weird shit put into the world by Ryan.