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<\/a><\/p>\nSun, fun and snowboarding. Photo: Matt Alberts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Facebook might be good for keeping in touch with people you never really cared about in the first place, but you really can\u2019t deny the magic of the snowboard event for reconnecting you with old friends you actually want to see. That\u2019s what happened at the Holy Oly, where I ran into Jason Speer, a friend from Baker and my college days at WWU. Jason happened to have a couch surfer by the name of Madison Ellsworth. \u201cYou should interview him for your site,\u201d Jason told me, \u201c he\u2019s an up and coming park rider and a pretty cool guy.\u201d Being lazy, I told Jason, no, you should interview him for my site. To my surprise a few days later, he actually did. A few quick follow ups and thanks to the magic of REAL human interaction, here\u2019s Hump Day with Madison Ellsworth.<\/p>\n Jason: How did you end up on my couch?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: I\u2019m on a long road trip to check out the Northwest. My first plan was to be staying in Whistler. I was up there for a few weeks and the weather would not give me a chance. I came down to Bellingham for a 686 shoot at Baker, and since then we have been getting a lot of stuff done and the weather has been awesome so I haven’t come up with a good reason to leave.<\/p>\n Jason: You\u2019ve been hanging out in Whistler this winter, how’s your French coming along?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: Whistler is English based so not a good place to practice French. I have gotten pretty good at Australian accents though.<\/p>\n Madison and his stunt doubles. Photo: Matt Alberts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Jason: Best thing you’ve done this season\/in your life?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: The best thing I’ve done this season is going on a road trip with no plans at all.. Just getting out of CO and adventuring!<\/p>\n Jason: Worst thing about this season?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: Sitting in Whistler for 2 weeks and not being able to snowboard because of weather.<\/p>\n Jason: How did the Holy Oly go for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: It went great. It was my first time being there and I decided to take the spectator route and cheer on my homies. They killed it!<\/p>\n Enjoying a wiener. Photo: Jason Speer<\/em><\/p>\n Jason: Who is the biggest pro that you ever beaten in a contest?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: My favorite pro to ever see at a contest is Jamie Lynn at the Holy Oly. I don’t know the biggest pro I have ever beaten though. I beat David Gravette in a skate contest once. hah that’s my claim to fame.<\/p>\n Brooke: Do you actually like competing or is that just what you do when you grow up riding Breck?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: I think it is a big part of growing up in Breck. I like to compete, but I would much rather just do all back country. It\u2019s way more peaceful and less stressful.<\/p>\n Brooke: After riding at Breck, what is your take on the “park jumps” at other mountains? Does anywhere else you’ve been compare?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: The jumps at Breck are definitely the best. They are consistently perfect and never really get icy. I think most mountains are starting to figure it out for shape, but have to deal with warmer weather and rain so they will never have the consistent soft snow that Breck has.<\/p>\n Who needs park jumps? Photo: Matt Alberts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Jason: What’s the last trick you learned? What’s the next trick you want to get?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: backside trendeighty double cork was the last trick I learned, And I would like to learn a cab 9 double dip.<\/p>\n Brooke: People keep doing triple corks. How long do you think it will be before it will be expected and not a “twsnow.com exclusive” novelty? You planning on learning them?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: Triple corks are lame I don\u2019t ever want to do one and I don\u2019t think that they will ever be a standard in contests. I hope not at least. That’s not snowboarding, that’s aerials<\/p>\n Brooke: Does it suck have a gender neutral name? Has anyone ever assumed you were a chick?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: you tell me…. hahahah<\/p>\n Brooke: Do you still live with your parents? Being a reasonably attractive man with snowboard skills, have you ever been forced to sneak babes in?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: Well thank you… I lived in a house for a while with some buddies right in town so that was good for a while. When I moved back in with my parents I had a girlfriend so she was always over and they were cool with that. I’m freshly single now…<\/p>\n Brooke: What are the pros and cons of living with mom and dad?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: Free rent and food is nice of course. They are hippies so they are just like any other roommates I would have in Breck haha.. they are really cool and know a lot so I love living with them, not really many cons to it actually. I would rather live a little closer to town though.<\/p>\n Brooke: How did your parents feel when you dropped out of dropped out of school? Did you get your GED or do you just plan to “get an industry job” when your done snowboarding?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: They weren’t surprised. My school sucked and the teachers would have the option to fail me if I missed more than 20 days a semester and I was traveling a lot back then too, so the really mean teachers could just fail me. They didn\u2019t really like me there either, so I was over it. I got my GED right when I dropped out. I\u2019ll go to school someday too, I want to fly helicopters after snowboarding.<\/p>\n Brooke: How did you get on the YES program? What’s it like having legends like DCP, Romain and JP as your bosses?<\/strong><\/p>\n Madison: I was introduced by Nic Drago to Joe Timlin who lives at DCP\u2019s house in Vail. Joe went on word of mouth basically and got me in touch with DCP on the phone, They were looking for an am from the states to put on the team. I just had the right contacts and the right people backing me up so they chose me. It was a bit intimidating at first but once we went to El Salvador for the sales meeting and I got to know them better than I wasn’t as worried about it. They’re rad! I just knew I had to prove myself. If I wasn’t doing something right than I’m sure Romain would have something to say… haha<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
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\nKing of the mountain! Photo: Matt Alberts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n