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Austen Granger

WHY DO YOU RIDE FOR THE LEVITATION PROJECT?

Because skiing is still lost. It’s not to say skiing needs a single direction, but catering to racers with million dollar contracts, gray-hairs in Bogner suits, ski resorts with valet parking, carving pistes and elitist skiers are not what is going to keep this sport alive. Youth driven, artist based, environmentally minded and product driven companies like the Levitation Project will help the right kind of skiing alive. I ride for Lev because I don’t want to see skiing die.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN YOU RIDE FOR THE LEVITATION PROJECT AND HOW IS IT DIFFERENT THAN RIDING FOR OTHER COMPANIES?

Riding for The Levitation Project means that the plastic bottles you threw out last night will turn into the highest quality base layers today. It also means that the art that’s going to be slapped on your chest will be designed by people that you admire and respect.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LEVITATION PROJECT PRODUCT?

The Base Layer Short. I know I’ve said this a million times to a million people, but once you go to the short, you’ll never put on a pair of tight long-johns again.

WHAT DOES SKIING MEAN TO YOU?

Skiing is the only thing in my life that I’ve never questioned. I knew ever since I was 2 years old that this was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

WHAT SACRIFICES HAVE YOU MADE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE?

Money and health.

WORST JOB YOU EVER HAD?

Bitch-boy at a butchery/fish market. My hands smelled like salmon for a year.

WHAT ARE THE WORST INJURIES THAT YOU HAVE HAD TO DATE?

Broken Femur. 11 months out. Longest I’ve ever gone with out skiing. It sucked harder than a highschool hicky.

WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WINTER DAY LIKE?

8:00 a.m. wake-up. Strong coffee. Huge poop. Walk from my house across the parking lot to the KT-22 chair at Squaw. Meet up with a few friends. Shred around. Meet up with more friends. Shred some more. Train some jumps, straight line some mogul fields and hit every righteous side-booter on the mountain run. 3:00 p.m. Go to the Wildflour and grab a pizza bagel. Head over to the Chamois for a beer or six. Walk home. Cook dinner. Watch a movie. 11:00 p.m. Sleep.

WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL SUMMER DAY LIKE?

9:00 a.m. wake-up. Strong coffee. Huge poop. Check the surf (in Santa Cruz). Go surf. Get barreled. Grab a breakfast burrito. Actually hang out with Elyse who I rarely get to see in the Winter. Write sponsorship proposals, season wrap-up summaries, future project ideas and occasionally an article for a ski magazine. Train; Bike, Run or Gym. Day dream about skiing. Watch ski videos. Cook dinner. Have a beer or a glass of wine. Look at long term weather forecasts. Dream about skiing more. Sleep.

TOP 5 PEOPLE YOU RESPECT ALIVE OR DEAD?

  1. Shane McConkey
  2. Albert Einstein
  3. Scot Schmidt
  4. Martin Luther King Jr.
  5. Buddha

BEST MOUNTAIN YOU HAVE EVER RIDDEN?

Umm sorry, not gonna tell you that one. I’d like to continue riding it without anybody else’s tracks.

TOP 5 RIDING DAYS OF YOUR LIFE?

  1. Haines, AK. 2008 with Elyse, Tom Wayes, Corey Felton and the Mongoose.
  2. Dropping in on the Dirty Tooth in the Tahoe Backcountry. Jeremy Jones first descented it and I was the first and only skier to ever hit it.
  3. Dawn patrol poaching and shredding on Tram Face in Squaw with Shane McConkey and Ingrid Backstrom
  4. The first day I skied with Elyse and she stomped the crap out of the 30 footer I just punched.
  5. Squaw Valley FWT contest in 2009 and having McConkey tell me he judged me into 1st place for the day.

TOP 5 HEROES ON THE SNOW?

  1. Shane McConkey
  2. Scot Schmidt
  3. Seth Morrison
  4. CR Johnson
  5. Travis Rice

GOALS IN LIFE ON SNOW AND OFF?

On Snow: To keep shredding as hard as I can for as long as I can. Off snow: To somehow make it so I can keep shredding as hard as I can for as long as I can.

TOP 5 BEST CHOICES YOU HAVE MADE IN YOUR LIFE?

  1. Deciding that skiing was going to be my job when I grew up. I made that decision at probably 4 years old.
  2. Finishing college while pursuing a ski career. Single hardest thing I’ve ever accomplished.
  3. Never doing meth. Seriously kids don’t do that shit, too many of my friends have gotten too fucked up on that junky shit
  4. Deciding to marry Elyse.
  5. Deciding to buy a snowmobile. I’ve skied more pow in the past 5 years because of it than I could have had in 20.

WHERE WERE YOU A YEAR AGO?

In Las Lenas shredding 9 feet of pow with Elyse laughing my ass off of how good it was. Then drinking too much Fernet at 6 in the morning and puking in between bar hops.

WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

Getting ready to go to my first major ski movie premier with TGR, planning for a mission that I’ve dreamed of since I was 12 and fiending for Winter.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO BE A YEAR FROM NOW?

Hopefully in a similar spot. Getting ready for the movie premiers, getting psyched for Winter and taking off to space with The Levitation Project.