After falling during runs in Spain and France, Samuels stomps run at Kicking Horse
By Mario Carr EBS CONTRIBUTOR
Currently in Georgia, preparing to ride the Kakhiani face at Tetnuldi in the majestic Caucasus Mountains, Big Sky freeride snowboarder Holden Samuels took a call with EBS to talk about his most recent Freeride World Tour podium finish at Kicking Horse on Feb. 7.
“I’m feeling good, I think Kicking Horse was a huge boost of confidence for me… I was definitely feeling a little down after going to Europe and leaving with two falls,” Samuels said.
Samuels is hopeful that he can make it to the finals for the third straight season. Seven snowboard men will have the chance to compete at the famous Yeti Xtreme Verbier for the 30th anniversary of the event, taking place in late March. Each rider’s best scores from three out of the first five events are taken to determine who makes the cut.
Watching Samuels’ run at Kicking Horse, the commentators had a lot to say about his aggressive, fall-line style of snowboarding.
“Sometimes a victim of just too much sauce, he goes so fast and sometimes it lands him on the podium, other times he runs out of transition,” said Derek Foose as he watched Samuels drop onto the Ozone Face at Kicking Horse. Samuels went on to stomp three great airs on his descent.
“He found the perfect outlet for his fall-line speed addiction,” Foose said.
In a competition where a huge portion of the scoring is based on the rider’s control, and ability to stay on their feet, Samuels explained how he’s growing as a competitor.
“It’s really tough to strike that balance. I feel like that’s been kinda my struggle on tour the last couple years, either going too big or too small and trying to get in that sweet spot. I definitely have to pull myself back from, you know, maybe what I wanna do sometimes ‘cause it’s a little bit risky for a competition setting. But I feel like I’m getting better at striking that balance between going hard, but not too hard.”
Samuels attributes his aggressive, big-mountain style to growing up riding the steeps at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, and says that he will always have a soft spot for the lines he has grown up riding. While off pursuing his dream and competing in the FWT, he admits that at times he misses riding his home mountain, especially recently, since Big Sky has been getting so much snow.
“I am pretty jealous. You know it’s pretty cool to travel all over the world but there is definitely nothing like getting just the best conditions at a resort you know and love so much,” he said.
Samuels is hoping that familiarity helps him at his next two stops along the FWT. He rode the Kakhiani Face in Georgia last year, and is expecting to ride a familiar face at the Fieberbrunn event in Austria during the second week of March.
“It definitely helps a lot to have ridden the face at least once or twice… Spain and France were both new venues… so there was no previous videos to watch, and that was pretty interesting… Because when you’ve had a competition in the past and you can go watch videos, you can see how much speed they have and how big or small they can go on certain things,” he explained.
Samuels’ fast, confident style of riding definitely thrives on a confident knowledge of the terrain. He is excited for the next two venues and is hopeful that with good scores he can make the finals once again.
“Thank you to everyone. Thank you to my family, thank you to my sponsors Never Summer, Moonlight and Flylow… I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
