Photos: Alexander Klun  Location: Chamonix, France

Frode Gronvold Interview: Page 2 of 3

D: Do you enjoy contests?

FG: NO. Except perhaps the more "session like" laid-back ones where everybody comes to hang out and have a good time and learn from each other.

D: Where will you be skiing this winter? Any travel plans?

FG: I'm moving back down to Chamonix, because it's the best place I've ever skied. And the town itself offers a lot of impulses you easily miss out on when you live in a ski area. It's got good places to go out, good music (many top DJ's in Europe go to Chamonix to play) and all the things a town has to offer. It's the perfect place to use as a base.

FG: Travel plans: I'd like to travel all year round, but unfortunately like everything else, traveling is not for free. And failing in becoming a rich man working sales in Oslo this fall, I'm now depending on my sponsors to help me out. I'm going to a tele session in Japan in February (big shoutout to Takashi Mochizuko - who's making it happen) to join in on Japan's growing tele scene, and ski some volcanoes! Hopefully I'll be able to catch some waves while I'm there, as well as see more of the country and a quickie to Beijing. I'm also gonna be doing some filming in Norway with a huge happening project called Zub Zero

FG: Being young and restless, I try not to look too far into my own future, so what will happen in a couple of months, nobody knows.

D: Where is your favorite place to ski and hang out with friends?

FG: I mentioned Chamonix earlier, and I mean that's the best place to ski, but nothing beats Stryn (Norway) when it comes to just kicking back and jibbing around with friends. It's a certain atmosphere there that I've yet to experience anywhere else.

Photo: Simen Berg

D: The current tele scene is seeing some changes. Where do you think things are going? What would you like to see?

FG: I think it will evolve into two groups; a backcountry/touring scene, and one which follows the big-mountain skiing scene. What I wanna see is happy open minded people doing their thing. In my opinion telemarking is about surfing down endless powder fields making long super-G turns. It's the feeling of freedom which makes telemarking.

FG: What is needed in the current tele scene? Cohesive media exposure (keep up the good work), fatter skis and more snow!

D: You're in the new Free Radicals film. What was it like filming with the DownFilm crew?

FG: It was great, they're all a bunch of good guys! They've set a new standard which is that you have to land it, no stopping and no slow motion! It makes the film different from other films. Things are happening all the time without making a big deal about it. Personally, I'm not that stoked on my own part. I didn't really have that many good days to shoot on, so I'll have to come back stronger next year. Too many short-turns and too much hip checking.

D: What's on Frode's Christmas wish list?

FG: Waking up on Christmas with the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, solving all the world's problems, and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize!

Continue to Page 3

email descender | about | submissions and credits