Jordan Zdanek A Riders Rider

Jordans one of those kids that needs an introduction to the masses because unfortunately he hasn’t made it yet. If he makes it the snowboard would will benefit from his honesty and passion to ride, if he doesn’t those of us that have met him will still have benefited. He’s a riders rider. Money, sponsors, and bullshit don’t matter just snowboarding for him. I’ve known him for a few years and watched him go from this wild style out of control misfit with no chance of getting a hook up to riding regionally for Flow and refining his wild style to something that is actually fun to watch. Sure he loves Nascar, is accident prone, and a little goofy but at least he is real and snowboarding could learn a thing or two from someone like him.

Pretty sure he broke something over there and is admiring his handy work!

Angry Snowboarder: You’re from Virginia what can you say about your roots and shredding out there?

Jordan Zdanek: Yep, I’m from Richmond Virginia. Haha, snowboarding in VA is a trip, its a super crappy little mountain that I rode at. I mean we had a Dixie table nailed to plywood for a box and instead of one pieces and dumb people from Texas we had dudes in full hunting camo with no regard for their life. We thought our mountain was awesome though, we didn’t know any better. A ton of my friends were always there and all the kids shredding pretty much ran the park. I lived about two hours away and we would drive up and back every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There’s a lot of good stories from those little road trips, a lot of good memories from that place in general.

AS: How the hell did you end up in Summit County?

JZ: I was 19 and had moved back to Virginia after an attempt at college. All my friends were still in school so it sucked pretty hard then one day I was just like, “I’m gonna go move to the mountains”. I didn’t really have much to lose or leave behind. I looked into Mammoth, Tahoe, and Summit, and ended up choosing Summit. I saved up some cash, packed up my car, and never looked back haha. It was kinda cool cus I just came out here by myself, it made the adventure kinda unique.

AS: Any regrets from living here in man land?
JZ: Not really, just wished I moved here sooner and with a sled [Jordan now has a sled] haha.

AS: So you’re saying that Summit County was just the luck of the draw when it came to moving west?

JZ: Yeah sorta, I knew I wanted to move out west, but wasn’t sure where. Summit did have some highlights that made it a little easier of a choice.

AS: And you don’t have any regrets from partying too much? What about some of those questionable hair styles you’ve rocked over the last few years?

JZ: Hahaha, ummmm I’m sure there’s a few things Ive done that weren’t my most shining moments. I didn’t really get caught up in the whole partying your face off scene out here. I mean I like to have fun, but not if its gonna leave me hungover and unable to ride the next day. I leave the partying for the summer. Ahhh man, yeah I’ve had a lotta different hair styles, the mo-hawks being my favorite. I wish my job now would let me have one. But its been a mo-hawk pretty much every color of the rainbow, half red half black, leopard print, and its currently half black half bleached. I’m not the most normal person you’ll meet.

AS: Have you ever felt that living here has limited your career a bit by not having exposure outside of the area?

JZ: Well, I don’t really have a filmer or photographer that I shoot with constantly and I don’t really ride with a crew that films and shoots all the time or goes on trips. So it is hard enough to get exposure just in the general area, much less outside. I’ve really come to love powder, building jumps, sending cliffs, big mountain stuff, that’s the direction I want to keep going. So I do sometimes get frustrated with the snow in CO. It would be nice if I had people, and the money to travel out of county a little more. I would love to go on a film trip to just do stuff out of the park. Southwest CO, Tahoe, Jackson would be fun, haha really anywhere with good snow.

How’s that for exposure? Little cab action off a cliff.

AS: Seems a lot of people are going more to the natural terrain route think you can find a way to make your mark there or is being a slave to perfectly groomed parks the only way to get ahead?

JZ: I think its definitely harder to leave your mark as a backcountry/natural terrain guy. But it’s way more fun that’s for sure. If your a parkstar or contest rider you can just go to the park and start practicing for contests or just film some park stuff. But if your doing the natural thing you’ve gotta find zones, or build jumps, or hike up stuff. Then when its all ready to go find a filmer or photographer. It’s more work, but well worth it. Although having a sled would probably make things easier hahah.

Cab 5 step down.

AS: Think this interview will give you any more exposure?

JZ: Of course! You’re gonna make me famous, right Avran!

AS: So any close calls out there in the backcountry that made you shit your pants and go “fuck I could die”?

JZ: Funny you should ask, the last day I was out riding some powder at the end of April and we were still getting snow which was so sick. Anyways my first turn a slab released and I was swimming for a second to keep upright and then had to bomb it through this chute to get out in front of it. It was actually really exciting but when I got to the bottom I was like damn that could have ended bad. I dig pits and check the snow when I go out in the backcountry but you know just because the snow looks safe doesn’t mean it wont slide and I learned that first hand.

AS: What are your thoughts on this melding of contests in a backcountry setting like The Northface Masters or King of the Hill up in Alaska?

JZ: I think Tailgate Alaska is awesome! My friend got to go up this year, super jealous. I’m hoping that I will have the money for a flight up there next season. Tailgate doesn’t seem as much of a competitions as it does just a big shred event. Yeah its judged and there’s a winner and all, but you get up there and shred till the weather and snow is good, then you have the comp. I didn’t follow the Northface Masters too much, to me it seemed like a regular Big Mountain comp. Set date and tracked out runs. But still the guys who compete on those tours are super good.

The goods. What’s better than a slash like that?

AS: That’s some scary shit with having a slab break on you. Any advice you’d give to people venturing out into the backcountry that you’ve learned from your experiences?

JZ: Learn about snow conditions, check the snow, have gear and know how to use it. Experience is huge too! It gives you confidence and good judgment. I’m still learning a lot haha, like be able to keep my line once I’m riding. I have a problem of going to fast and wrecking my shit sometimes. Also I heard Jeremy Jones say something along the lines of every now and then you should step down from a line for practice, because if you keep going for it and going for it, you get used to never backing down and it’ll get you killed one day.

AS: I’ve seen you kill the big line at Keystone from time to time and drop some sick trickery. What do you think about the way everyone is going from single corks to doubles and triples? Has snowboarding gotten a bit out of hand with it’s aerial maneuvers?

JZ: I think double corks are OK as long as they are floaty and have some style. I don’t like seeing slope style comps were dudes are chucking themselves and flipping and spinning violently. It should be smooth. Triples ehhh… I mean yeah its crazy but it looks so wrong. It reminds me of freestyle aerial skiing. I really hope snowboarding doesn’t keep heading that direction. Greg Oakley from Flow had an awesome idea for a pipe comp that would work for a slope comp too. 3 runs format, but on one of your runs you cant spin anything over a 5. All style, and then that and your other best run would be combined for a total score. I would like to watch that comp. Winter Park I heard did something like that last year with two jumps and you couldn’t do anything over a 7. Wish I coulda made it to that one, stupid job. Wait am i rambling here?

AS: Have we given up some of our style for the sake of progression with all these double and triple spins? Is there any hope double chucking will mellow out and people will bring solid style to it?

JZ: I think we’ve most certainly lost style with all the double corks and triple corks. I’m not saying none of them look cool, but so many look the same you know? You can just let em hang and chuck off a lip, but style is like an art form and that’s what attracted me the first time I saw snowboarding. I’m not sure if the chuckfest will mellow out, but I’d like it to. I don’t want it to go away completely, but video parts and stuff, have a few doubles but the rest should be style. I like to see stuff that makes me wanna go snowboard and doubles are cool and all but I don’t get super hyped to go ride when that’s all I see.

AS: In your opinion who has the sickest double or triple going on right now?

JZ: Jp Solbergs backside double in Neverland was the sickest I have ever seen. I think that double is a exception to the statement I made before. Travis Rice’s double rodeo 10 is pretty cool not alot of guys do them like that. I was in the park at Breck in April with Adam Stomwall and Chris Willett and I watched Chris do a switch backside double 12 for the first time. There was a good deal of flat rotations in there so it looked super sick.

AS: Totally agree with you about the style and art aspect of riding. I think when I see someone riding you can tell whether or not you want to watch what they’re about to do and right now with this whole spin to win huckfest there’s more riders I just turn away from it. With yourself as a rider how would you describe your style and take on picking a line down the mountain whether it’s in the park or the backcountry?

JZ: I’d say my style is fast, aggressive, and boarders in/out of control hahaha. I always feel like I’m barley hanging on to something. I usually try to pick something I can charge super hard, but has some kind of technical aspect to it. Like a pillow line with a big drop, or a tight little chute. Something where I can usually hang on till I make it to a safe spot and then wreck my shit haha. I would really like to get the chance to ride some spines, that looks like so much fun because its intense and super technical. Talk about a rush.

AS: So jumping subjects a bit lets talk about this film project you’ve got in the works. What’s the basic run down on what you’re trying to accomplish by making a full length movie this season?

JZ: Yeah yeah, I came up with the idea in late April and have been getting some things rolling with it. Basically I want to make a movie similar to That’s It, That’s All or Deeper. Kinda a movie/documentary, But I want to do it from our not pro side of things. We don’t get paychecks for riding, no ones footing our bills or giving us a big budget, we don’t have a heli to fly us around. We’re out there doing this stuff because it’s what we truly love to do and its how we have fun. I want to get all the behind the scenes stuff, the hard work, the good times, shit going wrong, and all the camaraderie and friendship that goes along with it. It obviously is not going to stand up against those other movies cinematography standards, but it should be very entertaining and make you wanna go on road trips.

AS: So you’re going to give an inside look at what it’s like to be a 20 something year old snowboard bum that’s trying to make his way in snowboarding? Think it might give some slightly relevant insights into what it actually takes to make it as a rider?

JZ: Hahaha yeah I guess so. The whole deal is that I love snowboarding and my life is snowboarding. I’m not gonna stop doing it the way I do it because there’s not gonna be any money or anything involved, and that’s what the whole movie is gonna be about. Its guys who love to shred and are out there looking for that next awesome line or that perfect step down, not to make money but to feed the addiction. That’s what it is all about. I would love nothing more then to be a pro shredder, but if it doesn’t happen I’m still gonna be out getting after it everyday.

AS: For those that will want to check this movie out where will they be able to view it?

JZ: Again, everything is still being developed, but I would like to do some webisodes to keep people updated. Once we get all our footage edited up well put it on some DVDs, and maybe have it somewhere on the web where it can be downloaded. [we decided that the movie will be premiered on this site when it is completed so look for Not It, Not At All next year]

AS: That’s possibly one of the great outlooks on snowboarding I’ve heard in a while from your guys generation. Too many kids these days have dollar signs in their eyes and energy drink contracts on their mind. Any words of wisdom you can think to bestow on anyone looking to pursue a life of snowboarding?

JZ: Haha thanks dude! I would say just snowboard for yourself. Don’t get caught up in the hype of everything. Choose your own line, haha that last one was good wasn’t it.

AS: The interviews coming to an end my friend what can we look forward to seeing from you in the future and any thanks and shout outs because that’s just obligatory with any interview?

JZ: I’ll be up to the same old same old. Hunting for powder, being loud and obnoxious, and getting this movie project rolling. I knew you were gonna ask me that so first off I want to apologize to anyone I don’t mention, but yeah, big thanks to Greg Oakley and His wife Derdra, Mark Leizak, everyone at Flow, my mom and dad, pretty girls, snow, nurse Greg for putting my nose back together last week, La Nina, and all my friends Matt Sak, Micah, Gram, Dia-Billy, Wood, Joey D, Brady, Zak, Stew Darsh, Ian, Corrie, LoMo, Alex Deano Spamonie, Ted, AJ, Andy, Scott, Cody, Faith, Jeff, Craig, Alicia, the incredible Hutch, Scott, Dave, Braden, Denny Hamlin, Taras, Tom, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Logan, Lance, Jason, I’m sure I’m leaving out a ton, so if I didn’t mention you come find me on the chairlift and i will personally apologize

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