On Wendesday, September 14, 1994, over the Heckler satellite phone
network, Arlie told me first hand about snowboarding (while
recovering from knee surgery for the second time in two months).
Heckler (Chris Carnel): Crunch-crunchhhhh Excuse me for eating
Peanut Butter Captain Crunch over the phone while talking.
Arlie: I lived with my Aunt and Uncle for a year in this harsh small
town and all I did every day of my life was eat Cap'n Crunch. It was
the only thing that saved me.
Heckler: Hahahahahahhhh..
Arlie: I swear to god, eating Cap'n Crunch was my only happiness
living with my Aunt and Uncle. I swear to God! That, punk rock and
snowboarding.
Heckler: Hahahahaaahha.. (Peanut Butter crunch is now swallowed).
Okay Arlie. lets get down to business. Do you hope snowboarding
makes the Olympics.
Arlie: HaaaHaaaHaaa. Oh man. UUhh when I was younger and
I first started snowboarding I thought that might be kind of cool.
But at this point the Olympics have very little to do with athletic
ability or anything, they just seem like an excuse for rampant
nationalism and racism and I don't know.. makin' a buck.
I don't know, if snowboarding contributes to it that's
fine, I just don't want to be a part of it.
Heckler: (back to cereal)...chomppppcruncncc Arlie continues about
the Olympics...
Arlie: They mean nothing to anybody anymore. You know like back
in.. like the 1932 Olympics. Adolf Hitler and Germany hosted the
Olympics and the United States totally went there and kicked their
ass, that was kind of meaningful because Hitler was a creep. But
today everybody all over the world is a creep. So what, stay home,
learn how to play frisbee. Compete against your next door neighbor if
you want competition! Thumb wrestle! Hhhaaaaaahhaa..
Heckler: Hahahahahhhaaaah.. (laughing for ten minutes) Oh god.
Arlie: In my opinion fun is where it's at, just playing in the snow. I'm
into the human side of snowboarding rather than the attitude side of
snowboarding. And as far as competition goes I think it's bogus.
Competition sucks! Maybe for some people competition and beating
other people is fun, but those are the kind of people I don't want to
hang out with.
Heckler: What stage of development do you think snowboarding's at
right now?
Arlie: I think the days of snowboarding done as an experimental
thing where people are inventing and creating: I think a totally
positive thing. Those days, the experimental days, are pretty much
over. I think at this point everybody is coming up strong, everbody
is getting good. There's some stock tricks that everybody pretty
much learns then you go from there. The only way I see things
getting more difficult is that people are just gonna be throwing there
body's off of bigger things, and they're going to be doing more weird
spinny flip tricks. I don't know, I just see it like everyone will learn
what they need to learn then they're are gonna try and put a new
spin in or just adapt stock tricks to bigger terrain. But as far as the
industry of snowboarding goes, I think it's over. I think it's an
industry that's gonna make a lot of people rich, and the kind of
people I wanna see get rich off of it are the people that actually care
about it. The people who are getting rich off of it who see it as a way
to get rich and they don't really have any interest in it, they're
gonna be looked at as creeps.
Heckler: Rad. Okay, where do you
snowboard at?
Arlie: Well when I was 12 years
old and started snowboarding, I
rode Baker religiously, then everybody
started getting M.B.H.C.
(Mt. Baker Hardcore) tatoos. (laughing)
It started becoming cool in the
magazines and stuff, at that point
I was over it. I moved back to
Seattle when I was about sixteen
or so and I've been riding this
mountain about 45 minutes outside of
Seattle on east I-90 called Alpental for about the last 6 or 7 years.
Not that many people know about it and it's steep with inconsistent snow.
When it gets iced out it's so terrifying. So people go do flatground
tricks in the parking lot (laughing). But that's my home mountain.
Occasionally I ride Steven's Pass,
but I'm not too excited about that place. And I avoid
Crystal Mountain like the plague cause I'm not down with people
in $800.00 Fila powder suits trying to spit on me (laughing).
Heckler: Heeeheheh (laughing for a few minutes) That's understandable..
Arlie: It's kind of a bummer when the skier, who is also a plastic
surgeon, is there, decked out in his rad powder suit with gold trim
(laughing). He's in his new skiis and just bummed out at you, for no reason.
Heckler: But seriously, do you ever ride with good skiers like follow
their lines and stuff?
Arlie: There are some skiers that are just so amazing that they make
snowboarding seem silly. Like when we were on a roadtrip last
winter I rode with a skier when we were in Schwietzer, Idaho and
another one in Snowbird, Utah. I felt privileged to ride with them.
They hit everything with so much speed it made me look cheesy. I
think snowboarders can learn a lot from riding with the skiers that
are really good, it can make you so much better.
A
show down,
Heckler: Rad. Okay, where do you
snowboard at?
Arlie: Well when I was 12 years
old and started snowboarding, I
rode Baker religiously, then everybody
started getting M.B.H.C.
(Mt. Baker Hardcore) tatoos. (laughing)
It started becoming cool in the
magazines and stuff, at that point
I was over it. I moved back to
Seattle when I was about sixteen
or so and I've been riding this
mountain about 45 minutes outside of
Seattle on east I-90 called Alpental for about the last 6 or 7 years.
Not that many people know about it and it's steep with inconsistent snow.
When it gets iced out it's so terrifying. So people go do flatground
tricks in the parking lot (laughing). But that's my home mountain.
Occasionally I ride Steven's Pass,
but I'm not too excited about that place. And I avoid
Crystal Mountain like the plague cause I'm not down with people
in $800.00 Fila powder suits trying to spit on me (laughing).
Heckler: Heeeheheh (laughing for a few minutes) That's understandable..
Arlie: It's kind of a bummer when the skier, who is also a plastic
surgeon, is there, decked out in his rad powder suit with gold trim
(laughing). He's in his new skiis and just bummed out at you, for no reason.
Heckler: But seriously, do you ever ride with good skiers like follow
their lines and stuff?
Arlie: There are some skiers that are just so amazing that they make
snowboarding seem silly. Like when we were on a roadtrip last
winter I rode with a skier when we were in Schwietzer, Idaho and
another one in Snowbird, Utah. I felt privileged to ride with them.
They hit everything with so much speed it made me look cheesy. I
think snowboarders can learn a lot from riding with the skiers that
are really good, it can make you so much better.