Mike Basich interview
From spending two years living in a van to building his own cabin in the Tahoe backcountry, Mike Basich is one snowboarder who very much embraces the DIY ideal.
Now setting off to Alaska in his newly-converted 'Basich Mobile' truck, HUCK catches up with him to get the lowdown on this new project.
Can you tell us about on your new project?
I wanted to build a certain type of car suited for carrying a snowmobile. In the US, people use snowmobiles a lot but travelling a long distance with a trailer kinda sucks. I wanted a truck that could hold a snowmobile and also let you sleep on location. I got a ‘99 Dodge and right now, I’m doing a structural conversion on it. In about three weeks, I will do the grease conversion so it runs on grease. I’m running it on biodiesel right now and doing this trip up to Alaska as a test to see if I need to add anything else to it.
I understand you are entering a competition up there?
Yeah, I’m doing the King of the Hill contest in Thompson Pass which I haven’t done for about 15 years. I’m going back to see what I can pull off as I’m pretty familiar with the runs on the mountain the contest is on so it should be fun.
Who else is involved in this project?
Well, I’m building everything myself and I’ve had a couple of friends helping me out. I paired up with Go Pro cameras to film everything because their cameras fit in with what I’ve been doing with my POV photography and the 16mm filming for my last two movies 91 Words for Snow and Open Space. Clif Bar have also sponsored it too. I sold my van so I could fund Open Space so I needed to raise some money to fund this project. My company 241 also put some money towards it.
Do you have a lot of knowledge of mechanics and engineering?
I don’t have a lot of classes or certifications in engineering but I have done welding for about 15 years. I have pretty much all the tools I need at my warehouse though. It’s also a lot of visualising. I’m not good at drawing up plans. I tend more to just sit back get it understood in my head about what’s happening and what’s going to work. I’ve been dreaming about it for nearly two years so I’ve had plenty of time to visualise it. As with everything I do, once I start building something, things just take shape when I just get on and build it. That’s the way I built my cabin.
Have you made many mistakes using this DIY approach?
Well, not on this project but plenty in my past but that’s kinda why I do it in the first place: to learn and get better at doing these things. I like to be independent. I don’t like relying on other people to do things for me. But this project has been a good one in taking what I know about welding and engineering. This truck is perfect for people who film in the snow though. People travel so much to snowboard so if you are staying in your car, you are going to have a whole new experience.
Considering the time you spend on these projects, how much time does that leave you to snowboard?
I don’t ride a lot. Well, not as much as I used to. I also don’t snowboard just for the pure joy of snowboarding. I’m involved in snowboarding because it helps bring together a lot of projects that I can learn from. That’s where I spend a lot of my time and energy. That’s what I’m after with snowboarding: having the space to be creative and progressive. Whether it’s doing a trick or building something to do with riding. I’d say my talent in snowboarding is more to do with riding terrain instead of doing a trick in the air.
A lot of your projects you seem to do by yourself. Is that quite lonely?
I don’t feel too lonely. A lot of things I do are things other people aren’t willing to do or not sure over how to go about doing them. Because they are unique, they do attract people to come and check them out. As far away in the mountains as I live, I probably have more visitors to my cabin than I would do living in the city. I’m not striving to be alone. I guess you could say I’m selfish in a way, I’m just doing the stuff that I want to do.
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