Chris Dufficy interview
HUCK grabs a chat with the Camp of Champions' new Head Coach.
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Now that most mountain resorts in the Northern Hemisphere have turned into green meadows and rock-strewn lunar-esque inclines, snowboarding is pretty much out of the question. However, for those resorts lucky to be blessed with glaciers, it's now the season of the summer camp.
Since 1989, Camp of Champions in Whistler, British Columbia has been at the forefront of summer shredding. Thanks to the snow sure Blackcomb glacier and it's competition standard park, it has become a regular haunt for many top pros to both brush up on their own skills and offer coaching to aspiring campers.
HUCK caught up with Chris Dufficy, who over the last 10 years has graduated from local pro to Head Coach at this snowboarding establishment.
HUCK: You've just become Head Coach at Camp of Champions after coaching there for 10 years, what's going to be different about your new job?
Chris Dufficy: I don't think it's going to be too different. It's going to be more about organising other coaches lives instead of the campers. I just love to coach. Seeing the kids learn something new and get stoked puts snowboarding into perspective for me and reminds me why I started.
As a coach, do you feel a responsibility to younger riders to set a good example?
Yeah, I always try to set a good example on and off the hill, whether I'm coaching or not.
Is coaching somewhat of an insurance policy for pros such as yourself?
Nothing in snowboarding is an insurance policy. It's not for everyone but it's a great way to be involved with snowboarding and up and coming riders. It's a way for me to give something back to snowboarding.
Asides from the weather, what's different about summer glacier snowboarding?
Wax is your best friend. It's going to be slow so wax your board every couple of days instead of weeks. Also put sunscreen everywhere! The sun reflects off the snow so put it up your nose, in your ears and all over any exposed skin.
The TTR are kicking off the 2010/11 season with a 6-star summer contest on Blackcomb glacier? What do you make of that?
I think it's a great thing for Camp of Champions. Great exposure and it's a bonus for the campers to see other pros come and compete.
Back in your video parts for Wildcats and others, you seemed to always wear a helmet when hitting rails. Was was the reason for that?
I just started wearing helmets all the time after getting concussed a bunch and don't ride anything with out one now.
How do you feel about people's reluctance to wear them?
Everybody has a choice and I'm not here to make it for them. If people want to know about helmets and head injury, I'm more than happy to inform them and tell them what I know.
As a local to Whistler, what did you make of the Olympics?
I really wasn't up in Whistler for the Olympics, it cut down on the amount of crews filming around Whistler. I'm sure it was a plus for all of the stores and restaurants during that time though.
What impact has the Olympics left on the area?
Better highways and more parking in Whistler!
What are your plans for when winter returns?
Really focusing on riding a lot of powder around B.C. and exploring some new areas while filming with the Alterna crew.
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Chris Dufficy interview (text) by Ed Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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