Lighting it up. Photo: Sean Kerrick Sullivan

From the mean streets of Hood River, Oregon, Dylan Thompson is one of Tech Nine’s brightest stars. We sat down with him to talk about boarding on the wind, recession jobs, and drinking MFM energy drinks. As a rider who feels nothing is perfect, Dylan has a lot to say about perfect scores, pulling bike tubes, and jockin’ the fuck out. Snowboarding is not a sport.

Enzo: Where you from, why am I talking to you and who gives you things?

Dylan: I am from Hood River, OR. I ride for Technine. Monster, Neff, Electric, 32. Etnies, Dakine, Mount Hood 26, Arial 7, and Windells.

E: What was it like growing up in the Northwest? What’s the difference of being a Northwest rider compared to everywhere else?

D: Growing up in the Northwest was amazing. I lived about 40 minutes from Mt Hood Meadows, so we could skip school and head up, or just go ride nights. We get tons of deep pow days and have some good terrain. We had some amazing times ripping around that spot back in the day. Ridge run for days. There are a lot of other amazing mountains close by, we used to take little trips up to Bachelor or Snoqualmie. I feel fortunate to have grown up riding in such a sick area. It also rains a ton up there, so look out for that.

E: Do huge clothes give you better style?

D: No, I really don’t think style is defined by what you wear at all. Some of the riders I enjoy watching most wear tight shit. It all depends on the person and how they ride. People should just wear whatever makes them feel good and not worry about it.

E: How come you don’t dress in all-black tight gear now like everyone else?

D: I actually do like to wear a lot of black, but baggy gear is just what I’ve always worn and felt comfortable with. I’ve kinda had that same type of style since I started so it would feel weird to wear anything different now. At one point we maybe went a little overboard with it, but I think baggy shred gear still looks good. It definitely is a different look these days, at least.

Dylan and his stunt doubles. Photo: Sean Kerrick Sullivan

E: So I can’t help but notice you wear a lot of Jerseys. Is that because you feel snowboarding is a legit sport?

D: Nah, I don’t really look at snowboarding as a sport. When it comes down to Olympics and X games, it can kinda be that way, but outside of that, people are just trying to have fun and do their own thing. That’s really not what most other sports are about, so it really is much more of an art form in my opinion. There are no rules and you can hit anything you want in any way you feel like it. I do like to watch sports though, so that may explain the jerseys. I like to watch hockey especially. Go Penguins….

E: Who are some riders that influence you and your style? Past or current. Video Parts maybe?

D: Oh damn, there are way too many to even list. The first video I ever saw was the Resistance. That is pretty much what opened my eyes to snowboarding. I wore out the old VCR with that one for sure. Then True Life the next year as well. I looked up to JP and Bozung a lot. Justin Hebbel’s parts in Livin Proof and Love/Hate are some of my favorites all time. Happy Hour and Back in Black were really sick. MFM, and Jeff Anderson had the sickest parts in there.

E: Does riding for Tech Nine mean you have to be really good at graffiti or Hip Hop?

D: No not at all. I don’t do any graffiti or make music or anything like that. I have been trying to learn guitar, but it’s not easy. I think everyone at T9 is down for hip-hop music and that’s about the extent of it, certainly no requirement. I think we kinda get a bad rap sometimes for trying to be gangster or whatever, but were actually not like that at all. Were not trying to act like thugs or anything were not, so it seems pretty dumb how some kids like to hate and make it into something it’s not. I thought snowboarding was about not giving a fuck, ya know, wear whatever. If someone wants to wear baggy shit, and listen to hip hop when they snowboard, or wear tight shit, or neon shit, or whatever, who cares. And I don’t just listen to hip hop, I am content with almost any type of music. Most my all time favorite songs are oldies.

E: Tell me a little about the new F.O.D.T. project. Bright orange construction vests eh?

D: Yeah, bad economy, were doing some construction on the side to fund the movie this year. Nah, actually we got kicked out of this construction area we wanted to ride, so we went back and we all wore the orange vests. We got the idea from Brisse, and it seems to actually fool people, somehow. We even left them on when we were hitting the feature, and the first hit I overshot the whole thing and flew like 40 ft to the landing, on my back. It was all good, but I just wonder what people driving by must think when they see a construction worker go flying threw the air all out of control. It must look really funny.

 

E: Tell us a story about Mr. MFM.

D: Going out in the backcountry with that dude is pretty amazing. He is so good. Just so on point, ya know. He sends the gnarliest shit and just stomps. I remember a few years ago he hit this gnarly step down where you dropped in on this quick, steep, sketchy little drop in and send it through some trees, off a huge cliff and then, where he had to land, it was like, literally 10 ft wide between rocks. You couldn’t have paid me enough to send it off that thing and Marco did a switch bs 5. Witnessing that was pretty amazing. We have also had some pretty amazing times partying and rolling around to premieres and doing that whole thing. When we were in Vegas a few months ago, he hooked the whole crew up with some money to gamble. That was a real good time, but I think we all lost it in the end, except for MFM.

E: What’s your take on contests? Do you back them? Are we going to be seeing you in the X Games street or some shit like that anytime soon?

D: Doing contests isn’t my favorite thing, just because I prefer filming and riding with my homies, and I also get nervous during contests. I still do them from time to time though. I think it is awesome that they are bringing street and real snow to the X games. I would be down for it for sure, if I got the chance. If snowboarding is going to be out there in that mainstream way, then why not show our side of it? The kids should see that snowboarding isn’t just Shaun White and halfpipe contests.

E: I know we have talked a bit about the current state of snowboarding, but how do you feel about the triple cork thing, and jumping over some parking structure? Do you feel this is really necessary? You are a street rider, but do you feel riders should get back to their roots and spent more time in the backcountry and less time pulling bungees and sewing in their pants?

D: I don’t know man, that is a tough one. I can definitely feel both sides, I guess. But when it comes down to it, people should just do whatever they want. That is what snowboarding is all about. There are no rules, so why not do triple corks, if you can do it? I have no desire to try that, but if someone does, then they should get after it. At the same time, it seems a little weird to me to watch contest runs where it’s just double corks the whole way down. That’s obviously hard to do, but it gets a little boring to watch because everyone throws the same 3 or 4 double corks in their run.

Bungees and winches are pretty dope I think. They are obviously a major headache, but they get you hitting things you otherwise never could. It opens up a lot more possibilities so I think that’s awesome. I also do believe that everyone should still get back to the roots and shred powder. Even if you don’t film that kinda stuff, it is still just so amazing to ride. I would be stoked to get out there and film in the backcountry as well. That definitely will be a goal at some point. And if you want to sew your pants, then go right ahead.

Fun fact: Dylan could also do this on a kite board. Photo: Sean Kerrick Sullivan

E: Do you have any Kite Boarding skills seeing as your home town of Hood River is the Mecca for that kind of thing?

D: Haha, that’s funny you ask that. Yeah, I used to do it a bit when I was younger, because my dad was into it and it’s so big in Hood River because of all the wind. It’s pretty fun.

E: Top five supplies you need in order to survive on the road. (in order of importance)

D:
snowboard
skateboard
sleeping bag
money
safety supplies

E: What are your plans for the rest of the season? Do you plain on being back at Hood for the summer?

D: Gonna spend the rest of the season chasing the snow and hopefully filming another video part. Not sure where we will be headed next, but there isn’t much snow in Utah right now so I want to get out there and check out somewhere new. It’s fun to get to a new zone and find all kinds of different shit, and check out the new surroundings. I will definitely be back at Hood for the summer. Oregon is the nicest place in the world in the summer time. The weather is so perfect, you got amazing skateparks all over, and if you want to ride, Mt. Hood is right there. It’s amazing, “funnest” time of year.

E: How come you have not started a headphone or sunglasses company yet?

D: I’m way to broke to start any kind of company myself. It seems like it would be a ton of work as well. I don’t know if I could handle it all. I think it would be awesome to do something like that someday down the road though. I would for sure like to do something involving snowboarding for work after I’m no longer a rider. I think I would maybe want to be a filmer though.

Apparently Dylan only snowboards at night. Photo: Sean Kerrick Sullivan

E: What are some of your favorite places to travel to as far as work goes?

D: Japan was amazing, I liked it over there. It’s crazy how different everything is. We also got caught in the earthquake when we were over there, so that also made things interesting. It was quite an experience. Europe seems pretty dope. I’ve snowboarded in Poland and Estonia and they were both fun. I think you can get away with more over there as far as not getting busted at spots. That’s always nice. Canada is nice as well. I’ve enjoyed it up there, and it seems like there are always tons of sick spots coming out of there.

E: Does anything deserve a perfect score?

D: You mean like that X games shit? No, that really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I think they were just trying to create some extra Shaun hype with that one.

E: If you had to pick a character from a Quentin Tarantino to describe yourself who would it be and why?

D: I would have to be Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs because that dude is pretty funny and he is the only one who survives in the end and he also makes off with the diamonds. That shit is badass.

Ok, that last caption was a lie. Photo: SKS

E: Shout outs?

D: All my sponsors, MFM and Fam crew, FODT, Brighton and Park City, all the Oregon and Utah homies, and all over homies as well. Thanks everyone!

E: Will partying help?

D: Yes I believe it will. It couldn’t hurt!