Real Talk - White Ribbon of Life - with Chad Otterstrom & Mark Sullivan

We are back with a new episode of Real Talk with Chad Otterstrom and Mark Sullivan. In this episode we talk about the preseason as well as the beginning of the new snowboarding season. Then we discuss the question, "What is wrong with snowboarding?"

 

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Here is a transcription of the show:

 

Mark (00:20.844)
Today we have another episode of Real Talk on the Snowboard Project. I'm joined by Chad Otterstrom. Chad is a contender for greatest of all time status in the sport of snowboarding. He would never claim that for himself, so I'll just claim it for him. How you doing today, Chad?

Chad (00:27.892)
Yeah.

Chad (00:47.722)
I'm good, just, you know, I just moved out of Breckenridge for the season. I'll be back and forth. But I've been living in my truck for the last 16.5 months.

Mark (00:57.756)
16.5, okay. You were counting the days, I see.

Chad (00:59.963)
the

Yeah, now I'm back. I'm back and I got a place and you know, for my dogs, I live by a river. It's awesome. I'm doing good.

Mark (01:09.464)
Okay, well maybe you can explain this. It's like you were living in your truck for 16 and a half months. Why?

Chad (01:16.978)
Um, because I'm trying to crack the code, uh, of passive income. I was trying to Airbnb my condo and see how that went. And instead of renting a place, I just put a topper on my truck and just went rogue. And, and, uh, that, you know, six months to a year turned into 16 months, which is longer than expected, but, uh, now I've cracked the code and, uh, yeah, I was just going to, yeah, I got a place to sleep. I have a bed.

Mark (01:19.535)
Mm-hmm.

Mark (01:36.22)
Mm-hmm.

Mark (01:41.772)
You cracked the code and you're back in the house?

Chad (01:46.186)
outside of the back of my truck.

Mark (01:47.82)
Okay, so you were on the road for 16 and a half months. What's like the coolest thing that you saw while you were on the road?

Chad (01:53.274)
Um, I saw way too many whole foods parking lots. Uh, I did get hit by a semi and Edwards. I was parked at a rest area and the semi clipped me and then took off. And that cost me thousands of dollars because the insurance didn't cover that because they took off. Um, that wasn't the coolest thing. That was for sure. But, uh, I did, I went to Japan. I went to Canada. I went to Alaska. I went to Mount Hood. I did all these things that didn't require my own home. So, uh.

Mark (01:56.684)
Okay.

Oh.

Mark (02:17.372)
That's right.

Mark (02:21.509)
Mm-hmm.

Chad (02:22.742)
I did all the, yeah, like last year, the only thing I didn't do last year was go to Rick's Grants. And I wanted to put that in the May category. No, it's Colorado, Canada, or Colorado, Japan, Canada, Alaska, Rick's Grants, and then Mount Hood. That would be the ultimate year.

Mark (02:29.735)
Mm-hmm.

Mark (02:40.804)
You pretty much like spent the whole year riding.

Chad (02:44.49)
Yeah, for sure.

Mark (02:46.38)
Now, is it hard to do works? I know you also are an owner of Academy Snowboards. Was it hard to work for the road or find wifi or whatever? Are we able to pull that off pretty effectively?

Chad (02:56.446)
Uh, I, you know, what I wasn't able to do was like demos and clinics and things like that. I'd had to do kind of a little more communicating online, but no, I mean, I basically do a lot of the social and organize that. So I, um, I was able to do that wherever I had wifi, which I had everywhere.

Mark (03:01.96)
Mm-hmm.

Mark (03:14.636)
Okay cool so it sounds like you were able to maximize your 16 and a half months for your bank account sake.

Chad (03:22.546)
Yeah, no, I cracked the code. I'm hoping and fingers are crossed, you know the next couple years. We'll see what happens

Mark (03:28.216)
Okay, so now you've had a couple of months off. I mean, have you been getting ready for this season? What have you been up to?

Chad (03:33.858)
Um, I mean, I haven't been living in LA going to art shows, but, uh,

Mark (03:38.08)
Yeah, that's what I've been doing. So, I mean. Ha ha.

Chad (03:43.222)
No, I, yeah, I mean, what do you do early season? This is the time in the year, like, if you ride till, if you're like really into like riding every day for like meditation is kind of why I do it, but then that ends in July. And you have from July till now to like keep your sanity. So I just find other forms of like, you know, kind of gettin