BURTON GLOBAL TM ADAM MORAN INTERVIEW

I shot Adam a quick email interview recently to catch up with him and what's been going on now that he's been Burtons Global TM. Here's what he had to say.


1) First off hopefully you have been well, and your Global TM gig
with Burton is also what you hoped. That being said, the position
you're holding is a big one. How was your transition to the Global TM
different from your previous travels with the Burton team?

Well in the past I used to work directly as Shaun Whites Team Mgr for when
he was snowboarding and then I would spend the rest of my time traveling
around to shoots with the rest of the team. Id fill in where we needed
Team Mgrs on trips and help out organizing a lot of the shoots we did.
These days I need to balance a lot more of the business side of things, with
the travel, and working with the entire team, and all of our filmers and
photographers, plus still shooting photos as much as I can. Its a lot more
to take on, but I have the best crew of people ever to work with. I only
have my job cause of all the people around me.

2) My guess is you're living out of a bag a lot. Have you been able
to travel anywhere memorable, where you guys have just said "lets put
the cameras down and just enjoy snowboarding." Hopefully it's not
all work?

Fuck, you gotta do that. Its a job, but the only reason I pursued this all
this far is cause I really like what I do. I mean, ive seen people that
get over it for this reason or that, but its all cause they just look at it
as a job and forgot how much fun it is to just go riding. I like going on
the shittiest days now. When I know I wont stress "not getting a shot", or
that I should be trying to get one. My best experience ever for putting
the gear down though would be my first trip to AK with Jussi, DCP, and
Dirksen for Mack Dawg. It was all of our first trips up there and we knew
we would mistakes, so we booked a lot of heli time. At close to the end
of the trip we realized there was no way to use it all. So each day as the
clouds set in and the film shots were done we just went freeriding. It was
either that or piss away a ton of money. I wont say how many runs I got in
with no pack on, but I definitely owe Jake some beers for that one.

3) Spending so much time with the team, I would assume that there is
some sort of family feeling going on. Do you find the balance of
"friend" and "TM" a conflict at all?

That's always a hard part of being a team mgr. you live half your life with
the riders, they become some of your closest friends, and then at times you
are the one that has to tell them what to do, or deliver bad news. Its
definitely a balance for sure, but I think we do it okay.

4) Between you and I ( really ..who's going to read this? ) Who are
the prima donnas on the team? Who gets crabby without their eight
hours of sleep?

Ha ha. I think this one all depends on who has been on the road the
longest. If you havent gone home in over a month, and things havent been
going great, it could be me. But we all go through our times on the road.
Thank god for headphones. People can all sit in a room and not talk and
just zone out. Its the only way when you never have any private space or
time to yourself.

5) You knew this topic was coming... the dreaded injuries that have
forced the snowboard world to stop and think. Kevin is on all of our
minds, and now Danny. Whether riding related or not, both were
serious and scary for everyone (friends, family, and fans) watching.
With the Olympics looming, and everyone shaken a bit, how do you now
work as a team to stay positive and focused?

The last month has been interesting for sure. It definitely humbled
everyone a bit and put a lot of things into perspective. What we have tried
to do is just keep everyone positive and supportive for those two guys.
Obviously injuries are part of any pro sport, but I think in snowboarding or
skating we are way more of a community than a sport, so everyone cares, a
lot.

6) Progression of tricks is something that the extreme sports
industry thrives on. Working so closely with such talented and high
profile riders, you must be seeing and hearing about trick ideas that
leave even the top riders wondering if the possibilities are
"endless." The news reporters jumped all over KP's fall. Before the accident
we saw bag jump training and what looked like heavy precautionary measures taken to learn more dangerous tricks. Once that can was opened and the double corks were
unleashed, did you see riders stoked on the possibilities of future
tricks, or riders more concerned that the envelope was possibly
becoming overstuffed, and things might be a bit beyond expectations?

Well with the whole double cork thing going I think everyone went about it
the right way. The guys that started doing them first were safe and smart
and used foam pits and air bags to get them down. Then the guys that
learned them after that were able to see the first guys doing them and
finally be able to visualize the tricks so they could try it. Its been a
crazy fast progression in the last year, but it was done the right way and
has been as safe as it can be. I think with the pipe guys all doing them
it put pressure on kids to have to learn them if they really wanted a chance
to do well this year. And that happened about 4 years ago too with everyone
learning 1080s. What still surprises me the most is that kids now want to
learn doubles before they can even do a proper Mctwist. Fuck, what
happened? But im not sure where it can go from here. That's up to the
riders I guess. I mean doubles can actually look good, triples though?
Come on. Skating doesn't need triple kickflips, we don't need triple
corks. It still has to be a trick, not a stunt. That's how I see it.

7) Shaun is an obvious contender to grab gold for the USA. He is
human though. Right? Have you seen a different side of him or other
team riders when it comes to Olympic training and drive towards their
goals?

Shaun is semi human I would say. Man, that kid never seems to stop. But
yeah I think the Olympics definitely got into peoples heads a bit this year.
It changed everyones schedules for whole last year and gave them one single
goal to focus on. Its was funny for a while where we talked to certain
riders about their season and as if it only went to Feb 18th. Didn't want
to jinx anything or make too many plans for after depending on how things go
this week.

8) Did you ever think growing up riding with your brother Jeff and
all of the New Hampshire dirts would lead to anything like this for
you? I'm sure it's a lot of work, so congrats on turning your efforts
into such a unique career.... so my question to you " because of
snowboarding? "

Shit I never would have thought it could have all worked out like it did. I
remember the first times I was able to borrow my mothers car to head to
Nashoba on a school night and being so stoked. It was like freedom to ride
on a school night. Poaching lift tickets in the parking lot and stressing
every time I got on the lift. Those days were the best. And then having my
mother cook food for Gormley so he would let us crash at his place. We ate
pasta salad for like a whole winter in trade for couch space and tickets at
waterville. Now ive been able to work in this for a while and see some of
the most amazing things go down and I still get so psyched. I still go to
places/events even when I don't have to, cause im still a huge fan of it
all. If that ever goes away, then it will be time to move on, but I cant
see that happening anytime soon.

9) There's a whole new group of groms just aching to burst into the
highlight pages of the great interweb out there. They would be
enormous boots to fill, but who looks like they could be the next
Flying Tomato to you?

You tell me? Send em my way. Its shops like Eastern Boarder that always
find em first.

10) Please fill stock shouts outs and disclaimers here:

Ill just keep it simple here. But here is who I need to thank the most for
how I ended up here and who I am. My parents, brother Jeff, everyone at
Eastern Boarder, Burton, all the magazines that gave me a shot and ran my
photos, all my friends from over the years that still return my calls even
not knowing when ill return from a trip. Everyone who has given me a beer,
place to crash, or dealt with me not knowing their language or customs.
That should do it I think...

On a light note; EB has it's 10th Annual Last Call coming up in
March and we would love to have some of the old dogs back in town to
help us celebrate. I'd like to put you on the spot and ask you to put
us on your calendar. Bring Shaun and the team. There's some hidden
talent in New England looking to dethrone some of those old guys.
That and it would be great to have a beer or five with you again.

Whats the date? Ill do my absolute best to be there. ( March 24th )

Thanks for your time Adam. Have a great season and best wishes to the
team and their speedy recoveries. Bub

The handplant photo was taken in Austria last spring by Marko Grilc. One
of your questions was if I ever put down the bag. Some times we'll fuck
around and have the riders shoot and we ride. Its pretty funny to say the
least. Especially in that melted out 93 style pipe. It was perfect for
me. Ha.

Later

Adam