The Tokyo Dome Big Air contest (in 2003) was my first trip to Japan. I think I won it with a double back or something. Those events were fun. I was underaged, like 19 or 20, and going over to Japan in the very beginning was insane. It was amazing.

Experiencing the world through Endless secondhand information isn't enough. If we want authenticity we have to initiate it.

The whole goal with this thing [Ultra Natural] from the start was to really let rider's style define them and their line choice.

If we want authenticity, we have to initiate it. Self-discovery takes us to the wildest places on earth

We will never know our full potential unless we push ourselves to find it. It's this self discovery that inevitably takes us to the wildest places on earth.

They were all just chapters in the book, stepping stones. Each was perfect for where we were at the time, and I'm proud of them all. We couldn't have done this film [The Fourth Phase] without the other films pre-dating it and being part of the process.

It was just on a whole other level, getting to experience and ride that terrain. We spent a fair amount of time in the Hakuba Valley.