AL MAILHOT | BRUNERS 2 | INTERVIEW & VIDEO PART

Alexis grew up snowboarding under Je Page's wing, which allowed him to be around some of Quebec's all-time greatest snowboarders, and the early Nowamean crew. He started filming for the Nowamean videos around the same time as the rest of our crew, and progressed alongside all of us. He quickly became part of The Bruners and has been filming sick parts ever since. —Julien Choiniere

 Watch | THE BRUNERS VIDEO II | FULL VIDEO

You've openly said that you don't aspire at being a pro snowboarder anymore. What keeps you on your board, filming dangerous tricks?

I used to take snowboarding more seriously, and taking risks was part of it. I think every snowboarder enjoys the rush of pushing their limits and doing stuff that scares them. Now, I’m more relaxed about street snowboarding. Since I don’t get as much time as before to film, I concentrate on having fun while doing it. I may hit a scary spot now and then, but not as often as before. Just enjoying every bit of it.

You went to school full time while filming for this year's project, boarding on weekends only. What’s the hardest aspect about filming for the project part-time?

The hardest part of it was seeing the guys have fun out there, or riding spots that I’d love to hit while I was sitting in my chair in school [laughs]. Planning my time was hard, too. I tried to do all my school work during the week so I could snowboard all weekend, but sometimes I didn’t get enough time. A couple of times I would come back from a day filming with the crew, and then go straight to doing homework at night. In the end it’s all worth it.

50-50 Backside 180 [o] Eric Lamothe

You've been getting into stick-and-poke tattoos. What's up with that?

I started doing tattoos just for fun like a year and a half ago. Tattooing my friends, and now it has turned into a job [laughs]. I always enjoyed drawing when I was a kid, but I kind of left that behind while growing up. Really stoked to be drawing again, and I’m happy about how this turned out. It’s so sick to see that people are down to “wear’’ your drawing on them for life.

Would you say this year's video was more a reason for good friends to spend time together?

On my part, I was really doing it to spend time and hang out with the boys. Of course I was trying to get the best out of my weekends and get as many shots as possible, but it was also my only break from school, so I would just enjoy being outside doing what I love.

Any thanks?

My parents were always down to welcome the crew at their home this winter, big shout out to them. Also, thanks to my sponsors for the support over the years. Sean at Billabong, Taylor at Ride, and Darrell at Howl.

Tap Gap to Boardslide [o] Eric Lamothe