No Place Like Home | Seb Toots Interview

It feels like a lifetime ago since I first met Seb Toutant. He was this little nine-year-old kid wanting to hit a 100-footer during an event at Val Saint-Come. His dad asked me multiple times if he could give it a shot. I finally agreed, telling him to stay close when Seb was going to jump. Young Seb straightlined as fast as he could with absolute determination and… did not clear the jump. But he landed on his feet and rode away. He hit it twice more and came up short to the same spot every time. Riding away with a big smile on his face. At that moment, we all knew this kid had something different. His level of confidence was so strong, especially at that age. It was a sure sign of things to come. 

Seb quickly became a force to be reckoned with. Now, the Olympics, X Games, World Cups, Air n’ Style—you name it, he’s won it. Seb backed up decades of contest accolades with a steady stream of NBDs and video parts that are in a league of their own. But what’s really cool about Seb is that he’s still laser-focused on taking his riding even further. You can still see that little kid who’s always down. Although these days, he rarely comes up short. 

With a new part about to drop, I sat down with Seb to find out what’s been good and what he’s got cooking for the future.

From the pages of King Snow Magazine Issue 16.3

Words by Seb Gagnon | Photos by Jaysson Gallant

Frontside Lipslide. Montreal, QC.

So… Seb, how’ve you been?

I’ve been great. I’ve been golfing a lot in the summer and riding a lot in the winter.

Still living on the border of Montreal?

I actually just moved to the city, straight downtown Montreal. I’m a big city guy now. I wanted some change in my life. I wanted to be more active in the city, and moving here gives me that.

Was this move to get closer to all the street spots?

Funny thing about where I moved is that there’s one of the famous street spots just outside my building. It’s an overpass to down rail that a bunch of guys hit in the past, and it’s still rideable even with the new building they just built… it’s pretty sick

Have you ever hit it?

No, I never rode that one. I wanted to hit it last year, but the building was under construction, and it was really sketchy. We figured that we would hit it when the construction was done. It’s pretty funny that I got a place in that building right where that spot is

You can have your filmer sitting all comfy on your balcony to film you hitting that exact spot.

[Laughs] My balcony is exactly over that spot. So, we definitely could, but I’m not sure it would be the best angle.

Did you ever think of moving out West to shred pow full-time, like some of the other contest riders before you?

I’m really attached to Montreal, and I still really love street snowboarding. For sure, I want to start spending more time in the backcountry as well, but I think that when I do start spending more time in the backcountry, I’ll just go spend a couple of months out West for the winter and come back to Montreal in the summer. I’ll always have a place in Montreal. I mean, my family, my friends are here, my life is here, it’s home.

There’s no place like home. I wanted to talk about your street part that’s coming out soon. Can you give us the scoop?

Yeah, it’s the first time that I actually had more than a couple of weeks to film a part. In the past, I was always away doing the contest circuit and only had a couple of days here and there to film. But this time, I sat down with Max Trudel and said, "Let’s do this right. Take the time to find the good spots and think of the right tricks to build a cool part without being rushed."

Do you have any tricks you’ve never done in this part?

Yeah, I do! I’ve been dreaming of doing fs board 360 fs board bring back on a street spot for a while, and there’s this flat-down ledge, which is pretty famous, that I managed to do this trick on this winter. Really stoked about how it turned out. The vibe was all time. Yan Dofin was there, and to get props from him when I landed that trick was super special for me.

Anxious to see the final edit. How is it shooting with Max Trudel? You guys have been filming together for the past couple of years, ever since Short Notice.

It’s been great. We’ve been doing a bunch of different projects together, like Short Notice, the Obstacle Course and a couple of park edits here and there. Working with Max is really fun because he is so passionate about filming, but especially about shooting snowboarding. We see eye-to-eye on almost everything and motivate each other constantly. We both want to get the trick as bad. I think sometimes he is even more stoked than me [laughs]. We’re a great team.

Frontboard pop-over to Frontboard. Shawinigan, QC.

I’ve heard rumours about an Obstacle Course part deux?! Is this true?

Yeah, there is a rumour [laughs]. I mean, the first one was so fun and did really well, so, of course, it popped into my head to see if a second was possible. But if I do go for part two, I need to bring it to the next level, and the first one was already hard enough to make. But I’m up for it for sure.

Things don’t change, you’ve always been one for a challenge. Do you get all your ideas from those parkour videos we see on social media?

Yeah, the funky features come directly from my parkour videos, and my competitive side is what fuels my drive to take on those challenges. But what I really like is that I can show the creative side that I want to bring to snowboarding. I think snowboarding needs this right now to show people that it’s not just a competitive sport.

Are you filming full-time again this season or taking the winter off?

Definitely not taking a winter off. The idea is to release my street part in mid-January, right in the middle of the season when everyone is riding and pumped on snowboarding. We’re planning on getting a couple more shots in the video part early season, depending on the snow. After that, we’ll be heading to Japan for two weeks with a bunch of friends. That’s going to be more of a YT video. After Japan, I would like to team up with some homies out West to try to film some jumps in the backcountry. That would be the plan for this season.

Does competing in Natural Selection interest you at all?

If there’s one event that would get me back in a competitive mode, it would probably be NST.  I mean, I’m not over competing, but doing contests every week became redundant at a point, and I wanted to do different things. But with NST, If I get better in the backcountry, and get my tricks down in powder, I would be really interested. But right now, I don’t want to get an invitation and not be able to ride the way I would want to. If I eventually get the invite, I would want to deserve it.

So, you don’t miss the contest life at all?

Well, the first year, when I didn’t go to the X Games and was watching it on TV instead of being there, it felt really weird. I was asking myself if this was the right decision, and I felt like I was missing out. But when I started to work on my own projects, I realized that it was the right move for me. It made me love snowboarding even more than ever. Now I have the time to try different tricks that I never tried before, because before I was off to a contest every week and had to stick to the money tricks.

How about those gnarly rail jams we see popping?

I like rail jams. Growing up in QC, we had rail jams every week from fall up until Christmas. Riding in these events when I was younger got me better at rails. After a while, those events slowly disappeared, and seeing rail jams coming back is awesome. Rail jams are more like a skateboarding event where the classic tricks get the crowd stoked. They bring the riders together. I think it’s great. I would probably ride in a couple of rail jams if it came up.

Did an Olympic gold medal change your life?

Did it change my life?! [pauses] I don’t think it changed my life. It brought me new opportunities for sure. It gave me a new status. When I go to schools to talk in front of kids or to conferences about my life experiences, they introduce me as, “The Olympic Gold Medalist.” It allowed me to do many things outside of snowboarding, but more as a public figure than a snowboarder. I mean, "Seb The Snowboarder", means nothing to people who don’t snowboard, but The Olympic Gold Medalist does. It sort of gives me a VIP pass to life, in a way. 

Lengthy Frontboard. Montreal, PQ. [o] Joseph Roby

How so?

For example, the cops showed up when we were filming in the street. They recognized me and gave us a free pass to hit the spot [laughs]. It also got me invited to a lot of different events and places. So yeah, it gave me a lot, but it didn’t change me. I’m still the same guy.

Who do you think are the riders dominating the ultra-spin contest world right now?

There are a lot of super rippers out there.

Ok, name three. The Top 3 in your eyes.

Hmmm three riders, so many are killing right now. If I look at the progression and who has the most control. I think MingSu [Su Yiming] is one of them. Making it look easy and doesn’t seem scared to do all these new tricks. Hiroto [Ogiwara] is another one to watch. And Marcus [Kleveland]. He’s always been one to push it to the next level, and now, he's bringing some new tricks to contests, which is really cool to see. But I’m always one to root for all the homies as well. Like Mark [McMorris], Sven [Thorgren], Red [Gerard] and all the others I was riding with.

How about the rail game? Do you think you still have what it takes to challenge some of the rail guys in a game of S.N.O.W.?

Ehhh, I think so! Maybe gimme a down bar I can hike to get warmed up, and I think I can give some of these guys a few letters [laughs].

I would love to see this. I wanted to ask, people say that you’re more of a solo rider, what do you think?

Yeah, I’ve been asked this before, and I’m glad you asked me this question so I can tell you how I end up doing solo projects. It’s all a matter of scheduling. Making it fit with the contest calendar and the filming crews was super complicated. So, I had the idea of paying a personal filmer to get parts out. I tried to get other riders in my projects, but the same scheduling problems came up. So, if I wanted to get filming, that’s how I had to do it. I did have some shots in various snowboard films in the past, but never a full part because of my contest career. So that’s why people see me more as a solo rider. But you know me, I’m always down to ride with a crew and hype each other up.

Besides the new video part, is there anything different we can expect from you?

I don’t know where the future will bring me just yet. What I can say is that I’m definitely not done with snowboarding. I still want to ride as much as I can and progress as much as I can. I want to be a better snowboarder, to learn new tricks, to get that scared feeling, to get stoked and share the moment with other riders.

The killing crew

Alright Seb, that sums up what I wanted to ask. Let’s close this out with the classic shout outs, but more specifically, five people. No order… good luck.

OK, five. Of course, all my sponsors, but I will give you five on top of them. I have to start with Max Trudel. Working with Max for the past couple of years filming and this new part coming out wouldn’t exist without him. Big shout out to Max. Another big shout out to my former filmer, Mathieu Cowan, who had a huge impact on my career. He’s still the one I call when I land a new trick to see if he approves [laughs]. My parents, of course. They always had my back and still do. It’s all because of them that I started snowboarding. And I want to thank you!

I don’t really want my name in here…

You’ve always been there. You’re the first guy I met snowboarding in Val Saint-Come, and you’ve been there on so many different levels. You’re the first one to see my parts or approve some of the stuff that I do. Your opinion is important to me, and having you do this interview is perfect. And there’s Max Henault, who was kind of my mentor when I was younger and to whom I owe a lot. I would not be at the level that I am today without him. There are so many others I’d like to thank, but I’ll keep it at five like you asked. And I’ll say it anyway—thanks to everyone!