RIPPING | FRANK BÉLANGER

Age | 20

Place | Saint-Hubert, QC

Sponsors | Salomon Snowboards, Boutique Adrénaline, Undz, Agence NBP, Southdoor Agency

Follow | @ff_dexterr

Words and photos Joseph Roby | From issue 11.2

It’s summer right now, what do you do to keep busy?
Roofing. Pretty much full time, and this two- week trip to Hood we’re on right now.

Following a long line of roofer/ boarders, who is your favourite snowboarder on roofing duty during the summer?

Alex Lopez.

To let the people know, we are doing this interview drinking a beer in Tim- berline’s parking lot. How important was it for you to make this trip to Hood?

Cheers! It’s a dream come true to be here at Mount Hood. I had a huge poster of the mountain in my room at my parent’s house. I’ve even had the chance to meet a few pros here that I’ve been looking up to for so long, it’s so dope.

And what’s your highlight of the trip so far?
Definitely waking up every morning at Jeff Holce’s place, and looking at the peak of Mount Hood right from the kitchen. Playing basketball in the backyard too, so many games of knock out, it’s pretty awesome and competitive with the whole Salomon team family. For real, every moment is a highlight, it’s been the best trip ever.

Back in Montreal, you are also part of Southdoor Agency, what’s up
with that?
It’s a sales agency that Marc-Olivier Tourigny and I started to try to push smaller brands that the bigger agencies wouldn’t take. Our main goal is to help these brands to grow in the province of Quebec. It’s more of a part-time job for me, though, we’ve been doing that on the side for a year now.

Are you riding for the brands
you rep?
Not all of them, Ashbury and Stinky Socks are the only two which I’m riding for and also representing.

You’re riding for Salomon and you’re representing other board brands. Is everyone cool about that?
I really see that as two separate things. I don’t ride the boards that I rep but my friend Marco is doing a good job with that. I’m taking care of the smaller ones, as I’m involved with the summer brands, too.

Is working in the industry something you’d want to make a career of?

Not sure, maybe. It depends where snow- boarding can take me.

For those who don’t know, what is French Fragrance?
French Fragrance is our filming crew from Montreal. It started from the mix of two different crews, Bruntown Squad from Saint-Bruno, and a crew from Granby. Around 2016, we all went on a trip to Whiteface, New York, and that’s where we decided to regroup and to start French Fragrance. The actual crew is Phil Couture, Phil Carpentier, Marjorie Couturier, LP Charbonneau and myself. All filmed and edited by Ulysse Dubé-Burelle.

You guys have been working on a two-year project?
During the first year of filming, everyone was kind of working or going to school, so we didn’t really get the clips we wanted for a full project. Second year, though, a bunch of us committed to full-time filming with the help of unemployment assistance. We were able to get more good clips and made a 15-minute video, dropping this fall. It’s going to be called Exit.

Why is it called Exit?
Snowboarding is an exit door that allows us to escape our everyday life and get creative. It sounds cool too, I guess, and Ulysse said that door panels tagged “EXIT” shots were sick for fillers [laughs].

Glad it doesn’t mean the end or some- thing like that. What’s next for the crew then?
We really don’t know yet. Some guys are still going to school and others might work full time. I know our filmer Ulysse is still super down to film full time. We might have some plans with Salomon, too. We’ll see what happens when we get there.

Who have you been looking up to the most?
I have to go with Louif.

He definitely earned his reputation. Last question, let us know what’s the best spot to go out in Montreal?
Apt. 200 MTL.

Any thanks?

Gab Belanger, Salomon Snowboards, Boutique Adrenaline, Agence NBP, Ashbury, Undz, Joseph Roby, Charles Thibault, Ulysse Dube Burelle, Twisted tony, all the French Fragrance homies, The Bruners, Anto Chamberland, Marco du plateau, Sth88, my girlfriend, Mom and Dad.