The Cover Issue 8.2
8.2 The Cover | Louif Paradis
Photos by Eric Lamothe
“When you’re hitting a street spot, passerby’s usually stop and ask, ‘What are you doing?!’ Once you take the time to explain it, they still don’t get it. They just don’t understand how or why you’d be doing these things… For the first time that’s exactly how I felt while I took this shot.” —Eric Lamothe
“I'm pretty sure this was our second day filming with our Resolution crew this past season. The day before, I had suggested that we start mellow with a simple down rail, in the middle of a schoolyard, with a hill above, just to get warmed up and start on a good note. I had a trick in mind and I thought the others would be down to session together. It was Frank [April], [Chris] Grenier, Harrison [Gordon], our filmer Colton [Morgan] and myself.
We had a pretty fun day and messed around with other things around the spot, my trick didn't end up working on the down rail, but we found this thing. Frank was really interested in hitting it. We build a jump to it and decided we'd come back the next day and that it'd probably be worth calling a photographer for. It was mainly Frank's idea and he said that if I was into riding it, I was welcome to. So I slept on it.
The next day we arrived there again. It’s pretty deep in a little village, an hour and forty-five minute drive from where we live. We built up a ‘safe’ landing and Frank and I sessioned it for a while. If I remember correctly, it was pissing rain for a big part of the day. I first tried Power-Sliding the whole inside roof and ate shit so bad. It wasn't really doable so I changed the trick and decided to ride the down flat and aim for a proper boardslide on the last rooftop. It was fun but kinda big and scary. Frank tried one trick forever and it wasn't working. He decided to Frontside 180 to Switch Ride the whole inside slant. He did it within two tries perfectly. We were so beat that to clear out the landing we decided to hire a tractor nearby to come help us clear it.” —Louif Paradis
“Eric Lamothe came on as a senior photographer last season, he hadn't shot a ton of snowboarding. But his passion is real and so are his photography and lighting skills. This photo immediately stood out above the rest. For the gnar factor of the spot and trick. Also, the vision Eric had while shooting it. When you put this kind of talent on both sides of the lens, you'll get covers all day.Congrats to Eric on his first-ever cover and Louif's second King Snow cover. Hyped to have this photograph take center stage.” —Crispin Cannon, Creative Director
