Cold Snap
Dave Hatchett
A mountaineer with infinite abandon,
Dave Hatchett defines extreme snow-
boarding. If it can be done, Dave's got
the line on it. He traverses the bound-
aries of rock, ice and powder as an exces
sive force from the Tahoe Lake area. With
over a decade of nourishable knowledge,
sit down and hear what's on the plate of
this hungry man.
-Matt Kennedy
What's your background?
I grew up in San Diego, surfing until I was
fifteen, then my family and I moved to
Tahoe. My brother and I were blowing it in
school, so my parents thought a change
would help. I hated it at first. Being fifteen, I
thought I knew it all, but I was just a dumb
punk. After a while, I realized how rad the
mountains were and I got into rock and ice
climbing, skiing and snowboarding.
How did you start snowboarding?
Somewhere around 1984, my friend got a
Burton Performer. We used to hike little hills
and ride. But I still skied most of the time
because the boards didn't have metal
edges yet. Shortly thereafter, the boards
started getting better, so I hung my skis up
for good and started riding boards.
What's the draw of snowboarding for
you and has it changed?
I just dig riding on epic powder days,
going really fast, getting lots of air and
being really creative with the lines I take.
To me, a good pow day is the true test of a
rider's freeriding ability. The snow is perfect
and there's no limit to what you can do. If
you go to some place like Squaw, there are
a lot of potential rad lines, killer pow turns,
cliff drops and freestyle jumps all in one run.
If you can be fluid doing all this, that's the
ultimate. As far as my reasons for riding.
they haven't and will never change. I ride
because I like it, not because some barney
down the street rides.
What goes through your head before you
try something really difficult?
I'm just thinking very positive and figuring
out how I'm going to do my line. One of the
most important things is to know your line,
turn for turn, before you ever drop in.
What advice can you lend for wannabes
who want to try the steeps?
Like anything, start small before you go
big. Learn killer edge control before you try
anything too rad. You can get hurt doing
any type of snowboarding, so always
remember, sometimes when you play on
the steeps, it's for keeps.
What are some of your favorite spots?
Tahoe, Whistler, Baker, Alaska, anywhere
with a coastal or maritime snowpack. The
snow comes in a lot wetter on the coast,
sticking to the steeps and making them
much safer for avalanche conditions. I dig
Europe a lot too, but the avalanche condi-
tions are far worse than around here. It's
Clockwise from left: First descent down Silver Chute
in the Southern Sierras. Photo by Mike Hatchett.
Down the line in Lake Tahoe, CA. Photo by Sedway.
Fingering the fretboard. Photo by Rich Van Every.