Cold snap
TIM MANNING
Tim Manning-a haver of good
times and sincere lover of
food-has a progressive, mellow
style that's propelled him to
uncover hero status. Whether it be
skating a dilapidated mini-ramp or
riding 2' of deep powder anywhere in
the world, Tim's love for living has remain intact.
He and I have had many conversations throughout the
years, but this one we recorded:
When did you start snowboarding?
freshman year of high school.
You grew up skating and listening to punk and hip-
hop and, of course, Kiss, right?
Yeah, skating to school.
During that whole era-skate vert, listen to punk-you
guys had that room out in Pleasanton, right?
Yeah, lots o' room. Hoyt was the first guy to
have a ramp.
Was it big?
It was sick. It was the premier mini-ramp-4'2"
with that tiny PVC coping.
Like 1/4", ghetto coping. Did you have
ditches, too?
Ditches and vert and Hoyt's.
So, reflecting on snowboarding these past
11 years and the whole process of learn-
ing and being introduced to K2 by
Perata, did you ever imagine your life
would be like this?
Well, I always wanted it to be, but I
never knew how far it would go. I was
curious, though.
Just riding, but at the same time work-
ing towards this type of existence?
Checking it all out, seeing what hap-
pens, staying on the snow.
On the average, over, say, 5 years,
you've managed at least 120 on snow
days per year, right?
At least. This year a lot more than that. By
the end of the summer, a good 200 days.
From not being around you this winter, I
I would have to guess even more.
A lot of that is travel, getting to places out
of most trips. Like because of bad weather
and travelling, you get 50% on the average of
riding time.
If you're lucky. When would you say snow-
boarding for a living actually became a reality
for you?
Probably 4 or 5 years ago. Like putting trips together.
Your first trip to go shoot was with Justin
Hoystenek, yeah?
Yeah, but I didn't know what was going on. That
was my first trip out of Tahoe; it was really fun.
Was that before your relationship with K2 began?
I got a pair of bindings from Luke, and farmer gave
me a board. I had the killer set-up-brand new 66.
The one Ruben ended up riding?
No, it got stolen out of our house. So then I had to
be like, "Luke, I need more bindings, 'cause my set-up
got stolen." I was super nervous, but he said he'd send
me one more pair. Soon after I got a board and rode
that until it was destroyed.
What I want to do is
name off some years,
and you say 1-word
impulse answers, kind of
like going to the shrink.
OK.
'89.
Awakening.
'90-91.
Hendo.
'91-92.
School.
'92-93.
Say Ten Things.
That's three words, but
really only one. '93-94.
Freedom.
'94-95.
Creativity.
'95-96.
Pickup sticks.
One word, brother.
Growth.
You're the American
boy. Now, the pre-
sent-you've travelled
the world, experienced
a lot, fell in love.
I didn't fall in love,
love fell on me.
Would you go so far as
to call it the year of
the love?
What year are we
on now?
'97!
Age of calculation.
So, Ruben, what was it
like watching Tim grow up
from back in the Catherine
Street days?
Ruben: Catherine was the
beginning of Tim's raging years.
Tim: I didn't know Ruben
in Santa Barbara.
Ruben: He was starting
to get into the "scene" of
snowboarding; his name.
was becoming known a
bit; Farmer lived there
for the summer; and
pretty much that era
was raging for the
whole group.
So, watching Tim
move from that era
into the present,
how would you view
the progression?
Ruben: At that time,
he had snowboarding
wired-had the fun style
going, just having a
good time-but he
wasn't super confident. I
don't think he expected
to get this point. But now it's the same style. He just
took it to the next level-stayed focused, used the fun he
had in snowboarding, and turned it into a profession.
We all witnessed the progression. Since that point, has
there been anything to slow your stoke on snowboarding?
Opposite page: Tim
Manning goes down a
Brighton, Utah chute,
thus proving that he is
as macho as his last
name would suggest.
Photo: Richard Cheski.
Left: Yuba City gets
ugly with an iceplant
which is strangely fitting
since Tim's a snowdog.
Photo: Ruben Sanchez.
Below: Hood's great-
est camper goes ass
over teakettle with a
High Cascade slush fun-
nel Andrecht. Photo:
Aaron Sedway.
My body slows me down-1 knee surgery.
Not bad.
Skating has damaged me more.
What's on your agenda as far as travels go?
Going to Alaska on Sunday.
In the middle of July?
It's mostly surfing,
but snowboarding's
gonna be the shit! All
heli's and planes to
surf and snowboard.
Government Camp
seems as if it
could wear on
you after a bit.
How do you com-
bat that?
There is just so
much to do every-
day, all day long.
Before you know it,
you're sleeping
again. Wake up at 7,
screw around 'til 9,
make calls, go with
everybody at the K2
house to the mountain,
ride the parks and great
pipes, test boards;
there's fun terrain up
high at Hood.
When you look back at
starting to really get
into skating, then your
subsequent involve-
ment with snow-
boarding, thinking,
"This is the greatest
thing ever," does it
still feel the same
at 26?
Yeah, that's what I
like about it. It's so
unique. The board
sports-skating,
surfing, snow-
boarding-are pro-
gressing all the
time, and you don't
have enough time to
do them all as much
as you'd like.
Who would you like
to thank?
In snowboarding or
in life?
What's the difference?
I'd like to thank the
community of Kings
Beach, CA, Alpine
Meadows, Homewood,
Becky Moore, the Say
Ten Things crew, Jaimo
Jackson, Rob Dafoe,
Luke and Dave B, K2,
Norm Peterson, Ruben
Sanchez, Darren Endo
back in the day,
Aaron Sedway, Kim
Coy, Alex at No
Control, Soop
Kich'n, Volcom, Hairball Paul,
Perata, and my family.
-Israel Valenzuela
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