10 MINUTES: With Ian McIntosh
Ian McIntosh has earned nicknames like Big Mac and Mac Attack for a reason: The 24-year-old, Whistler, B.C.-based freeskier charges harder than almost anyone out there. His clean, strong lines have placed him among the top three year after year at the Freeskiing World Tour and this winter, he'll show’s off TGR’s ANOMALY . We caught up with Ian to find out what it's like to go head first over a 40-foot cliff and still have to deliver pizzas.-Megan Michelson
CHECK OUT IAN'S HELMET CAM FOOTAGE
How did you make it to where you’re at now?
I grew up ski racing in my hometown, Invermere, B.C. I did all right with racing, but I just wasn't motivated with it, so I quit when I was 13 and just started jumping off cliffs and skiing powder. I moved to Fernie and then to Golden after graduating from high school because I wanted to go ski a bigger resort. After that, I decided I wanted eternal winter. I sold my truck, my mountain bike, and bought a plane ticket to New Zealand. I flew down there by myself and ended up making tons of wicked friends. I did my first contest down there, the Rip Curl Heli Challenge, and ended up fifth overall. I was 19 then. It just snowballed from there.
You're known for having a really unique, fluid big mountain style. What's a perfect line for you?
My style is different from the Jamie Pierres out there who are looking for giant cliffs. My perfect line has four or five hits with enough room to do a turn or two between each hit. I'm always looking for a Hugo Harrison-style line that you ski fast and fluid with as many natural features as possible. Some people hit a single cliff and consider that big mountain skiing. For me, big mountain skiing is a face with multiple features and as many airs as possible. I like the lines where you just have to survive.
You probably have some good survival stories.
Yeah. One of my scariest moments was three years ago. I'd just placed second overall at the world tour, and I was back at Whistler in mid-April for spring skiing. But everything was frozen. There's this one line at Blackcomb that I'd skied before, but I was cocky from my season of travel and experiences and I figured I could ski it even in icy conditions. I was wrong. I slipped out, lost an edge, and ended up sliding down rocks and off a 40-foot cliff, heading head-first for boulders. I came out of it with only two fractured vertebrae. I was lucky, for sure. It was one of those moments that reminded me that I'm not invincible.
What other survival sports do you like besides skiing?
I'm into mountain biking, sky-diving and BASE jumping. Sky-diving is a very low impact sport. You pack your parachute so it opens slow and soft. It's one of those things you can do until you're an old person.