Monster Energy: Hey Danny, what’s up? How are you enjoying hanging at X Games this year?

Danny Kass: I’m really excited, just got in last night and it’s always fun to be here in Aspen for X not just for snowboarding but skiing and all the crazy snowmobilers and all the craziness around.

Monster Energy: But you’re not competing right?

Danny Kass: No, I’m on the waiting list for the halfpipe. But for the last two years I’ve just been focusing on filming and chilling, you know. Because its always through snowboarding and with myself it was like kind of breaking it up to keep it fun, because if you just compete and compete you don’t really get to enjoy freeriding or certain part of riding or chasing the storm so I have the best opportunity ever and some of the greatest sponsors so they are really pushing me to film and shoot more and do more interviews and stuff like that.

Monster Energy:So is that your future plan to film and focus more on filming than competing?

Danny Kass: Yeah more focus on filming and I still have so many goals in snowboarding that are not just through competing. Competing is a huge part of it and obviously its one of the more popular sides but for me as a snowboarder continuing to do this its like my goal is to make sure people see snowboarding as the sport it is and this huge full circle not just you have to compete to be a professional.

Monster Energy:Let’s talk Olympics, you’re a 2 times silver champion- what do you actually think about snowboarding at the Olympics?

Danny Kass: I think It’s so awesome in a way, because you know all the snowboarders have been pushing themselves and also our sport has been growing and becoming more popular, so for snowboarding to be in the Olympics its got a good side and a bad side. Its great because I think the Olympics was not becoming stale, but without new sports and without the things that are more relevant in today’s society and today’s action sports world they were loosing a lot of the kids, and I think now having even with skiing going into the Olympics you’re going to see lot of the stars from skiing becoming freestyle sided from snowboarding through halfpipe stars and slopestyle stars. So it is going to be a huge turning of a tie even in the next one for the ski world and also for snowboarding it makes it more open and more accessible to the World and certain times and the more people that snowboard on planet Earth the more awesome it is. But it also puts a lot of pressure on people to really focus on it, and I think that kind of stinks sometime. You see a lot of kids maybe trying a lot of things that they wouldn’t normally try. So for me, I want kids to see snowboarding as a really accessible thing to get into and to not just look at certain halfpipe run and being like “alright I’ll never do that, so maybe I should try something else.

Monster Energy: Do you think slopestyle will work as well as halfpipe has in the Olympics.

Danny Kass: I think it will be great for TV, but I believe halfpipe is one of the best spectator events people can ever go to, because you can see the entire pipe from basically anywhere on the mountain, where slopestyle you kind of have to be in a certain place to see the run and without television and so many camera angles, it is almost impossible to see the whole run. SO I think if I were ever to choose an event to go watch It would always be halfpipe. But I am excited to it and what the kids are doing now in slopestyle I think is really going to blow people’s minds.

Monster Energy: Back to the Absinth movies, are you planning to film with them this season?

Danny Kass: Yeah, well this season is kind of busy, because I am doing the Nike Project and they are going to be filming full season with bunch of trips and putting together like a strong peace next year, and then I am also going to do the Absinth stuff again. I hope to get a little bit more but it is tough to do two projects, time is pretty limited and the fun thing about Absinth is everything is freeriding, there is never really a park shoot or like something like that so I really enjoy chasing the storm and with them, its like I get to discover new resorts and new places to ride that I have never been to.

Monster Energy:Besides your riding you have your own TV show on Fuel TV called “The Adventures of Danny and the Dingo”
- What’s up with the show? How is it going?
- What are your future plans in terms of locations – is it possible that you might visit Eastern Europe with this show and bring it closer to our fans?

Danny Kass: I would recommend if anyone wants to see what happens in my life besides just the snowboarding aspect to go on ITunes and purchase few episodes of Danny and the Dingo. Basically it was kind of an opportunity through Fuel TV and Fox to basically take a group of snowboarders, skiers and skateboarders or motocross riders and just travel all together and basically just loosely plan certain trips and just to kind of film the adventures. The opportunity to do it was so fun and I mean we got to travel all around the World and do things we would never get to do. Like rent a motor home, start with seven people and end with about thirteen people in Berlin. The thing is, in snowboarding with anyone, not just a professional, its about getting that group of people together and going on that trip. Because you could not know someone before you get in the car with them and by the end of the trip you’re going be friends for life and share memories that you will never forget.

Monster Energy: I read that you were thinking of moving to Austria or Japan this year- did that end up happening?

Danny Kass: Its hard to really figure it out, you know, but I have a theory that God or mother Nature has few mistresses, and one of them is in Japan and that’s why it snows so much there. Its always snowing in Hokaido, because he has a crush on the mountain, and also in the Alps and so it is a dream of mine to have a little ski house either in Austria or Switzerland or Japan.

Monster Energy: Is there something special about Austria or is it just the Alps?

Danny Kass: I mean really its just the Alps. I’ve had such good times, and last year I filmed almost all of my part in Austria and in Switzerland. I feel like as a snowboarder I’ve been to so many resorts in the US and everything is really park based, and it’s a different kind of lifestyle than in Europe where you can just go to the back of a resort and explore. I’m really into natural kind of terrain and kind of building that side of my snowboarding, because its fun for me to keep learning.

Monster Energy: Do you have a favourite spot, or special spot, that you always want to go back to for backcountry?

Danny Kass: Yeah, there is obviously lots of resorts in Austria and Switzerland, but since I’m not from there I’m not really allowed to talk about it I guess. But for me I would do a powder trip to Hokaido and go there. The food is so good, everything is just different, and they have a better way of setting up the resorts. You can buy a half day ticket, four run passes, you can hit two or three resorts in one day because everything is so close. And one of my best friends has shown me some of the most amazing runs. SO I could definitely go there for the rest of my live.

Monster Energy: What would you do if you could turn back time?

Danny Kass: No, I wouldn’t want to turn the time back so much because than I would be living in the past. You have to live your life with no regrets and apologies, just take it as you leave it.