“It’s tough to pinpoint one event that turned the key for me. Everything has been a perfect segue. A good novel, each page compliments the next.”
Nothing sums up the life of snowboarding’s prodigal son, Travis Rice, more precisely than his own words. The light of the snowboarding Gods have surely shone upon him as everything Rice has touched in the sport has deservedly turned to gold. He burst upon the scene during a Superpark event in Mammoth in 2001 that launched his film career, won X Games Gold, then led snowboarding’s freeride movement into the backcountry—making each transition look as easy as his relaxed style in the mountains.
And the films documenting his rise have influenced generations of riders. Which “segues” us perfectly into The Fourth Phase, Rice’s follow up to his iconic Art of Flight, four years in the works. Rice sits down with The Inertia on his sailboat in Tahiti to talk about the making of another fantastic movie project, the friends that supported him along the way and of course, the beauty and pure joy that is snowboarding.
Editor’s Note: This piece was made possible by our friends at Skullcandy, a proud sponsor of The Fourth Phase and partner of Skullcandy athlete/owner Travis Rice. Watch The the film in its entirety October 2 at Redbull.tv at 9pm.
