On August 12th try to find Shayboarder in Portland, OR for your chance to win a 09-10 Lib Tech Skate Banana!

Have you ever been curious about working in the snowboard industry, how to get in or what experience/background you need? The Industry Profile series was born to give you answers to those questions. Every Tuesday and Thursday from June to September you'll find a variety of people in the industry being interviewed for their various roles and experiences on how they got into the industry.

Living at a high elevation in Colorado has it's perks...you can always find snow somewhere that's rideable. After a great 07-08 season in Colorado, there was still snowboarding to be found at St. Mary's Glacier or on Breck's 4th of July Bowl. The month of September, I found myself with friends driving up to the top of Breck on a jeep trail to enjoy some fall shredding on rails set up. These are pictures taken on Sept 13th, 20th and 21st.

It snowed in early September so the road was the worst on September 13th as we made our way up through snow and eventually had to stop to hike all the way to the snowpack.

Shay: So tell us about yourself?

Alex: I am getting close to the big 30 mark...well, I've got a couple years...I love snowboarding, always have. I live in Heber, Utah, with my two loves, Erin and Kujo. It also helps that I am about 5 miles to the sled zone.

I actually got into snowboarding because of my dad and his buddy, they used to own a shop in Idaho Springs, CO called Cruise or Bruise...great name. My mom came from a strict ski race background and hated snowboarding at first...she to this day has never set foot on a board. Good for her. She rips on skis anyways. My dad still kills it on a board. You can find him in Terrace, BC every winter. He is the only one rocking a one piece suit, Glacier glasses and a fucking huge split tail Prior deck....probably shredding harder than me still. My brother used to ride for Checker Pig. Yes, that was a brand back in the day, thanks Windell...well, there is my fam.

Shay: What is your job title?

Alex: I am the International Team and Promotions Manager for Rossignol.

Shay: So tell us about yourself?

Dennis: My name is Dennis Kelly. I have many monikers but most of my friends call me Denno. I'm 31 years old, and I moved our West only 3 years ago to live in the mountains. I'm passionate about my life, work, family, the mountains and environment, snowboarding and the resort/snowboard industry. I live, ride, and work at Stevens Pass in Washington.

Shay: What is your job title?

Dennis: RTP Administrator for Stevens Pass.

Shay: Did your parents question your job choice?

Dennis: My dad questioned my decision to move to the mountains because I didn't have a career opportunity lined up at first, and I would be giving up one in the process. I think he just wanted to make sure it was really what I wanted because I was choosing more than just a job, but also a new lifestyle. Both parents have always been supportive though.

The brand New Nitro Sub Pop Features negative camber between the bindings with a flat base towards the tip and tail for a more skate orientated feel.

In addition, the board features our DRIFTER BASE, which is a convex base shape in the binding area which blends into a flat base toward tip and tail. We were the first to offer this feature several years ago on the T0, and enhances rail performance. The base is "dished" .25 of an inch resulting in a looser feel and catch free jibbing. You can lean into your tricks like you do on your skateboard.

Shay: So tell us about yourself?

Gorio: I was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. I have also lived in California, Ecuador, Mexico and London but always had a home base here in Seattle. I work at evo as the buyer. I really like being outside, not working at a desk. I really like baked goods (Oatmeal Raisin cookies, cinnamon rolls, berry pies). I have a theory that nobody likes coffee, they just get used to it. I love everything and I hate everyone (Shay laughing, asked Gorio if that was really true?) No, it just sounded funny. I'm random; I have a randomly selected memory with all these bits of useless information. It's hard to talk about myself; it's just easy for me to talk.

Shay: What snowboard shop do you work for?

Gorio: evo, www.evogear.com

Colorado had a great season this year and that shows in the snowpack that is left in the upper regions. We hit up two spots (St. Mary's Glacier and 4th of July Bowl) on July 19th and 20th to get in some shredding. Here's a couple pics from the 2 days of riding.

The lake at the bottom of St. Mary's Glacier...there's a ton more snow up there than it looks like.

Hiking with the NS Evo R

Shay: Tell us a little bit about yourself

Matteo: My name is Matteo Mezzetti and I was born in Sacramento, California. I have always enjoyed being involved in board sports since I was little, which prompted me to start snowboarding when I was eleven. I like individual sports because they require you to count on yourself instead of others as well. I currently attend California State University-Sacramento. I have no clue about my major, but I will enroll in the Coast Guard in about 1-2 years. I enjoy where I work and could not ask for a better job then to sell stuff that pertains to the sport I love most.

Shay: What snowboard shop do you work for?

Matteo: Sierra Snowboard & Ski, and sierrasnowboard.com.

Shay: Tell us a little bit about yourself

Jon: I'm not a unique snowflake. I know that much. In reality my background is similiar to my peers. At a very early age I found outlets for expression in skating, snowboarding, and bikes which took me down a path more combustible and creative than anything else.

Fast forward about 15+ years and we'd be smack in the middle of the dot.com/dot bomb era. I managed to launch several media properties for AOL: Freestyle, RED, and LAT34. Eventually, the realization came around that If I truly wanted to express myself I would have to go solo and remove myself from well funded corporate backers. That being said, there's nothing wrong with corporate America at all but when you have a vision of what you want to say beholden to somebody makes for a few too many compromising situations.

With that I launched SouthoftheNorth.com. South of the North is fun and I don't take it too seriously. At the end of the day I am one voice, one opinion that looks to fit into a culture rather than be a dominant voice.