Nick Russell is FreeRiding.
Climbing and descending big mountains has taken him all over the world from his home range in California’s Sierra Nevada, to places like India, Turkey, Alaska and Bolivia.
Nick has a reputation for charging steep terrain with smooth and inspiring style and control. Whether it's navigating through tight trees or dropping into exposed faces, Nick’s riding reflects his deep connection to the mountains.
Recently Nick checked off the first descent on a snowboard of Papsura, also known as the Peak of Evil, a 6,000-meter peak in Himachel Pradesh, India.
The following are excerpts from a recent conversation with Nick.
On FreeRiding
“What makes FreeRiding special is that it's magic. When the conditions line up to allow that effortless glide through the mountains, up and down, it is nothing short of magical. You exist in this experience, this arena where time is irrelevant when you're in the act of it.
You have to put in all of this work in order for things to line up. Then eventually you get to this point where you can strap in and head down. And in that moment, it is pure simplicity. Time ceases to exist - you're just existing with the mountain.
I'm sure some people can enter that sort of flow state in other areas of life. But for me, I haven't found anything that comes close to this feeling that we get snowboarding. It's so demanding of your full focus and presence.”
On the snowboard experience
"Skiing was invented for transportation purposes. Snowboarding, there was no reason for that to be invented other than it's an amazing way to spend your time. And funny enough, how this silly little act can consume your entire being - that's all you're thinking about, and that's all you want to do…
Aside from the act of it, it's this camaraderie that we have with our brothers and sisters out there that is something truly unique that we get to share with one another.
To the outsider, it's just a recreational activity, but you do it long enough and something's going to click where it seeps deeper and deeper into your being and you become fully immersed. These deep friendships are built through the act of going snowboarding, through the commonality of linking up and going to the mountains and sharing powder days together, building bonds in the mountains with your riding partners. It goes so much deeper than other activities. When you're in the backcountry, you are relying on your partners, 100%. You need to have complete faith in them, and they need to have complete faith in you. There almost aren't even words for the connection that we gain with our friends and partners in the mountains."
On mountains
"In the big hills, you're constantly given reminders of your size and scale. Your perspective is always skewed. Before you get in there, it's all about you. It's this very personal pursuit. And then you get into this landscape and you're quickly, humbled and reminded that we are so small out there.
The real reason that we're there, it might be trying to snowboard, but it's really to learn how to move in unison with the terrain and work together with the mountain.
These mountains have been around for millions of years, slowly evolving and we're now just getting introduced to them. We're just figuring out how to move through them efficiently and that's a pretty cool realization when you're out there."
On progression
"For me, progression means doing something I haven't done before. It doesn't matter if someone else has done it - if it's new to me then I am growing and learning and evolving.
With my snowboarding nowadays, that's the main goal, I just want to do new things and ride new terrain, go to places I haven't been before, go around the ridge that I've never seen. That's what brings me the most joy in my snowboarding. Laying eyes on a new swath of terrain and walking in there with an open mind; just putting yourself out there is really all you can do."
On intention
“I think it's really important to do everything in life with intention. Coming into a new season you get all summer to reflect on years past and then you have the second half of the offseason in the fall to prepare for the upcoming year. You need to take a step back and ask yourself what are your goals for the year? What do you want to build up towards? And once you figure out what those things are at the end of the rainbow, you can work backwards from that.
So let's say you want to go and ride this huge peak in Timbuktu and it's this fluted face. You need to get reps in on steep terrain, riding spines, etc. But gradually building up throughout the year is really important for me. I definitely operate more effectively when I have a large goal by the end of the year. So that gives me five or so months to build up to it."
Russell insights
“Mentally getting ready for that kind of stuff comes down to visualization and manifesting.
You have to believe that whatever it is, is attainable. You also have to visualize the steps that are necessary in order to get there. You can't skip these important stairs along the way and just all of a sudden reach the second level. You need to walk up every stair and do that purposely.
No elevator.
There's no yellow brick road to these places that you can just casually walk across. It's necessary to work hard sometimes. You need to learn how to be uncomfortable, or become uncomfortable. At a certain point in the mountains, it comes down to getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
It's often this romanticized, dreamy landscape of sleeping in tents, in the snow, and beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but the reality is it's not always the same. It's cold. It's windy. It's hard work sometimes, but you have to remind yourself that you're willingly putting yourself there. The reason we're doing this is because we love it so much. We love every step of the way from the shitty times to the glory sunrise powder turns.
It's all part of the process. And that's why we do it every year, year after year."
