Marko’s signature season end party.  (all photos courtesy of Marko Grilc)

Shaun White’s personal manager, Gabe L’Heureux, and I were chatting about a great person to interview, and Marko Grilc’s name came up.  Gabe has been spending close with him recently, so I invited him to as some intimate questions, and here they are. –Robbie Sell

Robbie asked me the other day if I had anyone good in mind that he could do a great interview of.  I thought Marko Grilc was a perfect choice, and then we decided I should interview him myself. Grilo is coming off a huge season, a win at the Air and Style, a win at Oneil Evolution slopestyle, and a 3rd a Euro X slopestyle.  He also had time to do a really cool documentary piece called The Red Bull Double Air.  If you ever get to hang or shred with Grilo, the dude is hilarious… always talking shit, having a good time, and ripping.  In my opinion he’s one of the only guys that actually corks a backside double-cork, and his bag of tricks is growing every week.  He’s super well rounded, and always a positive force on the hill.  If you get a chance to shred or shoot with The Grillionaire, do it. –Gabe L’Heureux

Lets get down to business.  Were you Junior World champion for Giant Slalom?

Yeah back in the day.  When I was growing up in Slovenia, we never really had any snowboard parks.  So i just shreded whatever on my snowboard every day.  My brother and all my friends were riding alpine boards so i tried it out.  It wasent very hard for me to ride.  So i just did that contest. Why not?  I was always in love with freestyle but i just rode anything that was connected to snowboarding.

You just threw a giant party in Slovenia?  What was this all about?

I just threw a season ending party and a premier of the Red Bull project I worked on, we did here at home.  It was sick, because those partys are always going off, like there is no tomorrow.  The whole snowboard scene here in Slovenia is really tight, so people always stick together when it comes down to shredding or partying.

What was it like growing up in Slovenia, were you and your family affected by the Yugoslavian War?

We had the war for 10 days in Slovenia.  We were in a sketchy position and had to escape from our own town.  There were air strikes and we were driving past tanks going to the city.  Luckily nobody shot at us. For the next 4 years when the war moved to Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia, we were effected of course.  So many refugees, and stories from a battle field 1 hour away.  It was not a peacetime time at all for our family.

I think most of the snowboard world first knew you for doing that massive FS 1080 into powder in 91 Words for Snow, in my opinion one of the best backcountry 1080¹s ever done. What was it like filming with Benedek and Christoph back then?

It was my first year filming backcountry and filming in the US.  Those guys really thought me a lot, and we always had fun.  The whole season was a blast, and when I have fun and enjoy snowboarding, magic moments happen like the 1080.  There were so many more experiences from that year that I will never forget.  If i had the chance to relive a year in my life, I would chose that one.  Haha.

When you’ve been near war, jumping rocks isn’t scary.  (Vaness Andriex)

Do people still give you crap for the way you pronounced Yamaha Snowmobile in that movie?

I think people still remember that.  I guess it came out funny.  Again, just another moment I will never forget. I still know exactly when I said it, where, and why.  3rd day in Anchorage, sitting, waiting, and being bored  talking to the camera by myself.  HAHA!

How has life changed since winning the Air and Style?  Was is nuts?  Were you nervous were you standing at the top of that thing?

I wasn’t really that nervous, because I was too busy dealing with other things. We had to hike our last 2 jumps, so I was more thinking that I need some air and some water.  Hehe.  But, everything changed after that.  I got so much attention, and it opened a lot of doors for me.  Also giving me more responsibility with everything.  It was definitely a life changing moment.

Early this season, you and the rest of your crew had the cover of Snowboard Mag.  Did you ever think you would get a cover running down some stairs and not snowboarding?  Tell me a little about that shot.

That shot captured us having fun, and that is why I love it.  It showed we are enjoying our time on the mountain.  We did one try and it came out as a cover.  I am probably the only guy that will ever get a cover where I am runnning.  But hey, I am stoked.

First try.

Sani Alibabic, Stefan Maurer, and Chris Sorman, are the guys you seem to shred with quite a bit. They seem like a great bunch of guys to ride with on the regular.  It seems like you guys are always having a fun time, even in the most stressful situations?

We are a great crew, and we travel together a lot.  Not so much in the last year, but we did so much before.  It is always fun.  I mean we try not to take it too serious, but still do cool stuff.  That is why we end up laughing all the time.  A trip with all 4 of us is really priceless for me.  Hehe.

How many times do you think you make fun of each other on a given day?

What do you mean?  That is the only way we communicate to each other.  Haha.  Who will tear the other guy up more…  That’s the whole point.

Air, style, Marko.

You’ve been putting a lot of time into your blog?  Would you say you are hooked on blogging?

I am hooked on anything that is connected with the internet.  My blog: www.grilo.si is just one of the things.  I guess I am one of the internet kids where the real life is in your computer.

What the plans for summer?  I’m sure a bunch of shredding still?

A lot of riding in Whistler for Burton Team week, and the TTR contest, then some more shredding in New Zealand, and finally some surfing in Bali mixed in.  I think it should be a blast.

Give some shout outs:

Burton, Red Bull, Adidas Eyewear, Gravis