The North Face has Flair... Dana Flahr.

Interview by Amy McDermid

I first met Dana probably 7 years ago when he was a part of the Jib Culture crew (consisting of Ryan McKeeman, Miles Ricketts, Rex Thomas, Dana Flahr, Robbie Dagg, and I'm sure you know of Chris Turpin.) These boys ruled Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, with undeniable skills in both the terrain park and outside of it. Then the time came for them to take the park to the backcountry, and while many of the original Jibculture crew have since settled in the greener pastures of DJing, bartending, carpentry, and ski coaching, Kamloops-born Dana Flahr continues to make a living doing what he loves most: skiing big lines.

Full Name: Dana Flahr

Occupation: Professional skier

Home Mountain: Whistler-Blackcomb

Sponsors: Atomic, The North Face, Oakley, Sweet Helmets

What ski movies have you had segments in?  Teton Gravity Research: "Re:Session", "Under The Influence", "Lost and Found", "Tangerine Dream", "The Big One", Rocky Mountain Sherpas "The Fine Line", Tanner Hall's "The Massive", Paul Cotton Film's "Disturbing The Piste", 2 Track Productions "Versys" and "The Playground", Pimpin' Frogz Productions "Reality" and "First Strike" 

Who are your skiing partners in crime?  Ian McIntosh, Matty Richard, Callum Petit, Kye Petersen, Sheldon Steckman, Greg Campbell, McKeeman, Austin Ross, Chris Turpin, Ryan Oakden, Ingrid Backstrom, Sage, Seth, Tanner.

What is your earliest skiing memory? Where?  Harper Mountain, Kamloops BC, no turns, no poles.

What skiers most inspire you?  Jeremy Jones, Seth Morrison, and Sage Cattabriga-Alosa inspire me.  I've gotten the chance to ski with Jeremy Jones in Squaw Valley on a sick pow day, then in Alaska for two weeks. That was amazing, and we were with Seth Morrison too. Being beside those two guys on top of an Alaskan peak was pretty insane. There was some pretty rad energy floating around for those couple weeks. Also skiing with Sage a lot over the last 3 or 4 years has been super cool, because he is super focused and looking at the mountain in a unique way. It is contagious.

Do you think the forest fires on Blackcomb this summer will improve the tree skiing up there? (Not that it needs any improving....)  I biked up to the bottom of Ruby Bowl about a month ago with Matty Richard, from Whistler village, and we got a good look at the burnt areas. I don't really think it will be as good as most people think because most of the good ski lines didn't seem to have burnt much. But it was a huge climb, and I could have been partly hallucinating.

I understand you spend a lot of time in Wooded Tree Area- what's the gnarliest thing you've ever seen go down there?  That's a tough one...I remember Ian [McIntosh] doing a drunken backflip off the deck during one of the mid-afternoon redneck parties, then Dirt [Greg Campbell] burning the rest of his broken snowmobile in the fire pit while Moss Patterson was axe throwing.

What do you like to do in the off-season? Mountain biking and surfing. That is all I need.

How do you stay in shape for skiing when there's no snow? Mountain biking and gym time in the fall. There is so much hype around the bike park, but I don't really get into it. We ride up everything, and we have the sickest downhill trails all to ourselves. There's a lot of lazy bikers out there. I love my bike posse, and we do it for fun, not for fitness. That is just an added benefit of it all. When I ride up, I tune out the world and enjoy the silence.

What's the gnarliest line you've ever skied? Probably in Haines a few years ago, shooting for "The Massive". I was skiing solo, which never really happens on a heli trip. Tanner got hurt, and the crew decided not to bring in anyone else. Tom Burt was our crew's guide, and he found me a gnarly spine face with one skiable line on it. Tom was up top with me and gave me a lot of confidence with it. It started with a crazy toe-in with the heli on a knife edge ridge, and it had a bit of a convex roll at the top, to a really narrow, steep spine that continued down for a few hundred feet, then a long chute that went to the valley bottom, about 2000 vert below. The hard part of the line was half way down the spine, it got super skinny (6 inches or so) so I knew I would have to sort of power slide it for 15 feet or so, without dropping off either side. Each side of the spine had big trenches that you could not fall into. One, because the slough was pouring through, and two, there was no getting out of it. So I got to the crux, power slid, started to slide towards the edge, but snapped a quick turn the other way and held on.  I skied the rest of the spine, aired off the end, and cut out into the chute and party skied the rest. The helmet cam shot ended up in the flick. I owe Tom Burt huge for being an amazing mountain partner and guide on that trip.

The spine:

Where and when was your deepest pow day? Alagna Italy last season, day one of our trip. No cameras, just rippin neck deep pow in the Alps with my bros! The rest of the trip didn't ever get that deep again, but it didn't matter.

What are your backcountry words of wisdom? Always feel at the mercy of the mountain, wherever you are. Humility is the mountains' language.

What is the elusive peak/line that you've always wanted to ski, but haven't had the chance? There are so many, but some of the lines in Valdez that Doug Coombs skied would be up there on the list.

What are the top 5 things you always have in your pack when you're in the backcountry? Shovel, probe, extra layer, extra goggles, and water.

So, I tried to get some embarrassing stories about you from Heim and Treat, but they won't divulge any dirty secrets- so do you have any embarrassing moments you'd care to share? There's probably lots of those too...hmmm, maybe the Jackson Hole premiere night of Under The Influence, when I was back at our Hostel-X room after the party, and there was no late night food, so the boys went to the gas station, and I went to town on a bunch of cheezies and pumpkin seeds. It came back up shortly after, and just ruined our room.