CG: When did you get here and where did you come from?

LK: 2001/2002 was my first season and before that I did a season in Chile and Argentina. Before that I was living in Seattle, WA but originally I’m from just outside of Chicago.

CG: What was the riding like in South America?

LK: Really good - on a powder day at some of the smaller resorts, there would only be 50 people riding. The Andes are huge and some of the best ski areas are all serviced by t-bars and old two-seater lifts. It’s a totally different scene than anywhere I’d been before. Actually, for the most part, there was no scene - just people riding the mountain.

CG: What was your first job in Chamonix?

LK: I’ve been shooting photos since day one but before I left for South America I was working for MountianZone.com in Seattle as their snowboard and mountain bike editor. Since then I’ve been freelance.

CG: What’s your favorite magazine these days?

LK: The beauty of Europe is that nearly every country has it’s own language and magazines, and they tend to focus their editorial on riders from that particular country. One mag that’s recently come on to the scene is Dark Summer in the UK. It has a good core feel to it and it’s owned and operated by two skiers, so they really respect the skiers and their contributors.

CG: What is your favorite riding to shoot?

LK: I really like to shoot freeriding, cuz then I get some powder turns myself, but freestyle definitely holds a bigger share of the market. And while the general public doesn’t really recognize the difference between a 14-ft cliff and a 40-ft cliff (in a still photo,) a huge inverted freestyle trick is easy to appreciate. But now that some riders are combining freestyle with freeride, it works really well for the camera.

CG: What’s your favorite locale for shooting in Europe?

LK: I was just in the Dolomites and it’s really good there. I also like places off the beaten track, like some of the smaller resorts in Austria and Switzerland, but basically anywhere there are amazing mountains and not too many people.

CG: Who are you shooting with? And who’s tearing it up?

LK: Last year I shot with Andrea Binning, Xavier de Le Rue, Kim Christiansen, Sverre Liliequist, Todd Windle, and Thomas ‘Beckna’ Eberharter – to name a few and they were all tearing it up. I try to shoot with as many people as possible and some of the best photos I’ve taken have been with the Chamonix locals who were born and raised here. They know the good spots.

I also think Candide Thovex is a seriously influential rider at the moment. The guy can hit a 18 meter kicker, spin 810 degrees to rail slide then 270 off the rail…and he does it with style. It’s pretty hard to believe until you see it in person.

CG: You were saying that mixing freestyle and freeride is great for the camera. Do you see this as the next big thing in skiing?

LK: I think it’s already become the next level, but now its a matter of how far it will be pushed. Riders like Sage and Jeremy Jones are riding huge faces and treating it like it’s a park. I think tweaks, crosses, grabs, spins, etc on these big lines are taking it to the next level because there is so little room for error.

Another person I respect is Steve Klassen. While he owns one of California’s biggest snowboard shops he’s winning freeride competitions at the age of 40 with no bling or attitude. He’s actually in town (Chamonix) from Mammoth at the moment and he’s a good example of a guy contributes to the industry both on and off the mountain. I mean, at 38 and 39 years of age, he won the Verbier Extreme in a pair of 10-year old bindings and boots that border on Sorels, because that’s what he’s comfortable on. That’s awesome.

As far the next big thing - who knows? However, I think there are quite a few people out there taking it to the next level, but far from the eye of the public. I have as much respect for the construction worker/skibum who pushes it just as hard but doesn’t play the industry games. Some guys are climbing routes with two ice tools, then skiing half of it, stopping to rappel an ice fall, then finishing the route. Skiing a 55-degree face in variable snow conditions with that much weight on your back, knowing that a fall means death, is a level most people will never see, or care to see. I have a lot of respect for those guys…

CG: What keeps you coming back to Cham every year?

LK: Access. I can scare myself anywhere, but in Chamonix, I can be drinking coffee on my couch at 8:45 am and at 9:15 am be getting off the cable car at 14000 feet and dropping into a glacier. There are no rules. In North America it’s a mission just to reach a glacier but here you have to avoid them. There are lifts in Europe that you’d never see in North America because of legal reasons.

CG: Other than the riding what is your favorite aspect of Chamonix?

LK: The environment and everything that goes along with it. It’s so beautiful it’s like living in a national park and that creates an atmosphere everyone appreciates - whether they’re tourists or locals.

Another aspect I like is that I rarely find myself in a group of just Americans or Canadians. If you’re on the slopes, at the bar, or out for dinner, you’re surrounded by so many different nationalities, and we’re all here for the same reason, to be in the mountains.

CG: Think you’ll ever go back to North America?

LK: Yeah - all my friends and family are there and it is home. I see advantages to both (NA and Europe) but while I have the freedom, I’m going to stay here.

There are two ways as I see it. You can have the career, the family, and the financial stability - then pursue your hobbies and travel later in life, or you can travel and try different things while you’re young and have the freedom to do as you please. I’m going with the second option.

CG: How much do you travel?

LK: With photography the more I travel the better and more diverse my photos are. The shots I took in South America are some of my best because they are so different from what people normally see. It’s that buzz to get a new perspective that keeps me going, so during the heart of the season, I’m not here a whole lot. In the summer I shoot lots of biking and travel then as well. In between shooting biking and skiing, I’m pretty busy selling photos.

CG: Where would you go next?

LK: I’ve always wanted to go to Nepal, but from a photography standpoint, I’m looking to go to B.C. Canada. It’s quite ironic, because I used to live so close to B.C., but it gets so much snow, has so many mountains and the scene is huge in both skiing and biking that I’d like to get back there more often.

CG: Good answer, would you set up in Whistler or somewhere in the interior?

LK: The interior, Golden area. Snowmobiles are great. Riding the best runs with no lifts and no punters, that’s great.

CG: Sweet dude - thanks a lot. That’s all the questions I have. That went well eh? Is there any coffee left…

LK: We’re in France. There’s always more coffee…