Sayulita. There, I said it. In a traitorous act of disclosure, I am tipping off the masses to surfings “big secret”. Alas, contrary to popular belief, Sayulita has been discovered. This small town, billed as a sleepy fishing village, is less about fishing (although that is really good too), and more and more a surf mecca and yoga sanctuary. This is not the back roads Mexican town of fifty years ago. No Sayulita is a little touristy, a little pricey…oh, and it’s the best place to learn to surf in the entire world.

The ENTIRE world, you say? Yup. From access to good, inexpensive lodging, to a proliferation of quality surfboards available by the hour or by the month, Sayulita is a novice surfer’s paradise. The breaks are clean, the waves consistent, and you can fall on your face a thousand times without fear of death and dismemberment. In fact, the biggest threat to your well-being is the super hot-ass, holy shit that’s hot, where is the SPF 50 and aloe-vera, sun. That, and maybe too much cheap booze.

Sayulita also seems to be one of those places where, by some rift in the space-time continuum, you bump into people you have met in some far-flung place before. As I paddled my long board through the forgiving, albeit ample swells, I ran into old friends, passing acquaintances, and one of the best skiers in the world.

After sort of exploding onto the scene, things changed a lot for you. What has been the biggest adjustment?

Well things are pretty similar only now there is more time to dedicate to skiing and being active. Being able to actually save some money has been a big adjustment.

It seems like you sort of represent the side of skiing that puts a big emphasis on style and sick tricks on natural terrain, rather than just going bigger and gnarlier. Do you focus more on doing cooler stuff on smaller lines, or always looking for the next big line?

I really love skiing terrain playfully, using natural features to dictate line because a lot of fun can be had on mellower terrain. But when conditions permit and you find a nice gnarly line its worth it to go big.

You hurt yourself a little bit last season. Tell us about that.

Well- while in Girdwood Alaska, skiing with Candide Thovex, Cody Barnhill, and Kye Peterson I had a weird impact off a kicker. We had been having really bad luck with getting the filming tri-fecta; sunshine, good snow, safe conditions. While we had several sunny days they were plagued by sketchy snow packs and dangerous consequences. So to be on the safe side we were hitting a kicker, nice and fun we had been hitting it a bunch of times hot lapping with the heli. I mis-rotated a fakie 540 and landed shoulder first head down hill. I ended up doing a mcl strain and I had to take about a month off to rehab and strengthen it again.

I just ran into you on the beach down in Mexico as we tried to be surfers. What are your first impressions on surfing?

Well surfing is hard. But seemed very fun and possibly addicting.

Is getting away from skiing during the off-season pretty important to you?

Yea taking a break off snow for a little while helps recharge the batteries. I really enjoy mt. Biking so its nice to cross train with something that has many parallels and very different too.

I know that you are really looking forward to Burning Man this year, and every year. Why is Burning Man so different and what does it mean to you?

Tough question. Well more like involved answer.

What are some of your goals for next year?

I plan to continue to have a lot of fun skiing and hope to continue expanding my horizons.

You’re getting married pretty soon aren’t you? Snowy honeymoon or beach style?

I’m getting married to my sweetie Sarah this summer in Oregon so it’s going to be beach style!

Let’s say I just gave you the perfect road trip rig, (bio-diesel of course). Where are
you going, who is with you, and what gear is strapped to that thing?

Wow that’s fun to think about, well in the spring I would load up the Utah posse and do a freeride mountain bike trip starting in southern Utah, spending time in virgin and other freeride paradises. Then head west meeting up with the bend crew riding some of the awesome trails in the northwest, and of course heading into BC to ride north shore and whistler. There is so much awesome riding around that the tip could last a while. We would continue from here east through Kamloops and down into Nelson. Then return back to Utah finishing the loop hitting up Idaho trails along the way.

I think I would love to do pretty much the same trip in the winter, with a slightly different crew, our sleds, skis, and instead of heading to virgin we would go to Tahoe. Then north repeating the route almost exactly, only now to snowy freeride Mecca’s shredding the northwest en route to BC.

Thanks for the time man. Thanks to anyone?

Thanks to all my friends and family and people who are stoked to have fun. And help support Marc Andre-Bellevue at www.standstrongagain.org.

Sage is totally right on in that a good post-season trip is just what the doctor ordered, and surf trips have an especially rejuvenating quality. In the end, while Sage might be the world’s best skier, he is not the world’s best surfer…and that’s all right. It’s all about being somewhere beautiful, reflecting on the year that has past and getting stoked on the year to come. I guess Sage will have to settle with Alaskan heli’s and trips around the world lugging two smaller boards, not one big one. For some reason, he seems to be totally okay with that. Focused and with a great summer ahead of him, I have no doubt we’ll see some amazing things out of Sage next year, and for a long time to come.

As for you, well, get your ass on the next flight to Mexico. Oh wait, what am I saying? Sayulita sucks. There are definitely NOT good waves, pretty girls, tasty street tacos, and probably some guy you’ve ridden a lift with before.