Anna
My guest today, Scott Gaffney has been an action sports cinematographer and filmmaker for 30 years. For the bulk of his career, he’s shot, directed and edited ski films for industry stalwart matchstick productions. After more than two decades with MSP, he stepped away for two… After more than two decades with MSP, he stepped away two years ago into the freelance world.

In his former life, late 80s through mid 90s, Scott was a half decent paddler who spent 10 summers on the Ottawa River. A permanent relocation to Lake Tahoe, California led to leaving paddling behind as he turned into a very passionate, eternally mediocre surfer. Once named one of the 50 best skiers in North America by Powder Magazine, Scott’s now a dad of two who spends his days on the mountain getting after it with skiers typically half his age still flipping and hucking cliffs at the age of 55. Thanks for being here, Scott. I appreciate you. Yeah, and for those of you who are in the ski world, you probably recognize Scott’s name immediately because he is a prolific cinematographer and skier. And for those of you who are paddlers and not into the ski world, Scott’s a pretty big deal.

Scott
My pleasure, Anna. Thank you.

Anna
and I’m excited to have him here. And he’s also just a great human from the limited amount of time I’ve spent with him. yeah. Yeah. Right. Getting back on the Ottawa, getting your paddle on. Scott, describe your discomfort zone. What…

Scott
It has been a very short time but it was fun to meet you this past summer. I was flying high those days. I had a good time there. Yeah.

So fun.

Anna
Is there anything you feel in your body or what do you think about when you hear discomfort zone?

Scott
You know, it’s probably a little different now. I’m guessing I’m older than most of the people you’ve had and talked to about their discomfort zone. Mean, you know, paddling as people doing getting after it to pretty good ages and getting up there. But I find in skiing, maybe it’s a little more impactful sport. And in my world, there aren’t so many people, I guess, doing the things I might be doing at my age.

But when you’re younger, doing a lot, you’re putting yourself in your discomfort zone a whole lot more. And I think as you get older, you might still like to push the edge of it, but you don’t jump into it anymore where you’re doing things that you don’t know if you can get away with. I, like I’m at an age now where I do a lot fewer maybes, but I also have a lot more wisdom and know what I can do, know what I can get away with.

And so, sorry I got distracted by a text there. The discomfort zone’s still there and it’s a space you like to push the edge of, but as I said, I don’t jump into it that much more.

Anna
You’re good.

Anna
Yeah. So you actually, believe it or not, I’ve had several, I’ve had all ages on this podcast, which is one thing I love about it. And what you’re saying has been something that folks like Shane Benedict, for instance, who’s been in the industry for a long, in the whitewater industry for a long time, also said on, on his episode. And so when you were younger, what did your discomfort zone feel like or look like?

Scott
Guess when you’re younger you just you kind of feel a little more reckless and just go for it and maybe it’s a smaller window of discomfort zone but that’s it’s really tough to to say I’m so far from that younger that it’s hard to be reflective and know how much time I put into the consideration and calculations when you’re when you’re doing something

Yeah, you just you’re willing to just jump into it a whole lot more. And you know, I’ve had injuries head to toe all along and a lot of them aren’t a result of jumping in sometimes mistakes just happen. But I see you nodding. You go ahead and you

Anna
No, yeah, mistakes just happen. hear you. I don’t know if there’s a thing, but what are some of the signs now? Because when you’re saying you don’t jump into it as quick maybe now, so what are some of the things you consider when you are looking at whether it’s skiing a line or doing a project that maybe feels vulnerable?

Like what do you consider?

Scott
Well, I consider history for one thing and you can be like, I put a lot of things in skiing terms and then skiing and whitewater are so similar in the mindset. these can translate. But when I’m standing on top of a line, you know, sometimes you’ll just get that inkling like this isn’t right. And sometimes even I’ll have my family come into the picture and I’ll think of my kids. And if I start thinking about my kids on top of a line, then it’s probably something I shouldn’t be doing. But you have so much history of so many years of doing these kinds of things that you have the wisdom and knowledge that of drawing a line like I can get away with this. I can do this. I should be able to do this. And so your comfort zone is actually in one way it’s reduced, but in one way it’s widened as well because your knowledge is so much better just from all of your time doing this.

Anna
Yeah, I think sometimes younger, like for sure, when I was a younger paddler, I was paddling class five. You know, it’s just what you did. I didn’t really think about it too much. And now I feel really good that I’m not paddling class five that much anymore. It’s really, you know, I consider myself a really solid class four voter and I’m stoked about that. And like to a certain extent, I think the, like the younger, kind of ignorance, I’ll call it, because I didn’t really understand some of the consequences. When I was first getting into kayaking, it was actually a benefit sometimes. But then on the other hand, like you’re saying, now I feel, even though I’m not running the hardest stuff, I feel like I’m a smooth boater and making better decisions potentially. I don’t know.

Scott
Yeah, ignorance is bliss. Yeah.

Anna
But then maybe those better decisions are holding me back from potentially just going for something. I think there’s, I don’t know if you ever go back and forth with that kind of thing in your mind, but I do sometimes.

Scott
for sure. But when I reflect on my paddling days, you know, I was paddling in the dancer era when the perception dancer was the boat. And I kind of got out of paddling when the whole revolution in equipment changed. But I was paddling things that I should not have been paddling in that boat for sure. You know, and that was something that looking back, it was like I had no business being on that river in that boat or whatever it might be. There was a lot of that. It was fun, yeah. And it led to some great experiences and I really enjoyed it, but in some cases you were getting away with it as opposed to really doing it in good form.

Anna
But it was fun.

For you, what is more uncomfortable, like launching a film project that you’ve worked really hard on and you’re about to put it out to tens of thousands of people or running a line that makes you nervous?

Scott
That’s a tough one. know, I haven’t in as far as film projects. I’ve been working for other people for the most part. So they’ve done all the work and setting things up and I just take the creative part and run with it. And that’s that’s the part I enjoy. So in that respect, I’m in my comfort zone. But I have stepped into my discomfort zone in the past two years because I left the company that I worked with for 20, 22, 23 years and went out on my own. And I haven’t figured out this freelance world yet, but stepping away from that was a really tough move. As far as comparing it to a line, the line is a lot more comfortable than where I am now with my film career, because I don’t know how to operate in this freelance world. So I’m trying to figure that out.

Anna
Yeah, so there’s more unknowns is what I hear. Yeah, so how are you moving through that if you wanna share? Like what are some things when you start getting nervous or doubtful? I mean, I don’t know. I’m assuming that there’s some of that in your world right now.

Scott
Way more unknowns, yeah.

Yo, there’s a lot of doubt. Like, I have a lot more sleepless nights, or where I wake up in the middle of the night and I’m up for an hour or two and I’m just thinking about how am gonna find work and how’s this gonna happen? Because I know I’m a fine cinematographer and I can do some really good things with the camera and I can tell good stories, whatever, but I don’t know how to promote myself and I don’t know how to get my name out in front of people who matter.

So, and I’m not, I’m just, yeah, I’m just not a good self -promoter. I’m not gonna talk a big game about myself. So it’s just about making the right contacts, I suppose, more than anything.

Anna
Yeah. So, and then when you’re having those sleepless nights, are some strategies? Do you have anything that you’re telling yourself or that you’re, I don’t know, any strategies for managing that self -doubt or fear that comes up?

Scott
Just, I guess I tell myself to be more proactive in a lot of aspects of life. I tend to be someone, I’m the kind of person who’s a bit selfish in the fact that I really like to play and I like to enjoy my time getting out there and doing things. And when it’s ski season, I want to be playing as much as possible. If there’s ever wind on the lake, I’m going surfing and I’ll drop everything to do these. things to play and they take a priority for me. But when I’m lying there in the middle of night, I’m not thinking about play, I’m thinking about the bills I’ve got to pay and how I haven’t worked in two months and I’ve got to make something happen. So that discomfort zone really creeps in when you have that downtime.

Anna
Right. Yeah. Yeah. You know, what you’re saying reminds me a lot of my husband, Andrew, because play is definitely his focus. And I think that’s really cool. yeah. I don’t know where I was going that I was just listening to you and just cut that out. One thing.

Scott
You caught me when I was on the Ottawa this summer and you caught me at a week that was like pure bliss. had just been, I had just dealt with something heavy with getting rid of a cabin. We’ve gotten the family for almost 50 years and I wasn’t working. I was back on the Ottawa, a place that kind of felt like home after I hadn’t been there and really for 25 years. And I fell in love with paddling while I was there and I was reuniting with very dear friends and everything was just awesome and I was flying high. And so those are the moments I’d like to make happen more and more in my life. But unfortunately life gets in the way of those moments sometimes.

Anna
Yeah, for sure. mean, that’s always the balance of remembering that when we say yes to one thing, we’re saying no to something else and vice versa. And where to find that where we’re saying yes to more of the things that we want to do and supporting that. You know, something you said was interesting because you are as far as, you know, I can tell, you know, when you go,

Scott
Yeah.

Anna
I’ve listened to some podcasts before this interview that you’ve been on and checked out your post on your Instagram where you said you were stepping away from MSP. I mean, you are so, from what I could tell, you’re so beloved and well known in the ski world and you’ve given so much opportunity to folks, skiers who are really grateful for that.

It’s interesting that you are saying that you’re not very good at self -promotion and that you want to get in front of the right folks. And yet people would look at you and be like, but you are in front of the right folks. I mean, you’re so well known. And why I’m kind of focusing on that is just for everyone out there, sometimes I think we see really successful people and we make assumptions of like, it must be easy. And I talked about this with Rush Sturges, who’s a filmmaker in the paddling world as well, of like, you know, people make assumptions of like, well, you get to a certain point and then after that it’s smooth sailing and you don’t have to really worry about, you know, anything anymore. And I think it’s really important, you know, in terms of like, there’s always going to be a discomfort zone, right? No matter like how successful and well -known you are that you stepping away from MSP puts you in a whole discomfort zone and it’s not just smooth sailing necessarily. Yeah, and I think that that is, I think it’s important for all of us to remember and like you said, looking towards taking action. Like what can I do to continue the forward momentum?

Scott
No, that’s totally the case and you’ve captured how I feel. Like, I had security of a salary and work around the entire calendar year and now people out there who are production people can only really think of me as a winner guy. And so I’ve got all these other months where people don’t think of me as a cinematographer because I would go into

Anna
Interesting.

Scott
editing mode for seven months of the year. And that’s what I really got tired of with MSP is I was an editor for seven months of the year. And that’s not what I ever got into this whole business for was to sit in front of a computer. I mean, editing is just soul sucking and tiring. And I enjoy it in some respects and in small doses. It’s fun to be a creative person who goes out there, shoots like visualizes stuff, shoots, and then comes home and edits and puts it together. But when that’s all you’re doing for seven months and you’re working 60 hour weeks all summer and then missing your kids’ childhoods, their summer vacations, because you’re editing, it just doesn’t, wasn’t working for me after so many years of doing it. And so I don’t know where I was going with that either, but it was, it kinda…

sap the energy in that whole side of things for me. And so I wanted to find something different. But yeah, there aren’t people out there who think of me as a summertime filmer. So somehow I have to put that out there in front of them that this is stuff I want to do. And then the thing with me is like I left NSP because I want variety in my work and I don’t know how to like, I’m not going to move to LA. I would love to do commercial work. I would love to do comedies or whatever it might be but I’m also not gonna make that sacrifice of moving to it so I Realized that it’s not necessarily gonna come to me living up here in Lake Tahoe, California, so There’s I’ve got to find the balance and making it work somehow

Anna
Yeah, that’s a really courageous move to, yeah, it’s a really courageous move.

Scott
It’s yeah, hasn’t been easy.

Anna
Yeah, I hear you. And I love how you also on the Ottawa when you were on the Ottawa, you took advantage of being there and like filming Benny Marr, which y ‘all should look at Scott’s Instagram for that little segment because it’s really cool. right.

Scott
That was just fun to get out there and do, you know. The thing about it is, I mean, I obviously wasn’t getting paid for that. I just wanted to go shoot Benny and we got some good shots and I wanted to put out a little short of that shooting. But I love my job, which has made it easier to just be complacent in terms of moving my career on because I figured for 20 something years I’ve had the absolute dream job.

Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of doing that and I’ve done it all these years. And so I never wanted to really move away and move to anything else. But at a certain point, it just came to the point where I had to do something else, have a little more variety in my career and life. But yeah, I love shooting. So if there was a way that I could figure out to shoot like that stuff I did with Benny, but somehow make it work as opposed to shooting for fun, then I would love to do that.

Anna
Yeah.

The other thing that you’re bringing up for me in terms of discomfort zone is like you said, you had a dream of filming, skiing, and you did it you had your dream job. And again, that discomfort zone can always be there because at some point, when you decide you want something different, you then make a decision to change. So in other words, again, there is no end game, I guess is what I’m getting to, where we think there is. I I’ve done that in my career as well. well, I’ll get on the podium at the World Championships and then that’ll be amazing. Then you get there and then there’s something else and then…

You know, for me, I didn’t really enjoy competing that much. so finding out that I really love teaching, for instance, and coaching and now podcasting is super fun, right? But there’s always something different. There is no like just arrival place in the journey. And I think that’s uncomfortable inherently, like that’s life. And I think that’s why I like these conversations is to get different perspectives on that. Because again, just like you feel like you’re pigeonholed as a winter filmmaker, we can all get pigeonholed in like, well, like I get pigeonholed a lot of like, she’s, only teaches women, like she empowers women. Cause that’s what I did for a long time. That was what, when I first got into it, I was so passionate about. And I still,

I’m passionate about that and passionate about other things as well, which is why this podcast isn’t just surrounded around empowering women. I really like to explore how people face fear, create change in their lives, go through their discomfort zones so that we can all learn. Because we can get into this thing of like, it’s just me, which is not true.

Scott
Yeah, it’s very tough walking away from something you absolutely love. And that’s what I did. But I’m trying to keep that same love going, just redirected, I suppose. As opposed to totally, like I’m not going an entirely different path by any means. I’m just leaving security to love what I’m doing in some other little way.

Anna
Right. But like, if you were wanting to reinvent yourself, like in comedy or shooting things, like in LA, you could think of that as really, it’s an adventure, right? We think of, especially for outdoorsy people, we’re like, skiing the line is the adventure or paddling the rapid or making paddling, surfing that wave is the adventure. And adventure looks a lot of different ways, like going on an adventure of like, yeah, I want to do comedy and I’m going to start putting my name out to this whole other industry where I’m kind of a newbie. That’s a full on adventure. And I wonder, could you approach, like, the other thing I like about this podcast is being able to maybe see how we can take, how we approach kayaking or skiing and apply it to different areas of our life. Right? So like when you’re standing at the top of a couloir, or whatever it is and you’re like, shit, I don’t know if this is gonna work out or not. It’s kinda like if you’re approaching a production company in LA, you might get the same type of feeling in your body. I don’t know. Yeah, totally.

Scott
Yep. shit, I don’t know if this is gonna work out. Yeah.

But I think I’m awe in the fact that I can’t commit to making the full change, like fully dropping in. I know some skiers who made ski movies, who have moved on to LA and have had hugely successful careers and are making Super Bowl commercials. And they used to be urban skiers sliding rails. And it’s kind of crazy the success people have, can have when they fully commit. my problem is I can’t leave this world of the mountains and playing behind. That’s just too important for me. So that’s where I can’t whine that I’m not finding work because I’m not necessarily fully diving in as much as I possibly could to that world.

Anna
Gotcha. Yeah, that’s that commitment. Yeah.

Well, I look forward to seeing how like what what you do and really, you know.

Anna
There are so many possibilities out there. Maybe you don’t need to move to LA.

Scott
Yeah, there are. I actually got to, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Katie Burrell’s movie. It was a phenomenal comedy and I got to work on that. was called Weak Layers and she’s a comedian out of Revelstoke, BC and she wrote a Hollywood style script and we shot a bunch of that in Tahoe two years ago. And that was really fun to work on just directed the second unit where we were just shooting action scenes. But just seeing that side of filmmaking was a joy to be part of. It’s a good comedy worth checking out. So I’ve gotten a dabble. My movement away from MSP has allowed me to do things like that. And I did a pit viper commercial, which was ridiculous and employed a bunch of humor and stupidity and just things that are right along my lines. So I’ve gotten variety in.
I just need to find a way to make it more consistent.

Anna
Yeah, yeah, I hear you.

Because you’ve spent a lot of your life, obviously, putting yourself into your discomfort zone. So what have you learned about yourself through your discomfort zone?

Scott
I think you learn what you’re made of. don’t necessarily look at it from like a really deeper perspective, but I You know, I do a lot of Skiing alone and I really enjoy that and I think doing things alone makes you really aware of what you’re in it for and you can feel good about yourself when you’re doing things alone, I think I think we’re in a weird world now with with social media and with ever -present GoPros and iPhones and whatever where you get lost in what you’re doing things for or it’s easy to get sucked into these thoughts of you want to be seen in a certain way or whatever it might be. Like I actually had a post on Instagram a couple years ago about how I was going to ski, it was a summertime line that I was going to hike and ski and I was all alone. And then along the hike, I was like, I should just ski naked. I haven’t skied naked in a while. And then I started thinking about an Instagram post of how I would write this up about me skiing naked. And I was thinking about this the entire hike and I wasn’t enjoying the hike at all. I wasn’t in the moment of being up there. And I got so pissed with myself that I ended up writing this whole long post about how we’re sucked into this social media world and it’s affecting our brains and why we’re out there actually doing these things and like I was disappointed in myself for for letting myself think about this post I was going to make so then I made a post about that but but then I ended up going out the next day because I was so disappointed in myself I went out the next day and went and skied naked too and didn’t say anything to anyone and then just went and did it

Anna
Hahaha!

Scott
Because I wanted that experience but the fact that this creeps into your brain You know, you’re doing things for other people Kind of sucks and you know people do it all the time like You know, they might be might sit around home and not even think about going to do something But then they look lame on social media. So they’re like I’m go do this so that I can make a post about it And if that’s driving you That’s pretty weird

Anna
That’s awesome.

Scott
So that’s part of something I really like about doing things alone is you know why you’re doing it and you know what you’re getting out of it and you know how far you’ll push yourself in whatever you’re doing.

Anna
Right. Yeah. Thanks for sharing that story. I was going to ask you, did you ski naked after beating yourself up all the way up the mountain about the post? Yeah. That’s good.

Scott
I did. I did. But that’s been a routine thing. I get in at least one naked day a year. Somewhere.

Anna
Yeah, you know, it’s a double edged sword because on the one hand, I’ve totally been guilty of that, especially running a business in the industry. seems like it feels like a push. Like you always need to be putting out content and so people don’t forget about you, blah, blah, blah. And there’s some truth to that. Unfortunately, especially with our, think our brains are changing to where we have like such small like focus time, like, you know, and so on the one hand it is.

Like I have to remember, also, I make very like specific, like I’m not taking my camera today or I’m not. And for that reason, like I, because I like to be present in nature more than anything and be with the people that I’m with. And then there are other times where I actually don’t mind the bit of the ego push to where I might feel more lackadaisical about going out.

And then I’m like, no, you need to go out to get content or whatever. And then I end up having a great day and it is a bit more ego driven for sure. So I find that it can be a double edged sword. And then, you know, another aspect of this is back in nineties when I was coming up and you know, and you know this, you had to like work with to get on any films in kayaking, you had to work with videographers and they had so much power as to who they would film or not. And that was like, whether like could make or break someone’s career or advancement, let’s just say as a pro athlete. And so I’ve really appreciated this GoPro stage where like I can create my own content. I still think that hands down when you have videographers like you, like we have, you know, really talented videographers, it makes a huge difference because what you can capture is way cooler than like what GoPro can capture. And at the same time, it is makes it more, a bit more democratic in my experience as a female also coming up, I feel like that made a difference. But I agree with you, like, and then people are doing like some crazy stuff just to get it on camera and not making very good choices, right?

Whereas, if you didn’t have the camera there, you might have walked that rapid. So that day or something.

Scott
Right.

And I don’t want to make it sound like I’m all soul guy because I’m not. I, you know, I ski at a place where everything you do is right in front of everyone at Palisades Tahoe and all the best lines are in front of everyone. And I like being pushed and I like the arena of, of charging and having people actually cheer as you’re nail on an air or something like that. Like that part is fun. I think, I think it’s just, kind of sad that kids growing up these days don’t that knowledge and that feeling of not having everything captured. like I did a, I look back to a trip I did when I was about to move west. I grew up in Northern New York and then worked on the Ottawa for a bunch of years. And then I was going to move west, but I went down, I’d never paddled the Southeast. So I went first to the Upper Yough and then the Gauley and the new and just a solo trip. And I think I had an old Nikon camera with me and I only took one photo of the entire trip. And it was at the old airstrip somewhere by the new where this old guy gave you airplane rides for I think it was five bucks, $5 Frank. And so I took one photo of his little cardboard sign out front that said $5 plane rides. And from the entire trip, that’s the only like

Anna
Yeah, five dollar Frank. Yeah, five dollar Frank. Yeah.

Scott
historical moment I have captured on a camera. And I think of today, how different that trip would be with social media, whatever, how much, you know, and I’d probably be sprain about what I’m doing on the trip and whatever. But it was a whole different game and I miss having that where you went solely for the experience. you know, there was no look at me, there was no check me out. It was all…
just the experience that you’re looking for.

Anna
Yeah. And to be able to be present with that experience. Yeah.

Scott
Yes, and I don’t know if that’s any topic for the discomfort zone or whatever, but it’s an important thing.

Anna
Yeah, for sure. Because I think sometimes it can also be addicting to put ourselves in discomfort so that we don’t have to be present with our thoughts. Like you were saying, like when you lay awake at night, like that’s hard, right? And you’re like there with your own stuff, you know? And a lot of folks think, meditation is so blissful. It’s like, really? Because meditation, you’re there with your own mind and nothing else or like if you’re just there with you and the experience or you in the mountain and or you in the river. Yeah, you have to be aware of, it’s also beautiful, so beautiful. Like it can be uncomfortable and I’ve had some of like the best experiences that are indescribable and I can see them in my mind. I remember I spent a winter in Fernie skiing.

And I just remember getting off the lift at the top one time and I was by myself going down. I was like looking around. It was like amazing, just so beautiful. So yeah, I get what you’re saying for sure. Yeah.

Scott
It’s tough for me too because I’m a camera guy and I’ve always been a camera person who I’ve always seen the world through a frame. So I’m always taking photos regardless just because that’s I love capturing it. So then I have these photos and like, it’s a beautiful photo. It’d be nice to let other people see this beautiful photo, you know, so I’m caught up in it just by the nature of what I do and who I’ve been for so many years. And I guess I’m a little bit of an entertainer as well. And that’s been my thing. So I like to entertain with my stuff, you

Anna
Yeah, you know, it sounds like, you know, because from what I’ve researched, on brain, like neuroscience and nervous system regulation, you know, there are folks whose brains, because our stress response, or when we get nervous, I should say, our nerves are really, our bodies honing their, honing the system to be ready to do something that’s really important to you, right? So.my brain tends to orient to like, crap, the nerves are coming. That’s not a good sign. Like I, know, the thought of like skiing down where everyone can see me all the time scares the crap out of me. Like I get so in my head and that’s why competing freestyle kayaking was challenging for me.

So it sounds like you are a person who orients like when you’re in that mode, orients to like, this is exciting. I get to show off, I get to entertain, you know, by doing this, as well as doing it for yourself. Would you say that’s true?

Scott
That is true. it’s not just the showing, like, it’s part of the entertainer within me. Like I’m a shy kind of reserved person really inside, but I also have this side of me that likes to be an entertainer. And like, it’s not just showing off necessarily. Like I’ll do the dorkiest stuff in front of people too, to make them kind of freak out. Like ski like looking like I’m as out of control as possibly can be. Like I try to look like the worst skier on the mountain coming down at, you know, speeds that I shouldn’t be going at that ability or apparent ability. There’s just some fun in pushing and entertaining people and having them get a different experience. And I don’t know, you probably haven’t seen this movie, Gnar, that I made, but it was a tribute to my best friend who passed away in 2009, the guy Shane McConkey. But he was all about pushing the envelope, not just in athleticism, but in your societal comforts and doing things that you didn’t really want to do, like calling attention to yourself and being a dick out there and being comical and doing whatever that put you in this different zone that you didn’t feel good with being in.

And so we made this movie that was all about that. And on the surface, it’s just this debauchery, juvenile ski flick. But at a deeper level, it’s all about pushing those norms and pushing that comfort zone. And I think it really resonated with people. People probably know me from that movie more than all the other things I’ve worked on. And that’s just was kind of this low budget debauchery movie.

But it’s fun and people really tuned into that.

Anna
Yeah, it sounds like I’ll have to check it out. Yeah, part of.

Scott
It’s worth checking out. You won’t be disappointed. It kind of took over the whole, it was a surprise. It took over the whole ski world by storm because it resonated with people and they just ended up doing these ridiculous antics all over the mountain because it was fun and it was weird. And it just changed up the ski experience by acting like a complete kook out there.

Anna
Yeah, it’s good to not take ourselves too seriously, right? Yeah, because the ego can get us stuck in that too. Yeah, because there’s comfort in like being good at what, or being good at what you do and then to get out of that and challenge yourself to be different. I don’t know.

Scott
Yeah, and that was the amazing thing about this guy Shane McConkie is he was the absolute best at what he did and he was also the biggest clown prince in the sport of both skiing and base jumping. So he was doing radical things that were death -defying all the time and he was playing the entire time he was doing it.

Anna
Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like a lot of joy. Yeah.

Scott
he did have a lot of joy. We had good times.

Anna
That’s awesome.

Is there anything you’d like to tell our listeners, anything else about like discomfort zone before we get to our rapid fire?

Scott
No, I don’t think so. I mean, I could say all the cliched stuff, how pushing your comfort zone threshold is one of the best feelings in the world. And, you know, a lot of people don’t allow themselves to feel that. And you don’t have to necessarily jump into it and do something crazy. You can just push it and poke it and just test it a little bit.

And those are the most rewarding things in the world. think a big thing that people, how people misread action sports athletes is they kind of dismiss them as thrill seekers or, you know, adrenaline junkies. And it’s not that way at all. It’s, you know, it’s cliched to say it, but you just feel like you’re living so much larger when you’re doing that kind of stuff. And so, you know, I’m not gonna…

I’m not going to say it’s something you have to do, but I certainly encourage everyone to get out there and push their comfort zone, whether it’s in an athletic manner or a societal manner, whatever it might be.

Anna
Yeah, agreed. Well said.

Okay, we’re going to rapid fire. Okay. What’s a morning ritual that sets you up for success?

Scott
With my injuries, one is just working on my knee first thing in morning. It’s a physical setup for success, but I have to heat it up and crank it because I blew almost everything in my right knee. Other than that, on the way to the mountain, I tend to listen to some music that gets me really fired up. I have an old 2009 Subaru with a CD player and I still have mixed CDs. I’ll throw those in and get bumping on the way to the mountain.

Anna
Yeah.
Right on. What’s a non -negotiable self -care practice?

Scott
Going to the gym every fall for three months. I call it my three months of desperation where I hammer my body to get ready for ski season.

Anna
Is that the only time you go to the gym? Nice. that.

Scott
Yeah, yeah, three months of the year. I mean, I try to keep myself fit all year, but my speedo season is late November, which doesn’t really work for the beach, but that’s a good time to be ready for the snow.

Anna
Right on. Okay, what’s a favorite motivational book or talk?

Scott
Sadly, coming from my background, I tend to not read nearly enough and don’t listen to talks enough. I like mindless entertainment and movie comedies and things like Step Brothers and Zoolander and Letter Kenny and Shorzy. I like juvenile humor and that’s the place that kind of, those are the kinds of things that take me to places I want to be.

Anna
Right on. What do people get wrong about you?

Scott
I think they, you know, whether it’s on social media or just expectations of someone in my position, think life is just chill and smooth and I’m playing all the time and having a good time. I think anyone’s life has another side to it. mine comes with all the complications of, of not having enough money and wondering if I’m providing enough for my kids and raising them right.

And whatever it may be, it’s not always a smooth road. I do get to play a ton, but it’s not easy. And I think that’s the case with everyone’s life.

Anna
Yeah. Yeah. And you’re, you said, you’re choosing to play a lot. And so trying to find that balance of staying true to yourself and, you know, and life. Yeah.

Scott
For sure.

Anna
Are you so throughout the course of your life, have you considered yourself the underdog or the favored to win?

Scott
I’d say I’m the underdog just because I’ve never had the forcefulness to go out there and take it. I just did things steadily along the way. Like when I first moved west, I bought a camera and I went and was a lifty. I didn’t just jump right into it. And then I ski patrolled for a year and then I bussed tables for a year as I started making my first movies. Like I’ve been always working these little things and working my way up. It’s always been the guy who no one saw coming and just kind of kept building and building one thing led to another. I came up at the right time and things just tended to work out. When you have enough passion and you do have some skill behind it, things tend to work out for you.

Anna
Yeah. I love what you just said. Just the like consistent action over time and not, you know, that way you don’t burn out as well. Sometimes we can also look around and some people are doing like big, huge things. I’ve seen events that I’m like, how are people affording this event? And I’m like, this is crazy. you know, and then I feel bad. Like, I’m like, I can’t, I’m not doing events like this. Like maybe I’ve got it wrong. And

And then like two years later, they’re bankrupt and like had to like close the event down. Right. You know, that’s happened several times where I’ve like kind of like glittery things look really glittery. Not that there’s not some folks who go big and it works out for them. That’s I think that sometimes feeling like the underdog, but you stay true. Like you keep doing that action, consistent action over time. Yeah.

Scott
Yes, and so much in life and in that is just founded on passion and how much you actually love something because when you’ve got the love for it, everything else is going to follow.

Anna
Yeah. If you have the love for it and you keep taking action, which is what you’re doing, which is, I don’t know, just listening to you, I have a lot of faith of like your next chapter. Yeah. Okay. You kind of already answered this, but I’m going to ask the question anyway. So hard moves in easy water or flooding.

Scott
God, in a literal sense, I was always about flooding. I like the deep, big water of the Ottawa. I kind of gave up paddling when I moved to California, when it got shallow and steeper and scarier. I like the deep, warm play. So literally, that’s my answer.

Anna
Hahaha!

Anna (47:05.649)
And steep.

Anna
That’s so fun. That’s so awesome. Because also I was thinking, because you were talking about your career and it sounded like hard moves in easy water, right? Like you’re working your way up. But then I could just, I have never seen you in person ski, but I could just imagine that it’s more like flooding. Like you’re going for it. Like you want to just, you know.

Scott
Kinda going fast, although, yeah, but I also, it’s kind of funny because the antips, like I really like going fast and going through gnarly stuff and carrying speed, whatever, but I also like the techiest, we call it billagoding, when you’re skiing down like the front of cliff faces and just dropping from patch to patch and basically putting yourself in places where humans maybe shouldn’t be. And so I like finding my way in all these little tricky areas too.

Anna
Right.

Scott
I think it’s sometimes you want this and sometimes you want the, you know, they’re two different things.

Anna
Yeah, right. Totally, totally. Okay, what’s one word that describes your comfort zone?

Scott
Ooh, ever changing.

Anna
Mmm.

Scott
I like to see it fluctuate.

Anna
Yeah, can you say more about that? I know, but now I’m curious.

Scott
You asked for one word. I don’t know, like you kind of feel like it’s a bubble. Is it a line or is it a bubble around you? I don’t really know what your comfort zone is, but you kind of push it and mold it. You push it in this one area and it kind of reaches out a little further. It’s like this moldable thing that’s always moving. So there’s no set set like line around you. It’s just something where you push and then when you sometimes when you push it, it stays out there a little ways. And so it’s always a little further. So I just kind of picture this gelatinous ball around me, I guess, where you’re pushing the outside and sometimes the rebounds and sometimes it stays out there.

Anna
Yeah, I like that visual. It’s awesome. Okay, freedom through discipline or I do what I want.

Scott
say I do what I want. Yeah. I don’t know if I can expand on that, but…

Anna
You don’t have to unless you want to. Tell us all the ways you do what you want. Okay. In one word, what do you hope your legacy will be?

Scott (49:40.503)
I don’t think I have anything there.

fun. I don’t think there’s anything more important than having fun in your life. yeah, know, there are other people, and this is part of my selfishness. I will let other people rule the world and make the world go around and give us all these products and stuff that we need to do what we do. But I want to be the person that enjoys it and I think if you’re missing out on the enjoyment in life you’re missing out on everything. My friend Shane McConkey who died his wife is carried on his legacy and she has a foundation and their motto is you have one life living and it’s kind of part of that you know the YOLO thing which maybe is cliched as well but it it’s hugely important.

Like yes, you have one life limit. So don’t get caught in the same rut of doing the same thing over and over and over again. Find different avenues, explore, and above all, enjoy yourself as you’re doing it.

Anna
Yeah. You know, sometimes I think there’s that question of like, why am I here? And like, what if why we’re here is to like, enjoy life, like live life fully. Like that’s it. I don’t know the answer, but these are things I contemplate kind of like what we were saying earlier, like be present with the amazingness of it all.

Scott
Yes.

Anna
You know.

Yeah, I, since I turned 50 this year, I have a goal of having more fun. Putting more fun. Right? I mean, I’ve had a lot of fun, you know, already. And I think it’s good to keep that top of mind. For me anyway, you know? Yeah.

Scott
There you go, that’s a great second half of the century goal right there.

Scott
And I call it selfishness and there is a bit of it, you know, in there, but it’s also a noble quest.

Anna
Well, yeah, is it selfish? Because like on the one hand, like we all have a passion. Like some people’s passion is fashion. And sometimes I look at the fashion industry, I’m like, my God, it’s doing all this. Like you could criticize anything as selfish. Like the fashion industry is so excessive, blah, blah, blah. know, people who just want to have fun are so selfish, blah, like, what if that’s the…

Scott
Yeah, true.

Anna
the thing, like it’s your thing. We’re all unique and it’s such a gift because there’s a lot of not fun out there. And we can also look around and see a lot of people kind of just living life without like taking action to, you know, have fun and enjoy themselves.

Scott
Right?

Anna
I don’t know, it can.

Scott
I I could find a better balance between being a productive member of society and how much fun I get to have. I could.

Anna
Yeah, maybe. But I would say, I mean, not that I’m here to argue with you about your life, Scott. When I was, when I, again, when I’ve listened to podcasts that you’ve been on and like seen what folks have written on your social media, your passion has inspired so many people and created opportunities for so many people to follow their passion. And

Scott
Ha

Right, and that’s incredibly gratifying, but it’s also an unexpected consequence of me just doing what I want to do. So I could have different perspective of it too.

Anna
Right. No, for sure, for sure. I hear you. I hear you.

Scott
But that is one of the most rewarding things about what I do, is when I hear people say that. Because I’m just following that same path of someone who did that to me. This filmmaker, Greg Stump, put me on this path and this skier, Scott Schmidt, and I just was so inspired by them that I started doing what I’m And then somehow that has led us to the next kid doing the same.

Anna
Yeah. And that’s amazing to me.

Scott
And you’re doing the same and you know anyone you have on this podcast is doing the same.

Anna
Yeah, exactly. I love that. I love that. That has always called more to me. Well, for me, would maybe like, I love paddling. I love paddling. But then when I saw that I could take paddling and inspire people in a different way than paddling like hard stuff or being like the best, best athlete.

I was jazzed about that. It’s like such a gift. And it is odd. Like what’s non -traditional, you know? But that’s not to say that it’s any less important. That’s my pep talk for us in our non -traditional side. All right. Scott, thanks so much for being here. I super appreciate you.

Scott
Well, thank you so much for having me in and I hope to run across you sometime in the near future.