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Alaska-born, Tahoe-bred big mountain freak Sammy Luebke just had the season of a lifetime. He practically didn't lose. He won almost everything he entered. Placing first at three out of five Freeride World Tour stops in gnarly zones like Chamonix, Fieberbrunn and Verbier, the spark a ‘doob and roll, freestyle-meets-freeride approach the mellow 26 year-old brought to “them there hills is note to be forgotten soon.
Equally impressive, he’s a happily married father of two kids under the age of five and seems to keep all of his shit fully together, which this season also includes filming for TGR’s annual film. Turning and burning for eternity, here’s Sammy Luebke in his own words.
Freeride World Tour champion. Congrats! How does that feel?
Feels good. It took awhile, so it definitely felt good to snag it.
What was going through your mind in the run-up to winning it?
Sammy had a standout year on the Freeride World Tour, winning three out of five stops. Calixte Cogeri/Freeride World Tour photo.
I was working hard to place first, but once I was up in Alaska, I was in cruise mode. The snow was good and I wanted to just enjoy my run. I was looking at it like any other fun run at the mountain.
You finished 2nd last year in the FWT. Did you change anything up going into this season?
Yeah… I think I wanted to do the runs that I imagined in my head. I think last year I held back a little more. It’s so tough. You get one run. To travel all around the world to do just one run – it’s nerve-racking. It felt good this year to just stick with the line I would pick out.
You get one run and you only get to visually inspect the course. Could you explain how tough that is?
I used to do halfpipe and slopestyle, and you could do as many practice runs as you could get in. In the big mountain comps, you get visual inspection and then you go and try and freeride the mountain and get yourself comfortable on your board. It's kind of tough. Sometimes the weather doesn't permit. I couldn't see the face of the mountains in Alaska; it was clouded in until the contest. We were just going off photos. It’s a little nerve-racking sometimes.
It's kind of just like going out and filming, though. We are just trying to keep the terrain fresh, so sometimes you just have to go without knowing what it's like before. It's almost like everyday going out in the backcountry. So, I definitely have a little experience with that.
Xavier De Le Rue told me he usually takes a huge shit before he drops a line and he often carries toilet paper. How do you keep the nerves at bay before dropping?
"If the snow's good, and the line looks rad – that's when the butterflies go away." Sammy in the Wyoming backcountry, sans butterflies. TGR photo.
There are many ways, I guess. Talking with the homies helps. For me, I like smoking a doobie, but that's my own personal ritual. The nerves make my belly get a little funky. I can't really eat in the morning before. I don't puke, but I get a stomachache. Usually, I get to the top of a line and I look down, and that all goes away. Gives me visuals, and perspective. I think before a contest, I am thinking about all the outcomes that will happen and won't happen. If the snow’s good, the line looks rad – that's when all the butterflies go away.
Was it rad going up against a fellow Alaskan turned Tahoe dude in Ryland Bell in the Haines, Alaska stop?
We rode there last year together. Ryland also spends his winters in Tahoe, so we ride around Squaw together a lot. It was rad to have the camaraderie there. He's a sick snowboarder who has a rad outlook and just shreds. To have the same type of heart going into those runs was rad.
Tell us how working on the TGR film project is going?
Sammy's bringing his incredible mix of freestyle and freeride to TGR's annual film this year. TGR photo.
I spent two and a half weeks in Jackson mid-winter between contests working on it. I really haven't had a lot of time between these events with all the traveling they involve. I met up with Mark Carter, who is a good friend and longtime shred bud. I think we did a pretty dang good job of capturing us in the best conditions of the year. We were able to crack off lines pretty much everyday. Once it got good, it was amazing. They had such good conditions in Jackson this year. It was nice and stable when I got there, which was a plus. We were getting on top of stuff we were usually hesitant to get on top of. The snow was all time, and we got a lot of stuff done while staying really laid back. Riding with Carter is always a treat. The guy likes to ride lines, and so do I.
Are you now addicted to toothpicks and Carter Country Meats?
Sammy's been riding and filming a lot with Mark Carter this year, and both will be featured in TGR's upcoming film. TGR photo.
I like a toothpick or two, but I am not crazy about them. I don't need one all the time. Carter Country Meats for sure. I always want some for dinner to put in my belly.
You have been sponsored since you were nine. Who was your first sponsor?
My first sponsor was Oakley. I was at Nationals in Telluride and I was 8 years old. I didn't ride with goggles, so it’s pretty funny they were my first sponsor.
Where did you grow up?
I lived in Kenai, Alaska till I was about six, as both my parents were into commercial fishing. My Dad has worked for Tsoro in the oil fields for about the last 30 years, and every weekend we would go to Girdwood and ride Alyeska. My brother was a snowboarder, so I started doing the same thing. After a while I was like, “let's move to Girdwood!” So we moved there for the next 3 years.
Then snowboarding was starting to happen for me, and so we moved to Truckee. It's been what, 17 years? We moved here to do park and pipe stuff because none of that was happening in Alyeska. We grew up watching all the TB videos and that was all going on here. It was really cool coming from Alaska. I had the freeride background from Alaska and I got to express my freestyle personality in Tahoe, which made me the rider I am today. I like freeriding because I can still apply all that freestyle stuff I love. Enjoy powder. Make some turns. Just turning is one of the best things; the best feeling things ever.
Have you gotten the splitboard bug?
Sammy's been splitboarding for six seasons now, and enjoys the climb as much as the shred down when he's out there. TGR photo.
Oh yeah, I've been pretty on it. I started splitboarding six years ago. Really love just being in the mountains. Almost enjoy more of the climbing then the actual coming down the mountain. You get both, so you might as well enjoy it. I'm definitely a splitboard guy these days, especially early season. Nothing is open, and I like to get in shape before the season starts. Usually some pretty good riding in the mountains here in Tahoe before the resorts open, so I try and get after it, plus nobody wants to climb for their runs.
You have two small children. How tough is it to balance the intensity and focus of big mountain riding with being there for your family?
"My wife Kelly is pretty much the backbone... she's the true champ. She gives me that freedom to go and make it happen." Like for this TGR shoot deep in the Wyoming backcountry. TGR photo.
It's really tough. I think it's harder on me in some ways and harder on the kids in other ways because I have a four-year-old and a one-year-old now. My four-year-old is starting to understand that I'm leaving. It’s hard to tell her why I have to go for it to make sense. My wife Kelly is pretty much the backbone. Without her here, I wouldn't be able to go and travel and do the Tour. She's the true champ. She gives me that freedom to go and make it happen. She supports me big time. When I'm on the road doing a contest, I don't want to miss anything special and regret it. But I guess winning the Tour is a reason to be happy. It paid off.
You'll make for an interesting speaker at your kids’ career day.
“What do you do? ‘I snowboard.’” I hate saying professional snowboarder. I mean, yeah we are professionals, but snowboarding is snowboarding to me. I will never be able to look at it is a desk job. It's my passion. It’s my life. Snowboarding is not something that is just a career for me. It’s something I’ve grown up loving and will never stop doing.
It’s been your first full season on Jones Snowboards. How’s it been going?
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Sammy's finishing up his first season on the Jones team. Can't blame those guys for good scouting! TGR photo.
It’s been great! I really love the product. I've gotten a lot of support and backing from them this year. I think Jones is really focused on their riders and helping them do what they want to do. They back me 100% on what I'm doing. The boards have been awesome; such a good quiver.
You have TGR fantasy camp coming up. Where is that going down?
It's in that range below the Tordrillos, right? I think it's the Neocolas. I'm the only snowboarder. It’s going to be all skiers. There are two trips. They are going to shuttle in and out riders from the first trip to the second trip. This trip is usually the last segment in the video.
You are one of the only snowboarders in the film.
It's me, Lucas Debari and Mark Carter. I think?
How do you feel about being stuck with all these two plankers?
Sammy and skier Dash Longe (left) have been friends since childhood, but still talk shit about each other's choice in winter planks. TGR photo.
I don't mind too much (laughing). Some of them are pretty rad, but for the most part I spent my year and what I have shot in Jackson with Mark Carter. Pretty much just riding with Mark and Dash Longe. Dash is a skier and he's a super cool guy I have known since I was really young. Doing the Freeride World Tour, I have to hang out with skiers all the time.
So some of my best friends are skiers, but we will always have that skiers versus snowboarders vibe. I give them shit all the time and they give me shit all the time. It's better that way. Some of the beef is a little bit ridiculous, but other stuff is fun to poke fun at. All this talk of snowboarding dying lately. I don't think snowboarding will ever die. It's not going down. It’s not going to be over soon. Skateboarding went through similar stages.
Take us back to your first day snowboarding.
I was six years old. It was at Alyeska. So, pretty funny man, we were riding chair three. I had an instructor and everything. I skateboarded, so I knew how to rip around a little bit. It took me an hour or two with the instructor and then I was riding by myself all day on chair three. I rode there until I got better and could step it up and ride chair one. I don't remember it vividly, but then I just remember picking it up.
Then I was just riding solo all the time because Girdwood is such a small town. I knew everybody, so it was not a very dangerous place. Just go to the mountain and ride. My brother would be up there ripping with his friends. As soon as I got good enough to ride by myself, I was trying to catch up with my brother and his buddies. That was the first year especially. Ripping by myself and learning. I loved snowboarding as soon as it happened; I Just wanted to snowboard every day. I had a 111 Burton Air. I think it was the smallest boards they made at the time. It was sweet. I had that board for the longest time until I could buy something that fit me properly. That was it. That was the beginning.
Jeremy Jones describes you as “one of the elite all-mountain riders in the world.” How do you respond to that?
Sammy can spin with the best, but he's definitely not afraid to get amongst it. TGR photo.
That's a huge compliment for sure, ‘cause in my opinion there are just so many good snowboarders out there. To have him backing me like that is huge. Makes me feel good about my riding and what I'm doing. It's cool to have someone who's that experienced in the mountains give you credit like that. I love riding everything! I do mainly focus on powder. I'm a lover of all snowboarding, though. I love halfpipe, I love slopestyle, I love just turning and burning. Riding powder, dropping cliffs and whatever, you know. It's all snowboarding, so to have a legend say that about me is pretty damn cool. I never thought I would actually know Jeremy, or be on his team. I started back when I was younger just watching his movies, and here I am now on his team. Pretty weird and awesome at the same time.
You been able to do any trips with Jer?
We did a trip early-season to the Benson Hut. We did three nights there. We called it The Grateful Shred. It was a gathering. It was all the Jones riders - Nick Russell, Wyatt Stasinos, Jimmy Goodman, myself, Taylor Carlton, a few other photographers, friends and other enthusiasts of the pow. Ripping pow. Full splitboard trip.
That was fun just getting out and camping in the mountains with your homies, picking off lines and just splitboarding around all day. It was a pretty fun good little kick off to the season before all the tour traveling started.
Where does Sammy Luebke go from here?
"I also want to be a role model for other people who just want to go and ride pow. Make it happen. It’s not that far out of reach for anybody." TGR photo.
He keeps just going. He keeps looking for the powder. He just keeps trying to excel. I am just trying to keep it up. I just want to keep riding bigger mountains, keep up on my safety, keep in touch with the mountains. Gain further knowledge of something that I will never have total understanding of.
I also want to be a role model for other people who just want to go and ride pow. Make it happen. It’s not that far out of reach for anybody. When all the sponsors and contest aren't around I'll still be snowboarding. Until the day I die. That's pretty much where I go from here. Keep crushing the tour. My goal is just to continue just being in the mountains. That's pretty much what I'm doing. I am just going to the mountains.
Sponsors?
Jones Snowboards, 686, Smith Optics, Bluebird Wax, Totally Board Snowboard Shop, Side Surfers.
