Touching Base With Cooper Branham

Hey Cooper, how’s it going? Where abouts are you at the moment? 

I’m in Washington just now. I usually go back home and hang out for the summer because my whole family’s here. The summers in Washington are awesome. It gets a bad rep for Seattle being rainy, but it’s pretty nice in the summer- moderate temps, and it’s all around the water. And then I go to Jackson Hole in about two weeks for the winter. 

Nice, get a change of scenery and catch up with the fam and friends. So living in Jackson is one of the dream spots, right? How long have you been out there? 

I’ve got five Jackson winters under my belt. Usually, I spend November through May out there. It’s cool being there in the winter because there’s so much to explore in the mountains. You’ve got the Tetons and all that, but the Greater Jackson area has a ton of mountain ranges. I’ve spent a lot of time on snowmobiles and walking around in those mountains, but I’m still constantly finding new places to go. My riding has grown a lot while being there. You go to Jackson, and you’ll get some really good days, and it’ll stay good for a long time. Of course, you’ll definitely scare the shit out of yourself in that terrain, but that’s always good for you. 

“What I truly wanted to do was film snowboarding that inspired other people to go snowboarding.”

Take your brave pills and get out there. There are so many legendary riders who call that place home and, obviously, for good reason. Do you ever find yourself getting a bit starstruck?

With the terrain so gnarly, I think there’s a good fostering of community from those legacy riders who really pioneered a lot of the backcountry snowboarding and filmmaking out there. There are people like Guch, Travis, Bluebird crew, Kingwill, a lot of guys who’ve come down the line from that. And I think continuously, they recognise the people who are there to really push themselves, and they recognise that there’s a level of commitment that it takes to learn those mountains and be safe but also push your riding. 

There are definitely some starstruck moments, though. There was a day a couple of years ago when I went out and snowmobiled and rode with Guch and Travis, just us three. 14-year-old me would never believe it. But then there’s a moment where you know you’ve put in your time and you’re amongst people who respect what you’ve done, and you obviously respect what they’ve done, and you’re in the right place. It’s always snowboarding at the end of the day. 

It must be very cool to go from these people being your idols to being your peers. Do you think this proximity to riders like that has shaped you as a snowboarder? 

Definitely, Cam Fitzpatrick is a good buddy of mine, too. We push ourselves a lot with our own filmmaking, and he learned a lot from Bryan and Travis, too. I could go splitboarding for an hour with Guch and barely snowboard at all. Just spending time observing how he views the terrain and travels in the mountains has taught me a lot. To me, observation through doing something together is the best way to learn. It often happens without you even realising it. You realise how much you’ve expanded as a rider just from the time you spent, and that’s really cool. 

“I think skits and snowboard movies go hand in hand, and they always have.”

That’s awesome. So, you’re a pro snowboarder, which is the dream, but going into the backcountry and filming isn’t necessarily the ‘traditional’ way to come through the ranks. A lot of people come up through the contest circuit or through national teams. What was your journey to get you to where you are now? 

Skateboarding was a big part of my life as a kid, and I actually wanted to be a pro skater. Luckily, I had parents who skied and snowboarded, and it naturally progressed into being in the mountains more often and being more intrigued by that. I never really competed; I did a few contests growing up, but I learned pretty quickly that I wasn’t really motivated by that. 

What I truly wanted to do was film snowboarding that inspired other people to go snowboarding. I remember how impactful all the films that I watched on repeat as a kid were to me, and I figured if I chased that same feeling for other kids and other riders, then I would always be doing it for the right reason, regardless of what level it came to. And so every opportunity I’ve had to film or to elevate my riding, I’ve taken. 

When I was 21, I got a text from the owner of Satellite Board Shop asking me to ride in next year’s Warren Miller film. That turned into a tour, and then I met the people from Jackson Hole, and I met Cam, and I got invited up there. And these things just blossomed as I chased that goal. It always felt pretty natural, and I think that’s key: to do what inspires you. 

What movies did you kind of have on repeat growing up? What were your go-tos? 

An obvious one is The Art of Flight. That’s a big piece of why Jackson was always on my radar. That movie was just a whole other level of snowboarding that I could never have imagined as a kid. And then I loved watching a lot of Torstein’s videos back when he had torstein.net. I thought the blend of humour and the style that he had on a snowboard was so sick.

I was gonna ask you about this, I saw the teaser for Ranch Hand, and it looks equal parts incredible riding and just hilarious as well. I love the idea of injecting personality and humour and fun into movies rather than just banger after banger. Was that a conscious decision you rolled with? 

Absolutely, I think skits and snowboard movies go hand in hand, and they always have. Cam, Yuki and I love adding some flair. We tried to incorporate some fun into our last few films because it just makes it more interesting and gives you something to sink your teeth into. 

You want people to be rewatching them, and half of it’s for the riding, but the other half is because it’s enjoyable viewing, you know? So you’ve obviously travelled quite extensively and been to some very cool places. Is there somewhere that’s yet to be ticked off your bucket list? 

Alaska. Alaska, over the last few years, has grown as a desire of mine and has now become a bit of a fixation. To get up there and to ride that terrain, it feels like the pinnacle. The biggest terrain and the craziest mountains. I think it was TB9 or TB10 with Johan Olofsson; he had a couple of really sick Alaska parts, one with Big Mountain Jeremy Jones as well. Anyone riding the Alaska Mountains in the nineties and charging that hard feels like the rawest form of snowboarding. That gets me really fired up. 

If you could put together a dream crew from any era of snowboarding, who would it be? Imagine you’ve got access to a machine that bends the space-time continuum, so everyone you pick is in their prime, and you’ve got five lift tickets to give out. Who’s on your roster? 

Dang, that’s a crazy question. I think there are the obvious ones, like Trav and Torstein. I think you gotta throw Pat Moore in there, Guch because he always brings a good vibe, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t say Craig Kelly. 

Great crew; I think you’d break the Internet if that somehow ever happened. You’ve spent quite a bit of time at Baldface, and that’s obviously a pretty mythical spot for snowboarding. What have you been getting up to there? 

I went up there for the first time four years ago. There’s so much hype and excitement around it; it’s huge to be able to experience that place. I went up there for Risk Maturity, which is an avalanche course. And, since then, I’ve actually come back to that same avalanche and first aid course every year in some capacity. Last year, I helped do a presentation there about an injury that Yuki Kadono had, where we helped to get him out of the backcountry, and we were able to do that directly from skills that we learned on that course. 

It’s a great place to learn about backcountry safety and also how to operate and get footage in that terrain, but also to learn how to handle stuff when it gets bad. The things I’ve learned at Baldface have become a big part of my career. Then there’s the community that it fosters, and knowing how to be mature in the backcountry and knowing that if we’re not operating safely, we’re taxing resources, but we’re also risking each other too. So, that’s a big piece of why I’ve done a lot in Baldface. It’s also a home for snowboarding, and I really enjoy starting my winter up there, slowing down and being around other snowboarders and talking about how we make sure we have a safe winter. 

Like you say, being able to move safely in the mountains is so important. Any snowboarding has risk, but obviously, when you take it that step further and you’re off the beaten track, you’re responsible for each other, and you have that trust in the crew you’re with that, should the worst happen, you all know what to do.

“We just all showed up in Tokyo, and we’re like, “Hey, good to meet you; let’s go.””

So I saw HOKKAIDO just dropped, which was such a fun watch. You guys bagged some awesome stuff. How did that trip come about, and how was that experience? 

This trip was actually just a week or two after I started riding for Nidecker. We’d been talking for a while, figuring out all the details of contracts and all that business, but I knew the trip was coming up, and they were like, “Hey, this is gonna be a great way to kick things off.” The ball wasn’t in my court right off the bat to ask to go to Japan, but it was such a good way to set the tone for how they wanna release some of the new riders, so that was very cool. I got to meet the media guys like Sam Ingles and Sam McMahon, and Laureen (Mahieu). We just all showed up in Tokyo, and we’re like, “Hey, good to meet you; let’s go.”

So, as you say, you’re only a fairly recent transplant to the Nidecker team. How did the link-up happen with them? 

Tom Pelley (Nidecker TM) is definitely the one who pushed the ball the hardest. I went to Interlude, which is like a snow trade show that they do in Utah, and Pelley was there. And that’s where I met him, and, you know, things just move slowly, but that’s how I like to do it. Get to know a brand and really know what they’re about before riding for them and representing them. Once I truly got to know the brand, their goals and what drives them, I found everything aligned really well, and I was really stoked. I already knew Taylor Gold pretty well, as well as Eric Jackson, and I’d met Craig (McMorris), so the team felt like a really cool, familiar thing. 

For sure, it feels like the brand is kinda shifting gears in terms of what they’ve put out in the last few years. How have you seen the brand grow and evolve since you’ve been involved? 

I think there are a lot of people in the US who don’t know too much about Nidecker yet. They’ve heard the name because of the other brands that Nidecker represents, but they were surprised, at least in conversations I’ve had, about the huge presence of Nidecker globally. Over the years, the US has had a more limited exposure to the brand, and that’s what I think is the most exciting part and why everyone’s seeing so much change and growth, too. Because it’s a younger team and we’re pushing hard, plus the new designs are really sick, everyone’s engaged and involved. I think adding the opinions of the riders from North America and bringing in some more flavour from that side is good for the growth and presence. And then you pair that with the attention to detail that the Swiss have, and I think that part’s really cool. 

I think that’s where growth really comes from, when you get the right people in the room. And then you have a company like Nidecker that really cares about every little detail in the process, and that’s where I’ve noticed a lot of stuff is pushing forward. It’s cool.

“And then the internal Nidecker team were like, ‘Actually, screw this. Riders, what do you guys think?”

Exactly, like you say, they’ve got this really storied history in snowboarding, and they’re always looking back and honouring where they’ve come from, but they’ve definitely got eyes ahead looking for the future. How can we support snowboarding to keep growing? How can we push innovation? You, as Team riders, are the perfect guinea pigs for innovation and R&D. How much input do you guys have with product creation and tweaking designs? 

During Team Week last year, we were looking over the concepts for upcoming graphics. And you’ve got the salespeople, the distributors, the designers, the riders, everyone. And there was a graphic that came up, and some of the sales crew were talking very openly about what they thought of it. And then the internal Nidecker team were like, ‘Actually, screw this. Riders, what do you guys think? Why are we talking about what we think when you guys are the ones that know what’s going on, and you know what’s dope?’ And I think that moment right there was great; it really showed that everyone has a seat at the table.

The first thing that Santi did when I met him, I went to a sales meeting in Seattle, and he brought me into the binding room. And we stood in front of the binding wall, and he goes, “Alright. What do you think? Tell me the bad stuff. And don’t hold back.”

In terms of development across everything, we have access to the designers at all times. I love having conversations with the hardware designers. It’s an open forum, and that’s music to my ears as a rider. It’s great having lots of time to try different things because it’s key to put gear through its paces and make sure that it stands up to the hard riding that we’re doing.

The kind of hard charging in extreme terrain that you guys do sometimes, I think it’s not necessarily what the average rider would be doing, so that must speak volumes to the durability of these products.

I haven’t broken a board yet, which probably sounds weird, but to me, I’ve broken a lot of boards over the years. I’m not by any means a featherweight snowboarder; I put a lot of impact on those boards. I ride in Jackson Hole most of the year, and it’s not to say it’s a rocky place, but it’s very textured and can be rock-heavy at times, and these edges don’t blow out. And it’s not just the boards, I’ve been really impressed with the boots, too. I’m riding 100 days a year and typically blow through boots quickly, but with Nidecker boots, I find that stiffness stays true to what I look for. Not having to break in new boots in February is pretty sweet; it goes a long way. 

Absolutely. For most of us, buying new gear is a commitment; it’s a big purchase, and we wanna be able to buy products we know we can rely on for a long time. What’s your go-to setup at the moment? 

I’m riding the Kita at the moment; it’s a stiff boot, but I find that it hits a sweet spot where you break it in, and it’s just comfy. My binding is usually the Kaon Plus , but I do switch back and forth between the Kaon and the Supermatic. It’s fun to get a different perspective on riding, especially when you can get so creative with the Supermatic.

I’ve been riding the Sensor Pro all over the place. Sometimes people tend to put certain boards in certain boxes, ‘Oh, that’s a park board, that’s an all-mountain board,’ but I just like to take boards in different conditions and see how they perform. I’ve been really impressed with the Sensor Pro’s ability to ride everything. I ran some crazy lines on it, things I never expected to ride on a twin board. And then, on our Japan trip, we rode mostly on the Bio Series boards, the Alpha APX and the Beta. I find that the Alpha APX is maybe one of the best tree boards I’ve ever ridden. It’s super agile, super flickable. There’s a combination of 3D in the nose and these very powerful sidewalls that really help you drive turns. But then you take it on a fast open face, and it does exactly what you want it to. How do you have a board that does both? It’s really cool. 

Gotta love the quiver killers! Make sure to check out Cooper and the crew going snorkelling in Nidecker’s HOKKAIDO to see the Alpha APX in its natural habitat