Knut Eliassen is a super homosapien and a rippin' rider that is always down for a good chuckle on the mountain. After many years of riding for Nitro Snowboards he made the transition from being on the team to being the team manager. Nitro's team is large and he juggles a lot of badass boarders across the globe, as well as managing radical projects like the new Nitro Hyped! movie, but somehow still manages to have time to lay down his own turns and crank his own tweaks. We caught up with him to find out how he is doing, what he is doing and how he does it.

Hey Knut, can you tell us a little about your background? Did you learn to skiboard in Europe or in the USA?
Knut Andreas Eliassen is the name my father gave me. He is from northern Norway and my mother is from Minnesota, USA. I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and lived in the States till I was 16, then we moved to Norway because my dad wanted to show us kids that there is more to the world than middle America. I started snowboarding in Minnesota but my home mountain had no park, so we had to build our own jumps for the first two years.

Then I joined this snowboarding contest series called USASA so I could travel around the state and ride real parks. Since I was traveling around doing all these contests, I also did boardercross, because it was the same as riding a slopestyle course at that time. You would race but do tricks on all the jumps on your way down. I ended up doing pretty well in boardercross and became USASA National Champion for 15-year olds the year before we moved to Norway. I thought I was hot shit!

When we moved to Norway I ended up moving out of my parents' house and moving in with JP and Stian Solberg. That is when I really got into snowboarding and figured this is what I wanted to do. I lived in Norway up until 2 years ago - love that place - and now I live in Salt Lake City (not too bad either).
Were you able to pay your bills with snowboarding before you started as Nitro Team Manager or were you dodging the landlord?
I was lucky enough to be able to pay all my bills and go to a good business school in Norway at the same time as I was snowboarding. But I wasn't a rockstar - just a regular business student who was able to travel all around the world with rockstars. It was a sweet combo.

What’s a regular day like as TM? Do you ride a lot more or a lot less than before?
A regular day for a team manager? Wake up around 6:00-6:30, take a shower and put on the coffee. Then I open my computer and answer all the e-mails that have come in from Europe overnight. By around 9 AM I'm caught up with e-mails and have talked with the Europeans. Then I'll hread down to the warehouse and do some social media stuff and send out product to riders. Some food and in the afternoon I'll try to go up snowboarding at Park City (if it's a sunny park day) or Brighton (powder day or park day) with some of the team guys or the SFK guys. I love snowboarding with the team guys - everyone is always so stoked to be out riding. I will usually try to film the boys, but end up riding myself. After boarding I will get caught up with all the stuff going on in the US. I usually work until 7 PM. After that I go home and hang out with my lady and dog - go skating with them or something. That is another bonus about living in Salt Lake City - you can snowboard all day and then skate at night.

I feel like I'm able to snowboard the same amount as before, which I think is important. The reason I work in snowboarding is because I love snowboarding, so I'll always do whatever I can to go out and board. This keeps me true to the sport and in good contact with what is going on at the hill - which is important because that's where our customers are. I always try to take the chair with kids so I can ask them questions and find out what they are into - it's a great way to connect with true snowboarders. I learned how to manage my time pretty well from my snowboarding/school days so I can totally combine boarding and work - so I am stoked that I went to school while pursuing a snowboard career.While you spreadsheet at your job, Knut is spreading the white shit everywhere! Peep his OneRun clip choking on angel poo!
What’s most important thing about your job?
The most important thing about my job is the ability to inspire people to snowboard. My goal is to get as many new people to start snowboarding as possible - because it's one of the few sports out there that makes you forget about everything going on in your life and allows you to just live in the moment. It's our responsibility as snowboarders to help spread the passion of the sport and get people involved.

When does the job feel like you are a babysitter?
The only time it feels like I'm a babysitter is when we are partying - I feel responsible for everyone being safe - so I usually just drink more to get rid of that feeling. Hahaha, just kidding. But yeah, I never really feel like a babysitter because I love hanging out with all the team guys (they're all my friends).
Can you give our readers any advice on how to become TM? You know we all want your job!
I would say start snowboarding and then just be yourself. Always treat others fairly and people will respect you for that. Someday your snowboarding skills might become subpar and then you can think about becoming a TM. But if you are still young and love snowboarding, don't stop to become a TM - pursue your dream of becoming a pro snowboarder!

Do you still have time to progress your own snowboarding or is the only thing progressing these days is the speed you can type and answer emails?
Hahaha, yeah, e-mails are quite time-consuming, but I always try to learn or do something new every time I go out snowboarding. I think that is part of the fun with snowboarding - progression and overcoming your fears. I remember talking with Torstein (Horgmo) when we went to school together in Norway and he inspired me with these same words - go out and scare yourself. I always thought that was a pretty bad ass attitude.

What are qualities a rider should have to be on your team?
There are a lot of really really good snowboarders out there, but you need to have a unique style and good personality to really make it. Riders I look for are good all-around snowboarders with cool style and good humans. If there is a kid that is really good and can do all the double corks but is a dick - there is no way I would ever want to hang out with him or have him/her promote Nitro. I look for people who are passionate about snowboarding and are sweet people.
Do you ever talk with other Team Manager and discuss trading riders like in baseball?
Haha, I actually was just talking about that with one of the other TM's about how some of snowboarding is changing into a real sport. Competitive snowboarding nowadays is becoming more and more like other regular sports - it's very serious out there. We were talking about how funny it would be if teams would trade "players". Here are a couple of fictitious examples I'm totally pulling out of my ass.
        1. Rome snowboards would trade Ståle Sandbech for two up and coming Burton rookies.
        2. RedBull would trade 1 gold medalist skier (Simon Dumont), 1 snowboarder street guy (Forest Bailey) and a $100,000 to Rockstar for Torstein Horgmo.

It would be so funny, there would be so much sweet snowboarding gossip! But in all honesty, I really hope the industry doesn't evolve into this. Imagine snowboarders going on strike because they don't get paid enough... hahaha, that would be hilarious!
What happens if you see a rider battling with something that you know you can do? Do the riders have to be better than the coach?
I love the opportunity to teach riders tricks that I think are fun to do. Snowboarding is weird because a trick that comes easy for someone could be the hardest trick imaginable for someone else. That's also why snowboarding is so sick, because it's so individual and challenging.

Would you consider wearing one of your rider's clothes, putting on a face mask and stomping it to get the shot and move on?
Let's just say I have done this before - but I am not going to tell you who the riders are. However, the times I did do this wasn't because the rider couldn't do the trick, it was because they were hurt and I wanted to help them out. Plus, it's always a funny situation and creates good laughs within the crew. I wish Bryan Fox and Austin Smith would do this more often with each other.What scares you more, a rider that is always on the floor passed-out drunk or a rider that is always on the floor doing push-ups?
A rider on the floor passed-out drunk who wakes up the next morning doing push-ups.

Who would you like to have on the team if you could choose any rider?
There are a lot of snowboarders out there doing really great things at the moment. I have always been a Scott Stevens and Brandon Hobush fan because they make snowboarding look so fun and they really inspire me to go out and try all the crazy small tricks they do (which are not as easy as they make them look). I am actually really stoked on our team right now: Eero Ettala, Bryan Fox, Jon Kooley, Justin Bennee, Austin Smith, Marc Swoboda, Ben B, Anton The Gun, Gjermund Braaten, Torgeir Bergrem, Sam Taxwood, Johnny Brady, Griffin, Blaze, Blake, Dominik Wagner, Benny Urban, Emil, Anton, Nils, Cheryl and so many more good riders. The best part about these guys and girls is that they are all amazing humans - I would go snowboarding or hang out with any one of them at any given time and have an amazing day. I would be so hyped to get Scotty Wittlake on Nitro because he is a bad ass.Who would you put on your team even if they don't snowboard?
If I could put any non-snowboarder on Nitro it would be Will Farrell. Imagine having a comedian along on all the snowboard trips - it would be a insane. I mean, snowboarding trips are always super funny but if you had a good comedian out there in the backcountry or in the streets it would be insane.

You got a pretty rad bunch of Euros. Do you think it's important to still move to America to get noticed?
I think with the internet you could literally live on Antarctica and become a professional snowboarder as long as you had wicked style, good tricks and a good attitude. But it definitely helps to be in the US where all the big brands and the big film crews are. You don't have to though, look at all the pro European riders out there today who are killing it.
How do you estimate the impact the economic recession has had on the snowboard industry at the moment? Are we going to go back to snowboard stone-age?
That's the million dollar question. Fact is, the snowboarding market has been going through some tough financial times the last couple of years and last season's lack of snow before Christmas didn't help anybody out. This resulted in a lot of good companies and good people being forced to leave the snowboard industry. These are factors that we inside the industry can't do anything about - if the world is in a financial crisis it affects everyone, and if there's no snow who in their right mind would be thinking about buying that sweet new set-up if they can still skate? The core snowboarding community has had to make a lot of sacrifices and decisions lately to keep this sport we love progressing and expanding.

Even though there's a lot of negativity coming from outside factors, I am still really optimistic about where snowboarding is and where it's heading. The quality and progression of products are growing faster than ever, the amount of "true snowboarders" involved in snowboard companies is growing, and there are a lot of cool new riders coming up: Sam Taxwood, Johnny Brady, Forest Bailey, Jordan Morse, Cole and Bar, Dominik Wagner, Toni Kerkela, Benny Urban, Blaze Kotsenburg, Blake Geis, Griffin Seibert, Ethan Deiss, Sage Kotsenburg, Gjermund, LTC, KTC, Torgeir and a lot of other young stylish riders. Drink Water is another example of snowboarders taking the initiative and creating their own path. All these things make me very stoked on the future of snowboarding for kids everywhere, for Nitro, and snowboard companies everywhere. It's tough out there, but snowboarding will come out stronger than ever!Nitro’s team movie is called Hyped!, is there such a thing as being too Hyped? Who is the most Hyped! rider you know?
There is no such thing as being too Hyped! when you are snowboarding, but there is a fine line between being Hyped! and being annoying. So don't try to fake being hyped, because then you are just annoying. Let your true passion and joy for snowboarding shine through - don't fake it. The most hyped rider I know is probably Bryan Fox on a pow day, it's insane how crazy he gets. I love it when Pow Crazy Fox comes out! The only downside is that it's hard to keep up with him...
Can you leak some of your plans for the Nitro next season? Another movie?
We have some sweet projects coming up next season. We are making a Markus Keller snowboard video, Markus will be hitting rails, pow, park and pipe with fellow team riders like Marc Swoboda, Gigi, Pat Burgner, Eero, Bryan Fox, Austin Smith, Ipod, and more all around the world. Markus is an amazing and versatile snowboarder, so this movie is going to be insane. We will also be making an L1 Outerwear video this season, nothing fancy, just pure, raw snowboarding. It think this project will stand out from the crowd. I can't tell you too much but it is gonna be raw. We are also going to be continuing our ONE RUN Contest this year - there is nothing more inspiring than watching pro snowboarders do their favorite everyday runs, it really showcases their passion for snowboarding and their true style. We will also be releasing Hyped! bonus parts throughout the whole year - we have so much funny footage that needs to be released. Keep an eye out for the new VG film and their new younger brother Keep The Change - those movies are keeping snowboarding real.Tell us about that do-or-die beanie bonk that Eero did on your head (above). What emotions were you feeling?
The beanie bonk by Eero in Hyped! was just a funny, last-minute thing we decided to do. I told Eero how funny it would be if he just bonked my head off the jump, thinking all I would get was a laugh. Little did I know or anticipate that Eero would say, "Hell yeah, let's do this! I think I can 360 bonk your big head". I had to say okay or else I would look like a wimp. Literally one minute later he was bonking my head. The fact that he was able to pull my beanie off while bonking was crazy. We were laughing the whole time, I mean it's a ridiculously silly thing to do. I didn't really think about the consequences too much until afterwards because Eero has been one of my favorite snowboarders for years. Of course he can bonk my head, he is the guy who changed the game completely with his double rodeo. It was a good time, I never thought it would be the ender of the movie but it seemed fitting to close out Hyped! with that shot.

Give us some inspirational coach-like last words.
If you made it to the end of this before killing yourself or un-friending me on Facebook - get outside and go snowboarding! #NEVERSTOPSNOWBOARDING

Thanks to all the Nitro and L1 riders - you guys make my job amazing!!!!

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