Stoked to have you on the team, Liam! Where are you from originally?

I'm from Gravenhurst, Ontario. I grew up riding at a little hill there. There's no mountains, so it’s pretty quick laps. It’s almost a rail park rope-tow vibe, just a little bigger.

A lot of good riders grew up riding small hills. Do you think those quick laps help you progress faster?

Yeah, definitely. We had some decent sized jumps when we were younger, but it would have to be perfect conditions for you to be able to hit them at all. So a lot of times we would just end up riding a lot of rails, and playing games of SNOW and stuff like that. I think it definitely helped a lot.

Which riders did you look up to as you were growing up?

Marc McMorris obviously, being Canadian and watching those boys [compete]. And then also Mikey Ciccarelli. I really love his style and respect his riding, and he grew up very similar to me. So, yeah, I’m a little biased towards the Canadians! [laughs]

Any favorite video parts from back in the day?

A movie I watched a lot growing up was Horgasm. I love that movie, it's amazing. But I've been trying to watch a lot of the older snowboard movies lately – a lot of them are better than what people are making now.

Am I right in thinking you were a wakeboarder as well?

Yeah. I competed professionally in wakeboarding for two or three years, at the same time I was growing up snowboarding. Then I had an injury, and snowboarding was kind of taking over – going to Australia in the summers and everything. So basically I committed to snowboarding. But I still wakeboard every once in a while, and I want to do some more of it next year as well, after the Olympics.

I heard you got into breakdancing as well, is that right?

Well, when I was younger I used to compete in dance, which was like hip-hop and tap. Not quite breakdancing, but similar. I had a lot of energy as a kid, I was doing everything I could – all of the school sports, anything.

Where's your favorite spot to ride these days?

Laax is definitely a fun one, it's always super sick to go there. The culture is super sick, everyone boards. In terms of the park, I’d say Mammoth is one of my favorites because I really love rails, and they're really good at building setups.

What have you been spending this summer doing?

Mostly just gym stuff, and I’ve been playing a lot of golf, actually. That's the new addiction. It’s a big mental game, for sure.

We’ll have to organise a game with you and Mons. He likes his golf too.

Ha! Yeah, sounds fun!

Are you working on any new tricks for the Olympics or are they under wraps?

I wanna get a couple more 18s, that would help me in terms of Big Air, for sure. But mainly I want to get everything as consistent as possible to give me the best chance of landing runs this season.

Do you prefer Big Air or Slopestyle?

Slope. I’m definitely more of a rail person. And putting a whole run together – kinda crafting it – is way more fun to me. Having to link everything together is a nice challenge.

What tunes do you listen to?

Mostly rap, and a little bit of electronic stuff like drum & bass. High energy stuff with a good beat that helps get me in the zone. I actually don’t like competing listening to music, but I’ll listen to music right before I drop in and then take it out – kinda hype myself up before.

Do you work on flow state with your coaches?

For sure. The Canadian team is really good at working on that type of stuff. Like, breathing exercises at the top of the course, and figuring out whatever it is that gets you into flow state quicker. It definitely helps when it comes to contests, and feeling confident.

How's the switch to Nidecker worked out so far?

It's been pretty easy. I love the Mons board – it's been super sick to ride.

Do you like a lot of camber then?

Yeah, definitely a lot of camber. And a stiff board. Classic slopestyle setup.

What boots and bindings are you running?

I ride the Altai boot. I'm a big soft boot guy. Maybe that comes from wakeboarding, but I definitely prefer a softer boot, with stiff bindings and board. I think I just like to have that ankle mobility – I find I ride better with a little bit more freedom in the feet. For bindings, I'm trying out a new model which is coming out next year.

Any kind of plans for after the Olympics?

Mostly just fun stuff. I definitely want to try to get into the backcountry, kinda kickstart that side of things and get some experience so that later in my career I can go out there and film.

It’s interesting that as a rail guy you're wanting to shoot backcountry?

Yeah. I definitely want to do street too but I feel like that takes a bit less preparation. I spend a lot of time in Whistler and there's a lot of boys going out sledding all the time. Also, I think that street is kind of always available, and backcountry depends on conditions. And with how warm it's been getting everywhere, I feel like we might have limited time left to ride a lot of the stuff that we saw in the old movies. So I definitely want to get out there sooner rather than later.

So, last trick before you hang up your boots forever. What would you do?

I really like a cab seven with a nose grab. That feels really nice. I do it all the time and you can tweak it a bunch of different ways. So probably that one.

Nice. Any shout outs?

Just thanks to everyone – all my friends, sponsors, family, and my agent Connor as well, who's also one of my good friends. Thanks to everyone for all the support and helping me get here.