Last year, Louie Vito won overall Grand Prix, Jeep king of the mountain for half pipe, the goofy side for Goofy VS Regular; he placed second in the Vans cup, and got a few shots in Grenade’s “The Boned Age” movie, “so it was a pretty good year”.
So far this year, he won the first Grand Prix, got second the next Grand Prix, placed 5th at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge (8th in overall standings), and even made finals at X Games. The point of competing in every comp that comes along is to score one of the coveted spots in next years Olympics. Louie says of the overall competition experience, “You gotta keep moving on, you can’t live in the moment of the last win, you gotta keep it going. There’s always something you want to do better”.
“Having a photo or an ad in a magazine is something I always wanted—especially growing up in Ohio. My hills were 300 vertical feel, so snowboard magazines were the coolest thing to me. It’s cool to see myself on those pages, because it feels like I’m starting to make my own mark in snowboarding, which is a constant struggle because there’s so many good snowboarders out there”.
These days athlete sponsors are cross-marketing between action sports, music, and fashion. Hanging out with hip hop stars like Paul Wall and Lil Wayne are among the many perks that have come with pro snowboarder territory for Louie. “Boost Mobile gave me my first diamond ring, and now I’ve got a taste for nice jewelry. My friends make fun of me for it”.
Pricey ice isn’t the only fresh material thing that’s resulted from Louie’s passion for snowboarding. With sponsors like Boost Mobile, Monster Energy, Volcom, O-Matic Snowboards, Nike, Kicker Audio, Spy Optics, Grenade Gloves, Vestal Watches, and Skullcandy, life is pretty much paid for. Box’s of “next years stuff” is on his doorstep every time he stops home between travels.
But the real reason Louie was excited to make it back to his home in Salt Lake City was to take his snowmobile out and do some filming before competition season kicks off again next year. “You don’t want to snowboard too much this summer and be burnt out for the winter, but as long as you pace yourself, it’s all good”.
