Sports

Gunning for the Olympics

Seabrook's Lago preparing for Vancouver

By Evan Mugford
Staff Writer
Published: November 20, 2009

Ski resorts up and down the Appalachian Trail are opening up for riders and shredders alike, and Seabrook, N.H., native Scotty Lago, the 2009 U.S. Open Most Valuable Rider and recent co-star of MTV's The Alli Show, is preparing for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver in February.

Lago and members of his Flow Team will be signing autographs, posing for pictures, and premiering their new DVD, Bad Reputation, tonight at 9 at Amesbury's Mad River Tavern.

The Daily News was able to catch up with Lago and talk about life changes, a road warrior existence and how snowboarding may not be his best sport.

What's been new in your life?

"Lately, I've just finally found some time to relax. I snowboarded a bunch during the summer, went all over New Zealand, Argentina, Australia and Mount Hood (northern Oregon). So this is kind of my down time. I've been hanging out, working on the house, doing some hunting and really just kicking it."

What's the new house like and what is its best feature?

"The house is all post and beam, so it's pretty cool. It's kind of old-school looking. It has an indoor pool with a hot tub as well, so that's probably my favorite part of the house. It's like a man cave in here."

How long have you been hunting for?

"I've actually been hunting since I was 10."

Are you pretty good?

"Yeah, well, I've been doing pretty horrible this year. Between some bad luck and some other things, it basically just comes down to some blown opportunities."

Where do you hunt?

"All over, really. North Hampton, Portsmouth, Exeter. I usually use bow and arrow mostly, but this time of year I hunt with a shotgun."

Which do you prefer?

"I use a compound bow and I prefer to archery hunt. You need to get that much closer to them and it's that much more of a challenge. Also, during the archery season, you tend to see a lot more deer."

What was your most successful trophy hunt?

"I haven't really got too many big bucks, but I've managed to get a nice eight-pointer."

Do you ever get an earful when people find out about passion for hunting?

"It happens a lot. But I respect everyone's opinions and decisions. I was born into hunting, raised into hunting, so it comes very naturally to me, and I don't see any problem with it. I understand people's points of view. But I'm an ethical hunter, and I won't take shots that I know won't put them down."

How has training been going for the upcoming Olympics?

"I went to Mount Hood for about a month to try to practice half-pipe there, and really just trying to get my game on for Olympic qualifiers (Dec. 10 and 11). Also did some training in New Zealand."

How is training going? How are you feeling physically and mentally?

"Physically, I'm ready, and mentally I'm ready as well, but I'm still working on that aspect. I know my mental game is kind of my weakest part, so I went to see a sports psychologist and have been working on my mental game and my visualization. But physically, I'm ready. I have the tricks. Now I just have to be consistent and land them when it counts."

You recently did a stint on MTV2 with a bunch of your friends on The Alli Show. What was that all about?

"It's myself, Mason Aguirre, Kevin Pearce, Danny Davis, Keir Dillon, Jack Mitrani and Luke Mitrani. We've all known each other for a while, and we're all on the top of our game right now. Our crew is called the Frends Crew, and we've actually gotten a lot of hype over the last few years in the snowboard industry, so we wanted to go even further with that and start a youth-oriented headphones company that's actually going really well.

"As for the show, I only got to meet up with a film crew just a bit over the summer when they came and filmed us at a kids snowboard camp at Mount Hood. We spent a week there hanging out and giving pointers, so MTV came and documented that and some of the riding."

How has life changed since your 2009 US Open Most Valuable Rider showing?

"It hasn't changed much at all, really, beyond the fact that I'm driving my new Volvo (XC60). It's just really nice to have a win like that, and it really helped get my confidence up going into this winter. I'll have that in the back of my head."

The new DVD, Bad Reputation, is about a six-week trek that you and your team, Flow, spent this past year. What was that experience like and what should people expect from the DVD?

"It was pretty cool. There is definitely some funny stuff in there. There's a lot of good riding, it's a really well edited movie, and it's not like your typical snowboard film. It's more like a documentary. We hired a couple filmers that we had hired in the past, and they just followed us around from the U.S. Open, to Laax, Switzerland, to Mammoth Mountain (Mammoth Lakes, California) and a few other spots. It's just an overall good movie."

What's on the horizon?

"Besides the Olympics, which is definitely my main goal, I plan on filming a new movie with Travis Rice, which is supposed to be a top movie, so I'm pretty excited for that as well. We'll be traveling all over for that. Wyoming. New Zealand. Wherever there's good snow, we'll be there."

On the Road with Scotty Lago

Name: Scotty Lago

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 170lbs

Team: Flow/Frends

Hometown: Seabrook, N.H.

Current residence: Hampton Falls, N.H.

Web site: www.thisisfrends.com

Last movie watched: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra — "It was kind of cheesy."

Last album you purchased: "Haven't bought a CD in like five years, but I think it was probably a Red Man/Method Man album."

Road trip music: Neil Young, Pink Floyd — "Mellow stuff."

Riding music: Hip-hop and rap.

Best local ski resort: Loon Mountain — "They have a really good park. It's a fun mountain."

Favorite on-the-road snack/meal: Beef jerky and lobster — "I'm a big fan of seafood."