Mat Schaer lives at the intersection of focus and skill. Not just as a snowboarder, but in everything he does. He’s not afraid to give 100% of his energy to anything he decides is important, and lately he’s somehow managed to find the perfect balance between a challenging degree in Environmental Engineering and life as a top level pro. His EVERSINCE part is short but sweet and leaves us wanting much more, so we thought we’d hit up one of the biggest brains in board sports to find out how he does it.  

Hey Mat, how’d last winter go for you?
I’m happy about my last season. I had a very busy year at University because I was enrolled full-time. Before that, I used to split up academic years into two, to have more time to snowboard. As a result, I had school and exams almost all winter long… Despite this, I got to shoot with Absinthe films and Ero one films (for PARADIGME), so it was a short but intense season snowboarding wise.

Who did you spend most of your winter with?
Since the winter was pretty bad in North America, most of the Absinthe crew came over to ride in Switzerland. I rode a few days here and there with almost everyone from the crew. At one point we were like 15 people from Absinthe riding in Champéry.

When I filmed for PARADIGME, I rode with my longtime friend Féfé Pellacani and my brother Sam, the two people I grew up riding with, so it brought up good memories. Levi Luggen and Aurel Anthamatten also showed us some nice spots in Haut-valais, thanks to them!

Making the most of a whiteout day at home in Champéry. © Ahriel

That’s pretty cool to be able to mix it up so much. Was there anyone in particular from the Absinthe crew who really impressed you?
Hmmm, they are all impressive and really good snowboarders, but what I remember the most is the ability of Manuel Diaz to get more speed than everyone else. We built that gap in St-luc, where the speed was very limited. We – Jason Robinson, Garrett Warnick, Lucas Debari and myself – could barely make it to the top of the landing, whereas Manuel was going deep. And that day, when they hit the hip of the EVERSINCE cover, he went way higher than anyone else. The in-run looked like a border cross and he was just the fastest.

Where were you mostly shooting? Any trips?
I shot almost everything in Valais for a few reasons. Because it is so close to Lausanne (where I live), it was convenient to travel back and forth to Uni. I could take the train to the mountains, reduce my carbon footprint as a snowboarder and show that you don’t need big means to film a snowboard part. All these amazing places I’ve been to film are super accessible to any snowboarder/skier with a bit of mountain experience and awareness. I want people to be able to identify themselves with my riding.

I wanted also to try to do “as good as usual with less”. In the context of climate change and natural resources depletion, this principle is becoming more and more important in every aspects of life. I’m just applying it to my passion and job. This is not new in snowboarding. Nico Müller proved that it was possible when he scored the ender part of the Absinthe movie Resonance, by filming only in his home resort. Or Jeremy Jones who ditched the Heli to hike up his crazy AK lines.

So true. We can learn a lot from those guys. But I guess you were pretty busy with school all season. How many days did you actually get with the Absinthe guys?
I filmed my parts in about three weeks, two with Absinthe and one with PARADIGME.

That’s insane. So what have you been up to this summer? Did you take some time to relax?
I finished my exams in early July and then I left to Sydney, because I’m doing an “exchange” which means they sent me abroad to study one year in a partner University. So basically, I’ve been studying, surfing, discovering Australia and meeting new people all summer.

So does that mean you’ll have a bit more time for riding this season?
Yes! As the seasons are inverted, I’ll have the summer Uni break, which is about 3 and a half months, during the northern hemisphere winter. So I can validate a full-time study year, and be free most of the winter, which would have been impossible in Switzerland. That was part of the plan! The places for the exchange program are very limited and based on your grades, so I had to study hard to get it.

Do you have some plans for this winter already?
It depends a bit on my sponsors, but as far as I’m concerned, I’m on the same program as last season: filming with the Absinthe euro crew (Vlad, Max Buri etc) and with Julien Roserens (the filmer and editor of PARADIGME).

I want to shoot as much as possible in Switzerland and in the alps. There is still so much terrain I want to discover not far from home, especially by hiking a bit more. Julien discovered a few new remote zones last season with the possibility of sleeping in mountain refuges, right at the bottom of amazing spots. I Would be super keen to go on missions there.

Thanks for your time! Anything else you’d like to add?
I want to thank the passionate people behind Absinthe films and PARADIGME for what they do and for letting me be a part of it. They are some of the few remaining independent snowboard film productions, struggling to stay alive in this industry. They bring incredible images to the public and show the true essence of snowboarding. Same goes to Whiteout!

Also thanks to my sponsors for the support: DC, Union, Doodah, Hä?, Superpark Crosets, Nixon.