Trent BonaRichard Permin having a midwinter vacation in Japan last week.If you haven't heard of Richard Permin, now would probably be a good time to get out from under that rock. The Frenchman's hybrid style of throwing park tricks in big mountain venues has put him at the top of contest results (top five finishes at Red Bull's Linecatcher and Cold Rush and solid finishes on the Freeride World Tour), helped him score segments in several recent ski films (see: Matchstick Productions' "Attack of La Nina") and earned him some big name sponsors (Red Bull, Swatch, Oakley, and most recently, Atomic). I sat down with Permin recently at the Black Diamond Lodge in Niseko, Japan.
This isn't your first trip to Japan. What is your favorite aspect of filming here?
The trips to Japan are never super stressful and you don't have to ride crazy lines. It's pretty mellow and you are just riding and get to have fun with your friends in the forest. Filming in Japan is kind of like a small holiday in the middle of the winter. The people here are really respectful and pretty quiet. And the food here is good too.
How are your chopstick skills?
OK, I'm not too bad.
You've had some impressive finishes in European big air comps and on the Freeride World tour but it seems you're focusing more on your film career these days?
Yeah, I just focus on that now and two contests, Linecatcher and Cold Rush. For me those are the two most important contests of the season because it shows who can be the most creative. I really want to continue filming, especially with MSP. I'm living the dream actually. If you can manage to film and ride all the best conditions all the time and always be in the mountains with your friends, I think that is the goal for every skier.
Was it an easy transition going from competitions to filming?
For me it was OK but I don't think it is an easy transition, especially as a Euro. It's hard to tell your sponsors that you are not going to do competitions anymore and you're just going to work on films. But it worked very well for me because I am working with Matchstick, which is one of the biggest ski movie companies.
Last year you left your home country of France and moved to Whistler. Why?
Because if you stay in Europe you will just film with Euro companies and that makes no sense if you want to get bigger in the filming industry. So, I decided to move to Whistler where I did a lot of filming with Guillaume [Tessier] and Sean [Pettit]. It was perfect.
What do you miss most about France?
I miss the cheese and the good bread. That is pretty much it. You know Canadian people are pretty cool and I already have a lot of friends in Canada so I feel comfortable there.
You got hurt last year filming with MSP in Whistler. What was the impact on your season and how are you feeling now?
It was not a big impact because it was the last two weeks of the season. So I was pretty much OK with that. Injuries will happen when you try to push a little too much. I just took it easy in the off-season and went surfing to get stronger.
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