Listen to your intuition as you go riding. Interview with Martin Černík!

Martin Černík has been snowboarding on a professional level for more than twenty years. No wonder he is one of the Czech snowboard matadors. 

But he doesn't want to keep his knowhow just to himself. Therefore, he has been organizing snowboarding events such as the Czech Cup, SNOWBOARD ZEZULA Tour, Kidz Tour or freestyle camps for fifteen years. He is also the head of the Czech Snowboarding Association. In summer you can meet him on the beach in France at Surfchamp. In short, he inspires others to love for snowboarding and surfing.

What do you consider the turning point in your career?

The first turning point was when a friend of mine offered to sell me his older snowboard. That was approximately in 1992, and it changed my life forever. In my childhood, I went to the mountains a couple of times a year with my parents to ski or do cross-country skiing, but it was with the board that I started riding as much as I could. The first Czech competitions followed, and for the first time I also visited the Alps for a foreign event together with David Horvát and Mark Schneider. I managed to get support for snowboarding equipment from the Czech companies like Frople Snow-boards and Salebra, later Redbull followed.

And in addition to your snowboarding beginnings, do you remember any other?

Another turning point occurred in 1998 when I had my shoulder injury. At that moment, I was facing a lifetime decision whether to continue snowboarding or not. I had a break for a year and decided to get well. In the spring, I traveled to ISPO (Sports Equipment Fair in Munich), where I managed to sign contracts with foreign companies like Quiksilver, LibTech and Northwave, which was a huge step forward. I started to travel with snowboard around the world, ride big competitions and live my dream. In 2006, I attended the Winter Olympics in Turin. And six years ago, I ended it with Snow Way movie about my snowboarding career.

You already mentioned that you are in the leadership of the Czech Snowboarding Association. What does such work involve and what do you do in the Association?

The Snowboarding Association has been operating in the Czech Republic since the 1990s. In the beginning it was led by Luděk Váša, Pepa Holub, then Ivo Dragoun and gradually it was taken over by others. In the end, however, the Czech Snowboarding Association suspended its activity for a few years. In 2012, we agreed with Přemysl Vida that we will take over its activities. Our goal was to keep home tours running, in which we succeeded. We also take care of the freestyle representation in cooperation with the Czech Ski Association and the last year we started the SNOWBOARD ZEZULA Kidz Tour, which we are very pleased about, because many children take part in it. We also participate in the training of snowboard instructors or in the realization of snow parks. Overall, we are taking care of development of this sport, which also means a lot of administration.

That sounds like a lot of work! Can you tell us how the Czech Snowboarding Association helps this sport grow and where do you feel are its weakest points?

Gradually, we try to push snowboarding further. We are trying to improve its level, which I think we are really successful at right now. However, the biggest problem is the budget. Compared to the 1990s, private financial partners have declined significantly. On the other hand, production costs are still rising. Nevertheless, the group of people organizing contests works well, so we've been able to handle it so far. However, it would help us tremendously to expand the production team. We would definitely appreciate new enthusiasts in the team who would enjoy it as much as we do.

Together with Jožin Toufar, you've also been a long-time coach of Šárka Pančochová. How did you get to this job?

I got to coaching during my career as an athlete. At that time, I would take young Czech talents with me to the world competitions. That's how I got to know Neči (Honza Nečas) and then Šárka when she went to the World Cup. And nine years ago, when I decided to end my professional career as a rider, I started to focus more on coaching. I went to the Vancouver Olympics with Jožin Toufar and Šárka for the first time as a coach. Since I had been competing for twenty years, I know what it's like to stand at the start. I know the feelings that you have at that moment and that you also have to cope with the weather conditions or your current state of health. There are more aspects that can affect you mentally. That's why I think the rider will appreciate having someone who can calm them down, at their side.

What about Šárka?

Training with her works great. Šárka is a bit nuts, in the right way. In addition to that, girls ride a lower level compared to guys so I can keep up with her and give her advice during the rides themselves, show her some tricks and stuff. Guys, because they ride things that I can no longer keep up with, I rather record the training and then analyze the tricks from the video.

Will we see Šárka or another Czech talent at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022?

As for Šárka, she is still in the TOP 10, so it will mainly depend on what shape she will be in. It may or may not be possible. As for the guys, it is impossible to predict any success in 2022 at the moment. There are many factors that influence this and the level of riders in the world is really high. We will see what we can do, because the development is rapidly fast.

For several years, you have been cooperating with SNOWBOARD ZEZULA on the Czech Snowboarding Cup, which is the finishing contest of the Czech Republic Championship and Kidz Tour. Who is this SNOWBOARD ZEZULA Tour as well as Kidz Tour for?

First of all, I'm very pleased to find someone to support local snowboard tours and kids, because most partners are only interested in superstars. So thank you, SNOWBOARD ZEZULA, for that. The cup is divided into two main disciplines: Big Air and Slopestyle. The contest also takes place in the best resorts with great snow parks. Anyone - beginner, advanced or pro - can participate. Both small and big jumps are part of the contest, so really everyone can take part. In addition to that, the categories are divided into sponsored and non-sponsored riders, so hobby or local riders definitely have a chance to participate.

Do you think the SNOWBOARD ZEZULA Tour and the Czech Republic Championship have any influence on Czech snowboarding?

It is definitely moving somewhere, which is also what positive numbers on Kidz Tour show. During my twenty years in snowboarding, however, I have noticed that interest always comes in waves. The interest is greater at one point, then it declines for a while, and rises again over time. When I was riding, there were no children in the competitions at all. I was sixteen, and I was the youngest. And there was Zobák (Ivan Zobák Pelikán, the pioneer of snowboarding in the Czech Republic) in the same category, who was much older than me. Today, there are far more disturbing elements everywhere, which are distracting people from sport, be it phones, tablets or various games. So we're trying to fight that, to give people more opportunities in the sport. And I think we're doing well.

The SNOWBOARD ZEZULA Kidz Tour is attended by about 50 children. As a long-time rider and coach you can certainly recognize the talent. Can the Czech Republic look forward to some young blood that will shuffle the cards of world snowboarding?

Occasionally, someone who stands out from the crowd appears in the contest. However, I do not want to mention any specific names. From my experience, the interest and drive to do something cools down after time. But there are some talents. It would also certainly help if a training center with airbags was established.

And if you compare the Czech competition scene from ten years ago with today's one, what has changed?

I find it quite similar. Of course, Czech snowboarding is, compared to the level of the world scene, really behind. It has always been. It got here later and the conditions are what they are. On the other hand, countries further to the east are worse off. But the riders do not lack the taste and the atmosphere on site is always cool. As far as attendance of events is concerned, it is still a community matter. Of course, the competitions are of the greatest interest to the parents of children riders, a few friends also come to support. If we want something big, we organize a concert in the afterparty of the cup, which will attract a lot of other people.

Do you think snowboarding has a chance to become a world trend again, as it was in its early days?

It will never be the same again. That's how it is. It's the same as when you date a girl. But I see some turning points that help the popularity - sometimes it's the development in the equipment, sometimes the Olympics. The resorts are then more open to build snow parks. And these occasions have the effect of reaching out to a new group of people, and the demand for snowboarding is increasing. Therefore, I do not think the interest of people in the Czech Republic has ever stagnated. At the same time, however, it is not possible for it to rise steadily further and further. It makes no sense. In short, it just naturally grows.

Has there been any step forward in the quality of snowboarding equipment in recent years?

The revolution has certainly taken place - as in all sports. Although hobby sportspeople may not be fully aware of it, many things have moved forward. New safety features, boot lacing and binding systems have been developed, and materials, comfort and functionality improved along with it. At my beginnings, I was riding completely different gear. Everything was terribly stiff, heavy, and compared to today's gear it didn't obey you by far as well.

Where did you initially draw inspiration for snowboarding tricks? I suppose there were not many videos available back then...

We were mostly inspired as riders among ourselves. Back then almost all skaters would ride a snowboard in winter, so we would pick the boards, go uphill and try the tricks. Of course, there were a few videos from abroad, but it was for example a three times copied VHS tape, so the quality was really poor.

As far as I know, you yourself liked the U-ramp, big air and backcountry specifically...

I was riding the U-ramp because when I started competing there was nothing else. Of course we would jump, but we had to make these obstacles ourselves, so the quality was not that good. Trends generally came from the US, so we gradually found out that when there were more jumps in succession, it was more fun. And just at that time we began to build more snow parks.

You've done a couple of film projects and the biographical film Snow Way. What do you think about street snowboarding and video shooting?

I was never very far from the street and jibbing. I used to skate quite a lot before, so it is something like the ramp - something that comes from skateboarding. But to be honest, I never really enjoyed spending time in the city looking for spots. What's more, at that time I had the opportunity to go to the mountains and a proper resort. But on the other hand, I understand the boys who didn't have the chance or the desire to go to mountains and they really enjoyed the street. Everyone found their own way. Personally, I am a fan of riding on snow more than on iron.

And the videos?

These days, the internet is full of various vlogs filmed during the day on the hill and published the same evening. The public sees already too much of this content, quantity replaced the quality. It's almost a miracle to come across something unique. In addition to that, the production is generally costly and takes a lot of time and effort, so few riders feel like doing it.

Why do you think there are so few street events in the Czech Republic and Slovakia? This type of competition has been quite popular in the world recently - for example Rock & Rail in The Hague.

I think those events are more a show than anything else. Today's competitive snowboarding is elsewhere. When I look at slopestyle, there is a huge amount of iron in it. Therefore, I do not think there should be any major development in terms of purely street competitions. But we have some events here and I see them as an ideal opportunity to bring snowboarding to people. Just the form of this exhibition itself is ideal for visitors who do not have so many opportunities to go somewhere in the mountains. At the same time, through the street events, we motivate them a bit to ride without having to build some 30-meter jumps.

When it gets a little bit warmer, you swap the snowboard for a surfboard... It has recently attracted a lot of attention here. How is the Czech surfing community doing?

Surfing will always be just a hobby for Czechs. The world level is somewhere else, and it is very difficult to compete with it. Even European countries like France or Portugal, where they have the ocean and the conditions for riding, have difficulties to compete with Hawaiians, Australians or Brazilians. The progress in surfing is enormous. So it is nice that most people in the Czech surfing community realized that it is rather a recreational sport. That is also how they approach it. Nobody is taking it too seriously and it is more about meeting together with friends by the sea and surf riding. A good example of that is Surfchamp, which we have been organizing for eleven years now. It is attended by people who are not overly ambitious and take it as a holiday. We do yoga, surf a bit and in the evening we have a drink, which is really nice.

Martin, thank you for the interview! Is there anything you want to say to our readers and beginners at snowboarding or surfing?

Don't be afraid to go for it, be it skate, snowboard or surf! As you ride, listen to your intuition and enjoy that feeling. That's why we do it. It's not about the clothes or equipment, but about the experience. So just ride! And come to one of our events - SNOWBOARD ZEZULA Tour, Kidz Tour, Snowjam, Surfchamp as well as Snowboard Master Class or SNOWBOARD ZEZULA camps - whether as a spectator or a contestant.