Cooper Bathgate is a seriously accomplished freerider, and we caught up with him on his recent trip to New Zealand to compete in the first Freeride World Qualifiers Events on the 23/24 season - interview by Ollie Hunt.
Ollie:
So you came over to New Zealand to get your start in the Freeride World Tour qualifier series, and you went down to Remarkables. Talk told me through the frontier process for the two star and the fourth star, what was it like and how's it going to set you up for this year's FWQ
Cooper
It's a really good event because, in a way for a North American, it's kind of like free points. If your rank high enough, you can come down and knock two events off before the season starts for anyone else. So in my case, I was able to get two top 10 results, which puts me already in a pretty good spot to get into the Challenger Series without even doing an event in Canada.
Cooper getting after it back home in BC. Photo: Guy Fattal
Ollie:
Oh, great. That's a great outcome. What do you think the it is about the New Zealand competitions that means there's so many Europeans and North Americans coming? Why do you think the conditions and the New Zealand competitions mean we've got so many Kiwis in the Freeride World Tour, close to it?
Cooper:
I think the conditions are about as hard as it gets. So you can ski well, here you can ski well, anywhere. And I think that's why the kiwis end up on tour so quick, especially in Europe when the conditions seem pretty good in the qualifiers there, if they're used to skiing on hardpack then you can ski powder pretty well.
Cooper in a Freeride World Tour briefing - Cooper is currently working his way back onto the tour. Photo: Dom Daher
Ollie:
Tell us about how you got to where you are today with your skiing, talk to me about the Cooper Bathgate journey:
Cooper:
When I was really young as 13, my twin brother and I hit this famous cliff in Whistler called Air Jordan. That kind of leapfrogged us onto the Helly Hansen team. And from there, we followed the competition circuit around and yeah, here we go. I made it to the tour a couple of years ago. And Jackson has made it for this year.
Cooper making short work of Broken River's Stairway to Heaven for a Spring Session
Ollie:
Jackson is obviously your twin brother. How do you think he's gonna go on the tour this year?
Cooper:
Oh, he goes really well. It's a bit hard to say with his lack of preparation. I think it might work out for him.
No better place to secure insights from a Canadian Freerider than deep in the Canterbury Slush Scene - Broken River
Ollie:
We know Jackson love's a pull up. How many pull ups do you think is sort of required to get onto the tiller?
Cooper:
Um, well, if you ask Jackson, I think probably 100 a day is the right number. So I got to pump my numbers up a little bit if I want to make it back on.
Learning to ski in New Zealand conditions makes riding this type of snow on the Freeride World Tour a dream: Cooper mid Comp run on the FWT. Photo: Dom Daher
Ollie:
Talk me through your prediction, 2023/2024 Freeride World Tour as it stands. You won't be on there. You'll be in Freeride World Qualifier's looking to rejoin, who do you think will win? What do you think's gonna go down?
Cooper:
I think A-Poll. I think Andrew Pollard's got a really good shot at winning. I'd like to see that guy win the thing. Mostly because I think he'd win the whole thing and then just bounce, and never be heard from again, which would be pretty cool. I'd like to see Jackson do well, maybe top three and overall for him would be nice.
Ollie
Yeah, okay, but not win it just top three?
Cooper:
He can get second to A-Poll. That's all right. That's nothing to cry about
Ollie
Okay, talk to me about how you think skiing around the Chill fields prepares riders for the Freeride scene overseas.
Cooper:
But still feels like the club just in general are probably as raw as it gets. It's like no chairlifts, lots of boot packing. No rules. Really. You're kind of just on your own. It's like resort access backcountry.
Ollie:
And how does that make it good for a freerider?
Cooper:
I'm having the freedom to kind of ski wherever you want and make the decisions that I guess you have to know what you're capable of right? No one's there to really come save you, yeah.
Textbook Cooper - Cork 3 against a wall of powder, showing the bases of his skis off.
Ollie:
That's good. And you've come over from Canada. You've skied at some of the clubbies.
What do you think the top two or three highlights you've had skiing the chill fields, that would be super unique to another North American would be?
Cooper:
I think the nutcrackers in general. We have nothing like nothing even close to that in North America. And honestly, just the vibe like when we rolled up there (Broken River) that all the laps start and finish at the base lodge, and there's just a big sunny patio. Get some beers, get some lunch, hang out. Pretty good. Pretty nice laid back vibe.
The Delights of the Sheffield Pie shop not lost on Canadian Freerider Cooper Bathgate.
Ollie:
Perfect. Yeah, that's exactly what we like about the Chill fields. What do you think about from a free ride perspective in those fields, in terms of the terrain and the features that you'd find?
Cooper:
is probably some of the best freeride in New Zealand. Like all the big cliffs or big lines are just a boot pack away, off the top of the rope. To us, that's all pretty, pretty accessible.
Ollie
And what would you say to anyone who's thinking about coming out to New Zealand to do a bit of ski training or get ready for their freeride season or just coming to check out the Chill fields?
Cooper:
You absolutely have to go to the club fields. Don't just go to Wanaka!
Ollie:
Awesome. All right. Well, thanks for joining me on this interview and we look forward to seeing how you go on the FWQ this year! Good luck!