Chatting with TGR winner Parkin Costain

Get to know the name Parkin Costain, because you ll be hearing a lot more about him in the near future. The 16-year-old freeskier from Whitefish, Montana, may be the next ski movie star. In 2014, he won the finals of the International Freeskiers Association junior contest at Snowbird, Utah, for his age group and he recently became the grand prize winner of Teton Gravity Research s 2015 grom contest for riders under 18, which means he ll have a chance to film with TGR this winter. We spoke to Parkin about filming with his dad, getting a call from Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, and attending the world premiere of TGR s new movie, Paradise Awaits, which debuts this Friday in Jackson, Wyoming. You re from Whitefish, Montana, so you must have grown up skiing? I ve lived in Whitefish Montana my entire life and have grown up skiing Whitefish Mountain Resort. At about 6 months old, my parents put me in a Kelty backpack (back when it was legal to ski with your kid that way) and my mom said I would smile and yell with happiness on every turn. That is probably what led to my addiction to skiing. What draws you to big-mountain competitions? I started competing on the IFSA circuit after a friend took me to one when I was seven years old and have competed every year since. For several years I competed on the Canadian circuit because they did not have a 7-11 age division in the U.S. I love big-mountain skiing and competitions, because it feels so free. I love how these comps present you with the terrain but the route finding is all up to you. Why did you decide to enter TGR s grom contest? Did you think you had a chance of winning? I first decided to enter the TGR grom contest after I saw Daniel Tisi's segment in TGR s Way of Life a few years ago. I thought it was the sickest thing that you could make an edit of yourself skiing and enter it in a contest to get a chance to film with TGR. I entered my season edit two years ago and was stoked on winning one of the seven weeks. Last year the competition stepped up quite a bit so I had no idea how things were going to turn out until I got the phone call from Sage and Todd at TGR. Where did you shoot your edit? I shot my edit throughout the year all over the place traveling in between competitions. I shot some in Golden, BC, and other parts in Cooke City, Montana. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get much footage from my hometown of Whitefish and the surrounding areas because of the really weird winter. We did have a couple of sick dumps but then literally the next day it would rain or get really warm and ruin whatever snow had just fallen. My dad is my coach and ski partner. And your dad helped film and edit the segment as well? Yeah, my dad has always been awesome about promoting my skiing. Ever since we got a camera, he has filmed me. Until I learned how to edit my own shots a few years back, he would edit them for me. Now he just does the filming. What was your reaction when you heard you won? I was in lost in Bozeman in a car with no air conditioning on a 100-plus degree day. It sucked. I was trying to find Murdoch s to buy rakes for my dad s trail building company but my mom had turned the data off on my phone so I had no map function. I pulled over to take the call and then my really crappy afternoon got really great. I was stoked! Will you be at the TGR world premiere of their new film, Paradise Awaits in Jackson this week? Yes, I ll be there! What Flylow kit will you be rocking this winter? Personally I go for the Quantum Pro Jacket and the Compound Pant. It's my kind of style and I appreciate the quality of the gear.