Inside The Sochi Olympic Circus With Craig McMorris

For those of us who stayed up last night to watch the olympic debut of snowboard slopestyle at the olympics during qualifiers on the CBC yesterday (today?), one of the highlights quickly became commentator Craig McMorris' informed and hilarious play-by-play. While the other commentators were left speechless, Craig kept millions informed on trick names, variations and all the subtle differences that go into what makes certain tricks more legit than others. While entertaining us with a long list of one-liners (Triple sow-cow on the landing, anyone?), he also made sure that his trick-calling was as accurate as possible – no small feat with the current state of insane tricks being thrown – even going so far as to back up and correct himself in a preemptive attack on any twitter-haters ready to pounce. 

Craig is an incredible snowboarder in his own right and clearly at ease behind the camera and microphone. CBC did a great job in choosing Craig and it looks like he's doing a great job representing our sport as best he can to the public during this rare opportunity, something we're all grateful for. 

As busy as he is, Craig was kind enough to answer a few questions to give us a better idea of the vibe over there right now. There's a lot of shit going around the internet about Sochi and I thought what better than to go straight to someone behind the VIP lines. Thanks Craig!

33MAG: What's the vibe like over there? How has Sochi been treating you so far?

Craig: The vibe over here in Sochi has been very interesting. I'm lucky and have a pretty nice hotel room and am surrounded but lots of amenities so I'm pretty happy.

There's a ton of blog articles being shared around that's making it out to be a huge shitshow over there, is it really that bad or is it getting a bit blown out of proportion?

I think it's getting blown way out of proportion. There is tons of security and it takes for ever to get anywhere but that's the way the Olympics are.

What's your involvement with the olympics and CBC exactly while you're there? You stoked to be representing shredders or what?

I am the analyst for all snowboarding events so I will be broadcasting everything to do with snowboarding! I'm stoked to represent shredders and show canada how rad snowboarding really is.
 

The Canadian snowboard team is looking super good for the slopestyle. How's everyone handling the pressure? Is it getting pretty serious or is everyone having a good time?

It's super serious. But the Canadians are riding super good. They all look super strong on practice.

The slopestyle course is another thing getting a ton of attention right now. A few injuries … questionably large jumps .. anything to say about that?

I think the course isn't ideal but what do expect. This is the first slope style event ever held here and they wanted to make it legit so obviously it's not going to be ideal. But people are still throwing down.

What's it like being there alongside your brother?

It's awesome to be here as part of the media and see a different side to this whole circus.
 

Slope practice. Anyone else find themselves transfixed to the HUGE peaks in the background?!

Your poor bro probably couldn't have found himself in a more pressure-filled spot. It seems like it's been a pretty intense few weeks. Is this just another contest for him or do you think he's feeling a ton of weight on his shoulders?

He definitely feels the pressure and wants to treat it like any other contest but at the end if the day it's not an other contest it's the Olympics. And there is a certain level of pressure that goes along with that.

Looks like the resorts over there are the real deal. You get a chance to ride some of that sweet pow I've been seeing photos of? Taking advantage of your time over there or is it all biz?

The resort over here is rad. Unfortunately they lost my board bag so I haven't got to ride yet but hopefully in the upcoming days I'll get out and about!

A small glipse into the inner-workings of the beast. It's gonna be an interesting few weeks and I look forward to hearing Craig talk us through the whole thing. I hope that board bag shows up for ya Craig and you get some pow!