C.O.R.E.

An interview with Erik Leon

Intro by Peter Harvieux

Photos by Stephan Jende

Shot on Canon EOS-1D X Mark II Finding one’s way to "pro status" takes an ample amount of talent and effort with a dash of luck sprinkled in. Most aware of reaching such a pinnacle in a chosen endeavor may find themselves in a "patting of one’s own back" cycle that may or may not lead to great things. Erik hasn't chosen this moment to stop and take the proverbial pat on the back. In turn he's forged a different route to give back to others with this new status thru leveraging relationships of multiple sponsors and in creating his own vehicle of change aptly titled C.O.R.E. - Community Outreach Riding Equipment. We spoke with Erik just after his first on snow activation at Trollhaugen in support of Minneapolis based "Cool meets Cause" nonprofit which, thru a rail jam and donations, was able to raise $3500 to be used on new equipment to help open up opportunity's for underrepresented youth to participate. Here's how he was feeling and some background on CORE Snowboarding.

What's was the catalyst for C.O.R.E to become reality?

Well, with my sponsors (Arbor, Airblaster, Flux) we had pretty much dialed in the majority of the CORE initiative. Which is 1. Eco friendlier products 2. Affordable products. All we needed was step 3. That was a community outreach snowboard event to tie everything together and make CORE a success.

How were the events put together and spots chosen?

The original goal was to do 4 stops from West to East, or vice versa whomever had the most snow. Partnering with resorts I have worked with in previous years. So naturally I was choosing the path of least resistance to host the first ever CORE events. Trollhaugen has always been on the priority list for a stop since CORE was created. The events are put together by heaps of leg work and emails. Following through with your ideas and putting them on paper make an event happen. This event would have not had happened if Marsha Hovey (Marketing at Troll) wasn’t there with me the whole way. She really really helped making the CORE activation event a reality.

Having just hosted your first event did it go as hoped and was the output to the local aspect able to be finalized?

Yeah, it did work out ! Of course there was some bumps in the road, but it happened and the event was incredible. We got to directly impact a non profit that gives back to snowboarding and youth in a community that may not have ever had the chance to snowboard ! At the end of the day Trollhaugens Community Saturdays (a portion of all evening lift tickets are donated to a NP) and CORE meets Cause railjam donations all combined. We were able to raise $3500 that go directly to Jake OE and Joe Sexton’s not for profit Cool Meets Cause.

What was the take away for you one event in?

There was a lot of take aways, I think that the largest one was probably the realization that snowboarding changed my life, and we have the opportunity to change other peoples lives with the influence we have with our snowboard community. Hosting an event that’s soul purpose is promote fun and help reduce the barriers to entry and introduction to Snowboarding left me speechless and a bit emotional. Snowboarding is a very special thing, and I am fortunate to have it in my life. I hope to share that with more CORE snowboarding activations.

What do you hope for the future of C.O.R.E.?

I hope to get more people involved, more brands and more professional snowboarders who would like to help raise awareness in their local snowboard communities. We as professional snowboarders are super lucky to call this community our home, I hope to give back to it as much as possible. So as the current status of the 20/21 winter and CORE, I hope to have more online activations raising money for non profits across the US through CORE channels and partners.