Michael A. Cohen
Snowboard Pro Forum

Name: Michael A. Cohen

Date of birth: 7/25/73

Started riding in what year? '89

Sponsor/s? 686 Clothing, Shut NYC

What snowboard related business activites are you involved in? Snowboard contest freestyle judge since 2001. I judge for USASA, and USSA.
And the US Open, for 3 years. Consulting for companies. At Shut NYC (a
legendary skateboard co.) I do a little of everything; sales, marketing,
assistant team mgt. My title is "The Concierge."

Where did you grow up? New Jersey till I was 17, school in Colorado (Fort Lewis College in
Durango) and back and forth from VT to Mt. Hood coaching.

Live now? Brooklyn. This is the longest I've ever lived in one place since I was a
child. 8 yrs now. I'm staying. Brooklyn Rules!

Fave places to ride? Stratton. I like that they have a gondola, I know every nook and cranny.
Tons of camaraderie with my friends. I like Copper. It's like Stratton on
steroids. Magic Mountain (VT) is as local as it gets. The most exotic is
probably Wolf Creek. It's a small mountain on top of a giant mountain. It's
on a pass.

Do you warm up each day before you ride? If so, what do you do to warm up? Sometimes

My warm up consists of waking the house, starting everybody's cars. I
stretch in front of the TV watching the weather. Standard, 15-20 min, mostly
lower back and legs. Not much for upper body.

How keep in shape in season? How keep in shape for snowboarding out of season? Snowboard 2-3 days a week, swimming indoors, and biking in the city when there is no snow out.


Skateboarding! I'll ride 3-5 miles every other day.
Out of Season - Surfing a bit and tons of swimming. In Quogue, Long Island.

Fave riding buddies? My roommates Craig Wetherby and Adam Gottlieb. Also Milk Crew, Stratton
Posse, Johnston Family, Timbo, Forest Bailey, Mike Boyka, Dan Hakim, Matt
Jennings, Spanky. And my 686 sponsor Kristen Kusik.

Who do you admire in snowboarding or outside and why? Matt Jennings, my boss in judging. He got me into judging. He's been doing
it for 15 years. He knows the sport and the riders better than anybody I
know. He's always kept it at its core roots.

How did you get into coaching.?
After my injury I couldn't compete and I couldn’t coach anymore, but I still
wanted to be a part of the industry, on the hill. Matt Jennings trained me,
and told me this was the best way to keep involved in the sport. It's my
passion to be a part of snowboarding. I wanted to help kids further
themselves in the sport at a Little League level through USASA. Which is a
ladder to pro events. They don't have anything like that in other sports.

Do you ever get bummed out about your riding, and why? I had a major snowboard injury and last year was my first year back after
extensive surgeries. When I first started to ride after the rehabilitation,
I couldn't ride a full day, and couldn't go to parts of the mountain where
my friends were riding. To get past it, I changed my lifestyle, my diet, and
used positive thinking. I ate a lot of vegetables that my mom cooked for me.
I give up corporate America fast food. I did exercise and go to physical
therapy 4 days a week. But now I ride my Vew-Do board for physical therapy
every day.

How do you fix it? To get past it, I changed my lifestyle, my diet, and
used positive thinking. I ate a lot of vegetables that my mom cooked for me.
I give up corporate America fast food. I did exercise and go to physical
therapy 4 days a week. But now I ride my Vew-Do board for physical therapy
every day.

What safety equipt. do you wear, use for snowboarding? Most of the time I wear my helmet and always when I'm riding with kids. I
wear a knee brace because of an old ACL injury.

If you're pro, when did you decide to “go pro” — and what happened to get you there? I tried going pro in BoarderCross but after My first AM season I got injured
Free riding with some friends out in Colorado. After that injury I went into
coaching.

Where have you traveled to lately that you like? I went to Munich Germany this year for ISPO. I didn't know there were that
many ski and snowboard companies in the world.
The people were unbelievable, The town is the most efficient town I've ever
been in. They're into the environment, and the future of not only their land
and their country, but the next generation. Similar night life to the Lower
East side in NY City. It's got a cool vibe underground scene. I almost
consider NY below 14th street a European country.

Any guilty pleasures? Gondola rides can be fun.

Anything that not many people know about you that you would like to share? I'm pretty up front. What you see is what you get. Here's something. I
always dress up to judge.­ I wear dress shirts, nice sweaters. I dress up
business casual for judging, like for a date. I feel the way you look has a
lot to do with the way you perform and act.

Encouraging words for beginners? Follow your passions, don't let anyone steer you wrong. Get up and keep
riding.

Advice you want to share? Be patient when you start. Participate in the sport in an active way
and also in a mind and spiritual way. At the end of the day, read about
snowboarding, join online communities, stay a part of it.
Snowboarding and skateboarding has given me a great lifestyle and career.