By: Major Tom
Photos: Jeff Curley, Andrew Miller

Gabe Taylor - Truly a California kid who moved to Mammoth Mountain for the love of snowboarding. Gabe is up there in all conditions; perfect powder, perfect mammoth park or shitty condittions.  He is always having a blast and always has a big smile on his face. I know Gabe cuz my partner John Centi,  owner of snowrev.com. I have followed him since day one, his style is unique. It's funny, two weeks ago many people called me and asked me did you see Gabe at the superpark? I said "Of course what do you think, he can ride just powder" Gabe is a snowboarding machine. True to his sponsors since day one. Gabe is sporting new outer wear and clothes sponsor Allyance. Gabe, along with Dave Downing, is also  the best surfing pro snowboarder by far. Here is the interview that he has deserved for years and nobody gave him the the chance to do it.......

Name: Gabriel Michael Taylor

You are filming for two video companies this season? Must be very hard right?
Yeah, It�s made time management very important. The season goes by so fast so any down days feel like your wasting important time. I�m filming with Grenade for �the Boned Age� and for Autumn Line�s �Technicolour�. Most of my time has been with Grenade so far. Things have been going good with those guys, we�ve had a good crew and gotten lucky with the weather. 

Will you have two parts?
That is the goal isn�t it? I�m trying.

What is your sponsor situation? something new?
I�m riding for Allyance clothing now. Jason Arnold approached me about it and I�ve always respected him. He had some good things to say and it got me interested. He sent me a box of gear and I was blown away, the stuff was insane. We sealed the deal and I am so stoked to be working with those guys.

What is the deal with planet earth?
Well, K2 was bought by a big company, and the big company didn�t want to deal with PE. (K2 owned PE) So I guess PE is done, that�s what we were told. Maybe they�ll try to bring it back but most of the people that were with the company are gone. It�s crazy how fast that stuff went down, I had no idea what was happening. But now it seems that things work for a reason. I feel like I have a great opportunity to grow with Allyance and am stoked on the future.

People ask me all the time if Danny Kass can ride powder?
First off, people should pick up Grenade�s �Smell the Glove�. Danny slays pow in that movie. Then they should patiently wait for �the Boned Age�. I�ve witnessed DK shredding powder all year. Danny can do whatever he wants, he could probably win a boardercross race if he wanted. I�ve had a ton of fun riding backcountry with that guy this year. He�s always positive and is down to have fun. Some people take filming so seriously, I mean really, it�s snowboarding. Yeah we need to get shit done, but we can still have fun and remember what we�re doing this for. Danny knows how to balance the fun and work aspects of filming.

Mammoth is going through changes like BOWIE, many pros don't even want to go cause they think it�s like the Hollywood of snowboarding. Do you agree?
Mammoth is actually mellower than it�s ever been. The parks are empty and a lot of people have left town. I remember having dinner with Mitch Nelson and Jeremy Jones and them telling me that they feel a ton of pressure when they ride Mammoth. It�s a combination of big jumps and a chairlift for everyone to watch. Those two things can make people uneasy. Pros are held to a higher level as well. Can you imagine if Jeremy fell on the middle jump? Half the town would be talking about it by 6 pm. I understand how pros can feel the pressure. When you come back from filming and you�re all beat-up sometimes you just want to cruise the park and take it easy. Then someone comes up to you at the bar and is like �what�s the deal? How come you�re just cruising? I can do that!� Meanwhile you�ve been risking your life launching off 70 ft. cliffs for the past three weeks. There�s always someone watching. I love watching people who ride and then look up at the lift to see who�s watching. When everyone moved to Mammoth, around 2000, 2001, that�s when afterbang got started. People wanted to look cool for their bros on the lift and it caught on.

But you still live in Mammoth?
I love Mammoth. As long as I snowboard I�ll live in Mammoth. So it could be awhile. I love the town and the people and there�s always something to ride up on the hill. Even on the shittiest of days, there�s something fun to ride.

What do you think about Image on the industry? Rap and ramones style?
Whatever man. Everyone is into there own thing and that�s how it should be. If everyone dressed and rode the same on the hill it�d suck. Look at the Artec team, you couldn�t find a different group of snowboarders. Nima, Jake, Laura, Johnny, Gus and me. I think our team is awesome because of that. Nima is a punk rail rider. Laura is, well, Laura is almost iconic. She�s so sick and so original. Jake is as thug as they come, for real though. Johnny sews his own clothes and to call him original is selling him short. Not to mention he�s an insane snowboarder. Gus lives in a van and has some of the most creative snowboard moves I�ve ever seen. Gus could film a video part in your local supermarket parking lot. I�m so stoked on our team, I think it represents a fresh outlook snowboarding.

Who is underrated?
Amanda, Peter Benchetler, Bobby, Kyle Clancy, Jonaven Moore, Martin Gallant, Gaetan Chanut, Danny Kass, Jeff Curley, Greg Wheeler, Lonnie. I could go on and on and on, there are so many underrated snowboarders. Lonnie is one of those guys that when you watch him shred in real life your just blown away. He�s the most consistent rider I�ve ever seen. Peter is just down to send it and gets me stoked on whatever it is we�re hitting. I�ve seen that guy do some amazing stuff. Danny is one of the greatest of all time. Jeff is an underated photographer that happens to kill it on a snowboard. Greg is an amazing cinematographer who shreds insane as well. Those two help motivate me a ton. I get stoked on people that are just down to snowboard, Bobby G. is the king of that. He rides the shit out of the Mammoth park every day and should have a plaque at the top of the lift.

Best place you ever shred? Why?
Mammoth. There�s always something fun to ride. For everyday riding, nothing beats Mammoth. Baker and Whistler are truly amazing experiences as well.

What is the % of Bullshit in the industry?
Maybe, 15% bullshit? More than there used to be that�s for sure. I feel that for the most part people�s hearts are in the right place and they want the best for snowboarding. It�s unfortunate when the dollars start influencing your decisions more than they should.

Why didn�t you choose to be a Pro Surfer rather than a Pro snowboarder?
I was never offered that choice to tell you the truth. I chose to follow my passions and that lead me to snowboarding.

Who is filming for Grenade?
Danny Kass, Kyle Clancy, Lucas Magoon, Scotty Lago, Scotty Arnold, Sketchy D, Benji Ritchie, Wyatt Caldwell, Louie Vito and me

 Why do you think you�ve never been on the A-tem of 32? Politics?
Hmmmm. Not really a question for me to answer. If it was up to me I�d have five pro model boots and shoes and everything. Nah, just kidding. I�ve always had a hard time hyping myself up to sponsors. It�s just not my thing to call up the TM and start blabbing about �I did this and I did that�. For the most part they know exactly what you�re doing and if they don�t, you aren�t doing your job. I try to do the best I can, if people are stoked on what I�m doing then great, if not, oh well, can�t make everyone happy.

Who is overrated?
Yeah right. I don�t know anyone in snowboarding that I could honestly say is overrated. It seems that at this day in age if you�ve made it, you�ve had to legitimize yourself somehow.

Golfing is becoming big for snowboarders, why do you think that is?
Golfing doesn�t break your body like snowboarding does so it�s a good summertime activity. It�s one of those thing you can do forever as well.

What is harder, golfing or snowboarding?
Ice Hockey

How are the things with Artec?
Artec is going insane. The boards are the best ever and the team is super solid. Blaise knows how to run a snowboard company that�s for damn sure.

Do you think www.snowrev.com is GARBAGE or is real?
I like the site and the crew. Real snowboarders you know? Centi is damn cool and it was fun watching him ride Superpark. I think the Injured Riders Fund is an awesome idea.

What type of music do you listen? You like Julio Iglesias?
I might. Right now the sound of a cold Corona cracking open would be music to my ears. It�s so hot in Mammoth right now, 80 degrees!

Do you like Rap?
Not really

We see everyday Bigger and bigger shit. Where is  the limit?
We�ll see. Things that seemed crazy a few years ago are common now. Superpark was a good example of that. 1080�s more than one way is almost mandatory. 100 foot jumps get shredded to hell. Travis Rice�s movie is going to change things for sure. That guy is on a totally different level. Huge jumps with super tech tricks into powder. But there�s still so much room to grow individually. We all do this for the love of it and we�re human after all, we have a hard time sitting still.

What ever comes to your mind:

KEVIN JONES? So far ahead of everyone when he was at the top. He�s a funny guy.
GOLDEN? Cool town with a great crew of snowboarders. Decent backcountry as well. Hehe.
CHICKS? Amanda.
M3? That was an awesome team.
STANDARD? Uhhhhh� well, those guys gave me a chance and I can�t be bummed at that. They could�ve been way more honest with some things though. Nobody wants to show up at the premier just to see your shit�s been hacked to pieces.
WAVE RAVE? They�re pretty awesome. They let me go in there and tinker with all the tools and stuff. Probably the best tech department of all time.
SEPULTURA? My favorite band in 7^th grade.
GOD? Something I think about a lot.

Any Thanks?
Amanda, Mom, Dad, Matt, Dumbles.
Blaise Rosenthal and everyone at Artec. Jason Arnold, Keith and the Allyance program. Tobia, Jared and Trisha at Dragon. Danny, Silent Greg, Jared, Casillo and all the Grenerds. Tall Todd, Brent, Shane and everyone at Active. Oren, Chris, Mark, Mikey, Pete and the Unbound crew in Mammoth.Eddie Lee at 32. George and Brad at C3 distribution. Romey has always backed me and I thank him for being such a big help. All my friends that have had good times with me, priceless. Ed and Johnny at the Rev. Jeff Curley, Rusty White, Andy Wright, Torey Piro, Peter Morning and all the photographers I�ve worked with.