Through All The Changes, Red Gerard Has Remained Himself

From the outside, it seemed like it happened all at the same time.

Red Gerard, one of snowboarding’s few household names, recently got a new outerwear sponsor. And a new energy drink sponsor. And finally, a new board sponsor, after his departure from Burton, took him away from the only board, boots, and bindings he had known in his career.

“You would like to space out your moves, more ideally, but I think you can’t really go that way,” he said. “I think looking at the positive side of doing this, I was able to get a good lay of the land of a lot of snowboard companies.”

What was first scary turned into a blessing for the 2018 slopestyle gold medalist. He’s worked with Arbor, his new board and bindings sponsor, on a pro model that dropped at the beginning of January. It’s a high-performance twin board and was released to select retailers on January 2.

The full release, including his signature Arbor Utility binding will drop in the fall. He’ll ride on it at the Olympics in Italy in February.

Gerard is one of three riders who have already qualified. The other two are fellow gold medalist Chloe Kim and fellow Coloradan Jake Canter.

“Red’s first Pro Model is a long-earned milestone that means as much to the snowboarding community as it does to him personally,” Arbor General Manager Matt Patti said in a press release. “He’s inspired an entire generation through his style, creativity, and progression, and this board is built to celebrate that journey and the lasting mark he continues to leave on snowboarding.”

With Dakine, Gerard has dropped a signature model glove, backpack, jacket, and bibs. The fit is meant to thrive equally on the slopestyle course, the resort, and the backcountry. Just like with Arbor, he was involved in the entire design process.

“I try to always wear the same stuff. I'm pretty good with just packing a board bag and a luggage bag, and I can kind of be on the road for as long as I want, really,” Gerard said. “You can't take too much, so I've always just been pretty good with just riding a pant and a jacket. Whether I'm in the backcountry or riding contests, it's kind of what I run.”

Believe it or not, it’s been eight years since Gerard won gold in Peyongchang. He was just 17 years old, and became the youngest American to win a snowboarding gold medal. It was also the second consecutive gold medal in men’s slopestyle for the Americans, as Sage Kotsenburg won it in 2014.

A lot has changed since then, though. The switch backside 1280 and double cork 1080 that landed him on the podium in 2018 almost certainly won’t land him on the podium in 2026. He’s more of a household name now, even famously name-dropped on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon by movie star Ben Stiller.

A knee grab by Canadian rider Max Parrot in those 2022 Games kept Gerard off the podium in the most controversial fashion possible. There was an entire Olympics in which the Gerard family, whose shotgunning of beers before the 2018 contest was so legendary it made the fifth paragraph of The New York Times, were not able to attend in person because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Their in-person return is what he’s looking forward to the most. Attending some of the hockey games and curling matches is high on his priority list, too.

“I'm looking forward to just kind of having a regular Olympic experience. You know, I was in 2018, and it was obviously awesome, winning it. But, you know, I was kind of out of the village and out of the Olympics and went on a pretty big media tour after it," he said.

"Then Beijing, just with Covid, no fans, no family, or anything. So that was a little bit of a bummer as well. I'm really just looking forward to going over there, and trying to snowboard the best I can, and then just trying to watch as many events as I can and really just get that Olympic experience.”

We're looking forward to it too, Red.