Warren was a serious BMX rider from the age of 10 to 13. When his local skateboard park was demolished to make way for an artificial ski slope it didn’t go down well with the his friends in the local neighborhood. Warren never expected at the time that the dry slope would lead him out of the council estates of Hemel Hempstead and into the amazing environment of the Alps. He learned to ski on the dry slope, got totally addicted then found his way to the Austrian Alps when he was 16. He got qualified internationally as an instructor and eventually went to Verbier where he found his home and love of freeskiing. Although Warren has competed, he passions are travelling, filming and photography. When Warren’s not coaching skiers he’s out trying to find nice places to ski and hopefully film and photograph. He’s worked with many ski photographers such as Mark Shapiro, Melody Sky, Terro Repo, Jansci Hadik. Warren gets lots of traffic and hits on his skiing media because of a huge following he has with his Academy fans.

His ski academy (www.warrensmith-skiacademy.com) that specializes in freeride skiing is based in Verbier in the winter months. Over 10,000 members of this academy check in with Warren online through his website to see what he’s up to.

Interview

What is your favorite ski in 2011/2012 Collection?

Shiro

Why do you like this ski?

It’s perfect for me to have a cross between the Gotama and the Sumo. It’s super versatile and you can actually carve the s?!t out of when skiing back down to town.

What conditions do you use this ski for?

It’s useful for all type of off piste condition. I’ve skied it in deep powder, wind crust, hard off piste snow and hard pistes. It really does the job across the board.

What other skis in the 2011/2012 collection do you ride?

I ride the Katana in the 198cm length because of my height and weight. It’s like a bulldozer and will break through anything. Incredible in hard snow condition and icy faces.

Can you tell us a little about each pair of skis, and about what sort of conditions you use them for?

Shiro – Super light weight and versatile but has a load of torsional strength so still holds the edge in vital situations. If you get the tight tree lines it’s so far under foot is can feel like a slalom ski.

Katana: I don’t think there is a ski out there on the market that can handle hard, tough conditions like the Katana. It will rip through any type of snow no matter how tough or icy. You can ride speeds off piste on this ski similar to GS turns on piste.

What about bindings? What bindings do you use? And where do you mount them?

I like the Marker Jester Team, it’s to 18 on the DIN which I like for my body weight.

I also use the Marker Jester Schizo on the 198cm Katana’s. It’s sometimes nice to adjust the binging on the long ski, especially in situations like skiing tight tree lines in places like Japan