Girl On: Amber Stackhouse
May 02 2007 / Los Angeles, CA
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Meet the smokin' hot pro snowboarder who started her own film company
The accolades that Amber Stackhouse has achieved in her long and storied career go far and long. Yet while the awards from competitions are sweet, it's the accomplishments from the past few years that have really put her on the map.
Amber started her own snowboarding film company called Misschief Films. The rider-driven snowboarding film production company was created and designed for the female riders. With very little film coverage given to the girls, Amber and her friend Fabia Gruebler started the project and own it to this day.
Their debut film, ...As If! was a huge success, as the all-girl shred flick appealed to all riders and allowed Amber to follow up her successful film with her sophomore project, Ro Sham Bo. Definitely check out the Misschief Films website to witness all that's going on with Amber's company: www.projectmisschief.com.
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We caught up with the snowboarding beauty not in her hometown of Portland, Maine, but rather in Portland, Oregon, just before Amber took off to shoot yet another film (this time for her main sponsor Roxy) in the frigid Nordic mountains of Sweden.
Lat34: How are you doing Amber?
Amber: Good! A little torn, but enjoying a relaxing day!
Lat34: What did you do last night?
Amber: I’m visiting some friends here in Portland, Oregon and they had a party. I was hanging out with some old friends. It was really great.
Lat34: Where do you live now?
Amber: Right now, in Salt Lake City.
Lat34: All the pros seem to be moving up to that area. Amber, you’re a Roxy girl. They’re marketing scheme is pure genius. Tell me about working for Roxy. What does it entail besides being a hot and talented rider.
Amber: (Laughing) First and foremost, you have to be good on a snowboard. We’re all really good friends. All of us (team riders) live in Salt Lake City actually. As big as the company is, it’s a pretty small team. We’re really close knit. It’s fun.
Lat34: What’s next for Amber Stackhouse?
Amber: I’m taking off to Sweden for three weeks of backcountry jumps.
Lat34: Sounds like fun!
Amber: Yeah, it’s the last leg of winter. And then the snowboarder superpark, and after that’s it’s over!
Lat34: Tell me the story on Misschief Films.
Amber: I’m the producer and the director. We started it from scratch three years ago because we thought there needed to be some girl videos out there. We had a good network of all the riders, and made two videos.
Lat34: Is that what you’re working on out in Sweden, a third video?
Amber: Actually, this year Misschief took a break because we were exhausted after doing it for three years. I’m doing a Roxy video this time.
Lat34: What's the Roxy film about?Amber: It's freestyle skiing and snowboarding. We're making it up in that way because we've got Sarah Burke on the program, who's a super-good freestyle skier, and then a few others, some from Europe and some from here. Plus a really great snowboard team. So we're just bringing everyone together for the project.
Lat34: Skiing is definitely becoming cool again. More young kids getting involved, and to actually cross it over into snowboarding is pretty amazing.
Amber: Yeah, the movie's kind of different. We don't really know what to expect from it. They're great girls. I'm friends with all of them, and they're incredibly talented. I figure it's about time to bring the two together.
Lat34: You're from the other Portland. Portland, Maine. You're pretty much on the same list as most other pro riders who originated and grew up in places where the snow just sucks. And you had no mountains nearby. Is the recipe for being a really good rider to learn on crap?
Amber: (Laughing) I think it's part of it, yeah, because you have to prove yourself and show that you really love it. You have to put up with driving for three hours to ride an ice block. That's pretty much what it was on the east coast.
Lat34: How old are you?
Amber: 27.
Lat34: How did you get your start? What put you on the map?
Amber: I used to do a bunch of contests back on the east coast. I did nationals and won it, so I moved out west. And then I got more involved with Roxy through their photo shoots and then they put me on the main “A” pro team.
Lat34: Do you compete in the X Games, or do you avoid that whole scene?
Amber: I kind of avoid it. When I started doing the film projects a few years ago, I sort of had to back out of a lot of contests because it was too time consuming to run the company and get it going. I do the Chicken Jams, and I did the Sessions this year. I just kind of do the ones I want to do.
Lat34: How did you become so adept at film production?
Amber: I just dove in, and it was sink or swim. I took some cues from some of the guy companies that we were friends with. It's a pretty small community in snowboarding, so it didn't take too long to figure it out.
Lat34: Do you have a boyfriend?
Amber: I actually don't right now.
Lat34: How does a girl as hot as yourself not have one?
Amber: (Laughing) I travel too much! I never meet anybody because I'm at a place for three days, and then I'm gone. I'm a workaholic now.
- Cyrus Saatsaz
