He grows any bigger and snow demon Scotty James will start to be confused with the abominable snowman or Big Foot.
Just four months short of his 18th birthday, the once grommet Olympian has taken two weeks out of his hectic international schedule to make an appearance at home in Melbourne – returning a whopping seven inches taller than just six months ago.
He now measures 6feet 2inches.
I like to think it’s all preparing me for something great
“Any taller and I could be in some trouble,” Scotty says with a laugh, having touched down in Australia on Thursday. “It’s pretty crazy. I’m getting pretty tall. But hopefully I don’t get too much taller. It probably wouldn’t be too good as a giant trying to snowboard.”
And it’s been more of a hindrance than a blessing so far, the Year 11 student having faced several hurdles in adjusting to his ever-changing body dimensions.
“It’s actually been really hard to adjust,” he says. “I’ve been hanging out with this guy named Abe Teter and he used to be an old-time shredder himself and he’s awesome because he’s almost 6ft3in and is really good to work with for the whole height situation.
“He’s been really helpful. I’d been struggling for a while because I’d been trying to adjust to growing so much but now I’ve got him, we’ve been working pretty well together. It’s been very handy working with someone who has been in the same situation I am in now.”
It’s been just as handy having a board sponsor, Scotty going through boards like they were disposable.
“My feet have stopped growing which is good,” he says. “But I’m still always getting onto different sized boards and different boards all the time to adjust
“But I don’t mind it. I like to think it’s all preparing me for something great.”
A great 2012-13 by the sounds of it, Scotty having just returned from three months based in Colorado where he made an appearance at more events than Shaun White.
“I’ve been over in the States doing a whole bunch of contests,” he says. “I’ve actually been based in Colorado and just shredding there and going back and forth from there to Europe.I started off with the Grand Prix in Cobber and then the Dew Tour at Bracken Ridge in Colorado, then I headed off to the World Snowboarding Championships in Oslo in February and went straight from there to a World Cup in Quebec, then did the Canadian Open and the US Open.
“Fifth was my best place from all and that isn’t that great but I’ve been stoked because my riding is just getting way better and progressing heaps. So next year I’m looking forward to hopefully getting more podiums and things like that. I’ve been setting myself up.”
With all that travelling, you’d had to have some pretty gnarly stories. Right?
“Haha. I’ve been taking it pretty mellow – no celebrity girlfriends or crazy parties,” he says. “Other than travelling around the world, which has been pretty sweet, there hasn’t been anything that crazy happening.
“I’ve been keeping on track with all my school work while I’ve been away and that’s probably the reason why I don’t have too many crazy stories to tell unfortunately.
“I’ve just been focusing on the shredding and school work. “I’m actually heading back to school next week which is going to be interesting… Haha.”
Scotty heads back to the US in two weeks to take part in a Red Bull athlete camp in Aspen. But not before a little party to celebrate the big winter at the Melbourne F1 GP this weekend.
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