Vitals:
Age: 22
Hometown: Oceanside, NY
Sponsors: Rockstar, Rossignol, Electric, Orage, Mammoth, Discrete Headwear, La Familia Gloves, High Fives, Surefoot, Kooter Brown, Tall T Productions
Results: 1st, 2011 North Face PPOS slopestyle, Northstar-at-Tahoe, CA — 11th, 2011 Winter Dew Tour slopestyle, Breckenridge, CO — 10th, 2012 Winter Dew Tour slopestyle, Killington, VT
On Film: Sunny_Level 1 Productions, Prime Cut_Meathead Films,
For the Hell Of It_Montage Inc.
Wasilla, AK. Photo by Erik Seo_Level 1.
Chris Logan isn’t the hot new contest guy. He’s not the out-of-nowhere film star. He’s a dedicated, hard working skier whose stock has risen steadily over the years. He’s now a battle-tested Level 1 athlete. He has a number of top 10 results every year (including a win at the 2013 Orage Masters, as part of the Level 1 “Constructions” team). He has a style that is revered by his peers. We caught up with the man they call Dahrkness to find out what makes him tick.
Q&A
How did you get the nick-name, “Dahrkness?” How did the spelling come about? I got the name when I first moved to Mammoth, from Kevin Malone. It had to do with my skin tone and personality that differed from my older brother, Sean. The “H” is in there to really accentuate the dark. Over the years it has evolved into just Dahrk, Dahrky, or Christopher Dahrk.
You come from a pretty ski-industry-heavy family. How did that influence you, and how does it continue to influence you? So much of my influence in skiing came and still comes from my older brother Sean. Growing up I would always want to shred with him and his homies but wasn’t good enough to hang. First thing I would do if I learned something would be to tell him and try and get his approval and respect. He always responded like, “You should add another 180 to that,” or “Do it the other way.” That definitely helped push me and still pushes me today. I feel like my little sister Devin just fell into that same line. That’s how I was taught, so that’s how she got taught. Tough love.
Do you think skiing in Vermont shaped your career? Growing up and learning how to ski in Vermont was awesome. If you can ski the ice back there, you can ski anything. I started on the Mount Snow freestyle team when I was eight, learning how to jump and ski bumps. This was back before park skiing was going on. When the sport evolved more into what it is today, I kinda evolved with it. I went to the Mount Snow Academy throughout high school and had an ill crew of homies I rode with. I would say they really helped form my skiing into what it is today.
Do you like the competing and filming or would you rather focus on one or the other? I personally like both aspects of the sport. Comp skiing has that pressure to it of only having two runs to land your hardest tricks as clean as possible. Filming for a movie is a lot more laid back. You can try something as many times as you want until you are happy with it. For me, the contest mentality has helped out in my filming. I’m going to continue competing while I can still hang, and when I can’t anymore, I will put all my focus towards filming.
What was it like filming for the first time in Eye Trip versus being a vet filming for Sunny this past season? I feel like not much has changed between my first year filming with Level 1 and this year filming for Sunny. I am just as, if not more hungry and motivated to go out there and prove myself. I guess the only thing that is different is that I get to go on more trips and have more opportunities to get shots.
Fill the readers in on the Montage Inc. crew. Montage Inc. is our Mammoth-based crew. It was started before I even lived out here and consisted of my brother Sean, Sean Decker, Nolan Willard, Kevin Malone, Stu Halverson, Ben Wiltsie, Garrett Russell, Bernie Rosow, Tanner Rainville, Vann Gravage and Justin Kelley. Parker White, Nick Miles, Tory Kelliher (LT), Scotty Donahue, Mike Decker, Jimmy Greenleaf and myself all became a crew when we moved out here. It’s a big group of homies, most of which are from the East Coast, who love to ski, snowmobile and film.
What do you think style is? I think style is how smooth and easy a skier makes something look. So I think that it is moving in a positive direction by those skiers who really focus their skiing around that and not just how many spins and flips they can do. I try to keep style in mind whenever I’m skiing, just trying to keep everything clean and smooth as possible.
What do you think of Tom Wallisch filming his own edit all year long? I think what Wally is doing is real cool and a sick idea. Some Nyjah Huston type shit. I think some people have dabbled in that a bit and will in the future. Wally is just taking things to the next level, which is what he usually does. It’s going to be fun to watch and I hope to cross paths with him and Kyle Decker during the season and maybe sesh something together.
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