Ian Cosco, a.k.a Chug Life: Canadian, park-skier extraordinaire, star of the popular web series Chug Life, dog-owner, hockey fan. We caught up with Chug this afternoon to discuss his spring, summer and everything in between.
Freeskier.com: Hey Chug, where are you right now?
Ian Cosco: I just moved up to Whistler again, I've been in Squamish for the past eight months or so. So that's new.
FS: What were you up to this spring?
IC: This spring I pretty much spent the entire time around Whistler, shredding park at Whistler/Blackcomb and what not. I also filmed a little bit with The Kids for the Poor Boyz segment we're putting together.
FS: The Kids are getting their own Poor Boyz segment?
IC: Yeah, not entirely sure how it's going to work yet, but it's shaping up to be a group segment featuring the whole gang. I didn't really get to shoot too much throughout the season as I was trying to compete, but I know Joe [Schuster], Sean [Pettit], [Mike] Henitiuk and Riley [Leboe] all have tons of good shit logged. And the rest of the gang came together in the spring and did some park stuff to try and pull the whole segment together. I actually skied for a day in full hockey gear. Turns out it's really hard to do tricks with a hockey stick in your hands. Hopefully it'll make for a good banger to the segment.
Chug indulges in some good ol' kitchen hockey. Photo courtesy Cosco via Instagram.
FS: How 'bout TheKidsConcept.com… any plans down the pipe?
IC: Nothing set in stone right now for the site. But we're going to try and revamp it and make it more interactive, I can tell you that much.
FS: Let's talk Chug Life. What does the future hold?
IC: I don't know if you heard, but I was recently cut from the Canadian National Team due to my head injuries this year. Filming Chug Life was a bit of an issue, obviously, seeing as I was representing the great country of Canada, but as I'm no longer doing that, I plan to bring Chug Life back in full force. Perhaps my being cut was a blessing in disguise?
FS: Time will tell! And you're coaching at Momentum this summer, yes?
IC: Yeah, I'll be doing three weeks at Momentum and shredding around at Camp of Champions as well.
FS: For a while you were toying with the idea of working at Whistler Air with float planes this summer. Did you put a lid on that?
IC: Yeah, I don't think that's going to be happening this year. But in the next few years I want to make that happen, for sure. Right now I'm not flying all that much, my plane needs a bit of work on it. But, Whistler Air is a float plane company based out of Whistler's Green Lake. I've always wanted to be a float plane pilot, that's my plan for whenever I decide to stop skiing, so I thought I'd get my foot in the door as soon as I can, and fly in the summers while I'm still skiing. Nothing I've looked too, too deep into yet, but it's a big interest of mine.
FS: Moving right along, you recently paid Peter Olenick in full on a bet that you made for the 2011 Stanley Cup Championships [Cosco bet $2,000 USD that the Vancouver Canucks would win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, while Olenick bet $2,000 on the Boston Bruins—Boston won the game 4-0]. Peter used the money to pay for a vacation for him and his girlfriend to the Dominican Republic. Anything you'd like to say to Peter?
IC: I actually couldn't be happier for him. I'm glad he used the money that way. It was very, very difficult for me to finally hand over that $2,000, so I'm glad he spent it well and he and Alana got to have a great time.
FS: Peter has also had some money on the table for a while now, all for the taking if you get a tattooed image of himself on your back. Any plans to make that happen, and to make some of that $2,000 back?
IC: The deal was, starting a couple of years ago, that for $15,000 I'd put him on my back inside of the cross that I have tattooed on there now. I offered him $13,000 when I lost that hockey bet, and he still didn't bite. I don't know, I guess if he puts the money up front it could happen. We'll see how that pans out.
FS: How's your dog Mogli? Are you going to get him a hot dog costume?
IC: Mogli is wonderful. He's very poorly house trained, but he still looks like a wiener so I think yeah, I actually think I will get him a hot dog costume.
FS: Excellent. Can't wait to see. Any parting words before I hang up on you?
IC: Yes. Thanks as always to my sponsors, my family, The Kids for being awesome, and to Freeskier for calling me and asking me questions.
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