I’ve only known Livia for a year and admittedly invited her to film because I liked her hair. First, I saw a skate clip on Instagram, and she had this sick red ponytail. Then, a month or two later, I noticed she shaved her head. I was immediately intrigued. After two trips together, and her crashing on my living room floor in Vancouver, I can attest that she’s a gem. I’m sold. A bit reserved at first, it’s all part of her thoughtfulness and sensibility, I’ve learned.
At 23 years old, the Swiss rider is one to watch, and certainly one to work with. In the past year, she’s placed at the Uninvited Invitational twice, secured a spot on the Vans Europe and Salomon teams, and filmed with multiple crews including Sensesse, Escape, and Man We Need A Cam.
As a filmer, I love having Livia on a trip. She’s a perfect concoction of talented, discerning, grounded in her vision, and down to film a trick as many times as it takes to make it perfect. Her boarding is sometimes aggro and looks epic on camera, but she’s a cheeky little sweetheart who will knock on an old lady’s door to ask permission to ride her handrail and convince her to say yes. As a friend, I also love having Livia on a trip. She’s always down to take a break for a hot cup of bubble tea, camp in the pouring rain, or find somewhere to skate when there’s time. And you know she has your back if something goes sideways.
I was lucky enough to get to know Livia more while interviewing her, and I’m pleased that, in turn, you’ll get a tiny glimpse into who she is as well. If you know anything at all about what’s cool in snowboarding, you know that right now, Livia Tanno is UP.
Interview by Mikaela Kautzky
Photography by Wietse Thomas & James North
Where are you right now?
In the kitchen at my parents’ place in Obfelden, which is a half hour from Zurich. I moved out of my apartment in Zurich at the end of the season and couldn’t find a new spot that I wanted to stay in long-term. I’m still studying, so living with my parents right now is pretty chill.
What are you studying? I feel like Europeans are so good at balancing a snowboard career and going to university.
…but I failed half of my exams. I had to redo all of them. It’s so stressful to balance everything. I’m studying geography. It’s a subject I’m really hyped on.
It’s hard to fit both schedules into one life. If there were a Venn diagram of street snowboarding and a degree in geography, the intersection would be “good at GeoGuessing.” Are you good at it?
Yeah, I’m claiming I’m pretty fucking good at it.
Run us through a bit of your introduction to snowboarding.
I was seven when I started snowboarding. It was in the Engadin, which is part of the Alps. My grandma is from there; it’s like four hours from where I grew up. When I was 12, I joined a regional snowboard club. You had to compete when you were in that club, so that’s when I started doing comps. I liked doing them enough that I continued down that path until I was 19.
Run us through a bit of your introduction to snowboarding.
I was seven when I started snowboarding. It was in the Engadin, which is part of the Alps. My grandma is from there; it’s like four hours from where I grew up. When I was 12, I joined a regional snowboard club. You had to compete when you were in that club, so that’s when I started doing comps. I liked doing them enough that I continued down that path until I was 19.
“With the new hair, I looked hard.”
Do you think you’re a competitive person? Why’d you stop?
A little bit, yeah. I mean, I wouldn’t say I loved it. I always preferred just riding with my friends. Eventually, I lost the motivation to compete. I tore my ACL when I was 19 and missed a whole year. During that break, I questioned whether to stop snowboarding completely. I always knew that I wanted to film, but I didn’t really have friends who were interested in it. The next year, Eliot Golay and Jeremy Bucher, who had just started Man We Need A Cam, asked me if I would be down to film with them. I immediately felt like I was in the right place.
Were there certain videos or people or crews that you looked at and thought, oh, that looks like something I want to be a part of?
My biggest inspiration were the guys from Escape. I knew them, and I think that helped me to connect with what they did. At that time, I didn’t know any other women personally who were filming for snowboard videos. I definitely watched and loved The Uninvited videos, and the Too Hard squad was also inspiring.
Who was the first person in snowboarding that you looked up to as a kid?
One of my first coach’s favorite snowboarders was Christy Prior. I didn’t know any pros back then, so she obviously became my favorite as well. She was the first person that made me realize that I wanted to have style in my snowboarding. I still think she’s so sick.
We met on a trip to Folgefonna Glacier in Norway. Maria [Hilde] and I thought about inviting you to come on a snowboard trip because we liked your hair [laughs]. Had you met anyone from Sensesse at that time?
I had met Stine [Tønneson] twice before and hung out with her a little bit at The Uninvited, two months before that trip. I knew some of you through social media, so I felt like you weren’t completely new people. I mean, you were, but you were all very welcoming. I feel like we bonded pretty quickly camping in the rain. It wasn’t the best snowboarding trip, but I feel like it set a good base for the trip we did to Montreal. It felt more like a holiday to me—it was great.
I had this feeling on the Montreal trip that there was confidence developing in you. Do you feel like there was a bit of a shift in the way you felt about snowboarding between those two trips?
Yeah, I would say so. The past two years have been full of so much change in my life. 2023 was the first season I put out footage. Obviously, nobody really knew me because I hadn’t proven myself yet, and now so many things are happening quickly.
Were there any key moments of recognition? Any new sponsors or opportunities?
I think the first time was at The Uninvited a year ago when I got fifth place. Then, last fall, Benny Urban contacted me from Vans Europe, and that definitely felt like a big step. Since then, I’ve been lucky to be a part of so many more projects like filming with the Vans Europe team for Hundi’s project and with the Salomon team a bit for their two-year video.
When you get dressed, what do you start your outfit with?
I mean, physically, like, underwear [laughs]. Then pants, then a shirt.
Is it really just utilitarian like that?
No, no. I think about it when I have the chance to, if I have options with me. I would say I choose colors based on how my mood is. If I’m feeling good, it can be anything, but if I’m feeling shy, I’ll probably just wear something black, nothing too crazy.
What about the clip where you’re wearing a scarf around your head? That felt like a pretty iconic look.
For clips, I try to dress how I would dress in everyday life. At that time, I walked around with this scarf tied around my head, so I thought I would bring it to snowboarding. That’s the thing I like to play with a bit—how feminine or masculine I dress. For example, when I buzzed my hair off, I kind of had a style crisis. I wanted to dress a little more feminine because with the new hair, I looked hard.
“Nobody really knew me because I hadn’t proven myself yet, and now so many things are happening quickly.”
Do you feel like there’s the same sort of balance you’re trying to achieve when filming a video part?
Are we still talking about outfits?
I think an outfit is its own little ecosystem of expressing who you are. I think the video part is similar. It’s all these individual pieces that come together to create a whole, and you want it to be well-rounded and represent you in a way that feels right. Do you have a process in your head about filming a video part?
I try to make it diverse. At the beginning of last season, I only did 50-50s or tricks where I just went straight over things. But then at some point, I was just like, fuck, I need to go sideways, it’s going to get boring. I need to be hyped about the spot more than what I can do on it. I like spots that call for a very specific trick—or that you can only ride in a certain way.
You talking about that has reminded me of that nightmare scenario this winter, where we found that perfect spot with natural speed to the flat to up rail.
That was so fucked. We were in Montreal and we had this spot that somebody sent to us, I think it was Finn [Westbury]. We went there to check it out and were like, yeah, this is perfect. There was snow around, but it was close to a building where people were working, so we decided to come back two days later. We started taking out the shovels to set it up and then just looked up and the up part of the rail was gone. We were like, holy shit, it’s not even here anymore. What happened?
We couldn’t believe our eyes—it felt like a nightmare to me.
It was. I was so hyped on that spot.
I remember you saying you had this personal rule: for every spot that scares you, you do two fun spots to keep some balance. Did you learn that from somewhere?
Somebody told me about it last winter. I forget who it was, and I’m not sure if they had the same ratio. I just tried to adopt it, and it really helped me stay confident in my snowboarding and keep it fun.
From a filmer’s standpoint, it’s nice to film something that looks cool even if it’s not crazy hard. I’m hyped to film quick things that have style.
Same. For me, when I’m watching snowboard or skateboard videos, I’m often hyped on the cool, weird shit with spots that look fun or unique, rather than only the hardest tricks.
What was the scariest spot this winter?
That down rail in Oslo. It was one of the first spots I hit, and I had to drop in right at a house wall, and I only had two meters of run-up. It was steep and also pretty long. Not hard to clear, but I gained a lot of speed doing that. I jumped down the stairs first, and even that was scary. I was just getting in my head, it took me so long to commit.
How many tries?
It only took two tries actually, but it was still super scary, even after the first go.
What about a favorite trick that you filmed last winter?
I filmed a gap back tail 270 over a little river onto a wooden beam with some metal railings on the side. Shout out to Kas Lemmens for building that spot. I didn’t know that at the time, but I talked to him about it later, and he added the metal things on the side. I don’t think I would’ve gotten that idea.
“I need to be hyped about the spot more than what I can do on it.”
Okay, if you had a ratio of city vs. country, like where you want to live for your lifestyle, what’s your ratio?
I think 60% city, 40% country. Because right now, I’m craving a life where there’s a lot of stuff going on. My ideal living situation would probably be in a smaller city at the beach, where you can also snowboard.
There’s a beach and a mountain. Where do you foresee that being? Vancouver?
Vancouver does have that. It’s pretty cool. So many trips I go on, I find myself thinking oh, maybe I should move here. I had it with Oslo, and I had it with Montreal as well. It’s always in the back of my head.
After your degree, do you want to move somewhere?
I think so. At least for a while. I can always come back to Switzerland. I could see myself living in Vancouver because you have all of that, but I also feel like life there is similar to what I know. For summers, I would like to move to the west coast of France or Spain.
What are your three favorite items you own?
I just bought a small Panasonic camcorder that I now carry with me everywhere I go. I love it. Then my skateboard, because it’s fun and gets me places. And my bike, for transportation, too.
Do you have a dream trick to learn?
Backlipping a kink would be cool. Also, I want to do a double someday. I’ve never done one, but I could imagine doing a double back flip, maybe?
What do you like the least about snowboarding?
That I have to carry so much stuff everywhere I go, and it’s cold. Yeah, maybe the cold, because if it wasn’t cold, I wouldn’t have to carry so much stuff [laughs].
What do you like most about snowboarding?
So this is specifically about street snowboarding, but I feel like filming is the closest thing to the feeling of being a kid and ringing your friend’s doorbell, and asking them if they want to come out to play. It’s just exploring, walking around, doing whatever.
It feels strange filming snowboarding while it feels like the rest of the world is on the brink of destruction. Do you have any thoughts on that?
I think about it a lot. I mean, even just the fact that I’m flying overseas three times a year doesn’t really align with my values, in many ways. And in the end, you’re indirectly promoting consumption. But I still want to do this professionally, so I feel like this is what I should do right now to make it there. I think it’s a bit selfish what we do at times, but I also really want to take the opportunities that are presented to me now. I also very much see it as a feminist thing to do. At least in that matter, I think I can do something good… I don’t know, I try to be a good person in other ways.
I notice that culturally, there can be pressure for women in the sport to be a beacon of inclusivity or activism. Women are already shifting how it’s represented, so there’s this expectation that isn’t always put on men.
Yeah, definitely. I think that’s true. So far, I’ve kind of just done my thing… but now that I’m getting interviewed, I wonder if I should be doing more. I think as a woman, it should be enough to just exist in this snowboarding space. On feminist matters, I don’t feel an external pressure to speak up or do anything in particular, but I’m really thankful for everyone that does more. But with other things going on in this world, I often question what my activism should look like, especially if I’m given more of a platform but am not used to being the most publicly outspoken person.
Do you have any last things you want to say?
Thanks for the interview. Thank you to everyone that has ever supported or inspired me. Free Palestine. Take care of yourself and think about others.
