Scroll Call: An End of Season Chat With Rob Roethler
We sat down with Rob Roethler, #BurtonTeam Rider to check in after a season full of product development and big trips with the crew.
Rob’s season was full of highlights, with his first trip to the Laax Open topping the list. From stacking heavy clips to diving into gear development, he’s pushing both his riding and the products he uses. Whether it’s snowboarding or golf, Rob’s all in—and always progressing.
You had a busy season, what was a standout moment?
Going to Laax was definitely the highlight. It was my first time at the Open, which I’d been wanting to experience for years. Getting to be there with the TDI crew made it even better—such a big moment.
What was your favorite clip you posted this season?
Definitely the wallride clip. That one meant a lot — it was terrifying, so I was stoked to see how well it was received.
It wasn’t a super long battle, maybe 12 or 13 tries, but it was mentally exhausting. On my last attempt, I was completely cooked — physically and mentally — and knew I didn’t have another one in me.
Luckily, that was the one that worked. The wallride itself wasn’t the scariest part — it was the drop after, the pole you had to avoid on the way up, and a tree sticking out past the wall.
I knew if I didn’t pop hard enough off the wall, I could catch my nose and go straight to my head. So yeah, I was up there tweaking.
At some point, you just have to say, “F*** it,” and drop in.
Thankfully, I landed it. Took a few slams along the way, but nothing too brutal.
We’ve seen you're playing a lot of golf. Who on the Burton Team would smoke you?
Haha yeah we’re pretty fired up on golf. I’d say Mikey C probably beats the bricks off me—he’s solid. Luke’s been recovering from his ACL and playing non-stop all winter, so he’d probably smoke me too at this point. Mikey’s actually smoked me the last three times we played, so yeah... he might have the edge right now. I shot an 83 yesterday though, so I’m getting back to my usual.
You switched over to Step On more consistently this year. How was the transition, and did you work with the Burton R&D team on any tweaks?
Yeah, so it was a little new right away. First two hours, we were actually filming together at Troll, and it took a minute for me to even be like, “Alright, I think I can do tricks on this.”
But then as soon as I started just kind of trusting the system—and because it's different, it's way more responsive. It's not as loosey-goosey or has play as the normal strap bindings do. So just getting used to being able to put your weight into the board, the bindings, and the boots, and just trust that it’s going to do what you want it to, instead of being timid and having to try and force through it—because that makes it really difficult and you're just responsive to everything. And so it gets really hard to make small adjustments.
And then once I started figuring that out, it got a little better. So I was like, alright, ‘that’s kinda sick.’
But also the main thing is that the heel lift that I was super pissed off about the last few—three, four—years is totally gone. And that was a major adjustment that I needed made for me to even just feel comfortable riding them.
And even still, before that was fixed, I had no problem riding. It just felt sketchy, and I didn’t like that. But now it feels way locked in. And to many people’s points, they think it’s too locked in—because it’s so connected, no play—so your toes aren’t really doing that rolly thing that you can when you have strap bindings.
So that’s kind of where people find a fault in it.
Do you enjoy being involved in product development?
Yeah, I really love being part of the product process. Step On has been my main focus, but I want to be involved in everything.
It’s exciting to work with people who actually know how to build and improve gear, and then be able to say, “Here’s what I’m experiencing as a rider.” I think rider-driven snowboarding should be at the core of product development.
Even if something like Step On isn’t where we want it to be yet, getting to have real input and push it in the right direction is huge. My goal is to help shape it into something I love—and hopefully something the rest of the snowboard community will be stoked on too.
Is there anywhere that’s a bucket list place for you still that you haven’t been to?
I really want to go to Chamonix. I think that'd be pretty cool. I'd love to go snowboarding in Argentina, and I know there's some form of snowboarding in Africa, and I'd love to do that as well. But other than that, I think pretty much any Swiss resort. I think there's St. Moritz, right? And Corvatsch—I'd love to go there.
What have you been listening to lately? Any songs on heavy rotation?
I’ve actually been kind of frustrated with my music lately—nothing’s really felt fresh. But when I was flying home from Norway, I randomly got back into classical music. It’s something I’ve always loved, and it just hit right. Frederick Schulman is a favorite—he’s an incredible pianist—and I’ve always been into Vivaldi too. That said, I’ve also been bumping “Crushed” by AJ Tracey and Jorja Smith, plus the Soft Spot (Remix) with Sada Baby. A bit of everything, really.
What’s the first thing that you always make sure to pack for travelling?
The first thing, I just try to make sure I don’t forget my snowboard boots or any of my essential snowboarding items. Yeah, it’s really important that you don’t show up without snow pants or some shit like that. So usually I try to make sure I get that dialed and then I’m going to the Norma Tec if there’s room for ’em. But a lot of the times too, it’s just 10 pairs of shades and I’m off. Gotta have the rotations.
