If you met Aspen Spora on the chairlift you’d think he’s like every other 11-year-old kid – he loves to play Xbox, jump on the trampoline, and constantly begs his mom to stay up late. But once he enters the park, you forget he’s about to start the sixth grade. Instead of watching the big boys throw tricks from the sidelines, Aspen is right behind, if not, ahead of them, leading the pack through the superpipe.

By the time he reached 5’4”, he was a member of Team O’Neil, skied with Tom Wallisch, and landed sponsorships from some of skiing’s biggest brands. While we’re used to seeing him rip with the pros, his contagious laugh and playful attitude remind us that he still get’s a child’s lift ticket.

He dreams of the day he’s old enough to live out of his car so he can chase the snow says his mom, Stacy Spora. Too bad he’ll have to wait five years to drive a car. Aspen is one lucky kid to have a mom as cool as Stacy. A snowboarder herself, Stacy shares the same passion for the hill as Aspen. 

A few years back, she moved the family to Northstar, Calif. so Aspen could keep doing what he loves – skiing. Stacy admits it can be difficult to travel so often. She goes out of her way to cook organic meals and make sure he is doing well in school. “I want to see him succeed and do what he loves,” she said.

In between Tweets about animal crackers and Mac n’ Cheese, Aspen told us about his summer and what it was like to shoot with the Warren Miller Film crew.

What have you been up to this summer?

I just got back from skiing at Mt. Hood and in Canada. I was at Camp Of Champions in Whistler. It’s the coolest summer camp around. But I’m not doing anymore skiing this summer. I hate waiting for the next season. I just want the snow to come.

What do you do when you’re not skiing?

I have a pair of inline skates so I like to go to the skate park with my friends and do tricks. It really helps my skiing too. I also like to play Skate 3 on Xbox. It’s a skateboarding game. It’s awesome.

How was filming Flow State?

The skiing shots were pretty easy but the lifestyle shots were hard. It took me a million tries to get out of bed.

Because you hate waking up?

No, because I had to pretend like I was sleeping and that’s really hard to do without laughing. Filming the movie was awesome though and I got to ski with Toby Miller. He’s a super happy and nice guy to be around.

Who’s your favorite skier?

Probably Tom Wallisch. Yeah, he’s my favorite pro skier. He’s always pushing the limit and every time he does a trick it’s something I’ve never seen before. It’s always new and crazy. He’s always inventing things. I want to be like that.

What was it like to meet Tom?

Amazing! Have you seen the Joss edit with Simon Dumont? Remember in the edit when Simon Dumont goes up to Tom and says, “Jesus, is that you?” When I met Tom I walked up to him and said, “Jesus, is that you?” He laughed and then we talked and skied. 

Are you excited to go back to school?

I’m excited to see my friends but I don’t want summer to end. Well, I do because I want ski season to start. 

Is it hard to go to school and ski at the same time?

Hmm. You know, that’s a really hard question. Let me think about it for a minute. (Pause). Well, I switched schools so that I could do both. I was homeschooled for a while and did some classes online but this year I’m going to a Middle School by my house. I’m glad I’ll be going there with my buddies.

My mom always makes sure that I do my homework, and packs my lunch, and gets me there on time. You know, all that mom stuff.

Check out some behind the scenes footage of Aspen Spora in Warren Miller Entertainment's upcoming film, Flow State, here.