Earlier this year we headed to Morzine in France, to shoot our winter snow campaign! While scouting for local talent to take part, we crossed paths with Pete & Sophie who run Little Difference, an incredible gift-giving business, with a simple concept: 1 card = 1 tree. With every single product they sell, they plant 1 tree in Madagascar towards permanent reforestation. So far they have planted over 25,000 trees and given over 300 days of work to the local community! We sat down with Pete to learn a bit more about how he started, what inspires him and his plans for the future!
Please tell us a little about you, your life, job, passions:
I’m Pete. My life is mix of skiing, adventure, a lot of travel while spending most of my time with my partner Sophie building our business Little Difference with which we are trying to change the world a little by little, planting thousands of trees. My passion is skiing for sure, but also anything outdoors that involves a thrill and a challenge! My job is part professional skier, part photographer and film-maker, but mostly running our business, Little Difference, with my partner and co-founder Sophie who does all the art-work by hand.
Where are you currently based in the world, how did you end up there:
Queenstown, NZ. I came here first in 2009 for the skiing. Soon after I meet Soph who came here for the mountain biking. Together we have been hunting out “the best place in the world to live”, we have seen some stunning places but Queenstown is still near the top.
What/who inspires you:
David Attenborough, doing what he loves with purpose in to his 90’s while having a tremendous positive effect on the world.
When did you start snowboarding/skiing:
5 years old at Rainbow Ski Area near where I grew up on the family farm in Marlborough, NZ. I still remember that day!
Maybe landing my first backflip, or maybe when I first did big back flip off a cliff getting my first magazine publishing. Hmm rescuing a sheep on skis is up there too. Wait, Soph and my first trip skiing in the north of Norway in the Fjords was amazing too.
What other riders do you look up to:
Kelly Mcgarry, who was a local mountain biker in Queenstown I had the pleasure of knowing. He was a legend of the sport pushing boundaries but remained incredibly humble and had time for anyone he met. As an aspiring freeskier I also loved how Mark Abma skied, he crushed all types of free skiing.
Where are your favourite places to snowboard/ski:
Many of my best moments skiing are in NZ, some of the best snow I’ve skied is here too believe it or not. There is so much unspoilt, unexplored mountains here for limitless adventure. But I have to say skiing remote fjords in Norway is pretty sweet too!
Do you have any personal goals within the sport you want to achieve:
At 32 there are still a few tricks on my list I’m working on. I would also like ski off Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain.
What are your plans for the rest of this year:
Well that Mt Cook ski descent still might happen this year, let’s see. But we are currently running a Crowdfunding Campaign to build our business, Little Difference. Basically, we sell Greeting Cards and other paper stuff with Soph’s art, but we plant 1 Tree for every product sold. We’ve planted 25,000 trees so far! So right now we are just focusing on making sure that Crowdfunding Campaign is a success. You can see the campaign and help us by pledging at www.theupeffect.com/little-difference . We are also halfway through building a tiny house on wheels, so when the Crowdfunding Campaign is over finishing our home will then become the focus.
Anything you’d like to add: See more of what we are about at www.littledifference.org and check out our crowdfunding campaign, it’s a great easy solution to Christmas present’s, we deliver the rewards by the end of November and you also give the gift of trees and much-needed employment for those who plant them! You can also watch our Crowdfunding Campaign Video Here.
Thanks to Surfdome for the great times on the shoot in Morzine, France
