CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla is getting out of the (squawk) box for his new series The New High: Extreme Sports. In the show, which premieres tonight at 10 p.m. ET, Quintanilla examines the extraordinary growth of extreme sports. Quintanilla even tried some insane stunts while reporting on the rapidly growing, million dollar industry.
We caught up with Quintanilla for 5 Questions to discuss everything from the dangers of kiteboarding to the LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan debate. He even passed on a chance to eat at one of the best restaurants in the world during filming, but… why?
TVNewser: It’s been a little over one year since you started anchoring Squawk Alley. How has the show evolved over that time?
Quintanilla: It’s been pretty fascinating. I mean, our mission is to cover tech and finance. And what are the broad narratives of the past year? Well, a) the unprecedented influence of Apple on software and hardware, and b) the trend of tech startups raising huge amounts of money in the private market. So we’ve talked a lot about Apple — and we’ve introduced viewers to a lot of billion-dollar companies they’ve probably never heard of.
TVNewser: Have you always been a fan of extreme sports or was this something you had to educate yourself on for the show?
Quintanilla: I’ve always been a bit of a gym rat — and I’ve done a couple of sky-dives — but last fall, I was struck by how many people I knew for whom a 10k, even a marathon, just wasn’t enough. It was all about CrossFit, Spartan races and ToughMudders.
So, I knew we were seeing a generation come of age who thought of sports differently. They were raised on snowboarding instead of skiing, on X-games instead of Olympics. What I wasn’t prepared for was how driven they are to compete — even in the face of injury, or in the case of something like wingsuit BASE jumping, a not-insignificant risk of paralysis or death. It’s, like, what are these people thinking?
TVNewser: Kiteboarding looks awfully scary, albeit fun. Was there ever a moment when you thought, “maybe this wasn’t such a smart idea.”
Quintanilla: Yeah, how about the moment they strapped me to that kite! You don’t appreciate the power of the wind until it’s yanking you around like a rag doll. I weigh 200 lbs and I’ve never just been tossed into the air like that. Completely out of control.
Someone who kiteboards told me: no matter how good you are, it’s scary every time. That now makes a lot of sense to me.
TVNewser: This project brought you to Utah and Hawaii, among other locations. What was the best meal you had along the way?
Quintanilla: This is going to sound all “woe is me”, but with our shooting schedule, there was no time for fun. I think I hit Arby’s and a Denny’s in Utah. The worst part was driving right past Mama’s Fish House in Maui — probably the best sushi in the world — with no chance to stop. Brutal.
TVNewser: I can tell you’re a huge NBA fan based on your Twitter account. So, thoughts on LeBron James? Can he be better than Michael Jordan?
Quintanilla: We already know LeBron is a better mix of speed and strength than Jordan ever was. He’s the best player in the world. The problem is: he said it, himself, instead of letting others say it for him.