Document Snowboard 44

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PL G I R E ANAN E I NET S NS R EA IDE PO SO !

ST N ER

www.documentsnowboard.co.uk

# TRAVEL # PRODUCT # TECHNIQUE # ADVICE

ISSUE 44 // OCTOBER 2007 // £3.80

SURF THE CLOUDS '08 POWDER BOARDS ON TEST

ATTACK OF THE DALIKS!

T H E GR EAT Mark Ruparelia by nathangallagher.com

ISSUE 44 // OCTOBER 2007 DCMT 44 COVER.indd 1

POW DER NE DDUMEPRS PIGLU TIM B

ACROSS THE GLOBE!

1 R FO 2 E E FR SNOWDOME VOUCHER! "NOT THAT CRAP"

Dear JaKe..

Is it true you still ride 100 days a year?

" No. Lastwyaesar125 " it

..and heaps of other questions answered

by Mr Burton !

HOW DO I... DROP A CLIFF? | SEASON MORZINE? | ROCK RIDE? | BS7s? | WAX? STARTS P76 29/8/07 10:15:08

WWW.BURTON.COM /

Rider Service Europe 00800 287 866 13 (tollfree) BUR08•Love_DocumentUK.indd 1 002-003 BURTON Ad.indd 2

20/8/07 12:35:36

Check out cool gear, trick guides, rider bios and more by keying mobile.burton.com in your cell phone´s browser!

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For a free catalogue email: sales@k2-uk.co.uk or telephone 01527 528271 fax: 01527 514374

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Dear JaKe..

Is it true you still ride 100 days a year?

" No. Lastwyaesar125" it

..and heaps of other

questions answered

by Mr Burton!

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DCMT 44 COVER.indd 1

24/8/07 20:49:10

ON THE COVER Mark Ruparelia getting shradical in the fresh in the Portes du Soleil Photo: Nathan Gallagher (www.nathangallagher.com) Published by Fall-Line Media Limited South Wing, Broadway Court, Broadway, Peterborough PE1 1RP Tel: +44 (0)1733 293250 Fax: +44 (0)1733 293269 ISDN: +44 (0)1733 895832 Email: info@fall-line.co.uk

Say anything

EDITOR: Rachel Devlin rachel@documentsnowboard.co.uk ART EDITOR: Ben Dickie ben@fall-line.co.uk ASSISTANT EDITOR: James Bryant James@documentsnowboard.co.uk PRODUCTION: Andy Cremin andy@fall-line.co.uk

I

PRODUCTION & WEB EDITOR: Andy Cremin andy@fall-line.co.uk

Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S been a long summer. Interminably long with the Noahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ark-esque rainfall weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve all endured. Last season seems eons ago and, until this month, winter 2008 seemed light years away. But somethingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happened in recent weeks. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a buzz in the air and a sparkle in peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes: the newest snowboard movies are filtering through and our appetites have been well and truly whetted. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing like watching the pros do what they do best to inspire you, amaze you, and fill you with an unquenchable shredlust thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have you chomping at the bit until you get to hit the snow yourself.

For me, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got to be Mack Dawgâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Picture This trailer (check out our full movie review on page 28) that had me fired up and desperate to get my stick out. The Eero Ettala sequence turned me into a mesmerised, frog-mouthgaping zombie. Now, I know Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never register on the Ettala richter scale of talent. But I can dream and right now, just like you, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m dreaming about winter.

Well, I suppose I had better introduce myself before you feast your eyes on the delights of Document #44. My name is Rachel and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m the new girl here at Document HQ (along with fellow newbie James Bryant â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Russ Shea (dopeshots.com) CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Nathan Gallagher, David Spurdens, Pasi Salminen, Andrew Hingston, Dee Yeadon, Christian Brecheis, Samantha Hart, Colin Adair, Pally Learmond, Rowena Burkinshaw, Ian Sansom, Mike Weyerhaeuser, Dan Medhurst, Danny Warren, Steve Mckenna, Dean â&#x20AC;&#x153;Blottoâ&#x20AC;? Gray, Peter Charaf, Sam Mellish, James North, Alex Roberts, Alexander Schneider, Jeff Curtes, Dan Carr CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Ian Sansom, Jon Weaver, Sam Nelson, Gemma Freeman, Ian Ashmore, Steve Cuss and Pat Lambert ADVERTISING MANAGER: Craig Scrivener craig@fall-line.co.uk +44 (0)1733 293258 TRAVEL & ADVERTISING: Georgie Horgan georgie@fall-line.co.uk OFFICE MANAGER: Susan Williams susan@fall-line.co.uk ADMINISTRATION: Janet Brown accounts@fall-line.co.uk MARKETING MANAGER: Elaine McMurray elaine@fall-line.co.uk

associate editor and talented photographer, with OCD when it comes to smallprint and finer detail) and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re stoked to be here!

So, what can I tell you about me? I love the mountains (lucky that), I love the feeling of freezing air burning my face, the anticipation at the top of the hill, and the pain and glory of nailing whatever it is you fear â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from getting off the chairlift without falling over to making it down before all of your hardest mates.

Pushing it is what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about. Three years ago I pushed it a bit far, smashing my spine up so badly that I was trussed up in a backbrace like Xena the Warrior Princess for about nine months. And yet I still love snowboarding enough to make a whole magazine about it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; pushing it, I like to think, another step forward.

Which clearly means that riding, and writing about snowboarding, is the most fun you can have, anywhere, anytime. End of (except, perhaps, for monkey tennis).

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d also like to hear from you; what you think of our magazine, whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s making you tick this season, or just to give me a hard time, whatever, drop me a line. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good to talk.

Apparently.

Rachel Devlin, editor

PUBLISHER: Richard Fincher dickie@fall-line.co.uk

No liability is accepted for the accuracy of the information contained herein, nor are any guarantees given by the magazine. Copyright worldwide of original material is held by Fall-Line Media Limited, and permission must be obtained for any use, transmission, storage or reproduction. Publication does not imply that the opinions are shared by the magazine.

Fall-Line Media assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of contributed material. We cannot accept responsibility whatsoever for product or samples submitted to us to review â&#x20AC;&#x201C; please make sure items are insured to their full value. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to add something amusing here but, after working on this magazine until 4am today, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a funny bone left in my body. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m just feeling funny-weird, not funny-haha!

DAVID SPURDENS

Copyright Fall-Line Media Limited, South Wing, Broadway Court, Broadway, Peterborough PE1 1RP Printed by St Ives PLC

Jo Howard is going to have a big future, if it doesn't fall out of his pocket first!

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+Contents + DOCUMENT 44

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HOLY CRAP!

022

INSIDER DEALING

024

DEBRIS NEWS

026

DEBRIS INTERFACE

028

DEBRIS NEWS

030

DEBRIS IN SHORT: DAVID BENEDEK

032

DEBRIS LOCK AND LOAD

034

DEBRIS WHO THE HELL IS?

036

DEBRIS HI 5

038

SUBSCRIBE

041

THE GREAT POWDER PLUNDER

48

TEAM GB

051

UK Scene

058

72 HOURS IN KAUNERTAL

064

LEGENDS: JAKE BURTON

068

EASTERN PROMISE

076

HOW TO DO A SEASON: MORZINE

080

WORLD COMPETITIONS: TTR & FIS

084

TESTED: POWDER STICKS FOR 07/08

Take pro rider Jeremy Jones, bring him to Helsinki, and throw in a city gap, what do you get? One mighty fine action shot Meet the folk that add the spice to the Document cake mix Round-up of the summer’s snowboarding news and some tasty free gear up for grabs You crazy kids get to have your say...and we actually listen!

Get your hands on Mack Dawg’s latest film, Tim Warwood talks music, and all the latest shredding stories The mastermind behind 91 Words For Snow visits the UK for his latest film We go shopping with Ollie Plumley and check out his essential kit Meet new kid on the block Chris Kightley

International big gun Eero Ettala hangs five with Document.

Find out how to get Document Snowboard through your postbox and nab a sick free gift Global powder dumps to make your snowboard’s mouth water, from Whistler to Verbier.

48 Medical Testing: The team hit the lab to undergo medical testing 49 Mt Hood: Summer snow for Team GB as they cross the pond 50 Snapshot: Zoe Gillings talks about the devastating injury 51 Jon Weaver talks about all that is good and great in British snowboarding in 2007 52 24 Hour Indoor Tour: can anyone hit three snowdomes in one day?

54 Local Knowledge: The lowdown on Tamworth SnowDome and local hero Tim Sandy 55 UK Slopes: Check out your shredding options across the country 56 The Westbeach Snowflex Series Freestyle Championships Join us for the 2008 Board Test on the Austrian glacier Meet the man behind the myth as we quiz him about...pretty much everything The deathpunk boys behind the dalikfodda outfit head out to Eastern Europe Everything you’ve ever needed to know to join the ranks of the seasonaire What are they? What’s the difference? Whose competing? Your questions answered The top freeride boards put through their paces

090 LAB RATS

This year’s interesting kit tested to within an inch of its life.

097

BASIC TRAINING – WAX YOUR BOARD

100

BASIC TRAINING – ROCK RIDE TO FLAT

102

BASIC TRAINING – BACKSIDE 720

104

BASIC TRAINING – GAP TO CLIFF DROP BACKSIDE 360

Keep your kit in top nick!

Let Colum Mytton show you how it’s done

A pretty difficult trick but once you land it, you’ll never look back

NATHANGALLAGHER.COM

Ben Kilner does it with style so you can learn how

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page 83

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BFB. WHITE/BLACK

www.vanssnow.com www.vans.co.uk

photo: ian ruhter Š2007vans,inc.

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HOLY CRAP! The sickest action...

...and how it was captured

When pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones rocked up to Helsinki with Mack Dawg Productions last season, little did he realise poor old Pasi Salminen would be lying in poop to get the shot

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

HOLY CRAP 1

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HOLY CRAP! HOLY CRAP 2

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HOLY CRAP 3

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’’

DEFYING, JUST A GOOD OLD SESSION WITH THE BOYS IN FINLAND, A MOMENT THAT I’LL REMEMBER FOR SURE!

JUST A FUN SESSION, ‘‘ IT WAS NOT SCARY, NOT DEATH

HOLY CRAP! BACKGROUND

DEAN "BLOTTO" GRAY © BURTON SNOWBOARDS 2007

From Salt Lake City, Utah, Jeremy Jones made his mark as part of the Forum 8 back in the 1990s – tearing it up with partners in crime JP Walker, Mikey Leblanc and Nate Bozung, and working with Mack Dawg Productions (MDP). His steel balls and technical prowess established his international recognition with pivotal parts in the Resistance, True Life and Shakedown films. Always leading the pack, his 20 stair switch backlips were ahead of their time.

Since joining the Burton Global Team, Jeremy’s drive to get shots and create new possibilities is relentless.

It was Jeremy’s second day in Finland. The boys had built this kicker previously, wanting to make sure it would be strong enough. MDP’s filmers Jaakko Itäaho and Brad Kremer were with me in thinking we should film later when it was dark. We left to get some food, a generator and lights. Our brave sentry Brad stayed on hand to keep an eye on all our hard work and possessions. Two hours later and we were filming.

Jaakko used a cable cam which you can see in the shot. Brad

PASI SALMINEN

JEREMY JONES

PHOTOGRAPHER’S OPINION

SNOWBOARDER’S OPINION

BACKGROUND

“The City Gap – we had heard about this gap, after the first Eero (Ettalla) and Hiekki (Sorsa) session a year ago. We wanted a piece of it and to build maybe a section in the movie around it. It didn’t really work out that way. But Eero, Seth (Huot), Darrell (Mathes) and I sessioned this for a full day and night, it was just a fun session, not scary, not death defying, just a good old session with the boys in Finland, a moment that I’ll remember for sure!

This is the thing that snowboarding is about for me.”

Finnish-born photographer Pasi Salminen has been shooting skate and snow for more than 10 years. Carrying an extensive portfolio, Pasi has freelanced for a list of clients longer than an ostrich’s neck. But it is his work among the MDP crew, and particularly riders like Eero Ettalla and Jeremy Jones, that has brought his images to our eyes. Originally shooting skaters, Pasi learned an incredible proficiency with flash photography. Now there is nowhere he feels more at home than shooting a Helsinki street set-up with world class snowboarders.

PASISALMINEN.COM

resort focus TALMA, FINLAND

THE LOWDOWN

LOCATION, LOCATION...

SEASON LENGTH: December – April

WHAT THEY SAY...

NEAREST AIRPORT: Helsinki-Vantaa airport

TALMA

RESORT HEIGHT: Limited snowboarding in Helsinki but head over to Talma 30 minutes away NUMBER OF LIFTS: At Talma: 6 TOTAL PISTE LENGTH: Hmm... it’s 65m high so...

TERRAIN PARKS: World famous terrain park LIFT PASS PRICES: Talma: €23 day or €320 season pass

HELSINKI

came down with me to the gap. I tried like ten different angles and was getting frustrated. First I tried a long lens, then fish-eye from the side and then I thought about taking photos looking straight up. I got myself on the ground, lying down in the snow, looking up at the sky. I had to move around a little and noticed there had been animals there laying some poops. Of course, I was lucky and managed to get myself on that poop! I took about 10 photos, after the last one I knew we’d got our shot.

SNOWMAKING COVERAGE: Extensive at Talma TERRAIN BREAKDOWN: 2 blue runs 1 park 1 pipe TRAVEL AGENT

www.talmaski.fi

Helsinki, the capital and largest city of Finland lies in the far south, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. It is situated at approximately the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska, making it the northern-most capital in Europe. This results in wildly dark winter days and bright summer nights. The city stretches across 300 islands that are connected by a network of bridges. With decent snowfalls during winter months, the city has been the subject of many professional snowboard movies in recent years. But there are also four ski hills within striking distance – Talma, Serena, Peuramaa and Klaukkala.

WHAT WE SAY...

A rad-looking capital of only half a million people. This place rocks. Cold winters and hot summers with loads of trees and stuck right by the sea. Think Canadian wilderness but a wee bit closer to us Euros. This city has given birth to more pro snowboarders than anywhere else, at last count.

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DENVER, COLORADO. EST. 1991

3 YEAR WARRENTY BOMBPROOF +44(0)1531 890 955 - INFO@MAXTRACK.COM

+I N S I D E R D E A L I N G

RIDER: COOPER HOFFMEISTER PHOTO: KEVINWESTENBARGER.COM

HAND BUILT IN COLORADO

MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES WHO MAKE THE DOCUMENT CLOCK TICK

PAT LAMBERT is one of the main forces behind The Riders Lounge, distributors for Coal headwear, Capita snowboards, Union bindings, Deeluxe snowboards and Defcon gloves.

He helped pull together this issue’s 24 Hour Mystery Tour (page 52) and waxes lyrical in Basic Training (turn to page 98).

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO? “Umm, it was like that when I found it” HAVE YOU EVER MADE A MISTAKE? No. I’m pretty sure that my life to date has been totally mistake-free.

WHAT WOULD YOUR LAST MEAL BE BEFORE GETTING EXECUTED? It has got to be a monster fry-up. I’m talking all the meats and you should need a 'special plate' for it.

BEATLES OR STONES? Stones.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHOBIAS? Spiderbabies, they’ve got the body of a spider but the head of a baby. So, is it OK for me to squash them?

IF YOU WERE AN ANIMAL, WHAT WOULD YOU BE? A rare ginger eagle... or a socially acceptable minotaur, living in a nice house watching my big screen TV, doing the shopping, etc... but just as a minotaur. That would be cool.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL TALENTS? I’m a damn fine cook.

WHAT DO YOU DO AS SOON AS YOU WALK IN THE FRONT DOOR? I close it straight away to keep the heat in, were you born in a barn?

WHO IS THE PERSON YOU CAN COUNT ON THE MOST? My wonderful girlfriend... ahhh. (She’d better bloody read this now.)

WHAT DID YOU DREAM LAST NIGHT? That I was performing operations in a hospital and everyone I cut open was full of jellybeans, which everyone in the room would then start eating. Not sure what that means, but I do like jellybeans.

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My dad says he met a bloke in the hospital elevator on the day of my birth called Patrick and he thought, that’s a nice name, so Patrick it is. I hope that’s not true.

WHAT’S ON YOUR TOP FIVE LIST OF ‘THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE’? +World Peace (all except America, it's about time they got bullied by everyone else). +Drive an F1 car around a traffic-free M25, just to see how fast you could do a lap – and not pay the Dartford toll! +Own a personal jetpack. +Buy an isolated castle with a sea-view. +Lead a covert mission deep into enemy territory with Norris, Seagal and Van Damme, and be the only one to return.

NEVERSUMMER.CO.UK INSIDER 2

24/8/07 14:36:00

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+DEBRIS DEBRIS + DOCUMENT 44

SHORTS

Ben Kilner kicking ass down under

E M O C E W E R E H !

G N I Z A L B A GUNS you may ask? d where have we been An ? er m m su is th en be up-to-date Where you have news story to keep you g in ld fo un y er ev e th Luckily, our own UK slopes Hot on the pulse of winds closed play for the day. pe, of a mixed season in Euro ewinding back to the end to the far west coast way r thei e mad rior war many a fine UK l land they call BC (British of Candada and the mythica d. Ryan riors and some were wounde Columbia). Some were war stler and Tom West Whi in ry inju d hea ty nas a Evans sustained in time to but just managed to recover broke his leg in Mayrhofen have bumped will he re The er. und n hit the fine crop of Snow dow at Mt Hood in Team, fresh from training into the British World Cup sed with bles n bee er, Australia has the USA. Talking of down und a whole host of UK And rs. yea 20 in lls wfa some of the heaviest sno nation their home again, taking Coro riders have made Wanaka er and Kiln Ben , them ng Amo the globe.

Street to the other side of ally flew at the Burton liter Ben it. g killin n bee e Jenny Jones hav ile, Jenny 17ft out of the pipe! Meanwh European Open, reaching n Slopestyle Ope ton Bur the at e plac 1st Jones clocked an incredible e, The hom to er Clos !

11th in on heels ie event with Posy Dixon hot off with a fair old stir. Jam t wen s Alpe 2 Les in ps Kommunity Cam to be winched down had pers troo UK r othe Nicholls, Ed Gunn and n after their way down the moutnai from a 200ft telecabine on

DAN CARR

R

024 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] 024-025_Debris News_#44_Oct07.indd 24

intergalctic and the leness of weather constraints aren’t repressed by the fick Freestlye x wfle Sno ch tbea wild. The Wes summer at home has been tricks to be nailed on iest craz the of e som ng Championships seei section for r. David Benedek filmed a artificial slope in many a yea n 10 whe tour r hou 24 a was e ther his new movie at Halifax and ld read cou you that er fast nd the country muppets got dragged arou at Standing Sideways s guy The . ents plem sup The Sunday Times e ever the craziest contraptions we'v have been building some of really that ions sess t nigh mid ing seen in our indoor halls, hold are made limits and show us what they allowed riders to push the ust saw a tremendous Aug in nes Key on Milt at of. And the ATV jam ting 35 spent 5 nights till 5 am shif effort as 5 guys with shovels it to see a gott You s. park of park sick! tonnes of snow to make the and gaps and hips - it was bins and bars had we ch believe it but swit to time i'ts , and eyes bleeding Well, our asses are numb the rest of the ugh thro wse bro to you e off the monitor and leav o.uk with www.documentsnowboard.c mag. Enjoy and hit us up at ! your trials and tribulations

TYLER RIDES T9S Hot shot Tyler Chorlton dons a pair of Tech 9 bindings for park destruction On his way to New Zealand this summer, Tyler picked up a couple of pairs of Tech 9 MFM Pro bindings. Tech 9 and Section are stoked to have him on board. They have been relentless this summer, following the dryslope series and giving prizes at loads of local events. They also made their first appearance at the Board Test – see next month for a full round up in the Ultimate Gear Guide free with DCMT Issue 45. If you want to get involved and check some of their shizzle for yourself pop along to any of the following venues.

7th October – Subvert Store at Rossendale Dry Ski Slope 16th October – 2 Seasons at Tamworth SnowDome 20th October – AKA at Noeux Les Mines, France YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU! Check out the UK kids from DC throwing down hammers in the new vid online. In a competition that pitches the English, Spanish and French teams against each other, only your vote can save the face of Blighty!!

Go to www.dceurope.com before September 30th and vote The DC UK team of James Stentiford, Nate Kern, Seb Kern and Laura Hill, have been industrious this year.

But that’s not all. DC have a sequel to the much acclaimed DC Mountain Lab movie coming out imminently and by next year will have a full range of their very own DC snowboards on the shelves. You can bet your bottom dollar we’ll be seeing some rocking freestyle shred sticks!

BURTON DEMO TOUR Touring dryslopes and fridges, armed to the teeth with a ton of new product including the new EST and ICS board systems. The Burton team will be hitting slopes near you.

TSA Tamworth- 11/9/07, 7pm-10pm Swadlincote Ski and Snowboard Centre- 12/9/07, 7pm-10pm TSA Milton Keynes- 13/9/07, 7pm-10pm Tallington Ski and Snowboard Centre- 14/9/07, 7pm-9pm Calshot Ski and Snowboard Centre- 19/9/07, 7pm-10pm Warmwell Ski and Snowboard Centre- 20/9/07, 7pm-10pm

027 24/8/07 18:55:38

LET DOCUMENT KIT YOU OUT IN STYLE! ALMOST £700 WORTH OF O’NEILL GOODIES TO KEEP YOU IN STLYE! We’ve got some rad threads for the new season up for grabs, thanks to our friends at O’Neill.

From head-to-toe, you’ll be decked out in their H4 Series gear; including jacket, pants, goggles, gloves, hat, base layers and backpack – to the tune of some £679.95!

Let us tell you some more: the H4 Series Push to Talk jacket (£200) is a new addition to the wearable electronics line, boasting sleek styling, top-ofthe-range fabrics, a walkie-talkie connector and an integrated speaker and microphone.

The Launch Chaii pants (£79.99) are the epitome of cool sophistication, while the Camo Cammander goggles (£49.99) feature wide ventilation and an air pressure adjustment system. Meanwhile, the Fat Controller gloves (£100) are a real treat – they’ve got an integrated module for wireless iPod control, meaning the wearer (it could be you!) is able to control tune selection and volume using a thumb-controlled joystick woven into the top of the left-hand glove. These go great with the Audio Beanie (£90), which has an integrated headset, and the iPod Backpack (£99.99), which is new for the 07/08 season and features wireless iPod control.

Finally, the Freedom Printed 1st Layer tee (£29.99) and pants (£29.99) will keep you toasty. Nuff said – you’ll be set up for the season.

So, to be in with a chance of winning the lot, head to www.documentsnowboard.co.uk and click on the O’Neill competition link.

Then answer this simple question: How does the wearer of the H4 Series Fat Controller gloves select a tune on their iPod? Good luck! The deadline for entries is October 31. Terms and conditions apply and the editor’s decision is final. www.oneilleurope.com

WIN

BATALEON GOLIATH & VIOLENZA BOARDS

The guys at Bataleon have come on board with DCMT #44 to offer you lucky readers the chance to get your mitts on two of the sickest boards on the market – all for free!

Bataleon, sponsors of the good and the great like Tyler Chorlton, use a patented Triple Base Technology (TBT) that enhances snowboard performance to new levels and we’re stoked to have two of this season’s top snowboards to giveaway.

Now, for the boys, we’ve got a Goliath (RRP £300) to hand over. Inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, the Goliath is an ultraviolent freestyle board that will make you the one that sets the tone in any terrain you ride. Flexible enough to be a real park and street rail killer, but with just that little stiffness you want when charging hard and fast.

And, for the girls, the Violenza (RRP £300) might look sweet and innocent, but she’s actually a really mean freestyle deck with attitude.

If you like to ride hard, in every condition, then the Violenza is for you, while TBT ensures quick edge-to-edge transitions, stable landings and the confidence to charge hard.

So, to be in with a chance of winning one of these snowboards, just answer this simple question: Bataleon uses only the best materials on all of their boards – can you list three of these materials?

Log on to www.documentsnowboard.co.uk and click on the Bataleon Competition link – then send us your answers.

The deadline for entries is October 31. The editor’s decision is final. (Hint: Check out www.bataleon.com)

FREE SHRED AT THE TAMWORTH SNOWDOME Go shredding and take your buddy for free at the one and only Tamworth SnowDome this autumn.

The indoor slope witht the mostest, Tamworth has been representing the UK for over ten years and it rocks – just turn to page 54 to see why! Cut out and keep the voucher attached and you have until 30th November 2007 to get your shred on at Tamworth

CUT OUT & POCKET THIS TICKET, HURRY TO THE SNOWDOME BEFORE 30th NOVEMBER 2007 AND RECEIVE A FREE SESSION ON US. Either: Buy a 1 hour recreational pass and get your second hour FREE* Or:

Attend a ramp night or multi-hour discount session i.e. Mornin’ Boardin’, Morning Club, Fresh, Ski Wednesday, BoardStiff, or the Monday, Thursday, Friday or Sunday Night Specials and a friend goes FREE** * Free second hour to be taken the same day, consecutively, by the same person. ** Free friend session to be taken on the same day. Surrender this pass to SnowDome reception on arrival to receive your FREE session. Pass valid until 30th November, excluding 20th-28th October 07. SnowDome members rates also included. Not valid with any other promotion. Offer and free session must be completed in one transaction, higher priced ticket prevails. Sessions can be pre-booked and pre-paid: quote ‘Free Ticket.’ Recreational users must beable to control speed, turns, use lifts and stop confidently. Subject to availability and capacity, please telephone before travelling. The management reserve the right to alter or terminate this promotion at any time.

08705 000011

info@snowdome.co.uk

snowdome.co.uk

BEST RUN IN THE WORLD Mad Dog Ski Competition. We’re kicking off another new competition to find out about the funnest runs in the world. The best entry each month will win a full set of Mad Dog Resort Guides – the most in-depth guides we’ve come across!! Your entry will be printed in the magazine, alongside entries from the pros. All entries will be published on our website, www.documentsnowboard. co.uk so by the end of the season we’ll have a cyber-library of the best runs in the world.

WANNA TAKE PART? Send us 100 words max of your favourite itinerary. It can be one lift and piste, a series, or a hike; on-piste, off-piste or a mixture, and including any sort of deviation you like. The winning entries will be the most inspiring, useful and well written Email entries to info@documentsnowboard.co.uk and head the mail, ‘Mad Dog Ski Comp'.

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

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interface

INBOX Welcome to Document’s inbox. Its been a busy summer here and you’ve clearly all been having too much fun playing in the rain to send us your postcards. So, from now on, DCMT will be running ‘The Ultimate Postcard Competition’. We want to see your mountain postcards each month. At the end of the season the funniest, wittiest or most industrious postcard, will win goodies galore!

WHERE WE SHUT OUR MOUTHS AND YOU OPEN YOURS!

W

ATCH THIS SPACE grow. We need you and your feedback. Hit us up with thoughts, questions, photos and drawings –what you like, what you hate and what makes you giggle. We want to

hear it all. You could be setting yourself up for super stardom so send in your pics NOW! Emails to info@documentsnowboard.co.uk; we might even find something for you in our cupboard of love.

MAKE ME FAMOUS COMP Our illustrious photo competition that aims to see one of you, our cherished readers, get their very own photo here on the much coveted DCMT front cover is being held open until 31st January 2008. Despite some whoppers coming in (check out Chris Bratt’s 180 shot by Sam Heapy, right) our snowboarding taste buds have been tantalised and we want to see more, so get shooting. Visit www.documentsnowboard. co.uk to find out more.

# TRAVEL # PRODUCT

# TECHNIQUE # ADVICE

ISSUE 44 // OCTOBER

2008 // £3.80 £3.80

G E T YO U R BUDDY ON H E R E !

SNAP HAPPY

We want to know where you've been, what you've been up to and who you've been doing it with! But we gotta see it to believe it - so photographic evidence is a must! Send in your snaps and you may find yourselves rewarded with a sick treat from our tasty stocks.

er and got this I went along to Warmwell this summ - what do wicked snap of Col Mytton on my phone you think? Michael Beasley

Hey, I was on holiday in France this year and got a snap of the Document car - give me a T-shirt! Sue Goodwin

12th July 2007

Dear Document Snowboard, Firstly congratulations on a top mag, I read it every month and nearly all the kit I have purchased has been reviewed by your great testers at one point.

I am currently serving in Iraq and wait in anticipation for my issue of Document Snowboard Magazine sent over each month by the Mrs. My tour finishes at the start of December when I’ll be straight off to Tignes to shred it up and see in the New Year with the boys.

Could you send me some goodies to keep my spirits up and get me mood for the upcoming season, I would be eternally grateful. the in Also can you suggest some new bindings, I’d say I’m an intermediate rider and I’m looking for an all round binding that’s great on powder but also forgiving in the park.

I’d really appreciate it if you could help me out.

Keep up the good work with the mag and enjoy your weekends, I can’t wait to get back! Ha Ha Yours gratefully, Paul Glazebrook Hi Paul, we’re stoked that you are such a fan of the mag. You’ll know doubt be flicking through these very pages now, sweating in the desert heat. To keep you stoked on the winter and prepare your feet for that taste of freedom, tramping round those Tignes streets in a foot of fresh, we have for you, your very own pair of Vans Ico III snow trainers. These babies will keep your feet dry and warm on those midnight pub crawls.

Regards bindings there are too many to choose from in the range you are after, saying that, next month we have the Ultimate Gear Guide free with DCMT issue 45. In that you will find the answers to all your tech questions and an overview of near enough every item of snowboard gear coming into the UK stores this winter! (Readers take note, we want to see you get creative in order to bag loot in future issues!)

STAR LETTER PRIZE Vans have given us to give to you the dopest pair of skate style water-resistant winter shoes on the market.

Retailing at £65 in stores, the Ico IIIs have an additional cuff and ankle gaiter for added water resistance.

4th April 2007

Dear Document Snowboard,

Better than a rainy mor ning in London town any day! Jenn ifer

Smith

My mate Prendi 'having it' in Val d'Isere in one of the snowiest weeks I've ever seen. Craig Scrivener, Document

Now that's a view I wanted to share with DCMT. The Avoriaz Cliffs! Benny D

ADVICE SQUAD > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Get in touch with Aunt and Uncle DCMT and we’ll put right all your snowboard related queries. info@documentsnowboard.co.uk

026 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] 026_Debris News_#44_Oct07.indd 26

Last spring I was on holiday in Mayrhofen with my mates. Stupidly, I went around all afternoon with no sun cream, shirt or jacket on, thinking I was getting the best tan ever. Shit, I got that one wrong. I couldn’t ride for the next two days, I was so burnt!! Can I beg a Tshirt in exchange for my foolishness?

Yours sincerely, Dave Leighton Hi Dave No way! That’s way to dumb to warrant wearing a DCMT T-shirt!

What can we say? You could’ve taken home skin cancer with such antics! Well, on second thoughts, maybe just this once as it’s the first one of the season...

027 28/8/07 11:51:37

+DEBRIS DEBRIS + DOCUMENT 44

interface

INBOX Welcome to Document’s inbox. Its been a busy summer here and you’ve clearly all been having too much fun playing in the rain to send us your postcards. So, from now on, DCMT will be running ‘The Ultimate Postcard Competition’. We want to see your mountain postcards each month. At the end of the season the funniest, wittiest or most industrious postcard, will win goodies galore!

WHERE WE SHUT OUR MOUTHS AND YOU OPEN YOURS!

W

ATCH THIS SPACE grow. We need you and your feedback. Hit us up with thoughts, questions, photos and drawings –what you like, what you hate and what makes you giggle. We want to

hear it all. You could be setting yourself up for super stardom so send in your pics NOW! Emails to info@documentsnowboard.co.uk; we might even find something for you in our cupboard of love.

MAKE ME FAMOUS COMP Our illustrious photo competition that aims to see one of you, our cherished readers, get their very own photo here on the much coveted DCMT front cover is being held open until 31st January 2008. Despite some whoppers coming in (check out Chris Bratt’s 180 shot by Sam Heapy, right) our snowboarding taste buds have been tantalised and we want to see more, so get shooting. Visit www.documentsnowboard. co.uk to find out more.

# TRAVEL # PRODUCT

# TECHNIQUE # ADVICE

ISSUE 44 // OCTOBER

2008 // £3.80 £3.80

G E T YO U R BUDDY ON H E R E !

SNAP HAPPY

We want to know where you've been, what you've been up to and who you've been doing it with! But we gotta see it to believe it - so photographic evidence is a must! Send in your snaps and you may find yourselves rewarded with a sick treat from our tasty stocks.

er and got this I went along to Warmwell this summ - what do wicked snap of Col Mytton on my phone you think? Michael Beasley

Hey, I was on holiday in France this year and got a snap of the Document car - give me a T-shirt! Sue Goodwin

12th July 2007

Dear Document Snowboard, Firstly congratulations on a top mag, I read it every month and nearly all the kit I have purchased has been reviewed by your great testers at one point.

I am currently serving in Iraq and wait in anticipation for my issue of Document Snowboard Magazine sent over each month by the Mrs. My tour finishes at the start of December when I’ll be straight off to Tignes to shred it up and see in the New Year with the boys.

Could you send me some goodies to keep my spirits up and get me mood for the upcoming season, I would be eternally grateful. the in Also can you suggest some new bindings, I’d say I’m an intermediate rider and I’m looking for an all round binding that’s great on powder but also forgiving in the park.

I’d really appreciate it if you could help me out.

Keep up the good work with the mag and enjoy your weekends, I can’t wait to get back! Ha Ha Yours gratefully, Paul Glazebrook Hi Paul, we’re stoked that you are such a fan of the mag. You’ll know doubt be flicking through these very pages now, sweating in the desert heat. To keep you stoked on the winter and prepare your feet for that taste of freedom, tramping round those Tignes streets in a foot of fresh, we have for you, your very own pair of Vans Ico III snow trainers. These babies will keep your feet dry and warm on those midnight pub crawls.

Regards bindings there are too many to choose from in the range you are after, saying that, next month we have the Ultimate Gear Guide free with DCMT issue 45. In that you will find the answers to all your tech questions and an overview of near enough every item of snowboard gear coming into the UK stores this winter! (Readers take note, we want to see you get creative in order to bag loot in future issues!)

STAR LETTER PRIZE Vans have given us to give to you the dopest pair of skate style water-resistant winter shoes on the market.

Retailing at £65 in stores, the Ico IIIs have an additional cuff and ankle gaiter for added water resistance.

4th April 2007

Dear Document Snowboard,

Better than a rainy mor ning in London town any day! Jenn ifer

Smith

My mate Prendi 'having it' in Val d'Isere in one of the snowiest weeks I've ever seen. Craig Scrivener, Document

Now that's a view I wanted to share with DCMT. The Avoriaz Cliffs! Benny D

ADVICE SQUAD > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Get in touch with Aunt and Uncle DCMT and we’ll put right all your snowboard related queries. info@documentsnowboard.co.uk

026 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] 026_Debris News_#44_Oct07.indd 26

Last spring I was on holiday in Mayrhofen with my mates. Stupidly, I went around all afternoon with no sun cream, shirt or jacket on, thinking I was getting the best tan ever. Shit, I got that one wrong. I couldn’t ride for the next two days, I was so burnt!! Can I beg a Tshirt in exchange for my foolishness?

Yours sincerely, Dave Leighton Hi Dave No way! That’s way to dumb to warrant wearing a DCMT T-shirt!

What can we say? You could’ve taken home skin cancer with such antics! Well, on second thoughts, maybe just this once as it’s the first one of the season...

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SHORTS

SHREDDING SOUNDTRACK

THE FARMERS JAM! 8th and 9th September 2007 Get your wee selves across to the Snowflex slope at Norwich NOW! The funnest and most laid back comp in the country will be taking place as you read this!

THE PROS REVEAL THEIR TOP TUNES TO CARVE TO Need some aural inspiration next time you ride? We quizzed the pros on their fave shred songs.

TIM WARWOOD Lockdown Project’s Tim Warwood has done 10 seasons and made some of the best snowboard films ever. Passionate, funny and fast talking, the MC is now a DJ on Kerrang Radio, spinnng tunes every Saturday.

“I just love music – I ride with it most days,” he says.

1 SEBASTIEN TELLIER – ‘La Ritournelle’, taken from the album ‘Politics’ Magical and melancholy. Perfect for last runs on a bluebird powder day.

Tim says: “I couldn’t tell you how this got on my iPod, however, it’s fast becoming my favourite song ever. “It’s a go-fast, ride-on-yourown song.” www.myspace.com/ sebastientellier

FREESTYLE CONCEPT CAMPS – LES DIABLERETS If you are looking for an early season freestyle getaway, check out Freestyle Camps. With a host of UK pro caches in attendance and a cross section of European and international pros the camps are set to be hot!

Camps are available from 27th October 2007 for one week or the 4th November for one week. Stay tuned as Document snowboard brings you all the action!

Check www. freestyleconcept.com for more details.

CHILD SUPPORT AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD NOW Download your copy right now and get radical with another super fun and creative movie from Step Child.

In an industry first, the new movie Child Support (from Step Child and Nomis), will be available for download from defectivefilms.com for a measley 2 quid! In a constructive response to the changing situations movie makers face, the guys behind Child Support have come up with a strategy that will see their video get out to as many viewers as possible. For those who just can’t let go of their roots, a DVD edition is available though, including a 56 page hard back picture book and Child Support Bandana Child Support stickers.

So now all you gotta do is go visit www.defectivefilms. com, sit back and enjoy!

2 INCUBUS – ‘New Skin’, taken from the album ‘Science’ Guitarist Mike Einzeger used to love shredding – before his wrist was insured for several million dollars.

3 MOVING FUSION – ‘Thunderball’ Dance duo Moving Fusion make beats that give you big balls.

Tim says: “When the bass kicks in even your Granny would go mental. Fast loud and fun! www. myspace.com/movingfusion 4 MUSE – anything!

From prog rock geeks to kings of the shred song.

Tim says: “Perfect! I searched all their albums and couldn’t single out one song.” www.muse.mu 5 THE DUKE SPIRIT – ‘Love is an Unfamiliar Name’ The Duke Spirit sound like Sonic Youth fronted by a stoned PJ Harvey. One for white out days.

Tim says: “A predictable build up, drums, guitars and girls vocals; amazing! www.dukespirit.com Catch Tim on Kerrang Radio every Saturday at 9pm. www.kerrangradio.co.uk www.lockdownprojects.com ANDREWHINGSTON.COM

DVD REVIEW PICTURE THIS

DCMT brings you the first DVD review of the season and we’re offering five lucky readers the chance to get their sticky paws on a brand new copy for free! Head to www.documentsnowboard.co.uk and click on the Picture This giveaway link to get involved.

PICTURE THIS

by Mack Dawg Productions Featuring Aaron Bittner, Andreas Wiig, Darrell Mathes, DCP, Eero Ettala, Etienne Gilbert, Hampus Mosesson, Heikki Sorsa, Jakob Wilhelmson, Jeremy Jones, Josh Dirksen, Jussi Oksanen, Louie Fountain, Seth Huot, Shaun White, Wille Yli-Luoma, Kevin Pearce and a two trick finale from JP Walker.

The big boys from America are back. Shot on High Definition format and featuring the hardest hitting fresstyle jib riders out there this movie promises to be a storm. But pitched against poor snowfalls last winter the crew were up against it.

Kicking off with huge cab 270 to front board on a double kink street rail, Seth Huot sets the pace for the next half hour. What folllows is a barrage of street rails, street jibs, wall rides, HUGE booters and Alaskan backcountry lines.

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Tim says: “It’s fast, got a brilliant melody and great lyrics. It’s a brilliant riding song - my favourite to charge wherever I need to!” www.enjoyincubus.com

The riders lay down a mindboggling display of technical and complicated tricks. Shot superbly in cinematic quality, directors Brad Kremer and Jaakko Itaaho have done an incredible job. Every rider is on fire but you gotta check out Jeremy Jones’s one foot over the city gap (see our Holy Crap! on page 16), Heikki Sorsa’s one foots, Andreas Wiig’s kicker destruction and DCP’s cliff drops plus the whole of Eero Ettala’s section!

VERDICT: You will love this movie if you want to check out some of the best riders in the world busting their balls over all mannner of street obsatacles with a touch of park and backcountry riding to the off beat sound of elctro rock. (watch out for the Thunder Catesque meows!)

You will hate this movie if you’re not into slow motion, cheesy helicopter shots or you like it trashy.

BRIT SNOWBOARD TOUR LAUNCHES The British Snowboard Tour launches series at Chatham. From Kent to Laax, the series sees riders clock world rankings Redesigned, re-worked and ready to rock, the British Snowboard Tour is back. Formerly the AIM series and the Schools Tour, the British Snowboard Tour incorporates both in a new stream-lined format. From the September kick-off in Chatham, the crew from Soul Sports will travel up and down the UK visiting schools, running freestyle competitions and giving away 1000s of free beginner lessons.

The British Snowboard Tour competitions are affiliated to TTR World Rankings. By following the tour and entering the British Championships next year, all competitors can see themselves in the mix with the world’s best, including Shaun White!

Visit www.britishsnowtour.com THE BRITISH SNOWBOARD TOUR DATES Saturday 15th September: Chatham - Animal Artificial Slopestyle Championships Sunday 23rd September: Norwich - Trespass Artificial Snowboardcross Championships Saturday 29th September: Warmwell - Quiksilver Artificial Big Air Championships Saturday 6th October: SNO!zone, Castleford – Animal Indoor Slopestyle Championships Saturday 13th October: SNO!zone, Milton Keynes – Trespass Snowboardcross Championships Friday 26th October: Metro Ski and Snowboard Show – Best of British Invitational Saturday 3rd November: SNO!zone, Glasgow – Quiksilver Indoor Big Air Championships

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+DEBRIS DEBRIS + IN SHORT

BENEDEK’S NEXT FILM: AND IT'S IN HALIFAX?

A team of German filmmakers led by David Benedek visited our UK slopes this summer. Photos: Dee Yeadon

BENEDEK: I’ve had the idea of doing something about dryslope riding for a while now. Actually, a few years ago a friend of Damian Doyle gave Christoph Weber one of his dryslope videos and we were just blown away by both the level of riding, as well as the visually interesting and contrast-y look of the dryslope parks. You might be used to it by now but I can tell you: dryslopes look totally nuts when you see them for the first time.

Regarding the film, we’ve been working on this current project, titled “in short:” for almost a year and a half now. It’s basically a few different stories or short films about certain things we did or we thought were interesting. Basically, we are trying to make the most unpredictable movie ever. We’ll have a few premieres, so just stop by our website to take a look (www.inshort.info).

DOCUMENT: We’re big fans of ‘91 Words for Snow’. It was a bold project that presented a concise portrait of professional snowboarding. One thing it portrayed really well was the common pleasure each rider enjoyed on their boards. Are you aiming to take this even further now?

BENEDEK: Definitely. As far as I have come to understand, dryslope riders definitely learn a very good technique and it’s obvious that you have to be a really solid rider. It’s not like you can just try whatever you want.

Either way, if I look at kids like Jamie (Nicholls), who are at a really high technical level, I know it can’t be a huge step to take that to actual snow.

DOCUMENT: How about feeling? You’ve pretty much experienced it all, from surviving in the wilderness of the Alaskan backcountry to this slope right here.

They’re about as different as you can get.

BENEDEK: Yes, definitely, to some extent at least. I’ve learned over the past years that different people are into snowboarding for very different reasons. The AK guide, who is a true nature lover and that’s what he finds most joy in, is definitely not going to be too excited about dryslopes. But I don’t really see a big difference between a park kid in Mammoth and one in Halifax. For myself, I’ve always come more from the technical side.

DOCUMENT: So who’s the hottest UK shredder you’ve seen on dryslope?

BENEDEK: I haven’t seen too many but I’d be surprised if there were a lot more kids as good as Jamie Nicholls.

dB-Double co

rked 1260!

DOCUMENT: Tell me a trick or two that have stood out along the way?

BENEDEK: Either grass boarding in the rain, or any quarter pipe tricks on dryslope - those just look too trippy.

DOCUMENT: After a perfect day on plastic do you unwind with tea ‘n’ toast or an ale ‘n’ a pie?

BENEDEK: I am good either way.

It’s diversity that make life interesting, right?

Lights-camera-Action!

DOPESHOTS.COM

BENEDEK: Sort of. It was definitely the first thing that came to my mind when I watched

DOCUMENT: Clearly the grass roots British scene is built upon local crews having it on snowflex/dendex and artificial snow slopes.

Getting to the mountains can be an expensive pursuit. So the artificial slopes are a really important way of bringing young riders into the sport. But do you see a route from these slopes to the podiums of the world - the Olympics, TTR or Air ‘n’ Style for instance?

But do they link for you?

BRECHEIS

DOCUMENT: You’re at Halifax in England right now. But this isn’t the first time you’ve visited our plastic hills. What brings you here this summer?

the dryslope riding. Enthusiasm and passion for something that’s pretty far from perfect as far as conditions go.

Pro snowboarding has been shown so much and so similarly for years now and it’s really refreshing - even for pros - to see these sides of snowboarding.

CHRISTIAN

Here the mastermind behind ’91 Words For Snow’ and double corked 1260s sheds a little light on what tempted him and his bro across the channel.

David and Boris Benedek give us a smile at Halifax

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SAMANTHA HART

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OLLIE PLUMLEY A global explorer, Ollie’s travelled from Canada and the US to Switzerland. We catch him doing the weekly shop in Austria 01 SHRED STICK A

Capita Stairmaster 152. This is my favourite board to shred the domes when I’m home, and the parks and pistes when I’m away.

02 BINDINGS A

A pair of Union Cadet DLX in blue, a mid-range binding reasonably soft, comfy and fully adjustable that work with the Stairmaster like a dream.

03 SHRED STICK B

Capita MHT 152. My everything board, from freeriding super-deep pow, backcountry kickers to pissing about with mates in the park. This beauty handles anything.

04 BINDINGS B

Bindings on this are Union Data. A high-end binding, they’re probably the best I have ever ridden.

Ridiculously comfy, stiffer than the

Cadets, without being too stiff. Fully adjustable and, like all Union bindings, bomb-proof.

05 GOGGLES Smith Cascade, great fit!

06 BEANIE

Neff, thin for summer shred.

07 HOODIE Circa, classic black.

08 BANDANA

11 GLOVES

09 JACKET

12 BOOTS

10 PANTS

13 T-SHIRT

Neff, fleece finish.

Analog Format 2 jacket. This jacket is banging and it’s reversible!

Don’t leave home without ‘em.

Analog Junction pants. I managed to squeeze into a small. Hey, I like tight pants!

Defcon TJ Schneider mitt.

Deeluxe Vicious, slightly stiff, super comfy, try ‘em.

Oi, ‘Right Said Shred’. Super rare, super limited. If you want one hassle Sam Nelson. He is the man behind this sick clothing company.

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+DEBRIS DEBRIS + UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

Chris Kightley?

Kightley Kightle WHO THE HELL IS...

I

S IT ANY SURPRISE THAT Britain's pool of snowboarding talent is drip-fed by people who live near the domes and most progressive dryslopes? Imagine how rad we'd be if the country was one big fridge... Anyway, until the next ice-age, we've got plenty to be proud about. Here's the latest big splash, and guess what? Yep – he's from Tamworth. Chris Kightley has only just turned 18 and now he’s been picked up by Burton, Red, Anon, Skullcandy and TSA; we're willing to bet he's loving snowboarding right now.

He started at 13, and after saving enough for his first lesson, Chris was hooked and became a regular at Tamworth's freestyle nights.

Learning tricks with friends, he continued to push himself there until last season when he

jetted off to the fine old US of A to spend the season honing his skills in cowboy country.

Loving the views of the real outdoors, and adoring the powder, Chris was also busy picking up loads of freestyle tips from Breck's British ripping bros, Nate and Seb Kern. And, despite learning to spin like a dervish, his favourite is still a big old floaty switch backside 540 mute.

His impressive book of tricks won him a third at the Brits this year, but he's hungry for more.

We predict he'll be cropping up at comps and in videos – keep an eye out.

“Riding to me means having fun with my friends and going out and meeting new people. Just basically travelling to new places and enjoying myself.”

ACTION: NATHANGALLAGHER.COM / PORTRAIT: LEE RADFORD

Here we introduce you to the riders of the revolution!

Chris gets loose and makes friends with the back yard

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+DEBRIS DEBRIS + LOCK & LOAD

SHORTS VANS PARK Vans have taken over the snowboard park in Mayrhofen this season.

And with the creative eyes of old hands Bjarni Thor Valdimarsson and Stefan Plattner, it looks off the hook! With a whole piste now given over to the park, the classic pro kicker line will be supplemented with literally hundreds of other jibs, features and jumps. www.vans-penken-park.com

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JOHNNY 5 IS ALIVE As medical science pushes into the new frontier, a new tech feature product has hit knee surgeons by storm.

Made by the manufacturer of your electric toothbrush, Braun, this little gadget has apparently been so successful that some ACL operation patients are actually requesting its use in their care? We just like the picture. www.orthopilot.com

MARK RUPARELIA

Back out in Austria, renovating his knee for a season in the mountains, Mark Ruparelia is one hell of a rider. At home in the powder, park or on the booters, he is the motivating force behind many of the Hungerpain projects and one to watch out for this season 01 BINDING

THE BLACKHAWK RAIDEN This binding has the most comfy straps I have ever ridden with. They are extra wide and extra padded which means less foot pain and more support. www.nitrousa.com

02 BOARD

NITRO EERO ETTALA 159 The Eero has the powder riding qualities of the Misfit mixed with the best aspects of the freestyle park board,

the T2. It floats beautifully in powder and has a good medium flex for jibbing. www.nitrousa.com

03 BOOTS

Vans Danny Kass 5 Medium to soft boot at five out of 10 on the stiffness scale. Super comfy liners and foot beds, covered in gold. Theses boots have all the aspects of the Danny Kass boot, which has just been tweaked and tweaked to perfection over the years. www.vanssnow.com

04 JACKET

VANS BEARDMORE DOWN A dope white, mellow down jacket. It's so warm, breathable, waterproof with Vansguard 5000, and you can move around when your shredding so you don’t feel restricted at all. www.vanssnow.com

05 PANTS

VANS UY PANTS Simple nice black pants, Gore-Tex 2-Layer Herringbone embossed

fabric, which means you stay dry – and they’re a nice and baggy cut. www.vanssnow.com

06 BANDANA

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08 GOGGLES

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09 GLOVES

DAKINE BRONCO A warm, winter Gore-Tex glove. These gloves are sick because they are fairly short in length up your arm and they are super-warm and waterproof, oh and pearly white! www.dakine.com/ snowboard

036 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] DEBRIS\L&L 1

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Great The

POWDER PLUNDER Etienne Tremblay looks for place to land amongst glacial ice in Whistler backcountry

COLIN ADAIR

Document delves deep into the places it dumped last season. You've just gotta know where to look...

Words by Rachel

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

POWDER PLUNDER 1

041 24/8/07 17:37:43

Verbier VERBIER RIDER: Andre Sommer PHOTOGRAPHER: Pally Learmond (www.pallylearmond.com) LOCATION: Hidden spot off the Col de Chassoure, Verbier DATE: Mid February INFO: This shot was taken on another strangely warm day for mid February. The sun had started to work its magic in this area off the Col de Chassoure. A place where the pow is pretty much guaranteed, the lines gnarly, and the play of light a photographer’s dream. I was able to get a sick angle from a vantage point on top of a cliff. The rest, from my perspective, was simple – as for Andre, well, he had a pretty tech line in, a few rocks about, but sweet snow and a lot of fun.

MEDIA coverage about poor snow conditions reached hysterical levels last year – it was a feast day for sensationalist hacks, who delighted in throwing in the global warming line for good measure.

Yet more doom and gloom followed, with forecasters warning that snow-free conditions would become the norm in future.

Shredders everywhere despaired.

However, that wasn’t quite the full picture, and here at Document we’ve got the photographic evidence to put the cat among the scaremongering pigeons. Yes, Europe had a tough early season, which made for brown hills and muddy riders pre-Christmas, and less base than we'd have liked. But on the other side of the pond, Whistler had an unprecedented snowfall that left snowboarders foaming at the mouth to get out and play in the mountains of powder. So what was the real story from the 2006-2007 winter season?

The autumn in Europe was exceptionally dry and warm with little of the normal snow at altitude. A cold snap at the start of November got most European resorts running their snow making, but within days the expensive artificial snow had melted.

Poor conditions were experienced in places as far apart as Andorra, in the Pyrenees, and Bulgaria, and scores of resorts in between.

Concern was rife and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said El Niño, an irregular weather system that originates in the Pacific Ocean but has effects that reach much further, had also contributed to the warmth. But, an important point to mention, it did not see the high temperature as evidence of manmade global warming.

The bleak outlook didn’t stick around long though, and the first real snow arrived several weeks later, by the end of November, at last providing a base at altitude.

In true yo-yo fashion, the improved

042 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] POWDER PLUNDER 2

24/8/07 17:39:01

Whistleerr Whistle WHISTLER RIDER: Sean Genovese

PHOTOGRAPHER: Colin Adair (www. colinadair.com)

LOCATION: Whistler, BC (Brandywine

Mountian, snowmobile backcountry access)

DATE: December 30, 2006

INFO: It snowed a ton during November and December 2006. I spotted this huge tree that had fallen earlier in the fall after a huge windstorm hit the west coast of BC. The tree ride was really tricky because you had to air over some branches and gnarly shit to get to the snowy part you could ride. Sean built a little kicker, aired, landed, rode, slashed and dropped to the landing.

It was pretty sick to watch and had a real surf feel to it.

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

POWDER PLUNDER 3

043 24/8/07 17:39:35

Hintertu Hi ntertuuxx HINTERTUX RIDER: Sam Nelson

PHOTOGRAPHER: Document's own

James Bryant.

LOCATION: Mayrhofen, Zillertal

Valley, Austria.

DATE: Late January 2007

INFO: This early season dump was a treat for Sam and I. I’d arrived in Mayrhofen a couple of days previously and stumbled headfirst into one of the best snowfalls all winter. We spent the whole day tearing up the mountain and kept running into little treasures like this. So easy, no big hikes, no grand story – just shredding.

conditions stalled during the next four weeks and, according to Snow-Forecast.com, Christmas and the New Year in the European Alps felt more like October. The lower slopes were still green and, where there was snow, crowds were massive, while the World Cup Alpine skiing competition at the French resort of Val d’Isere, scheduled to be held at the beginning of December, was cancelled because of unseasonably warm weather.

But – and here’s where the media’s oversimplistic terror stories caused most damage – things dramatically improved after New Year. By the end of January the snow was on its way, and warm temperatures cooled, but despite this, the general pessimism on the ground had been irrevocably set.

The westerly Atlantic air managed some decent dumps, especially at higher resorts, and those optimists out there were rewarded with powder-filled days. The Canadian Rockies enjoyed an incredible season, and Whistler saw a record snowfall of some 40ft.

Unfortunately, low altitude resorts in Scotland and along America's eastern seaboard suffered marginal conditions for

yet another season, leaving lifts closed because of the poor conditions, which will almost certainly mean a season of belttightening to come.

However, it is important to remember that there have been poor snow years before – last year wasn’t an aberration. Think back to 1990 in the Alps or 1984 in the Rockies; both make last season pale in comparison.

The difference this time was the media furore surrounding global warming. And it is an easy link to make: "There's no snow! That must mean it is warmer, just like we reported – it's proof!”

And we all know how the media likes to shock in this modern age, when sensationalist claims are the order of the day to ensure readers and viewers keep tuning in. The sight of a wintersports reporter standing in a grassy field, which last year was a downhill snowboard run, is always going to be arresting. It's also 'job done' for the journalist tasked with bagging a breaking news story. Unfortunately, panning the cameras up the hill, or even just going back a few weeks later when the snow arrives, just

044 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] POWDER PLUNDER 4

24/8/07 17:40:44

Laaaax L ax LAAX RIDER: James Thorne PHOTOGRAPHER: Nathan Gallagher (www.nathangallagher.com)

LOCATION: Laax, Switzerland DATE: During the British Championships in March 2007

INFO: In order to make this shot slightly more interesting, James handcrafted the finest snowman the world has ever seen; it was about the size of a garden gnome and he named it ‘Larry’. Although its intricacy was unmatched, it’s robustness was soon brought into question as James tried to do a backside 180 nose grab while holding Larry in his left hand. RIP, Larry.

NATHAN GALLAGHER

isn’t quite the stuff of eye-grabbing headlines. People going snowboarding are in the minority for the mainstream press, as are the holiday companies they use. Because of this, news coverage is rarely informed as it doesn’t have to deal with an educated audience. In reality, snowboarding stories in the news are concerned with a select few topics, namely disasters (avalanches or the mass cancellation of holidays) and whether Britain will win any medals.

So, what's your real story behind last season's headlines? How many of you actually went riding and did you have a good time? The picture isn't as black as it has been painted, even economically speaking.

Because the season prior had been good, despite what you'd imagine, bookings were up year-on-year. The big picture is this – those who did go away had average to good snowboarding; and holidays are up 3% yearon-year, which is one of the biggest increases since 2000. There were a few cancellations, but not many – the biggest drop was in the local weekend visitors, and this had a worse effect on the small local hills than the big

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

POWDER PLUNDER 5

045 24/8/07 17:42:17

U tah resorts generally frequented by the British snowboarding contingent.

Now what about the future? Will it ever snow again? Can we look forward to feasting our shred sticks on massive powder dumps? Undoubtably, the answer is a resounding yes but figuring out where and when is a little more difficult.

In the short term, those in the know say the confluence of a la Niña year and the movement of the North Atlantic Oscillation (which are reliable, according to the experts) offers a slightly higher chance of cold and snow for this winter... the excitement is tangible!

UTAH RIDER: Seb Kern PHOTOGRAPHER: Nathan Gallagher (www.nathangallagher.com) LOCATION: Brighton, Utah, USA DATE: March 07 INFO: The snow in Utah is said to be of a unique quality and quantity due to something the locals refer to as ‘Lake effect’. This weather phenomenon is caused when cold winds move over the Great Salt Lake, and cause an increase in energy and uptake of water vapour.

Seb here doesn’t give a shit about the science, he’s having a whale of a time.

Still, we're not saying that the season's weather had nothing to do with global warming, and we're not saying that global warming has nothing to do with our bad practices. This is a big issue that seems fraught with disagreement and opposing views. So how do our beloved outdoor sports impact on the environment they are reliant on? Are we leaving sooty carbon footprints all over the snow? Over the course of this season’s issues of Document Snowboard magazine, we’ll be looking into the situation, asking the experts and offering advice. Also go to our website www.documentsnowboard. co.uk for links to interesting people and organisations that are putting their minds to it. Luckily for all of us, people are working on it – we just need to be ready to listen.

046 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] POWDER PLUNDER 6

24/8/07 17:43:04

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047 SWITZERLAND AD.indd 1

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d practicing switch back 720s or an e pip the g tin hit m fro cry far a It may seem ardercross skills, but a sterile bo se tho ne ho to l hil the wn do tal steaming full me re to be found this summer. we GB am Te ere wh tly ac ex is nt hospital environme coach Craig Smith to find ad he d an m tea the th wi up ht ug Rowena Burkinshaw ca regime. out more about their latest training mine how will be repeated as they cycle, to deter oach). Dan and Craig Smith (their Canadian headc te at sh who fills ARRIVE AT THE Olympic Medical Institu Hami with stay I and e chang to off heads photos to off e Northwick Park Hospital, London, to take they’r – move next ’s team me in on the . From the and interview the GB Snowboard Team the USA, for summer training and in , Hood t Moun a was or interi been outside, the only clue to its glamorous the tests at Northwick Park Hospital have peeled riders the brand new sign on the post-war, paintfor er mark s fitnes a get to ged arran Northwick bunker. Inside is another story, however. before they head out. athletes to tests on a Park Hospital is done up like a hotel for The first lot of tests I witness are squat s fitnes be come and recover from injuries, or to rm. First up is 19-year-old Angus, who platfo force up, and tested – the aim of today. has to do a few squats and lunges to warm e area, ssed impre I carry on down the corridor to the loung I’m ing. jump of worth ds then 60 secon , Ben where five guys from team GB - Sam Cullum they can jump, I guess I shouldn’t be high how with s Angu and at the vital Kilner, Dan Wakeham, Jack Shackleton as they are all pipe riders. Just my luck, er re-run Nikon’ I y Leith - are relaxing in front of the Big Broth ‘Blood up. packs ra came my ent mom from the night before. think. to the this is the Sports scientist Stewart Laing outlined We move on to the next test. I am told day to assess ps’. The guys team the tests they would have for the ‘squat test for force velocity relationshi and then their fitness levels. are made to lift massive dumbbells, squat of skin show they The fitness analysis consists of a series ards afterw , home at this try jump. Don’t ment fold, blood and urine tests, counter move they had massive chain mark and backs their me the and ps their backs. jumps, squat tests for velocity relationshi bruises from where the bar smashed on gnarly VO2 max test. believe how much this can’t “I ms: exclai (25) Dan tion is yet to “The blood and urine tests show the hydra hurts, my muscles ache.” But the worst tant as just a state of the athlete, this is really impor . come e reduc ly atical some 2 per cent drop in hydration will dram After a rushed lunch, it’s into the labs for straw and short performance,” Stewart explained. the draws s Angu g. testin max VO2 who a pair of The boys are soon called in by Stewart, is again first to be tested. Stewart dons . I am, takes their blood and urine to be tested s and Angus bends over on the glove al surgic white will they as ents unfortunately, not allowed in the room bike with a worried look on his face, mom be naked! a gimp style mask to ed attach had rt Stewa r earlie Wakeham Angus’s Instead, I hang around chatting to Dan Angus’s face for the testing. Every so often world), (the David Beckham of the snowboard test his blood. I am told this test to d pricke is ear ) coach nt Hamish McKnight (the team’s developme

I

exercise. their lactic acid levels change while they ” Stewart Going “Keep asks, s Angu ” now?

“Can I stop stion. exhau and st disgu in rs orders. Angus mutte ance test The VO2 max test is basically an endur It tells you like the good old beep tests at school. to train can you so is, limit s fitnes what your point of improve it. Although, from an outsider’s y view, it looked like torture, reducing health then times athletes into sweat-soaked wrecks. Craig he can Angus on an Indo Board to see how long “So bad, keep his balance after the VO2 max test. as he wasn’t it? Just brutal,” observes Angus break and it’s collapses on the sofa. The team take a ions. quest few a guys the ask to e my chanc behind Headcoach Craig explains the reasoning as one can the gruesome tests, which seem as far get from a snow-covered mountain. is still He said: “Snowboarding in this country got it very young, whereas in the US they’ve . together, and so we’re now copying them na “The testing today appears to have show world ’ riders the en betwe p onshi relati strong ranking and fitness levels. “ back in I pin down a couple of team members this the lounge to find out whether they think l. usefu is g testin g: “It’s Nineteen-year-old Jack pipes up, sayin and the interesting to see how fit you really are areas you can improve.” .

I finish the day taking a few team shots will be snow!

Hopefully next time I meet them there

ROWENA BURKINSHAW

Sam Cullum is put through his paces on the bike for some V02 max testing

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF TEAM GB

048 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] 048-050_Team GB_#44 Oct07.indd 48

24/8/07 17:48:35

RETURN TO THE HOOD Team GB head to the home of summer snowboarding, Ian Sansom reports back.

IAN SANSOM

I

Angus Leith putting in some hard graft with this frontside five

T HAS BECOME something of an annual trip – Team GB pack up their kit every June and thanks to their deal with Zoom Airlines (www.flyzoom.com), fly Gatwick to Vancouver and then drive south for a few hours to the summer snow of Mt Hood, Oregon.

Despite soaring temperatures and the very real chance of sunburn on the hill, no one treats the trip as a holiday – there’s serious work to do..

Vancouver 2010 is still four years away, but Team GB know that to stand any chance of making it to the Games, they need to be on top form from now until the event itself.

The crew who made the trip this year consisted of riders Dan Wakeham, Ben Kilner, Angus Leith, Zoe Gillings, Jack Shackleton, Mick Arrowsmith and Lee Tarran. Add in Headcoach Craig Smith, halfpipe coach Gav Learmonth, a team physio, wax technician Dan Brier and a photographer/hanger-on (me, in case you're wondering) and that’s a pretty big crew to fly across the pond.

Home for the next three weeks would be a pair of wood cabins, deep in Oregon Trail country – so deep, in fact, that we’re advised not to leave any food outside due to the (admittedly small) chance that a wandering bear may come across it.

Mt Hood is the only place in the USA that you can ride all year and, as such, it becomes the centre of the snowboard universe for a few short weeks every summer. Two main camps battle it out for supremacy – Windell’s and High Cascade, competing with each other to attract the most campers by building the best features and attracting the hottest pros to coach.

Team GB were lucky enough to have been invited to ride at both and, with the public pipe and park being of an excellent standard, there were more than enough toys for the team to train on.

The team had recently taken part in an IOC (International Olympic Committee) sanctioned judges training course in order to learn what it was that judges look for when assigning points and to tailor their individual competition runs to maximise their scoring potential.

Progression was rapid, and could be measured in the number of minutes it took for the riders to nail new tricks, not days. Dan Wakeham spent his time perfecting his competition run - getting within millimetres of adding a 1080 to his run. Team newcomer Jack Shackleton started the trip without having a competition run at all, but ended up with inverted sevens, haakonflips and McTwists all in the bag. Even boardcrossers Zoe Gillings and Mike Arrowsmith’s riding improved – without any set boardercross training facilities, the pair instead rode pipe and park, adding to their already impressive board control.

Team GB are taking their aim of attending the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver very seriously. Check back later this season in Document for further tales of the team’s progress.

For more information, check out www.myspace.com/snowboardgb [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

048-050_Team GB_#44 Oct07.indd 49

049 24/8/07 17:50:29

the rges at Zoe cha ames in -G X r te Win o Colorad Aspen,

Would you enter the Olympics with a foot like this?

SNAP ZOË GILLINGS N S NG SHOTZ O

UR BIGGEST CHANCE for a medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Zoe Gilllings is on fine form after training with the GB team at Mount Hood this summer.

It’s hard to believe that, just two short years ago, the 21-year-old boardercross star was told that she might never walk again.

It was a huge blow for Zoe, who has been training to compete on the world Snowboarding stage from the tender age of 10 years old.

However, those that know Zoe, know that defying the odds is what this feisty shredder is all about.

ZOE HAS HER SAY:

TSRUHDEM NAD :TIARTROP / RESUEAHREYEW EKIM :NOITCA

“It was on April 5, 2005, and I was in some resort in Porte du Soleil, on the Swiss side.

I was doing a photoshoot with Audi for their magazine because they sponsored the British team at the time.

“I was jumping over a car for the shoot. I cleared the car but I didn’t have quite enough speed so came up short.

There was a nasty knuckle on the jump so I landed going uphill, with all my weight going through my front foot. The impact shattered most of the bones in my upper foot, the worst one was in seven pieces and another still has a screw in it.

“My first thought after I landed was “Oh &@$% that hurts! I think I have just broken something!” I went to the hospital in Visp, Switzerland, where they X-rayed it. They told me it was badly broken and needed surgery, and would I like to have the surgery there or back in the UK? “I decided to go home for it but before I went anywhere they had to put a cast on it. This was the most painful experience of my life because, to put the cast on, they had to move my ankle into a 90 degree angle, which it really did not want to go into.

“I remember them saying, “This is going hurt so we will give you some painkillers”. But due to drug testing I wasn’t sure which ones I could take so they

050 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] 048-050_Team GB_#44 Oct07.indd 50

From her meteoric rise on the NOKIA Snowboard FIS World Cup 2004/2005 when she bagged her first World Cup podiums at the first two races of the season in Valle Nevado, Chile, to refusing painkillers despite splintering her foot into hundreds of pieces, Zoe’s one tough boardercross nut to crack.

DOCUMENT caught up with Zoe during a rare moment of downtime at her home in Bath to find out how she feels about this month’s FIS Snowboarding World Cup, again in Valle Nevado – two short years after her crippling accident.

gave me Ibuprofen. It wasn’t close to strong enough, not least because they gave it to me just five minutes before moving my foot to put the cast on so it hadn’t even got into my system yet!

“After that pleasant experience I flew to London and got to the OMI (Olympic medical Institute) where I finally got some good painkillers thank God. "I saw the surgeon who was going to operate on me and he told me I would probably never snowboard again and I would definitely not do it competitively. I just said: “Yes, I will.”

“I have been told by other people since that he also said there was a chance I wouldn’t ever walk again but either he was careful not to say that in front of me, or I just blocked it out, because I don’t remember him saying it. In fact, I had no doubt I was going to ride again, I was going to compete in the Olympics the next February and nothing was going to stop me.

“I had surgery a few days later, when they put one screw inside my foot and two sticking out the side of my foot, which were attached together externally, very gross. I was in a full cast for the next three months and then an air cast for another three weeks. I based myself in Bath where the English Institute of Sport is based at the university. It has very good physios and doctors, as well as good training facilities and fitness coaches, which enabled

me to keep fit while I was still on crutches.

“I had a lot of physio that summer then went out to try riding at the end of September 2005. I could ride! Yay! The bad part was that I had to use hard boots because they offered more support, which really annoyed me. I also could only do two days riding before I had to rest it for a day. Mid way through January, I convinced the doctors to let me try riding in soft boots and that felt no worse so I was stoked!

“Last summer (2006) I spent improving my foot, ankle and leg strength and my balance, which I had completely lost on my left side. By the start of last season both of them were an awful lot better so I started the season in decent condition.

"My foo is still a bit dodgy now. It hurts sometimes when riding or walking for a long time but I normally just ignore it. I can ride and my world ranking is on its way back up to where it should be, so, that’s all I really care about.

As far as Chile goes, I think there is more pressure on me this time because I did so well last time I competed there. I was a bit of an unknown then, if not in Britain, then certainly internationally.

Now all the World Cup people know me so the pressure is on.”

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF TEAM GB

24/8/07 17:51:58

Stay tuned for the next seven issues while we keep you up to date with what’s happening on British soil. From Dendex to Snowflex to the big fridges, there’s a storm rising and its got your name on it! Forum European Team Manager Jon Weaver tells us why.

DOPESHOTS.COM

AVE YOU BEEN up to your local dryslope recently? Have you made the trip to one of the snowdomes?

And, most importantly, what has been the main thing to have impressed you on your travels?

If, like me, it is the number of amazing kids riding and getting into snowboarding, then you’ll share my happiness about the new generation getting the chance to ride the ever-improving facilities across the UK. So, how come we have so much great new talent emerging?

Well, it’s the people behind the scenes, the unsung heroes, who are making it possible. Go to your local slope and you’ll meet people like Wayne Taylor at Halifax and Alex Spence at Chatham, who work tirelessly to make things happen.

We also have people working around the clock to promote the sport – just check out the schools tour, which should be kicking off right about now.

The crew down at Soul Sports, in Brighton, will have packed a van full of stickers, T-shirts, DVDs and three of Britain’s top snowboarders; James Thorne, Paddy Graham and Sonia Shaw. They’ll be on the road for six weeks, getting kids fully amped on snowboarding and, hopefully, coming along to watch their local AIM (Artificial, Indoor and Mountain) Series. We've seen Richard Campbell come through the ranks as a pupil, after the schools tour visited his home town, to become an AIM series killer. Proof of the great work of Soul Sports, The Schools Tour and SIGB (Snowsports Industries Great Britain).

And, around the same time, the AIM Series will kick off, producing yet another crop of stars in the making. From the early successes of Dom Harrington and James Thorne to Laura Berry and Chris Chatt, to the new kings of the AIM Series. Only

in their early teens, Jamie Nicholls and Sparrow Knox are major attractions as they battle it out for what has become the major talking point of the event - the juniors. This year at the Burton European Open, watching them step up alongside kids who are in snowboard schools in Europe, was quite something. Both Jamie and Sparrow represented the UK well in the pipe and in practice, wowing enough people so the town was full of talk.

But talents such as these aren’t limited to the juniors. If you look at the ladies as well, we have some of the greatest European, if not worldwide, women riders. In Jenny Jones, Vicci Miller and Laura Berry, you have three girls who can turn up to any event in the world and really show everyone how it’s done.

This kind of talent, and the sheer numbers, mean that we continue to have a thriving snowboard scene against the odds in our snowless country. The most amazing thing I have seen this summer has been the Westbeach Snowflex events in the UK, which will culminate in France this month. The series has introduced many new foreign faces to the joys of Snowflex – imagine that the French, having huge mountains, some of the best facilities in the world, and us taking our best over there and showing them what’s up!

That’s how I see the British snowboard scene right now. We have riders taking it to the next level, like Ben Kilner flying 17ft out of the superpipe in New Zealand; Scott McMorris taking the Superpark event apart; and a kids development team with some of the most exciting prospects around.

Alongside that, bear in mind the Lockdown crew, Hungerpain, all the indoor kids, all the dryslope shredders, damn we have a whole army right now...

Check out what Jon has to say next month and why he can’t find a single rider from Italy or France... [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

051_UK Scene Opener_#44_Oct07.indd 51

051 24/8/07 15:56:08

S R E T N U 9P 2 V A N S S E P 3 SLO800+ MILES 24 HOURS The Riders Lounge 24 hour indoor tour, by Sam Nelson

T

quick evening re-fuel at Burger King and we’re off to Henry Jackson’s house. Unfortunately, it's on the outskirts of Newcastle, still a good 150 miles away.

We had already covered some 300 that day.

HE SUN(?) MUST have gone to my head this summer. For some reason we thought it would be a good idea to ride three different halls, some 400 miles apart, in 24 hours.

Fortunately, the imaginary rays had gone to eight other heads too. So it went that James Bryant and I fished in some media-hungry shredders for the most rushed trip the UK has ever witnessed.

With the rare opportunity of The Riders Lounge team in the UK for once, we decided to ‘Capita’lise.

Namely, visit Milton Keynes, Castleford and Braehead SNO!zones within 24 hours.

We couldn’t imagine that anyone had done that before (let us know?), and I can’t imagine anyone will be daft enough to do it again! Which must make it some kind of record... whatever... we’re claiming it as one anyway.

Chris Chatt, Ollie Plumley, Henry Jackson, Sam Nelson (me), Emily Williams, and drivers Phil Guilfoyle, Jon Brown, Pat Lambert, and DCMT snapper James Bryant made up our squadron.

1AM

Arriving in the dead of night it was a quick beer and a welcome respite before hitting the hay. Somehow the Jackatron had managed to arrange blankets, beds, sofas and floor space for all nine of us – high five!

7AM

Our early start hurt but was necessary to ensure we completed our challenge. However, showers, coffee and packing up the van did their best to stifle our chances. Once again we were chasing the clock as we made our way north.

8.30AM

11: 30AM Ollie, James and myself arrive from London, Pat and Chatt from Milton Keynes, Emily from Hereford and Henry from Austria. Our support van, from Extreme Sports World (ESW), arrives from Chichester, way down south.

12 NOON We’re on the MK slopes and the 24 hours kick in.

Local Neil Campbell (our Milton Keynes tour guide) immediately shows us where he’s been hiding for the past months since his Mayrhofen days.

He started off by launching some smooth onefooters over MK’s sizeable gap jump, and James gets mobbed into taking happy snaps while we all hopelessly fling ourselves around. Chatt showed us his new dance moves on an imaginatively positioned up-box (look out for his variation of the MJ – that’s a Michael Jackson, kids). After a few hours we’re done, but not before a 170m race from top to bottom. Henry loses but takes his punishment like the sport he is – three tricks in his skids. A tasty gap-to-rail with a borrowed red ski helmet is probably the highlight of the trip for me.

This might have been a good time to stop...

3PM

It was time to put the pedal to the metal and hit the road to Leeds. Some 140 miles and two-and-a-half hours later, we were almost on Castleford slopes.

We had arranged to meet with local dome-slider, Simon Foster, who showed some serious jibbery skills on the CASvegas boxes and rails. Quick laps, uncrowded halls and a familiar set-up is so useful for these guys to really dial their moves. His awareness of the features was hard to miss. We looked for various jibbing options, settling on popping over a safety barrier, not very safe. One particular fall was a serious reminder that helmets are standard indoors for a reason. Youchy mama.

6-7PM

So with a sore head and numerous attempts at capturing Kodak moments it was time to press on. A

After an hour’s drive, we hit the border and a truckers' burger van seemed the ideal place for breakfast. The chef’s eyes lit up as Pat ordered nine full breakfast rolls.

10AM

Even our power-fuelled stomachs weren't able to force their way through the Glasgow rush hour. But despite the panic, and the now looming deadline, we made it. All we had to do was get on, ride, and get off before 12 noon, easy.

Paul Newton was our local hook-up and again showed that sliding the same park weekly certainly helps your riding.

The SNO!zones had provided us with the opportunities (thanks guys) and the fun of throwing ourselves around the fridges, but after 24 hours on the road, it was finally time to head home and rest our weary bones.

1 PM

While chasing Pat Lambert down the M1, I thought about what we had done. The odometer was reading close to 800 miles, we had spent £300 on petrol, we were beyond tired and severely beaten up. The trip had gone in a flash but felt more like a week than 24 hours. Emily was stoked to finally visit Scotland, Henry had somehow kept up morale throughout the trip, and I had severed an already damaged nerve after a sickening trip-up in Braehead. Chatt and Ollie remained motivated and positive to get something done to the last.

However, the biggest achievement award must go to ESW employee and trip chauffer Jonathan. He had learned to snowboard in less than a day, each new hall stepping up the process. Nice one, our unit, who clearly fed off the now apparent insanity of the trip, to help us through the many miles, the endless sitting and the rushed transitions between domes.

Still, we made it – a bona fide snowboarding roadtrip, all on British soil, and snow.

052 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] 052-053_24hr tour_#44_Oct07.indd 52

24/8/07 15:59:54

MI LTON KEYNES

SNO!zone stats: The real snow hill at Xscape Milton Keynes features a 170m long main slope for seasoned riders and a dedicated lesson slope, with qualified instructors, for beginners. Freestyle park features are available every Thursday and Friday night from 7pm until 11pm, as well as the new Park Strife event with freestyle park on the first Saturday of each month.

Famous for: Grid systems, fake cows and Living On A Prayer at the Milton Keynes Bowl Local heroes: The ATV Crew Location: Xscape MK, 602 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK9 3XS Price: One hour (peak) £21 adults, £18 juniors One hour (off-peak) £16 adults, £13 juniors Two consecutive hours (peak) £31 adults, £26 juniors Two consecutive hours (off-peak) £25 adults, £20 juniors Contact: Telephone: 0871 222 5670, lines open from 9am until 8pm daily Website: www.xscape.co.uk/snow/milton-keynes/

CASTLE FORD SNO!zone stats: Home to a 170m long main slope, as well as a dedicated lesson slope, with qualified instructors. Meanwhile, the CASvegas SNO!park freestyle sessions constantly push and challenge your riding with progressive and creative features built by a full time park team. Original and varied park layouts contain everything from beginner rookie lines on the slide boxes, to street style down rails, 30ft flat rails, and “connect-a-rail” style metal for various kinked combinations. Freestyle sessions are every Thursday and Friday from 7pm until 11pm.

Famous for: Tigers (of the Rugby variety), power stations, and its close proximity to Leeds Local heroes: Damien Doyle, Stu Edwards, Simon Foster and Ricky Barrow Location: Xscape Castleford, located at J32 off the M62, Colorado Way, Glasshoughton, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 4TA Price: One hour (peak) £21 adults, £18 juniors.

One hour (off-peak) £16 adults, £13 juniors Two consecutive hours (peak) £31 adults, £26 juniors Two consecutive hours (off-peak) £25 adults, £20 juniors Contact: Telephone: 0871 222 5671, lines open from 9am until 8pm daily Website: www.xscape.co.uk/snow/castleford/

BRAEH EAD

SNO!zone stats: Boasts a 200m long main slope and the UK’s largest dedicated lesson slope. Offers lessons and coaching to suit all levels of ability and can even give guidance if you want to try something different like freestyle, racing or moguls, with 1,700 tonnes of pure snow just waiting to be ridden. Varied park layouts with freestyle sessions every Thursday and Friday from 7pm until 11pm.

Famous for: Xscape Braehead (!)

Local heroes: Matt Leigh, Monkey (Stuart Horsham) and the Legion Crew Location: Xscape Braehead, Kings Inch Road, Braehead, Renfrew, PA4 8XQ Price: One hour (peak) £21 adults, £18 juniors One hour (off-peak) £16 adults, £13 juniors Two consecutive hours (peak) £31 adults, £26 juniors Two consecutive hours (off-peak) £25 adults, £20 juniors Contact: Telephone: 0871 222 5672, lines open from 9am until 8pm daily Website: www.xscape.co.uk/snow/braehead/

PHOTOS BY JAMES BRYANT AND SAM NELSON

052-053_24hr tour_#44_Oct07.indd 53

24/8/07 16:04:23

Did you know...

DOPESHOTS.COM

Lockdown projects an d UK pro, Ti Warwood, m started off on work ex in Ski Hire perience at Tamwor th. Perhap strangest ra s the mp they’ve ever had w Mika Hakk as inen’s McL aren F1 ca had to jum r that Tim p approx 60 times one as part of night a McLaren photo shoo t.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE THE SNOWDOME, TAMWORTH HISTORY: The one and only SnowDome at Tamworth opened in April 1994 and was the first full-sized, recreational indoor slope in the UK. For the first time, it allowed snowboarders to shred the ‘real’ deal all year round. Utilising a process developed by ProSnow International in Adelaide, Australia, the snow stays in top class condition, while the ambient temperature of the building remains at a comfortable 5-8°C. The SnowDome found itself in a unique position and signalled the start of a new era in UK snowboarding. No longer restricted by Dendex, a steady trickle of riders from far and wide began to make the weekly pilgrimage to this winter playground. A core but dedicated freestyle scene was formed.

As it grew in numbers and passion, the first official and exclusive freestyle snowboardonly night, Board Stiff, was born in the Winter of 1995.

Within a year, further changes and developments were driven by the riders.

More ramps were requested, and duly purchased, to keep everyone happy. Larger speakers were installed on to the slope and the dome moved from playing riders tapes to hiring a DJ. With such an open-minded and informal attitude, the SnowDome has consistently

054 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] 054-055_Slope Review_#44_Oct07.indd 54

grown its freestyle scene, welcoming suggestions, and even inventions, from riders. Go along for a ride and you will rock up to one of the finest, most laid back sessions you’ll find.

ON THE HILL: 170m snow slope with assorted features on freestyle nights.

OFF THE HILL: Aspens Bar and Restaurant with balcony overlooking the main slope, as well as the new on site Starbucks coffee lounge, both open all day, everyday.

SNOWBOARD NIGHTS Board Stiff: Tuesday nights, 8.30pm to midnight. Resident DJ on the balcony, big air ramp, quarter-pipe, boxes, rails and jibbing toys. Progressive riding in good company.

Available from April to November inclusive. £29 adults (£20.30 members) and £19 juniors (£13.30 members) Fresh: Saturday nights, 10pm to 1.30am.

Upbeat, late and legendary ramp night. All the kickers, boxes, rails, quarter-pipe and jibbing toys plus late bar until 1am and DJ for the best atmosphere in the UK freestyle scene. Always a lively one both on and off the slope. Available all year round. Prices as per Board Stiff.

Beginner Ramp Night: Friday nights, 8pm to 11pm. Newcomers welcome on the main slope with all the small toys and coaching from dedicated freestyle instructors. £32 adults (£22.40 members) and £22 juniors (£15.40 members) INSTRUCTION: Lessons for all levels available plus coaching sessions and the Monday night Progression Session. This looks at progressing riding style and technical ability - same prices as quoted for the beginner ramp night.

Beginner lessons £30 adults (£21 members) & £24 juniors (£16.80 members) for a 1 hour lesson or £56 adults (£39.20 members) & £45 juniors (£31.50members) for a 2 hour lesson. The Learn To Snowboard in a day course costs £85.

fo Essential Inome, Leisure Contact Details The Snowd Island, River Drive, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 7ND Call 08705 000011 www.snowdome.co.uk

5 Getting there The SnowDome is just so, minutes from Junction 10 of the M42, and it’s right on the motorway network, l, 90 minutes from North London, Bristo Manchester and Leeds.

PASISALMINEN.COM

th Welcome to Tamwor tess SnowDome - the hos with the mostest

one on the coping for Stu Leonard plants s len n's rre Wa ny Dan

LOCALHERO DOPESHOTS.COM

TIM SANDY At 46, Tim is not just a master, he is a veteran of the UK snowboard scene. He’s been a legend at Tamworth since it opened in 1994, helping progress the scene there. A self-confessed lunatic, he hits all the toys out on display and now takes tips from his son Jo as the student becomes the teacher! Tim’s commitment has shown impressive results with a string of 9 British Championship medals, including a Gold from the Slopestyle Masters in 2004. His skills have not gone unnoticed and Tim has received consistent support from Boardwise snowboard store and The SnowDome at Tamworth itself.

24/8/07 16:08:25

[26] PENDLE SKI CLUB [1] [2]

Clitheroe Road, Sabden, Clitheroe, Lancashire BB7 9HN 01200 42522

[4] [5]

[3]

[27] SKI ROSSENDALE

[6]

Haslingden Old Road, Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire, BB4 8RR 01706 831 294

[7]

www.ski-rossendale.co.uk

[8]

[28] HALIFAX SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTRE

[13] [15] [12] [14]

[9][10] [11]

Bradford Old Road, Swalesmoor/ Ploughcraft, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX3 6UG 01422 340760 www.ridehalifax.co.uk

[29] XSCAPE CASTLEFORD [16]

Colorado Way, Glasshoughton, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 4TA 0871 200 3221

[17] [18]

[19]

www.xscape.co.uk

[30] SHEFFIELD SKI VILLAGE

Vale Road, Parkwood Springs, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 9SJ 0114 276 0413

[26] [27] [28]

[24] [23] [25]

[20]

[29]

www.sheffieldskivillage.co.uk

[30]

[21] [22] [35]

[31] KIDSGROVE SKI CENTRE

[31] [32] [33] [34]

[38]

[37]

[36]

www.ski-kidsgrove.co.uk

[39] [46]

[45]

[42] [40] [41]

[44] [43]

[48] [47]

[60] [59] [61] [52]

[63] [58] [62] [64]

[53] [51]

[54]

[55]

[56] [57]

[66] [65] [67] [71] [68] [70] [69]

Can't live without it? Shred this weekend! www.glenmorelodge.org.uk

[2] LOCH INSH WATERSPORTS AND SKIING CENTRE

Kincraig, Inverness-shire, PH21 1NU 01540 651272 www.lochinsh.com

[3] LECHT SKI CENTRE

The Lecht Ski Centre, Strathdon, Grampian, AB36 01975 651 426 www.lecht.co.uk

[4] ALFORD SKI CENTRE Greystone Road, Alford, Grampian, AB33 8TI 01975 563024

[5] BALLATER SKI SLOPE

Craigedarroch Hotel, Braemer Road, Ballater, Grampian, AB35 5XA 013397 55447

[6] ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL

42 Garthdee Road, Aberdeen, Grampian, AB11 7BA 01224 810215 www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

[7] CONDOR DRY SKI SLOPE

Royal Marines Condor, Arbroath, Angus DD11 3SJ 01241 822258

[8] ANCRUM OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTRE 10 Ancrum Road, Dundee, Tayside, DD2 2HZ 01382 435911 www.ancrum.co.uk

[14] MIDLOTHIAN SNOWSPORTS CENTRE Biggar Road, Hillend, Near Edinburgh, Midlothian EH10 7DU 0131 445 5549 http://ski.midlothian.gov.uk

[9] GLASGOW SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTRE Bellashouston Park, 16 Drumbreck Road, Glasgow, Strathclyde, G41 5BW 0141 427 4991/3 www.ski-glasgow.co.uk

Meadowmill Sports Centre, Meadowmill, by Tranent, Lothian, EH33 1LP 01875 611374

[10] SCOTLAND SNOWSPORTS CENTER

[16] CARLISLE SNOWSPORTS CLUB

The mound, Stockiemuir Road, Bearsden, Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, G61 3KS 0141 943 1500 www.skibearsden.co.uk

[11] NEWMILNS SNOW AND SPORT COMPLEX 35 High Street, Newmilns, Strathclyde, KA16 9EB 01560 322320 www.skinewmilns.co.uk

[12] POLMONTHILL SKI CENTER

Polmonthill, Polmont, Falkirk, Central FK2 0YE 01324 503 835

[13] FIRPARK SNOWSPORT SCHOOL

[20] LLANDUDNO SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTRE

John Nike Leisuresport Ltd, The Great Orme, Llandudno, Gwynedd, LL20 2QL 01492 874707 www.llandudnoskislope.co.uk

[15] MEADOWMILL SPORT AND SKI CENTRE

The Edenside Cricket Ground, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA1 2UD 01228 810 696 www.carlislesnowsports.co.uk

[17] WHICKHAM THORNS OUTDOOR

Activity Centre Market Lane, Dunston, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, NE11 9NX 0191 433 5767 www.gateshead.gov.uk

[18] SUNDERLAND SKI CENTER

Silksworth Lane, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, SR3 2AN 0191 553 5789

[21] PLAS-Y-BRENIN NATIONAL CENTRE FOR MOUNTAIN ACTIVITIES Capel Curig, Gwynedd, LL24 0ET 01690 720214 www.pyb.co.uk

[22] RHIW GOCH SKI & MOUNTAIN BIKE CENTER Trawsfynydd Holiday Village, Bronaber, Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, LL414UR 01766 540578

[23] OVAL SPORTS CENTER

Old Chester Road, Bebington, Wirral, Merseyside, L63 7LF 0151 645 0551

[24] KENDAL SKI CLUB 49 Millcroft Avenue, Orrell, Wigan, Cumbria WN5 8TP 01695 624199 www.kendalski.co.uk

[19] CRAIGAVON GOLF AND SKI CENTRE

Firpark, Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire FK13 6PL 01259 751 772

Turmoyra Lane, Silverwood, Lurgan, Craigavon, County Armagh. BT66 6NG 028 3832 6606

www.clacksleisure.co.uk

www.craigavon.gov.uk

Festival Park, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, ST1 5PU 01782 204159 www.stokeskicentre.co.uk

[33] TAMWORTH SNOWDOME

Leisure Island, River Drive, Tamworth, Staffordshire B79 7ND 08705 00 00 11

[34] SWADLINCOTE SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTRE

UK SLOPES Aviemore, Highlands & Islands, PH22 1QU 01479 861212

[32] STOKE SKI CENTRE

www.snowdome.co.uk

[49] [50]

[1] GLENMORE LODGE

Bathpool Park, Kidsgrove, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, ST7 4EF 01782 784908

[25] RUNCORN SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTRE Town Park, Palace Fields, Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 2PS 01928 701 965 www.runcornskicentre.co.uk

[42] DAN YR OGOF SKI SLOPE

Abercrave, Upper Swansea Valley, Swansea, West Glamorgan, SA9 1GJ 01639 730284

[43] CARDIFF SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTRE Fairwater Road, Fairwater Park, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, CF5 3JK 029 20561 793 www.skicardiff.com

[44] PONTYPOOL SKI CENTRE

Pontypool Park, Pontypool, Gwent, NP4 8AT 01495 756 955

[45] GLOUCESTER SKI & SNOWBOARD CENTRE Matson Lane, Robinswood Hill, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL4 6EA 0870 240 0375 www.gloucesterski.com

[46] XSCAPE MILTON KEYNES

Xscape, 602 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK9 3XS 01908 680813 www.xscape.co.uk

[47] BASSINGTON SNOWSPORTS CLUB PO Box 103, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 9ZN 01462 618091 www.skibass.org

[48] SUFFOLK SKI CENTRE

Bourne Hill, Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP2 8NQ 01473 602 347 www.suffolkskicenter.co.uk

[49] PLYMOUTH SKI & SNOWBOARD CENTRE

Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, West Midlands, B11 2PY 0121 772 5111 www.ackers-adventure.co.uk

[37] TALLINGTON DRY SKI SLOPE

Tallington Lakes,Barholm Road, Tallington, Stamford, Peterborough, PE9 4RJ 01778 346342 www.waspdirect.com

[38] NORFOLK SKI CLUB LTD

Whitlingham Lane, Trowse, Norwich, Norfolk NR14 8TW 01603 662781 www.norfolkskiclub.co.uk

[39] LLANGRANNOG SKI CENTRE Urdd Gobaith Cymru, Gwersyll Llangrannog, Llangrannog, Llandysul, Ceredigion, SA44 6AE 01239 654656

[40] PEMBREY SKI SLOPE

Pembrey Country Park, Nr Llanelli, Dyfed SA16 0EJ 01554 834443

[41] SWANSEA SKI CENTRE

Brunel Way, Pentrechwyth, Swansea, West Glamorgan, SA1 7DB 01792 645639

Abbey Barn Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP10 9QQ 01494 474711 www.wycombesummit.com

[60] HEMEL SKI CENTRE

Wheelers Lane, St Albans Hill, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP3 9NH 01442 241321 www.hemel-ski.co.uk

[61] GOSLING SKI AND BOARD CENTRE Stanborough Road, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, AL8 6XE 01707 384385 www.goslingsports.co.uk

[62] ALPINE SNOW SPORTS

Galleywey Road, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 2DD 01252 348561 www.alpinesnowsports.co.uk

[63] SANDOWN ACTIVE SPORTS

Sandown Ski and Snowboarding, More Lane, Esher, Surrey, KT10 8AN 01372 467132 www.sandownsports.co.uk

[64] CHRIST’S COLLEGE SKI CLUB Larch Avenue, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 01483 504992 www.ccski.co.uk

http://home.freeuk.net/bromleyski

[51] EXETER & DISTRICT SKI CLUB

[36] THE ACKERS OUTDOOR ACTIVITY CENTRE

[59] WYCOMBE SUMMIT SKI & SNOWBOARD CENTRE

www.plymouthskislope.co.uk

www.swadlincoteskislope.co.uk

www.telford.gov.uk/FreeTime/Sports

www.bracknellskislope.co.uk

[65] BROMLEY SKI

[50] TORQUAY ALPINE SKI CLUB

Court Street, Madeley, Telford, Shropshire, TF7 5DZ 01952 586862

John Nike Leisuresport, John Nike Way, Amen Corner, Binfield, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 8TN 01344 789002

John Nike Leisure Sport ltd Alpine Park, Marsh Mills, Plymouth, Devon PL6 8LQ 01752 600220

John Nike Leisure Sport LTD. Swadlincote Ski & Snowboard Centre, Hill Street, Swadlincote, Burton Upon Trent, Derbyshire, DE11 8LP 01283 217200

[35] TELFORD SKI CENTRE

[58] BRACKNELL SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTRE

Barton Hall, Kingskerwell Road, Torquay, Devon, TQ2 8JY 01803 313350 www.skitorquay.co.uk

Sandy Lane, St Paul’s Cray, Orpington, Kent, BR5 3HY 01689 876812

[66] BRENTWOOD PARK SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTRE

Warkey Gap, Little Warley, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 3PP 01277 211 994 www.brentwoodskicentre.co.uk

Clifton Hill Sports Ground, Belmont Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2DJ 01392 211422

[52] HIGH ACTION LTD Lyncombe drive, Churchill, Bristol, Avon B525 SPQ 01934 853314 www.highaction.co.uk

[53] YEOVIL SKI CENTRE LTD

Addlewell Lane, Nine Springs, Yeovil, Somerset. BA20 1QW 01935 421 702 www.yeovilalpinevillage.co.uk

[54] DORSET SNOWSPORT CENTRE

Warmwell Holiday Park, Warmwell, Nr Weymouth, Dorset, DT2 8JE 01305 853245

www.dorsetsnowsportcentre.co.uk

[55] CHRISTCHURCH SKI & LEISURE CENTRE

Matchams Lane, Hurn, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 6AW 01202 483564 www.christchurch-skicentre.com

[56] CALSHOT ACTIVITIES CENTRE

Calshot Spit, Fawley, Southampton, Hampshire, SO45 1BR 02380 892 077

[67] CHATHAM SKI AND SNOWBOARD CENTER John Nike Leisuresport, Alpine Park, Capstone Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 3JH 01634 814075 www.chathamskislope.co.uk

[68] BOWLES OUTDOOR CENTRE

Sand Hill Lane, Eridge Green, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN3 9L3 01892 665665 www.bowles.ac

[69] KNOCKHATCH SKI & SNOWBOARD CENTRE Knockhatch Adventure Park, Hempstead lane, Hailsham, Sussex, BN27 3PR 01323 843344 www.ski-knockhatch.com

[70] FOLKESTONE SKI CENTRE

Radnor Park Avenue, Folkestone, Kent, CT19 5HX 01303 240842 www.folkestoneskicentre.co.uk

[71] THE REALLI SKI CENTRE

Unit 1, Out Elmstead Lane, Business Center, Dover Road, Barham, Nr Canterbury, Kent CT4 6HJ 01227 833944 www.realli-ski.co.uk

www.calshot.com

[57] SOUTHAMPTION ALPINE CENTRE

Sports Centre, Bassett, Southampton, Hampshire, S016 7AY 023 8078 2291 www.southampton-alpine-centre.co.uk

TO PROMOTE YOUR SLOPE HERE CALL CRAIG ON 01733 293250

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

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Unknown shredder getting tech on metal

zing, everyone’s uz b is e en sc K U e Th t of Britain – but 1ST STOP HALIFAX ou g in m co g in d ri of l ve le talking about the crazy (Photos Steve Mckenna) ? ors were right a backside 900. But the juni where does it come from recognition,” said Gary. of the n involved with IGHT HERE, IN the middle “Westbeach have always bee le an incredib ts snowboarding.”

Snowflex revolution, there’s British dryslope and grassroo are not the only pattern forming.

However, Gary and Wayne d transition, a riders coming ng you e mot pro to Build a jump that has a goo two looking landing and p stee , , the UK long tom a Cus and le e Nob tabl s. small flat through the rank SP ple as that. for Option Snowboards and people get good. It’s as sim tors ribu dist Snowflex rd to support the boa on e cam And that’s exactly what the also , ings bind UK’s artificial slope a winning holiday for phenomenon sweeping the series. They’ve organised sored rider from each en. pon prov uns scene has their choice of top l spread wel y fairl n bee , fact the series. The four in in , Snowflex has of the four competitions years and the slope the week-long trip to for sen cho rs around the UK for several arde wbo sno k feature – it was er, will battle it out to at Halifax is a kind of hallmar Tignes, France, in Decemb jumps where turf e hom first rship from Option nso the of spo r’s host to one receive a full yea r skills without the kids could start honing thei ards and SP bindings. wbo Sno thumbs. e on the trip risk of breaking fingers and Andy Nudds earned his plac more crashLanding l. wel gly edin exce g The Snowflex surface is far through ridin sistent al Dendex slopes, Andy’s riding has seen con 7s, friendly than the tradition e tsid fron foot er und fax. with Hali in ace l surf leve e being a complet progresion but hit a new well designed jumps m (AKA Monkey) cushioning. In addition, the Meanwhile, Stuart Horsha can rs ride ng omi n competition nd-c mai up-a the the in that slot ure top ens bagged the out worrying with ls leve s ulou ridic to s progres landings. about knee-shattering, flat Dom Harrington burn, from With this in mind, Gary Pick checks out new ate wsk Sno AKA from angles on the kicker.

Halifax, and Wayne Taylor, the nise es to orga Store, took it upon themselv . hips style Champions Westbeach Snowflex Free gs British freestyle A series of events that brin s – providing a real snowsports back to its root ent and future pres se wca sho to nity opportu freestyle parks in l ficia arti t bes talent, using the the UK and Europe. series was first Gary said the idea for the continued: “We He . ago rs yea five ost born alm wflex series Sno a g doin ut abo first thought fax Hali the ng nisi when we were orga riding on Snowflex Competitions. The level of thing else and was so much better than any about the new ent tem exci of there was a lot be built. The ld cou that surface and features there were just problem was that at the time to make a series too few really good slopes later and there are rs yea few A y. work properl x kickers in the wfle Sno d now four or five goo ce. Even more UK and a massive one in Fran strong scenes importantly, they all have We just decided that . them nd developing arou the time was right.” some of the most The series brings together the UK and the in es scen e styl free sive progres pro team was on a nt eve h eac At . prizes are sick sored riders pon uns t bes hand to pick out the chose a board and and give them free reign to saw K2’s Col Mytton bindings of choice. Halifax set up for pulling K2 a n Dea cus awarding Mar . day the out all the stops on less known riders “We tried to make sure the quickly got some sing gres pro ly real are who

R

56-57_Snowflex_#44_Oct07.indd 55

with d a show as the up there and put on as goo ng down switch seniors, Jamie Nicholls layi rter with frontside undrflips and Mat MacWhi 3s! cab rodeo 7s and we enlisted a And here at Document HQ, nt, who pushed the team of riders for the eve crew of Dom standard all day long. Our y Barrow, Tom Rick ton, Myt Col Harrington, formed a series of Percival and Mike Austin per away spot prizes crowd pleasers. And, giving azine, Document and subscriptions to the mag like Santa. felt er ven Scri g shredder Crai the Legion crew Finally, respect has to go to s; to Dom for coming down in their tent s; the Rome flying Harrington for spinning tune and of course the d; crow the ing circus for wow Briton and ch tbea series sponsors, Wes the guys who hooked engineering; as well as all e, Grenade, TSA, Icon, up prizes - Technine, Rom on.

Inch and Dem

he best Ride t over the next

Stay tuned installments months to see and Bearsden. from Warmwell eady hooked But if you’re alr ride the best and you want to in the world, Snowflex park the Stadt de come join us at es-Mines, Glisse in Noeux-l al stop will be France. The fin October 20th taking place on rgain price of and, for the ba e the slope £20, you can rid to Sunday from Thursday day is just for inclusive (Satur eck out www. competitors). Ch estbeach for snowflex.com/w on, and www. more informati oard.co.uk for documentsnowb and updates. the latest news

RESULTS

Marcus Dean bags a free K2 set up

ING SNOWBOARD SENIOR MEN 1st Stuart Horsham 2nd Col Mytton 3rd Andy Nudds

SNOWBOARDING UNDER 16 MALE 1st Jamie Nicholls 2nd Mat Macwhirter 3rd Will Smith

ING SNOWBOARD SENIOR WOMEN

1st Kat Miller 2nd Becca Richardson

SNOWBOARDING UNDER 16 FEMALE 1st Sam Rodgers 2nd Katie Ormerod 3rd Sophie Nichols

24/8/07 16:29:58

72 HOURS IN

KAUNERTAL PISTES

LIFTS

IN KILOMETRES

AVAILABLE

TERRAIN PARKS

32 8 1

TERRAIN TERRAIN TERRAIN BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED

56% 25% 19%

LOCAL PRICES: FUEL PER LITRE: About 70p (€1)

TRANSFER: Around £250 for a private transfer of up to four people from Innsbruck. Otherwise you can get the train from Innsbruck to Landeck for about €20 and it takes just over an hour.

A grey Saturday morning, just off the M25 in Kent, a man waits. Two SUVs appear, resplendent in stickers and groaning under the weight of badly packed luggage.

PIZZA: About €8

3m

2m

CZECH REPUBLIC DAY ONE APR

GERMANY

MAR

FEB

JAN

DEC

1m NOV

MONTHLY SNOWFALL

BEER: (per 500ml) is €1 if you’re at any of the boozathons we were. About €5 otherwise.

07.30

A quick blast to the tunnel along the M20 and we seem to have made up some time.

I’m not really concerned at the moment, SLOV. firstly, because it’s some ungodly hour on a Saturday and, secondly, I’ve managed to procure a box of Krispy Cremes which I’m trying to devour before my other travelling E S companions get wind of what’s going on.

Linz

Danube

Vienne

Sankt Polten

Salzburg

Bregenz

Eisenstadt

KAUNERTAL

Innsbruck

A

L Grob 3 797

SWITZERLAND Lienz

P

Graz

DAY ONE

HUNGARY 12.46

Klagenfurt

ITALY

Car A of the two car Document convoy has CROATIA been sitting in a layby for about 45 minutes, SLOVENIA waiting for Car B to find their way to us. This has got to be a record, even for Team Document; we’ve managed to be in France for about 90 minutes and we’ve been lost for almost exactly half of that time. Why haven’t we got a map? Apparently, satellite navigation is the way forward. Clearly not the way forward so much as the way around in circles. The wheels have started to come off.

DAY ONE

15.36

Your faithful narrator is in the driving seat now, trying to make up some lost time. Of course, we’re not going anywhere right at this second. I’m desperately trying to recall my GCSE French to appease the two gendarmes who are strolling up to the driver’s window. Je suis desole is about as much as I can manage.

DAY ONE

19.30

My short brush with driving on the continent has well and truly finished for the day. I don’t think my wallet could take another punishing like the €90 it got earlier from the amiable gendarmes for speeding. No, even the Kripsy Cremes have all gone, I’ll have to make do with the West Wing on the DVD player.

DAY TWO

01.30

After crossing three international borders with some difficulty (there’s not many customs officials who believe that you can snowboard in May) and about 17 hours on the road, we’ve finally rolled into Feichten, Austria, where we will be based. It’s probably just as well, conversations have been turning decidedly strange due to the massive overdose of Red Bull over the past 10 or so hours.

DAY TWO

08.00

Breakfast has been forced down, the first intravenous injection of caffeine has been prescribed, and we are almost set to head up to the glacier for a hard day’s testing. All that remains is for lunch to be sourced.

Part of the beauty of the continental meat and cheese breakfast buffet is that it goes down very well for lunch. The surly waitress is powerless to stop the onslaught of a large division of the British snowboard

Jack Shackleton takes aerial reconnaissance in Kaunertal

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KAUNERTAL: Home to the Snowboard Test 2008 and the UK's snowboarding elite.

HAS BEEN GOOD ‘‘ KAUNERTAL TO US, THERE IS A WELL-

SHAPED PIPE AND GOOD PARK SET-UP

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

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DOPESHOTS.COM

’’ 059

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72 HOURS IN

KAUNERTAL industry as it surreptitiously empties the buffet of everything required to keep a snowboarding militia on its feet all day.

DAY TWO

13.02

Team Document regroups for some smelly cheese and meat rolls in the resort car park.

In a well orchestrated battle plan, Team Document have split into three units in an effort to get a full picture of the test.

The AV (audio visual) unit has been tasked with tracking down victims to interview for the all-new www. documentsnowboard.co.uk.

I’m on assignment with the crack DCMT Design squad. We try to get our mitts on the new decks for photo shoots. This is proving to be more difficult than we first planned, with everybody desperate to get some runs in for the first time since the end of the season, taking with them all of the best kit.

The review element of the team have clearly had the rough end of the deal, spending all morning up on the glacier, testing next year’s kit with some of the UK’s brightest snowboarding talents. Kaunertal has been good to us, there is a well-shaped pipe and good park set-up. The glacier is littered with shredders lapping the park and lining up for the t-bars. Board reviewing is continuing a pace, with pockets stuffed full of the pink score cards.

16.34

DAY TWO

20.20

Of course, to get the moody lighting photographer Dan Medhurst is looking for, we need to go out right at the cusp of darkness. Which is fine, until you end up standing in the drizzle perched on a treacherously slippery rock, with a flash gun above your head... at night.... on a mountain.

I need a drink.

DAY TWO

Sam Cullum's not standing in the drizzle, Backside 180 melon, Kaunertal

22.00

Drink. Analog has put on a party tonight and Team Document has arrived en masse to show the British snowboarding community that we’re up there in the partying stakes.

This would all be fine, under normal circumstances, but tonight it’s €1 beers and free Tequila. There is only one possible way this is going to go. Great.

WE CHARGE, ‘‘ONWARDS FLAT-LINING ON THE

SLUSHIEST PARTS, JUST GLAD TO BE OUT IN THE SUN

’’

ACTION: DOPESHOTS.COM / STILLS: DAN MEDHURST

DAY TWO

Short days abound here in the high stress world of snowboard testing. By about 2pm, the snow has gone beyond the realms of being classed as snow and becomes more like slush puppy. Everybody has retreated to town for some well-needed rest before the evening’s activities begin and the serious task of partying.

In town there’s a swimming pool with sauna and spa, which seems like a good idea to calm the aching muscles.

No such thing as rest for the crack DCMT Design unit who all head back up the mountain to start shooting some of the crate loads of clothing we’ve brought along.

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061 RELENTLESS AD.indd 1

24/8/07 15:42:00

72 HOURS IN

KAUNERTAL

URST

DAY D DA AY THREE AY HREE

08.00 08 00

Or not. Snatched visions are coming to me through the fog of Tequila and €1 beers. I’m seeing a Pinata, Tequila, broken pint glasses, prize giveaways and a ditch very close-up.

Judging by the faces of the rest of the Document team, they know the horror too .

DAY THREE

09.30

It’s a bit like a being on the set of a zombie thriller this morning. The clouds are low over the glacier, hanging around like mist in a graveyard. The deathly moans emanating from the pallid faces of last night’s partygoers mean it’s a slow start to the day.

DAY THREE

13.00

The final test runs of the less popular boards are underway, waxing stations are dismantled and the big clear up is beginning.

The data-input teams are collecting fistfuls of pink review slips and we're getting the final product shots together before one last blast out onto the glacier. It looks as if the sun god is smiling down on us as we haul-ass from the top of the weiÐseeferner drag lift down as far as we can go. We pass through the park, too proud to get in the way of the pros on their final runs over the kickers. Onwards we charge, flat-lining through the slushiest parts, just glad to be out ripping in the sun.

Ahhh, would you look at that - a dormant beast just wating for battle!

We try to sneak past the company reps for one last run but we are virtually wrestled to the ground.

DAY THREE

20.30

All washed and scrubbed up, we've headed out for dinner for a change from the hotel buffet. We pile into the highly recommended Pizza Rustica in the next village down from the hotel. There’s good tucker on offer here, with the wood fired pizza oven churning out a good selection of pizza.

DAY FOUR

07.00

Being the professional outfit that we are, we’re all raring to go, only an hour after our scheduled departure time. All the cars have been packed the night before by yours truly and all that remains is for the team to jump in and go. As if. No, somebody has managed to leave kit up at the glacier the day before.

After a heated round of pass the buck, we’re hammering back up the mountain roads.

DAY FOUR

12.30

Our efforts to plot an alternative route back home have come unstuck somewhere on the outskirts of Munich. We’re now stuck in a huge traffic jam and the satnav is determined to take us back into France. I’m not sure my wallet can take it again.

PDOPESHOTS.COM

DAN MEDH

ESSENTIAL INFO ESSENTIAL INFO

LIFT PASSES: Summer riding 14.04-30.06 Adult 1 Day: €27.50 (€125.00 for 6 days) Child 1 Day: €17.00 (€75.50 for 6 days)

Other options for flights are Munich, which is around 250km from the resort, and Zurich, which is 300km away.

ACCOMODATION

TRAIN

We stayed in the Tia Monte hotel at the top-end of town (www.hotel-tiamonte.at) Prices start from €59 during the offseason, up to €79 during the high season for a double room half board. That means the magic word “buffet’ for both breakfast and dinner.

Lots of combined accommodation and lift passes deals on offer.

The train station at Landeck is situated at the base of the Kaunertal Valley and is a 30 minute bus ride from town.

TRAVEL

ROAD: Feichten is 1,069km from Calais and, on a good day, it apparently takes around 11 hours.

PLANE

Easyjet and British Airways both fly into Innsbruck. British Airways do a mid-week special to Innsbruck starting from around £30. The airport is a 90 minute drive (100km) from Feichten. There is a regular train connection to the base of the valley. www.ba.com, www.easyjet.com

EATING AND DRINKING

FOOD: We were on a half board deal at the Tia Monte and so made the most of the opportunity to abuse the breakfast and dinnertime salad buffet.

We did had some great pizza in the Pizza Rustica, which is a five minute drive down the valley from the Tia Monte. Prices start from around €8 for a pizza.

BOOZE: The Analog party was held in the Zappa Dello bar. Even in its very best light, I reckon the bar wouldn’t be any less debauched than when we were there. They have got a mirror ball mind you.

MORE INFO:

www.kaunertla.com www.tiscover.com

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Mike Austin - Slayer Tail Press. Another dope shot by dopeshots.com

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Rome Freestyle Snowboard Camp Tues 28th August 07 Mad Soldiers Rail Jam Tues 4th September 07 For Boarders By Boarders Event Sat 8th September 07 The Snowboard Show Sat 22nd September 07 Burton Scrap Metal Sat 13th October 07 Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Daddy Event Sat 3rd November 07

08705 000011

063 TAMWFREECON Ad.indd 1

info@snowdome.co.uk

snowdome.co.uk

24/8/07 17:22:06

JAKE BURTON

My name is Jake Burton Carpenter. I’m 53 years old and live in Vermont. I always say that if your home mountain is not your favourite, then you should probably move. In my 38 years riding, the funniest times have been during powder days, the least funny time was breaking my leg in six places. I like to eat Italian when I go out, and I can cook a mea.n Americanstyle steak. If I can’t get up the mountain then I like to surf and swim.

LEGENDS.indd 2

JEFF CURTES © 2007 BURTON SNOWBOARDS

LEGENDS +

The godfather of snowboarding, he’s the founder of the biggest snowboarding product company – holding almost a 50% share in a £200 million industry. Document meets the man behind the legend to unravel myth from fact DCMT: So Jake, it’s a pleasure to have this opportunity to talk to you. Burton is big, really big; competition purses, riders’ budgets, product sales – no snowboard specific brand can really compete out there.

You have a huge product range and a number of subsidiary labels that each offer something to a different sector in the market. Prize purses on your competition series are huge, for example – Torah Bright recently took home a whopping $100,000 cheque after her success in the Burton Global Open Series. Superhero Shaun White is one of your many A-list riders. Yet you’re not a company that fails to support grassroots movements and the less privileged, with outreach programs like Chill. And your own story dates back to ski hills, pizza delivery, injuries and an out-ofthe-garden-shed style entrepreneurial dedication. I guess ‘how does it feel to stand in your shoes’ is a pretty big question?

JB: It has been an incredible journey, really amazing, but it has taken a long time to get there. I’ve been doing this for more than 30 years. In the early years, everything

doubled at the end of 12 months, but it really didn’t explode like the internet companies of today. It’s been a consistent and steady path, with lots of hard work – it certainly didn’t happen overnight.

DCMT (from Samuel Nelson): Considering you’ve been here from the start did you ever imagine that snowboarding would A) grow as large and widespread as it is today?

B) That Burton would become the benchmark for most, if not all, that is associated with snowboarding?

JB: I really had no idea that the sport would become as large and as mainstream as it has – that has really surprised me. The minute I got on a snurfer I knew there was something in it as a sport, but I had no idea of the scale.

DCMT: Did the record sales of snurfers back in the day give you an early indication of how popular snowboarding could be?

JB: I’m not the inventor of snowboards, despite being given the credit sometimes.

The snurfer was around, which me and my friends enjoyed, and there were earlier snowboard manufacturers. Snurfers gave me an inkling that snowboarding would be popular, but on a small, local scale. I had no idea what was happening in the markets across the country – I was oblivious to the big picture.

DCMT: What was it that kick-started your creative drive and initiated the whole project that is Burton?

JB: Necessity! In shop class at school I was terrible. I remember one time we had to make napkin holders out of wood – I think mine was the worst in the class – I really wasn’t great with my hands. All of a sudden I found myself working with my hands, and on prototypes. I think that’s what I’m proudest of really, the determination to stick with it during the early times and dealing with rejection back then.

DCMT: Do you see skateboarding as really important to the growth of snowboarding? Every year we see tricks and

24/8/07 19:22:56

JEFF CURTES © 2007 BURTON SNOWBOARDS

Just another day at the office...

moves that are more and more related to, or adapted from, skate-style tricks. Have you ever been tempted to branch into producing skateboards?

JB: Skateboarding has a huge influence on snowboarding. The whole concept of grabbing, which is an essential part of almost every trick in snowboarding, relates to skating in the first place. I think it’s true to say that all board sports feed off each other in terms of tech, fashion, style, pretty much everything – you’ve just got to look at Shaun White for living proof of that. In terms of Burton producing skateboards, we are a board sports company and we do have a skate team at Analog [a subsidiary of Burton]. But for Burton to start producing skateboards right now would mean nothing to that industry. If we ever did go down that line, it would be so important that we approach the skateboarding industry with the respect it deserves.

JEFF CURTES © 2007 BURTON SNOWBOARDS

DCMT: Do you still love what you do?

JB: Snowboarding, for me, is what it’s all about. I get to ride all year and then in the summer I get to surf – I love my job! It has changed over the years, I’ve cut back on the really long hours, and spent more time snowboarding. Ultimately, I’m still the decision-maker and riding so much, connecting with the snow, is important if I’m to make the right decisions.

DCMT: What’s the best part of the job?

JB: Definitely riding! And the team in the office. They’re a great team and good to be around.

DCMT: Is it true you really get to ride 100 days a year?

JB: Actually, last year it was 125. We had this incredible late season in Vermont. We had 10 amazing powder days in April, it was great.

DOCUMENT: We’ve heard that you give lessons from time to time. Who has been the most interesting person you’ve taught to snowboard?

JB: My wife. It was years ago when the product was barely rideable – nothing near how it is today. It was a tough process, but she stuck with it, even though it took about three days. We had a lot of fun in hindsight, and we laughed a lot.

DCMT: There’s a blaze from the east right now, in snowboarding and industry in general. Do you see the next Terje Haakonsen coming out of China or Korea?

You’ve certainly supported some amazing riders from Japan.

JB: I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say the next Terje. The Japanese have come a long way in snowboarding terms and there are a lot of good riders coming out of there at the moment but I don’t think there’s a Terje among them. There could be in the future. [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

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065 24/8/07 19:25:02

JAKE BURTON

LEGENDS

© 2007 BURTON SNOWBOARDS

+

Bring back the funk you reckon this shot was taken last month or last century?

DCMT: Do you think Daniel Franck could have established himself like Terje Haakonsen if you’d taken him on as a rider back in the day?

JB: Daniel Franck did jump around a little and that tends to have an impact on a rider’s career. I don’t know if he would ever have established himself like Terje. Terje had a great combination of tech trick ability and just going absolutely huge – Daniel was on a level with him but he wasn’t quite the rider. Still, he could have been bigger, more note-worthy.

DCMT: How much time do you actually spend with the Burton riders?

JB: I see them pretty often. We had a sales meeting in Chile the other week and DCP (David Carrier Porcheron) and the guys were down there. It was great to go riding a bunch with them. We get around the table about once a month to talk about product and then the big meeting is at my house in the spring when they all come over. So our meetings are not formally structured but I do get to see a lot of them.

DCMT: Your round-the-world trip last year was much publicised, was that a well earned gap year for you?

JB: Well, I got into the situation where I was getting bitter about the way I travel.

LEGENDS.indd 4

I’d be in Japan for a week; off to a trade show in Europe for a few days; then to New Zealand for a couple of days – I never got the chance to settle or see anywhere. So, a big part of it for me was to be with my family and see the world, as well as wanting to take a different approach to travelling. We wanted to be able to go for five or six weeks to Japan or a month in New Zealand, get a house, and really check the place out. It was an absolutely incredible experience for all of us. Another great thing about it is that, now I’ve settled back into my old style of travelling here and there for a few days at a time, I don’t feel bitter anymore. The trip gave me a new perspective and I feel lucky to be able to travel so much.

DCMT: Who has been your favourite rider to work with over the last 30 years?

JB: Craig Kelly. A true world champion, I really feel he was the rider to have the most impact on me.

DCMT: Who is your favourite rider to watch?

JB: With the whole progression in snowboarding, Shaun White is phenomenal to watch. Kelly Clark is also definitely up there.

DCMT (from Ollie Plumley): Ok. Budgets

are cut, half the team has to go in order to keep Shaun White, what do you do?

JB: We’d have to talk and find a way to make it work out for everyone. I don’t think it’s a situation that would happen.

That’s my job to sort out.

DCMT: In the UK, up-and-coming shredders face a real battle to try and actually live a life from their earnings as a rider. Literally, if a rider can get free kit and a £2,000 travel budget, then they’re doing pretty good. How does that compare to a salary for one of your A-listers?

JB: It’s considerably smaller. That said, look at riders like Danny Kass, whose origins were pretty minimalist, yet look at what he has achieved now. Lack of money is not always a barrier, it just takes more determination. Of course it is easier for kids who grow up in the Alps and it’s tougher for those who don’t – economic inaccessibility verses geographic accessibility.

DCMT: Budgets in the USA seem to far outreach those of Europe, whether it’s riders’ earnings, competition purses or industry wages. How is it that the industry is worth so much more across the pond?

JB: It’s just the scale of business and what’s going on over here – there’s lots of

24/8/07 19:25:50

© 2007 BURTON SNOWBOARDS

Jake putting in the elbow grease - a far cry from the global status Burton holds today

business, which results in more money being put into the industry.

DCMT: On the outside, the sport appears to be more popular and more diverse than ever, with heaps of little companies producing really good product. Yet industry sales as a whole are going down. What future do you see for snowboarding?

JB: We’re so dependent on the weather. A good season means sales grow. No snow, and it’s a flat market. The luck we have, and the environment, have a huge impact.

DCMT: (from Rachel Devlin, editor) The question that’s on everyone’s lips right now is climate change.

Be it a glitch in the matrix or the result of man-made emissions, last season was officially a bad season. In France, it was the warmest widely recorded winter since 1950 with temperatures up 2.4C in the HauteSavoie region. Can you give me your thoughts on this and how Burton are responding to these changing times?

JB: We’ve done a lot. It’s definitely at the front of our minds. We’re doing stuff across the board, from the manufacturing process right through. I just wish things had been more pro-active 10 years ago.

DCMT: You must have clocked up quite a carbon footprint, and professional snowboarders are much the same, do we need to be battling our consciences or are things just going to work out?

JB: I don’t think things will just work out. We’ve all

got to get involved. The price of oil has gone up, and that’s a great thing because it means more investment will go into researching and funding alternative energy sources. The governments need to do more too. I think we’ll work it out in the long term but it is a pretty scary thing when you look at the amount of waste and garbage mankind has created. But civilisation has been through some pretty heavy stuff before and we have a way of surviving. It might not be in my lifetime but I’m sure we’ll figure it out until the next problem arrives.

DCMT: A project we were big fans of was the Blower Book Project. Are we going to see anything like that in the future?

JB: Jeff Curtes, one of the primary photographers behind that project, has done a really cool slide show that’s similar to the Blower project. It’s great.

DCMT: (from James Bryant) If you weren’t the founding father of Burton, what would you be?

JB: Probably a slug on the couch, watching sports on TV. That’s one of the reasons I fear the day I’m not working because I might just become very lazy.

My work helps keep me disciplined, it’s not that disciplined, but just disciplined enough for me.

DCMT: Can you give us a sneak preview from the R&D lab?

JB: I can tell you some stuff. We’ll really be rolling out EST bindings – not having the binding attached underfoot. The whole concept of EST bindings is

creating the optimum connection between foot and board – it’s got an incredible future, giving you the ultimate board feel and stance versatility.

DCMT (from Hannah Engelkamp, editor, Fall-Line Skiing): What’s the worst accident you’ve ever had?

JB: I was hit by a skier and broke my leg in six places. That was a really rough time. It happened in the January and I was out for the rest of the season.

I rode all the next year but I was in pain the whole time. I thought that was it, and that it would always feel like that for the rest of my life. It took a long time to get over. But then I went out the next year and I was fine. That was great feeling.

DCMT: Who are your heroes?

JB: Craig Kelly. Also, my children and my wife, I’m really blessed with having such a cool family.

DCMT: Which legend do you think we should talk to next month and why?

JB: Terje Haakonsen! That’d be great.

W I N!

A V IP T B U R T O R IP T O T H E B U R L IN N FAC T O R Y IN G C H EC K TON , V E R MO NT BA T O F IN C K N E X T IS S U .

DO E W IN T H U T H OW T O IS T R IP O F A L IF E T IM E

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N R E T EAS E S I PROM

or ed by so m any. pl ex un e, ap sc nd la ng ki , roam in g an d stri Eu ropean Un ion, EA ST ERN Eu rope... a vast in g to chan ge now with th e spreadin g of th e . ginn ns sprin g up ev erywhe re tio op el av tr r Howeve r, that ’s all be pe ea ch d s th rown open an wh ich has se en bo rder ers, wh o can now afford It’s great news for adv enturous shr edd majestic and bea utif ul to hea d to the frontie r and explor e the gar ia. mountains of Rom ania, Slovak ia and Bul you r jaws...

Ladies and gen tle men, prepar e to drop

...ALL PHOTOS BY SAM MELLIS H

road to traverse T HE dalikfodda team hit the different countries, to five and s, mile of s dred hun Eur ope and capture it shr ed the hills of Eastern all on film. g and fuelled on snowboarding, heavy metal, boozin independent cups of Yorkshire tea, the boys from the and clothing label took their anti-corporate motto slopes deathpunk-loving ways to carve it up on the and in the bars. of one of Here at Document HQ, we pilfer ed the diary to find dalikfodda’s founding father s, Ian Ashmore, a rat and out what happened when three metallers, a hippie invaded Easter n Europe. all of big bright hats, sm dalikfodda, purveyors bies, bandanas, tril s, cap as l wel black t-shirts, as w. much more: go visit ww sleaze jeans and so dalikfodda.com

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SHREDDERS IN THE MIST: AND YET ANOTHER STRAY DOG TO KEEP THEM COMPANY

24/8/07 16:55:00

Day 1

Innsbruck, Austria to Jasna, Slovakia……

Pulling Back the Iron Curtain

Eastern Europe is massive and used to have a reputation for being proper shady. That’s about all I knew about the place as myself and Dev, our filming man, set off from Gatwick airport on a Wednesday morning in mid March.

Two hours later we landed in Innsbruck and met up with Will Hughes, the legendary ‘Schoph’ Schofield the 1st, and Sam Mellish, the dalitographer. We drove through Austria for the rest of the day, eventually reaching the old Iron Curtain, which is effectively an imaginary line which separates nice houses from shit ones.

Bratislava is pretty much the first place you come to after crossing the border into Slovakia. And only having a map of the whole of Europe meant that we had no fucking idea where we were going. By sheer luck, we ended up on the right road and continued towards the mountains in the north of the country.

After we arrived in Jasna at about 2am and pulled into an Eastern Block version of the hotel from The Shining - the reception was like a combination between a hospital in a 1970s sitcom and my junior school - brown everywhere, with fawlty towers wallpaper. Nice.

Day 2

Jasna, Slovakia How To Win Friends and Influence People (in day-glow dalikfodda style) Breakfast in the morning was an Eastern European wake-up call.

The menu included some kind of sausage fish fingers or muesli with see-through milk, washed down with the worst coffee I’ve ever tasted.

Our day-glow beanies were a bit of a shock for the locals most of them them just looked at us like we’d walked in their houses on Christmas Day and pissed on their kids.

We loaded the van up and went to look at the hill to cruise about on some nice open pistes and, although the lower slopes were a bit flat and bare, the upper slopes were in pretty good nick.

As is the case throughout Eastern Europe, the mountain is only pisted in one corner. But just by looking upwards you could see the potential after heavy snow - couloirs, open faces, cliffs, and all in relatively easy reach.

We decided to go and get shots ollieing through some trees lining the main run, Schoph and I did a couple of shots and we cruised down doing some “follow cam ” through the park (a few rails, boxes and bumps). I managed to give my board a fin by ripping a section straight up from the base, and Dev fell on his camera. First day joys.

We rode down to sort out proper accommodation. We’d heard about a British couple who had set up a chalet called ‘Propaganda’ in the village of Demanova.

We got down there just as the owner Paul Wilson had gone to pick his guests up, and were greeted instead by a fuck off Doberman sitting in the garden So we waited in the van.

Propaganda chalet is a good place. It’s spacious, clean, and run by some really quality people. Even the Doberman is friendly.

On Paul’s recommendation, we piled into Route 66 steakhouse for tea. It was here that Slovakia really came into its’ own - the best steak any of us ever had, plus several beers, all for $5 each.

Sick.

SCHOPH SCHOFIELD

TEAM RIDER WHAT DALIKFODDA SAY:

Straight-talking Doncatraz trooper, moulded by Big Al, Mrs S and John Smith’s. No time for nobhe ads and often stalked by mad Scando birds. Lover of everything metal, an artist, sleaze jean demon and founder of the dalikfodda movement.

WHAT WE SAY:

SCHOPH: GET SOME... NUFF SAID!

Guitar-playing heavy metal fan from Doncaster, Yorkshire, who loves his dad, mum and bitter.

Set up dalikfodda clothing range along with Ian Ashmo re. Believes Scandinavian women find him attrac tive.

SCARY FACT: Schoph is a rabbit-skinn ing butcher by day.

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MONKEY MAGIC DALIKFODDA STYLE

y3 Da Jasna, Slovakia

WILL HUGHES

TEAM RIDER WHAT DALIKFODDA SAY:

Will’s been round for chuffin’ years and recently got heavily involved with the dalikfodda. Still manag es to pull off boozing like it’s going out of fashion, smoking 50 fags a day, and he’s got the best Euro-carve, the likes of which most shredders can only dream of. An innovator of goofball shredd ing and deathpunk to the core.

WHAT WE SAY:

Will has been a well-known face on the scene for many years. He has a penchant for heavy drinking and smoking yet still manages to pull off an ear-to-the-floor, tight-b uttocked riding style. He is quite the joker on the pistes and a dedicated follower of the cacophonous deathpunk musical genre .

A A PRIMO FROM WILL AND NICELY TWEAKED BIT OF H SCOP CASUAL ABUSE FROM

ks .Sleazy Stalls and Comatose Drun more shots. Some people might e Back up the hill to find a coupl if you are looking for a and ed, say that the mountain is limit is less than 15 quid and there’s park then it is, but a day pass fun stuff to do. impossible set of traff ic We goofed about trying to do an g the sketchatr on cable car up contr ol rails befor e befor e takin old wall-ride at the bottom of the hill. We also found half an t sat about on it. Will found a shee the hill, with loads of Slovaks the on get to it st again ed propp of metal behind it, which we Czech guys came to join us and bank. A few locals and some on going. pretty soon we had a good sessi 5-0s to fakie and primo stalls Will stuck some nice backside mark 'sleazy stalled' tail trade and Schoph had some of his of the local lads was trying grabs with camera gestures, one guys was doing smooth, buttery fast plants, and another of the after noon and after a great things too. It was a really good y, let’s get boozy”. session, we thought: “It’s Frida rs, and a couple of shots of the One large steak, sever al jäge later, Paul, from the chalet, sky’ local spirit ‘Demenova Liptov -out. took us to the local rider hang oard floor s, your gran’s The bar was amazing. Bare chipb I shit you not! And it’s the only kitchen furniture and 40p a pint. in Bangkok, wher e you can pass bar I’ve ever been to, except one four hour s, as some guy for out on the floor and get left demonstrated.

y4 Da Jasna, Slovakia

and dirty French men living in Full on write-off - bad weather our heads (hangover).

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SAM MELLISH

ER OGRAPH ") PHOT"DA LITOGRAPHER (

SAY: an, well, ol...yeah m LIKFODDA WHAT DA , like...yeah. Cool, cool, co , yeah Yeah, yeah iff....etc. an, sniff sn like, cool m

ropean a Eastern Eu E SAY: e dalikfodd e portfolio. hippie on th n siv ke es to pr e im th an Sam was s. rapher with ile he sleep nted photog al noises wh tour. A tale makes anim m Sa : CT FA BIZARRE

WHAT W

Day 5

Jasna, Slovakia to Budapest, Hungary ...and the arrival of Rat Boy!

SPARE A LITTLE CHA NGE? OUR HANDS ARE STAYING FIRMLY IN OUR POCKETS – IT'LL ONLY ENCOURAGE THE M

It was time to hit the road again and set off to Budapest , Hungary, to meet the final team member, Rat Boy. Found the Rat in a Budapest train station, drinking beer with the local hobos. The tramps had informed him that Hungary is flat and he was a bit confused as to what we were doing in Hungary at all.

Dev had stayed in Budapest a few years before and said he knew a cheap hostel but that we weren’t going to like it. When asked why, he simply said that they had a Bob Marley room.

Sounded like just the sort of place to be “full of twatty, ropeheaded, gap year yanks” (Schoph).

The people who ran the place were really cool though, but a little surprised by the arrival of a bunch of snowboa rders in the middle of a flat country.

Day 5

Budapest, Hungary to Sinaia, Romania… .

Where’s The Party At?

The road from Budapest to the Romanian border was a single lane job that went through every village and on which the speed limit seemed to change every mile. It took forever.

We got pulled over by the cops about 10 miles from the Hungarian/Romanian border and got a 15 quid fine for speeding even though we had only just gone past a sign saying that the limit was 50.

We drove through the night, arriving in Brasov at around 3am. Brasov is in the south of Transylvania - a big grey mess at the bottom of the Carpathian Mountains. The drive up the mountains to Sinaia is a hairy road through pine forests and the town is dotted with mad houses that look suspiciously like the Adams’ family place.

At the first hotel we tried, the night porter took one look at the long hair and leather jackets and told us there were no rooms available. Our only option was the most expensive place in town but we were totally knacker ed so sparked out straight off.

In the morning we set off to find somewhere a bit cheaper and ended up at a proper ghetto hostel near the top of the town. It was a weird place with an alcoholic chef, sporting three-day stubble, a bloody apron, and a wild look in his eye.

But it was cheap (8 bucks for three nights!)

Into Sinaia town that night to check out the the Transylvanian nightlife. We ended up in a club that had girls at the bar. Dev said he was going to try his hand at chatting the locals up. He came back after 10 minutes and said that he had asked where the party was at. One of them had said in her room. When he asked if it was free, she had said the first ten minutes were free. At that point he decided better of it.

But when we tried to leave, two steroid abusers followed us out, tried to charge us 100 smacker s for a round of drinks, and tried to get us to go back inside to ‘sort it out’.

We politely refused, gave them what we guessed the beers were worth, and did one. Rapidly.

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6– Day Romania

WHO WOULD USE LIVE IN A HO LIKE THIS?

RAT BOY!

TEAM RIDER WHAT DALIKFODDA SAY:

Tignes legend, whether he’s pissed people off, broken hearts or just offended folk when hammertroned. This was a good enough reason for us to get him on board as one of the dalikfod da reps. This lad is true Del Boy. Taken under the wings of Will and Schoph, his shred skills are growing by the day. This boy’s one funny son of a gypsy.

WHAT WE SAY: Rat Boy is rather notorious in the Tignes area.

Also fond of several beers too many, he’s often seen with a lady friend in tow. His snowboarding capabilities are improving rapidly.

.Dracula’s ‘Ssssssriiigiinal’ Castle and Night Riding The next morning it was still raining so heavily that the lifts were closed, so, we made the 60 mile trip to Dracula’s castle.

On the way, I read up about Dracula. The character from the book is based on a real guy called Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler. He was a proper bad motherfucker. He was a Prince who lived in Transylvania in the middle ages. Vlad led the army against the invading Ottomans (Turks) and, after tanning them, he decided the best way to stop this happening again was to take all the survivors and impale them on sharpened and greased wooden stakes. He then sat down for dinner amongst the fields of the impaled. Awesome.

It looks fucking cool. It was actually a barracks for a time, then the home of the Romanian royal family, before being given to the citizens of Bran. You just walk round and get left alone, apart from the ‘guides’ inside. They took Rat Boy to a secret room and tried to sell him a nasty woolly sweater, after pointing at everything and saying “sssssssriiiiigiinal” (it's original), which led to Ratty developing his amazing Romanian impression.

We got some photos and set off back on the road, avoiding the dead dog road kill which are everywhere in Romania.

On the way back up the mountain the rain turned in to snow, and as we got higher, the countryside turned white. It never ceases to amaze me how much nicer even the worst place looks with a dusting of snow. As we drove, we spotted a long low ledge by a school, a short round rail outside a bank, and a bomb drop to a concrete bank on the side of the road. Having not shot anything in Romania, we decided to go out that night.

The snow was pretty wet and there wasn’t much of it but we had a fun session, with Will getting a 5-0, and Ratty shocking all with a front board. People walking past had clearly never seen anything like this before and just stared, but at least no one told us to stop! On the way home we stopped for me to drop the bank. I wanted to stand on the railing and drop into the bank, but the other side of the rail was the main road and there were wagons coming through at speed. To top it off, there were cops hanging around across the road who were looking at us suspiciously, so, I had to do it from sitting on the rail. Still fun though.

We were now hyped for riding and went home early to get up to ride all the day the next day.

THE RAT SCRATCHES AROUND DRACULA'S BATTLEMENTS

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y7 Da Sinaia, Romania…

Shreddin’ Hopes Dashed

skies and white hills!

Got up at 8am (no ..honestly) to blue a lady with a fag hanging by ed greet were we n statio ski At the we asked for day passes when and , mouth her of side the out of . We couldn’t believe it. The drawl thick a in today” ski “No she said last two days, and on a weather had meant no riding for the At this point I had a serious d. close were lifts the ing, morn perfect the curb saying the worst words on sat I e. failur ur humo of sense ski station.

I knew while throwing stones at the t ( a 15-mile drive) and when resor st neare next the to off set We on the pistes. snow all fuck was there , there we got thing, we decided to drive up some do to pt attem ditch last a As was anything to do at the to Sinaia again and see whether there n. statio about 20m below a layer Upon arriving at the station we were disbelief, a rickety cable ne’s everyo to much and, cloud of thick could have gone riding after car appeared out of the mist so we n had lied to us. At the top, it statio bottom the at bird the all and anything. We took some moody see n’t could you soup, pea like was ete with the mandatory rabid lifestyle shots in the clouds, compl down. back cable the took and mutt, stray there was a big retaining Outside the hotel at the lift station, and had a bomb drop session. g landin a d shape we where wall, was such a let-down we Even Sam had a go at it. The day morning. next the leave to d decide ly mous unani

y8 Da Sinaia, Romania to Bansko, Bulgaria

Brother Audtion Tape for Rat Back on the road again, made a Big that. for out watch way, Boy along the

MAX 'DEV' MCGILL FILMER

WHAT DALIKFODDA SAY: Sexual predator, deviant, but all-round nice guy. Dev was a virgin to the snowboard road trip, although his true colours slowly showed through. He’s an amazing cameraman and took to snowboard documentaries like a fly to shit.

WHAT WE SAY: SCOPH DROPS THE BOMB IN THE FIGHT AGAINST VLAD

Actually a decent chap but something of a sex pest. Very talented camera man with a natural aptitude for snowboard documentaries. Should you like to see more of his work, check out www.myspace.com/killdestroyfilms

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9 Day Bansko, Bulgaria…

Got Your Passport Rat Boy? The morning started with us tring to call Will and Rat Boy, who had left at 8am to get Ratty to Sofia airport for his flight home.

Rat Boy who had been handed the wrong passport by hotel reception. We couldn’t track them down, so, headed up the hill instead.

It cost about 10 QUID for a half-day pass, although, if you stand around at the ticket office at lunchtime, you can often pick up a cheaper one from someone coming off the hill early. The lifts were a lot better than anywhere else we had been, fast cable car up to the chairs, then fairly fast four man chairs and a few T-bars. The weather was good and there had been 20cm of snow the night before.

We had a great afternoon booting round the pistes and shredding through the trees, but when we made our way back down, we were met by a very upset looking Will and Ratboy.

He hadn’t realised about the passport mix up until he got to the airport, but had managed to change his flight to the next day.

This being a Saturday night, all except the Rat decided to hit the tiles and check out the local nightspot.

As soon as we walked in it was plainly obvious that this was some kind of mafia establishment. The table dancing prostitutes and blokes with necks wider than their heads were a bit of a giveaway. Still, a round of beers and double vodka and Red Bull still came to less than a tenner, so we stayed.

IAN ORE ASHMOR

TEAM RIDER , le straight DA SAY: ALIKFOD anything and tells peop er. Right-hand WHAT D with rthern

IAN SENDS SOME OF THE WHITE STUFF YOUR WAY

no ck around ugh-andnd-leather Doesn’t fu skater thro th denim-a wn-to-ear likfodda. A Do da ’t ! of on er r w w ne flo co-ow re hotpot hoph and is Lancashi man to Sc t much th no e’s er th d through an ick. a shred st attempt on hern lad a true nort : E SAY hire, Ian’s WHAT W ct skater from Lancas . Adventurous on a , dire hoph An honest l. dda with Sc and alcoho t up dalikfo cigarettes at heart. Se of nd Fo (Very) d. ar bo snow

10 Day Bansko, Bulgaria

Rat Boy Departs…...Again Rat Boy took a bus at some ungodly hour to get his replacement flight, while we headed back up the hill.

The snow on the upper slopes was still great and we had a quality morning crashing about through the trees and under the lifts, getting some lazy turns and a few drops and ollies.

In Bansko, when they do ground works to put in pistes, rather than landscaping the land around the edge into a bank or slope, they just leave it is as a drop. So, at the side of every piste almost, there are drop offs and ollie gaps that you can usually ride around to.

Later we came to an off-piste section that Sam had spotted the day before. It was a wide-open couloir, narrowing a little before opening into a powder field dotted with rocks and small trees.

Although the snow was a little heavy for the classic powder shots, we had good fun smashing it up and then trying to ride the lower parts switch. We got a bit lost in the dense trees near the bottom but eventually found a way through that only involved riding over a few saplings - that’s my line!

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Day 11 & 12

Bansko, Bulgaria

dalikfodda Head Back To The Park Although in a bad state of repair, and covere d in a fresh dump of snow, there was a couple of fun looking box rails in the park. The weather was bizarr e, switching between clear blue skies and pea soup.

Everything was getting gapped and we all had some good shots and how-to type sequences.

In the end cloud stopped play, but we didn’t give up until you couldn’t see the rail from the top of the run in.

That night we thought we’d go for a couple of beers and spent most of the time filming Will chatting up some bird, while Scoph dubbed over the conver sation in time with Will’s hand gestur es.

Infantile? Yes. Entertaining? Definitely. The timing was perfect.

The next day was another day cruising the resort, shooting laybacks, slashes and butter stuff. At the end of the day, I hit one of the bigger drops we found and did my new board a bit of an injustice on a rock. We ended up missing the last lift down to the town, and had to beg the lifties to let us get in one with them.

, IS GOOD BANSKO G EACH SIN IS K EN TER WOM EVEN BET OTHER IS

Day 13 –

Bansko, Bulgaria…

Synchr onised Skiing Anyone?

We had big plans for our last day riding.

We were going to set a bench up next to a balcony drop. When we got up there though, there was a big ski race going on with a massive PA set up on the balcony. Oh well!

There was some absolutely treacherous synchr onised skiing styles on display, and we had a right good laugh at them!

Day 14, 15, 16

Back to Innsbruck, Austr ia

..Dump The Keys and Run We were satisfied with what we managed to get done. After all we’d started in Austria, and we were now pretty near the Greek border . The only problem now was getting back to Innsbr uck.

Drove through Serbia and on to Hungary where we planned to stop for the night in Budapest again, and drove hard. We got stopped at the border in the freezing cold and had to empty everything out of the van. They sort of looked through it, asked if we were carrying any drugs, and then let us go when we said no!

Arrived in Innsbr uck at teatime the next day and spent an hour getting the sticker s off the rental van, not easy in the freezing cold with only a credit card.

Me and Dev went and got drunk in town, before sleeping in the van. In the morning I was having a slash in the carpar k outside the van, when the lass who rented it to us came past with some customers. She didn’t look too happy. We got all our stuff together, tossed the keys trough the door to avoid any questions from the girl and legged it to get our flight.

JASNA SLOVAKIA

t in Slovakia, with Jasna is the largest resor s suited for every a great selection of piste country, freeride back stic level, some fanta d park (the zones, a Burton snowboar recent and try) largest in the coun lifts, electronic investment in new chair sort facilities. in-re ticketing systems and from and 42km of Twelve slopes to choose piste to enjoy. guaranteed with Good snow conditions are sure snowing a fully-automatic high-pres ons are cann snow static system (96 oximately 2km installed on the hills). Appr thus allowing d, inate illum are s of the track spooky night riding. r to April, mbe Dece from The season runs Liptovský Mikuláš. and the nearest town is

DAY LIFT PASS Approximately £10

TRAVEL

ad Tatry which The nearest airport is Popr . This is served is 55km (40 minutes) away Sky Europe, and several times a week by as £1. low as flights can start from to and from Direct flights are available from drive s Bratislava (about 3.5 hour or Sky Europe.

Jasna) through Ryanair

resort. In recent years, a Bansko is Bulgaria’s premier t has been ploughed into multi-million euro investmen combines top snowboarding developing the site. The area historical Sinaia is the Royal Resort and has been the unique architecture and with ties rtuni oppo dubbed the 'Pearl of the Carpathians'. . significance of Bansko town n Valog Chali – es It boasts 14 runs and a total piste length main centr The pistes are located in two of 40km, with a shredding history dating tely 10km above the arnika. They are approxima Shilig and both and tain, 1880. back to s of Pirin Moun town on the northern slope on the new gondola It’s also surrounded by sites of specific accessible within 20 minutes easily are ed being mark day, down a the it's if of historical interest, The total length lift, which starts in Bansko. to the first home to the Casino Palace, 16th Century . The mountain is also home 65km is s piste to ce and chan Castle Sinaia Monastery, Pelisor e shredders get the funpark in the Balkans, wher Foisor Castle and Park. s. jump own their build in fall The season runs from December to having the heaviest snow Bansko is also renowned for runs from March, with an average snowfall of as the longest season, which well as try, coun the 100cm. Sinaia Casino Palace, has billiards December 15 until May 15. and games. yay! ko taverns (called Mehana), At night, the traditional Bans Apres fun includes bars, discos such as style, offer local their exceptional charm and with of and Horse, Black and Angel Blue tion of Bulgarian wines. Most atmosphere and good selec Romanian and German restaurants for folk music, with plenty of live offer 'Mehanas' even local the hungry punters. . nightclubs to choose from

SINAIA ROMANIA

DAY LIFT PASS Approximately £10

TRAVEL

Sinaia is situated between Ploiesti and Brasov. Bucharest Otopeni airport is about 80km, and Brasov airport is about 50km. Wizz Air, British Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss International airlines and Alitalia all fly there.

MAT ION vakia.sk MORE INFORMAT ION MORE INFOR .travelslo www.ski-jasna.sk or www co.uk or www.snowboardslovakia.

DALIKFODDA2.indd 8

BANSKO BULGARIA

www.sinaiaromania.com, www. skiromania.com or www.romaniaski.com

DAY LIFT PASS Approximately £17

TRAVEL

m International Airport – a 160k The nearest airport is Sofia ia ced by British Airways, Alital drive from Bansko. It is servi and Wizz Air.

BRAVE SIR SCOPH AT YOUR SERVICE

MAT ION MORE INFOR or www. ls, visit www.bulgariaski.com

For more detai .bansko.bg on line. banskobulgaria.co.uk or www 0 ation on 00 359 749 8858 Alternatively, call tourist inform

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075 24/8/07 17:10:29

HOW TO DO A SEASON MORZINE

Expliquez-moi s’il vous plait?

Tap into our knowledge banks for a season away. Photos: James North

D

OING A SEASON is a rite of passage for many snowboarders. We Brits have to emigrate to enjoy this pleasure, but joining the growing ranks of seasonaires, who all share that knowing twinkle in their eyes, will allow you to enjoy the great outdoors as never before; to wake up every day with a child-like wonder, anticipating how much snow has fallen over night. You’ll dance the snow dance through the streets on the way to scrub toilets or change bedsheets, and then stagger home staring at the stars in an unpolluted sky. As a fine Mancunian once said: “Smell the leaves buddy, smell the leaves”.

The concept of sliding on trays down mountains and over jumps all day long is simple enough, but how do you kick-start

this process? How do you get through the blank fog of the unknown between you and your? Read on.

If you had to rate seasonal destinations on a difficulty scale, Morzine would weigh in pretty light. I mean, you’re not supposed to speak English. Granted. But everyone does (not that the writer recommends this – speaking French will open more doors to you – this is not a complicated principle to grasp). And we’re not talking seasonal accommodation in the Alaskan wilderness. Nevertheless, there are a few tricky subjects that, with a little careful navigation, will see you not just survive but positively thrive on your trip.

Stage one is deciding where to go.

Stage two is making it happen...

Col Mytton throws down a styley backside seven in the Portes du Soleil backcountry

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BEST DAY WOULD BE JUST AFTER FEBRUARY. A BIT OF ACCESSIBLE POWDER TO AND FROM THE FRESHLY GROOVED (WE THINK HE MEANT GROOMED BUT GROOVED SOUNDS BETTER. GROOVY) AVORIAZ A RARE PARK. HANGING WITH FRIENDS ALL DAY, LANDING ALL YOUR TRICKS, THEN WATCH JOEL ERITH PLAY ACOUSTIC IN THE CAVERN AT APRES-SKI/HAPPY HOUR. THAT’S A PERFECT DAY.” MIKE AUSTIN, WHO CLOCKED UP HIS SIXTH SEASON AT

Now thats gotta be worth waking up for...

WELCOME TO STAGE ONE Situated in the French Alps, half way between Chamonix (Mont Blanc) and Evian (bottled water), Morzine has become a British Mecca in recent years. Playing second home to a fine contingent of UK snowboarders and, with so much ex-pat business in residence, it’s possible to forget you ever crossed the chanel - something that doesn’t appeal to everyone. However, to be this popular there must be something more than mineral in the water.

At first glance the statistics don’t immediately stand out in this quaint Savoyarde town. It’s a fair old trek up the mountains to Avoriaz. No riding down to the village really. In fact, there’s often very little snow in the village itself, with the highest peak of lift access only coming in at a measly 2,400m. Seriously serious freeriders are advised to go with an open mind as the terrain is of a more ‘playful’ nature than some of the wilder Alpine destinations.

SO WHAT’S THE ATTRACTION? The Portes Du Soleil has some of the sickest terrain anywhere. The endless natural landscape, littered with hits and hidden gems ,is supplemented by a range of snow parks and a world class half pipe. As Mark

MORZINE LAST YEAR. Ruparelia says: “Morzine has access to so many powder kicker spots…its such a good shape for building hits. A lot of the first Hungerpain movie was filmed there and the surrounding area, such as St Jean D’Aulps. ” NEVER snake (trans.:use without permission / jump the queue) anyone’s pre-made jump. That’s the worst thing when someone has hit (trans.: snowboarded over) your perfectly sculpted booter (trans.: man made snow jump or kicker traditionally requiring 5 lazy men, three broken shovels, two boards and 500 failed attempts) you spent the last day building And it wasn’t just Hungerpain, the Lockdown projects movie ‘Bad Ass Big Airs’ had much of its filming done in Morzine and the surrounding area. Not only a UK thing, the surrounding Swiss resorts of Les Crosets and Morgins have been the subject of super pro destruction from such stars as Romain De Marchi and Gigi Ruf, whilst Avoriaz is the home of Nico Droz.

Morzine offers you a fun and comfortable base in the heart of it all. This town works on a relaxed friendly vibe. Just get out there and make friends and meet people. There are plenty of off the mountain watering holes

and you won’t get hit by the barrage of Stroh powered Austrian manliness. Head to Bar Robinson for a few glasses of happy juice (Mutzig lager, akin to special brew, only it tastes a whole lot better and you get served by the cutest pair of Morzinois you’re ever likely to meet).

EVENTS? Avoriaz holds the O’Neil Pro Freestyle every year.

Check out www.oneilleurope.com/ profreestyle WHERE IT’S AT? Located approximately 1,000km south east of London, Morzine sits in the Haute Savoie region of the French Alps. It is so close to the Swiss border that the nearest big transfer airport is Geneva. Morzine lies halfway between St Jean D’Aulps and Les Prodains, with a host of hamlets along the route. As such, it finds itself nestled in the heart of the Portes du Soleil, which provides easy access to Nyon and Les Gets from the village itself or Avoriaz and Switzerland by the Super Morzine bubble or the Les Prodains Telepherique. The town sprawls across two sides of a valley linked by the infamous suspension bridge. [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

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HOW TO DO A SEASON MORZINE

WHAT ITS GOT? Remember, there are 12 resorts within the Portes Du Soleil. So don’t be shy, go seek and destroy. Just remember, fortune favours the brave not the stupid – know your backcountry shit and use local mountain guides www.euro-avalanche.com if you want to go off the beaten track.

TERRAIN BREAKDOWN 28 black, 108 red, 111 blue and 39 green SEASON LENGTH: December to April NUMBER OF LIFTS: 206 (14 cableways, 82 chairs, 110 drags) TOTAL PISTE LENGTH: 286 ski-runs spread over 650 km TERRAIN PARKS: 7 snowparks, 4 boardercross PIPES: 3 half-pipe SNOWMAKING: 632 snow canons covering 367 hectares RESORT ALTITUDE: 1,000m RIDING ELEVATION: 2466m - 1000m Slip-sliding aside, Morzine is a real town and anything you can’t find locally can be quickly sourced from nearby Thonon or Cluses. For off hill entertainment that’s not drinking related, check out the Morzine Ice Hockey team. See French and English films in one of the two cinemas. Get your skate on underneath the suspension bridge or play tennis or football or take a walk by the river.

There is a gym at the parc de sports and an ice rink.

Amenities include dentist and doctor’s surgery (English and French – check at the tourist office) and, should you need it, the main hospital for serious injuries is at Thonon Les Bains.

SOCIAL LIFE? The night life in Morzine has a more laid back vibe than the big resorts like Avoriaz and Les Deux Alpes. Saying that, there are still plenty of places to get down and boogie.

From the Cavern bar, where you can see live music each week, to cage dancing at the Opera night club. For a Sunday evening pint, head up to the Garage on the outskirts of town. There are also loads of restaurants and most of the chalets will have various house parties towards the end of the season

This place rocks when it snows, roll on winter!

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MADE IT THIS FAR, WELCOME TO STAGE TWO HOW TO GET THERE? Crikey, there’s a billion ways to get to Morzine. All pretty affordable too. From cheap flights to long shared car journeys to the train, it really is whatever takes your fancy.

AIR: The nearest airport is Geneva. Easy-Jet do a pretty cheap return from Luton, but you can also fly with British Airways. The flight will take around 90 minutes. You will need to supplement it with a bus or private transfer from the airport to Morzine.

Check www.altibus.com for regular bus transfers or www.skilifts.com.

CAR: A car can be a fantastic way of getting all you gear out there and offers you plenty of opportunities for investigating the local area. Just make sure you are set up for winter driving in the mountains. See www. theaa.com Calais to Morzine is 575 miles.

Motorways pave nearly the entire way. Auto route tolls will cost around £30 per vehicle.

CHECK OUT: JOURNEY PLANNING www.mappy.com TOLL CHARGES AND PETROL PRICES www.autoroutes.fr OFFICIAL FRENCH TOURIST SITE wwwfrancguide.com TRANS CHANNEL FERRIES www.norfolkline.com EURO TUNNEL www.eurotunnel.com TRAINS: Eurostar (www.eurostar.com) run services to Paris, Cluses and Thonon. Check a variety of destinations and book well in advance for the best deals. Alternatively, you can use the SNCF whose web site is: http:// www.sncf.com/ BUS: Not the best form of transport, but for those sticky fixes try Eurolines (www. eurolines.com).

ACCOMMODATION? Finding accommodation in Morzine opens two main avenues.

A. Get yourself hooked up with a chalet

company that will include your accommodation and lift ticket, as well as some living money, in return for some serious elbow grease. There are too many chalet companies operating in Morzine to mention so check the small ads at the back of the mag. Look some of the following up on the web for a headstart; Rude Chalets, The Ridge, Alpine Elements.

B. Go it alone. This requires a fair bit of perseverance as accommodation can be in high demand. Check a list of estate agents at www.morzine.com. Be prepared to speak a little French, to start your search early and to pay large damage deposits. It is common to pay £300 a month for small shared accommodation. Outside of Morzine town centre, consider accommodation at Nyon or Montriond.

One final option is arrangements at Chalet Nantegue where you pay for a season stay in advance with the option of food included Whist a full season pass for the Portes Du Soleil will cost about €750, with a rental contract for the season you may be eligible for a 40% discount. Head to the tourist office to find out more.

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THIS YEAR, IT WAS ALL ABOUT LE GARAGE. IF NOT THERE, THEN HEAD FOR THE CAVERN. AND IF YOU’RE FEELING BRAVE (AND RICH) EITHER OF THE DISCOTECHS, LE PARADIS OR OPERA.

Up in Avoriaz an unknown trooper wages war at the O'Neil Pro Freestlye

WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! COL MYTTON

WORK? As with many of the smaller villages in the mountains, finding work in Morzine can be a tricky affair. It is really split into two options, chalet work or ‘other’.

The straight forward route is to get on board with one of the many UK-run chalets.

They can typically offer board and lodgings, lift passes and many perks in exchange for a certain amount of elbow grease each week.

‘Other’ work can be found in all manner of different areas. Working for the French locals or British ex-pats. You can find cash in hand or on the books work from painting radiators to transfer repping with Crystal Holidays or working in ski rental at Intersport. The list is as long and imaginative as you want it to be but one of the most popular options is transfer driving guests to and from the airport.

STAYING IN TOUCH EMAIL: If you are not blessed with internet connected accommodation, then head to the tourist office or Dixie’s Pub for pricey surfing.

For cheaper options, head to the book shop just along from Tourist Information or

SlopeStyle Snowboard Store and Café.

PHONE: Pay-as-you-go SIM cards especially for use abroad can be bought in the UK from companies like 0044 (www.0044.co.uk).

Using a UK mobile phone outside of the UK incurs a roaming charge, where you pay a premium to make and receive calls, so, it will save quite a bit over a season to invest in an overseas pay-as-you-go SIM card (approximately £35).

There are also a bunch of new internetbased calls which are free when calling computer to computer, or you can call mobiles or landlines at cheap rates. Skype is one of the best known and produce mobile handsets. Check out www.skype.com Buying local network SIM cards for the place you are going to will keep it affordable to communicate with other people in the resort and will allow you to receive calls and texts from the UK without being charged. Just head to one of the tabacs or phone shops in Morzine to purchase.

COVERING YOURSELF Don’t forget your insurance. In the mountains

you need to be covered for any potential medical bills you may incur as these, in worst case scenarios, can be bankrupting! Check the British Mountaineering Council (www. thebmc.co.uk) for good comprehensive cover and always read the small print as insurance cover is no good if it excludes certain activities. A prime example of this is snowpark riding. Expect to pay between £100 and £300 for a season’s worth of insurance.

In French resorts it is advisable to buy a Carte Neige (reasonably priced at about £25).

This will cover the expenses incurred by helicopter or rescue services but does NOT replace your medical insurance. Check the local tourist office for details.

IN A NUTSHELL www.morzine-avoriaz.com zine-avoriaz.com 0033 450 74 72 72 www.portesdusoleil.com

E SU R A NC ?

N E E D IN ASON E S R U O FO R Y S U T PAG E CH EC K O T H E BE ST R O F 10 7/ 10 8 RO U N D. DEALS A

[ www.docu www.documentsnowboard.co.uk w ww.documentsnowboard.co.uk ww.docu mentsnowboard.co.uk ]

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JAMES NORTH

POINTS

WIN

MIKE WEYERHAEUSER

Dan earns himself a stiff drink at the Winter Olympics in Turin 2006

PRIZES

“Competition is not an evil word,” says Drew Stevenson, CEO of the TTR. And we agree with him. With the competition already in full swing, DOCUMENT explains the ins and outs of the two key players – the TTR and FIS World Cup. Gemma Freeman reports

C

OMPETITIVE SNOWBOARDING IS bigger than ever. International comps are now arena events, pros are treated like rock stars, lavished with champers and television coverage. Yes, we’ve come a long way from being punks on the piste, banned from almost every resort on the planet.

But behind the glamour is years of debt, sweat and tears. Like any athlete, to compete against the elite takes strenuous training and hard work. For snowboarders, it means following the international Ticket to Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour or Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup competition circuits across the world – from Chile to Canada, Mammoth to Munich. But what exactly are the TTR and FIS?

How do they work? And why are they important?

FIS If you want to enter the Olympics, swot up on The International Ski Federation (FIS). They’re the only people authorised by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to oversee competitor licences, competitions and rankings for the Games.

Founded in 1924, FIS had initially tried to ban snowboarders from the mountain, but changed its tune in 1994, when the IOC gave them the right to run the Olympic qualification system. Snowboarding debuted as an official discipline at the 1998 Nagano Games – although Terje Haakonsen, the world’s best

Dom Harrington having it at the British Championships in Laax earlier this year

and a clear winner, boycotted the event.

However, it’s not all about the five rings: there are another four levels of competition within the FIS World Cup including FIS (lower standard, National Champs and some Uni events), Continental Cups (Intermediate), World Cups (high intermediate) and World Championships (advanced).

TTR The International Snowboard Federation (ISF), set up in 1990, was the first ever governing body of sliding sideways, and governed all shred comps, including their own world circuit. That is until the IOC gave FIS permission to oversee the Olympics.

For many, inclusion in the Games equalled selling out, however, to get a gold medal for your country you were obliged to compete in FIS comps to qualify. Not being able to compete with the FIS and mounting debt meant the ISF went bankrupt.

But from the ashes of the federation, the Ticket To Ride (TTR) was born. Created by legend Terje Haakonsen, forward-thinking industry heads and event organisers at the 2002 ISPO in Munich, The TTR Society wanted to develop and manage a professional freestyle snowboarding tour – the TTR series. Initially, winners were rewarded with a ticket to the final event, Terje’s legendary Arctic Challenge, created in 1999.

The TTR went off – more and more events wanted to join, the snowboard media loved it, and sick riders wanted to compete, so the TTR Pro Events and TTR QE (Qualifying Events) levels were added. But there were problems.

“The ticket system provided basically a single ‘Ticket-to-Ride,’” explained TTR CEO Drew Stevenson. “You could come 2nd at four consecutive events and, technically, still not have earned a

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ticket. How do kids understand how to get involved, to progress and be part of it?”

So, in 2005, a ranking system and the TTR World Snowboard Tour was introduced to produce an annual World Champion from the largest ever collection of independent freestyle competitions in the world.

“Now, anybody who does a pro six star event through to a local rookie one star event is on the same ranking system as their heroes,” added Drew.

To enter a FIS comp you need an FIS license, while for most TTR comps anyone can enter. FIS members are National Ski Associations, so participation is via Snowsport GB only. Attend a British Team selection camp, enter the AIM series, and if the coaches are impressed you can apply for your license. If not – tough.

Twice British halfpipe champion and TTR comp rider Dom Harrington said: “The main difference between the comps is that when you go to a FIS comp you go with a team coach and you have to be put in by your nation, so, in some ways it seems more serious.”

“Also, at FIS events there’s a team captain meeting, so only the coaches go to find out details.

But at TTR they have riders meetings, which are better because everyone can go, meet up before the comp and see how they will run.”

The TTR sidesteps such bureaucracy entirely, encouraging participation from everyone, rather than alienating riders because they’re not on a national team: from first time competitors to a ‘uber pro’ invitationals there’s room for everyone – from Sparrow Knox to Shaun White.

ALEX ROBERTS

The TTR WHO RUNS IT? The World Snowboard Federation WHAT’S THE FORMAT? Slopestyle, Halfpipe, Quarterpipe and Stadium Slopestyle.

HOW CAN I ENTER? Get involved with the British Snowboard tour and The Brits – they’re now TTR ranked events! www. britishsnowtour.com HOW MANY PEOPLE ENTER? In 2006/2007 almost 3,000 men and 500 women.

HOW DOES IT WORK? At every TTR contest you enter, you will earn TTR Ranking Points.

You can enter as many comps you like but your TTR Ranking Score is worked out from your top 6 results of the season.

ONES TO WATCH: 2007 TTR World Tour Champions Torah Bright (Aus) and Shaun White (USA).

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR: The UK’s British Snowboard tour and The Brits, Burton European Open in Laax, Oakley Arctic Challenge. www.ttrworldtour. com

Wolle Nyvelt playing at this year's Wangle Tangle in the craziest comp park we've seen

The Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup WHO RUNS IT? The International Ski Federation (FIS) WHAT’S THE FORMAT? Halfpipe, Big Air and Boardercross HOW CAN I ENTER? You must get a FIS license - contact Snowsport GB. www.snowsportgb. com HOW MANY PEOPLE ENTER? In 2006/2007 almost 3,000 men and 500 women.

HOW DOES IT WORK? To qualify for the Olympics men need two top 25 finishes plus 120 FIS points. Women require two top 20 finishes and 120.

ONES TO WATCH: The FIS comps are more about national teams then individual success – but look out for the Finnish and Japanese.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR: The Olympics obviously, The Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup.

As an Olympic sanctioned series, FIS comps must concentrate on Halfpipe, boardercross and, occasionally, Big Air; there’s no room for slopestyle or rail jams.

With it’s aim to push snowboard progression via independent events, TTR comps take four formats Slopestyle, Halfpipe, Quarterpipe and Stadium Slopestyle. But they can be highly creative with their set ups – from dryslope rail jams in the UK, huge quarter pipes, hips, varied slopestyle courses, or skate style bowls as seen in Austria’s Wangl Tangl It’s these continually impressive set ups that attract some of the world’s elite, including Antti Autti, David Benedek, Tara Dakides, Jenny Jones, Heikki Sorsa and hundreds more.

Head coach of the British Snowboard team Craig Smith said: “If you look at the last six riders at the 2006 Olympics – the gold, silver, bronze winners they’d only done one FIS World Cup in their lives and spent their time competing on the TTR contests.

“Our team is now starting to qualify for World Cups - reaching the finals, and getting as good as they can there. So we need to do more TTRs and Grand Prixs to match our competitors.”

With Terje’s legacy behind it, the TTR is seen as the more credible of the two series and thus receives blanket coverage across the snowboard media.

While, as part of the larger ski industry, FIS receives more mainstream coverage.

“A lot of these pro riders go to TTR events because their sponsors make them - if they’re running the event they will pay for their team to be

there,” explained Craig. “So if the likes of Burton are putting on a competition the likes of Shaun White will enter because it’s part of their contract.”

But surprisingly, FIS comps are cheaper to enter than TTR events.

Craig added: “You pay your 200 francs and everything is already done – your accommodation has to be four star and above, your get three meals a day guaranteed, plus your lift ticket. With a lot of TTR events and the X Games, you pay for your own accommodation, food, plus the entry fee."

Ok, so The Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup have the corporate cash and key to the Olympics – but the TTR is where snowboarding is still a stoked counter culture. Is there enough room on the mountain for both of them? Should TTR events qualify for the Olympics? And should there be just one world snowboard circuit?

Dom Harrington says he has no preference either way.

He said: “It’s all about individual comps that have the best things to ride, and let you have the best session.

Drew Stevenson, of Tackyworld.com, said: “At the end of the day, the riders and snowboard fans themselves will make the final decision on what they believe is the best system.

“The TTR is about snowboarding, run by snowboarding, for snowboarders. We just hope that we continue to grow, put on events, encourage progression, and deliver a Tour Champion that is respected by the whole snowboard community just as Kelly Slater is in surfing. After that, lets see where the cards fall.” [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

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L9 :G @H >8@ H H G H F YOU WANT TO SURF the white wave, shred the backcountry and leave a trail of powder in the air behind you, then freeride boards are for you.

The main characteristics of these boards are width, length and strength, with designs varying from powder-only to touring-friendly split boards.

The extra width helps you to float as you slide the light fluffy stuff, while the length provides stability as you carve the steeps at speed, and the strength lets you power through the crud you find dotted intermittently in the deep powder.

Steep and deep is where the freeride board is at its happiest and DOCUMENT is here to give you a lowdown on the best of what’s out there and what you should look for.

Typically, the tips of freeride snowboards are longer, shallower and wider than any other category. Bigger sidecuts reflet the increased speeds that these boards tend to be ridden at, while the default stance is nearly always set back from centre to give increased float.

They have a directional shape, with the nose longer than the tail.

Point your nose straight down the slope and get some speed up. Unlike ice, the beauty of powder is that it allows you to snowboard straight without much hardship.

Lean your weight slightly towards the tail and bounce up gently, floating high on the powder. Retain your speed and begin carving small turns.

Try to bounce up at the beginning of each turn to free your snowboard from the powder, so that you’re always riding high.

Get a rhythm going, rising out of the powder, then steering your board, until your carving back and forth in style.

PETER CHARAF

Whilst you’re learning, try not to go outside the marked pistes.

TESTED FREERIDE.indd 2

XAVIER JORDAN FALLS FROM THE SKY IN A CHARGE OF FURY

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RADON CT

£379

BEST FOR KGS: N/A AVAILABLE IN: 149/154/159/164/169 AIMED AT: ADVANCED TO EXPERIENCED

The Radon CT is an all mountain freeride machine, it can take you anywhere with ease. You’ll get as much out of this board as you put into it, and the graphics are sure to be a hit with freeriders everywhere.

JAMIE BARROW 164: In the powder the Radon CT flows like on air. It is really mental. I loved it.

TEAM DOCUMENT 159: Loves the powder as much as you do. Freeriders everywhere will love the Radon CT.

£500

www.apo-snowboards.com

SWALLOW APOCALYPSE BEST FOR KGS: 70-105KGS AVAILABLE IN: 186 AIMED AT: ADVANCED

The weapon of mass powder destruction. All the riders who have tasted the magic of the APO Swallowtail cannot go out on a powder day without it.

BEN SMITH 186: This board took me back 18 years and I love it. Set well back 21 to 15 point and smile big dreams.

NATE KERN 186: Wanted to ride this for pure comedy value and to also imagine I was the great Frenchman himself for a couple of hours. One to take out from the display cabinet on powder days and it will float like a dream. Even rode surprisingly well in pipe (!) thanks to a slightly stiffer flex and solid edge hold.

TESTED FREERIDE.indd 3

24/8/07 18:12:43

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THE PUSH

www.burton.com

MALOLO

£360

£360

BEST FOR KGS: 36-77 KGS AVAILABLE IN: 148/152/156 AIMED AT: INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED

BEST FOR KGS: 34-95KGS AVAILABLE IN: 149/154/158/162/166 AIMED AT: ADVANCED TO EXPERIENCED

The Push is a true-to-form freerider for women who surf mountains. It’s designed to deliver energetic initiation, reliable control, and the ability to express a clean line in all conditions. A lively flex makes the board ideal for powder, natural hits, trees, steeps, groomers, and more.

The Malolo is Terje, Nicolas, DCP and Downing’s freestyle powder stick. No rear leg burn, no need to sacrifice control in the air for float in deep snow, this board, and its moderately tapered shape, lets you spin off cliffs, stomp in powder, then spray your crew.

CAROLINE LINDSELL 148: Good

TURBO TIM (ADAMS) 158: This is a

edge for carving, quite a stiff board which makes it stable, especially at speed. The Push is a good all-round freeriding board.

must-have for any surfer who snowboards. Perfect chilled out ride.

TEAM DOCUMENT 154: Incredibly

fast, incredibly stable and agile, both on-piste and off. Prepare to be king of the entire mountain.

TEAM DOCUMENT 152: Not for

beginners, this is more for the aggressive snowboarder – it rides hard and fast. It has mega torsional stiffness and rides really stable in the powder. Although only a 152, it rides like a much longer board and you can imagine dropping some gnarl-dawg chutes on it.

D ___ LWK]UMV\[VW_J

www.flow.com

SOLITUDE WX

£400

BEST FOR KGS: 52-95KGS AVAILABLE IN: 156/159/163/169 AND 159w/164w AIMED AT: INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED

Designed to amplify your performance, from the backcountry to high-speed groomed runs. The progressive dual-transitional sidecut is combined with a mellow taper shape for quick and powerful carves and a fantastic powder riding experience. This phenomenal shape is built around Whiskey X technology for maximum power, as well as dampening for an enhanced yet predictable feel.

PAUL 169: Fantastic ride that’s not

www.ridehead.com

INTELLIGENCE AK

£350

BEST FOR KGS: N/A AVAILABLE IN: 154/158/162/168/172 AIMED AT: INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED

If you’re looking for the ultimate big mountain, freeride board, then your search could be over, because the Intelligence has all you need.

SEAN MILLER 158: 100% Freeride.

Same mould as Burton’s Fish, the AK minimises back-leg burn syndrome.

Floats effortless through powder.

Waist is quite thin. People with larger feet (12) may struggle.

RENNY MYLES 162: Best off piste.

This board is really easy to ride in powder. Handles well in slush too.

too dedicated. It’s OK for an intermediate rider and not too full on. Great on and off the piste.

TEAM DOCUMENT 152:

Designed to maximise glide in all snow temperatures for unbelievable speed. Just point it and the Solitude will do the rest. Backcountry focused, powder brilliance.

[www.documentsnowboard.co.uk]

TESTED FREERIDE.indd 4

24/8/07 18:14:34

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ELDORADO

£360

BEST FOR KGS: 55-115KGS AVAILABLE IN: 159/162/166/174 AIMED AT: INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED

The Eldorado is a solid all mountain/backcountry board, good for grooms to pow, front floats with no effort in powder - quality construction.

BRIAN BROWN 162: Super sick board. Bit hard to turn on steep powder (think 162 was too big for me) but, that said, had loads of fun on it on and off the piste.

EUAN CAMERON 161: Had a blast on the Eldo, owned

one in the past so was good to see how it had developed.

Very fast on the groomers and felt mellow to turn. The soft stuff is where this board comes into its own, charged through everything and felt stable also... solid gold!

_ LWK]UMV\[VW_JWIZL KW ]S E

www.neversummer.co.uk

TITAN

£360

BEST FOR KGS: N/A AVAILABLE IN: 156/160/164/169 AIMED AT: INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED

The Titan rides smother, responds quicker and turns faster. Exclusive laminates, base material , damping system and shape make the Titan the choice for those who want to experience the ultimate Never Summer snowboard.

PENNY MILLS 156: Super stable and very fast. Carves on a six pence an, for me, feels really solid. Great in the powder and you can ride it all day long.

TEAM DOCUMENT 160: Ultra-responsive tri-radial sidecut makes for a stable ride as you carve it up. As well as feeling super-stable, you can get up a good speed and really enjoy yourself on and off the piste.

[www.documentsnowboard.co.uk]

TESTED FREERIDE.indd 5

24/8/07 18:16:08

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VINSON

www.ridesnowboards.com

YUKON

£399

BEST FOR KGS: 64-100KGS AVAILABLE IN: 158/162/166 AIMED AT: ADVANCED TO EXPERT

£370

BEST FOR KGS: 63-100KGS AVAILABLE IN: 159/164/168/172 AIMED AT: INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED

The Vinson is for the advanced-toexpert freeride enthusiast who demands the best equipment available.

This do-it-all ride built for big-foot, freestyle performance is now lighter and quicker than ever. With its new Silencer 5 Tuned CoreTM, 90A SlimewallsTM and REAL Glass, the Yukon is the best possible wide quiver of one. The only limits you’ll face are your own.

TEAM DOCUMENT 162: Has a high

quality finish and build. Excellent in powder, keeps you afloat with little effort. The greater sidecut radius and size actually also performed well in the pipe! Great for an advanced rider who want to progress on to that elusive expert standard.

GUY (FROM CONSPIRACY) WILLIAMS 164: The Yukon floats in

the pow. Not worth even thinking about taking in the park and pipes.

No toe drag for the big footed. Great powder board to enjoy.

TEAM DOCUMENT 159: Light, easy ride for a perfect powder day. Felt stable at speed - and you can definitely get up some speed on the Yukon.

www.romesnowboards.com

DESIGN

£460

www.salomonsnowboards.com

BURNER

£360

BEST FOR KGS: N/A AVAILABLE IN: 155/158/162/165 AIMED AT: ADVANCED

BEST FOR KGS: 50-105KGS AVAILABLE IN: 157/160/163/166/172 AIMED AT: ADVANCED

Designed for powder, the Design’s precise responsiveness also makes it a favourite for riders with an earlymorning groomer habit. New core, new laminate and new base result in a faster, lighter board with more pop.

The Burner defines what modern freeriding consists of: effortless powerful turns at Mach 2 speeds, optimal trajectories to score all the first tracks and off-the-lip lofty ollies, all in one fluid run.

KEVIN MILLS 160: It was a powder

TEAM DOCUMENT 162: Easy to go

and really fast. The Design is great to carve all day long - you won't want to stop.

LUKE WATKINS 158: One of the best just got better. Very powerful and can handle anything. Amazing in powder. You will never find a more powerful twin shaped board!

day in May! Good job I could ride this beast. So stable and perfect in pow!

Just what you want.

TIM ADAMS 163: Made powder days ones never to be forgotten. A track car on The Board Test 2008. Love it!

[www.documentsnowboard.co.uk]

TESTED FREERIDE.indd 6

24/8/07 18:18:43

BEST FOR KGS: N/A AVAILABLE IN: 159 AIMED AT: INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED

The Twinza, named after a twin finned ‘fish’ type surfboard, provides a similar function on snow. The Twinza’s spoon like nose and tapered tail shape helps you quickly plane to the top and float through even the deepest powder.

TEAM DOCUMENT 159: This board stops you using all of your energy leaning way back to keep the nose up. The bigger nose, setback stance and sidecut allow you to stand more equally on your board. The 159 Twinza rides like a 164 and, because of the tapered shape, it is quicker edge-to-edge and great for turns on groomers.

www.stepchildsnowboards.com

KIDWELL

£359

BEST FOR KGS: N/A AVAILABLE IN: 159/164 AIMED AT: INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED

World Champion Terry Kidwell is the man behind this board. Designed as an all round mountain freestyle board, the 164 is the biggest in the line, and it rides..... well, like the board of champions!

CHRIS SHANNON 164: Very stiff and directional so

awesome at carving. The setback and long nose made the Kidwell a joy to ride in the fresh and the retro finishes it off nicely.

ANDY WEBB 156: This is fun with a capital ‘F’. One look at the retro topsheet instantly wanted me to bust out crossrockets, taipans and crossboned methods just like Kidwell did back in the day. Get one!

No Blind Links. Fast Delivery. If we advertise it we have it. Bargain Prices. Save £££££££££.

£400

www.snowboard-clearance.com

www.santacruzsnowboards.com

TWINZA J FISH

THE LOWEST PRICES ON BIG NAME BRANDS. BOARDS, BOOTS, BINDINGS and CLOTHING

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HI>8 DL9: 9:G H ED EDL9 I>8@H @H E G H [www.documentsnowboard.co.uk]

TESTED FREERIDE.indd 7

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093 FREERIDESNOWBOARDS AD.indd 1

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060 GLOBAL AD.indd 1 Global Snow Show - 300x222 with 3mm bleed - Snowboard Mag -07.indd 1

23/8/07 16:35:59 23/08/2007 15:42:52

+BASIC TRAINING´ DEBRIS ESSENTIALS

DEMONSTRATION: DAN BRIER / INFORMATION: STEVE CUSS / PHOTOGRAPHY: IAN SANSOM

WAXI NG D R A O B R U YO ME ) O H N W O R U YO F O E C N IE N VE N ( IN THE INCO

W

AXING A SNOWBOARD with hot wax is an integral part of keeping it shipshape. Wax will stop the base from becoming too dry and help maintain speed on the snow. As a rough guideline, give it a hot wax every few times you take the board for a spin (this is every few days, not runs!).

Watch out though as different snow conditions do require different types of wax. In the heat of summertime glacial riding, you could be looking to wax your stick every day and not even scrape – a strategy that on a mid-winter’s powder day could see you spitting the dummy!

For obvious indications that your board is in need of a wax, look out for a dry base which begins to look whiteish. Frustrating, longer than usual flat land traverses, or coming up short on jumps, are more painful indicators that it's time to get the iron fired up.

TO START YOUR SNOWBOARD’S REJUVENATION PROCESS YOU ARE GOING TO NEED FOUR MAIN INGREDIENTS, PLUS SOME OPTIONAL EXTRAS FOR THAT PRO FINISH

IRON: Now might be a good time to invest in an iron designed especially for waxing. These are smooth on the bottom and, therefore, apply a nice smooth coat of wax. Alternatively, go down to your nearest Age Concern charity shop and pick up a used household iron for a few quid.

STEVE CUSS

After working for Pat Lambert at the Snowboard Klinik in Austria for a number of years, Steve now runs the Ski and Snowboard Workshop at Ellis Brigham, Milton Keynes (01908 295625). He’s been servicing boards for 10 years and, having seen it all, can repair pretty much anything. Steve is also a self-professed guitar legend! Rock on!

SCOTCH-BRITE: These rough green pads are available at any supermarket and are perfect for the post wax wipe-down.

SOME OPTIONAL BUT HELPFUL ITEMS:

(IF YOU WANT TO DO A RIGHT PROPER JOB)

WAX: There are a squillion different types out there, be sure to buy snowboard or ski specific hot wax. Look out for a range of eco labels available on the market these days. If you’re going to be riding in a range of temperatures, then a universal temperature scale will be sufficient. However, for -20 degree mid-winter freshies, buy a cold grade wax.

Never use candle wax!

SCRAPER: Pick this up at your favourite board shop along with the wax. Plastic or metal scrapers are both fine, just avoid really wide scrapers – they don’t scrape as well as the smaller ones.

■ BASE CLEANER: Use a base cleaner (find this at your board shop) and a rag before you hot wax it.

■ BRUSHES: Stiff nylon-haired brushes for removing deposits and old wax before waxing, brass haired brush for the aprés wax grooming.

DAN BRIER

Dan Brier has been adopted by the British Team as their official wax technician after doing such a good job for a number of years. Living out in Chatel, France, their winter training ground, Dan makes sure that whatever the conditions, the team have the fastest bases for podium results.

■ VICES: Setting up a workbench makes tuning and waxing your board much easier. Vices are available that hold your snowboard in place while you work.

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

BASIC TRAINING WAX 2

097

24/8/07 19:35:03

WAXI NG YOUR BOARD 1

THE RIDERS LOUNGE'S PAT LAMBERT GETS WAX TECHNICAL Ok, this is pretty tech but anyone with some neurons still firing should read on as we disseminate a virtual thesis of all things wax

TIME TO

GET STARTED

2

1CLEAN

If you are cleaning your base first, using either a chemical cleaner or stiff brush, now is the time to do it. Chemical cleaners normally come as a spray that you apply to the base and wipe clean with a rag.

With a stiff brush, drag in a nose-to-tail motion, to remove clogged old wax.

2DRIP Put down an old sheet or some

newspaper to catch dripping wax. Then put your board base-up on your new vices (see optional items) or on some books. Plug in your iron and set it to a medium heat. It should be hot enough to readily melt the wax but not so hot that the wax smokes. Hold the iron perpendicular to your snowboard with the pointed side down. Press the wax bar against the hot iron and hold it there. As the wax drips, move the iron up and down the base of your board until you have strips of dripped wax one to two inches apart. Set the wax aside.

3 IRON Now iron in all that wax until

the base of your board is fully covered. Keep the iron moving; leaving it in one area for too long can damage the snowboard.

3

4

4 SCRAPE Turn off the iron and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the wax to set and cool.

Now grab the scraper and scrape off any excess wax in a nose-to-tail motion. Scraping away all the wax may sound counterproductive, until you realise that a hot wax actually opens up the pores in a snowboard’s base where you want the wax to go. Excess wax will only slow you down.

5 BUFF

After scraping, rub the base in a nose-to-tail motion with either a brass-haired brush or the scotch-brite pad. This will remove the last of the wax, bringing back tiny (performance enhancing) channels in the base of the board. Just in case you’re wondering, don’t use that iron to do your clothes ever again!

Let it be known that you wax your board for two reasons. Despite helping promote the longevity of your base, waxing’s most immediate purpose is to reduce friction between your board and its gliding surface. This not only allows you to travel faster but also makes the board easier to turn and generally perform better.

There are a number of different factors to consider in order to hit the big time. Waxing improves performance though reducing friction.

Friction comes in many guises; the obvious one being wet friction which is caused by water within the snow or water created by the board’s movement over the snow. This water sucks the base and therefore slows it down. But drag is also created by increased friction from dirt in the snow, static electricity build-up and dry (not wet) cold snow crystals, normally found on those perfect midwinter freshies.

Being the adaptable species that we are, man has created a number of strategies to combat these speed-impairing effects. Wax. Wax, and wax.

For most recreational riders you can pick up a hydrocarbon wax, very moderately priced and available for universal, warm or cold snow conditions. Taking it a step further, splash out on a fluorinated wax. Used by pro teams, fluorinated wax repels water to a far greater extent than the cheaper hydrocarbon wax. It is also better at bonding to the base and repelling dirt. An extension of the fluoro waxes are graphite waxes, most suitable in the war on dry friction or dirt friction.

Finally, there are a number of quick waxes out there that you can rub on to the base in last minute situations or for an added speed boost to iron-on wax jobs.

HANDY HINTS

5

STORAGE WAX JOB: If you are sticking the board under your bed for another year, then give it an iron-on, all-over wax. Be a little more liberal than normal and make sure the metal edges are covered in the stuff. Don’t scrape until the next time you go riding.

BLEEDING WAX: In very cold temperatures (below 3°F or -16°C) leave the board outside for 20 minutes when you complete the wax job. Wax will bleed out of the base due to the cold temperature, so give it another groom with the brush to fully remove any speed-sapping dribble!

098 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] BASIC TRAINING WAX 3

24/8/07 19:36:33

Trespass Document OCT 07.pdf

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28/8/07

14:05:30

+BASIC TRAINING´ DEBRIS BACKCOUNTRY BOOT CAMP

RIDER: COLUM MYTTON / PHOTOGRAPHER: RUSS SHEA / LOCATION: SERRE CHEVALIER

WELCOME TO THE DOCUMENT BASIC TRAINING BOOT CAMP It's time to hit the dirt and give me 10, maggot! That’s a backside 10, private.

In fact, make that a switchback 10!

Over seven issues, shut your mouth and open your eyes as the UK’s finest snowboarders put you though your paces. From absolute basic essentials to some loopy jibfoolery, these pages will break down in plain English the complexities of what we call progression.

E D I R K C O R TO FLAT ick way down, stuck Bored of the piste, looking for a qu . But watch out, on a blue? Have a go at one of these k! they’re a tad gnarlier than they loo Din mind, concentrate

angle. Check there are no rocks in the run-out and that the take-off won't trip you head-first!

B board stick to the

rock? Will it go over all the bumps? Is the transition at the bottom suitable for the speed I’m going?

Ccomfortable when

riding down the rock, you need the drop-in to be comfortable, balanced, and from a solid platform.

on the drop-in the most.

Commitment is essential here if you want to nail the trick.

E sideways position on

F to enable you to ride

G see over the crest of

H compression and

A doing from every

Check out what you’re

From a balanced

the platform, pop a small gentle jump to point you in position, riding straight down the face of the rock.

Ask yourself, will my

Maintain soft knees

over any bumps easily.

If you want to be

As soon as you can

the rock, you need to be looking at your landing spot: where the rock meets the snow.

With these factors

Anticipate the

brace your knees so they don’t collapse as you ride out.

100 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] BASIC TRAINING ROCK 2

24/8/07 18:32:29

´´

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

BASIC TRAINING ROCK 3

101 24/8/07 18:33:12

+BASIC TRAINING´ DEBRIS BACKCOUNTRY BOOT CAMP

RIDER: COLUM MYTTON / PHOTOGRAPHER: JAMES NORTH / LOCATION: MORZINE

0 2 7 E D I BACKS

ick. The best thing you tr t ul ic iff d tty re p a is is towant to er, th you’ve conquered the e ableto g to bgoing 50-50, you’re t goin no re For an intermediate rid Once u’ Yo g. in ic ct ra p ep and ke is! trying boardslides – re Lucy shows you how. ad thPassmore can do is try 50 of them start ed to ne t n’ ld ou sh u yo o, d u do it first go, and if yo

102 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] BASIC TRAINING B720 2

24/8/07 18:44:14

´´´´

A trick you should be Before trying this

Ride the jump a Here, Col has set D off: counter-rotate B number of times until C himself up by carving your upper body against Prepare for take-

E off your back foot and Leaving the lip, pop

confident with backside 360s and backside 540s.

you are comfortable with the speed, run-in, airtime and landing (particularly important in powder).

outwards on his toes, back in on his heels, then on to his toe edge – helping add momentum to the spin.

the direction you'll be spinning. Keep your eyes on the lip of the jump.

explode into the spin. Aim to create the momentum to bring the 720 round in one smooth movement.

F with your head. Keep

G and grab (here a

H past 360, you should

I letting go as late as

J some of your own style

Lead the rotation

looking round, trying to spot the landing.

Suck your knees up

mute) to give you some stability. Beware that changing your grab will change the spin rotation.

When you get just

be able to see your landing coming into view. Keep your eyes on where you're going to touch down.

Hold on to your grab,

possible. As you land, try to bring your weight over the toe edge. This will make you more stable.

You’ve stomped it! Put

into the afterbang. It's crazy how this adds style to your trick.

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

BASIC TRAINING B720 3

103 24/8/07 18:44:56

+BASIC TRAINING´ DEBRIS BACKCOUNTRY BOOT CAMP

RIDER: BEN KILNER / PHOTOGRAPHER: ALEXANDER SCHNEIDER / LOCATION: AUSTRIA

GAP TO P O R D F CLIF 0 6 3 E D I S BACK dy grabs fun. Inyou’re are50-50, 0s 36 e id ks ac b n, Once you’ve conquered the fu is der lot to want to legoing ho w e th g in ix Cliff-drops are fun, powstart m as ol n co boardslides – Lucy Passmore shows you how. t as dam but notrying makes them look cool, e tion of haute-cuisin together into this concoc

104 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] BASIC TRAINING TEMPLATE 2

24/8/07 18:51:38

´´´´

A cliff-drop, make sure Before hitting your

B Ben steps onto the

The approach. Here,

Keep your eyes locked D your body slightly.

C on where you’re going Take off on your toe edge

At take-off, pre-wind

the landing, take-off and run-in all work correctly.

Check that the snow is deep enough.

cliff’s top to work out how much speed he needs to clear the gap, as well as for the drop-off too.

to drop off. Attack it with confidence and you won’t go panicking once you eventually drop.

E stabilise yourself.

F Start to think about

G ensure the tail of the H and make sure you

Grab your board to

Keep yourself on a horizontal axis. Don’t dip your shoulders too much or it will throw you off.

Spot your landing.

letting go of the grab.

When you do, open up slightly and prepare the legs for impact.

Extend legs and

board is the first thing to touch down. On landing, keep the nose above the surface of the snow.

and start to turn your shoulders so that your back is facing the drop.

Stay in a straight line

clear the landing area so that no-one will collide with any of the tracks you've made.

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

BASIC TRAINING TEMPLATE 3

105 24/8/07 18:52:52

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MAGIC TOAST 2 St Martin's Sq, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE1 5DF 0116 2512718

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SNOW+ROCK Shield Retail Centre, Gloucester Road North, Bristol, BS34 7BQ 0845 100 1017

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SNOW+ROCK 4 Mercer Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9QA 0845 100 1018 www.snowandrock.com

ELLIS BRIGHAM Tower House, 3-11 Southampton St, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 7HA 0207 395 1010

RIVINGTON ALPINE 83-85 Winter Hey Lane, Bolton, Lancashire, BL6 7PA 01204 668220 www.rivingtonalpine.co.uk

SNOW+ROCK Princess Parkway, Princes Park, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 8ZE 0845 100 1020 www.snowandrock.com

SURF SHACK 13 Market Buildings, Maidstone, Kent, South East, ME14 1HP 01622 661997

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SNOW+ROCK 14 Priory Queensway, Birmingham, B4 6BS 0845 100 1012 www.snowandrock.com

ELLIS BRIGHAM The Snowdome, Leisure Island, River Drive, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 7ND 01827 59047

The Snowboard Asylum Xscape, Unit 17, 602 Marlborough Gate, Avebury Boulevard, Central Milton Keynes, MK9 3DD 01908 609 122 www.snowboard-asylum.com SOUTH WEST

TO PROMOTE YOUR SHOP HERE CALL CRAIG ON

01733 293250 WEST MIDLANDS

ELLIS BRIGHAM Unit 15, Xscape, Colorado Way, Glasshoughton, Castleford, WF10 4TA 01977 522040 MAYHEM BOARDSTORE 46 Goodramgate, York YO1 7LF 01904 655062 www.mayhemboardstore.co.uk

720 SNOWBOARD & BMX 1 Citadel Ope, Plymouth, PL1 2JY 01752 600899 www.seventwenty.co.uk

URBAN CHAOS 23 Masons Hill, Bromley, London, BR2 9HD 0208 460 4456

www.twoseasons.co.uk

www.urban-chaos.co.uk

www.bucksboarding.co.uk

AKA SNOWSKATE 303 Claremont Road, Claramont, Halifax HX3 6AW 01422 351666 www.akasnowskate.com

BOARD PATROL 45 Saville Street, Hull HU1 3EA 01482 581800 www.boardpatrol.com

SNOZONE LTD (castleford) Colorado Way, Glasshoughton, Castleford, WF10 4TA 0871 222 5671 www.snozone.co.uk

SCOTLAND

www.edge2edge.co.uk

www.ellis-brigham.com

TWO SEASONS 64a St James Mill Road, Northampton, NN5 5JP 01604 627377

www.subvertboardstore.com

EDGE TO EDGE Unit 10, Oakwood Industrial Park, Gatwick Road, Crawley RH10 2AZ 01293 649300

SOUTH EAST

BUCKS BOARDING CENTRE 3 Castle Street, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP13 6RZ 01494 472000

SUBVERT Xscape, Unit 16, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 4TA 01977 514488

YORKSHIRE

www.subvertboardstore.com

ELLIS BRIGHAM 178 Kensington High St, London, W8 7RG 0207 937 6889

www.snowandrock.com

www.ellis-brigham.com

www.urbansurfshack.com

SUBVERT 59-61 Oldham Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester M1 1JR 0161 8399091

www.ellis-brigham.com

www.ellllis-brigham.com

www.surfandski.co.uk

www.twoseasons.co.uk

SNOW+ROCK Sheffield Ski Village, Vale Road, Parkwood Springs, Sheffield, S3 9SJ 0845 100 1015

MISSION ADVENTURESPORT 1 Bank Lane, Brixham, Torbay, South West, TQ5 8EX 01803 855796

ENTITY BOARD SPORTS Unit 3a Wellington Road, Waterloo Industrial Estate, Bidford on Avon, Warwickshire B50 4JH 01789 772225

www.missionadventure.co.uk

sales@entityboardsports.co.uk

ROBIN HOOD WATERSPORTS 152 Leeds Road, Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, WF12 9BJ 01924 444888 www.roho.co.uk

GRANITE REEF BOARDRIDERS 45 The Green, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB11 6NY 01224 252752 www.granitereef.com

FREEZE 116 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH10 4ES 0131 228 2355 www.freeze-scotland.com

BLUES THE SKI SHOP @ Tiso, 123 Rose St, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH2 1DT 0131 225 8369 www.bluestheskishop.co.uk

BLUES THE SKI SHOP @ Tiso, 129 Buchannan St, Glasgow, Scotland, G12JA 0141 204 0686 www.bluestheskishop.co.uk

SEVERN SPORTS 80 Town Street, Amley, Leeds, Yorkshire, LS12 3AA 0113 2791618

BOARDERLINE 15 McCombies Court, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB10 1AW 01224 626996

www.severnsports.co.uk

www.boarderline.co.uk

Does your local shop stock Document Snowboard? To get the UK's number one on the shelves call Craig on 01733 293250 024 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] 112-113_Dealer Locator_#44_Oct07.indd 112

28/8/07 11:54:40

DEALER LOCATOR TO PROMOTE YOUR SHOP HERE CALL CRAIG ON 01733 293250

N RIDER RETAIL DEALER SPOTLIGHT E-DEPOT.CO.UK LYMINGTON, HANTS

SHOP ADDRESS www.e-depot.co.uk (based in Lymginton, Hants) TELEPHONE NUMBER 01590 610466 EMAIL info@e-depot.co.uk WEBSITE www.e-depot.co.uk OPENING HOURS 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online, 9am to 8pm on the phone YEAR ESTABLISHED 2005 WHAT DO YOU STOCK? Only snowboard equipment KEY BRANDS Vans, Salomon, Bonfire, Nitro, Drake, Palmer, Flow, Dakine, K2, Ride, Westbeach, Smith, Amplid, Bakoda, Capita, Deeluxe, Drop, Endeavour, Forum, Leedom, Northwave, Option, 32 snowshoes, Union, Venue and packages with boards, boots and bindings, from £199.95 CONTACTS Phil ( we all answer to Phil! ) WHAT IS THE VIBE IN YOUR SHOP? Frantic, especially just before the couriers come to collect the stuff that’s going out for delivery.

WHAT IS THE LOCAL SCENE LIKE FOR SNOWBOARDING / SKIING? Pretty mellow.

We have a couple of dry slope close by and there are loads of students in both Bournemouth and Southampton, so the snowboarding scene is buzzing WHAT IS THE STRANGEST QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED IN THE SHOP? Do you also sell invalid carriages!

WHAT IS THE WORST ITEM YOU HAVE EVER MISTAKENLY ORDERED? Some really naff women’s beanies from ******.

WHAT IS THE BEST / WORST THING ABOUT YOUR SHOP? The best--The actual warehouse is situated on the edge of the New forest and the beach is only a couple of miles the other way, so mountain biking or surfing/ windsurfing are easy. The worst --- the warehouse is freezing in winter WHAT IS THE MOST STOLEN ITEM FROM YOUR SHOP? Beanies, to keep the staff warm in winter.

WHO IS BETTTER OUT OF SKIERS AND SNOWBOARDERS? No contest, the average snowboarder is way more chilled out than the typical skier.

IF YOU HAD TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY? Move to the mountains and do it all there.

WHATS YOUR VIEW ON MONOSKIS, BLADES AND SLALOM SNOWBOARDS? Being a bit old school myself, and having actually ridden a monoski, I think they were the snowboard of their age. Blades? Get them to try deep powder, that normally sorts them out! Slalom boards?—fun if you want to go for a blast on that icy/hard packed piste, but not to great elsewhere.

OUR SHOP

e-depot was set up to cater for a market that can’t/doesn’t want to afford brand new snowboard gear, but still wants to ride good boards and have technical clothing and boots that both fit and keep you dry and warm, whatever the conditions. We only deal in last seasons snowboard stock, so every item on our website is at a special price, meaning you can still go out riding and have the best brand names at a price that keeps you smiling.

DEALER SPOTLIGHT ENTITY BOARDSPORTS BIDFORD ON AVON, WARWICKSHIRE SHOP ADDRESS Unit 3a Wellington Road, Waterloo Industrial Estate, Bidford on Avon, Warwickshire, B50 4JH TELEPHONE NUMBER 01789 772225 EMAIL sales@entityboardsports.co.uk WEBSITE www.entityboardsports.co.uk OPENING HOURS 24 hours a day 7 days a week online. Tuesday – Saturday 9am till 5.30pm, Sunday 10am till 4pm, closed Mondays YEAR ESTABLISHED 2006 WHAT DO YOU STOCK? Everything you’d expect in a leading snowboard shop. Plus wetsuits, surf gear and windsurfing equipment KEY BRANDS We have Technine, Ride, K2, Grenade, Dakine, Demon, Spy, Pro-tec, Westbeach, 32, Salomon, Capix, Coal, Capita, Union, Vans, DVS, Planet Earth, Innes, Adio, Duffs CONTACTS Wez WHAT IS THE VIBE IN YOUR SHOP? It’s a very relaxed and chilled vibe here, as it should be. Call in for a coffee anytime!

WHAT IS THE LOCAL SCENE LIKE FOR SNOWBOARDING / SKIING? There seem to be quite a few Snowboarders popping up in the local area that I never knew about- which is good. Tam and MK slopes are only an hour

drive away, so there’s always someone to go shred with.

WHAT IS THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION FROM CUSTOMERS? Can I have some free stickers!

WHAT IS THE WORST ITEM YOU HAVE EVER MISTAKENLY ORDERED? Folding micro scooters, I had a bit of a demand for them from a few customers so ordered a few in,and sold about 3.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SHOP-SPONSORED RIDERS? I have guy from Milton Keynes, Matt Jones (aka Bacon!) He’s absolutely killing it at the moment. He spends a lot of time on MK slope. I’ve also got another guy from Halifax, Craig Law. They both do an awesome job of repping the shop wherever they go.

WHAT IS THE BEST / WORST THING ABOUT YOUR SHOP? The best thing about the shop is the large range of stock we are able to carry. The worst part is being tucked away in the corner of the industrial estate.

IF YOU HAD TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY? I’d definatly find a bigger warehouse, so I could build a bit of a skatepark in it so the locals had somewhere.

OUR SHOP

Entity is a rider owned and run shop, where you will get the best customer service I can offer and unbiased advice and help. I offer a full boot fitting service and even a coffee while your waiting. I can offer you some awesome deals on board, boot and binding packages, just ask. By the time you read this we will celebrating our first anniversary, I’d just like to say thanks to all those people who have supported us and purchased their gear from us during our first year. I hope to be supplying your gear for many years to come!

[ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ]

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NATHANGALLAGHER.COM

Vicci Miller gets her rocks off in the USA

USA A whistlestop tour of Colorado and Utah’s finest snow spots – photographer Nate Gallagher captures a team of freestylers in action HOLY CRAP! Terje Håkonsen breaks a world record at The Artic Challenge...

+NEXT

ISSUE 45

and we've got the photos!

A SEASON IN MAYRHOFEN Everything you’ve every needed to know about spending a season in the Austrian town – we’ll get you prepared TESTED We bring you Document’s Ultimate Gear Guide – 600 boards and more boots, bindings and ’08 gear than you can shake a shred stick at, and all for free!

BASIC TRAINING Prepare to be put though your paces as we bring you the latest trick tips to improve your game

LAB RATS The latest gadgets and equipment on the market, all tested by the office vermin

114 [ www.documentsnowboard.co.uk ] NEXT ISSUE 1

24/8/07 19:39:53

116 RIDE AD.indd 1

21/8/07 10:45:53