01 ISSUE JANUARY 2018
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What we’re all about: This magazine is destined to dive inside the snowboarding culture, celebrating this sport and the people who created a lifestyle within it. It was a shot across the bow, and the snowboarder Billy Morgan played the part of cannonball, wearing all black while tucking and somersaulting through the air more than 100 feet from a specially constructed jump made of snow at a resort in Livigno, Italy. This was in April 2015, when Morgan, of Britain, landed a backside quadruple cork 1800, a marvel of physics and rotational forces consisting of four off-axis back flips and five spins compressed into three seconds of hang time. Video of Morgan somersaulting through the air went viral on social media. No snowboarder had ever landed a quadruple flip, and it signaled an escalation in the difficulty of maneuvers leading up to the debut of big air, the newest snowboarding discipline at the Winter Olympics next year.
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Contents the culture A look inside the lifestyle, snowboarding music & how they love to party and have fun
6 big names Getting to know the people that seem to conquer snowboarding at the moment.
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the gear Essentials for having a great experience. Safety, comfort and pleasure.
14 places in Europe Great places to have your dream experience riding your board.
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16 street Snowboarding in the streets. How you can find the perfects spots to try your tricks. 5
The culture Having fun
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Within seven months, two more riders — Max Parrot, of Canada, and Marcus Kleveland, of Norway — landed their own versions of a quad cork for cameras. But blowback was just as swift, reviving decades-old discussion in the sport about a so-called spin-to-win mentality versus riding with style, pitting the influence of the Olympics against sensibilities among core snowboarders, who say an emphasis on acrobatics conjures diving, aerial skiing and figure skating.
“Two years ago, that’s what people were starting to do, but it’s kind of fallen out because of people hating on it — because it wasn’t stylish,” Ryan Stassel of Alaska, a member of the United States snowboarding team, said about quad corks. Stassel competes in big air and slopestyle disciplines, and has never landed a quad cork. triple corks and 1620s — fourand-a-half spins — and judges have tended to reward them. It has been great.
Music For now, no one has landed a quad in competition. All that could change this week at the Winter X Games in Aspen when the men’s snowboard big air finals are held on a straight jump that will launch riders 100 feet from Buttermilk Mountain on Friday night. “There’s a big chance we see a quadruple cork in X Games this year,” said Parrot, 22, a winner of two gold medals in big air at the X Games and a favorite to make the slopestyle and big air teams for Canada at the Winter
Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next year. “Somebody is going to do it this year. Either me or someone else.” Last year, Parrot discussed attempting a quad cork, but did not need the maneuver to win gold at the X Games. His two tricks in the final, a triple cork and a 1620, were enough to finish with the highest score. This year, the field includes Kleveland, but not Morgan. If a rider attempts a quad, the trick will be doing so with grace.
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The crew “A bigger spin, say, an 1800, you have to throw it so hard, and get the grab and hold, that you don’t have as much time to put your style, or personal stamp, on the trick,” Mike Jankowski, the head coach of the United States snowboarding team, said. “The best riders will stand out having that unique personal stamp on the trick.” To prevent big air from favoring one-hit wonders, or simply becoming a duel of quad corks, the format in the final at the X Games and the Olympics requires that riders land two different tricks. “You have to have variety,” Jankowski said. “It can’t be some-
body who has one crazy trick one way that’s going to win. You’re going to have to try to show versatility in your riding.” Chris Gunnarson is the founder and president of Snow Park Technologies, a company based in Nevada that builds the jumps and courses at Winter X Games. He is also on the X Games organizing committee for snowboarding, overseeing judging, competition formats and athlete invitations. “Trying to come up with compelling formats for big air is kind of where the sport needs to be right now,” Gunnarson said. “I hate to compare it to figure skating or high diving, but you get to a point.
Big names Shaun White
This guy... It was a shot across the bow, and the snowboarder Billy Morgan played the part of cannonball, wearing all black while tucking and somersaulting through the air more than 100 feet from a specially constructed jump made of snow at a resort in Livigno, Italy. This was in April 2015, when Morgan, of Britain, landed a backside quadruple cork 1800, a marvel of physics and rotational forces consisting of four off-axis back flips and five spins compressed into three seconds of hang time. Video of Morgan somersaulting through the air went viral on social media. No snowboarder had ever landed a qua-
druple flip, and it signaled an escalation in the difficulty of maneuvers leading up to the debut of big air, the newest snowboarding discipline at the Winter Olympics next year. Within seven months, two more riders — Max Parrot, of Canada, and Marcus Kleveland, of Norway — landed their own versions of a quad cork for cameras. But blowback was just as swift, reviving decades-old discussion in the sport about a so-called spin-towin mentality versus riding with style, pitting the influence of the Olympics against sensibilities among core snowboarders, who say an emphasis on
Hannah Teter
Her story It was a shot across the bow, and the snowboarder Billy Morgan played the part of cannonball, wearing all black while tucking and somersaulting through the air more than 100 feet from a specially constructed jump made of snow at a resort in Livigno, Italy. This was in April 2015, when Morgan, of Britain, landed a backside quadruple cork 1800, a marvel of physics and rotational forces consisting of four off-axis back flips and five spins compressed into three seconds of hang time. Video of Morgan somersaulting through the air went viral on social media. No snowboarder had ever landed a quadruple flip, and it signaled an escalation in the difficulty of maneuvers leading up to the debut of big air, the newest snowboarding discipline at the Winter Olympics next year. Within seven months, two more riders — Max Parrot, of Canada, and Marcus Kleveland, of Norway — landed their own versions of a quad cork for cameras.
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Torah Bright It was a shot across the bow, and the snowboarder Billy Morgan played the part of cannonball, wearing all black while tucking and somersaulting through the air more than 100 feet from a specially constructed jump made of snow at a resort in Livigno, Italy. This was in April 2015, when Morgan, of Britain, landed a backside quadruple cork 1800, a marvel of physics and rotational forces consisting of four off-axis back flips and five spins compressed into three seconds of hang time. Video of Morgan somersaulting through the air went viral on social media. Going up to the debut of big.
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Torstein Horgmo It was a shot across the bow, and the snowboarder Billy Morgan played the part of cannonball, wearing all black while tucking and somersaulting through the air more than 100 feet from a specially constructed jump made of snow at a resort in Livigno, Italy. This was in April 2015, when Morgan, of Britain, landed a backside quadruple
cork 1800, a marvel of physics and rotational forces consisting of four off-axis back flips and five spins compressed into three seconds of hang time. Video of Morgan somersaulting through the air went viral on social media. No snowboarder had ever landed a quadruple flip, and it signaled an escalation in the difficulty of maneuvers leading
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The gear 1.Boots
2.Helmet
3. Gloves
On picturesque winter slopes, the youngsters racing snowboards downhill and the mature skiers calmly gliding down have routinely been cast as warring snow-lovers. A Utah ski resort has tried to keep feuding off its slopes by banning snowboards altogether since the 1980s. Four middle-aged snowboarders are protesting that policy, filing a lawsuit in January.
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature,
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature,
4. Pants
5. Jacket
6. Board
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum
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Places in Europe Avoriaz, France Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature,
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature,
Verbier, Switzerland Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum� (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renais
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Chamonix, France Chamonix is one resort every snowboarder must visit before they die. It’s the epicentre of mountaineering in Europe. Snowboarders here are clad in ropes, carabiners and ice axes rather than baggy hoodies and skinny pants. Beginners will find this resort intimidating, to say the least. It’s a steep 1,000m+ ascent from the valley floor up to the snowboarding area.
Street Trying new things On picturesque winter slopes, the youngsters racing snowboards downhill and the mature skiers calmly gliding down have routinely been cast as warring snow-lovers. A Utah ski resort has tried to keep feuding off its slopes by banning snowboards altogether since the 1980s. Four middle-aged snowboarders are protesting that policy, filing a lawsuit in January. The snowboarders sued Alta Ski Area and the U.S. Forest Service in U.S. District Court in Utah. They argue that their constitutional right to equal use of federal land had been irrationally denied and that the Forest Service, working in concert with Alta, allowed discrimination in violation of the snowboarders’ due process rights. I found your March 23 article, “As Snowboarding Soars, So Do Injuries,” interesting, since I suffered broken ribs due to being hit by a snowboarder this month while skiing in Big Bear. 20