25 Highlights from 25 Years Of TransWorld SNOWboarding
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TRANSWORLD SNOWBOARDING: Magazine Issue 1.1
It was from the loins of TransWorld SKATEboarding that SNOWboarding was birthed. The first mention of snowboarding appeared in a 1983 issue of SKATE in the form of a half-page black and white illustrated photo entitled, “Snow Banks: get cold; get hot; git down witcho bad self.” Seriously. The first issue of TW SNOW was published in the fall of 1987 with Kevin Kinnear as the editor and Guy Motil as photo editor. The topics covered in that inaugural issue: riders recounting their first time shredding in “The First Time”; The North American Snowboard Championships at Sunshine Village, Banff, Canada; The Swatch World Snowboard Championships at Breckenridge; and a soulful feature called “The Day After” documenting the post-contest jam session at Breck after the Swatch Worlds. And the rest is snowboarding history.
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C R A I G K E L LY:
TWS RIDERS’ POLL AWARDS:
The Roots Of TWS
The Biggest Night In Snowboarding
Trying to summarize Craig’s contribution to snowboarding, or simply to TransWorld SNOWboarding, in one paragraph is a bad idea—all 25 of these highlights could refer back to him. He was the first rider to have his own TransWorld column—Techniques, a trick tip column covering roast beefs, 360 air to fakies, and other cutting-edge freestyle tricks. He was the first rider ever to score a TransWorld interview; it was 1989, when, as the reigning four-time world champion, he revealed his plan to transition out of contest riding. He was the first to win a title at the inaugural 1991 Riders’ Poll: All Around Rider Of The Year and Halfpipe Rider Of The Year. At the time, we wrote, “It’s really no surprise that Craig Kelly swept the overall in the poll. He’s arguably the single most recognized person in the sport…” Branching off from that recognition into more soulful pursuits in the backcountry, Craig’s contribution continued—he spearheaded epic travel features to Greenland (November 1997) and famously to Iran (March 1997). His legacy lives on in these pages and on this month’s cover. Craig Kelly is our copilot.
Even from its earliest days, snowboarding was full of larger-than-life characters: riders with amazing abilities and interesting attitudes who define snowboarding culture. To recognize these riders, TWS set out to celebrate snowboarding’s heroes with the TransWorld Readers’ Poll Awards. The awards party debuted in 1991 during the Snowsports Industries Of America (SIA) trade show in Las Vegas. Legends of the day like Shaun Palmer, Craig Kelly, Damian Sanders, and Terry Kidwell were honored with esteemed titles like Rider Of The Year and Racer Of The Year—all democratically elected by the readers of TransWorld SNOWboarding. As the party grew, the riders’ votes in the Riders’ Poll took center stage. But why is it the “biggest night in snowboarding”? Fortunately for many young careers, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Mark Gallup
PHOTO: BUD FAWCETT
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January 1992 Keys To Reality
Gallup was the first photographer on the TWS payroll traveling the world and shooting snowboarding for 15 years starting in 1992.
Craig Kelly. Squaw Valley, California. 1989.
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… S O A N Y W AY
The longest-running column in TWS, written by Canadian legend Ken Achenbach, ran until 1994. Ken says, “The ‘inspiration’ for it was just all the random good times that snowboarding is. I came up with the title because ‘…So Anyway’ is how all stories kick off to the next level, and it’s also how BS’ing gets going. I still get requests for ‘Keys To Reality’ all the time. Craig says it’s the best piece of snowboard writing he ever read.” Read it at TWSnow.com/keys.
FIRST SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER:
THE TRANSWORLD INTERVIEW: Mission Accomplished
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It’s hard to argue with the clout of these 108 riders who’ve earned feature interviews over the last 25 years—simply put, when you can count yourself among them, you know you’ve made it:
Craig Kelly, November 1989 Terry Kidwell, December 1989
Damian Sanders, January 1990 Jon Boyer, February 1990
Shaun Palmer, March 1990 Jason Ford, November 1990
Tim Windell, December 1990 Andy Hetzel, January 1991
Dan Donnelly, February 1991 Kevin Delaney, March 1991
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ALASKAN ’90S: The New Frontier
Terje Haakonsen. Breckenridge, Colorado. 1990. PHOTO: ROB GRACIE
TERJE:
April of 1992, the first-ever World Extreme Championships were held in AK. In attendance, the OG pioneers of Alaska freeriding: Nick Perata, Shawn Farmer, Tex Devenport, Steve Graham, Dave Hatchett, etc. In the pages of the magazine, Alaska provided the needed yin to the jibbing yang; riders on massive AK faces filled the pages—The Sphinx, Cordova Peak, Super Spines. TWS’ partnership with Standard Films sealed the deal on getting the best photos of the AK experience including Tom Burt, Johan Olofsson, Victoria Jealouse, Jim Rippey, and Noah Salasnek with harrowing captions to remind you that AK Is No Joke.
Dominates Terje Haakonsen has influenced snowboarding like few others. At 18, during the ’91/92 season, he won every contest he entered. We called him “the best halfpipe rider in the world…he may be the best snowboarder ever.” Like Craig, he also had a column in TWS, Terje’s Corner, with the reasoning that “when Terje rides, many snowboarders tend to just kick back and watch.” He’s one of a small handful of riders whose skills translate across every type of terrain from Alaskan faces to the US Open pipe. Someday some rider may break his 2007 world record highest air—a backside three 9.8 meters out of the quarterpipe—but no one will ever be able fill his boots as the moral compass of snowboarding. With his boycott of the Olympics, the creation of the rider-driven Arctic Challenge event, and then the TTR World Tour, plus his ongoing efforts to guide Olympic slopestyle down the right path, Terje has always put the riders first, has always led by example. All hail Terje.
08 GLOBETROTTERS: Who Ordered The Exotic Travel? April 1995
FIRST CHECK OUTS:
John Cardiel & Steve Blakely The first ever TWS check out was in the October 1992 issue, but the column was called Boarder Patrol, then it became the Who? column, before finally settling on Check Out.
Dave Hatchett. First snowboard descent of The Elephant. Valdez, Alaska. 1992.
A chaotic 88 pages of world snowboard travel kicked off with two Alaska features—Valdez and Kenai; then moved to Japan; Indian Himalayas; Uzbekistan with Julie Zell; St. Petersburg, Russia, with Dave England and crew; Slovakia; Bolivia; Chile; Argentina—trips of survival (Russia), trips of endurance (India), and history (Slovakia). We made it our mission to travel the world in the name of shred. So we went everywhere. And yes, we did get a cease-and-desist order from National Geographic for hijacking its trademarked yellow border.
PHOTO: ERIC BERGER
Jimi Scott, January 1992 Jeff Brushie, February 1992
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Tara Eberhard, March 1992 Shannon Melhuse, January 1993
Bertrand Denervaud, February 1993 Steve Graham, April 1993
Keith “Duckboy” Wallace, January 1994 Mike and Tina Basich, February 1994
Todd Richards, December 1994 Janna Meyen, January 1995
Allen Clark, October 1995 Circe Wallace, December 1995
Joel McGuire, October 1996 Bryan Iguchi, December 1996
Peter Line, January 1997 Johan Olofsson, March 1997
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THE SCANNERS: A Talent Invasion
The “Scanners” first appeared in the January 1994 issue highlighting the trend, led by Terje, of Scandinavian rippers invading American snowpack; Daniel Franck, Sebu Kuhlberg, and Aleksi Vanninen were among the first wave. They came in packs season after season—another one led by Ingemar Backman. The third wave highlighted in the November 1995 issue included Ami Voutilainen, Joni Makinen, and Juha Tenkku. The trend spilled over into an entire Scanners Issue in November of 2002 with the next generation of Iikka Backstrom, Eero Ettala, Eero Niemela, Lauri Heiskari, Freddie Austbo, Mikkel Bang, Hampus Mosesson, and Kjersti Buass. These foreign names have become familiar—all of them. It seems like we’re overdue for another wave. Brace yourselves.
FIRST HELI FEATURE:
Johan Olofsson. Riksgransen, Sweden. Switch tail grab. 1994. PHOTO: JON FOSTER
“Blade Runner” by Lee Crane with photos by Mark Gallup in January 1992.
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THE CHAMELEON: Righting The Ski World’s Wrongs
10 TWS VIDEO PRODUCTIONS: In the beginning, TWS published a short list of resorts that allowed snowboarding, slowly that list morphed into the opposite—a list of anti-shred resorts. The blacklist of resorts that banned us had to be called out, and we had the guy for the job, an anonymous operative named “The Chameleon.” The Chameleon’s first mission, during the winter of ’94/95 was to infiltrate Alta, Aspen, and Keystone on “skis,” then descend on his reassembled Nitro splitboard. He returned for a “Part Deux” in September of ’96 to stick it to Park City ahead of the 2002 Olympics. He then resurfaced to Free Taos in November of 1997. Eric Blehm, TransWorld’s editor at the time (and now a New York Times best-selling writer), never revealed the Chameleon’s identity, but his work in the name of resort desegregation does not go unrecognized.
Launched in 1994 with Mack Dawg Productions at the helm, we released a series called TWS Video Magazine running through the ’90s. Relaunching in 2008 with Joe Carlino in the driver’s seat—the current inventory includes These Days, Get Real, and In Color, as well as the 20 Tricks series.
Scan this code to watch TWS VM Volume 1, issue 1. Or go to: TWSnow.com/VideoMag
JF Pelchat, November 1997 Jason “J2” Rasmus, December 1997
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Marius Sommer, February 1998 Juha Tenkku, March 1998
Devun Walsh, October 1998 Michi Albin, November 1998
Jamie Lynn, December 1998 Jason Brown, January 1999
JP Walker, March 1999 Daniel Franck, April 1999
Andrew Crawford, September 1999 Ali Goulet, September 1999
Marcus Egge, October 1999 Kevin Sansalone, October 1999
Wille Yli-Youma, November 1999 Tina Basich, November 1999
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Todd Richards. Mt. Hood, Oregon. 1990. PHOTO: JON FOSTER
Jamie Lynn. Stryn, Norway. 1994. PHOTO: JON FOSTER
M T. H O O D, O R E G O N :
J A M I E LY N N ’ S ROAD GAP:
Snowboarding’s Summer Pulse
TransWorld’s Most Iconic Cover
It all started around the late ’80s with snowboard camps sprouting up on the glaciated side of Mt. Hood. Since then it’s expected that you’ll see the biggest names in snowboarding riding up on Palmer Snowfield or hanging out down in the town of Government Camp. Hood is where campers learn from the pros and where diggers can count on earning a beggar’s wage. From the manicured parks of High Cascade, Windells, and many more now-defunct camps, photos from sunset photo shoots off massive kickers, fresh pipe one-hitters, and one-up rail sessions have made their way onto these pages and into our collective summer shred yearnings.
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TWS VIDEO PA R T N E R S H I P S
Let’s face it, we specialize in snow porn. The majority of these pages are devoted to feeding your fantasies of powder paradises, handrail havens, and tempting tricks by laying before you the best images of the season. What better way to ensure we run the best than by partnering with the best video crews? From day one, TWS was the exclusive media partner of Mack Dawg Films. And when Robot Food first broke out, before anyone had an inkling of how the movies would shape snowboarding, TWS exclusively teamed up with them to get the shots. These relationships have been responsible for many iconic photos over the years, like JP Walker’s first double cork and David Benedek’s progressive front 10 doublecork on a quarterpipe. TWS continues to work with The People Crew, Absinthe, and Videograss to ensure we get the best shots of the best riders.
Keir Dillon, December 1999 Josh Dirksen, December 1999
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Chad Otterstrom, January 2000 Mike Michalchuk, January 2000
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JP Walker. Double Cork. Utah backcoutry. 2003. PHOTO: ANDY WRIGHT
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What makes an image iconic? The subject? How it’s shot? Framed? This November 1994 cover of Jamie Lynn clearing a road gap in Stryn, Norway, taken by Jon Foster is without a doubt, of all 209 covers to date, our most popular. The question of “What’s your favorite cover?” is almost guaranteed to get this cover as an answer. Some of our theories: Jamie Lynn is awesome. There’s no writing on the cover to take away from the image. Jon Foster shot with black and white film lending a depth and richness. This was TransWorld’s first black and white cover. There’s no way an iconic image couldn’t have come out of a session with Terje, Peter Line, Reto Lamm, and Jeff Brushie hitting a misty road gap. Yeah, the last one.
INGEMAR’S BACKSIDE AIR: Big Exposure
Ingemar. 1996. PHOTO: JEFF CURTES
FIRST SNOWMOBILE FEATURE
“Sour Milk”
TransWorld definitely didn’t get the scoop on Ingemar’s air—it was on the cover of every snowboard magazine around the world kicking off the ’96/97 season. The event was at the annual Riksgransen Halfpipe Classic—“a humble local contest with no ranking points, politics, or prize money.” Riders in attendance that day were Terje, Daniel Franck, Sebu Kuhlberg, Aleksi Vanninen, and some “local kids” named Ingemar Backman and Johan Olofsson. Ingemar started above everybody else and pointed it 300 feet to the quarterpipe pulling one of the cleanest, biggest, most well-documented backside airs ever.
Jason McAlister, March 2000 Terje Haakonsen, March 2000
Kevin Jones, September 2000 Lukas Huffman, September 2000
By filmmaker Jamie Mosberg with Devun Walsh and Wes Makepeace wrecking rental sleds while shooting for the movie Milk in Utah’s Guardsman Pass. October 1995.
Jason Murphy, October 2000 Fredrik Sarvell, October 2000
Jeremy Jones, November 2000 Dave Downing, November 2000
Blaise Rosenthal, December 2000 Chris Engelsman, December 2000
Travis Parker, January 2001 Todd Richards, January 2001
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Total Chaos
JEFF ANDERSON: A Rider’s Legacy Tyler Lepore. Northstar-atTahoe, California. 2004.
When Jeffrey Lin Anderson died just a few short months after his feature interview ran in TWS, snowboarding lost one its purest, most passionate, and progressive riders. His self-styled mantra, “I am snowboarding,” was Jeff’s expression of himself as a living, breathing reflection of snowboarding. Jeff was not an egotist, what he meant was that each of us “is” snowboarding, that we can and should define it for ourselves. It was an idea with resonance. Jeff’s definitive “I Am Snowboarding” phrase endures, as his family and friends keep his memory alive through the JLA Foundation, the Brothers Skatepark in Mammoth, Volcom projects, and various art initiatives. JLA forever.
PHOTO: NICK HAMILTON
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twsnow.com TWS launched in 1996 as solsnowboarding.com with Lee Crane as the online editor.
Bjorn Leines, January 2001 Tara Dakides, March 2001
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Jeff Anderson. Half Cab 50-50, Aspen, Colorado. 2003. PHOTO: DEAN BLOTTO GRAY
DCP, March 2001 Mike Basich, March 2001
Temple Cummins, April 2001 Dionne Delesalle, September 2001
T H E O LY M P I C S : Tracking The Rings Through TWS
You can see it happening in slow motion: It starts with an upbeat news piece in ’92 about a possible USSA and USASA merger; in 1993 then-Editor Lee Crane writes, “Who’s Running The Show Anyway?” where we see the first dark clouds of the International Ski Federation (FIS) takeover from the International Snowboard Federation (ISF); a January 1995 editorial is clear about the fact that the IOC has taken snowboarding from us and handed it over to the FIS skiers (“It’s a like a David Versus Gloiath thing,” says Ted Martin, the founder of the North America Arm of the ISF). The Olympics and all their controversy have forced us casual snowboard journalists into, well, real journalism sometimes. Today the controversy continues online in the TWSnow.com series Shaking Hands With The Devil by Matt Barr. Beyond the controversies, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried, and we’ve cheered Ross Rebagliati carving through rainy, low-tide conditions in Nagano right to Shaun’s double McTwist 12 in Vancouver—we’ve got the photos and elaborate press passes to prove it.
FIRST SNOWBOARDING WEBSITE
JP Walker, September 2001 Allister Schultz, October 2001
Who’s the best team in snowboarding? That’s the question TWS set out to answer in 1999 when we first invited all the top board teams to compete against each other in Snow Summit’s park. What we didn’t count on is how much of a role costumes would play. Teams were asked to dress similar so they could be identified—the event ended 10 years later with Ronald McDonalds battling ninjas over 50-foot gaps. True story.
Marc Frank Montoya, October 2001 Chris Brown, November 2001
2002 Olympics. Park City, Utah. PHOTO: MARK GALLUP
Nicolas Droz, November 2001 Trevor Andrew, December 2001
Joni Malmi, December 2001 Mikey LeBlanc, January 2002
Shannon Dunn, January 2002 Devun Walsh, January 2002
19 TRAVIS RICE: Think Big Travis has never been mellow. His switch five over Chad’s Gap in his 2004 interview was not mellow (neither was getting access to those photos); That’s It, That’s All wasn’t mellow, airing over a gaping hole in the earth on the cover of TransWorld’s 200th issue—not mellow. We went all in to get behind the scenes with Travis on The Art Of Flight, assigning a photographer to travel with him for the last two years—TWS Senior Photographer Scott Serfas burned through the budget to keep up. It was worth it. We’ll keep following him to the ends of the earth and sharing those images with you…even if it kills us. And with Travis leading the way, it just might.
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PHOTO ANNUAL:
POSTERS:
The Best Of The Year
We Love Them, Too
Josh Dirksen. 2005. PHOTO: ANDY WRIGHT
Travis Rice. Chad’s Gap switch backside five. Utah backcountry. 2004. PHOTO: STAN EVANS
Shaun White, February 2002 Nate Bozung, February 2002
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Danny Kass, February 2002 JP Solberg, February 2002
Jonaven Moore, March 2002 Erik Leines, April 2002
Louie Fountain, October 2002 Heikki Sorsa, November 2002
Freddie Kalbermatten, December 2002 Jeff Anderson, January 2003
Andreas Wiig, January 2003 Tadashi Fuse, March 2003
The 2002 Photo Annual was the first issue devoted to showcasing the year’s premier pics. The oversized issue with thick, glossy paper pops each image like never before. Almost a decade later, the Annual continues to be a favorite of photographers and readers. In an era where much hype has been made about the promise of digital media, the issue serves as reminder that some things, like gazing at an image on an oversized glossy spread, are pretty hard to beat.
Romain De Marchi, April 2003 Shaun White, October 2003
Posters took a dive in the mid-’90s when the magazine went from being stapled to bound, and school lockers and bedroom walls have suffered ever since. During the great poster heyday of the early ’90s, there was even an issue devoted exclusively to pullouts. By 2002, cover and interview photos still had to be epic, but only a few next-level photos were poster-worthy including Josh Dirksen’s massive method on a hip in the September 2005 issue.
Lukas Huffman, November 2003 Jeremy Jones, December 2003
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Shaun White. Silverton, Colorado. 2009. PHOTO: ADAM MORAN
SHAUN WHITE: The Golden Boy Forget about what Shaun’s done as snowboarder for a second—think instead of his place in snowboarding as a whole. In 2010, Forbes ranked him as the fourth most-influential athlete in the world. Making the list is a distinction shared with only one other member of standing-sideways club, Tony Hawk. Shaun has long had ambition though. In his first TWS interview in the February 2002 issue when he was just 16, he claimed he wanted to “win an Olympic event some year…make up my own trick…[and] learn a 1080 flip in the pipe.” Check, check, and check. He was still in transition to becoming that groundbreaking rider, however, when his second interview came out the very next year featuring rare photos of him on street rails and in the backcountry. Since then Shaun has focused more on contests, stacking up the most medals in X Games history and back-to-back Olympic gold medals. Along the way he picked up six TWS covers—the most ever. It’s safe to say he’s in a league of his own.
23 TRANSAM SERIES: Ten Years Strong The future of snowboarding is rooted in the youth. The TransWorld TransAm contest series was developed a decade ago in the spirit of hooking up young riders on the come-up with a competitive starting point. The nationwide open series has seen names such as Lucas Magoon, Gabi Viteri, Matt Ladley, and Chas Guldemond compete and go on to the ranks of pro. Check it at: TWSnow.com/transam
Bjorn Leines, January 2004 Benji Ritchie, February 2004
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Peter Line, March 2004 Christoph Weber, April 2004
Travis Rice, September 2004 Darrell Mathes, October 2004
Priscilla Levac, November 2004 DCP, January 2005
Chad Otterstrom, February 2005 Nicolas Müller, March 2005
Mikey Rencz, April 2005 Antti Autti, November 2005
Andreas Wiig, January 2006 Danny Kass, March 2006
Devun Walsh, November 2006 Eero Ettala, December 2006
Cam Pierce. Sierra-atTahoe, California. 2009. PHOTO: IAN RUHTER
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T E A M S H O OT O U T: Three Years Deep The Team Shoot Out was conceived three years ago as an updated version of Team Challenge combining elements of photography, video, print, and web. The premise was simple: gather teams of some of the best riders in the world and challenge them to creatively document their weeklong shoots. The results speak for themselves. transworldshootout.com
TO SEE ALL COVERS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARS GO TO: TWSnow.com/covers
TWS’ TEN MOST M E M O R A B L E F E AT U R E S
01. ANOTHER ROADSIDE DISTRACTION, December 1990 A South Lake Tahoe road trip with Terry Kidwell, Shaun Palmer, Keith Kimmel, Carter Turk, Jeff Fulton, Mike Chantry, and Joel Gomez. Colorado’s Loveland Pass with Andy Hetzel, Rob Lavigne, Steve Hall, Carl Fisher, and Josh Reed. Photos by Guy Motil and Jon Foster. 02. SOUTHERN EXPOSURE, October 1991 Jim Zellers and John Griber shred the Fitzroy Massif in Patagonia, Argentina—the beginnings of snowboard mountaineering and the backcountry movement. Photos by Bill Hatcher. 03. COLD BLOOD: Checkin’ The Local Pulse, February 1994 By the locals for the locals: an EKG of America’s pumping scenes—32 pages of Summit County, Stratton, Vail, Big Bear, Squaw, Aspen, and South Shore Tahoe.
05. THE INTERVIEWS: Twelve People Changing The Way We Ride, March 1995 Featuring Peter Line, Daniel Franck, Stevie Alters, Ingemar Backman, Johan Olofsson, Martin Freinademetz, Barrett Christy, Victoria Jealouse, Jake Blattner, Temple Cummins, Neal Drake, and Tex Devenport. 06. A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER: Iran March 1997 If Mohammed can’t bring the mountains to you, we will! The first-ever snowboarding mission to Iran with Craig Kelly, Dave Basterrachea, and Brian Savard. (Riders hid in a church as gunfire rang out on the streets in Iran.) Photos by Eric Berger. 07. FIFTH ELEMENT, March 1999 A photo essay by Mark Gallup illustrating how snow can change our environment drastically through the use of before and after images of terrain with and without snow… and riders. 08. THE ROAD TO ALASKA, November 2000 Washington shred legend Temple Cummins and then TWS editor Dave Sypniewski ride their motorcycles from Texas via Mexico to Alaska. Badass. 09. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARCO SIFFREDI, February 2006 The story of the first continuous snowboarder descent of Mt. Everest by the young rider from Chamonix and his eventual disappearance from the same summit. By Trey Cook.
04. IT WAS A VERY BIG YEAR, October 1994 A storm-by-storm account of the East Coast winter of ’93/94 featuring Blair Rusin and Randy Gaetano with then-Art Director Joe Sorren’s magical touch.
Natasza Zurek, January 2007 Mark Landvik, February 2007
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Annie Boulanger, March 2007 Nate Bozung, October 2007
Scotty Lago, December 2007 Janna Meyen, October 2008
JP Walker, November 2008 Wolle Nyvelt, December 2008
John Jackson, February 2009 Torah Bright, March 2009
Pat Moore, November 2009 Gigi Rüf, February 2010
10. DEEPER AK, January 2010 Jeremy Jones, Travis Rice, Jonaven Moore, Johan Olofsson, and Tom Burt get way out there on a 27-day glacier camping/splitboarding trip. By Dan Milner.
Danny Davis, October 2010 Dan Brisse, November 2010
Jake Blauvelt, October 2011 Eric Jackson, December 2011