COVE R S TO RY Mt . H o o d, O re g on P h o t o b y Ke a l a n S h i l l i n g
W o r d s b y J a k e Ke n o b i
Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Snowboa rd ing is bet ter w it h f riend s it is a s simple a s t hat. W hile there a re undoubted ly those powder hounds that will t e l l y o u f r i e n d s d o n’t e x i s t , t h e g o o d t i m e s t o b e h a d o n a b o a r d a r e a l w a y s h e i g h t e n e d w i t h t h e r i g h t c r e w. S t o m p a t r i c k y o u’v e b e e n w o r k i n g o n f o r h o u r s ? E v e n m o r e s a t i s f y i n g w i t h a c h e e r i n g s e c t i o n . S l a s h i n g s k i e r s ? Wa y f u n n i e r i f f i v e p e o p l e d o i t i n a r o w. O u t r u n n i n g s k i p a t r o l ? A l w a y s b e t t e r w i t h a p a r t n e r i n c r i m e . Po u n d i n g b e e r s o n t h e l i f t ? K i n d o f s a d w h e n y o u’r e s o l o .
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O n e c o m p a n y t h a t s e e m s t o e x e m p l i f y t h e b e t t e r- t o g e t h e r, pa r t y-boa rd ment a l it y more t ha n most is Spring Bre a k Snowboa rd s. Wit h love for sla sh ing powder t hat ex tend s to some s weat y slu sh sla shing , t he good times rol l when t hese hoolig a ns head to t he h i l l. So w it h most re sor t s closed for t he wa rmer mont h s, photog rapher Ke a la n Sh i l ling vent u red to t he su m mer snowboa rd ing prom ised la nd of Mt. Hood, OR to c a mp, ride, a nd shoot w it h t he Spring Brea k boy s includ ing C o r e y S m i t h , B r e n d a n G e r a r d , A l e x “ O z m a n” S c o t t , Ty l e r “ Ty b u d ” Wa l k e r, a n d c o v e r r i d e r s M a x w e l l C a r l S c o t t ( h a n d p l a n t) a n d B e n R i c e (s l a s h ). “ We j u s t r o l l e d u p o n t h e h i p a n d t h o u g h t i t w o u l d b e a c o o l s h o t t o h a v e t w o t r i c k s i n o n e f r a m e o n t h e s a m e f e a t u r e ,” c om ment s Sh i l ling on c apt u ring t he photo. Get t ing t he per fect snap of one snowboa rder moving at Mach speeds is h a r d e n o u g h , s o i t ’s c e r t a i n l y n o e a s y f e a t i m m o r t a l i z i n g t w o m i d - m a n e u v e r. “ It w a s t o u g h t o g e t t h a t s h o t w i t h b o t h o f t h e m ,” S h i l l i n g m e n t i o n s . “ It t o o k m a y b e 5 o r 6 t r i e s i f I r e m e m b e r c o r r e c t l y, c o u l d h a v e b e e n a f e w m o r e .” We c h o s e t h i s p h o t o f o r t h e c o v e r n o t o n l y f o r i t s p e r f e c t composit ion, solid t rick s, a nd epic backd rop but bec au se of what it repre sent s. No mat ter how fa r ou r lit t le li fe st yle p r o g r e s s e s , t h e r e w i l l a l w a y s b e t h e s i d e o f i t t h a t ’s l e s s e r k n o w n t o t h e g e n e r a l p u b l i c ; t h e s i d e o f p u r e j o y. W h i le e ver y t h ing f rom conte st s to heli t rips to m ind-blow ing v ideo enders have t heir plac e, t he majorit y of u s st rap on a b o a r d j u s t t o g o h a v e s o m e g o o d t i m e s w i t h f r i e n d s . We c o u l d tel l rig ht away t hat Kea la n, Ma x wel l, Ben, a nd t he whole Spring Brea k cre w exper t ly c apt u red w it h t h is photo t he f un in the sun vibes that snowboa rding is rea lly a ll about. A l t h o u g h t a k e n i n 2 01 2 , a n e t e r n i t y i n s n o w b o a r d m e d i a yea rs, t he groups’ ef for t is proof posit ive t hat good t ime s w it h f riend s w i l l ne ver go out of st yle. Vo l . 1 3
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