THE POWDER SUCKS ISSUE Whiskey Boys Build a Backcountry Cabin
Whatever Happened to
JIBBERS IN POWADISE
!
THE ZERO PRESSURE POW TRIP
Simon Prays for The Whole Crew
BZOWY
IDIOT FILMER FORGETS BEACON
SEXTON
SHITS HIMSELF
JP’S CHIN PLOWS THROUGH THE POW “E-MAN DISCOVERS THE ESSENCE”
WHAT IS A BUSHCRY?
FALL/WINTER 2012-13 VOL - 4 - ISSUE 1 WWW.BLUNTERMAG.XXX
Joe Sexton - Kootney Crail
INTO THE
WILD Written by Sean Johnson
The StepChild team is mostly known as a group of urban street snowboarders and park jibbers. Regardless of what your snowboard specialty is, there isn’t one snowboarder out there that can deny the fact that pow slashes rule! JP and Simon were just finishing up with their rail grinding and Joe was between film trips with his new Videograss crew. E-man was busy partying in Whistler and filming for Dope III, so we grabbed the four riders and headed “Into The Wild” to the powder cabin to unplug for a few days. This isn’t a typical “Johnny shredded through the powder trees after closing a local bar cat boarding story.” This story is the truth as to why this cabin exists as well as a few highlights from having the team join me for a week of pow shredding. The teams purpose for coming on this trip wasn’t to get amazing shots or land gnarly tricks. The whole purpose of the trip was simply to disappear, have some fun and ride powder - that’s it! I’m not going to tell you about Simon’s pillow line, E-man’s method or Sexton’s crail.
When I finished my washed up career as a pro snowboarder I was burnt, broke, dumped, newly sober, bitter as black coffee and didn’t really want anything to do with snowboarding anymore. My back was completely seized and every time I rode you could hear the bottle of painkillers rattling in my pocket. When I wasn’t riding all you would hear from me was bitter snowboard rants. I was over filmers, photographers, magazines and everyone else in the industry was either a brown noser, a pain in the ass or a two faced spineless bitch-well I guess not that much has changed. Sitting on just the industry side can really kill the passion for anyone and I was up to my ears in snowboard industry bullshit. You may ask “What does this have to do with an off the grid powder cabin trip with a bunch of jibbers?” It has everything to do with it because through building this cabin and spending more time on my own in the mountains it allowed me to start enjoying snowboarding all over again. If you are still feeling bitter after a cabin pow run then you’ve got some serious issues Holmes.
Moments before a Bushcry
My partner in this cabin is Jeff Bzowy. You may know him as the blond haired psycho in the Whisky Movies that couldn’t break a bottle over his head. Bzowy has been snowboarding for years and like me he hasn’t drank in years. He was never a pro and never really cared about that. Jeff has always just loved snowboarding. I came up to this area one New Years with Jeff and within the first few runs here we both agreed “We’ve got to build a cabin here!” The reason why you have to build a cabin to enjoy this place is because the nearest hotel is 3 hours away and the nearest floor space is most likely converted into a bitter local’s grow op.
“YOU WALK INTO THE BUSH WHERE NOBODY CAN SEE YOU AND YOU BAWL YOUR EYES OUT FOR A FEW MINUTES.”
He used to sing Slayer every time he fought. Bzowy enjoys the finer things in life now. photo:Patterson
“WE WERE WORKING FROM 6AM UNTIL MIDNIGHT ALMOST EVERYDAY”
In building the cabin we got our good friend and carpenter John Elliott to help us get started. It definitely was far from easy working off a generator, sleeping outside, getting attacked by bugs and hand lifting the 900lbs ridge beam in place 21 feet off the floor with no crane. Building in the middle of nowhere can be tricky for the fact that if you run out of materials or break a tool it’s a 7 hour round trip to the building supply store. We had friends donate windows, doors, wood and everything else we could get our hands on to save on what little money we had. The rest of the stuff we bought. I had a huge waste of money in the form of a nice car that I sold, and Bzowy charged up the old credit card in order to buy our first round of building materials. We had the building up and the roof on in 11 days. We were working from 6AM until midnight almost everyday. When it would get dark we would just plug the flood lights into the generator and keep working until
we physically couldn’t. When you work like that you turn into a bit of a psycho and need to go for a mellow bush cry once every few days. A bush cry is just what it sounds like. You walk into the bush where nobody can see you and you bawl your eyes out for a few minutes. You don’t even know why you are crying, maybe it’s just to wash the sawdust from your eyes but it definitely looks like the scene at the end of Something About Mary. Either way after you are done you just get back to work with hopes that nobody heard you. A bush cry is something that you definitely do alone and it’s not cool to let someone know that you did it recently. It’s easy to admit to a few days later but for some reason you want to really hide it just after it happens. I’ve seen lots of pro snowboarders do back country cries as well as urban cries. I think it pretty much all comes from the same place.
“WE HAD THE BUILDING UP AND THE ROOF ON IN 11 DAYS”
Corb Johnson - tired?
Workin’ like a dog
Carpenter John Elliott
Poppa Johnson
The cabin is situated in an old gold mining ghost town that went bust in the early 1900’s. In 1899 on its main street it had several hotels, saloons, merchants, a whorehouse and a population of 800. The town burnt down and by 1920 it had almost been completely deserted. Now over 100 years later there is no trace of the old buildings. There are about 10 recreational cabins built on the old town site. They are owned by snowmobilers, outdoorsmen, hunters, skiers and snowboarders. The annual snowfall near the cabin is
Big trucks and big dumps
1500cm so if there were any handrails they would be buried by 15 meters of snow-a lot more work than just chipping ice off stairs. With the huge amount of snowfall avalanches are not uncommon here at all. You really have to have good snow knowledge and choose your routes and days with caution. In the days of gold mining, the number one cause of death with the miners was avalanches.
the true viking range cooktop
2girls1cup
Is that a trail of soapsuds or snow following Johnson off this pillow? Not a bad method for being washed. Photo: Adair
The cabin is great for the fact that there is no internet, no cell service or landline, no cable TV and no running water. The water is hauled in big bottles from a stream that is dug out down the road. A generator powers up the deep cycle batteries for the electricity. The batteries take 3 hrs to fully charge. Once the batteries are fully charged they will run the cabin for 2 days. The place is very well insulated and temperatures easily drop to -30 degrees celcius mid winter. The whole building is heated by an old wood stove that was donated
Hauling water
Carpooling
by a friend. We have just recently built an outhouse. Up until then we would just drop bombs at the neighbors outhouses as they usually aren’t around. You really have to spread it out though so you don’t fill one up. With no running water and snowboarding every day you can imagine how stinky the place can get without showers. Our saving grace is a hot spring with showers within a 45 minute drive. A really nice way to soothe the aching muscles in the evenings.
Dont pee in the pool
Joe top of the world
Simon missing his wife
A typical day at the cabin starts off with some very dark and powerful coffee. Followed by a huge breakfast. There is no real powder panic in trying to beat locals to the chair lineup. There are no self obsessed film crews to race to the overplayed Whistler backcountry jumps that have had every version of a 720 or 900 done off them for the last 15 years. By the way what is up with that? How do film crews or even professional snowboarders for that matter see progress as doing the same trick someone did 15 years ago off the same jump? Get a life man! So anyways back to the cabin… after breakfast you slowly put your gear on, walk 10 steps outside the front door and throw a leg over your snowmobile. Within 8 minutes you are at the top of a run with nothing but you, your friends and steep powdery trees in front of you. All you can feel is that stoke and anticipation when you drop in with your best friends and just let it run. This is what snowboarding has always been to me. After several morning runs we usually go back to the cabin for a hot lunch and then head out for a few more afternoon runs. At night and during the day everyone takes turns cooking, cleaning, hauling water, and keeping the fire going. It’s a real team effort. With no internet or phone service there is nobody on the web checking out Ellington’s newest jeans or texting a distant bro. Being in a room full of pro snowboarders that don’t have their heads buried in their computers or phones is a pretty rare sight. At the cabin we do this crazy and rare thing in the evenings called conversations with other humans. I’d suggest that most people try this sometime as its actually pretty cool.
“WE ACTUALLY HAD TO TALK TO EACH OTHER INSTEAD OF JUST STARING AT THE LAPTOP SCREEN.”
E-man stale fish. No soapsuds following this guy.
So we went there with the team, rode powder, hung out and had some fun. That’s why we built the cabin-to get away from it all and the StepChild team is always welcome there. It’s a powder oasis far from any trade shows, sales meetings, deadlines, boardrooms, shitty reviews, accountants, contracts, ad rates, the next industry trend, self proclaimed experts, job titles, lost leaders, Grover bodies, shit talking and all of the other bullshit that seems to be more the growing part of snowboarding these days. It’s great to unplug from it all and just ride with friends as a reminder to why this lifestyle and sport has become such a big part of all of our lives. I may sound like a hippy but its true. Every time I go to the cabin I am reminded of this.
Cheese
Traffic sucks
Mandatory flannels
Getting the rink ready
Simon drops into a quad kink on the only stairs he can find out here
Powder = Smiles
“IF YOU ARE STILL FEELING BITTER AFTER A CABIN POW RUN THEN YOU’VE GOT SOME SERIOUS ISSUES HOLMES.”
E-man filming a line of Joe. Don’t see no issues here
JOE SEXTON BLUNTER - So up until this season with Video Grass, you have always filmed with JP or Simon. Was it cool to just take a week off and go ride with them? JOE - Yeah definitely, this was my first season away from filming with those guys, and it was super cool to reconnect with them and talk about what everyone has been up to, both snowboarding wise and just seeing how they are doing off the board as well. We all were on pretty rail heavy programs so it was really cool to just take a week and cruise and ride powder. What made this trip different from your other trips last year? This was basically a purely passion trip, no expectations or quotas or deadlines or anything the whole point of the trip was to just disappear and hang out with everyone. Was the trip a bit of a break from the typical pressures of a filming season or where you like - “damn I gotta get back and film.”? It was a cool break for sure, but it was definitely in the back of my head like, damn I’m kinda missing out on filming. It was a weird feeling being so content with just riding powder and hanging out and like the urge to get back out and film. What is the best and worst thing about riding powder? Best: Amazing feeling, just going fast and doing slashes and little ollies off stuff, its like an unexplainable thing. Worst: Maybe leg burn haha, or falling into a tree well. Its kind of a mission to get out there but once you do its amazing. Being at the cabin how did you deal with your internet withdrawals? I think i dealt pretty well with the NO internet, I’m always trying to cut back but the laptop is always around so its easy to just check stuff out, at the cabin its not even an option so you just kinda forget. Plus it was cool because we actually had to talk to each other instead of just staring at the laptop screen. How do you adjust from filming urban terrain for months and then a couple of days later you are dropping into powder runs? It was a weird transition for sure, going from riding a small board and hitting rails then going to setting your stance back riding a big boat of a snowboard and not a rail in sight. It’s cool to experience other areas of snowboarding. Did the trip feel like a season recharger or an obligation? Recharger for sure, it got me hyped to get back out there and finish off the season. A lot of people see you as an urban/street snowboarder and I know that you follow it a lot with who you ride with and what riders you look up to. With backcountry snowboarding, what rider do you enjoy watching and why? Anyone that just makes it look good, there are so many but off the top of my head: GIGI, Nicolas Muller, Blauvelt, Devun Walsh, those guys just look like they have it all figured out. Any stand out moments, highlights or whatever that you’d like to mention about the trip? I think the whole thing and experience was a highlight! Filming go pro lines with the boys.
JP WALKER BLUNTER - So the cabin trip was meant to be more just a fun pow roost with the boys. Do you get many “no pressure” riding days throughout the season? JP - Never, those days are pretty much over now. The cabin was as close to that as I’ve got in awhile. Being off the grid completely help to get that feeling again. Are you gonna build a cabin at the spot? We basically did but the forest service came through and leveled it. Is Johnson really that washed? Maybe just more bitter than he is washed. Who cleaned up the most at the cabin? Probably E-man, he seemed extra helpful and resourceful for such a dirtbag stoner. When you first started filming, did all of the snowboarders filming with you sit on their computers and cell phones and not talk at night? Haha, when i started filming those two things didn’t really exist. Worst thing that can happen at a street spot besides getting hurt? Getting busted is never fun unless you are secretly over it and looking for an exit. Worst thing to happen while riding powder besides getting hurt or avalanches? Forgetting your lunch or thermos would basically be a day ender. Or slednecks high-marking your landing. Have you ever had a moose wreck your jump? Not yet! What makes all snowmobiles such piles? Even the new ones seem shitty. Things just aren’t made the same anymore. Do I sound old? Company’s purposely design stuff to break after awhile so you have to buy a new one. Sleds are no exception. They get more expensive and break sooner every year. It’s like it a feature.
“I knew it was the last time for awhile that I would get to just shred no pressure”
JP stomps a clean ollie down a double set
Would you rather throw a mellow pow roost or switch nose press a street rail? I don’t know depends on the day/rail. I basically have two modes, rail or pow. When I’m in rail mode I can barely think about pow. Once I hit the backcountry i get gripped thinking about jumping on a rail. It just depends on where the earth is in its rotation of the sun I guess. Any highlights, thoughts or things from the trip that stand out to you? I got one last pow run all to myself. Just suddenly I was at the top of a sick tree run solo and everyone was down at the bottom. No sled no people just me at the top of this sick ridge with endless choices of lines to take through the trees. I took a moment to try and chill out and take it all in because I knew it was the last time for awhile that I would get to just shred no pressure.
BLUNTER - If you could live up at the cabin year round would you? E-MAN - Duh! Thats what lifes all about. I’m at home in the bush.... both bushes. Haha. My dream is to live off the grid in a self sufficient home/property. My girl, greenhouses, couple chickens, fish in the pond, hydro damn in the creek and a field of outdoor.... one day. Does the snow differ there much from Whistler? We went late in the season so im not sure. It was heavy but bottomless, so, kinda like whis. I think it snows way more there throughout the winter and a lighter snow pack. More avys and shit. What do you do when you get the munchies in the middle of the bush? Eat Joe. Has snowboarding ever made you cry? Crying is for the weak. What’s harder: a quad pillow or a quad kink? I’ve never done a legit quad pillow so id say pillow. People make pow riding look easy... It ain’t! The Stepchild team is mostly known as street shredders, what do you have to say about everyone’s powder abilities on the trip? Rail riders for sure. Haha, jokes. Joe has the best pow style (the badger), he shreds. JP and Simon kill it also. We were taking it pretty easy when we were there. Soul shredding. Why is it that you still don’t have a snowmobile? You don’t pay me enough.
E-MAN ANDERSON Who cleaned up the least? Johnson. He got us to do everything. haha. Everyone did their part it seemed like. Did you suffer from any internet or cell phone withdrawals while at the cabin? Yeah, kinda. Was missing that Insta, sadly enough and would have been nice to talk to my girl but it was a nice change for sure.
How much do your other sponsors pay you? Painting in the summer for two month pays me more than all my sponsors put together for the whole year. The sponsors gotta help this homie out. Dogs gotta eat ya know.
Was the terrain more than you expected or less? We stayed in the trees because of avy danger and stuff so id say less, but the terrain that we didn’t ride looked absolutely amazing.
Do you smoke more cigarettes when riding the streets or pow? Probably the streets. There’s lots of boring, driving around and looking for spots.
Any trip highlights/moments that you could mention? I just remember laughing cause Joe shit his pants. He had to go back to the cabin to mop up, hahaha.
“That’s what life’s all about. I’m at home in the bush...”
Rare sighting of E-man riding outside of a DOPE movie
Simon on his way down to another low impact landing
SIMON CHAMBERLAIN BLUNTER - What was it like disappearing “into the wild” to ride powder for a week after grinding in an urban scene for half the season? SIMON - Man, it’s such a different feeling. Being able to unwind and have no cell phone or internet service and just have waist deep powder to ride at your finger tips is pretty much a dream life. It was so nice to hang with the whole Stepchild team and joke around, shred all day and just chill with each other like a family again. After hitting rails and feeling the concrete impact there is nothing like riding steep deep powder. Pillow life man. Riding on clouds is the feeling I think, if I had to sum it up.
“After hitting rails and feeling the concrete impact there is nothing like riding steep deep powder”
Were you done filming all of your rail shots by the time you went on the powder trip? Yeah, I just got back from a long trip to Helsinki, Finland. I probably could of went on a another rail trip but after my first pow slash I wanted to ride pow for the rest of the season. What is harder, a quad kink or a quad pillow set? Depends on the size of the pillows, I would say a quad kink though. What makes riding powder hard or easy? Hitting a big pow jump probably makes it hard. Riding a Stepchild fish board makes it easy. Would you rather do a mellow pow roost or a back lip? Right now probably a back lip, because I know I wont be able to do that forever and I know when I am Grampa Chambs I will be roosting the pow every time I go shredding. That video edit you guys did for the cabin trip looked pretty fun. Is it a different vibe when you are’t going for the hammers? Yeah it is a totally different vibe, just thinking of mashing pillows and pointing it through the trees is just such a fun mind set. You know every one that is shredding those runs are having the time of their life. So, it just turns into good times with the bros. Who cleaned up the most and who cleaned up the least at the cabin? Not sure actually, I just remembered making breakfast the last morning so I probably cleaned the least haha. That was my tactic. Is Johnson pretty washed? Johnson is never washed, When you get the Bird to the Stepchild cabin he is riding like he was in his twenties...
The Truth Behind JP’s 5 Heaviest
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D
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INTERVIEWS WITH: Mack Dawg Rob Mathis Sean Kearns Andy Wright Jeremy Jones Pat Moore and more…
RUMORS F LY: SNOWBOARD INDUSTRY IN SHAMBLES
R
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“I CONTEMPLATED NEVER FILMING SNOWBOARDING AGAIN” - JP
THE INFAMOUS DOUBLE CORK FOOTAGE DRAMA Kearns told me if I missed the shot I was
“FUCKING FIRED” -Anthony Vitale
WHERE IS
DAWGER?
FALL/WINTER 2012-13 VOL 4 - ISSUE 2 WWW.BLUNTERMAG.XXX
JP Walker True Life 2003/Photo: Rob Mathis