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For this issue we picked three similar pictures of people having fun. Normal people, like me and you, who share the same dream and the same unconditioned love and the same desperate passion for fresh snow. DAVID BERTSCHINGER KARG BY CYRIL IN HOCH YBRIG SWITZERLAND
Powder finally came this year too, hitting the Alps at the beginning of January. Better late than never, isnt’ it? DENIZ CINEK BY CYRIL IN HOCH YBRIG SWITZERLAND
I love this one here. Not that I dislike the two previous pictures, but I am particularly attracted to this one because it’s a bit blurry. It’s nothing precise and sharp, it is that little imperfection that really gives you the idea of movement and the power of the slash in powder. Good stuff. SHAYNE POSPISIL BY CYRIL IN ARLBERG AUSTRIA
TXT: GIACOMO MARGUTTI
PIC:CYRIL
RIDER: SHAYNE POSPISYL
Waiting. Above the clouds. Enjoying the moment. Taking a deep breath. It’s been a long path to get up there, but eventually it was all worth it. No complaints. No other reasons than just appreciating the moment itself, for what it simply is. Put down that darn phone, that camera. You don’t need it now. For once, take your time for yourself. Focus on yourself and that’s it. You don’t need approval for this, you don’t need likes and thumbs up. What for? You’ve come all the way up here, just relax and enjoy. Let people wait for your story, before anticipating it with the cold online version of it. It will be more interesting, you’ll see yourself.
PHOTO: TBIRD
T E A M P L AY E R S I N C E ‘ 9 2
RIDESNOWBOARDS.COM
@RIDESNOWBOARDS
EDITOR IN CHIEF Denis Piccolo | denis@tabcommunication.com EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Giacomo Margutti | giacomo@tabcommunication.com EDITORS Denis Piccolo | denis@tabcommunication.com Cristian Murianni | murio@tabcommunication.com ADVERTISING OFFICE welcome@tabcommunication.com ART DIRECTOR George Boutall | george@evergreendesignhouse.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Letizia Macaluso | letizia@evergreendesignhouse.com SEQUENCE-MAGAZINE.COM Alberto della Beffa | alberto@tabcommunication.com Daniela Micali | daniela@tabcommunication.com PHOTO SENIOR Matt Georges | hello@mattgeorges.com Denis Piccolo | denis@tabcommunication.com Cyril | cyril@cyrilphoto.com
INFO: welcome@tabcommunication.com
PHOTOGRAPHERS & FILMERS Cristian Murianni, Davide Fioraso, Marco Morandi, Markus Rohrbacher, Gianfranco Battaglia, Andrea Schiliro, Matt Georges, Roberto Bragotto, Claudio Foco, Alessia Marchegiani, Alessandro Belluscio COVER Halldor Helgason and crew by Cyril COLLABORATORS Antonio Isaja, Enrico Santillo, Lisa Filippini, Simone Natale, Marco Contardi, Elisa Maria Ferrari COMPANY EDITOR Tab Communication Via Paolo Bassi 29 Milano 20159 welcome@tabcommunication.com PRINT Grafiche Ambert Verolengo TO DISTRIBUZIONE FreePress 30.000 copies distribuited in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, England in 1200 snowboard shops
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2017-2018 SNEAK PEAK SIUSI SPOT CHECK PILA SPOT CHECK SEBI SPRINGETH CHECK OUT VLAD KHADARIN CHECK OUT I RIDE FOR FULVIO BURTON STEP ON DC AREA 43 DVP IN USA SHOPS SUPERTRICK SUPERPARK 20 SEARCHING FOR COURMAYEUR PYRAMIDEN HOCH BRIG HALLDOR HELGASON IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE WORD OUT
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BURTON KILROY CUSTOM
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TXT: GIACOMO MARGUTTI PICS: ALESSANDRO BELLUSCIO
The Seiser Alm / Alpe di Siusi snowpark, considered to be among the best ten in Europe, rises up on the Trentino Alto Adige Dolomites and offers a professional pro-line for world-class slopestyle comps and trainings, because of his several kickers, boxes and rails (more than 70 features in total). The Alpe di Siusi Snowpark was awarded the title of Best Terrain Park in Italy Modena Skipass in 2014, 2015 and 2016. At the annual awards for terrain parks, snowboarders and freestylers at the winter exhibition in Modena, the Alpe di Siusi Snowpark won the categories of Best Park, Best Jib Line and Best Pro Line. And all very well-earned: At 1.5km in length and offering 70 obstacles of all difficulties, it is the biggest fun park in the Dolomites and one of the biggest in Italy. The numerous perfectly groomed rails, kickers, boxes and whoop sections make up a variety-packed offer: With easy, medium and pro-lines, a wood-line and a family-fun line, your every slopestyle wish is fulfilled. Three years ago when the Italian freestyle-snowboard national team came to the Alpe di Siusi to train for the Olympics, the terrain park was classified as the best in Europe. Take a look yourself at all his attractions, like its woodline in front of the Dolomites panorama and its family fun line for its youngest guests! Last year it was Europa Cup, this season Seiser Alm’s snowpark hosts a FIS World Cup stop the last week of January, both snowboarding and freestyle skiing. For the next 3 years, the Alpe di Siusi Snowpark is sponsor and partner for the Italian National Freestyle Ski and Snowboard teams, who will be coming here to train for the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. The Alpe di Siusi will be the official training ground for the Italian FIS Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard National
teams for the 15/16, 16/17 and 17/18 winter seasons. The FIS Europa Cup Slopestyle Ski and Snowboard Championships are also held in the Alpe di Siusi Snowpark every year. And what to say about the F-Tech crew, captained by Alex Berger, who since years now have been keeping on surprising us all with their incredible and magnificent constructions? There are no more words to describe a team the whole world envy us. Slopestyle riders who right in these days are training on their features and facilities don’t stop congratulating the F-Tech crew on their super precise and tireless job. “Their kickers look like if they’ve been cut with a laser!”, that’s one of the most common comments we have heard in these days. So, what are you waiting for? Don’t go waste your time and come to Seiser Alm to enjoy the view of the Dolomites from one of the nicest parks in Europe!
EVENT CALENDAR 25-27.01.2017
fis world cup / slopestyle snowboard
26-28.01.2017
fis world cup / slopestyle freeski
18.02.2017
raiffeisen ski king
04.03.2017
schlern games
BY Y EDITORIAL TEAM
Pila, the resort in the centre of Val d’Aosta, is famous for its natural scenic position with a view on the 4’000m of the region from Mont Blanc to the West, to Mount Rosa to the East, passing by the Grand Combin and the Cervino, a thrilling skyline; for being so easily reachable from Aosta centre with only 18 minutes of gondola; for its exposure protected from the elements and the bad weather which a guaranteed riding all year long in between 1’800 and 2’700m; for its slopes’ quality, and so on. PILA’S AREAEFFE – THE FREESTYLE AREA At 2’200m, right above the village, you can find the Areaeffe snowpark, a freestyle area realised to meet the needs of all of us freestylers. The “F” stands for free and fun, freedom and good times, tricks and music, among rails, boxes and kickers. There are easy, medium and hard lines, totems which explain you the runs more clear, wi-fi all over the place to stay connected and to share your tricks, Areaeffe collects prizes, the last one at the Skipass of ModenaFiere 2016 as the best snowpark of the North-West. Good news for the freestylers because AreaEffe snowpark is 100% up and running, with its 650m of linear extension, which include a kicker line with jumps up to 16 metres and many features for slopestyle and jibbing. The main line is made up of four kickers in a row (10 mt, 15 mt, 14 mt, 16 mt), a final table of rails with four features, among which the tank of 6 mt, a box of 9 mt, a single rail of 9 mt and a C-box. The intermediate line is made up of six tables with kickers from 5 up
to 8 metres, together with boxes from 6 to 9 metres.For the rookies, there is an area of two funboxes, two kickers and an easy box.On the rail line there are a box and a single rail of 6 mt, a pooljam, a dynobox and a tight box, a rainbow and a donkey, which will be soon integrated with some new features.Pila gets ready to host major events dedicated to the spectators and the athletes, always with an eye on snowboarders and freestylers, thanks to the park features good care, beautifully maintained by an excellent staff of shapers directed by historical riders like Ivo Letey and Alessio Bazzana. In the next few months the AreaEffe in fact will be hosting two events of Coppa Italia FISI, a stop of the important Xmasters and a contest of freestyle features with special obstacle.
EVENT CALENDAR 22.01.2017
Coppa Italia Snowboard FISI - Big Air
28.01.2017
Coppa Italia Freeski FISI - Slopestyle
25-26 .03.2017 01.04.2017
Deejay Xmasters Big Air Contest Close The DOORS Camp Out edition
P: JOEL FRASER
CONTACT
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It was just an ordinary day. My phone rang, it was Plazy. I hadn’t heard from him since some time. After a long chat, he started to speak about this very strong 14-year-old kid from Bozen. He told me if I wanted to know his name I should have sent him a board. I have a huge respect for Plazy as a person and as a rider, I would have given him a board anyway, but it was fun to accept that thing so I chuckled and I sent him a board. Four years went by since that day, and I haven’t regretted it: if Plazy asked me 100 boards I would send him 100 boards.
thing is that Vans don’t really care if you win contests or if you post 1000 videos on Instagram or FB. They take you for what you are and they give reward for your style. Being part of this family is a real honour and I hope to stay with them as long as I can. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THIS SEASON? I’d like to film for my very first part in street. We started it off really well, but then unfortunately my collarbone broke and I’ll be out for 40 days. In the meanwhile I’ll study and I’m gonna take it easy. I’ll be back as soon as I can :-) WHERE IS SNOWBOARDING GOING TO? I don’t know, unfortunately I was born and raised during the Olympics and FIS era, so I can’t compare this to the old times. I believe snowboarding is going towards the right direction, although we’re still far away from what snowboarding used to be. Surely we should get it together and give credit to those who really love this sport, because first thing first is passion. Without passion, snowboarding is dead.
HI SEBI, TALK ABOUT YOURSELF. Hi everyone, my name is Sebastian Springeth, I’m 18 and I come from Bozen. I’m backed by Vans, Gnarcolate, Ashbury, Stinky Socks, Fakieshop and Surftolive, my favourite food is schitzel and no, I’m not engaged <3. YOU’VE GROWN UP RIDING WITH MAX ZEBE. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM HIM? Max Has Always Been Like My Older Brother To Me. We Grew Up Pushing Each Other, Sharing A Passion Which Tied Us Since The Very First Day. Me And Max Have Two Different Styles, So To Say That I See Him As A Point Of Reference Would Not Be Correct. I’ve Learned And I Am Still Learning A Lot Of Things From Max But I Am Also Trying Not To Limit Myself To That. I’m Trying To Create Something More Personal Although, Yeah, Max Is Max And So For Some Aspects I Get Some Inspiration From His Riding.
YOU ARE FROM THE FAKIE SHOP SCHOOL, A MARK THAT IS IMPRESSED ON THE STRONGEST RIDERS FORM OUR COUNTRY. HOW MUCH HAS ALEX BERGER BEEN IMPORTANT TO YOUR GROWTH? An entire book wouldn’t be enough to tell you all what Alex did for me and for many others. I’ve known many people in this world but none with the same passion of Alex. All credit to Alex and his F-Tech team.
WITHOUT ANY DOUBTS YOU ARE ONE OF THE MOST SKATE STYLE RIDERS OF THE ITALIAN SCENE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS NEW VAGUE VERY POPULAR IN THE USA? Snowboarding can be divided in two: the sportsmen and the creative ones. There’s who is in search for perfection, contests, the exceptional athletic feat. And there’s also who just has to express himself creating something new. I think I’m one of the second category. I don’t care about winning, I don’t even care about participating to be honest. Skate has changed this way since years, and now snowboarding is doing the same. We all can be snowboarders even without trying a triple, you just need a little of creativity. YOU’VE JUST ENTERED THE VANS TEAM. AN IMPORTANT THING FOR SOMEONE WHO’S ONLY 18. Vans are doing amazing stuff, and being part of their family is something awesome for me. The coolest
IN THE PAST TWO YEARS YOU’VE FILMED A LOT. HOW COME DID YOU PICK THIS DIRECTION LEAVING THE CONTEST LIFE? I’ve never loved competitions although I’ve followed the whole Rookie Tour and so on. I simply found more interesting creative snowboarders’ riding and then I picked that direction. I tend to see snowboarding more like an artistic expression, I like to create, film and then share my “work” with other people, that’s it. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THE ITALIAN SCENE? Well, I think that we are slowly getting back. We are still behind, a lot, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have a great potential but we don’t take advantage of it. We have to stay up-to-date without focussing on the past. I believe Italy still has a lot left to say and without any doubt we will make it. Let me thank who loves me, like my family in first place, my friends and all those who give me the chance of doing what I like... thank you all.
TXT: STEFANO BERGAMASCHI PIC: ALESSIA MARCHEGIANI
rk & Nightpark Setup Snowpa RK: SETUP SNOWPA m), 4,5 Halfpipe (100 m, , 10 Kicker (2 – 16 m) Down Box 7m, Box 3m, Rail 6m, Fun Tube 7m, Rainbow Box 3,5m, il 9m, Down-Flat-Down Ra
x 3m, Up Rail 4m, Up Bo , 7m x Bo ked Kin Starship, Kinked Box 5m, Mila-Box 5m, A-Frame Box 6,5m, 8m, Straight-Step Box
BOARDERCROSS BANKED SLALOM KIDS PARK ES: NEW STRUCTUR Citroen Stairset, High Five Hand, e Citroen Rainbow Tub Multiobstacle
K: la pista Obereggen SETUP NIGHTPAR ma, gi, ve, ore 19:00 – 22:00 lungo di Aperto nelle serate ore 8:30 – 16:30 e tutti i giorni dalle Wave Box x Down Box Rainbow Wave Bo STRUCTURES: Kicker Bank & Down Box Up s Kid Down Tube Up & Down Tube Butter Rail
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owpark eggen.com/sn er b .o w w w PARK // BEREGGEN.SNOW /O m o .c k o o www.faceb
OBE16_sequence_190x245_3mm.indd 1
04.10.16 12:34
TXT: GIACOMO MARGUTTI PIC: FIZZA SPOT: LIVIGNO MOTTOLINO
HI VLAD, TELL US YOUR STORY. Hi, my name is Vlad Khadarin, I’m 18. I come from Siberia, Russia, but I’ve been living in Italy since six years. First I moved to Como with my family. But then, after I met my coach Davide Cecconi at a contest in 2012, I started riding in Madonna di Campiglio very often. After I was done with the secondary school, I spoked to my parents and Davide and decided to move to Campiglio. From then on I started my path. WHERE DO YOU RIDE USUALLY? WHICH IS THE BEST PARK IN THE WORLD? My home spot is the Ursus Snowpark in Campiglio, where I train most of the time. This year finally I managed to visit the USA. And I can say that the park that surprised me the most is Keystone, Colorado. WHEN DID YOU LEARN RIDING AND WHY? I tried it with my dad when I was five. It was love at first sight. After two years I signed up for a snowboarding school which I attended until I moved to Italy. I practised a lot of slopestyle but most of all boardercross.
WHICH ARE YOUR TOP 3 SNOWBOARDING VIDEOS? A shot in the dark, RK1, ShredBoots. PEOPLE WERE STOKED TO SEE YOU LANDING THE FIRST FRONTSIDE 18 EVER, OTHERS HATED ON THE SPIN-TO-WIN ROTATION WITHOUT GRABBING AND THAT SORT OF STUFF. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THAT? I have another point of view on that. I try to find my own way, my instinct and my concept of freestyle which is not made of rigid schemes but of creativity and expression. HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR SEASON FROM NOW ON? Very intense and tough, but full of unforgettable emotions. My main goal is to find out what I can do. DO YOU THINK YOU’RE STRONGER ON RAILS OR JUMPS? I’ve improved on both a lot, but I think I’m better at jumping for now.
WHO ARE YOUR SNOWBOARDING HEROES? Torstein Horgmo, Stale Sandbech and Scott Stevens.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST, BIG AIR OR SLOPESTYLE? Definitely slopestyle. Because it gives me the chance of creating and making my own ideal run.
WHO ARE THE ITALIAN RIDERS YOU LIKE THE MOST? Lollo Barbieri: more style, less talk.
WHO DO YOU LIKE TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Being always better than the previous day.
Best Snowpark in Italy
World's Best Freestyle Resort
SNOWPARK SEISER ALM Best Snowpark in Italy Snowpark Setup:
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16 Kickers (1-20 m) 32 Rails & Boxes 1 Secret Stair Set 14 Wood Obstacles Family Fun Line Park length of 1.5 km more than 20 hits in one run
FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
sequence_190x245_3mm_3rd.indd 1
SKI & SNOWBOARD
25 – 28/01/2017
SNOWPARK.SEISERALM.IT 19.12.16 15:35
BY EDITORIAL TEAM
Have you ever spotted around the “I RIDE FOR FULVIO” writing on t-shirts, stickers, web? I would like to tell you the fantastic story that lays behind. It all starts in between Madonna di Campiglio and Les2Alpes snowparks. There is a sports-lover boy, who is well considered for his snowboarding tricks. In just a few seasons Fulvio understands that this sport gives him emotions he never felt before, he meets incredible people, whom he still thank nowadays. In 2009, the first double cork of the Italian snowboarding history ever documented is his. These are his own words: “I regret a bit that I’ve never come across the professional world of contests, but I’ve always deeply and personally lived snowboarding, in total freedom and together with many, many friends, people who turned out to be really special. In the past few years of snowboarding, in between kickers in powder, halfpipe and many crashes I’ve always progressed, until I managed to be backed by some sponsors whom I will always thank. Because they let me ride at my best thanks to their professional and technical gear.” In 2011, the bad news. Fulvio is diagnosed with a very rare and serious form of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a disease with a characteristic that makes it particularly dramatic: despite blocking little by little all the muscles, it does not stop the ability of thinking and the will of relating with others. Your mind stays alert but is trapped into a body which slowly but steadily becomes motionless. In less than one year the sclerosis force him on the wheelchair, without being able to swallow nor speak. The only way he can communicate is a computer which reads the pupils. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the ALS yet, and the health
care covers just a little part of the high expenses for his sustenance. In 2012 Williams and Luca, who know Fulvio since several years, decided to help him out creating the no-profit organisation “Fulvio Cimarolli Committee”. Their goal is to raise funds to sustain Fulvio’s expensive cures. That is when “I RIDE FOR FULVIO” motto was created. In just a few months the show of support is so powerful that it thousands of people in Italy and even abroad got involved. With the donations collected, Fulvio can afford the experimental therapies based on infiltrations of stem cells. His conditions do not improve, nevertheless his degenerative process slows down at least. During his trips to undergo therapeutic cures, Fulvio meets many people with similar issues. One day he tells Willy and Luca “I’d like to help other people who have been unlucky like me, especially the kids.” So from then on we changed the Commitee into Fulvio Cimarolli Association, so to address part of the funds we collect to the research and to other people with health issues, hoping to help them out in their battle for their lives. Since last year for example we support the autistic kids from Brescia, coordinating and funding their aquatics therapies of the Cosmid Association. They found out that autistic people react very well to the stimulus in aquatic environments. The great activism to help Fulvio gives him a strong reason to continue his battle. This solidarity infected hundreds of people of any age. Anyone can support our Association’s initiatives. You can find all the info on HYPERLINK “http://www.associazionefulviocimarolli.it/”www.associazionefulviocimarolli.it
TXT: GIACOMO MARGUTTI
BLACK, SILVER AND BLUE
WMN: BLACK, WHITE AND TEALEST
Burton Step On, the newest news of the next season. Better: sometimes they come back. And, OK, let’s go to the main point here: the Step On, well, it works. And it works well. Really well, I mean. They do have some cons, well to be fair just one about me but I guess not for everyone the same con (I’ll tell you later on about this), yet nobody is 100% perfect, ain’t it? In the end it actually works well, and the pros are more than the cons (and again, it’s just one thing about me). So, I wrote it straight away to get you right to the point. Then, other considerations. The bindings themselves are super cool just to watch and touch. A very well-designed piece and touching the material you soon understand that it is worth it. They look nice and cool also because after a couple of hours riding with these, when you notice other people’s “normal and good old” bindings, well they look like a blast from the past. It’s like when the newest release of iOS or the brand new iPhone or a new model of a well-known car are released on the market. Same. The straps now feel like old. The boots instead are quite normal, since they are basically ordinary Burton boots with Boa –
except for having those strange toe cleats and another one right above the heel. The boots with dual Boa (with the ankle strap) should be better in theory and more expensive than the other one more simple, but I rode for hours with the Ruler (the simple one) and I did not feel the need of having another strap. You’re already tied in. The boots are probably the critical point for those like me who have a large sole of the foot. Not being a pro rider and using the boots more to work with them on rather than to ride (I wear them the whole day, from breakfast until dinner basically), I’d rather go with much softer boots than usual. And these Ruler are kind of stiff especially to the sides of your foot – probably because of those connecting points. Having said that, the test went really well. I learned how to step in (on!) while standing on my feet. No more seating down to strap it on and off, no more bending, no more arse on the snow: all gone. After a couple of hours I even managed to step on the board while riding down the chairlift, without even stopping. No more loss of time. Game changer. You just need to get used to it. To step on/in the bindings you
RULER BLACK
RULER GREY TIE DYE
PHOTON BLACK
WMN: FELIX, BLACK
RULER TAN
PHOTON BLUE
WMN: LIMELIGHT, BLACK
need to lean the back of your boot against the spoiler of the bindings, then you slide it down and you are hooked at the back. Then you have to insert the toex cleats into toe hooks to end the process. When you are stepping out of your board, you need to pull the lever up, let it go, and the boot is released. You just need then to put some pressure to the left and to the right to step out from the toe hooks. That’s it. Actually it is easier done than said. How do they ride? Very well I must say. In these times when carving and turning is à la mode again, your board with the step on will be super reactive as there is a super direct contact between (your foot) the bindings and the board. It is very responsive. Cons? It’s all a little bit stiff and rigid. Some would like it, some not. Up to you. The ones who are used to have a little play between their boots and their bindings and tend not to tighten up their straps, well, they would probably not like this stiff method. But it is as precise as you can get. As soon as you impress a move, your board responds immediately. How do they do in park, on 30-metre kickers? I personally do not know. I am not able to jump on a
WMN: LIMELIGHT, TAN
30-metre kicker, otherwise I wouldn’t write here on this magazine, I’d rather be a pro rider. And so I asked the riders themselves. Like Mark Sollors, whom I met right in Burlington, the home of Burton Snowboards. And, well, he told me he was super stoked about it. He even tried them jumping in powder. And it also seems that Max Zebe (somebody who loves the rails and so on, not one of those who really take it easy while riding) asked Burton to let him use for the whole season. Just saying two riders that can tell us more than I can about using the Step On system in a more professional way. As an ordinary user all I can say that in the practical use this system is pretty handy. Having said that, the bindings in the future will not surely be just of this kind. But it is nice that someone tries something else, it means that the market is still alive somehow. The Step On bindings are one model declined in female and male models of three colours. The boots are actually two already existing models: Ruler in three colours and Photon (with dual Boa) in two colours for male; Felix in three colours and Limelight (with dual Boa) in two colours for female.
TXT: ALEX STEWART
PIC: LAURENT MEUZY SPOT: MERIBEL
With every new year comes new opportunities. And a new opportunity for myself and the Rusty Toothbrushes was stopping in for a few days at the DC Shoes Chalet in Meribel, France for our annual week of mayhem at the recently re-opened and re-branded DC AREA43, arguable one of the most progressive, fun and unique snowparks in Europe. Every time I pull into the driveway of the DC Chalet and see that big white DC Logo hanging from the balcony I feel this instant uncanny sensation of making it home. Strangely enough it is actually the place I spend most of my time each season between all the other adventures we are on throughout the year. It’s also probably because after three or so years of coming here, Jesus (the chalet keeper) has become so much of a friend to me he really makes that little Chalet feel like home. This year we rolled into town around 7pm, Jesus was out having a beer somewhere so we decided that instead of waiting outside for him in the cold we would just break into the Chalet through one of the windows that was usually left open. As we had expected the fire was already blazing, a big soup was steadily stewing away on the stove top and the fridge was packed to the seals with Carlsbergs. “Ahhhhhh.... yep, this was the life” The crew this round was made up of the Rusty Toothbrush originals Jack, Victor and Brad along with super grom Ian Matteoli and the Welsh duo Jake and Joe Simpson more commonly known as the Simpson Broth-ers. Aside the fact the seven-person crew from different nationalities and with ages spanning evenly from 11-25 years old every one of us was on the same page with how we wanted the week to go down. Everything from the spots we wanted the hit to the tricks we wanted to land and the vibe we wanted to create came down to a unanimous vote every time. In all fairness it was pretty damn impossible not to have a good time there. The rad park crew at DCAREA43 had put in 100’s of hours preparing a perfectly groomed and tailored park for our arrival complete with a full three kicker jump line and massive rail section. No exaggeration this was perhaps the most productive, stress free and most fun session filming for a Rusty Toothbrush video... EVER. Not a bad way to kick of 2017 I’d say, fingers crossed this incredible week with an incredible crew has set the tempo for the remainder of 2017. HAPPY NEW AREA43 EVERYONE!!!
Lo snowpark per gli amanti del freestyle e dello slopestyle che ha vinto nel 2016 il titolo di Best Park Alpi Ovest Situato a 2200 metri, l’Area Effe si sviluppa in un’area di 20.000 mq per una lunghezza di 650 metri. Accoglie tre linee (Easy, Medium e Hard) composte dai rispettivi box, rail e kicker studiati per assecondare ogni livello di riding. A ritmo di musica, sempre connesso grazie al free wifi ed in totale sicurezza troverai uno Snowpark perfettamente curato, shepato e fresato quotidianamente. È raggiungibile dal centro di Aosta in 30 minuti con la cabinovia e la seggiovia Grand Grimod.
SCOPRI TUTTE LE NOVITÀ SUL NOSTRO NUOVO SITO
0165.521148 347.7653434 info@pila.it
Promo Areaeffe per Sequence \90x245 mm .indd 1
AREAEFFE snowpark Pila #AREAEFFE #PilaAostaValley 01/12/16 16:12
TXT & PICS: MARCO MORANDI RIDER: MAX ZEBE
Starting a new filming season off with a trip to the States - does
until 10pm and together with the skipass you get the access
it get any better than that? No. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we decided to head
to Woodward, a super equipped gym with trampolines and a
off to Boreal, Mammoth, Mountain High, Snow Summit and Bear
super cool indoor skatepark. Before going to Mammoth, a stop
Mtn. These were our stops during a three-week road trip through
in San Francisco is always mandatory: Pier 39, Alcatraz, Golden
California, with obvious and classic stopovers in Los Angeles and
Gate and downtown are surely the best attractions, moreover
San Francisco. After having been with Ethan Morgan in Australia
there is High Ashbury, hippy land where you can find anything
for our previous web episode, I asked Max Zebe to join us. It is
and everything.The next morning we woke up at dawn off to
nice having an Italian (or so) on board with us so to speak our
Mammoth. For sure it is the biggest resort of the entire California
language sometimes. Obviously Max did not waste his chance,
where, thanks to a unexpected snowfall at nighttime, we were
so he came and on December 2nd, him, me, Ethan Morgan and
able to film a couple of lines in fresh powder more than what we
Flo Corzelius we all departed from Munich off to Los Angeles.
did in the park. We were already halfway through our trip, so we went to Mountain High, together with the Analog team, before
Filming in park is surely less stressful and 100% easier than in
getting back to Los Angeles.
street or in powder so we took advantage of the three-week trip and visited California, in my opinion one of the best American
After a quick stop by Neff HQ, we were off to Bear with the Neff
states. After spending three days in Los Angeles, we headed off
van. Bear is surely snowboarding mecca. An entire resort dedica-
to Lake Tahoe. First stop of our trip: Boreal.
ted to the park, with hundreds of features placed anywhere. Our
Boreal is a small resort close to Truckee, a classic old-West style
last week could not end up better than that, with a last classic
kind of town founded close to the railway connecting Califor-
wild party to celebrate the end of our amazing trip, before going
nia and Nevada.Boreal is the ideal spot to film. Its park is open
to Los Angeles to jump on our flight back to Europe.
WHEN AND HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA OF AN ACTION SPORT SHOP? Back in 1987 the idea was to open a different shop than the usual ones. At that time people called it “alternative sports”, and so we began. WHAT DOES SNOWBOARDING MEAN TO YOU? It definitely means freedom, freeride and a different style than the one traditional skiers have. WHICH ARE YOUR INVESTMENTS IN THE ACTION SPORTS? During 30 years we have invested a lot in events connected to skateboarding but most of all snowboarding. Moreover, during the years we opened other two shops and doubled up the space of our historic shop. WHAT KIND OF ACTIVITIES DO YOU OFFER YOUR CUSTOMERS? We organise parties, snow trips on Sundays with the bus and also entire weeks. All advertised on our social media pages. DO YOU HAVE A TEAM? In the past few years we gave up with having a team. We opted instead for having a group of opinion leaders, i.e. guys who do not have to be pro-riders, but they constantly and directly work on the field to connect our shop with our clients. HOW MUCH DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE ONLINE WEBSHOP AND HOW MUCH IN A DIRECT CONNECTION WITH YOUR CLIENTS? The online has surely become more and more an opportunity for many companies. For what it matters to us, we think that it’s just a sterile thing that has destroyed thousand of shops and the direct human relationships which are still at the grounds of our job. I believe that the traditional sale is still our main source, where the human relationship is an essential factor. WHAT ARE YOUR ADVICES TO A ROOKIE? If you really want to
step into snowboarding, get yourself a good teacher right from the start, and buy the gear you need instead of renting it. The board-bindings-boots factors are multiple and every time a rookie has to rent his gear he basically has to start it from scratch. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SPOT? For sure, Livigno. IL PUNTO DI FORZA DEL VOSTRO SHOP? Senza dubbio il rapporto con i clienti abbinato a un prodotto selezionato di altissima qualità. Il rapporto umano è senz’altro al primo posto. Sotto questo aspetto con i miei collaboratori sono intransigente. I nostri clienti da noi si devono sentire a casa e noi li chiamiamo per nome. È quello che ci deve contraddistinguere dai grandi gruppi commerciali. WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE RIDER? Danny Davis at this moment. THE FIVE MAIN BRANDS YOU HAVE AMONG YOUR TECHNICAL SNOWBOARDING CHOICE: Burton, Capita, Salomon, Union, Drake. DO YOU SUGGEST TO WAX YOUR BOARD BEFORE THE FIRST SEASONAL RIDE? DIY OR IN A TECHNICAL CENTRE? If you have just to wax your board, you should get away with it pretty easily. If you have to do the edges or there’s something wrong with your board’s base, you should ask some experts. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON SNOWBOARD CLUBS? If they are well organised, it’s a good thing. All the initiatives that help to maintain the interest for snowboarding high, they should be considered a positive thing. FUTURE PLANS? In this particular moment of the market, after 30 years and if there are no shocking surprises, I can’t see a nice future ahead of us. We try to live the present our best way, maintaining the highest quality at our shops. Bruma has always lived in the future, having been one of the first shops to believe in snowboarding.
ITW BY DENIS PICCOLO
WHEN AND HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA OF AN ACTION SPORT SHOP? It all happened at once. A series of situations and coincidences in 2005 that made me, without any second thoughts, open a skate, snowboard and surf shop. The name Switch Shop comes from “switch”, a trick in any of these action sports. So I quit my job and I launched myself into this adventure. Those which until few days before had just been pure passions, changed into daily work, sometimes hard, not easy, but the passion is still there. WHAT KIND OF ACTIVITIES DO YOU OFFER YOUR CUSTOMERS? I try more than ever to get a nice group of people together, let my clients feel like part of that group, so the shop to be a point of reference. Throughout the years we have organised snowboard trips all around Italy, while in the past, during springtime, we went to Val Senales; since many years we’ve co-operated with our friends from “The Garden”, during the winter season at their home resort in Madonna di Campiglio and in summertime, on the Les2Alpes glacier. Speaking of surfing, together with our friend and rider Yari Cava, we put up a surf school in Tirrenia, and for all those who want to go abroad, we can help them out in organising a vacation/trip at Paolo Stragliotto’s Orange Surf School in Furteventura, or at Ricky’s Surf to Live. DO YOU HAVE A TEAM? Throughout the years, a bunch of guys passed by our team. So far we’ve put up a nice group of people, I’m happy with the relationship between us, with their collaboration and their will of progressing more and more. In the snowboard team we have two teachers, Abetone local Luca Gironi and Emiliano Pinzi who, after teaching in Whistler, Canada, in the past few seasons, is currently living in Japan. We have three local guys to form our skate team: veterans Simone Sacchetti aka “Cipolla”, Marco Fiaschetti aka
“Fiasco” and youngster but powerful David Rio. HOW MUCH DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE ONLINE WEBSHOP AND HOW MUCH IN A DIRECT CONNECTION WITH YOUR CLIENTS? I do believe a lot in a direct contact and in a long-time relationship. After 11 years in the shop, I’m surprised of witnessing the evolution of some of our clients - we met them when they were just kids and nowadays are little men. Despite all this, I’m aware of the actual reality of these days, and without any doubt the online let you get everybody know your products everywhere. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SPOT? Our home resort of Abetone and Cimone, Livigno, and Stubai in Austria. WHAT YOUR SHOP’S STRONGEST POINT? The never-ending search, our skill of finding products and brands you can’t really find anywhere. Our expertise and seriousness, as we take care of our clients one by one, finding the right solution for them - not only trying to sell them just “stuff ”. The relationship we create with our clients and our shop’s atmosphere, this is what you can feel when you enter Switch Shop. Moreover, in the shop I put up events which stress out the collaborations with brands and projects with artists. THE FIVE MAIN BRANDS YOU HAVE AMONG YOUR TECHNICAL SNOWBOARDING CHOICE: Union, Arbor, Thirtytwo, SmithOptic, Airblaster. DO YOU SUGGEST TO WAX YOUR BOARD BEFORE THE FIRST SEASONAL RIDE? DIY OR IN A TECHNICAL CENTRE? It depends on one’s skills. I personally take care of our laboratory and still nowadays we prepare our clients’ boards manually, with all the steps you need to get your board at its best. FUTURE PLANS? Some in the making and for sure I’ll go on working with great passion!
ITW BY DENIS PICCOLO
ETHAN MORGAN FS 1260° DOUBLE CORK MELON BY CYRIL IN ALBERG AUSTRIA
This is a very technical trick executed by Ethan Morgan in powder. To do this one here you need to have a perfect riding level, you need to get your frontside spin unlocked in park at least, where the kicker and the landing are always clean and easier than on a freeride terrain. You especially need to concentrate on both the frontside spins you land the way you would do a fs 12: fs 540 and fs 900. You have to focus on the way you take off, always a little bit from the heels and with a good pop, always having your sight on the landing all throughout the whole aerial phase. When you think you are ready to try this trick, you just need to wait for some good powder, find the right spot and build a nice kicker in backcountry. In powder, although you might believe it’s easier, it’s actually more complicated because your take-off has to be way lighter so not to destroy completely the kicker. Then for the same reason you can’t just go there and
do too many tries of fs 5s or 9s before executing your 12. So, when you’re ready, drop in, be concentrated on a super light take-off, pump a good pre-rotation and at the moment of your ollie, create a powerful frontside spin, with the help of your abs. Grab melon, always following the rotation, and when you are a bit more than 720 begin to take a look at the landing following it with your head and your upper body to execute the last 540. Prepare to land already knowing that in powder all your weight must be on the rear leg and go mellow like Ethan stomping it.
SAGE KOTSENBURG HEELSIDE BACKSIDE 270 BY CYRIL IN OTARU JAPAN
There you go, rail lovers: one of the most difficult tricks in street, nailed by Sage Kotsenburg himself. To do a heelside 270 you need to have a perfect riding level and you gotta know how to rotate and nail heelside backside 3s. Before trying this trick out in street, find a feature in park that would let you try and try again as you gain more confidence. Get the right speed, your weight a bit on your toes, then on your heels, straighten your back not to bend, get a spin as if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing a switch bs 360, get an ollie
just enough to step on the rail. Try to anticipate the rotation to get your sight on the rail beforehand, and at this point turn your legs and get on the rail very mellow, to slide with more confidence on it. As you do all this, well, then you just need to nail it until the end. When you are confident enough of being able to stomp this trick in park and if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re crazy enough like Halldor, then you might begin to think of finding the right spot to try that out in street too.
PICS: ROBY BRAGOTTO TXT: ALBERTO MAFFEI SPOT: MT HOOD OREGON
ALBERTO MAFFEI
The idea of getting to the Superpark came from Filippo who, telling us about his missions in the States like the previous Superpark editions, asked me and Emiliano if we would have liked to participate at such an exclusive event. Superpark is organised by Snowboarder Mag and consists in some sort of a mega-shooting in the USA, usually every year in a different resort where several crews of shapers coming from the best American parks build some gigantic features for the best riders in the world. There are not so many Italian riders who participated into Superpark and the last one before us it was Marco Grigis in Mount Hood, Oregon. Obviously me and Emi wanted to go to Superpark, but knowing that it was an event which you got to be invited to, we were in doubt if we would have called up for it. Fil instead told us not to worry, he was taking care of that. He did not say shit about it, as he sent an email straight to Pat Bridges asking if he wanted two Italians at the 20th edition of Superpark. Of course Filippo too knew that it was unlikely for us to be invited, but it’s always better to give it a try. Weeks went by while we weren’t getting any reply from Pat, and so after a month we lost our hopes, sure that he did not even take in consideration our request. At the end of April with the Italian national team we went to Klausberg to shoot with Roberto Bragotto, a closest friend of us and also a very good photographer, who is always available to shoot with us when he is free. During this shooting with him, the answer finally came: we were officially invited to Superpark 20. Me and Emi we were in awe – we rushed to let Filippo know, and in that euphoric moment Roby came up with the idea of following us then to do a report of the whole trip. As we discussed how to organise for the trip, we thought it would not be such a bad idea to have a photographer with us during our mission, so we contacted Roby trying to convince him to come with us. After some hesitations, Roby accepted our invite,
so from that moment on we began to organise the whole thing asking for some help from our sponsors. We would like to thank The Garden Snowboard, Gnarcolate and Picture to help us out realising this little dream of ours. Everything set – we were ready to go. On April 26th we departed, me and Emiliano from Milan, while Roby from Venice. Once arrived in Mammoth, we went to the Superpark 20 welcome party. As we entered the place we soon understood we were at the right place: all the top riders of the snowboarding world were right there. Sebastien Toutant, Sven Thorgren, Halldor Helgason and many others. Pat Bridges did his intro speech welcoming everyone. Day1: Early wake-up call, breakfast and we drove to reach the resort. Once we arrived, we registered ourselves with a little portrait. Unluckily, right from the very first day the weather conditions weren’t on our side – cloudy and windy, as the chairlift to reach Superpark was shut down so we went riding at the main park of Mammoth which was anyway cool. We rode for a few hours and we took a chance of getting some shots on its features. Around 2pm, finally Superpark chairlift opened. We took the chairlift and began to look around and soon we glanced at the features. At first, we were scared, as we’d never seen such big, gigantic, immense and difficult things. The most impressive feature was a step-down of 36 metres of flat. Just looking at it is a joke. From the kicker to the end of the flat it looked like the horizon line. Some crazy unknown guy try a couple of features with poor results. After five minutes another dude drops in for a step-up but he smashes against the wall because he comes in too short. The first feature we begin to try with is the spine, but after a couple of tries the bad weather comes in and we are forced to go back home. The following day it’s not better than the previous first one. Bad
EMILIANO LAUZI
ALBERTO MAFFEI
weather right from the start. We immediately understand that as soon as the weather turns good, they invite only the Big Names to some private sessions – and we unfortunately are not part of them. So we have to do our best during the best conditions we can find.The third day is fantastic, apart from the strong gusts of wind here and there, but we never stop, not that soon at least. We try to do the jump with the gap, but it’s just impossible understanding the right speed. One lap you come in short on the flat, the following one you just go too long. So we try some tricks but it never turns out like we want to so we try and try many efforts. Towards the end of the day we do not want to give up anyways, so Emi tries a huge backside 180 tail but goes too wide and overrotates it as he lands in 360 at the end of the landing – completely in the flat, as he hurts his knee. Emi is ruled out, and after that crash I don’t feel like jumping anymore, so we bring Emi to the emergency room and we go back home. The fifth day, still bad weather: snow storm! Me and Roby spend the whole day indoor hoping for the weather to change but nothing works out fine. We decide to go back home, frustrated and disappointed for yet another day trashed away. So we opt for the hot springs, natural pounds of hot water, a real SPA outdoor. On the sixth and very last day, finally we find good weather. It’s just perfect now. Me and Roby rush up to the lifts. We want to, or better, we have to do something cool on the Superpark set-up. As we arrive to the chairlift, we notice that it’s shut down one more time for a private session on the jump and on the spine built up by Mammoth Mountain. For our disbelief, the lift would be closed for the whole morning and would be open again from 2pm.
As soon as they open it up again, we go up at the spine as we want to have a super cool shot. So I warm up for a couple of laps and then I begin to try to go as much big as I can. After an hour we finally get a good picture, so we go for another feature like the step-down but our unlucky cloud has followed us again and bring a huge snow storm forcing us to leave immediately. Superpark is a classic event in American style. Everything is huge, almost too much.We witnessed hundreds of crashes like mega flat or 60-metre overlanding – everything is left at your own risk, but I believe this is also part of the deal and the charm of this event. The thing that struck us the most were the private sessions. As soon as the weather forecast said that there would be even just a couple of hours of bluebirds and sun, they shut down the whole thing and put up a quick private session to be sure of getting some good shots with the pros they were invited for that reason. It’s been an amazing experience anyway, having the chance of riding with the best riders in the world in a non-contest environment for once gives you a lot of motivation to improve your riding, as the features let you progress any type of riding to the best level. We’ve been very unlucky with the weather conditions, otherwise I’m convinced we could have produced a lot more, bringing home more shots and more riding experience. Superpark was also one of the unique situations when I’ve seen the best riders in the world having some issues with adapting to the features, but I have to say that those were really huge and scary. I must say that, and I think I could speak for Emiliano too, I’d show up again at Superpark this season too if we would be invited one more time, maybe we should just approach it with a different mood, maybe a bit more American, feeling it more with our guts than with our brain.
ALBERTO MAFFEI
SIMON GRUBER
PICS: ROBERTO BRAGOTTO TXT: ALESSIA GUALLA
SIMON GRUBER
The last part of the incredible road trip, which saw Johnny’s crew being the main character, is based in Courmayeur. At the bottom of the gigantic Mont Blanc, every year the town hosts a photo and video contest, called Click on the Mountain. The field of play is the freeride area of Courmayeur and Mont Blanc resorts, where right in those days it was expected the long-awaited snowstorm which was moving across the Alps, and that our team was following since few weeks. There couldn’t be a better occasion to produce some high-adrenaline footage. The only Italians invited to the contest, Marco Morandi AKA Johnny, Roby Bragotto and Simon Gruber got together and decided to kill two birds with a stone, collecting amazing pictures for their movie Searching For and participating to the contest hoping to win the main prize. To make you understand what we’re talking about here: there are four teams composed by a filmer, a photographer, two pro riders and a local wild card, who have four days to produce a video and a photo book. Creativity, amazing pics of panos and tricks win. The contents’ variety is guaranteed from the very different terrains you can find there: great lines of the virgin channels at high altitude, cliffs, thick woods and even street spots. “When they told me that I would participate into the Click on the Mountain contest I was scared, because I had always heard of it and always been one of my goals. Moreover I found out to be the only Italian photographer invited, and that thing put me even more pressure. I did want to make a good impression,” Roby said. While the first prize for video is just one, of 5’000€, the prizes for the best pictures are several: Best Photo is the most important one, of 1’000€, then other rewards
are Best Action, Best Light Effect, Best Lifestyle, Best Street Shot. “I like to focus on one picture only, and I like to have different themes,” Roby goes on. “I went to Courmayeur without any expectations, weather wasn’t fine.” The week starts with an evening briefing during which the teams are presented, and so the contest schedule and the rules are as well. Johnny, Roby and Simon, who at the Rolle pass had as a special guest Halldor Helgason and in Laax the Finnish snowboarder Antti Autti, this time around are joined by the Austrian Tom Klocker, a pro rider and also a very good photographer. After the van journey it was not that bad for our heroes to get more comfy. An hotel with comfortable beds and a warm meal every night were just as good as it gets to copy with the tough and frenzied days which distinguish the Click on the Mountain week. This does not mean that everything was not a bed of roses. The first day of shooting was good weather, blue birds and sun. The snowstorm hadn’t come in, and the most difficult thing was to find a good snow and virgin slopes. It was a touristic area, freeriders know that spot very well. So the guys had to walk a lot to find the right location. Luckily for them there was the local skier Simon Croux, an expert of that resort. “During that day we came up with good lines and better light pictures, but in general the spirit was not that high: we struggled a lot and there was the pressure for the contest with the other teams. It was fundamental to be as much creative as possible during those conditions,” Johnny said. Moreover, Roby was so unlucky to break one of his bindings at 3’000m in the middle of nowhere. Surely he was brave and good enough to ride down one-foot with all his backpack full of heavy photo gear!
SIMON GRUBER
THE BEST THING WAS TO SHARE THAT MOMENT WITH MY FRIENDS, MY TEAM.
SIMON GRUBER
The second day saw the long-awaited snowstorm arrival with 50cm – that meant just one thing, going into the woods. Johnny came up again with his precious ape-man skills, climbing up to a tree once again. There is a fantastic scene with Simon bonking the tip of a tree jumping off a kicker built up in between two trunks. Courmayeur’s woods are steep and full of rocks. Something to sink our teeth into. So we’ve come to the third day of shooting: the long-awaited helicopter day. At teams’ disposal there are in fact two choppers, taking them all with a guide on the highest mountain tops of the Mont Blanc. It was not a great day though. When they got up with the chopper, in just a few seconds it was all white because of the snow lifted up by the wind which suddenly increased. Someone managed to get a descent and take some shots, others were force to get on the chopper back to the base. But they say what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. So our crew found out other spots and other ideas to end up their day the best way. Still one more day to edit all the footage and eventually the delivery. “That Saturday morning we delivered our usb stick with all our footage: a 2-minute video, a 15-second Instagram video and a five-picture book,” Roby said. “It snowed some 70cm, so me and Simon we went snowboarding for ourselves. You should never forget what the real goal of the game is... we were free, the contest was over, and that was the time to do what we do best – have fun with friends.” The night of the awards ceremony in the centre of Courmayeur there was a lot of people and the atmosphere was special. The most special thing was to see how much different the four teams’ outputs were. Everyone with its own soul, everyone with its own and extremely personal view and a super high level of professionalism. The video award was handed out to a French team: local guys from Chamonix with a lot of experience
in that area. They deserved it, although we know that Johnny played his cards really well and for the jury has been a very difficult pick. Then the photo awards come, Roby was called up on the stage for the Best Action picture. After a couple of minutes, once again it was him for the Best Light Effect picture! It was already a surprising double-win, but the best was yet to come... with already a couple of Champagne magnum bottles in his hands, Roby had to show up on the stage one more time to get the prize and the award for the Best Photo. “It was just insane. When they called me up for the first award I was already super happy with it. Then for the second it was just... wow! And then when I won a third one for the Best Photo, Tom Klocker’s shot in powder in a valley, well, I was completely over the moon, I could not believe it! The best thing was to share that moment with my friends, my team.” And let’s say that Roby actually deserved it. He got on stage saying that he did not like his pictures, that he tried to do the best he could but he had just not been able to get the best out of it. Well, dear Roby, humbleness and passion always get rewarded. So we’ve come to the end of our story. In the first chapter we promised you that we would have explained you what the RV Juice is. If you order it at a bar, it is a Long Island cocktail mixed up with whiskey. The truth is that it is a tradition of camper-van snow trips. It consists on getting all the alcoholic beverages you have on the van and throw them all into the stopped up sink. Then you drink from it, and well anything can happen then. Word of Simon and Ethan. Well, during the Click on the Mountain’s final night there was no van, so the traditional RV Juice was impossible to be made. But they all sorted it out with a fantastic party nobody remembers anything of, which was the final curtain of this trip. Searching For – the full movie – is online, and it is something really epic.
This year, the “Click on the mountain” edition will be from March the 6th to the 12th. You can’t miss it.
SIMON GRUBER
PICS & TXT: MARKUS ROHRBACHER
It was end of February as I got a call from Andi, the marketing manager from Nitro Snowboards. He met someone at ISPO and there might have been a trip late in the season to a crazy place. Two days later I got a mail that I should have booked a flight to Svalbard, an island far above the Arctic Circle and part of Norway. The guy Andi met at the ISPO was Steve Lewis, from The Empire Expedition. Steve is specialised in expeditions for productions on Svalbard and Iceland. He is British and really into skateboarding and snowboarding. Steve had an idea for a couple of years to get a crew of professional snowboarder to this place called Pyramiden, a former mining town on the island of Svalbard. We didn’t know a lot about the place that we were heading to, only that it was former mining town owned by the Russians but currently only four or five people lived there. A quick search on the internet helped to find us some photos and we were really impressed with this crazy ghost town: a city, that we could use as a big playground, where we could do whatever we wanted because nobody is there. In the 20s Russia got the right to mine in Svalbard and Pyramid and Barensburg, another mining town, which is still running today, became the most northern mining settlements in the world. In 1996 the company decided to shut the town down, although some of the buildings like the cultural house, the theater, hospital, kindergarden etc. weren’t even 10 years old. The city was completely abandoned for several years, but in 2007 the mining company decided to send some workers in to maintain the buildings and opened a container hotel in the ghost town. Although the old container is still at the pier, nowadays they
even re-opened the old hotel in the settlement with a museum inside where you can get a glimpse of communism. Nothing is easy on Svalbard. Less than 3’000 people live on the island and around 2’500 of them are in the town of Longyrbyn. They have 60 km of roads, 3’000 polar bears, 4’000 snowmobiles. Svalbard is home to the world’s northernmost city, northernmost university, northernmost airport, and pretty much else is also the northernmost in the world. Nitro chose Eero Ettala, Torgeir Bergrem and Sam Taxwood to go to Svalbard. A crew that fits really good together. Eero as an experienced urban rider, who also likes powder jumps. Torgeir who basically rides everything and Sam who is a super good rail rider but can also send it on a hip or a kicker. With this crew we were prepared for any conditions no matter if we stay in the ghost-town or try to shoot some kickers in the backcountry. The whole crew met Tromsø airport. It’s a small airport where just a few planes land everyday. You saw immediately that this wasn’t a regular airport. No business guys, no families heading for a holiday, only people in mountaineering outfits with big warm shoes, and instead of a business suitcase everybody had a mountain backpack. We finally boarded and flew out over the fjords and waited to see land again. Normally the chances are pretty bad to have good weather in Svalbard but we were lucky and arrived with the evening sun in front of us and amazing landscape which looked like an ice dessert under us. The landscape was unlike anything we’ve seen before. We just looked out of the window speechless. Just before the landing we saw
TORGEIR BERGREM
TORGEIR BERGREM
SAM TAXWOOD
SAM TAXWOOD
SAM TAXWOOD
EERO ETTALA
this little town underneath us with about 200 houses and the airport. On ground again, Steve was already waiting for us and after we got our bags we drove straight to his office. He told us that our boat would leave at midnight and until then we had dinner and got a safety briefing. The problem in Svalbard is that it is a really remote place where it can take days till someone can reach you if the weather is bad. Therefore rule number one is to prevent any emergency cases. Another big deal up there are polar bears. On an island where more polar bears than humans live, you must always carry a gun with you if you venture outside the city limits. We were never allowed to leave our guides and we also got an instruction how to use flare guns, which were part of our basic gear. Of course we all wanted to see a polar bear, but on the other side it was also kind of scary that any moment one of these beasts could walk around the next corner. It was time to leave. We drove to the harbor, loaded the waiting speedboat and started our three-hour boat ride. Lucky as we were, the sea was pretty calm, the waves weren’t a big deal and we got pretty fast into the Billefjord where we could see the first chimney towers of Pyramiden. Once the boat slowed down we even got to see our first seals, some Beluga wales. Next we had to find a way through the sea ice, which got more and more, to get to our pickup point. Suddenly the captain said that we were there. We looked out of the window in disbelief when we stopped at the edge of the super thin layer of sea ice. We saw some sleds from the distance coming closer. They parked them 15 meters away walked slowly closer and closer to the boat and we
could only hope that the ice would hold. Now we had to be quick and unload the boat, as we didn’t want to spend too much time on the thin ice. Now and then, the guides checked to see if there was a polar bear around looking for a tasty dinner. At this point we were already awake for 24 hours. But still it was hard to get us into a bed, as we were blown away about our journey so far and our arrival in the ghost town which we wanted to explore the next day. On top of that, at that time of the year, the sun didn’t go down anymore and we stayed in rooms without any curtains. We got into a daily routine, accepted that we were cut off from the rest of the world as there was no internet or phone signal and with the 24 hours of light we also didn’t have to stress on the spot. The rails were all made of wood and not to big, which limited our possibilities but all of the riders found some spots they liked pretty fast. We got a good mixture between rails, wall rides, handplants and also a sick drop from the swimming pool building. But the highlights was definitely Sam’s endless flat-flat-flat rail. We tried to shoot it with a follow-cam which seemed almost impossible but lucky as we were, we got this shot, which turned out, also to be the ender of the Nitro Team Movie. After passing some time up there, it felt strange to be back in civilisation, having internet again, checking mails and sending some messages to friends and family. However, soon we noticed that we didn’t miss too much in this week and went out to the pub. Of course we had to celebrate one of our best trips and the last one of the season and partied all night although it could’ve also been day, since the sun never went down.
SAM TAXWOOD
PICS & TXT: MARKUS ROHRBACHER
CINEK BERTSCHINGER KARG & DBK
ETHAN MORGAN
Snowboarding has a long standing tradition at Hoch Ybrig. Only a 45-minute drive from downtown Zurich and getting a lot of snowfall every season, the Ybrig is a favourite amongst city shredders for quick missions after snowfalls. You can catch the first gondola at 8:30, take five runs and still make the office by noon. The whole mountain is one big playground and bigger than it seems at first, with slow, rolling hills, but the run to the bottom - “Weglosen”, “Waegi” in short amongst the locals - is the real deal. Especially on bad weather days, even with plenty of folks hunting the fresh powder, you can find untracked runs all day. Spotted with trees on the lower part, there are countless gullies, pillows and cliffs for the insider crowd who knows where to ride. When you leave the highway coming from Zurich, the road thins out winding up the hill towards Einsiedeln. You take a left, and after a few turns, a small lake by the name of Sihlsee comes into view. The drive up to Hoch Ybrig itself can be pretty spectacular, especially on early mornings when the fog starts to dissipate over the lake and you spot the Ybrig bowl at the end of the valley covered in fresh snow. Halfway down the road, you cross the lake on a narrow bridge and on those misty mornings it feels like floating across the water in your car. Now the area gets very quiet as you drive on, you
come by a few little villages that are mostly home to farmers only. The area is known for having the most right-wing voters per capita in all Switzerland. After that, it’s just one straight dead-end road which, while the mountains around close in around you, finishes at the Weglosen cable car station. After filmmaker Marco Lutz and his crew pioneered the place for snowboarding in the 90s, a local crew was formed, called “Natural Born Chillaz Crew” or “NBC” in short. NBC around Deniz Cinek and Mike “Aemka” Knobel initiated a snowpark on the hill and the famous “Training Days” competition that brought the Swiss scene together every spring for some high level freestyle action - and of course some heavy chilling and partying. A lot of famous stories were born during those days, with the NBC headquarters having a bed for every travelling snowboarder who was down to smoke some fun cigarettes and have a beer or two (or seven) after a long day of riding powder on the hill. The Ybrig bowl is dominated by the three peaks Twaeriberg, Drusberg and Forstberg. The ridge at the very top of the resort marks the border between the Canton Schwyz on the northern side where Hoch Ybrig lies, and Glarus on the southern side. The Sternen chairlift gets you to the very top of the resort, where on a beautiful
CINEK BERTSCHINGER KARG
SEBBE DE BUCK
day you get an insane panoramic view, almost all the way to Lake Zurich to the North, and Muotha Valley and Lake Lucerne backed with glacier peaks to the south. The Grosser Mythen is the most prominent peak to the West which often stands out against a layer of fog covering the flatlands and makes for iconic pictures. Aemka Knobel and Deniz Cinek along with photographer Dominic “Howzee” Zimmermann pioneered some of the most famous spots on Ybrig during the early 2000s, like the “Punani” jump which has appeared on the cover of countless snowboard magazines during the years, including the Transworld Snowboarding photo special. The most famous of the snowboarding world have visited the NBC neighborhood and some of the most memorable clips have been filmed there. The older ones amongst us still remember Fredi Kalbermatten’s first track Switch Backside 720 from Standard Film’s “Lost In Transition”. The spot has since been called “Fredi’s Gap” but had only been tackled once again after that. The story goes that Burton photographer Jeff Curtes arrived at Zurich airport the morning of the day that Fredi was about to hit the jump, but his luggage didn’t arrive. So he made his way up the hill in sneakers and jeans, got to the spot somehow and almost died of hypothermia, only
to shoot Fredi in action. The focus for many of your average Swiss skiers is on larger resorts like Davos or Laax, which conveniently keeps Hoch Ybrig quite under the radar for people outside of snowboarding. But Hoch Ybrig is still on the snowboarding scene’s hot list, through people like David Bertschinger Karg who, as a Zurich resident, visits The Ybrig whenever he’s home between trips during the season. As a result, you rarely get long lift lines or traffic jams on the road up, even on the best days of the season. But you will see all kinds of experimental snowboard craft on the gondola, fishes and snowsurfers, and you will definitely see many familiar faces with a large smile on their faces covered in snow from the blower powder turns they just had. You will like Hoch Ybrig. Because it’s small and familiar from the first day. Hoch Ybrig is like somebody you see for the first time, but you instantly know that you have a connection, and you can talk to him like to an old friend. Hoch Ybrig welcomes everybody. It doesn’t have a big ego, and you won’t have to feel out of place if you don’t wear the latest gear or if you can’t shred like the pros. It’s very low key, but it will exceed your expectations. That’s why everybody keeps coming back. That’s why we love Hoch Ybrig.
DENIZ CINEK
SEBBE DE BUCK
PICS: CYRIL ITW: GIACOMO MARGUTTI
HEY HALLDOR, WHASSUP IN BEAUTIFUL MONACO? It’s perfect to come back to Monaco after a snowboard trip and just chill like there is no tomorrow in between trips since we are travelling so much. In Monaco you have the beach, nice places to skate, eat, party, friends and warm weather, so we can’t complain, man. HOW HAS BEEN YOUR SEASON AND HOW IS GOING THIS ONE? Last season was really fun, spent most of it with Mr. Sage Kotsenburg and Joe Carlino filming for Dayumm! I ended up breaking my ankle really bad at Superpark in the end of the season so I have just been re-habbing now for 7 months and I am finally starting to snowboard a little bit again. Next season I am going all in to film with Transworld Snowboarding, so that should be a good time. IN OUR LAST ISSUE WE RAN A STORY WITH YOU AND SOME ITALIAN RIDERS LIKE SIMON GRUBER, MARCO GRIGIS FILMING WITH MARCO JOHNNY MORANDI AND ROBY BRAGOTTO. HOW MUCH DID YOU LIKE RIDING IN ITALY AND MOST OF ALL HOW DID YOU FIND YOURSELF RIDING AND WORKING WITH SOME ITALIAN DUDES? I had such a good time filming with them… they are so motivated and they showed me around some resorts in Italy and it was so sick, one of my favourite places I have ever been for backcountry to be honest, I’m hoping to be able to ride with those guys again this season. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THIS CRAZY EVOLUTION OF SPINS AND TRICKS, TRIPLES AND QUADS NOWADAYS? WHAT ABOUT THE LAST EDITION OF THE DEW TOUR? Just like I always say, I don’t like to hating on progression but what I do not like is how the contests pretty much only reward the technical part of snowboarding - the more you spin and flip the more points you get. I really want to see some unique style and the creative side of snowboarding get rewarded more in the contest scene, it would be so much more fun to watch and way more fun for the riders to ride as well. I did enjoy watching the Dew Tour, it was a little bit different from all the other contests, so please keep it going more in that direction. WHAT IS THE MOST LAME THING OF NOWADAYS’ SNOWBOARDING? All the national teams and coaches, it feels to much like a sport for me nowadays. One of my favourite things about snowboarding is that it doesn’t feel like a sport in any way, but now you go to a park and see the national teams up there wearing the same outfits and stuff and it just doesn’t make any sense to me, snowboarding loses its freedom like that. WHO HAVE ALWAYS BEEN YOUR TOP THREE RIDERS, A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, AND WHO ARE YOUR TOP THREE MOST INSPIRING RIDERS RIGHT NOW? Uff… that’s a hard one since there are so many but if i have to pick 3 then it would be: Growing up: my brother Eiki Helgason, Jeremy Jones, and JP Walker. Right now, I would say: Eiki Helgason, Louif Paradise and Bode Merril. HAVE YOU EVER RIDDEN WITH SOME RIDER WHO YOU ALWAYS CONSIDERED A LEGEND AND HOW DID YOU FEEL RIDING WITH HIM? I would say Travis Rice, I have only done a few contests with him but he has always been one of my biggest inspirations as well and i just have so much respect for him and everything he has done for snowboarding.
AS WE’RE GOING THROUGH ROUGH TIMES WITH BIG SPONSORS BACKING RIDERS AND SNOWBOARDING IN GENERAL, AND AS YOU WEREN’T THAT SOFT ON NIKE PULLING OUT AFTER SUCH A SHORT TIME IN OUR SCENE LEAVING RIDERS WITHOUT A SPONSORSHIP AND STUFF, WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THIS GENERAL SITUATION AND WHAT IS YOUR BEST SUGGESTION TO A ROOKIE WHO’S STRUGGLING TO FOLLOW HIS DREAMS? All I can say is that times are changing for the better, so many riders are creating brands again just like me and Eiki are doing as well with Lobster snowboards, Switchback bindings, 7-913 belts and Atrip apparel. All the big corporate companies are complaining and struggling because they aren’t getting insane amount of money anymore. For me and Eiki for example we are more then happy as long as we don’t lose money on our companies and if we earn money from it. We try and use it to help other snowboarders as much as we can. I think the future of snowboarding is looking bright and is going to be in the snowboarders hands again just like it was at the beginning but to be able to do that we need everyone to support the rider driven brands. I REMEMBER I LAST MET YOU IN QUEBEC CITY IN 2013. YOU WERE THERE TO COMPETE IN A SLOPESTYLE AND A BIG AIR EVENT OF FIS WORLD CUP, TRYING TO GET YOUR SPOT INTO THE OLYMPICS TOGETHER WITH YOUR FRIEND ETHAN MORGAN. YOU TWO GUYS WERE LIKE THE SEX PISTOLS SINGING ANARCHY IN THE UK IN FRONT OF THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE. WHY DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT IDEA? Haha!, it’s so funny looking back at those times, it was in our Nike contracts that we had to at least try to make it to the Olympics, so me and Ethan AJ Morgan pretty much just teamed up and cruised around and did some FIS contests and had no idea what was going on, missed out on so many practises, I never stomped a full run, drinking RV Juice and making some mixtapes and edits, we actually had a lot of fun when you look back at what we were doing hehe. Iceland was not going to allow me to do the Olympics for Iceland because they said I was too disgusting and not athletic enough after the A2M Barf Bags movie came out. SO APART FROM THIS, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE OLYMPICS, CONTESTS OF STREET RIDERS VS COMP RIDERS VS FREERIDE RIDERS AND ALL THE HATE THAT I CAN READ EVERY DAY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS? DON’T YOU THINK THAT WHAT’S REALLY MISSING IN SNOWBOARDING THESE DAYS IT’S SOME GOOD OLD SELF-IRONY AND A BIT LESS STUPID SERIOUSNESS? It all comes down to that you should never take snowboarding too serious - it’s just snowboarding. Make sure you are snowboarding in a way that you really enjoy it, if you are not having a good time while snowboarding then you are doing it wrong, that’s my and my brother’s golden rule. WHAT IS YOUR MAIN GOAL THIS YEAR? Snowboard as much as i can, have a good time and hopefully film a part for Transworld that I’m proud of. DO YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING TO WHAT YOU ALREADY SAID? Thank you Snowboarding!
Thank you, Halldor.
PICS & TXT: ROHRBACHER
NILS ARVIDSSON
AUSTIN SMITH
IT WAS HARD FOR US NOT TO BE RUDE BUT FOR THEM IT WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS DINNER.
Wang Lei, a Nitro Rider from China, brought up the idea that he knew a region in China where not many snowboarders went before. At least he didn’t know any film crew that has ever travelled there. He mentioned that this place is located in the region of Xinjiang with peaks which where higher than 4’000 meters. A look onto the map made clear that this place was in the middle of nowhere on the boarder to China, Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. I had no clue how we should get there and what we could expect, but a crew around Markus Keller, Austin Smith and Nils Arvidsson was quickly set up and we started planning this trip. Of course Wang Lei would come with us as well. As we looked for flights from Europe to the closest airport to the Altai mountain range, we were surprised that the shortest route would take us more than 24 hours and that we had to take 4 different flights to get to our destination. It was a long travel, but you never you know what you can find in such unknown regions unless you’ve seen it with your own eyes.
A STRANGE WORLD, WHERE PEOPLE DON’T HAVE WARM WATER BUT DO HAVE INTERNET.
AUSTIN SMITH
As we arrived in Altai and jumped out of the plane it was freezing cold and we immediately knew that we were getting closer to Siberia. The next morning we went deeper into the Altai mountain region. After a whole day in a car, we got to the town of Hemu. The mountains were glowing in the evening sun and we drove through this little village, where we only saw people on horses. It was super cold, around -25° and when you looked into the faces of the locals who were working outside you saw their frozen eyebrows. We drove into a side road and stopped in front of a classic farming house. This was our home for the next few days. It had four rooms for the whole family and us six. You could also wash yourself, but only with cold water. Further, we had one living room and the two bedrooms that we had to share with everyone. Definitely not a fancy place but it was totally worth the experience what a simple life the people there are living. It was even funnier when we saw each of them with a smartphone and they even had WIFI. A strange world, where people don’t have warm water but do have internet. The mom and daughter prepared the dinner for us. It felt a bit strange, when you see what kind of live they have. Everything is orientated towards growing enough food during summer and taking care of the animals so they would survive the long and hard winters. When the mother brought the food Wang Lei explained us that they probably cooked the best they had for us; which were noodles with meat full of bones, stomach stuff, and the head. It was hard for us not to be rude but for them it was like Christmas dinner. Of course we ate it, and we knew we would get all the leftovers for breakfast the next day. Deer hunting is an important aspect in their culture and 10’000-year-old paintings prove that this is the place where skiing might have been invented. The natives made wooden skis and put cutted horse skin onto the base. Now they where able to move upward without sliding down and to be a bit more stable they had a wooden stick in their hands. But they weren’t able to take off the skin to slide down and the skis had no edges like a Splitboard. So you need quite lot of training to ride down with them.
MARKUS KELLER
MARKUS KELLER
NILS ARVIDSSON
WE SWITCHED OUR GEAR AND HAD A GREAT TIME WITH THE LOCALS. IT WAS IMPRESSIVE, WHICH TALENT THEY HAD.
In that village our possibilities were limited as some of the bigger roads were closed and therefore there wasn’t much more terrain to explore. We hoped that there were better snow conditions further West. The good thing was that we already checked out a part of the way there and we found some promising pillow lines. So we decided to load the cars in the morning and drive to Kanas. On the way we always stopped for some pillow or powder lines and we were busy all day long. Unfortunately, getting deeper and into higher terrain would have been to dangerous due to the troublesome avalanches conditions and the snow wouldn’t be better either. Luckily, we found some cool wind lips and we still had fun and got our shots. One day on our way back to our sleeping quarters, we saw in the far distance some people hiking up in the snow. We didn’t find hunters but a few kids who just learned to use these skis by their older brother. First they were a bit skeptical and probably wondered what those weird people wanted, but soon we got along pretty good and we offered them to try our boards. We switched our gear and had a great time with the locals. It was impressive, which talent they had. They were only wearing normal jeans and a pullover while it had minus 15 degrees. They were riding our boards with normal sneakers and still progressed pretty fast. After some hours we rode down together to our cars and the boys’ parents came out. After a group photo and some high fives it was time for us to leave. We still had a long drive back to our house and on the next day we had to go back to Altai city. Although we weren’t too lucky with the snow conditions, it was a trip where we learned and saw a lot about other cultures and in the end we were even lucky enough to meet some one using the traditional way of skiing.
MARKUS KELLER, AUSTIN MSITH & NILS ARVIDSSON
PIC: CLAUDIO FOCO TXT: GIACOMO MARGUTTI
Last issue of this season, last picture you see on this magazine before the next one. One more time, I am here to tell you how cool snowboarding is, compared to other “sports”. Why? Easy. Now I am writing from Laax. For more than 10 years I have come to this beautiful Swiss resort for the (Burton European) Open. One of the coolest contests ever. Because of the very special way the media and the riders live it. I bet there is no other journalist or photographer of any other sport who can boast having the chance of relaxing with a beer together with the same riders he has been working with throughout a whole competition day. Or riding with the competitors down a slope or through the snowy powderish woods of Laax. In no other “normal” sport you can get this feeling of being part of the same broaden up family, sharing the same common passion. There is no other contest or race or anything like this. That is (also) why snowboarding is cool.
Antti Autti
Ph: Luca Crivelli
In pizza we trust 2016 / 2017 Collection
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