1
MÜLLAIR BOOT
MÜLLAIR JACKET
MÜLLAIR BIB
9/24/19 2
COMMANDJACKET SEBBEDEBUCK / JAPAN / WRIGHTPHOTO
MR_00007623-DC-W20-COMMAND_JACKET_30K-01-400x265+3.indd 1
CALIFORNIA SPORT- TEL 011-9277943 - WWW.CALIFORNIASPORT.INFO
10/10/2019 10:53
Edito°
TEXT
Matteo Rossato PHOTO
Fredi Kalbermatten by Silvano Zeiter
For some strange astral conjunction, 2019 represents both an ending and a restarting point for many iconic snowboarding figures.
in all its forms. The design, following the same minimal philosophy, eliminates what’s superfluous and focuses attention on images and words.
For example, going through this new issue of Sequence, you will notice that two iconic companies - claiming a European pedigree - are celebrating three decades of history in 2019. After years of hard work, Sequence proudly reached a pan-European dimension and a leading position among the international snowboard media: this is confirmed by the renewed partnerships with global industry events such as Shops 1st Try, ISPO and Laax Open.
Experience means travel, contact with different cultures and confrontation with new and unexplored territories, whether we’re talking about immaculate powder descents in Hokkaido or unusual urban scenarios in the most secret corners of Moscow.
To celebrate this important milestone and a new direction for the magazine, Sequence has reworked its look: a new logo, a new design and a new editorial line that want to interpret snowboarding as a 360-degree experience and not just as a sport aimed to technical progression. The new logo - in its essentiality - encompasses everything that was, that is and that Sequence will be as the voice of European snowboarding
4°
Snowboarding has grown and we have grown with it: now we want much more than a new pattern for next season’s outerwear or a new trick to learn to feel up to date. We want to talk about snowboarding in all its facets and give voice to all those heroes secretly tracing the future of sliding sideways.
Grilo at Avoriaz 1800
Snowboarding simplified for everyone.
Editor In Chief Denis Piccolo
Creative Director George Boutall
Editorial Coordinator Davide Fioraso
Crew Editor In Chief Denis Piccolo denis@hand-communication.com
Editing & Translation Silvia Galliani silvia@hand-communication.com
Editorial Coordinator Davide Fioraso davide@hand-communication.com
Sequence-Magazine.com Federico Mura & Matteo Rossato
Advertising Office hello@hand-communication.com +39 333 7741506 Creative Director George Boutall george@evergreendesignhouse.com Graphic Design Francesca Pagliaro, Diego Marmi & Stefano Luongo
Photographers & Filmers Thomas Monsorno, Andrea Schilirò, Roberto Bragotto, Darcy Basha, Aaron Schwartz, Ben Gavelda, Francesco Zoppei, Scotty Stephenson, Alex Stewart Cover Fredi Kalbermatten by Silvano Zeiter Collaborators Matteo Rossato, Davide Fioraso, Marta Manzoni, Luca Albrisi, Enrico Santillo, Antonio Isaja, Sofia Parisi, Fabrizio Bertone, Simone Lovera
6°
Company Editor Hand Communication Corso Francia 17 Torino 10138 hello@hand-communication.com Printers L’artistica Savigliano Savigliano - Cuneo - Italy lartisavi.it Distribution 25.000 COPIES DISTRIBUTED IN 446 EUROPEAN SHOPS: Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, England, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Holland, Czech Republic, Slovakia & Portugal.
THE PORTAL OF INFINITE REALITIES—EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
19/20 California Sports / Tel: 0039-011-9277943 / CAPiTASNOWBOARDING.COM
102° Nicolas Muller
92° Chamonix Mon Amour
112° Glacier Express
72° Cast & Carve
84° Life in White
Index 10° The daily News
30° SSFF
50° Project Hijinks
14° Fresh Made
34° Ramble Away
54° Partie
18° Killer Collabs
36° Deeluxe Boots
58° Prosper Visionz
22° Eco Seven
40° Fabian Fraidl
63° Fridge’s Backpack
26° Nidecker Classics
42° Horsefeathers 30 years
79° Conscious Turns
28° The Guardian
46° Nitro Offline
128° Word Out
8°
RIDE SICKY SEQUENCE SINGLE 190X250.indd 1
9/16/19 6:18 PM
The Daily News B Y D AV I D E F I O R A S O
A great 2020 beginning with Laax Open The organizational system is more alive than ever for the most important event in the European mountains. From the 13th to the 18th of January 2020, the entire snowboard scene will focus on the Canton of Graubünden, on Laax, three times winner of the “World’s Best Freestyle Resort” award. Fans and visitors will be able to see international stars like Chloe Kim and Scotty James, protagonists of the 2019 edition. The highlights of the FIS Snowboard World Cup will be the slopestyle finals on Friday 17th January and the halfpipe finals on Saturday. Music and parties will complete a rich program of events.
Pat Moore joins the K2 snowboarding team Power and style on all types of terrain, impressive media coverage and a constant presence in numerous video parts for over a decade. Pat Moore’s global impact in the snowboarding world is elevating his talent to legendary status. With a short video titled “Welcome Into the Fold”, now viral, K2 has recently formalized the entry of the Plymouth rider into his International Pro Team, which already includes Jake Kuzyk, Matt Belzile, Leanne Pelosi, Mark Wilson, Tim Eddy, Steve Gruber and Curtis Ciszek.
Welcome to women’s lib The relationship between Lib Tech and women has lasted for decades. Barrett Christy was the first to join the team using an Acme. Circe Wallace, Marcella Dobis and Ingrid Gunderson followed her in the early 1990s. Shannan Yates and Janna Meyen were the first to bring these unisex boards to international podiums. Now the brand presents a brand new women’s specific line: the powerful C3 Dynamiss designed by Jamie Lynn, the amusing twin Glider, the aggressive No.43 and the freeride Cortado. 4 models designed for women in addition to the Orca by Travis Rice and the Split BRD in new sizes.
Frank Bourgeois joins Deeluxe Frank Burgeois has just officially joined the Deeluxe boots pro team. With his three X-Games gold medals, the French Canadian urban wonder from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, is one of the most progressive street riders of the last decade. Frank enforces the already heavy hitter team including Dan Brisse, Eiki Helgason, Xavier Delerue, Brandon Cocard, Elias Elhardt, Tadashi Fuse, Werni Stock, Elena Konz, Kevin Backstrom and many other more. With this last power move, the Austrian snowboard footwear company is looking forward to conquer the streets and the slopes. Frank will use the Team ID bloodline, for his aggressive and huge riding.
Kathmand acquires Rip Curl After more than 50 years of private ownership, the iconic Rip Curl brand, founded in 1969 in Torquay by Brian Singer and Doug Warbrick, was acquired by Kathmandu, an outdoor gear giant with a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand. The Rip Curl’s CEO, Michael Daly, will continue to lead the company and will report to the CEO of Kathmandu, Xavier Simonet. The brands will work independently trying to capitalize on the benefits of the merger, combining the skills to offer great experiences and products to customers who share a common love for adventure and surfing. 10°
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
The Daily News B Y D AV I D E F I O R A S O
Mammut Connect: guiding wholesale into digital age Mammut becomes the first outdoor brand to use NFC technology, driving the wholesale trade towards digitalization. Mammut Connect is a new way to provide consumers with emotional and interactive product information through an app that uses short-range transmission technology. The app and its contents support traditional channels with detailed info on the product, improving the process of wholesale sales in transformation from Point of Sale to Point of Experience. Mammut Connect also provides post-sales services and offers, opening up new ways of collaboration.
Dragon eyewear and the lumalens technology Dragon Eyewear announced the launch of Lumalens in its line of high-performance sunglasses. Starting this fall, all the new models will be produced using this innovative proprietary technology already used in the snow goggles collection. Lumalens amplifies high-definition viewing through color optimization, extreme sharpness and a remarkable perception of depth. In all environments and in all light conditions, this exclusive Dragon technology adds brilliant details and dimensions to your visual field.
The founder of 686 launches a new brand Mike West has formalized the launch of Westwell, a brand born as a by-product of 686. It will operate in the Westlife distribution package, focusing on the creation of “wearable tools”, multi-functional fashion accessories for men and women. Westwell will mainly operate on digital platforms, launching its products online directly to the consumer, with the aim of penetrating the world of fashion, lifestyle and influencers. The first goods, the Voyager Belt and the Clicker Belt, which can be customized with 10 different tools, have already been launched through a Kickstarter campaign.
Jake Kuzyk and Vans: a new Hi-Standard OG version Vans presented a new collection designed according to the meticulous attention to detail of Jake Kuzyk, global team rider and Vans Snow fundamental member. The diamond point is an updated version of the Hi-Standard OG, the best-selling snowboard boot of all time, in an original colorai taken from the brand’s archives. Completing this minimalist collection is also a signature shell jacket with DWR coating, a Standard MTE snow boot, the Old Skool Style 36 shoe and a Vans by Smartwool sock with Indestructawool technology that promises comfort in every situation.
Here’s the freeride world tour 2020 dates The FWT 2020 calendar is now official. The event will culminate in the legendary Bec des Rosses for the Verbier Xtreme 25th anniversary. Spectators will see the best freeriders in the world in action in one of the highest level competition ever. First stop, January 18-25th in Hakuba, Japan, among the deepest snow on the planet. Second stage Kicking Horse, in Golden, in British Columbia on February 6-12th. Third stage Ordino Arcalis, in the principality of Andorra, from February 28th to March 4th. Fourth stop in Fieberbrunn, Austria, from March 7th to 13th and grand finale in Verbier, Switzerland, from March 28th to April 5th. 12°
nitro-quiver-sequence.indd 1
22.10.19 16:33
Fresh Made B Y D AV I D E F I O R A S O
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1. Mammut Photics HS thermo hooded jacket
2. Mammut Pro X Removable Airbag 3.0
3. Amplid Tour Operator Split
Winner of the ISPO Award 2019, Photics is the first jacket in the world to use laser fusion. In fact, Mammut has the first and only welding workshop in which the materials are joined together without adhesives, creating isolated zones without seams. In goose down, waterproof and breathable, it is ideal for extreme cold, wind and damp.
Equipped with the removable airbag system 3.0. The Pro X is your ideal mate on a freeride day. High performance and highly functional, it raises the bar in terms of comfort, materials used, construction and intelligent features. It satisfies all security needs. 35 liter volume, it only weighs 2590 gr (without airbag), a must have!
4. Viking Bernin hat
5. Thirty-Two Mullair boots
6. Poc Vpd System vest
A cap capable of winning an ISPO Award? This is the Bernin model by Viking, a Polish sports brand launched in 1996. Contributing to its success was the Primaloft Silver insulation inserted between two layers of knitted fabric. Other technical advantages are given by the 50% merino wool composition and the 2 in 1 reversible use.
The ultimate all-mountain freestyle boot, designed to meet the needs of a style master like Nicolas Müller. The brand new Müllair guarantees a fluid ride offering excellent performance both in the park and in the backcountry. Equipped with a Michelin Fiberlite sole and an Energy Foam pad capable of absorbing vibrations.
New vest with the very light VPD System Back, POC back protector certified EN1621: 2, level 1. Made with a four-way elastic compression net that guarantees greater comfort, safety and practicality. The dual-sided adjustment system does not pass through the front zipper, allowing you to adapt to it.
14°
Amplid renews its 2020 splitboard offer with the new Tour Operator, versatile and reliable, able to withstand backcountry rides. Built with the most durable materials, it combines a firstclass riding experience with surprising durability. The half-fat camber gives the right balance between a precise and lively response.
Fresh Made B Y D AV I D E F I O R A S O
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
7. The North Face Futurelight Brigandine jacket
8. Elevated 5’0 Shortboard
9. Timex Command Shock 54Mm Fabric Fast Wrap watch
After 3 years of research TNF revolutionizes the market expectations with the launch of Futurelight, a new material that increases the breathability and performance of waterproof garments. It is proposed in the outerwear of the Summit Series, Flight Series and Steep Series, which includes the Brigandine model. Soft, flexible and resistant.
5’0 Shortboard is the board modeled by Aaron Lebowitz of Elevated Surfcraft to handle any terrain without excess. It has a degressive sidecut, with a narrower radius suitable for fast curves. The large nose rocker can withstand the steepest slopes. The Early Rise camber on the front provides the necessary thrust.
Shock and water resistant, Command Shock features a 54 mm resin case with blue-toned accents, a digital quartz movement and a Fast Wrap fabric strap. It features hydration warnings, Indiglo backlight dial, chronograph up to 100 hours, countdown timer and three time zone settings.
10. Dakine Low Roller snowboard bag
11.Black Diamond Recon Mitts gloves
12. Volcom Womens Reversible Polar jacket
New Dakine roller bag in 600D polyester with 360° padding. It has an overall size of 30x15x170cm and can accommodate two 165cm boards. Removable compartment to contain boots and outerwear and large external pocket with YKK zip closures. Transportation is facilitated by 9cm urethane wheels and a terminal handle.
Recon Mitts is an ultra-warm glove with a 100% waterproof BD.dry insert, a technology designed to protect against any weather condition. Inside, 340g of PrimaLoft Gold insulation on the back and 170 on the palm provide superior protection against the cold. Inner cuffs in Pertex Shield and leather trim.
The new Polar by Volcom is the reversible women’s jacket that offers you the possibility to change immediately your look and the level of warmth. On one side a Teflon EcoElite coating with DWR treatment, on the other a fuzzy sherpa lining in warm fleece. Ribbed collar, front zip closure, slanted pockets with zip on the sides.
16°
INTRODUCING THE ESCALATOR SPLIT +
52
W W W. K O R U AS H APES. COM
57
62
#MADEFORTURNING
Killer Collabs B Y D AV I D E F I O R A S O
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1. Keith Haring X Burton Free Thinker
2. Shallowtree X Vans HiStandard OG
His works are very familiar also to those who know nothing about him. The images of stylized men, famous throughout the world, are a symbol of eighties art and culture. After the capsule of last February, for the 2020 winter Burton adds a pop touch to Danny Davis Free Thinker created thanks to the Keith Haring Foundation.
The work of Shallowtree, aka Peter-John de Villiers, is a way to connect with the infinite, addressing issues related to nature, creation and life cycles. We find his visionary graphics in a Vans collection that includes the Hi-Standard OG, the boot that offers the comfort of a traditional lacing with the additional support of some key functions.
Captain Fin, apparel brand based in San Diego, brings some beach culture to the south in this new collaboration with Now. An all mountain-freestyle binding with a level of comfort, control and flex for riders who want versatility. It features new PA66-C buckle levers, Skate-Tech construction and Sieva straps. The perfect mix of surf and snow.
4. 686 X Primitive Men’s Ruckus Pipe Glove
5. Huf X Jansport Tahoma Backpack
6. Jonas Draws X Hippytree Outskirts Hat
An all Californian collab between 686 and Primitive. On the one hand there’s a global brand that since 1992 has been producing advanced outerwear, on the other a young skateboard company founded in Los Angeles in 2014. From their meeting came a collection of jackets, t-shirts and accessories, including this special version of Ruckus Pipe Glove.
A backpack designed for exploration. Tahoma 27 integrates the JanSport MoonLift suspension system and a rear mesh ventilation panel. The large main compartment can accommodate a 15” laptop or a 3L hydration system. It includes extra and daisy chain pockets and it’s completed by retro-inspired reflective HUF + JanSport details.
The new Outskirts Hat of the Californian brand Hippytree are part of a collaboration with the Swedish artist Jonas Claesson, that in the past already worked for Lib Tech, Nidecker and Patagonia. His iconic illustrations inspired by the world of surfing take shape on two different mid-profile trucker hats.
18°
3. Now X Captain Fin Binding
OVERVIEW
ridden by
The Strata is a cross performance wreckingball,
torstein horgmo
yr.15
featuring a Stage 6 Direct Injected base, that incorporates an “industry first” Fused Vaporlite Bushing System that sets new standards for how a snowboard binding should function and perform.
GAS PEDAL
BASEPLATE
SUB CHASSIS
BUSHING
UNION BINDING CO. STRONGER.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ONLINE:UNIONBINDINGCOMPANY.COM
SOCIAL:@UNIONBINDINGCO
Killer Collabs B Y D AV I D E F I O R A S O
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
7. Deejo X Nitro Woodcarver Board
8. Santa Cruz X Arcade Adventure Belt
9. Outdoor Tech X Giro Wired Chips
The perfect board for carving without giving up healthy freeride. A board designed to help all riders to have fun and excel in carving. New for this season is the collab with the French brand Deejo: by purchasing the complete set with personalized Phantom bindings, you will receive the Deejo knife marked Nitro Woodcarver.
Designed to facilitate movement and functionality, the Adventure series belt by Arcade Belts is completed by the iconic Santa Cruz logo. Interlaces natural rubber with a blend of the strongest fibers ever, creating a texture that excels in comfort and wearability. 1.5” low profile buckle, water resistant and can be washed in the washing machine.
Universal headphones designed to fit comfortably inside the helmet. Water resistant, they offer controls suitable for gloves, hands-free function for the phone, 40 mm full range drivers, 10 hours of autonomy and performance up to -20°F. The only thing you need to do is start your favorite playlist and hit the tracks.
10. Dead Kooks X Globe Surf Glass Skateboard
11. Volcom Snow X Bryan Iguchi Guch Stretch Gore-Tex Jacket
12. Melon Optics X Horsefeathers Chief Goggle
Dead Kooks, the custom surfboards brand founded in Byron Bay by the shaper Eden Saul, has signed a special collaboration with Globe: a small 61 cm cruiser with fibercarve deck and soft cambered flex construction. Limited edition of only 55 pieces with a custom resin coloring. It features 3.5” Tensor alloy trucks with 58 mm Retroflex wheels.
Volcom honors Bryan Iguchi with a new collection he tested in the Jackson Hole backcountry. High-performance jacket in Gore-Tex 3-Layer Stretch C-Knit designed to guarantee impermeability, breathability, mobility and proper ventilation. Drop Tail fit and Zip Tech interface to connect to the matching trousers.
To celebrate 30 years of history, Horsefeathers has decided to expand its offer by customizing its own snowboard mask in collaboration with Melon Optics. The offer, based on the Chief model, includes a women’s and men’s version, both with a personalized pattern on the strap. It will be supplied in its hard case with spare lens.
20°
COMFORT, PROTECTION, FLAWLESS FIT. Ben Ferguson M4 Goggle Prime MIPS Helmet Find yours at anonoptics.com
20W_Anon_SeamlessIntegration_SequenceIT_#2.indd 1
10.10.19 09:46
Eco Seven B Y D AV I D E F I O R A S O
POW strengthens itself in Europe thanks to Burton and Nidecker During the annual Global Summit, Protect Our Winters (POW) has brought together all European members in Austria. The non-profit organization, founded in 2007 by Jeremy Jones, is expanding its focus in the Old Continent, where regional sections are pushing for political solutions to climate change. Both Burton Snowboards and Nidecker Group used the Global Summit to commit to supporting POW’s work in Europe, each donating $50,000. These donations will support POW in its efforts for a global strategy in the European market. Jake Black, Program Manager of POW in Boulder, Colorado, will oversee the efforts of the European section.
Laax Greenstyle sustainability concept Since 2010, environmental protection and sustainable use of resources are among the most important goals of the Weisse Arena Gruppe, a company that manages the LAAX ski area. The most important measures implemented in these years range from the creation of undisturbed habitats for wildlife and the protection of biodiversity, to the increasingly important use of renewable sources such as hydroelectric and solar energy. The goal? Become the first self-sufficient and CO2-free resort. Indeed there has been the conversion of the pellet and heat pump heating systems to the photovoltaic systems that feed the new ski lifts and buildings.
Jones Snowboard - powered by plants Jones is a leading brand in the fight against climate change, strongly committed to reducing the environmental impact of its products thanks to the ECO-Performance design philosophy that balances performance, durability and sustainability. All the boards in the 19/20 catalog are characterized by 100% FSC wood cores and printed with Bio-Super Resin Sap. The last step in a process that has lasted since 2009 and that in recent years has allowed us to find a non-toxic solution in the finish of the sidewall, to replace carbon with basalt fiber or fiberglass with flax natural fiber and redesign splitboard packaging reducing the use of cardboard.
22°
Jimmy Goodman Andrew Miller
INSTRUMENTS OF STOKE Experience friction free snowboarding. Surf-inspired shapes designed for maximum glide.
MOUNTAIN SURFER
ULTRA MIND EXPANDER
STORM CHASER Solid & Split
MIND EXPANDER Solid & Split
LONE WOLF
Burton Snowboards - Closed For Business, Open For Action During last September “Week for Future” Burton decided to join millions of students to support the Global Climate Strike. All offices in U.S., Canada, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia remained closed on the day of the local strike allowing employees to actively participate. The flagship stores owned have remained open to the public only as a meeting space for the communities. Furthermore, on September 20th, for 24 hours, the Burton. com website did not process orders globally, redirecting users to the official Global Climate Strike web page.
Mammut We Care: the road towards PFC elimination The gradual elimination of chemical substances and PFCs in water-repellent products is part of the commitment to environmental sustainability Mammut We Care. The company participates in the Popfree project initiated by the Swedish RISE Institute that analyzes the impact of PFCs on the environment and some possible alternatives. Mammut has conducted more than 400 tests on 120 different fabrics to understand what factors affect performance. The company’s goal is to launch PFC-free products by 2025. In the PE 2020 collection 65% of sleeping bags will be PFC-free, while in the backpacks, bags and harnesses area will go from 26 to 47%.
Surf Industry Coastal Defender Leaders aligned to support Surfrider Foundation’s mission to protect oceans and beaches. The Surf Industry Coastal Defender is a program developed to bring together industry brands and offer the opportunity to give back to the world the places where their business is focused. The program opens a natural path for collaboration between Surfrider experts and companies that interact closely with the seas, providing the support to new initiatives. Up to date it has been joined by: Almond Surfboards, Billabong, Costa, Dakine, Dragon, Electric, Firewire, HippyTree, Rip Curl, Roark, Roxy, Sanuk, Sisstrevolution, Surfer Magazine, Vans and Vissla.
Sustainability is no longer an exception in sport: it is the standard Consumer needs have changed and the sports industry has adapted to them. ISPO Textrends Spring Summer 2021 participants demonstrated that sustainability is essential in new sportswear. And the approaches are becoming more creative and collaborative. This is the case of the base layer in recycled polyester and hemp presented by A. Sampaio & Filhos or of the Repreve jersey and derived from Tintex cork. The Sheico Group also received awards for a mass-dyed polyester jacquard that drastically reduces the use of water. Lenzing’s pioneering Refibra technology combines the pulp from wood with cotton scraps transforming them into the Lyocell yarn.
24°
CALIFORNIA SPORT- TEL 011-9277943 - WWW.CALIFORNIASPORT.INFO
Nidecker classic series 02. The Pro Pipe With its unforgettable Swiss
knife design, the Pro Pipe was one of the most iconic boards of its time and back in 1994 was the stick of choice of many pro riders. The original featured some super-progressive tech for the time: it was the first board to introduce double camber - know today as camrock - and an asymmetrical outline on a twin tip shape. For the 19/20 edition, Nidecker utilised the popular Merc’s directional twin shape whilst upgrading out the base to an N-9000 finish, resulting in a performance driven all-mountain board.
03. The Babs Jean-Baptiste Charlet aka Babs
01.
02.
was one of the most successful European riders of the nineties, with countless halfpipe podiums and a Transworld Snowboarding cover, and his graphic - made by Swiss artist Nicolas Vaudroz - still remains one of the most recognizable Nidecker pro models. The Babs reissue features the Escape shape, with its full camber construction, Absorbnid top sheet and N-9000 sintered base, for a responsive, fast and performing ride on all terrains.
03.
Nidecker’s journey started back in 1887, when Henry Nidecker originally founded the company, originally specialising in bending wood before moving on to manufacturing cross-country skis. TEXT
Matteo Rossato
In 1984 they produced the first batch of 50 snowboards and starting from there went on to write several chapters of European snowboarding history. In 2019, 35 years later, Nidecker celebrates its illustrious story with the release of a special capsule of three boards. Each of the three models within the Classic Series represents a memorable moment in Nidecker’s history, featuring original artwork from iconic models and team’s favourite existing board shapes plus cutting edge modern technology.
01. The Liberty The original Liberty model was
produced in the Nidecker Factory in Rolle in 1986 and was part of the first snowboard mission to ride the legendary Mont Blanc top to bottom. The reissue is based on the Mellow model with its pointy nose, 7m sidecut and fish tail. All that, along with the surfy camrock, result in a laid back freeride board, delivering amazing vibes in the deep and a smooth but performing ride on the hard pack.
26°
We had a brief talk with Thierry Kunz - Nidecker Brand Lead - about the classic series. What was the inspiration behind the Classics capsule? Why bring back the old designs? We
had just finished creating a museum in our office and one thing was apparent: Nidecker has a long history in snowboarding. We decided it was important to to talk about our past, being now represented in 42 countries. It’s more that just bringing back old designs - it’s a celebration of what we’ve done over the last 35 years.
What was the earliest Nidecker graphic you remember? The funny thing is that I remem-
ber all graphics, I started riding even before Nidecker started making snowboards! However, I was made a team rider around when the Pro Pipe was on the market so I from this capsule that’s the one that means the most to me.
Are there any elements of heritage designs or shapes that come into the rest of the Nidecker collection? We are always inspired by the past,
using it to inspire the future, so all our designs and shapes are created through learning from both the good and bad things we’ve done... just like real life!
a
The 198THELIBERTY 6
” HISTORY MEETS FUTURE „ Produced in the Nidecker factory in Rolle, Switzerland in 1986, this graphic first featured on a snowboard with a very special place in history. The following year it became one of the first snowboards to be ridden from the summit to the foot of Mont Blanc one of the planet’s most famous mountains located in the world-renowned freeriding mecca of Chamonix, France.
PROUD MEMBER OF
The Guardian Ring
It began with the forging of the ring. For years the ring passed from hand to hand, first to Freeriders, the wisest and loyal immortal beings of the Alps. Then to Jibbers, great inventors of structures and creators of meaningless tricks. Then again to Pipe Riders, total freaks but with great technique. And in the end to Funky, who more than anyone wanted to have fun, grinding immaculate slopes in gangs made of screaming snowborders.
TEXT
Isacco Mantegazza
In this ring the force was sealed to protect the authentic soul of snowboard. That’s why it was renamed The Guardian Ring! And that’s why, for the past six years, Funky Snowboards has been organizing the great end-of-season event on the top of Carosello 3000 in Livigno that brings together riders from every corner of the globe to conquer the Guardian Ring! The challenge takes place on a “crazy” banked slalom, a sort of crossroads between a battlefield and Indianapolis, all seasoned with the classic atmosphere that reigns during a party in Ibiza. The event has grown year after year, offering a winning format that allows riders of all levels, both pros and non pros, to participate and have fun, all united for a single purpose, conquer the ring and keep the spirit of old school snowbo-
28°
ard alive. It is mandatory to dress in random, colorful and above all crazy ways, you can carry weapons to disturb other participants during the banked, but also fishing rods, snow slingshots, fins and snorkels, you can do what you want, indeed you have to. The historic location is Carosello 3000 in Livigno at The Beach, where daring skiers and snowboarders armed with a bold spirit and great courage face naked Vikings, beasts and monstrous human beings equipped with crazy sticks and stunning smoke to reach the end of a line that leads directly to glory (or to beers at the Stalet). A volcano of snow and a pool full of blood-thirsty crocodiles and snowboards further hinder the dream journey. All under the watchful eyes of a team of Como cheerleaders who, when exposed to exaltation, occasionally exhibit their “merch”, and what a merch! Whoever wins, if there’s really a winner, receives the silver ring with a millenary stone set and handed down from 1375809309823764 BC. Every year, the raging herd go down the valley for the feast of transhumance, a beer-pong and an aperitif all together at the Stalet. Those who survive go on at Marco’s Pub to earn their immortality with vodka shots and beers down the throat.
SSFF
Surf & Skate Film Festival
ITW
Luca Merli By Denis Piccolo
One of the most successful event in the European skate and surf scene was born in 2017 in Milan. It is the Skate Surf Film Festival, aka SSFF, now at its third edition. 25,000 people in 3 days at Base in Milan has been contaminated by movies, contests, exhibitions, shaping competitions and much more. Luca Merli, the man who gave birth to all of this, tells us about his feelings.
the birth of many similar film festivals around the world that I often attended with my own productions. I thought about organizing one in Italy, in Milan, but here unfortunately there is no sea, so a surf-only festival wouldn’t have made much sense. I have many friends in the skate scene and Milan is an important place for international skateboarding, so I decided to join forces. The roots are common and from the beginning there has always been a beautiful contamination between the surf and the skate world.
When and how was the SSFF born? The
What message does the SSFF want to share? Our goal is to promote the creativity ge-
idea of organizing the SSFF was born from the meeting of people with the same passion from the world of surfing, skateboarding and filmmaking. Initially with Onde Nostre, my Italian surfing project, I was used to organize premieres where lots of people passed by and later saw
nerated by these activities, looking for an original point of view, both social and cultural, that these productions can offer. We want to help the rapidly growing Italian surf and skate scene with a keen eye on international productions.
30°
Any thoughts about this year’s edition? What did you like and what didn’t? This
surfing one. Over the years they got separated, influenced by different cultures and worlds, but I am from the generation where the two worlds were united, I was a child in the seventies and the Californian lifestyle formed my imagination. I liked celebrating these two worlds, which despite having very different re-
year’s edition was the biggest so far in terms of contents and artists involved, we had a double movie theater, 3 skate contests, one day more, more musicians and DJs and even a shaping competitions with shapers coming from Hawaii and California. Great but very tiring. I wasn’t able to enjoy a single thing I set up, I was always busy behind the scenes. Maybe too much!
Our goal is to promote the creativity generated by these activities, looking for an original point of view, both social and cultural, that these productions can offer. We want to help the rapidly growing Italian surf and skate scene with a keen eye on international productions.
What do you think are the main connections between skateboarding and surfing? The history of skateboarding, especially at the beginning, is closely connected to the
31°
32°
ference scenes today, have common origins, like two brothers who are very different but have a common root that binds them. This is important to me.
Within SSFF there are many artistic contaminations, why, do you think, there’s so much creativity behind the skate and surf culture? Since the beginning both surfing and
Since the beginning both surfing and skateboarding have been practiced by free spirits, guys who had to invent fun, something to do to escape degradation, boredom, marginalization, they formed groups of friends united by the same passions, inventing the tools and structures.
skateboarding have been practiced by free spirits, guys who had to invent fun, something to do to escape degradation, boredom, marginalization, they formed groups of friends united by the same passions, inventing the tools and structures. Music was also part of the game, many of them are or were musicians, as well as artists, photographers, filmmakers, graphic designers but also brands were born to represent a new world, often managed by the same surfers or skaters. It has always been a movement of rebellion and freedom to which I dedicated myself as a child and whose values I have embraced.
fer named Mike February, the film was shot in West Africa and the music was composed live by some African bands. He is an exceptional athlete, I really like to see him surf on deserted dream waves with extreme elegance. A simple movie, sincere, well done. I also loved the Thomas Campbell’s “YOD”, a skate odyssey with the best American skaters, very well filmed. And then I also liked the Chef Family movie, a tribute to Gianluca Mariani, a historical skater from Milan. The premiere at SSFF was perhaps the most beautiful and crowded moment of the festival.
Which movie impressed you the most?
it, it’s still top secret at the moment, I don’t even know exactly what’s going to happen! Only time will tell, as old men say.
This year the movie that I liked the most is a short film with a young African-American sur-
33°
Goals for the next edition? I’m working on
Ramble Away
Motorbikes, surfing and filming. This is what Luca Merli, Mattia Chiaudano, Damiano Colomba and Marco Morandi have in common. The four members of the Machetes have recently released a short movie of their road trip to Wheels & Waves in Biarritz, a famous gathering of bikers and surfers that in recent years has brought the philosophy of tuning and waves higher and higher. The culture of surfing is celebrated while on the mainland the best tuning of the motorbikes is enhanced and in the surrounding area skaters of all levels ride. Lately Wheels & Waves has become more than just a rally of bikers and surfers, every year in June, in Biarritz you can really feel part of a big family that shares the same passions.
TEXT
Federico Mura
This year parked in the sun there were also the Machetes Triumphs, meticulously put together in Milan and then on the road to face more than 1000 kilometers in order to reach the French
34°
west coast overlooking the gulf of Biscay. For those who have never experienced the amazing feeling that a road trip with four friends and four motorcycles can give, this video will certainly be a great inspiration. As you know in all road trips, the important thing is not the destination, but the journey, the bond created with your fellow travelers and, especially in the case of the motorbike, the link with the means of transport. The spirit of the 70s does not seem to have abandoned the cylinders of the bikes and the hearts of the members of Machetes. The moments captured by the cameras of Machetes range from welds, drift, single-wheel, and if there is one thing that cannot be missed is the style. In short, a movie made for real men by real men. The short film takes its name directly from the rally, “Wheels & Waves� and tells much more of the story of a trip with friends. The road, the beach and the surf have changed over the years, but what has not changed is the passion for motorbikes and the desire for freedom.
35°
Deeluxe give‘em the boot.
An interview with Deeluxe pro rider Elias Elhardt and marketing manager Florian Heim about boot fitting, the importance of the correct gear, and sauna. ITW
Matteo Rossato
Elias how was shooting the Sauna scene for the Deeluxe commercial? It was actual-
ly quite funny, because it was a nice occasion to come together with the whole team behind Deeluxe and shred buddy Werni. We all know each other since well over ten years. Accordingly, doing such foolish stuff together turned out to be hilarious.
Back to more serious questions: how important is the boot for the riding performance? Ideally you don’t think of your boot
when riding and it just feels totally natural to wear. But if that’s not the case and the boot is bugging you in some places or is too soft or stiff you realize, that having the right boot is actual-
36°
ly an absolute essential that can decide your day. FLO: In my view boots are the most important part of your snowboard set up. If they do not fit, are uncomfortable or do not perform in the way you want you will have a harsh time on your snowboard. Accordingly, fit, comfort and performance are the most important points for us at Deeluxe when it comes to developing snowboard boots.
Elias, which are the most important features that make a snowboard boot great? I
like it if the boot feels like it’s molded around your foot and fits very naturally. Once that’s given the next important thing for me is that the boot gives me enough support so my ankles don’t have to take all the compression and at the same time enough flexibility, so you don’t feel locked in. FLO: Fit, comfort and performance are the most important points when it comes to snowboard boots. Accordingly, a
comfortable and custom fitted liner, a quick and easy way to open, perfect heel hold and a grippy sole, that offers you the best board feel but still protects you from harsh impacts when landing are the most important features. That’s why thermo flex liners, L3 lacing and the Skate Flex sole are my personal favorite Deeluxe tech features.
How do you approach the design of a new boot? I like to follow the rule that design fol-
lows function, which means first and foremost it’s about designing a boot that works the best possible way for snowboarding. Once we can assure that and move on to the optical design, I usually like very clean designs with natural, earthy colors. FLO: When it comes to signature model boots, we always try to give the riders plenty of scope to come up with their own design and features they want to have in a boot. For the rest of our collection, we work closely with shops, our team riders and try to listen to what the market needs. It is really important for us to have an eye on all kinds of snowboarding. After coming up with new prototypes a lot of testing is needed in order
to come up with the best solutions for every terrain and every riding style.
Thermo fitting: how much is the gain in performance of a thermoformed liner? I
think a snowboard boot can only be as good as it fits. For some people a regular boot fits just fine but all our feet are quite different, some really struggle to find a boot that can fit. Especially for them, I think thermo custom fitting can really offer an incredibly good solution
How does your Thermo Flex Liners work? I mean the process to get the correct fit.
Well, I usually just go the the Sauna.. obviously! Haha, nah, I usually go visit the Deeluxe office where they have a specific oven to heat the up the thermo moldable liners of the boots.
“I like to follow the rule that design follows function, which means first and foremost it’s about designing a boot that works the best possible way for snowboarding. Once we can assure that and move on to the optical design, I usually like very clean designs with natural, earthy colors.” - Elias
37°
“When it comes to signature model boots, we always try to give the riders plenty of scope to come up with their own design and features they want to have in a boot. For the rest of our collection, we work closely with shops, our team riders and try to listen to what the market needs.” - Flo FLO: Just visit your local Deeluxe dealer. In less than half an hour you will walk out with perfectly fitting boots. Shops get trained by Deeluxe thermo custom fitting experts and equipped with special ovens. The trained staff will place the liners in the oven that is heated to between 90-110 °C. While cooling, the liners are fitted to your foot and will retain their form. For additional comfort and support, liner precision fit pads can be strategically placed on your feet during the custom fitting process.
Is there a specific terrain where thermoformed liners are more important? No I don’t
think there’s any specific kind of terrain for it. A well-fitting boot is crucial for any kind of snowboarding. However, probably the stiffer the boots are, the more you feel it if they don’t fit well. FLO: Like Elias mentioned, thermo flex liners do not perform differently in varying terrain. The crucial part is, that once fitted, they adapt 100% to your feet. While regular liners are constructed to be a good ave-
38°
rage fit for all kinds of different feet, you get a customized solution for your own feet with thermo flex liners.
Which is the difference in terms of material and sales price between a boot with Thermo fitted liners and without them? FLO:
For our thermo flex liners we use a special patented foam. The price difference between thermo flex liners and regular, not thermo moldable liners is small compared to what you get for it. ELIAS: I would just recommend it to everyone that has pressure points and pain in his feet when snowboarding. Thermo custom fitting is definitely worth the investment then.
Elias, do you have any special trick when breaking in your new boots? I usually tie them a little more loose the first couple days. After that I like to tie them quite tight.
Which are the highlights of the Deeluxe boot collection for the current season? I ob-
viously love the Deemon boot, which is why I chose to have my pro model based around this boot. FLO: Well. beside Elias‘ signature model, the Deemon Elias, my personal highlights are the ID bloodline and the award winning female boot Team ID Lara.
On the lookout
Fabian Fraidl
I’m Fabi Fraidl, currently 25 years old. From Austria. I’m based in Tyrol, heart of the Alps, near Kaunertal. Last meal: I just cooked some good ol’ pasta di Genoa con chicken. Was tasty af. TEXT
Matteo Rossato PHOTOS
Rado Kapralcik Felix Pirker
Best shred enviroment: Arlberg with Jacco
Boss, Oskar Fritzsche and Christian Kirsch. I need is a shovel, some friends and maybe somebody who is filming it. That’s my ideal riding environment.
Unsung Hero: That’s easy, Ozzy (Oskar Fritz-
sche) for sure. That kid rips so hard. I can see myself in him, when I watch him ride. haha, He does those crazy next level onefoots I always wished I could do.
Next big thing in snowboarding: Instagram.
It took over youtube and facebook by miles and the views and exposure people get there is unreal, sometimes I feel like with all this Instagram posts and stories nowadays people get so overwhelmed with contents that it’s impossible to keep track of everything going on in the snowboard world. And in a result good clips just disappear after a couple days of exposure. This is sad, but on the other hand it opens up a lot of opportunities that where not possible before. For example, it’s pretty easy nowadays,
40°
to go to a resort and get lift passes, hotels and sometimes even some money in exchange of simply tagging the resort on an insta story or post. That’s pretty dope.
Owe a pint to: Biggest shout out goes out to
all my friends, to Jacco Boss for putting the movie “From Scraps” together. Thanks to Rado Kapralcik for filming most of my streetshots last year and Laura Lareida for filming tons of instagrams in the cold. Big ups to my sponsors Bataleon Snowboards, Switchback Bindings, Deeluxe Boots, ECG Gloves, Alone Collective, Uptitude Shades, Unit1 and Uncle Stanky’s Wax. Won’t miss in the shred kit: Wax, salt, fruits and an iPhone. And I wish I had an infinite amount of guacamole with me.
What’s coming next: If you didn’t get the
chance to catch one of the premieres of our movie “From Scraps” by Daily Chaos, you will be able to see it online by end of November. For this upcoming winter we are planning various filming trips in Europe for another movie that will be coming in Fall 2020. I can’t wait for this. In the meantime, go follow me on Instagram @ fabianfraidl, for weekly snowboard clips.
41°
#HF30: Horsefeathers turns thirty
1989
1992
Joel, Pheonix Mtn.
First Office in Pilsen
1992
Joel and HanuĹĄ
1993
First design on T-shirt
Everybody know Horsefeathers as the European snowboard outerwear company 100% committed to snowboarding, producing quality riding gear and supporting top class b oarders like Halldor and Eiki Helgason, Tyler Chorlton, Mans Hedberg, Steve Gruber, and Egor Chebanov.
TEXT
Matteo Rossato
What you might not know is that Horsefeathers was born in Canada and only in 1992 moved back to Pilzen - Czcech Repulic - along with its creator Hanus Salz. 2019 marks 30 years of Horsefeathers, a story begun in 1989 at Rock Creek, British Columbia, with a group of snowboarders and a British grandmother: 30 years is a lot of time for a relatively young sport like snowboarding and what we are about to tell you here,
42°
is an amazing story about a lucid vision, coherence and love for sliding sideways. The best way to start telling this story is to let the founder Hanus Salz explain how everything started in BC. Back in 1989, snowboarding was nothing like we know it today. No snowparks, no high-speed lifts, no social media, no digital. It was a simple analog world. Yet what lacked in high-end technologies was abundantly compensated by the full on energy that every snowboarder felt for the lifestyle. Snowboarding was new, weird, fresh and on fire. It was a definite rebellion against the established team-sport mentality. In Rock Creek and surrounding area, the handful of kids who were
“Horsefeathers was and still is the best and the greatest lesson of my life. It’s amazing to see what happened with Horsefeathers it is unbelievable it went from one t-shirt collection brand back in
1995
First Ad
the days compared to full product pack company nowadays.”
1998
First outerwear collection
- Pavel Kubíček / co-owner
2000
First Official Team 1998
BC Trip
1998
First Snowboard Ad
snowboarding in those early days went riding whenever they could. When Stew Carlson started using his Grandmother’s quote “That’s horsefeathers Stewart!” (with the most proper British accent, meaning “That’s nonsense“) an idea was born. Joel DeVille then made a first linoleum print and Nigel Price the first designs. Horsefeathers became a kind of an inside joke to Stew, Joel, Jesse, Pollen, Ruth, Zuzana and Hanuš that more-less made up all the snowboarders attending the BCSS high-school. Horsefeathers totally went along with snowboarding being generally a bizarre activity for most people at that time. The crew rode together every possible day at the local and surrounding mountains like Mt.Baldy,
Phoenix Mtn., Big White, Red Mountain and of course Whitewater. 1992 was a graduation year for most and Hanuš took off to Europe where he met Pavel Kubíček. The two friends quickly realized they did not want to get a job any time soon and decided to officially launch Horsefeathers as real brand. The first collection came to life in 1993 and consisted of 50 t-shirts and 200 stickers. The year after, in 1994, Hanuš and Pavel opened their first office in Pilsen, which was – in their own words – a cozy mayhem of salvaged furniture, posters, snow and skate mags and “high-tech electronics”, all surrounded by boxes of clothings. In 1995 the very first Horsefeathers ad was published on Board snow&skate magazine.
43°
“Working with Horsefeathers is exactly how snowboarding business should be, you just feel how its driven by the love for snowboarding and nothing else.” - Eiki Helgason / pro rider
2009
BC 20th AnniversaryTrip 2006
Horsefeathers City Jib 2004
Fragments video
2004
Ispo Munich
2007
Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam
The AD didn’t feature any action pic or clothing piece, but a vintage pic of naked kids dancing with sunglasses on: full-on Horsefeathers. It was 1997 when Horsefeathers released its first outerwear collection and during the same season the founders organized a “back to the roots” trip in British Columbia backcountry, where Pavel shot a picture of Hanuš jumping a cliff: that shot was later featured in an AD from season 1998. Two years after a first official team lineup was presented, consisting in: Michal Vladík, Petr Zvolánek, Honza Janda, Luděk Čtvrtníček, Filip Tauchman, Martin Mráz, Ondřej Marčík, Jan Zajíc, Kryštof Just, and Kamil Mrázik. On early 2000 the company started to took off and 2004 was a fairly important year for Horse-
44°
feathers: Fragments - the first ever Team movie came out and the company entered the ISPO trade show: this marks the growth of the brand on an international level. Right after, the company started to support some major European events, such as the Horsefeathers City Jib in 2006 and the ledendary Pleasure Jam the following year. The Pleasure Jam was an internationally recognized 4 stars event at Dachstein that always attracted the best riders pumped on competing in the first contest of the season. The contest ran from 2007 to 2011 and was part of the Horsefeathers Superpark Dachstein and Horsefeathers Superpark Planai combo. In 2009 Finnish wonderboy Ville Outilla entered the team, and along with Lukáš Draxl, Rene Biedenkap, Honza Zajíc,
“I would have to say my best memories are every time I visit the office, I get to reconnect with everyone behind the scenes and I feel that’s very important. We also get to have a good skate session on the mini ramp! ” - Tyler Chorlton / pro rider
2010
HF Configurator 2015
Global Snowboard team
2008
Ville Uotila joins the team
2018
2012
Halldor Helgason Joins the team
Flagship store opening
Richard Skandera and Zuzana Salz took part to the 20th anniversary BC trip. After winning the award Breakthrough brand of the year on Source Magazine, Horsefeathers launched a very innovative project for those times: the Hf Configurator. The configurator was a fully functional online tool for customers to easily scroll through all possible combo/colorway options of each collection. Almost ten years ago it was a really unique and progressive tool, that barely no other snowboard brand had. In 2012 the first Horsefeathers Flagship Store opened in Prague, setting up an environment that reflected everything Horsefeathers was representing as a brand.
2013 saw Horsefeathers to collaborate with the skate sneakers brand Osiris, and two years after three new global team members were announced: Tyler Chorlton, Mans Hedberg and Eiki Helgason. Shortly after Eiki dropped his solo movie project Island Born, entierly shot in Iceland. Icing on the cake, in 2018 Eiki’s younger brother and snowboard superstar Halldor joined Horsefeathers and his atrip line became a staple into the Horsefeathers lineup.
“Horsefeathers is a vision that unfolded into a positively tuned brand and collective, which gives me confidence it can further develop in today’s changing world.” - Hanuš Salz / co-owner
45°
Nitro is going Offline
Nitro is turning thirty this year, and the best way to celebrate was to produce a movie with a strong message. Offline is way more than a showcase of the amazing skills of Nitro pro riders, it’s a reminder that snowboarding and life in general go way beyond the screen of your smartphone and a fresh insta edit.
ITW
We had a chat with Nitro Global team manager and snowboard lover Knut Eliassen and talked about Offline movie project and how to plug off once in a while to enjoy life.
PHOTOS
Hi Knut, why naming the movie Offline in the digital era? We named the Nitro’s movie Offline,
Knut Eliassen by Matteo Rossato Markus Rohrbacher
because nowadays we are online all the time: on
46°
our computers at work, on our phones, there’s so many online media hitting us continuously, that for us snowboarding is the best way to go offline. The simple act of strapping in make us focus on what’s there’s in front of us and live the moment, even if it’s just for an instant. I’m on my phone all the time, so for me getting offline and naming the movie like that it’s just a reminder to take a break and enjoy what’s around us.
So we can assume that getting offline and enjoy the real moments is the main message of the movie? This is actually the main message of the movie, to get offline and have fun snowboarding.
Nitro never skipped a season with its team
LEFT
Elias Elhardt TOP
Austin Smith RIGHT
Knut Eliassen
videos: what’s the meaning of a full snowboard movie in these days made of web edits and insta clips? Well, in the instagram edits and
stories you simply see a sequence of tricks, one after the other, which is cool, though. I know all of that is part of the progress, but for me and all the true boarders, we’d rather appreciate a full movie carrying a real message. Maybe you won’t watch it over and over again like we used to do in the past, but at least it will be way more valuable than just 10 seconds clip before swiping to the next one.
How much important is the team for Nitro? What does happen when you - as the team manager - look for a new rider for the team?
Well for us, for Sepp and Tommy Delago - the
TOP
Jared Elston RIGHT
Markus Keller
owners - the team is the number one. They’re the biggest ambassadors, they’re the ones who test all the gears, they’re the ones who keep pushing the sport, for us they’re best friends and they’re the main reason we got hooked up in the snowboard thing when we were kids. Picking a new rider is not that easy; we look for someone deeply passionate about snowboarding, with amazing snowboarding skills and at the same time someone who’s friendly, who gets along with everyone and it also has to be someone you enjoy to hang out with.
Where do you see the future of snowboard communication in general? I see it going full
digital-online, but I also believe the quality of products speaks for the brand, so I think word of
48°
mouth communication is really important as well.
Which are the main Nitro highlights for the 2020 season? Nitro is turning thirty years od in
2019 so there will be a lot of things going on for this winter, but probably the main project will be a big Offline team trip that will happen at the end of the season. We’ll go somewhere like Norway for a full month and invite people to join us: camping, skateboarding, snowboarding and generally getting offline all together.
Could you explain us why Nitro decided to not directly sell on the website? We don’t sell
directly trough our website because we - as a brand - believe it’s very important to take care of every link in the chain of snowboarding. If a
We are online all the time: on our computers at work, on our phones, there’s so many online media hitting us continuously, that for us snowboarding is the best way to go offline.
dealer supports us carrying our products in his shop, we feel in need to support him, because he’s holding together and pushing the local snowboard community. If we’d sell online, we’d basically work against him.
What will be in your opinion the next trend in snowboarding after carving? That’s a hard one,
I don’t have the crystal ball ah ah. Anyway in my opinion reverts are coming back strong, like doing a backside 540 and then spin back to regular. The next trend for the average riders could be more tweaked grabs. I also see Young Doli kind of stuff becoming a thing lately; his riding is so smooth and apparently accessible to everybody, that’s really easy to relate with. All his flat trickery and butters will be for sure a trend in the next season.
49°
Project Hijinks about how silly what we do is, and Hijinks kind of portrays that. We mess around on pieces of wood, with our friends, in different countries, and most people don’t understand what we are doing and think we are vandals. Project Hijinks worked for us. Despite the funny title, Project Hijinks is a turning point for Rusty Toothbrush: tell us what happened in this last year and all the dynamics that brought you here.
Despite the not-so-serious title, Project Hijinks marks the beginning of a whole new era for Rusty Toothbrush. The Euro-Kiwi crew, born in 2Alpes in the summer of 2015, has grown into a full-on movie production and the recent enrollment of Welsh Simpson Brothers opened a whole new chapter of the project. Rusty Toothbrush main man Alex Stewart passed Jack and Joe the camera and we can’t wait what to know more about that. Hey guys, how you’re doing? Where you at? Jake & Joe Simpson: Hey man, we are doing
super good, thanks! We’re sitting in our tent on the west coast of France, getting pummelled by rain, waiting for the swell to pick up and putting the finishing touches on Project Hijinks! Alex Stewart: I’m in Rożńava, Slovakia building my fiberglass shower in the back of my camper, editing, searching for some spots and waiting for the snow to fall so we can start riding.
Project Hijinks is such a curious name: what’s the inside joke of the movie? Jake & Joe Simpson: Well we always laugh and talk
ITW
Matteo Rossato RIGHT
Alex Stewart 50°
Alex Stewart: My long time business partner, best mate and head filmer for Rusty Toothbrush Brad Smith decided to take a permanent break from filming snowboarding. This left me in an interesting position, as Rusty Toothbrush had clearly arrived at an important transition point. It was obvious to me that I should ask the Simpson Brothers if they would be interested in filming our new movie under the Rusty Toothbrush umbrella. I’m super glad they took on this project, as I trust and truly believe in these boys ability to make a movie that captures our crews energy and love for each other and our snowboarding.
How did happen that two brothers from Wales met up with a Gipsy Kiwi boarder and his bandwagon? Jake & Joe Simpson:
I think maybe two three winters ago the Rusty guys came to Avoriaz for the opening weekend, and we either bumped into them or was introduced by a friend, but anyways we hit it off straight away and they’ve been inviting us on trips ever since! Alex Stewart: I’ve had an eye on these kids for a while watching them improve their style year after year while, always taking a very passionate, positive and genuine approach to creating content: It was a no brainer to pull them closer in the crew as they portrait everything that I feel Rusty Toothbrush has always stood for. “Shameless fun with your mates”.
51°
Rusty Toothbrush has accustomed us to their style mixing exotic locations and tons of fun; Simpson brothers excels in creative boarding. What should we expect by the mashup of the two? Jake & Joe Simp-
son: Expect laughing, high-fives, weird spots, backcountry bails, 8mm carnage and a shit ton of Hijinks.
If we got it right, Joe and Jake were the main men behind the camera while Alex was the “executive producer”. How did you really split the roles? Jake & Joe Simpson: Yeah that’s exactly right, let’s say for the first half of the winter Alex facilitated everything for us so we could concentrate on capturing the good stuff, haha. Thanks again Alex!
Alex Stewart: I fronted the money and they made the magic. I would like to take more credit than that because it truly is something very special, but this is a Simpson Brothers creation, yet still like all the past Rusty Toothbrush movies. I think it’s also a creation of all those involved, of everyone who bled and sweat for this project has in some way shaped its outcome, and I’m sure the Simpson brothers would agree with me on that.
Well we always laugh and talk about how silly what we do is, and Hijinks kind of portrays that. We mess around on pieces of wood, with our friends, in different countries, and most people don’t understand what we are doing and think we are vandals. Project Hijinks worked for us.
Let’s talk about locations: you went from filming around Europe to traveling to USA and even India. Last Poveri Noi was mainly filmed in Europe. What about Project Hijinks spots? Jake & Joe Simpson:
We didn’t travel much outside of Europe but we still moved around quite a bit. The whole crew hit up Czech Republic, French Alps and Italy all together, then around mid February everyone split off onto their own paths and we (Jake, Jacob, and Joe) carried on shooting street around Innsbruck and our homebase in Morzine.
Your premiers are as famous as your movies: any promo tour for Project Hijinks in the making? Jake & Joe Simpson: We love a
good premier tour, but unfortunately this year we will only be premiering it at a few stops before the online release (dates will be coming soon).
In a movie production - in your in particular - how important in percentage is: people, tricks, locations, montage, fun. Jake & Joe
Simpson: Everything that you mentioned above comes in to play when you are filming a movie but if you have a good crew of mates that are up for anything then the rest will happen naturally, and for the editing side of things a good song choice will change everything.
Last words: how would you love to be remembered on the snowboard history books? Jake & Joe Simpson: Wow that’s a big one haha, ummm to be remembered at all would be a pleasure, but if we were to be remembered for anything I hope it would be for always having smiles on our faces.
Alex Stewart: Snowboarding is an ego driven individualistic sport, but I would like that when people think of Rusty Toothbrush they are reminded that everything is better when done together and that our crew is remembered simply for breaking this mould.
RIGHT
Dusan 52°
53°
Partie a powdersurfing exploration
Powdersurfing? Powdersurfing! If this bindingless snow ploughing and gravity flirting activity will ever make the dictionary, it probably would look quite like this:
Powdersurfing [paʊdə sɜːfɪŋ] gliding down snow-covered slopeswithout the use of bindings on purpose-built boards. snowsurfing, powsurfing, snurfing, noboarding and mountainsurfing are related terms.
TEXT
Ben Dietermann PHOTOS
Daniel Schneider Ben Dietermann 54°
B
ut for now, the dictionary only came handy to doublecheck before really settling on Partie as the title for the powdersurfing exploration movie we’re about to make happen. Partie? A word of french origin, with more than one adequate german meaning and related expressions in the english language. Thanks to trailblazers like Gregg Todds and Wolfgang Nyvelt powdersurfing is definitely out of its infancy stages by now and fairly well-known. But somehow many boardsport enthusiasts still haven’t given it a try or misjudge it as a novelty thing for oversaturated powder hounds only riding the deepest powder in Canada or Japan. Time to change this, time to spread the fever.
A whole new world. Skip the bindings and the mountains become an even bigger playground [...] a chance to find thrills in even the simplest terrain, celebrate gliding on snow anew topped off with some delicious surfing and skateboard flavour. some delicious surfing and skateboard flavour. And yes, there is an extra portion of freedom to powdersurfing. Hard to pin down what exactly it is, as it is more than the definite lack of straps, is it the possibility to jump on or off at any time, the opportunity to let all of your body move unrestrictedly, the minimalistic equipment, the wider choice of fun terrain, the feeling of acting on the verge of control? We are far from striving to find precise answers, we are simply motivated to have a look at how powdersurfing is currently celebrated by a selection of individuals that hold this activity in high regards. We love snowboarding. Actually, a lot. But there was always a certain urge to unstrap from time to time. Sometimes just one foot, sometimes two…and yes snowskating got tried as well…, but nah. Powdersurfing that was the discovery.
The characters we will portray are chosen for the original approach, their unique characters and their enthusiasm towards this topic. Some devote as many days possible to the bindingless bliss, others only head out when the conditions are really calling for.
Snowboarding is already so diverse and so worth celebrating all its manifold opportunities. You just can’t get enough. And then bam… a whole new world. Skip the bindings and the mountains become an even bigger playground. Don’t get me wrong here, this is not a tiny bit about slowing down your snowboarding, this is about having an option on top, a chance to find thrills in even the simplest terrain, celebrate gliding on snow anew topped off with
Most of them are rather unknown and still they all do their fair share to spread the powdersurfing excitement in appropriate manners and never cease to inspire the people they meet along the way. We prefer to keep further details about the personnel discreet till the movie is ready.
55°
What we can give away is the fact that most of the filming will happen at home in the alps
as we want to promote the big advantage of powdersurfing being perfect to get fresh thrills while rediscovering your home turfs. No need to travel far, the local hills is where it’s at. You might need to readjust how you interpret the terrain, but only for good. If you don’t adapt to the terrain and conditions, you’re off. Learn to read what’s given to you and then play with it.
You can pimp your grip with magnets and fly a bit further, ride on nothing but a bare wood board on those perfect days, take an extra-long board to some mellow hills, do first descents on glaciers or down couloirs, try skateboard tricks in spring slush or just go for some afternoon fun with your kid on the local sled hill. The possibilities are endless. Do what you feel like.
In general, it’s far from an exclusive thing and this project is no exception, lots of the sessions are announced publicly and everybody is welcome. Welcome to explore and celebrate powdersurfing together.As the driving creative behind this project I confess that the general idea for a movie project like this has been around a bit, but it only took shape with the time passing and meeting more and more interesting people along the way. Also, personally, only grasping the full potential of this whole thing as time passed and experiences were made. It’s only limited, if your imagination and motivation is.
This puristic art of turning on snow sans bindings deserves some more exploration, celebration and documentation. And that’s what we gonna do. We start the filming with the first runs when the grass hills are barely covered by the first snowfalls and then simply follow the unpredictable flow of the upcoming winter season and wrap up when the season comes to an end around may. The first teaser for the movie will drop in january 2020 and a second one two months later. After screenings at film festivals and similar occasions in early fall 2020, the full movie will be made available for free online in late november 2020.
56°
We want to promote the big advantage of powdersurfing being perfect to get fresh thrills while rediscovering your home turfs. No need to travel far, the local hills is where it’s at.
57°
Prosper Visionz
ITW
Ernesto Garcia Delgadillo by Denis Piccolo PHOTOS
Ernesto Garcia Delgadillo Rodrigo Garcia Delgadillo Enrico Cerovac Federico Casella
it represent for you? For us Milano Centrale
is almost like home, we started skating there in 2004. Between breaks from skateboarding, work and life, we have always remained tied up to the spot and to the people that animate it.
In your opinion, how has the skating scene changed in the last 10 years? Compared to
years ago, skateboarding has certainly become available to everyone. When we started skating, it was not as accessible as it is now, like all subcultures, coming in contact with it and becoming part of it was more difficult, there was not all this media attention, social networks certainly contributed to make it more accessible to people, with all its pros and cons.
Who are the members of this collective?
Rodrigo Garcia Delgadillo, Roberto Beretta Delgadillo, Enrico Cerovac, Federico Casella, Stefano Campioni, Paolo Bazzana and I.
Prosper Visionz was born in 2014 from an idea I had, the initial aim was to photographically document the world that marked my childhood, mainly the punk and skate scene. What is Prosper Visionz? Now it’s a collective made up of several elements, photography has remained the backbone of the project but over the years there have been people from similar contexts who have contributed to enrich the project.
Milano Centrale has always been a hub for the skateboarding scene, what does
58°
Introduce every of them briefly. Rodrigo,
Roberto and I created Prosper as a collective and we follow the photographic and illustrative part, through skating we met Federico and Enrico many years before Prosper was born, they joined the collective as photographers in 2017 when we had “Workers”, a collective exhibition in Santeria in Milan, Paolo printed our first fanzine called “Hawks” in 2016 in addition to most of the works that each of us later published individually, Stefano is a childhood friend and comes from the punk world, together we worked on “Ororo” and “Sessions”, two mixtapes
59°
For us Milano Centrale is almost like home, we started skating there in 2004. Between breaks from skateboarding, work and life, we have always remained tied up to the spot and to the people that animate it. You’re very active with videos, exhibitions and independent publications. Tell me about the project that best represents you.
I think that our last collective exhibition during the 2019 SSFF is the project that has allowed us to give a solid vision of the collective and it is the thing we are most tied to.
You also realize a fanzine. Nowadays everything is going digital, so why this choice? Coming from the hardcore punk wor-
ld, we were used to have fanzines and paper stuff in our hands, so when we realized we had a good amount of photo material, it was natural for us to think of realizing our own zine where show what our world is made up of . respectively from 2015 and 2016. At the moment we are working on a third mixtape that should come out later this year.
Compared to other cultures, skating always brought a lot of creativity. Why?
I think it may depend on the fact that it is an open and rich context of influences, just think of how many things come to mind when naming the word skating: art in general but more specifically design, music, photography, videography.
60°
What will you do tomorrow? We are wor-
king on a new fanzine, the last one dates back to 2016 and at the time the photo contents were mainly mine, in these 3 years both Rodrigo and Roberto approached photography and obviously the contribution of Enrico and Federico in this sense was invaluable . Over time we had other people that have allowed the “vision” to expand, each person depicts an important piece and together you can think of building something solid, only time will tell.
61°
The Knukkle Huck Backpack 62°
What’s in your backpack, fridge? Fridge Tischendorf literally launched himself onto the scene at Superpark 2017, stomping the craziest tricks with the wildest of styles with an apparent disrespect for his well-being. The most peculiar thing however was that, for the whole event, he wore a backpack and he soon became famous for being the Norwegian backpacker. We had to find out more about this nordic shredder and, even more importantly, ask him what he’s hiding in his backpack.
ITW
George Boutall PHOTOS
Matt Georges ILLUSTRATIONS
Evergeen Design House
Hey Fridge, before Superpark 2017 we had never heard about you, where were you hiding before then? Never felt like I was hiding,
but I think was struggling with injuries before that. Probably had two or three knee surgeries and that usually meant not riding a full season. I think Superpark 2017 was one of the first season in a while that I had survived the whole time without injuries. Usually things work out a little better as long as I manage to stay healthy.
After Superpark 2017 you started getting some serious attention on an international scale, has anything changed with all this hype? I feel like things are constantly chan-
ging. I really appreciate all the hype, and I think the only thing that has changed is maybe the fact that I now have to consider myself as a professional snowboarder not just a snowboarder. I get to be a part of a lot of cool stuff, but have to get better at answering emails and doing the business side of snowboarding a little more. I guess I just have to grow up.
Let’s get to the point, how did you get the idea of riding with your backpack all the time? It was pretty random how it all started.
63°
But for sure the idea started after a full summer of playing Skate 2 where the dopest character was riding with a backpack.
Do you find that the backpack helps your riding, is it like your superpower? It definitely gives me a little bit of superpower yeah. I feel naked if I’m not riding with it now.
So the question that everyone’s asking: what are you hiding inside your backpack?
I can make up a new story every time for what is in the backpack and it will still be true. It does serve a purpose. But I can say that the backpack is a metaphor of life. And you always have to consider what you have in there, what you choose to carry with you through your life. A lot of heavy shit will drag you down and make you slower, so make sure to let stuff go if it doesn’t serve a better purpose and help you live a good life.
You have a dedicated backpack sponsor, are they paying you big money? Been riding
without a backpack sponsor the whole time. No extra money just something I have chosen to do.
“The backpack is a metaphor of life. And you always have to consider what you have in there, what you choose to carry with you through your life. A lot of heavy shit will drag you down and make you slower, so make sure to let stuff go if it doesn’t serve a better purpose and help you live a good life.”
64°
Have you ever thought about using an airbag system that could save you from bailing hard on kickers? Yeah the idea has been thrown out there. The dream backpack would definitely have an airbag system, built in chair and speaker, and maybe a cooler system. Maybe I’ll be able to create something like that in the future.
What do you want to say to those people who are adopting your backpack style, do you have any tips? Probably stay clear of glass bottles, heard some story about someone who got paralyzed because of that... And if you are riding with a backpack with belt buckle make sure you have a proper one, not a cheap one. I was riding backcountry with my backpack once
65°
and slammed pretty hard. Both shoulder straps got ripped off and if I would have had a buckle across my chest it probably would have choked me. Luckily that wasn’t the case!
You’re definitely a rider that sticks out of the crowd, how would you define your style? Hmm, never thought about how to define
my style. I would probably say it’s a loose style. Like a loose canon that I never know when it’s going to fire.
The best thing about watching you ride, is that it always looks like you’re having one hell of a time, is it true? Fake it til you make
it! No just kidding, yeah it’s weird but I almost get surprised sometimes about how much I like
The Dream Backpack 66°
to snowboard. I’m mostly bummed if I’m too hurt or tired to ride...
While lots of riders are hating contests, it looks like you’re really into them, the X-games for example, how was that experience? I grew up watching contests on TV. That
was kinda how I got into snowboarding. Watching it on the extreme sports channel. However back then it was way more about the show, with all the extreme punk looking dudes doing stunts. Landing or bailing didn’t matter as long as you put on a show. Going to X-Games and doing the knuckle huck was just like that! It’s the funniest contest I’ve ever done, the most positive feedback I’ve had on a contest ever before and to go home with a gold medal around my neck is a childhood dream come true.
And what about filming, is that something that you’re going to concentrate more on?
Definitely hyped on getting more into filming. And that is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. So to be in three different projects that are coming out this season feels incredible.
What are your plans for this winter? I got
the last year of filming for Scandinavians. It’s gonna be my first real part in a snowboard movie so definitely want to do my best for that! Also I’m on the Norwegian team so gonna be traveling with them doing competitions all around, hopefully I can score some good results. It was also really sick to do some projects with Lobster and Vans this season, so I’ll definitely try and do some more of that!
The dream backpack would definitely have an airbag system, built in chair and speaker, and maybe a cooler system. Maybe I’ll be able to create something like that in the future.
67°
Mountain Surfers
pollution, which can often seem like a distant problem but that is now present everywhere even at the sources of alpine streams, to the great problem of global warming that often appears with unexpected changes and very strong signals.
From the Alps to the sea and back, a cyclical journey along the waterway
TEXT
Mattia Fogliani
Bouncing constantly between sea and mountain, between the summits of the Alps and the peaks of the Mediterranean, the story of these Mountain Surfers flows, a story that is constantly intertwined with the water cycle and flows along its path. This is how the story of the Alpsea collective was born, to investigate the relationship between outdoor activities and ecology and that, through the beauty and the various aspects of this natural cycle, also discovers some negative sides that appear along this route. From water
68°
An awareness matured between the dust and the waves that leads this group of friends to want to pull the brake, slowing down and rediscovering the many places near home where they can experience adventure and exploration, in a more local and simple way, stopping to look at the beauty of small things. In short, following these mountain surfers we remember that to find happiness, the joy of riding lines in the fresh air or while having fun with good friends, it is not necessary to travel far around the world. Sometimes you just need to step outside to find yourself in an unexpected exploration. A bit like Gerry Lopez suggests with the famous statement “Surf is where you find it”. It’s all about the approach and following the guys at Alpsea you can therefore discover projects and local adventures dedicated to outdoor disciplines and to a more sustainable attitude, avoiding too much didactic and scientific communication but instead seeking a more creative exploration of these issues, discovering that to live in a simple and local way does not
69°
that we love so much, not being above it but simply being part of it. An awareness that Alpsea matures and investigates precisely along the water cycle, through the relationship between sea and mountain, rediscovering a slower, simpler and more local lifestyle, made of small moments, of friendship and respect for the nature that surrounds us. Many of us can feel part of this tribe by sharing its passions, in a constant balance between the elements, between rainfall and winds, always hunting for the wave, climbing towards the top or rowing towards the peak. Like a splitboard, divided into two parts that together give shape to this simple style of living things, bouncing between sea and mountain, finding their own meaning of snowsurfing and playing in a simple way to draw turns, softly, letting our boards run, from the mountains to the sea and back. And towards the new winter that is about to begin, in which we will soon return to move our steps on the snow, chasing the perturbations in search of the best powder, and perhaps following the example of these strays, you will discover that the adventure is very close to you. preclude adventure and exploration, but rather can bring it into a more human dimension, abandoning the self-centeredness that often characterizes the environments of the disciplines we love, in favor of greater eco-centrism, of an awareness of being part of the environment
Finding happiness undertaking a more sustainable, slow and natural way. Yes, just as Gerry reminded us, surfing is where you find it. And these Mountain Surfers prove it: a more sustainable way, besides being possible, is also fun and full of adventure.
“Exploring our valleys or looking at the horizon of salt water, we are always searching for the right balance between water and wind, the place and the moment in which the elements come together in a dance that creates the perfect playground where to run our boards and feel free drawing our fleeting lines.� - Mattia Foggiani
70°
71°
Cast & Carve
TEXT Dave Faustini PHOTOS Andrew Miller LOCATION Eastern Sierras, California
E
ach year when the springtime comes around, we load up our multi-day packs with all things necessary to spend a week in the high mountains in search of couloirs to carve and golden trout to cast to. Located deep in the remote wilderness of Eastern Sierra Mountains in California lay endless opportunities to combine fishing for golden trout and backcountry snowboarding. These two sports are not often associated with each other but in reality share many similarities. Patience, a lot of effort for sometimes only one line or one fish and the reality of getting skunked. While most people have written off snowboarding for the summer come mid July is prime time for what this group of friends like to call Cast & Carve.
Fishing and snowboarding are synonymous with life for many who reside in this corridor known as the Eastside. Jimmy Goodman and I are no exception here. We are dedicated frothers when it comes to backcountry snowboarding and high alpine fishing. “Every summer I look forward to this time when the high alpine lakes start to crack open but there is still enough snow to ride and we get to combine my two favorite things in the world. Carving and Casting…” The reason for the timing is that most of these golden trout fish live at very high & remote alpine lakes and it takes a long time for these lakes to complete thaw out. Especially after a big snow season and record breaking snowfall in February like the Eastern Sierra had in 2019.
72°
73°
After an alpine start reminiscent of a big winter objective we found ourselves taking our first break as we watched the orange glow of the first light creeping down the granite walls of a nearby peak. While the team’s objectives were to carve and cast, I held my own list of unspoken objectives. To bring this experience to its fullest potential I would give equal attention to the lush meadows, blooming wildflowers, meandering streams, jagged skylines, cotton candy sunsets, mid-day naps, and plentiful snacks. Scoring good conditions was a bit of a gamble for us this year, as we were dealing with the deepest springtime snowpack seen in the past decade. Arriving too early in the season meant the lake would be covered in ice and unfishable. Too late meant the snow in the couloirs would be heinously sun-cupped and unrideable. With no guarantee that the trip would be a success, we decided to roll the dice and continue our trek into base camp at 11,500 feet. We had to start at 4:30am in the full dark to avoid the horrible mosquitoes that are rampant and the lower streams when the sun rises. Our packs are extremely heavy loaded with food, sleeping bags, snowboard gear, fishing
“The obsession started a good ten years ago” as Jimmy Goodman said. “I grew up fishing and snowboarding but never expected these two things to bring me from one coast to the other.” gear and any other supplies we need for the next four days. A long and gruelling 10 mile hike drops us into a very remote and pristine lake surrounded by a massive cirque lined with chutes, couloir and ramps to snowboard. We were surprised about how much snow was still around as 90% of the lake was still frozen and all the lines above were still smooth. For the next four days we would usually wake up fish until the sun would warm up the corn snow enough to shred, go hike and ride a line, come back to camp, eat, nap and fish again around sunset. The total easy life, no service, no problems just enjoying nature and a good group of friends. Golden Trout, the official state fish of California, are a special species in many ways. They are not native to these high alpine watersheds, yet thrive in this environment. Their winters are spent under the ice, in a cold and dark environment, patiently waiting for the
74°
75°
spring thaw. As the surface ice melts, these fish take on a cryptic appearance as they flaunt vibrant hues of yellow, orange, and red as they prepare for their spring spawn. Warming water temps and a lack of predators give these fish confidence come out and feed. As we arrived at camp we were surprised to see that the lake remained mostly frozen with only a few holes deemed fishable. We would have to fish shoulder to shoulder, with not more than a few feet between each angler’s flies. It wasn’t ideal, but we made it work. It reminded me of snowboarding a tight couloir with a large group of friends. We let mother nature dictate how we would spend our time on this trip. If the sun was out we would go snowboarding. If it was raining we would retreat to our bivys for naps and snacks. If it was somewhere in between we would go fishing. It was simple living and I didn’t mind that.
“Over the years I have gained experience in the valley, fishing small rivers, lakes and streams, riding the resort with a few small hikes all while the tallest peaks stood watch just above sitting and waiting.” Eventually just like my snowboarding I wanted more, new experiences, new zones, less people along with the curiosity of lay out there in the high country.” When the time was right, we made our way up the main objective, a couloir topping out near 13,000 feet. The sun was warm, the snow was soft, and the trout were waiting. Jimmy took the lead and one at a time we descended a perfect sierra hallway, fully frothing and making turns all the way to the lake below where our fly rods lay waiting for us. It was the perfect execution of a carve and cast, where one passion perfectly transitioned to the next. That night, as the sun fell below the horizon, the colors in the sky reminded me of the trout I had the pleasure of casting to.
76°
77°
78°
Conscious Turns TEXT
Nicholas Wolken PHOTOS
Aaron Schwartz
These past few years we’ve made our annual journey to the land of the Rising Sun, in part for the Interstyle tradeshow in Yokohama, but mostly for the bottomless powder in Hokkaido. Our main men on the ground over there are Neil Hartmann, from the legendary Cardanchi crew, and our friend Atsufumi Mizuno who always has his camper ready to roll out to wherever the conditions are good.
A
fter a look at the snow forecast, we decided to make our way over to Neil’s House in a less populated area outside of Sapporo. We only had a faint idea of what this area is like, but we figured it would pay off to listen to the local knowledge. Perfection in planning doesn’t always make for a good trip, but having the right people that form a good crew like this is way more important.
Hokkaido, and we were happy to have a spot open for him. Aaron Schwartz: a less known fact about this guy, while spending the majority of time behind the lens, he does alright in front of it as well! Also, never short of a funny word, his good vibes were great to have on a trip like this. And myself, of course.
May I introduce: Our friend from Canada, Spencer O’Brien, aka “Panda” or “Japanda”, who joined the trip spontaneously a few days in. It was great to have her in the crew throwing some estrogen in the mix and making us boys keep at least a little bit of manner. Lars Popp aka “Sponge Popp”: this kid really does his surname justice. With plenty of pop and a skate influenced backcountry style he launched like a rocket off of pillows, blending massive airtime with powerful turns and style.
RIGHT
Lars Popp
Christoph Thoreson aka “Pofel”, a snowboard legend from the Robot- Food film days, turned filmer and drone specialist, accompanied us and took charge of the video side of things. Always up for a good laugh and going the extra mile to get the shot, he was an excellent addition to the crew. Markus Fischer aka “Fischi”. Another legendary shred-head who has seen it all and is always up for a good ol’ adventure! A long-time friend and camera wizard like none other just so happened to be looking for a crew to join in
79°
The first day out we hit up the closest resort near our cabin. Initially it looked pretty decent, but I felt miserable from the flu and jet lag, so in all honesty I was fairly disappointed about the snow conditions after having traveled from so far. I decided to skip some runs and have some ramen and indulge in self-pity, and when the rest of the crew joined me at the restaurant we made the call to head home and save some energy for the upcoming days. Our plan was to scout out a sidecountry zone just a short hike from the top of the resort. That’s when we popped over a back ridge and into paradise! We looked upon an absolutely quiet, untouched winter wonderland with trees set perfectly apart to provide contrast, but not as to get in the way when riding. It looked unreal and was every bit as good as we’d imagined! From that point on that was our daily business, and let me tell you, business was good! We knew instantly we would be coming back to that spot the following day with fresh legs. The “Back Gully”, as we called it, ended up being one of the main zones we frequently revisited on this trip. We rarely encountered any other folks over the-
LEFT & RIGHT
Nicholas Wolken
re, and each time we went back and took a slightly different way out, we stumbled upon new spots and features. Having such a diverse crew also made it all the more fun to film and shoot. Our cabin was in the outskirts of a little mountain town known for its onsens (hot springs), so our evenings were often spent bathing and recharging the batteries and then going out to enjoy authentic Japanese food. Our favourite ramen spot was run by an elderly couple, who were the 3rd generation in their family to own and operate the tiny establishment. We also frequented a soup curry spot closer to Sapporo, owned by a small Japanese lady who had decorated her restaurant with all sorts of snowboard memorabilia. She had snowboard movies playing on the TV and always greeted us with the biggest smile (maybe cause she knew we were snowboarders). While these are all very fond memories indeed, I am honestly a bit ambivalent about doing trips to Japan these days. On the one side, there is some of the greatest powder in the world and a very different, but awesome, culture to experience. However, on the other hand a lot of places are getting painfully crowded with foreigners visiting from all over the world. All of these people, us included, are producing massive amounts of CO2 on these trips and this is clearly not doing the environment any favours.
To some extent these crowds are forming through the glorification of the Japan powder experience featured and hyped up in magazines and videos in recent years. This is making more people decide to travel there on behalf of needs and cravings that might not exist otherwise. So I find myself in a moral dilemma, as it is part of a job I love doing. But it brings obligations with it that are starting to collide with felt growing moral obligations towards mankind and the planet. Informing myself I learned that while individual decisions like transportation choices are important, using your voice in activism and especially political voting in favor of the planet, lead to much broader and larger systemic change. Anyway the paradox is that after travelling to so many good places and having ridden some of the best snow on this planet, I still enjoy riding close to home the most. The chasing of inner fulfillment by finding the perfect conditions and terrain is great for the moment, but it’s temporary and ultimately leaves one in a place wanting more of what didn’t fully satisfy us in the first place. Which leaves me hungry for more, rather than being content with what we have access to in front of our door steps. To a certain degree, these trips are even taking something away from my local mountains, because the experiences in bigger and deeper ones make the ones nearby feel insufficient. So befo-
80°
“We looked upon an absolutely quiet, untouched winter wonderland with trees set perfectly apart to provide contrast, but not as to get in the way when riding. It looked unreal and was every bit as good as we’d imagined!”
81°
“Anyway the paradox is that after travelling to so many good places and having ridden some of the best snow on this planet, I still enjoy riding close to home the most.
82°
LEFT & RIGHT
Lars Popp
re anyone makes the decision to fly to Japan (or anywhere else abroad for that matter), I’d like to point out that there are indeed also some downsides to consider. First off, there is a fairly brutal 12-hour flight followed by severe jet-lag to deal with, which for me usually ruins two days on the way there and back. That’s four days that could be spent on snow close to home, feeling fresh and having fun with friends. Also take into account that the more popular resorts in Japan are totally packed around peak season, with long lift lines and loudmouthed foreigners who track an entire resort within 2 hours. On this past trip we did spend a few days in bigger resorts, but the quality of time and snow wasn’t nearly comparable to the times we spent hiking in the backcountry. In general, I like to support smaller resorts
83°
wherever I am for the very same reasons. They usually use less artificial snow, have more affordable ticket prices, and the money goes towards growing the local community, rather than big wealthy corporations who own bigger resorts and make it hard for the small ones to exist. If you really want to get after the goods and experience true stress less powder and backcountry, small resorts and/or hiking is the key to a fulfilling trip to Japan. The snow is really deep, so bring a pair or snowshoes coupled with a very wide board, or a split-board if you prefer. I would estimate we hiked for about 80% of our turns, and the best days were the ones we put in some extra time to walk out further. The weather was mostly horrible, but it delivered the snow quality we were searching for which has been quite frankly still pretty damn awesome!
Life in white
84°
85°
ITW Gabriele Mojon by Denis Piccolo
“A camper van for me is the closest you can get to freedom: you drive wherever you want and when you are tired you just stop.“ Tell me something about yourselves. Who is Laura and who is Gabriel? Gabriel is
from the Catalunya region. He was born and raised in Reus, 100km south from Barcelona. He doesn’t have a skiing or snowboarding background in his family. He is basically a skateboarder from the 90s generation that tried snowboarding and got completely hooked to it since day one, then this passion became his profession. Laura was born in Alcoi, Alicante but moved to Valencia at an early age. She started skiing since she was a child and at the age of 9 she tried snowboarding and never skied again. She went to college to become a nurse but used all her holidays to go pursue her passion, eventually she graduated and was finally able to spend her first winter season in the Pyrenees. There she met a crazy powder freak 13 years older than her, guess who?
When the idea of this adventure was born in your mind? We started Life in White pretty
much since we started to be together, approximately 9 years ago. Back then we didn’t have a name for our project, it wasn’t even a project, but since day one Laura has been documenting our adventures, we never planned it, it took shape naturally. We started sharing our experiences and adventures and people liked it, so this gave us motivation to keep going on. Basically Life in White is our life: we try to follow the endless winter. We are based in Tyrol, Austria in winter, in summer we fly to Nevados de Chillan, Chile and we spend January and February in Japan. Our van has always been part of the family and a really important member in our adventures and in life in general. To be honest I can’t imagine our life without a van. A camper van for me is the closest you can get to freedom: you drive wherever you want and when you are tired you just stop. You can sleep in the most beautiful places and, most important, even in ski resorts’ parking lot and be the first one to hit the lifts in the morning.
86°
87°
It’s like having your tiny cosy home with you everywhere you go!
Tell me about the most astonished thing you visited from every country you’ve been to. It is difficult to choose things and
places. The beauty of a place is not only based on the place itself but also on the moment of your life, how you feel, who you are with, etc. Every place can seem amazing if you are in a really good mood and with amazing people. But to name some extremely beautiful places I would say: the Iguazú Falls close to the border of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, Iceland, the Chilean Volcanoes, the north of Chile/Bolivia (San Pedro de Atacama area), the Austrian Alps, Hokkaido because is the winter wonderland and the Japanese mountains because they are simply amazing!
What did you learn from travelling that much? We have learned to appreciate more and more what we have in our homes, how lucky we are to be able to see so many beau-
tiful places and meet amazing people on the way. Also you learn to live in a more simple way, cause in a van you cannot carry a lot of stuff and you have to focus on the basics. But when you spend 2 months with just a pair of pants and 2 hoodies you realize that you don’t need that much stuff, You also learn to live with little water and to cook in a small kitchen, basically you learn to live in a more sustainable way.
Could someone join you guys? Since last
year we decided to open our doors and started our guided tour company in our favorite destinations in Austria, Japan and Chile. Our project itself is something that we never planned, it came naturally and a lot of our followers asked us to join. Our guided tour company is called Life in White Adventures and our philosophy is pretty simple: we want for our clients what we want for ourselves: powder. That’s why our tours are dynamic, we plan the route less than a week before the
88°
89°
“Also you learn to live in a more simple way, cause in a van you cannot carry a lot of stuff and you have to focus on the basics. But when you spend 2 months with just a pair of pants and 2 hoodies you realize that you don’t need that much stuff. “ tour starts and we only go with very small groups, max 4 people.
Next adventures? In the northern hemi-
sphere we have lots of new destinations on our wish list: Eastern Europe (Turkey, Greece and further east Kazakhstan, Georgia and even Iran!) In the southern hemisphere, we would like to explore more the Andes, specially the very south of Chile and Argentina. There there’s the longest mountain range in the world, still yet to be fully explored! There are hundreds of valleys still unridden, so much terrain that is kind of overwhelming.
What do you think about global warming and climate change? I think the earth has
cycles and we are walking towards a warmer period, the problem is that humans are accelerating this process causing a lot of pain to other species and to ourselves. We should think globally and use all the technology and resources we have to fight back and try to reverse all the damage we have caused to this
miracle called planet earth! We have to start thinking of the planet as a whole thing, because that’s what it is, in a different scale is like our body. Imagine we are the planet, the place where millions of other living creatures live, without them we cannot survive. The same happens in our beautiful planet, we always think about it like a miracle, because it’s unique, we don’t know if there is any other planet in the universe like ours, so let’s think globally and take care of it before it’s too late!
Do you have any kind of support? How do you manage to pursue the snow all year long? Well, Gabriel owns a snowpark equipment company called Playground, they produce boxes, rails and shapetools since 2003. Laura is a nurse and has worked for uncountable summers and periods in between seasons, but since we started our guided tour project we are both focused on that, so wish us luck and if you want an unforgettable experience with this 2 powder freaks contact us!
90°
91°
Chamonix Mon Amour TEXT Matt Georges PHOTOS Matt Georges RIDERS Arthur Longo Blake Paul LOCATION Chamonix, France
92°
93°
H
ey Arthur, what’s up? Why don’t you choose a board, a videomaker and a spot and then leave with me for two weeks for a Vans project called Triple <Backcountry>? Great! I am super excited that Blake Paul will join us and I am also happy to work with Jake Price again, I’ve been collaborated with him for several years. What about Chamonix? We always go abroad to film, but we could take also use our beautiful French Alps. There are many nice spots and we should find some snow quite easily. We had already been there with Blake for a few days in 2018 and I think that its potential is really high.
Great! Let’s go to Chamonix! In addition there’s going to be a heavy snowfall in the northern Alps! Arriving in this valley full of history for the first time is always quite impressive. The Mont Blanc on the right overlooks the Auguille du Midi, the Monde Maudit, the Dru, the Grandi Jorasses etc. It is like an open-air exhibition of the most beautiful mountains in the world, all gathered here in one and only place. Surely no one among us is an experienced mountaineer or a well-trained great altitudes explorer. But here every place is so extreme that most of the slopes remain untouched. You don’t need to go too far to find great spots, nor it is hard to access certain areas. Of course,
94°
“It is like an open-air exhibition of the most beautiful mountains in the world, all gathered here in one and only place.”
in the morning there’s quite a line at the lifts. We have neither ice axes nor crampons nor airbag backpacks or helmets. We are not even so determined to fight against these mountains. We are simply here with our snowboards, our bottles of water, our phones to post stories on Instagram (very important!) and the essential gears: Artva, shovel and probe. The first few days we tried to wake up early in the morning and be the first to get to the lifts. But we immediately realized that we would have to change plans because every day the line lasted hours because there were always too many people. So we decided to go out later in
95°
the morning and spend a few hours lying under the sun. A decision that made our two American friends very happy since they were still jet lagged. Chamonix is full of small resorts all along the valley, with different facilities. Unfortunately not all of them are connected to each other, so you have to choose well, the risk is having to drive to change spot and line up once again to get to the lifts. Since it had just snowed a lot, we decided to explore all the southern cliffs to test that first snow. In the following days instead we reached the northern walls less exposed to the sun.
It is always interesting to see how different snowboarders approach the same spot. Arthur (Longo) and Blake (Paul) are very close friends, but they rarely agree when it comes to a kicker. Their riding styles is very similar but their approaches to jumps is very different. Blake loves that all of his in-runs comes with no defects, on the contrary, Arthur, thanks to his past as a pipe rider, is very careful to all the roughness of the snow. It seems like as if his legs and knees could face everything without wavering. It’s pretty fun to see them arguing for long minutes but they both know they shouldn’t because there is still a lot of work to do. The very first “Triple” project of this season is divided into 3 chapters: Backcountry, Street and Park. Every European rider have to choose a Vans teammate preferably American to mix cultures, a filmer and a spot. Too bad they came here with me! But I hope they are as happy as I am.
Then we have 2 weeks with a crew to shot a short movie and realize a 80 pages photo-zine. We have a job to do and little time. Blake was very happy about going back to Europe to ride. Originally from Jackson, Wyoming, he is used to something else. Everything is different here, there are people everywhere, very noisy music coming from high altitude clubs, lines at every lifts, way too many tourists. We are far from the calm and serenity of the backcountry. But above all, the big difference is that you have to walk, walk and walk again! Once we explored the southern walls, unfortunately temperature had risen even on the north cliffs. For the following days we decided to exclusively focus on a large area, near the Aiguille du Midi. The view was magnificent, we were at the foot of Mont Blanc and we spent there every evening until sunset. The return to the valley, however, was a little less fun, you had to cross several narrow passages in dim
96°
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Blake is very methodical, he has to take his time and ponder what he is about to do, but once he has finished his ritual, he is ready to repeat it a hundred more times.â&#x20AC;?
97°
light, large blocks of ice and even a forest on a small icy slope, immersed in total darkness and with the path lit only by our phones. Our legs burned, we were thirsty, hungry and it was getting late! After two weeks with Arthur, I don’t think I’m wrong saying that he’s among the best snowboarders on the planet. I had already seen it at work in his videos, both in his “She” (Side Hits Euphoria) series or in the last “Landline”, but seeing him riding live is even more impressive. Everything seems to be easy for him, his style is fast and at the same time fluid, and all the tricks come natural to him, they look like no effort to him. As a photographer, a rider like him is very challenging but at the same time very frustrating. Arthur is fast, and after he’s done he
usually sits and smokes a cigarette. Session ended! We are the ones with problems, we have to find the right angle for the perfect shot that lasts an instant. Blake, on the other hand, is very methodical, he has to take his time and ponder what he is about to do, but once he has finished his ritual, he is ready to repeat it a hundred more times. Each of them has their own style and rarely the same tricks. In the end we were able to get everything we needed, Arthur could sit and enjoy the sun at the top of Les Houches. The Mont Blanc was all orange, just like the cigarette he had just lit.
98°
“Everything seems to be easy for Arthur, his style are fast and at the same time fluid, and all the tricks come naturally to him, they look completely effortless for him.”
99°
100°
Chamonix Mon Amour 101°
Nicolas Müller INTERVIEW Matteo Rossato
PHOTOS Silvano Zeiter
LOCATION Laax, Switzerland
“Everybody’s feeling down and I’m like: “Y’all need more fruit and vegetables”
102°
103°
104°
Visionaire, kind of hippie, genius: Nicolas Müller lives in symbiosis with Mother Nature and his riding comes by consequence. Pioneer in snowboarding and in sustainable living, he traces the route for snowboarding of tomorrow, following his own clear dreamlike vision. We had a pleasant talk with him about life, snowboarding and a sustainable future. Hi Nico, where are you and what are you doing right now? Hi, I’m doing good, just made myself a hot Mamaloha Chaga drink, snacking on some roasted Alpenpionier hemp nuts and about to smash out some e-mails. 2019 self employed stuff you know!
Couple words on Isle Of Snow, the last full length from Absinthe. You should be travelling for the premier tour right now right?
That’s right, I’m currently on the German Autobahn towards Hamburg. On board we have two of the new heavy hitters, Matt Wainhouse and Thirty-Two team mate Dylan Alito. Good times and people are loving the new film. It’s got a real fun vibe. That’s what it should be all about, right? The intro is one of my favorite so far and the soundtrack is a miracle but I won’t spill it for the readers, I want everybody to see it first!
What’s your opinion about full length snowboard movies? Absinthe films are 100%
105°
real snowboarding by Justin Hostynek, Shane Charlebois, David Vladyka, to name a few of the most dedicated humans behind documenting sideways artists having fun in their element. It never gets old. And if it does maybe it’s a sign to reconnect with that inner child. I think all kinds of visuals are rad. It’s like life on earth, it only works through diversity! I did Fruition and it’s a full length feature film. It’s weird, but we had so much fun doing it. That’s what counts if it comes across! I just wouldn’t want to waste anybodies time. So if you give your best, it’s good already.
Your longtime commitment for a sustainable living is enviable. What’s your opinion on the current state of the climate change battle? A lot of change is in the
air and I think people are starting to question stuff more and more. But where to begin? The real climate strike should be on your plate and out of your wallet. Politics are run by the most
“I am actually co-founder of Alpenpionier. We cultivate organic nutritional hemp in Switzerland and provide the Swiss market with all kinds of foods that contain any form of hemp nuts. One of our biggest topics is to eat local hemp as the alternative to imported soy.” powerful economic families, the money elite. It’s crazy cause I look at friends that wanna care about the climate and they think flying is the worst, oil and petrol is from fossils and Co2 is like a poison. But oil is abiotic and the second most prevalent liquid on earth after water meaning we’ll never run out of it. Co2 is one of the three basic elements humans, plants and animals are made of: hydrogen, oxygen and carbon (CO2). People studying sustainability learn false numbers and information while universities are being sponsored by lobbies, run by the same elite. And they know the answer for free energy devices was discovered a while ago by Nikola Tesla and Viktor Schauberger. How come students have never even heard of these names? Well it’s no surprise because we wouldn’t be paying for energy otherwise and that would hurt their wallets or even collapse the federal banks. So it’s a joke and the powerful people are literally laughing at eco activist preaching no more fossil fuels and just renewable energy and on top of that they sell new devices and charge a C02 Tax. Some solutions could be buying organic food from local organic stores and organic food labels. Switch from meat, soy and wheat protein based to hemp cause it has all 20 aminoacids we need. It also saves the ground water from toxins and many species that are essential to our chain of biodiversity!
We lurked in your sponsor list on your instagram profile and, beside the technical gear sponsors, you have a lot of sustainable products company supporting you: what about them? I am actually co-founder
of Alpenpionier. We cultivate organic nutritional hemp in Switzerland and provide the Swiss market with all kinds of foods that contain any form of hemp nuts. One of our biggest topic is to eat local hemp as the alternative to imported soy. Switzerland is a small country but imports over 300.000 tons of soy every year. My second start up I am a part of is Mamaloha. Tom Roos and I started to make our own surfer’s Zinc and deodorant with all natural ingredients and no plastic packaging. Our latest and greatest addition is a wide range of medicinal mushroom powders. Chaga is extremely anti inflammatory and Tremella for example has anti tumor agents. I suggest to start implementing daily because we humans, on a cellular level share more than 40% of the same DNA as mushrooms. In the ancient Kingdom Fungui there’s a small group of mushrooms that are extremely health beneficial. We are bringing it back!
You always put big efforts in the design of your signature products, each single graphics means something for you: so lets’ scroll your signature products so you can explain us the reason why of the design. Your Thirty-Two signature line boot and outerwear kit, what about the tie dye pattern? I’m super stoked on the tie dye on
the boot and outerwear. I love purple and the
106°
107°
108°
“A lot of change is in the air and I think people are starting to question stuff more and more. But where to begin? The real climate strike should be on your plate and out of your wallet. [...] Some solutions could be buying organic food from local organic stores and organic food labels. Switch from meat, soy and wheat protein based to hemp cause it has all 20 aminoacids we need. It also saves the ground water from toxins and many species that are essential to our chain of biodiversity!” natural occurrence of patterns in the tie dye process. Plus I wanted my kit to be poppy but not too flashy. So Mike Dawson, Thirty-Two outerwear designer, came up with this awesome pattern that actually is a blown up scan of an eye iris with different color filters on it. I also wanted the outfit to be as functional as possible, fit like a Ninja suit and keeping me warm and dry in the most extreme situations. For the boot, the number one priority was safety and comfort. If your boot blows your whole snowboard day can be ruined. And the Heel Cushion Cup and the ankle support is a game changer. All with traditional lacing so there’s no risk of failure and you can tighten your zones according to you!
Your Gnu signature board: what does mean all the vegetables? And the hand doing OK on top? I wanted to come up with a colorful design, good looking and tasty. I li-
109°
terally wanted to eat it! So I went to the food market, got some fruits and vegetables, laid them all out and snapped a photo. I knew quickly that it could be cool but I still needed the help of an artist, So I reached out to my good friend and man of many talents, Christian Neuenschwander, who put a special hand touch on it. We wanted the top sheet to be very simple, a new spin on Skate grip style, but also a touch of a hand drawn piece.
What’s Nico next power move for the winter? My next power moves are filming for
the Thirty-Two team Video 2020, then there’s a proper Laax film in the pipeline as well as a passion project with the working title Law of Nature. I don’t want to say too much at this point as this piece should entirely speak for itself. And hopefully make the impact I am wishing for. For a bright future with life in symbiosis on this organism we all call home, Mother Earth.
Nicolas Müller 110°
111°
Glacier Express 112°
113°
TEXT Silvano Zeiter PHOTOS Silvano Zeiter RIDERS Gray Thompson Fredi Kalbermatten
“nowadays that the car is almost disapproved and Slow Traveling is a trend, it has become more and more essential.“
114°
To me, the Glacier Express has always been above all just the classic tourist attraction. A nice way for Chinese, Indians, Americans and Russians to travel by day from Zermatt to St. Moritz and, during the journey, enjoy an apple strudel and some wine looking at the landscape slowly passing by through the large windows. The fact that GEX or its route also connected some of the most spectacular freeride paradises appeared marginal, but nowadays that the car is almost disapproved and Slow Traveling is a trend, it has become more and more essential. This is where my journey with Gray Thompson and Fredi begins. 115°
“This huge playground turned out to be a lot of fun and a nice surprise at the beginning of our journey.“
116°
Zermatt Our first stop and immediate starting point was Zermatt with its ever-present Matterhorn. During his stays in Switzerland in the last few years, Gray always joked about that damn Matterhorn that is always visible from every place so much that it almost seems to follow you. From windows shops, on postcards, posters, coffee labels, chocolate and anything else printable. Personally, the most photographed mountain in the world is practically on my backpack, but it is true that it is simply impressive. I also remember Gray’s expression when we first went from
117°
the station towards Rothorn, we turned the corner and saw the Matterhorn for the first time with our own eyes. It’s a moment you don’t forget. Despite being a Walser, I must confess I had little previous experience concerning freeriding in Zermatt. For a variety of reasons, many Walsers often seem to avoid Zermatt because there are several more interesting snow parks in our beautiful Canton of Valais. However, this huge playground turned out to be a lot of fun and a nice surprise at the beginning of our journey. Next stop - my home, the Aletsch Arena.
Aletsch We went to sleep in my parents’ house in Fieschertal and after the usual greetings Dad Seppi’s Raclette was waiting for us, while my mom Yoli tried to speak in a mix of German and English with Gray and with Jack and Jamie, our two British directors. The following day, still full of cheese, we went to the Fiescheralp. We were really impatient, because it had just snowed and two sunny days were expected. The hoped-for powder, however, was only superficial and instead of the clear day we expected, we could hardly see beyond our nose. The disappointment was consequently great, but we still tried to get the best out of it and try to take a couple of shots. The second day started in a more promising and convinced way with a much better whether.
We went directly to the Eggishorn, from where you have the most beautiful view of the Aletsch glacier, but you can also see Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. I proudly explained to the guys that what they were seeing was the largest glacier in the Alps. We had skins, ice axes and crampons in our backpack and we went down with our splitboards from the Eggishorn down the steep but thin Chälli-Couloir towards Talegga. On the Tällrat near Märjela we crossed an ice cave directly on the edge of the Aletsch glacier. We knew the snow had blown all night. After the visit to the cave and some beautiful turns we returned to Märjela and we retraced the mountain again towards Fiescheralp. My satisfaction was great, my home mountains had once again given their best and so we headed to Andermatt with a light soul.
118°
“Proudly explained to the guys that what they were seeing was the largest glacier in the Alps. We had skins, ice axes and crampons in our backpack and we went down with our splitboards from the Eggishorn down the steep but thin Chälli-Couloir towards Talegga.”
119°
Andermatt We crossed the beautiful Goms to Andermatt by train and left the Canton of Valais behind. Thanks to the Swiss Tourist Board, we were able to stay in the new, beautiful Radisson Blu Hotel. The next morning we met my old football rival Raphi Imsand at the Gemstock valley station. Raphi has been a passionate mountain guide for 4 years and he’s well known in Andermatt. Then off to the Gemstock. We knew we only had a few hours of sun, so we decided not to complicate our lives too much and examine only some potential lines for the next day. Of course the boys didn’t miss the chance to ride a couple of lines just to test them. At noon we left but that brief session was enough to understand the enormous potential of the Gemstock. The mountain is surrounded by a certain aura that makes each freerider’s heart beat faster. There is practically nothing that is not steep. We went back to the hotel where the next guest of our odyssey was waiting for us - Sevi Van Der Meer. To our surprise, we discovered that a lot of fresh snow had fallen during the night. When the sun kissed the summit early in the morning
I felt a certain excitement, a sort of positive nervousness because I knew it wouldn’t be a normal fun day of powder with friends. The lines on the Gemstock or the access to them are not the easiest ones. Fighting with the locals or other teams to get them would certainly not have been a picnic. Raphi immediately led us on a “No-Fall-Zone” crossing. Half asleep, with my heavy photo backpack and a too short board I suddenly found myself in front of this wall of ice. Gray’s suggestion was “Do not look down!” which I naturally ignored, discovering that about 3 meters below me there was a potentially deadly danger. I leaped forward and realized that my life hung on this little edge under my feet. I must confess that I’ve never been so scared on a mountain in my life. Obviously I survived and everyone found that adventure rad. But the fear we felt has certainly paid off, because the lines we rode were absolutely amazing. What a day! Perfect lines, deep curves and in the afternoon there was also a small jump session. All this had to be duly celebrated in the evening and we actually did it at Andermatt with some burgers, beer and Flämmli.
120°
“Gray’s suggestion was “Do not look down!” which I naturally ignored, discovering that about 3 meters below me there was a potentially deadly danger.“
121°
Engadin The following morning the Hangover Express did not give us a break, but Gregi Betschon had just joined us, leaving the camper at home. We left Chur, passing by the Landwasser viaduct, Albula and Bergßn and then finally reached St. Moritz. The Engadine is almost a separate place, especially when it has just snowed. Apparently the snow had only recently fallen but there was also a lot of wind, so our journey in the diabolical Diavolezza was much less intoxicating than the Negroni and Flämmli drunk the night before. We moved again and got on the train towards the Bernina pass to drink some espresso. Surprisingly, after Pizockl and Capuns in Pontresina there had been a good snowfall during the night and the last day of our trip turned out to be a real blast. Off to Corvatsch! We tried to limit our expectations in some way, because we remembered the first day in Fiesch where the hope of deep snow turned out to be just a veil of sleet. But later, after facing the first lines, we all imme-
diately realized that this would have been a fun powder day with friends, exactly what we all hoped and deserved. Sidehits, sprays, butters, lines and lots of smiles. In the afternoon we took the bus and then the fast train to get to Corvatsch and quickly ride down the canal to Furtschellas which would have been the appropriate conclusion for our almost two-week adventure. At first glance, a trip following the Glacier Express Route may not seem very innovative or adventurous. Our journey, on the other hand, has been anything but boring and has certainly paid off. It was exhausting, magnificent, painful, exciting and fun, it was hot and was sometimes dangerous but incredibly beautiful. You can take a look at everything that happened in the five-part documentary series online or in my November Photo-Zine! Welcome aboard the Glacier Express, the slowest fast train in the world.
122°
123°
Glacier Express 124°
125°
446 SNOWBOARD EUROPEAN SHOPS • BUY YOUR COPY ON SEQUENCE-MAGAZINE.COM/SHOP ITALY 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90.
SPORTLER AFFI RIDERS ACTION RAINBOW SWIT SHOP ZEROQUATTRO IMPACT SHOP ALE’S SURF SHOP DF BELLINZAGO LANDI SPORTS DF SIRTORI SUB FLOWER MINOIA STORE FRISCO SHOP SHAPE STORE EMMECI NENCINI SPORT BIG AIR DETOMAS SHOP MANCINI STORE MAXI MERATE WIPE OUT UAINOT CERVINIA 2001 AREA 41 WHITE REEF OLLIE RADICAL SPOT BURNING BOARDS LOVE BOARD SPORTMARKET CRAZY BOARD SNOWYSUMMIT BOARDERLINE 360 SLIDE SHOP POINT DU SPORT DF CREMONA SNOWTIME DF DESENZANO GVM SHOP MORGAN AIR TWENTY FIVE MOUNTAIN LAB GIANNI SPORT DREAMSTORE ON SIDE SNOWGANG SPINNAKER CENTRO SURF SHOP BOARD CORNER A&F COMPANY BIG STONE SPORTWAY PLANET RIDER NAUTICA URBAN QUIKSILVER IMPERIA PLANET SPORT LELE SNOW SHOP SHAPE STORE BRUMA ON THE BEACH EAST WIND BOTTERO SKI ZONE DF LISSONE MAXI LISSONE MOUNTAIN RIDERS SPORT ADVENTURE NENCINI SPORT GRINGO LM STORE SPORT 3TRE THE GARDEN SCHOOL DODI’S ON SIDE SPORTIME MUD & SNOW DALL’ORSO BOARDRIDER SUPERSKI DANDO PIPE PRO SHOP HARLEM MELEGNANO FAKIE TECH SHOP SNOWBOARDMANIA BURTON STORE MILAN DF MILANO PLEASURES RADICAL BASTARD STORE MARGOT FACTORY STORE
AFFI AFFI ALBA AOSTA BARDONECCHIA BARI BASSANO BELLINZAGO BERGAMO BEVERADISIRTORI BOLZANO BORGOSESIA BRESCIA BRESCIA BUSNAGO CADREZZATE CALENZANO CAMERANO CANAZEI CASTEL DI SANGRO CERNUSCO CERVIGNANO CERVINIA CERVINIA CESENA CESENA CHIETI CHIOGGIA CLES CODROIPO CORNUDA CORRIDONIA CORRIDONIA CORTINA COTRONEI COURMAYEUR CREMONA CUNEO DESENZANO DOMODOSSOLA EUPILIO FALZES FIDENZA FIORANO FIRENZE FOLGARIDA FORNO DI ZOLDO GENOVA GENOVA GENOVA GIANICO GIULIANOVA GRAVELLONA GROSSETO IGEA MARINA IMPERIA ISEO L’AQUILA LECCO LIDODITARQUINIA LIGNANO PINETA LIMONE PIEMONTE LIMONE PIEMONTE LISSONE LISSONE LIVIGNO LIVIGNO LIVORNO LODI LONATO DEL GARDA CAMPIGLIO CAMPIGLIO MAGIONE MALÈ MANTOVA MARANO SUL PANARO MARGHERA MARIA PIETRASANTA MARINA DI MASSA MARINA DI RAVENNA MELEGNANO MERANO MEZZOLOMBARDO MILANO MILANO MILANO MILANO MILANO MILANO MILANO
91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163.
NEURO SHOCK EXTREME THIRD GENERATION OBEREGGEN DF OLGIATE DF ORIO HOBBIT SHOP CREMA SPORT ALTERNATIVE SHOP PARMA SPORT THE BOFF PAPER SURF MAKAI SURFSHOP EIGHT SIX DF PIACENZA TOMMY SPORT ONBOARD BLACKOUT FINDY DREAMSTORE BOARD ROOM BUGS SHOPS DEKA UPPER TREE60 HOSTILE SHOP SURF SHOP SURF PARADISE KAHUNA QUIKSILVER ROMA CITY BEACH REKORD FRONTSIDE 100 - ONE BANZAI SURF SHOP SNOWLIMITS NEW WHITE SHARK DF SAN GIULIANO FRESH FARM SPORT TENNE UNICO SPORT GIUGLAR PUNTO SPORT KAU KAU MAT SHOP 3SIXTY SWITCH SHOP LORI SPORT RED CAB DOLOMITI ADVENTURE BOARD STYLE HOT ICE MAXI SESTO SURF SHOPPE LIL FAKIE MAZZUCCHI MAKE MERRY BLU SURFER PROMOSPORT STRIKE JOLLY SPORT GRASSI SPORT JIMMY SURF SHOP TEDDY PALOMINO CATTI SPORT PURA VIDA ZOO PARK SPORTANGEL RIDER SHOP DETOUR SLIDE BY DETOUR PROSPORT BRUMA STREET STYLE LIQUIDO
MODENA MODENA MONDOVÌ OBEREGGEN OLGIATE OLONA ORIO AL SERIO OVINDOLI PADOVA PARMA PARMA PASSO DEL TONALE PESARO PESCARA PIACENZA PIACENZA PIASCO PINEROLO PINEROLO PINZOLO PISTOIA PORTO SAN GIORGIO POZZA DI FASSA PRATO PRATO PRATO NEVOSO PRATO NEVOSO RICCIONE ROMA ROMA ROMA RONCHI DEI LEGIONARI ROSETO DEGLI ABRUZZI ROVERETO S. MARINELLA SALUZZO SB DEL TRONTO SG MILANESE SM DEI MUCCHIETTI SAN VALENTINO SAN VENDEMIANO SANT’AMBROGIO SAPPADA SARZANA SARZANA SAUZE D’OULX SCANDICCI SCHIAVON SCOPELLO SELVA DI VAL GARDENA SENAGO SERRA SAN QUIRICO SESTO SAN GIOVANNI SESTRIERE SILANDRO SONDRIO SPOLETO TERAMO TORINO TORINO TORINO TORINO TORINO TORRE DEL LAGO TRAVERSETOLO TURANO VARESE VELLETRI VERANO BRIANZA VERONA VERONA VICENZA VITERBO VITERBO
GERMANY
164. 165. 166. 167. 168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174. 175. 176. 177.
PULSSCHLAG SURF&SNOW CENTER HILIGHT BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO PLANET SPORTS BERLIN DER BERG RUFT BOARD MONKEYS NO LIMIT PLAN-B FUNSPORT FREERIDE BOARDSHOP BLUE TOMATO SKI-ARENA BLUE TOMATO
AACHEN AUGSBURG BALINGEN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BIELEFELD BIELEFELD BOCHUM BOLSTERLANG BONN BRANDENBURG BREMEN
178. 179. 180. 181. 182. 183. 184. 185. 186. 187. 188. 189. 190. 191. 192. 193. 194. 195. 196. 197. 198. 199. 200. 201. 202. 203. 204. 205. 206. 207. 208. 209. 210. 211. 212. 213. 214. 215. 216. 217. 218. 219. 220. 221. 222. 223. 224. 225. 226. 227. 228. 229. 230. 231. 232. 233. 234. 235. 236. 237. 238. 239. 240.
SURFSHOP CHAR. BIKER BOARDER EASTSIDE RAILSLIDE PLANET SPORTS BRETTLLADEN WILD EAST THE BOARDER SHOP WAREHOUSE ONE BLUE TOMATO PLANET SPORTS RAILSLIDE BLUE TOMATO EDGE 2 EDGE SPIN LOOP DAILY MILK! BLUE TOMATO FREERIDER SHOP PLANET SPORTS BRETTWERK BLUE TOMATO SPORT KAUFMANN POWSTORE PLANET SPORTS NUBUK SPORTS BLUE TOMATO PLANET SPORTS SURFLINE KIEL BLUE TOMATO PLANET SPORTS SPORT GRUNER PLANET SPORTS FOLLOW ME STORE PLANET SPORTS S’BRETT BLUE TOMATO PLANET SPORTS PLANET SPORTS QUIKSILVER SANTO LOCO BURTON STORE BLUE TOMATO WESTSIDE WESTSIDE SURFING PANORMA BOARDS PLANET SPORTS BLUE TOMATO BOARDBANDITS WSM FUNSPORT MISTERSKI BLUE TOMATO POWDER FORCE ADRENALIN BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO WIND BALANCE RIDERS HEAVEN BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO FIFTY-EIGHT BLOWOUT ENDLESS WINTER
BREMEN CHEMNITZ CHEMNITZ DARMSTADT DRESDEN DRESDEN DRESDEN DÜSSELDORF DÜSSELDORF ESSEN FRANKFURT FRANKFURT FREIBURG GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN GÖTTINGEN GÖRLITZ HAMBURG HAMBURG HAMBURG HANAU HANNOVER HANNOVER HASLACH IM KINZIGTAL HEIDELBERG HEIDENHEIM KARLSRUHE KARLSRUHE KIEL KÖLN KÖLN KONSTANZ KREFELD LÖRRACH MANNHEIM MANNHEIM MÜNCHEN MÜNCHEN MÜNCHEN MÜNCHEN MÜNCHEN MÜNCHEN MÜNSTER MÜNSTER MÜNSTER NEU-ISENBURG NÜRNBERG OBERHAUSEN OBERWIESENTHAL OLDENBURG PADERBORN PASSAU PFORZHEIM REGENSBURG REGENSBURG ROSENHEIM SAARBRÜCKEN SAARLOUIS SONTHOFEN STUTTGART TRIER ULM WÜRZBURG ZWICKAU
AUSTRIA 241. 242. 243. 244. 245. 246. 247. 248. 249. 250. 251. 252. 253. 254. 255. 256. 257. 258. 259. 260. 261. 262. 263. 264. 265.
UNDERGROUND MOREBOARDS BLUE TOMATO ALTON STORE HOTZONE.TV HAMMERSCHMID BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO MOREBOARDS BLUE TOMATO BURTON STORE BURTON STORE DIE BOERSE MOREBOARDS MOREBOARDS XDOUBLE MOREBOARDS MOREBOARDS MOREBOARDS BLUE TOMATO BETABOARDS MOREBOARDS LIVID SPORTS GREEN ROOM MOREBOARDS
ALTENMARKT AMSTETTEN BREGENZ FELDKIRCH GERLOS GMUNDEN GRAZ GRAZ GRAZ INNSBRUCK INNSBRUCK INNSBRUCK INNSBRUCK INNSBRUCK INNSBRUCK INNSBRUCK KIRCHBERG KLAGENFURT KUFSTEIN LIENZ LINZ LINZ LOFER MAYRHOFEN MAYRHOFEN
266. 267. 268. 269. 270. 271. 272. 273. 274. 275. 276. 277. 278. 279. 280. 281. 282. 283. 284. 285. 286. 287. 288. 289. 290. 291. 292. 293. 294.
MOREBOARDS MOREBOARDS BURTON STORE BLUE TOMATO MOREBOARDS BOARD.AT BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO MOREBOARDS SUPA SURFER MOREBOARDS MOREBOARDS MOREBOARDS BLUE TOMATO MOREBOARDS BLUE TOMATO BLUE TOMATO DIE SURFINSEL FAME BOARDSHOP MOREBOARDS MOREBOARDS MOREBOARDS HANG LOOSE MOREBOARDS BLUE TOMATO LA RESISTANCE
MAYRHOFEN NEUSTIFT PARNDORF PASCHING PASCHING SAALBACH SALZBURG SCHLADMING SCHLADMING SCS VÖSENDORF SEIERSBERG SÖLDEN ST. ANTON ST. PÖLTEN STEYR TELFS VILLACH WELS WIEN WIEN WIEN WIEN WIEN WIEN WIEN WIEN WIENER WÖRGL ZELL AM SEE
SNOWLIMIT AGANÉ DOODAH DOODAH BLUE TOMATO DOODAH LONGBOARDER SURF MACHINE RADIX ETTINGER BURTON STORE DOODAH TRANZPORT BACKDOOR TREELEE BURTON STORE BURTON DOODAH RADIX LIESTAL BLUE TOMATO DOODAH LEVITATION MANLY PURE WILD ONE ELEMENT PLAYGROUND ONE 80 VICTIM CIRCLE CLOUD 9 BLUE TOMATO JULEN SPORT DOODAH ZUG BURTON STORE BLUE TOMATO DOODAH RADIX
QUIKSILVER L’IMPREVU SNOW HAWAII SURF MONTAZ GRAND CENTRAL ESPACE GLISSE BOARDRIDERS ATELIERDUSNOW SUPER WHITE LESPIEDSDANSL’EAU ADDICTED AINAY BOARD MASSILIA PICTURE PRO AVALON RIDER GLISSE PASSION SLOPE STYLE THE WOODS QUAI 34 URBANSURFERPARIS BOUTIK ZAO BOARDRIDERS LA LUGE SLIDE BOX TURBULENCES BLACK CATS RIP CURL
HOSSEGOR ISOLA 2000 IVRY SUR SEINE LA RAVOIRE LAVALETTEDUVARS LABENNE LAPORTE ANGLET LES 2 ALPES LES 2 ALPES LONS LYON LYON MARSEILLE MEGÈVE MERIBEL MONTPELLIER MORIÈRES MORZINE MORZINE NICE PARIS HOSSEGOR ST. JEAN DE LUZ SAINT-BON-TARENTAISE STRASBOURG TARBES TIGNES TOULOUSE
ANDERMATT ARBEDO-CASTIONE BAAR BASEL BERN BERN BIEL/BIENNE BULLE BURGDORF DAVOS DORF FLIMS GENÈVE GENÈVE GRINDELWALD HOCHDORF LAAX LAUSANNE LAUSANNE LIESTAL LUZERN LUZERN MARTIGNY MORGES SAANEN SAAS-FEE SCUOL ST. MORITZ STUDEN WERDENBERG WINTERTHUR WINTERTHUR ZERMATT ZUG ZURICH ZÜRICH ZÜRICH ZÜRICH
FRANCE
377. 378. 379. 380. 381. 382. 383. 384. 385. 386. 387. 388. 389. 390.
BACKINBLACK BURTON STORE DAKTAK LA GENERAL TACTIC SURF BOARDRIDERS SURF 3 FREEBOARD HALF PIPE STYLING WHITE DAYS GREEN COW MOMBI SURF DIAMOND SNOW
424. 425. 426. 427. 428. 429. 430. 431. 432. 433.
THE SNOW ASYLUM FINCHES EMP SUBVERT THE SNOW ASYLUM THE SNOW ASYLUM THE SNOW ASYLUM SNOWFIT ODYSSEY THE SNOW ASYLUM ABSOLUTE SNOW
MADRID ESCALDES MADRID BARCELLONA BARCELLONA BARCELLONA LAS ROSAS S’AGARÓ PUEBLA LEÓN BILBAO MADRID MURCIA SALARDÚ EZCARAYLARIOJA
THE NETHERLANDS
BELGIUM 434. 435. 436. 437. 438. 439. 440. 441. 442. 443.
ONE LOVE LA GLISSE YETI BOARDS WEST-SITE STOKED SZONE SURF’IN PACIFIC STAES SPORT THE BOARDSHOP
444. BURTON STORE 445. HELSINKI SURF SHOP
DOWN TOWN EUROFUN BEHIND THE PINES MK SKI SERVICE BURNSIDE CAER REVERT 95 BAUM SPORT THE TUBE FREESTYLE EUROFUN MOUNT RUCPHEN MOUNT TERNEUZEN SNOWCOUNTRY CELLBLOCK VAN BELLEN EUROFUN UNCLE’S DUIJVESTEIN
ANTWERPEN BARCHON GENK GENT HALLE LOKEREN LUXEMBOURG MECHELEN MOL WATERLOO
HELSINKI HELSINKI
CZECH REP. 447. 448. 449. 450.
RIP CURL ZLIČÍN RIP CURL PORÍČÍ RIP CURL CHODOV RIP CURL STORE
PRAHA PRAHA PRAHA PRAHA
PORTUGAL 446. BOARDRIDERS
391. 392. 393. 394. 395. 396. 397. 398. 399. 400. 401. 402. 403. 404. 405. 406. 407. 408. 409.
LONDON LONDON MANCHESTER MANCHESTER MANCHESTER MILTON KEYNES NORWICH SUFFOLK TAMWORTH WALFORD
FINLAND
SPAIN
SWITZERLAND
295. 296. 297. 298. 299. 300. 301. 302. 303. 304. 305. 306. 307. 308. 309. 310. 311. 312. 313. 314. 315. 316. 317. 318. 319. 320. 321. 322. 323. 324. 325. 326. 327. 328. 329. 330. 331.
349. 350. 351. 352. 353. 354. 355. 356. 357. 358. 359. 360. 361. 362. 363. 364. 365. 366. 367. 368. 369. 370. 371. 372. 373. 374. 375. 376.
ERICEIRA
’S-HERTOGENBOSH ALBLASSERDAM AMSTERDAM BILTHOVEN DEVENTER GRONINGEN HARLEM HENGELO MIDDELBURG ROOSENDAAL ROTTERDAM RUCPHEN TERNEUZEN TERSCHUUR UTRECHT WILLEMSTAD ZEVENHUIZEN ZIERIKZEE ZOETERMEER
ENGLAND 332. 333. 334. 335. 336. 337. 338. 339. 340. 341. 342. 343. 344. 345. 346. 347. 348.
RIP CURL TECNIC ESPORT QUIKSILVER BURTON RIP CURL GLISSE BURTON QUIKSILVER AVENTURE SPORT ADVENTURE WOOD BOARD BOARDRIDERS ZERO G BOARDRIDERS SWITCH 5 BOARDRIDERS MERCYDISTILLERY
ALPE D’HUEZ ANDRORRA ANNECY ANNECY ANNECY AUBIERE AVORIAZ BIARRITZ BORDEAUX BORDEAUX BOURGLESVALENCE CAPBRETON CHAMONIX CHAMONIX CHATEL CORDOVILLA GRENOBLE
410. 411. 412. 413. 414. 415. 416. 417. 418. 419. 420. 421. 422. 423.
THE SNOW ASYLUM THE SNOW ASYLUM THE SNOW ASYLUM BOARDWISE THE SNOW ASYLUM THE SNOW ASYLUM THE SNOW ASYLUM FREEZE PRO SHOP THE BOARD BASE THE SNOW ASYLUM DEVINE RIDE SICK AND WRONG THE SNOW ASYLUM SURFDOME
AVIEMORE BRAEHEAD BRISTOL CANNOCK CASTLEFORD CHELMSFORD CHESTER EDINBURGH EXETER FORT WILLIAM HALESOWEN KESWICK, CUMBRIA LIVERPOOL LONDON
IF YOU WANT TO HAVE SEQUENCE IN YOUR SHOP WRITE TO US: hello@hand-communication.com
TEXT
Matteo Rossato PHOTO
Grey Thompson by Silvano Zeiter
In this photo Gray Thompson is posing upside down between two skiers. At first glance it could only look like a funny selfie, but instead itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full of meanings. The perspective: a snowboarder will always have a unique and elusive point of view, able to identify possible scenarios where others see absolutely nothing. A healthy non-conformity: not a form of rebellion driven by anger and resentment, rather a natural individuality that makes some riders absolutely magical and capable of carving art
128°
on the snow. The integration: up to a decade ago snowboarders and skiers were two incompatible species and a controversial shot like this would have been the subject of debate by the hardcore snowboarding community. Today it is simply interpreted for what it is, a funny shot with a talented rider standing upside down between two skiers.
Word out.
1 9 8 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 2 0 1 9
#HFSNOWBOARDING