Method Mag Issue 17.4

FEATURED TECHNOLOGY:

R E A L

S N O W B O A R D I N G

17.4

CONTACT PRO GIGI TESTED. RÜF APPROVED. Developed and tested by Gigi Rüf, the Contact Pro is incredibly light, extremely comfortable, and outstanding in all types of snowboarding terrain.

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06.12.2016 00:21

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05.12.2016 15:00

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05.12.2016 15:04

TH E S PAC E E C H O

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05.12.2016 15:36

Photo: Perly Location: On set, Absinthe Films

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05.12.2016 15:37

Photo: Oli Gagnon Location: Quebec, Canada Trick: Miller Flip

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Photo: Huggy Location: Ottawa, Canada Trick: Ollie redirect

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17.4

EDITORIAL

KEEP IT MOVIN’ And just like that… another Volume in the bag. On behalf of all of us here at Method, thanks for digging in. We hope these last four issues have inspired you to try something new, to take a step back from the chaos of our world, or at the very least, to get the old set up dusted off. Take the time this winter to enjoy and appreciate the wonders of this planet and do your part in undoing the path of ruin and squander mankind has locked in on. Hold fiercely to life’s simple pleasures. Keep your foot on the gas and your eyes on the cheap beer signs. We’ll catch you next time.

- The Mooseman

PHOTO: PERLY

COVER STORY We were in Laax last spring doing the last shoot for Christian Haller’s new movie, GLUE. Our goal was to get different close-up shots in the Monster pipe to show Hitsch’s unique riding style. Unfortunately, we had bad weather the whole time - either it was windy and snowing or just grey all day long - so we couldn’t get all the shots we wanted. However, we at least got a few really good ones, like this revert slash on the lip. I think it’s a pretty bossy move to revert slash the pipe on top of the lip at full speed especially if you’ve ever seen how big the pipe in Laax actually is and how tall the walls are. I never liked shooting pipe too much until I started shooting with Haller a couple years ago for his first project, MemoiresMemoires. Hitsch is by far my favorite pipe rider because of his style, which is often imitated but never duplicated.

COVER PHOTO AND TEXT: DOMINIC ZIMMERMANN Camera: Nikon D800 Lens: 70-200mm f/2.8 Aperture: f/8 Shutter speed: 1/1500 ISO: 140 EDITOR: Mike Goodwin michael@methodmag.com SENIOR EDITOR: Chris McAlpine chriso@methodmag.com ART DIRECTOR: Maciej Przezak PWEE3000.com FRENCH EDITOR: Julien Mounier WEB WIZARDS: Oscar Ladd oscar.ladd@method.tv Will Radula-Scott will@method.tv CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Theo Acworth, Daniel Bernstal, Ben Birk, Tanner Burch, Dillon Crosilla, Bud Fawcett, Colton Feldman, Joel Fraser, Oli Gagnon, Grobe, Huggy, Toni Kerkela, Cole Martin, Andrew Miller, Cyril Müller, Jesse Paul, Perly, Bob Plumb, Johnny O’Connor, Sean Rapp, Markus Rohrbacher, Philipp Ruggli, Keith Rutherford, Jarno Schurgers, E-Stone, Sean Kerrick Sullivan, Jérôme Tanon, Gray Thompson, Andy Wright, Mike Yoshida, Dominic Zimmermann

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Tucker Andrews, Johnny Brady, Taylor Carlton, Dillon Crosilla, Bud Fawcett, Eric Messier, Johnny O’Connor, Nick Russell, Niels Schack, Scott Stevens, Jérôme Tanon, Sven Thorgren PUBLISHER: Method Media Ltd CEO: Chris McAlpine CTO: Steve Dowle FINANCE DIRECTOR: Steve Dowle

ADVERTISING: Chris McAlpine chriso@methodmag.com Skype: chrisomcalpine +46 729 338 556 DISTRIBUTION: Steve Dowle steve@methodmag.com PRINTERS: AJSP printing services Vilnius, Lithuania

Rider: Christian Haller Trick: Revert slash Spot: Laax Date: April 4, 2016

DISTRIBUTION: Spatial Global Ltd Spatial House Willow Farm Business Park Castle Donington Derby – DE74 2TW United Kingdom -----------------------------------------------------METHOD MEDIA LTD Method Media Pantiles Chambers 85 High St Royal Tunbridge Wells TN1 1XP England Tel:(+44) (0) 871-218-9978 Copyright 2014 Method Media Ltd. No liability is accepted for the accuracy of the information contained herein, nor are any guarantees given by the magazine. Copyright worldwide of original material is held by Method Media Ltd and permission must be obtained for any use, transmission, storage or reproduction. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily shared by the publisher. Method Media Ltd assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. Thanks for choosing Method Mag. We sure hope you like it!

05.12.2016 20:04

Android Wear and other marks are trademarks of Google Inc.

NICOL A S MĂœLLER

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Ultra-Rugged 100 Meter / 10 ATM Water Resistant Smartwatch Customize yours on nixon.com

05.12.2016 15:48

17.4

REVENGE OF THE BONER

Pyramiden is a largely abandoned Russian settlement in the arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. Used almost exclusively for tourism these days, it is home to the world’s northernmost grand piano and the northernmost swimming pool, according to a Russian travel site. Svalbard is about halfway between Norway and the North Pole, and Eero Ettala is all the way into this sub-zero tailbone shot during a Nitro team trip last winter.

PHOTO: MARKUS ROHRBACHER

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17.4

5 THINGS

with

* Taxwood: Down on steak and sardines, up on world-class methods PHOTO: AN DREW MI LLER

5 things you refuse to eat - Sardines - Olives - Steak - Beats - Spam 5 underrated rippers - Craig Cameron - Ben Bilodeau - Griffin Siebert - Keenan Cawley - Peter Cerulo 5 terrible pop culture trends - Dabbing - Skinny Yeezy season pants with massive tee shirt - Man buns - Mac Miller - Hover board things everyone’s on these days

5 things you’d bring to an end of the world party - Fireworks - Pizza - A keg - Bouncy house - Balloons 5 favorite parks to ride - Brighton - Laax - Boreal - Bear - Rail Gardens 5 pieces of advice you would give to a younger Sam - Sometimes you have to learn things the hard way - Have fun - Meet people - Smile 022

- Treat others the way you would like to be treated 5 people you’d love to meet - Tony Hawk - Andrew Reynolds - Will Ferrell - Big Foot - Ozzy Osbourne

Fo

5 habits - Sleeping on my stomach - Farting - Saying sorry - Falling - Double checking if I locked the door 5 last words Thanks for the good times!

dim

3B

co

els

rid

sto

Tos

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2016_1

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Toshiki holding the Goliath. photo: Cyril Müller

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17.4

5 THINGS

with

5 things you thought about before sending it off that massive kicker for your ender in the Union Movie “Stronger” - Don’t go too slow - Don’t go too fast. (which I did...)

- Don’t fuck this up - What was the speed again?

- Screw it. Let’s just see what happens 5 favorite people to ride with - Brage Richenberg - Josh Carreola - Nik Baden - Kyle Mack - Brandon Davis. The list goes...

on some AWSM gear and see what happens 5 all-time favorite movie parts Off the top of my head...

- JP Walker - Technical Difficulties - Travis Parker - Lame - Halldor Helgason - NeverNot - Chad Otterstrom - Revival - Kevin Jones - Stand & Deliver

5 differences between filming and contests - Contests make you more consistent - Filming makes you more creative - When you’re filming you’re riding on your own schedule, not somebody else’s 5 reasons why you’ve chosen Colorado - In contests, you can bail two or three over Norway - I can put my sled in the back of my truck times. When you film you can eat it as much as you want and go brrrap whenever I want - In contests, judges get paid to laugh at - More snow (usually) you. Filming - your homies just laugh at - More sun in the winter you for free - AWSM brand is here - South Park season 14 ep. 3 5 dream sponsors outside of boarding - Apple 5 things that make AWSM awesome?

- Ben & Jerry’s - Rider owned and operated - Tesla Motors - Started in 2009 - United Airlines - Eco friendly - PetCo - Lifestyle brand, and we about that life!

- Not feeling too awesome? Try putting 024

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* Lengthy 50-50 in Chicoutimi, as seen in Union’s “Stronger” P H O T O : A N DY W R I G H T

5 things that are total bullshit - Switch front board pretzels - Low snowfall - Park-riding-only full parts - Lift lines - Coming up with five answers for all of these questions.

5 things you almost put on your pro model - Monsters - Aliens - Wizards - Mortal Combat heros - Adventure time 5 things to remember when healing from injuries - Tinder - Stay positive - Do physical therapy - Play video games - Don’t get too drunk 5 words of wisdom you’ve received - You don’t have to win everyday - It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon - It’s all good, bro - Don’t forget to breathe - If it comes down to a burger or a pizza, always pizza!

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17.4

FULL ZOOM

S

ome encounters are better left open to inference. This isn’t exactly a brain buster, but it’s an entertaining one all the same.

Eero Ettala, Torgeir Bergrem and Sam Taxwood with a lesson in stellar negotiation.

Don’t forget to listen!

PHOTOS: MARKUS ROHRBACHER

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YUSAKU YUSAKU HORII SIGNATURE MODEL

Rider: Yusaku Horii | Photo credit: Gian

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05.12.2016 16:05

17.4

LITTLE LABELS

W I T H G R AY T H O M P S O N

Please explain your role at United Shapes?

I am one of three founders of United Shapes and I handle marketing. I work closely with our amazing ambassadors, and focus on board design/R&D. Back in 2013, my partners Steven Kimura and Peter Sieper approached me about starting a snowboard brand - an independent brand, free of corporate hurdles. At the time we all were kind of individually working with board brands on development and design in some form or another, and naturally the idea of putting our heads and talents together for something greater started to pick up steam and become a reality. Steven and Peter, who also run Owner Operator, came to the table with business experience, and my many years of riding boards brought plenty of design ideas. Between the three of us we all shared very similar interests in snowboarding, product and design. United Shapes has become an amazing outlet for collaboration and experimentation.

Felix Moberg, high speed slashing P H O T O : G R AY T H O M P S O N

R&D wizard for US, the multi-talented, Gray Thompson PHOTO: KEITH RUTH ERFORD

Hannah Eddy in search of secret stashes P H O T O : G R AY T H O M P S O N

What’s the best way for interested riders to get their hands on a United Shapes board? How do you select retailers?

We believe United Shapes embodies the feelings and ideas that a large part of the snowboard community can easily relate to. I think it is our story that directly reaches people and the product is just a visual piece of the greater story. We do not over-produce our boards as there’s a certain allure to a limited product, which we deeply appreciate. We work with smaller, specialty retailers that share our story and are excited about our product. You can find a list of amazing retailers carrying United Shapes on our website: unitedshapes.us What sort of things are you exploring, in terms of design, to better suit the way you or others involved like to ride?

These days there are so many technologies and funky design ideas in snowboarding that my focus has been to weed through them, and simplify it all. Ninety percent of these new technologies are merely marketing schemes aimed to make the consumer think that if they get this new board, they are going to ride a heck of a lot better. In our eyes, many of the best snowboards and design ideas have already been created years ago so we are looking to the past and refining those ideas to create simple, functional snowboards that, in many ways, are timeless. United Shapes was founded on the idea that freeriding is the core of snowboarding and has been buried under trends for the last 15 to 20 years. Our goal has been to start uncovering that in the modern age - to refine some of the best freeride snowboard design ideas and present them in a beautiful way.

Do you think we will continue to see a movement and enthusiasm back toward rider owned, smaller-run board companies within snowboarding?

Absolutely. Almost every brand is or once was a rider owned, rider-driven company. I think when outside influence sees value in a “core” brand is when things can change. If you look at many of snowboarding’s larger brands that have done so well to attract a money-hungry corporate structure, even they were once in our shoes. But I do think the industry is changing in the way of seeing more value in small, rider-owned brands staying small or only growing to a sustainable size and not moving into the corporate sector of business. People and consumers respect the enthusiasm and authenticity of small brands and I think that is more powerful now than ever.

Can you hint on anything that might be on the horizon here for United Shapes? Everyone likes a good tease.

We are currently in development of a splitboard, which I am most excited about. Freeriding is our foundation, and the foundation of freeriding is exploring the mountains on this beautiful planet we inhabit. To us, there is no better way to connect with and explore these mountains than on foot - on a splitboard. It is an amazing feeling. We get so jazzed on helping people connect with the mountains and are so honored to be a part of this special thing called snowboarding.

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SESSION

www.switchbackbindings.com

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17.4

PRODUCTION VALUES

P H O T O S : C O LT O N F E L D M A N

Tommy G, backside 360 into the bank PHOTO: COLE MARTI N

QUESTIONS WITH COLTON FELDMAN, PRINCIPAL FILM/EDIT

The new adidas Snowboarding film, 3:00 AM, clocks in at about 16 minutes. What are the pros and cons of a midlength film? Was this intentional or this is just kind of where you landed?

I made this film countless times, each time I was able to trim things out that weren’t completely necessary. People’s attention spans are shrinking, so one of Jake (Durham) and I’s main goals was to create something short enough that the viewer could watch start to finish in one sitting.

Any particular method in selecting the music?

Music is always tricky. Jake and I made lists of songs and bands to run by Evan (LeFebvre) and Justin (Meyer). They would respond with their favorites out of the lists and also contribute music of their own. It’s hard because you’re looking for songs that everyone can agree on, fit the vibe correctly and have music rights that are feasible. I take a lot of pride in finding music for videos. If you can find a good song by a small band that no one’s heard of, it’s a win-win for both parties.

What inspired the movie’s title? What’s the gnarliest/oddest thing that went down in the early morning hours during this film’s production?

Evan came up with the name. I believe it had something to do with the three new ams that the film was based around. 3:00 AM - 3 Ams - 3 stripes maybe? I liked the name. We rented an AirBnb house in northern Quebec for two weeks. At 3 a.m. on those nights you could find Ben Bilodeau sleeping in a little girl’s pink princess room.

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The early morning hours can be some of the most productive in snowboarding, but also, some of the most loathed. Where do you fall on the love/hate spectrum for middle of the night missions?

I’m not a middle of the night kind of guy but I’ll go out if that’s the way it’ll work. A night spot can also throw off the whole trip schedule. Everyone is so tired the next day it’s usually a wash. If I do go out, I’ll only use an on-camera light. I think the generators and lights are too much.

In a way this is kind of a break out part for Craig Cameron and it was a damn good one. Tell us a bit about him.

Craig is awesome. He grew up with Tommy (Gesme) in Minnesota. They rode Hyland together as kids and moved to Tahoe for college. I believe Craig hurt his knee the year that Tommy won HDHR and filmed with Keep The Change. He hadn’t got the chance to film a full part for a couple years and went back to school in Minneapolis. When we got to Minnesota he’d meet up with us anytime he didn’t have class. His college break was coming up and he had a trip to Tahoe planned with some friends. I remember calling and asking him if he’d want to come to Canada to film instead. Kids like Craig are the reason why I film snowboarding. Give some relatively unknown kid the right opportunity and he can film something so good.

Name drop: Who are a couple contemporary filmmakers you are currently digging?

I like what Jake Durham, Tanner Pendleton, Hayden Rensch, Jon Stark, Justin Meyer and Skylar Brent have created.

Based on the way filming went and the overall experience, if the movie had an alternate title, it would be…

4:00 a.m.?

06.12.2016 00:00

Alex Papis

MICHI STANSCHITZ

sLAB.one 2016/17

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17.4

PRODUCTION VALUES

In a league of his own PHOTOS:TGR

Himalayan camp portrait

questions with Jeremy Jones

J

on Krakauer (American author, Into Thin Air) wrote the foreword for your new book, No Words for the Way Down.

Have you gotten to take many trips with Jon? Is there anything in particular you’ve learned from him or have taken away from the time you guys have spent together in regard to mountaineering and the human/nature relationship?

I climbed Denali with Jon. He was the oldest and strongest on the trip. I have ridden with him since then. He is really into split boarding and his backcountry skills are world-class. Jon is a deep thinker, no-bull-shit kind of guy. His use of words to describe things is amazing, but he is very humble. The books he has written have become part of his life. He is still very close to the people in them and has helped those in need.

When you are spent following a brutal hike, and sitting above a do-or-die line, what kind of thoughts are going through your head? What processes can be used to calm or organize them?

In the really serious situations I am constantly having a conversation in my head to decide if I should continue up the mountain. “Is it safe? A mistake here means death. Should I turn around? Is my fear real?” Another key is being very present and listening to the mountains. Because things can go from super safe to dangerous really quickly, it is important to be in tune to when that happens. Once on top, I become laser-focused to the task at hand, clear my mind to the few keys I need to focus on, and let it rip.

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You’ve had the opportunity to visit a number of incredible places, many of them in corners of the world most of us will never see personally. Which location struck you as the most remote, the most untouched by mankind?

Antarctica is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. It feels like you are the first human-being to ever set foot there.

Drastic, steep, ice-laden peaks shoot up from an ocean teeming with whales, seals, dolphins, penguins, and exotic birds.

You are meticulous in keeping journals and have done so for a long time. Do you find time to journal every day? Why is journaling so dear to you?

I will go long periods of time without writing. I am not into documenting the who, what and where. I write when I have thoughts, concepts, or ideas that I want to get out of my head and onto paper. But I am pretty consistent about writing when I am in the mountains. In the mountains, writing is a way for me to further connect with the mountains and work out the challenges that I am facing, a place to voice my concerns and fears as well as capture these incredible highs and lows that run through my mind.

You’ve shared so many wild moments in this book, in such great detail, we would recommend it to snowboarders of all sorts, as well as any lover of adventure and the outdoors.

Where is the best place for interested readers to get their hands on a copy?

Thank you! In the U.S. you can get the book at tetongravity.com/shop.

05.12.2016 18:50

Airblaste

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17.4

POSSE PAGE

Zach Ahrens 50-50

PHOTOS:SEAN RAPP

H

HAM CITY SLAMMERS

am City Slammers crawled out of which graveyard?

We came from all over. My name’s Steve Dimmit and I’m from New Jersey. Graham Goodwin, who started Ham City with me, is from New York.

Ham City Slammers cause mayhem in…?

We are based out of Colorado. We all met snowboarding in Summit County, which is a little over an hour away from Denver. We were all kind of sick of the classic Colorado Go-Pro edits, and wanted to highlight some of the more creative riders and filmers in Summit County.

Who makes up the Ham City Slammers?

Anyone who’s ever been out there filming or chilling with us is definitely in the crew. Zach Ahrens, Luke Rodnick, Brendan Sullivan, Sean Rapp, Kyle Nienhouse, all the Nightmare homies, Bo Althen, Matt Norris, Ben Hayden, Veronika Perfilyeva, Greyson Clifford, Sean Bond, Nate Bard and Chris Sypert. I don’t know, we got so many people snowboarding and filming we just started calling ourselves the Ham City Media Group. Shout out to the OG Ham City Slammers Peter Nossiff and Trevor LaMountain.

Where are Ham City Slammers banned so far?

Only a couple of us are allegedly banned from Vail Resorts.

Basically me and Zach finished up this edit late one night, like 3 a.m., and couldn’t think of a title for the edit. We thought it would be funny if we just claimed to be banned, and so, “Banned at Keystone” it was. Our passes worked for the next couple days and then they hot listed them and we had to go to some comical meeting with Keystone Ski Patrol. We went

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through the edit with them shot by shot and they decided that three of us would be banned for three years from all Vail Resorts. Either way, Vail is beat. It seemed like the head of ski patrol was just taking orders from some Keystone higher-ups who were really pissed. They took the edit as a big fuck you.

Tell a story about Ham City Slammers spending time in the slammer?

Free GG. One of us was trying to go home at 3 or 4 a.m. when he went to the wrong house. Turned out that house was owned by the Summit County Sheriff and he wasn’t too stoked. He took him to the station for like 24 hours and the story made the Denver Post with a pretty classy mugshot attached.

Correct us if we’re wrong: Ham means “hard as a motherfucker” or has it taken on a different meaning lately?

I guess that’s what ham means. Honestly, it’s just a word that came to mind to describe my one friend Peter Nossiff’s riding style. He went ham all day, every day in every aspect of his life.

Are frosted, bleached tips coming back and does that go for chokers, too?

Frosted bleached tips are what’s goody!

Plans for this year?

Trying to finish up a film we have been working on, working, and just trying to stay inspired.

Parting words?

RDA X HCS, gyeen doe!

05.12.2016 20:00

COAL H APPROA

Fall / Winter 2016 Collection Photography by Mark Welsh coalheadwear.com - @coalheadwear

#approachwinter

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COAL HEADWEAR APPROACH WINTER 3 FW16 AD

METHOD MAG 17.3

320mm x 225mm 3mm Bleed

05.12.2016 19:42

17.4

HOLY SHIT

NILS A RV I D S S O N In the words of the great modern critic (and man behind this shot), Jérôme Tanon: So this was our very last day of shooting in Chile, incredible Chile! Rip Curl hooked us up with amazing lodges, lost in the mountains, and a few hours of heli time. Besides the wind blowing, we got to the protected zones like this one and that last day was a huge blast. Nate Johnstone and Nils Arvidsson rode the best lines in their life, and it was also Nils’s first time heli-ing! What a fun time it was! This line was short, but steep as a motherfucker.

He survived, though.

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17.4

FART PAGE

A

rtist and exhibitionist Andrew Brewer spent his formative years in a dingy Reno studio known to the general public as Würk, where he perfected his hedonistic, barstool scrawl. Not since Prince has mankind been fortunate enough to have an artist with such unobscured vision into the human psyche. This piece, titled “Dark Spaces (an ode to passing out)” is now up for auction at Sotheby’s.

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05.12.2016 20:03

SNOWPARK LAAX FOR ONLY CHF 52.– GET THE SNOWPARK TICKET NOW.

ONLY AVAILABLE ON THE INSIDE LAAX APP. MORE INFOS: LAAX.COM/INSIDE

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05.12.2016 16:27

17.4

FLASHBACK

1989 1965

1971

1983

1974

1969

1982

On one of my first trips to Mt. Hood Timberline in the summer of 1988, I met up with Sims riders Kevin Delaney (pictured) and Tim Windell.

We shot for an hour in a dirty August halfpipe, and got some good film images which were used in Sims ads in ’88/’89 magazines.

(Shot on Kodachrome 64) - Bud Fawcett

040

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05.12.2016 16:29

BLACK EDITION R E S T R I C T E D

C O L L E C T I O N

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05.12.2016 16:29

17.4

FRESH MEAT

NE AC

17.4 FRESHMEAT with * Another stylish product of the dome.

Dion with a well-placed FS blunt P H O T O S : JA R N O S C H U R G E R S

From where does your blood run?

I’m Dion Janse, 23 years old. I live in Holland, Terneuzen. Out of nowhere, an indoor slope was built in Terneuzen. Eight years ago I visited the slope with some friends for the first time, thereafter I’ve been there pretty much every week.

Worst bloodshed?

Fortunately, I have not spilled much blood yet. However, I have passed out a couple of times. One time I messed up my knee a little, but that didn’t last for long. Would like to keep it that way though!

What’s in your blood?

It’s cool how each year’s snowboard videos are getting better and more creative. I can watch those movies a thousand times.

Besides snowboarding, I like to ride motorcycles and grab some beers with friends.

What makes your blood run cold?

Flying cockroaches.

Who are your blood brothers?

The boys from Postland, Gnu, Lib Benelux and the local dome.

What gets your blood pumping?

Besides my heart…it’s rad to just snowboard with all the homies, watch everyone do their thing and have a good time.

If you were bleeding out, what would be your last mission?

Buy me some blood at the hospital and do some final laps in the dome.

Blood on my hands…

That is confidential information.

Got any bad blood?

Hm, probably that I’ve chosen to finish school first, and snowboard less. It’s always been a little problem to skip school for a couple of weeks to go to the mountains. Life’s short and I think it’s important that you do what you love most.

Who keeps the blood flowing?

I would like to thank Tim and Mike for giving me this opportunity, and also, my family and friends for helping me out. Thanks to GNU, Thirty Two, Union, HOWL, Airblaster and Pacific Boardshop for hooking me up!

Written in blood…

Cheers!

IS FE

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05.12.2016 16:35 01.12.16 15:48

17.4

FRESH MEAT

* They say tough names make people unmarketable.

We say bullshit. Zoltan Dracula for the win.

PHOTOS: GROBE

17.4 FRESHMEAT with From where does your blood run?

Hello, I am Zoltán Strcul’a from Slovakia. I was born in the small city called Liptovský Mikuláš 22 years ago.

Worst bloodshed?

I’ve been pretty lucky with injuries. Mostly I don’t remember them, just funny stories from my friends about how many times I said to them, “Hello? I just woke up here, what happened?” Four concussions… I also have a screw in my wrist forever, but still can do handplants, so no big deal!

What’s in your blood?

The last six years it’s mostly been snowboarding running through my veins and making me happy, but I also like to swim, am a big food lover and am really hyped on traveling and meeting new people.

Who are your blood brothers?

There are not too many riders in Slovakia and I feel that we are all like a big crew of people with the same passion, or how I rather call it, family. But I would like to mention Patrik Paulínyi who helped me when I started snowboarding six years ago, and is continuously helping nowadays. Then there is the big Sane! crew where I found many blood brothers, Czech shredders and, of course, the Horsefeathers clothing family.

What gets your blood pumping?

I am always super hyped to share a bluebird park with friends. I really love to try new tricks and that adrenaline connected with landing new tricks is just amazing. But besides snowboarding I’ve in Innsbruck for a month now - there are so many nice girls that it’s really got my blood pumping!

If you were bleeding out, what would be your last mission?

I would listen once again to Notorious B.I.G.’s album Life After Death. I would go do a frontside boardslide again for that feeling. I would go spend some time with my lovely family and then I would have a huge after party with all the homies.

What makes your blood run cold?

I study IT at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. Exam time is always a super cold time for me. I think in general, feeling unsuccessful makes my blood run cold.

Blood on my hands…

I am pretty sure on this one! Eating my friends’ food while they are not watching.

Got any bad blood?

I usually don’t remember premieres of snowboard movies. So disappointing.

Who keeps the blood flowing?

I am so grateful to my sponsors Horsefeathers clothing, Lobster Snowboards, Switchback Bindings, www.eyerim.com, www. newspirit.sk, Lamax electronics and Transform Gloves for having me and hooking me up with great stuff all the time. Of course there are my parents, without them there would not be any blood flow, and all my friends and people supporting me in real life or in that social one. Thank you.

Written in blood…

I would like to thank Method Magazine for having me here and Horsefeathers clothing for making my life more amazing these last years. Let’s make those dreams happen.

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17.4

FRESH MEAT * Wait until you see his Interior Plains Project part…

Dicey front board in the cover of night P H O T O : J E S S E PAU L

P H O T O : TA N N E R B U R C H

17.4 FRESHMEAT with From where does your blood run?

My name is Luke Zajac, 16 years old, from Scandia, Minnesota and I ride at Trollhaugen in Dresser, Wisconsin.

Worst bloodshed?

My worst injury was getting 11 stitches on my leg from a diving board. I haven’t had any serious injuries snowboarding yet, luckily.

What’s in your blood?

Other than snowboarding, I am really into music, mainly rap music such as the Underachievers and Flatbush Zombies.

I really like skating as well. My dad got me on my first board when I was four or five.

What makes your blood run cold?

The Babadook is a movie that I will always find terrifying.

Who are your blood brothers?

Pretty much anyone who rides Troll is a homie. Nick Irwin, Garrett Mckenzie, and Benny Milam are rad dudes I like to chill with boarding and outside of boarding.

What gets your blood pumping?

Anything that involves riding a board gets me hyped. If I was able to try surfing I would do it again, for sure.

If you were bleeding out, what would be your last mission?

I would probably go have one last skate session if I knew the world was gonna end.

Blood on my hands…

I am guilty of using my school time to go have fun and snowboard.

Got any bad blood?

Not really bummed on anything at the moment, just a little scared for our country’s future because it is in the hands of Donald Trump.

Who keeps the blood flowing?

I‘d like to thank Burton, Neff, the Impaler, Trollhaugen and everyone in my life who makes snowboarding a fun time.

Written in blood…

Praying for snow in Minnesota this winter.

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17.4

SHAPES OF SHRALP

Lucas Baume on a perfectly shaped wedge

David Hablützel, switch method

Leandro Eigensatz bluntin’ over the rainbow

with Roger Heid PHOTOS: PHILIPP RUGGLI

Now that you guys were voted #1 freestyle resort, how are ya gonna keep the ego in check?

For sure we are stoked on that, yet, we know there is still a lot to improve and progress for the future. It is great feedback for all the shapers who work their ass off during winter. But at the end we know where we stand and we still have a lot of ideas for moving forward!

What sort of events are coming to Laax this year? Anything new?

There is a lot going on as usual. We have a new season kick-off jam, hosted by Snowpark LAAX and made up of different challenges: “Hands Down Challenge” ,“Do you even DAB” and “Line of the Day” . It is on Saturday December 17, 2016. Check www. laax.com for all the upcoming events like the LAAX Open, the Sudden Rush Banked Slalom and more.

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What’s the deal with the special park pass this year? What’s the idea behind it?

We are starting with a Snowpark Ticket in December. You can buy an adult day pass for CHF 52 and it is only available on the INSIDE LAAX app. It is around 30% cheaper than a normal day pass. We hope to get some more people with a smaller budget.

How about a video series? There is a new Crap Show this year?

Yeah, Crap Show is still going. Lukas “Blume” Roesli is still on the board and he will make some sick edits.

Finish this sentence. Laax is best enjoyed with…

Laax is best enjoyed with snow.

05.12.2016 19:01

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with

Danimals

05.12.2016 18:38

In the spirit of the late, great, Philadelphia Collins, “BAMMMMMMMMM.” Danimals earning himself all the dirty burgers with a ballsy jam lipslide in Finland. (watch more Trailer Park boys). In the words of photographer, Cole Martin: This was a buzzer beater. We convinced him to do it. He only had like an hour at the spot because he had a flight out he couldn’t miss. We shot this, then he changed in the van and we dropped him off at the airport.

PHOTOS: COLE MARTI N

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05.12.2016 18:39

M

åns is a true redneck from a place called Bollnäs in the middle of Sweden. When he’s not snowboarding, he is in the garage. Before he made money from snowboarding he was buying old sleds, fixing them up and selling them. (He still does make some money on that). He only drives old diesel Mercedes Benz cars.

Outside of that, he is the most stoked-out person I know when it comes to snowboarding. If I had to choose one friend to ride with it would be him because he is always happy and motivated, no matter what.

- Sven Torgren

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P o n d s k im in F ol g e f o nn a P H O T O : DA N I E L B E R N S TA L

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17.4

H

ow many other “Austens” have you met? Is that an unusual spelling?

I think Austen Granger is the only other one, but I’m not even sure if his name is spelled with an “E”. Lots of “INS” out there, though.

What’s your take on bathrobes? Essential or frivolous?

Huge fan of bathrobes - so much comfort and freedom when wearing them. They are perfect for post onsen, hot shower, or just to have a relaxing evening.

If you had to watch a day-long marathon of one TV show, what’s that show gonna be?

Game of Thrones because I have never seen it. Maybe I could learn about all its proclaimed greatness.

We all love guitar. Well, that’s not true - we’ve got friends who seem to hate acoustic guitar. Have you ever been on a trip and someone seems bummed that you are jamming? We’ve all got the buddy who doesn’t get it…

I mean I don’t think anyone has ever been bummed, but there has definitely

M17.4 RORSCHACH AUSTEN.indd 54

RORSCHACH

* Austen in Romania P H O T O S : P E R LY

been times when someone has gotten an- in America, in your opinion?

Europe is way easier and way more noyed at me for singing dumb songs! exciting. In Europe you can take the Best partners for an impromptu tune? train from the city to the ocean and eat as many baguettes and croissants along Brandon Cocard and Robin Van Gyn. the way as you want. France and Spain are personal favorites of mine with the Absinthe Films continues to charge on with its legacy of legendary videos. endless amount of waves, skate bowls on the beach, and amazing food and wine.

Where do you see their direction Nothing like a post-surf picnic in the Bay heading following AfterForever and of Biscay.

Eversince with so many of their contemporaries disappearing? Is this the Perspective is power and photographs classic, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? preserve those times. Explain a bit I feel like Absinthe is staying true with about your photography and the zines its roots, and with Shane, Justin, and Butters all editing and adding their own you have put together, like ROGUE. Photography has been a part of my life vision it’s making for a cool snowboard since the moment my dad handed me his video. The whole “if it ain’t broke don’t Olympus OM1 16 years ago and it’s that fix it” thing is weird to me because I same camera I still travel with. I love my like to think things evolve and change with the times, adding new and exciting friends and seeing new places, so being able to capture all these awesome times components to the videos. The only with them, it’s my way of remembering dilemma is who is going to fill the Nico those times. More often than not I’ll find and Gigi segments because those, and myself scrolling through photos remiseeing them ride together, were always niscing of travels past. Lately I have been the highlight of the videos to me. into finding new ways to use natural light and capture those things that stand Most striking difference between vacationing in Europe and vacationing out of the shadows.

05.12.2016 21:28

TEST

* BS wallride in Snoqualmie P H O T O S : M I K E YO S H I DA

What’s your go-to 35mm for quick shooting on the road?

Olympus OM1 with a 24mm and my Nikon 35ti point and shoot.

gether to build the gnarliest masterpiece known to man but the hidden parks are truly the best. Bainbridge Island is my favorite. The whole park is pool coping and nothing is over six feet. It’s the funnest bowl you’ll ever skate. You will also probably go home with a swollen elbow and a few bruises. Delridge in west Seattle is a daily go-to in the summer though. That park has the best lines, inside and out.

Is Happy Gilmore correct when he tells Chubs that, “Golf requires goofy pants and fat ass”?

Oh yeah, proper golf attire is a must.

What’s on the agenda for this upcoming season?

I’m going to hop around with the Absinthe guys again and work on some Radical Times projects with Quiksilver.

Right now I’m headed to Baldface in What shop makes the best coffee in the Nelson to take an avalanche course and start the season off with a little bit of world?

Habit in Victoria, British Columbia, MiiR pow. in Seattle, and Milstead Coffee & Co in Assuming these next words would be Seattle as well. the last you’d ever get to utter, they would be…

Best round of golf ever shot, and at To all the good times we’ve had, I thank what course? you for those. Don’t be anyone but yourOh man, I’m bad at golf. I used to play self because by doing that you’re going growing up and I broke 100 a few times but that’s about it. I played a PGA course to make the world a better place. for a bachelor party once and failed All right, thank the people making it miserably. happen.

Any Northwest skateparks you are way hyped on that don’t get as much atten- Pro tip for the beyond shitty golfers of Quiksilver, Zeal, Coal Headwear, Yes Snowboards, Now Bindings, Drink Water. the world? tion as say, Orcas Island?

Orcas Island is the most iconic Northwest Four?! park. Dreamland and Grindline came toBindings or no bindings, you rip it all, but which gives you the most satisfaction at the end of the day?

Equal satisfaction, but different feelings. When I’m binding-less on my skateboard, Aesmo or surfboard I get a feeling of tranquility because you’re not attached to anything and you can move your body in literally any way you want, allowing yourself to sit back and enjoy the ride. With surfing I get the feeling of nothingness because it’s the only time I feel still and that the world is moving around me. With snowboarding it’s pure happiness and excitement. It trips me out every time I get to the bottom of a line and look back realizing what I just rode.

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17.4

RORSCHACH

Y

ou were born in Tulln, Austria, the city of flowers.

Have you grown up with a passion for flowers and floral landscapes?

Tulln truly is the flower city - die rosenstadt! And my grandfather actually used to work in their family-owned nursery! I definitely like flowers but I am even more attracted by trees, just how long they stand in their own place and all the stuff they’ve witnessed!

Say your girlfriend is upset with you, is there anything better to soothe the mood than a proper bouquet?

Nothing better, aight!

If you were trying to impress someone with a made up meaning or origin of your last name, you’d say that “Swoboda” originally means…

It really means “freedom” so nothing more to say!

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Hypothetical situation: You are about to take the stage with your band at a world famous arena, describe which guitar/amp rig you would have?

I guess just a good ol’ Silvertone or Harmony combo! Unless someone pays for the Gibson ES-150 “CC” pickup and the matching ES-185 amp.

Who is your favorite bluesman?

There are too many I love, but one of the dirtiest is Hound Dog Taylor!

When was the last time you competed? How did you get on?

(I’ll do) rail jams once in awhile. Usually it’s pretty OK, but I don’t force it, no need. But when I feel good I get into my mode…and then the game is on!

Do you like competing?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. With the right surroundings it definitely pushes me!

05.12.2016 21:33

TEST

* A composed hump-to-hump ollie in Novosibirsk.

P H O T O S : M A R KU S R O H R B AC H E R

Describe your morning ritual when filming? Coffee? Porridge? Stretches? Yoga?

Definitely coffee, definitely a good and big breaky and definitely a bit of stretching, yes!

If you are cooking for a group of homies, does your finest work come off the BBQ or out of the oven?

I like cooking. Usually I am the one preparing good food regardless!

If you had 100 Euro to spend in an airport while waiting for a delayed flight. How would you spend it?

Food and drinks!

Who is the sketchiest vacation partner you’ve shared a trip with and why?

Anton Gunnarson - you never know if he is going to go nuts every second!

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If you were forced to skip one holiday every year for the rest of your life, which would you pick?

Come on… @holidaylife!

Would you prefer to have the gift of flight or invisibility?

I guess flight!

What have you got planned for this winter?

Another Nitro project! Definitely want to team up with Dominik (Wagner) and the boys again. We just learned how to groove with each other and get quite productive while still having great fun!

Assuming these next words would be the last you’d ever get to utter, they would be….

Time to say thank you I guess!

All right, thank the people making it happen.

Nitro Snowboards, Red Bull, Celtek Gloves, Love Skateboards, Volcom, Absolut Park, Blue Tomato, Stance, Holiday Life, Formal, Landing and Ema.

05.12.2016 21:34

M17.4_ADS_58-59.indd 58

05.12.2016 14:54

Available now.

M17.4_ADS_58-59.indd 59

Shop at shop.method.tv

05.12.2016 14:54

17.4 MY PORTFOLIO

W

hen I shoot analog it might take months before I’ve shot all 36 photos in a roll. I love the excitement of the wait, seeing what comes out and how it looks and what the hell I have shot! You always forgot what you have been shooting, and that’s the best!

- Toni Kerkela

* This disposable snapshot is from my first USA trip in 2012. We had Rome shoots around Tahoe and after those I flew to Los Angeles for a few days before flying out back to Finland. Me and Alex Tank went to visit Nima and Lance from Ashbury. Then Frank April and Louie Paradis showed up. I got hyped and wanted to take a photo of the crew. I forgot to use the flash so this is what came out. But it doesn’t matter because memories are here forever.

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05.12.2016 21:43

* Ettala, Jussila and cool wallpaper. Iisalmi, Finland. January 2015

* In Finland, it is a tradition when you do your first dip in the ice that you need to count to 30. If you cheat, the others will push you down. Mikkeli, Finland. February 2016

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* Kas and his gf. Stubai, Austria. October 2015

* Style for days. America. 2012

* Snowboarding Finnish Open Video Contest Day 1.

Tahko, Finland. April 2014

* Snowboarding Finnish Open Video Contest Day 3.

After Hours. Tahko, Finland. April 2014

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05.12.2016 21:44

* Ollie to wallride out of an abandoned hotel in Gulmarg, India PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

A

brisk wind wisps across my face as I step out onto the snowy street that leads up to Taksim Square. The air is humid and cold as wet snow falls from the dark sky above. “This is the biggest storm we’ve had in over a decade” the guy behind the desk at the Stray Cat Hostel tells me. It’s the last day of 2015 and the Loose Change crew and I have just arrived in the white streets of Istanbul, the historical city that straddles both Europe and Asia. The following account is the story of the next three months of our Loose Change adventure, one that began in this coastal city that, over the centuries, has been home to a wide variety of travelers, traders, movers and shakers, from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, Europe to Asia.

Turkey’s a country more famous for its rich culture, white-sand beaches and sugary baklava than its urban snowboarding potential. It’s a country caught somewhere between the Occident and the Orient, Christianity and Islam, and ancient and contemporary culture. Niels and Sparrow arrived in “The City of the Seven Hills” on the first day of 2016, still awake from their New Year’s Eve parties back home. The snow kept piling up as we waited for the incredibly friendly, humble and always motivated Victor Daviet and the wise and calm Julien “Perly” Petry.

Victor and Julien would be traveling with us for two weeks in Turkey and they seemed very unsure about the trip they were embarking on. It was the start of an extended tour through the country, one in which we would travel nearly 2,500 kilometers past the unstable eastern borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, during a period in which a terrorist attack in Istanbul killed 10 German tourists.

The idea of heading East is rooted in both Niels’ and Sparrow’s individual history. Niels began snowboarding in the mountains north of Tehran in Iran when he was living there as a youth and Sparrow is an Englishman of Indian origins. Both have history in the East and through the Loose Change adventure they wanted to reconnect with their past while they shaped their future as riders looking to explore the world.

Driving along the brand new highway up the Erciyes volcano we felt more like we were heading to Whistler in Canada than a

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06.12.2016 02:10

* FS 360 over the road and a young spectator PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

WRITTEN BY DILLON CROSILLA

resort located in the middle of Turkey near the tourist hotspot of Cappadocia. Our past week was spent riding powder at a resort along the Black Sea and we had just drove our sketchy rental van five hours south, past the capital of Ankara and into the most conservative part of Turkey. Our Istanbul fixer, Pelin, who ran the only snowboard shop in Istanbul (shout out Zula!), had warned us that we had an important meeting to attend with a man named Mr. Murat. Before we were to go anywhere or see anything, we were to meet with Mr. Murat, who would take care of anything we needed.

We drove up to a tall, white modern office building adjacent to a mosque and nothing else. We were greeted by men in suits and asked to wait in the lobby. After being served little glasses of çay (pronounced chai), a Turkish tea that is customarily offered to all guests, Mr. Murat finally emerged from his office wearing a pair of tiny glasses and a perfectly tailored three-piece suit, with a super shiny bald head and a huge smile. He welcomed us into his office and offered us more çay.

Mr. Murat, who everyone in the office building referred to as Mr. President, was the man responsible for taking this super

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small ski resort and re-imagining it into a massive new resort.

The new resort has several new lifts, a gondola and a bunch of new hotels, all centered around the masterpiece - a brand new beautiful and majestic mosque which Mr. Murat was especially proud of.

We sat through a half hour presentation in which we all nodded along and asked questions while Sparrow sat there repeating in his head, “Don’t say anything stupid, don’t say anything stupid.” After a barrage of promo videos and slideshows explaining how Mr. Murat was going to make any resort in the Alps look like a piece of shit next to Erciyes, he leaned back in his big leather office chair behind his enormous dark wooden desk and asked, “So what can I do for you guys?” Niels sprung into action and proceeded to give a longwinded presentation about our Loose Change project, why we were in Turkey and finally asked Mr. President if he could give us free lift tickets and a place to stay in exchange for filming the best snowboarding this resort had ever seen. Mr. Murat sat back in his chair, thought about it for a second, and finally agreed to let us crash in the basement (that was set up like

06.12.2016 02:10

* BS 180 gap to 50-50

PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

* Victor Daviet in disguise PHOTO: PERLY

* Sparrow, always efficient PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

a dorm) of the tourism office building and give us free lift tickets. After a last round of çay, we thanked Mr. Murat and before we left his office he said one really important thing: “If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call.”

And with that last sentence, we were given free reign in the small town of Erciyes to do whatever we wanted!

Mr. Murat’s magic phone number was super useful when some guys tried to kick us out of a kicker spot we were building, when we wanted free pizza at the restaurant, when we wanted to use the gondola instead of the lift and, most importantly, when we found the most perfect handrail in all of Erciyes, attached to that mosque I mentioned before. We had spotted the handrail and were all super apprehensive about even getting close to look. After a little pushing by Perly for Niels to call Mr. Murat one last time, and with very little convincing, the man in the well-tailored three-piece suit obliged and everything was in place to ride the handrail. After we built the landing some snow patrol guys came by with their smartphones to record for themselves. Niels and Sparrow sessioned the handrail all afternoon and Alex filmed some amazing footage while Perly took some gorgeous photographs.

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Sweat poured down our foreheads as we sat at a second floor restaurant overlooking a busy intersection in New Delhi, India. Joined now by Jerome Tanon, camcorder in hand filming his recently released, “The Eternal Beauty of Snowboarding”, we peered down below at the street, which was alive. A nonstop flow of people, animals, auto rickshaws, cars and buses all moving at a frantic pace, each jockeying with the other in a race with no finish. As the sweltering heat of India consumed us at our table, most of the discussion during dinner revolved around whether or not we would actually find snow in India. Following the culture shock that is landing in New Delhi, we embarked on a flight destined for the remote northern province of India called Kashmir.

“It feels safe but looks like a war zone,” I thought to myself as I looked through the backseat window at the buildings scarred with bullet wounds dating back to the Indo-Pakistani war. Indian army infantry were patrolling the streets and there were camouflage-painted army trucks with sandbags and barbed wire fences stationed at the intersections. As we drove through the streets, my heart was pumping in the back

06.12.2016 02:11

* Nosepress BS 180 in Turkey, with permission from Mr. Murat

* Young enthusiasts

PHOTO: PERLY

PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

* Louif and some artillery PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

* Taj and Niels

PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

of the taxi wondering where the hell we just landed and what we had just gotten ourselves into. Our driver serenely wove through military barricaded streets and just as my nerves began to settle we came to an abrupt stop in the town of Tangmarg that pulled me from sense of calmness. We were in the type of traffic jam that one can only find in India. Through the maze of vehicles in front of us, the military had set up a checkpoint to make sure that cars venturing further up the Pirpanjal mountain were equipped with chains around their tires. Without a snowflake in sight, our guide reassured us that this checkpoint was worth all the hype that the traffic jam had built up and that in Gulmarg, nestled up in the valley at an altitude of 2,650 m (8,694 ft), there was piles of fresh white snow waiting for us.

As we scaled the mountain and hugged the curves of the road we ran into traffic jam after traffic jam of cars stuck in the snow that began to pile higher and higher along the roadside during the ride. Finally we arrived in Gulmarg, where a massive snowstorm awaited us. Our Jeep wasn’t even able to bring us all the way up to “The Luxurious Fallak Hut,” our home away from away for the following 25 days.

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The “Luxurious Fallak Hut,” as it was called, was located about an hour walk from the Gulmarg market and was anything but luxurious. Until Imtiaz, the reserved young house caretaker, had built up a hot fire inside the bukhari, the traditional wood burning stove in the shape of a narrow cylinder located in the center of each room, the luxurious cabin in the woods was a freezing wooden box with no insolation and plastic sheets covering the windows to hold in the meager heat. The remoteness and uncomfortable living situation of the Fallak Hut was a blessing in disguise The crew, which now also included Louif Paradis, really got a chance to get to know each other. Most of our time was spent sitting around the bukhari in the main room, playing cards, telling stories, trying to decipher Jérôme’s insane code he wrote and genuinely connecting as people. Having no Internet or cell phones helped us disconnect from the outside world and really immerse ourselves into the filming of the movie. Over the weeks a real bond with the crew developed and it was a chance to get away from the ordinary snowboard trip vibe. A secluded atmosphere, merged with the Indian patterns printed on the curtains, dank carpets and the smell of the bukhari mixed with smelly boots and curry, all culminated to make the Fallak Hut a special place that I will not soon forget. This was

06.12.2016 02:12

* Switch BS 180

PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

* Dillon and Alex

PHOTOS: JÉRÔME TANON

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06.12.2016 02:12

* Backy in view of a Turkish mosque PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

* Sparrow broke two boards on two tries on a gap to lipslide on this rail, and damn does it look painful. Proof is in the video PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

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06.12.2016 02:12

* FS 360 nose tap in India PHOTO: JÉRÔME TANON

definitely the cabin in the Kashmir mountains that we were hoping for.

Located in the middle of Gulmarg was an enormous skeleton of a hotel that was never completed. We heard a few conflicting stories of what happened but the general idea was that this was the first major hotel that was going to be built in Gulmarg but because of tense moments during the Kashmiri Insurgency in the 1990s the tourism industry took a significant hit and the project was abandoned. Over the years the hotel has become dilapidated and has clearly been occupied by squatters. As we scoured Gulmarg for street spots it became obvious that the hotel was the best spot available and for about a week straight Niels, Sparrow and Louif sessioned the shit out of it. Louif dropped from every roof with snow on it while Niels jumped through a missing wall into a wallride onto some old torn up bricks. We scoured through the snow trying to find all the random bricks but we really weren’t sure we had got them all. It was a sketchy spot but as you can see it made an amazing backdrop for Jérôme’s amazing black and white photographs.

The abandoned hotel that we spent so many days riding sat in

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the shadow of the colossal mountain that everyone comes to Gulmarg to ride. Despite frequent avalanches, the two gondolas up to the very top of the mountain were packed with riders strapped with ARVAs and shovels, ready to tackle any conditions. Once at the top of the gondola we would pick a direction, pass under the avalanche warning and army zone signs to ride along the spine until we found a bowl filled with powder. Watching Sparrow rip through powder and ride street in the abandoned hotel and all over, it was actually unfathomable to believe that he honed his riding skills in dodgy indoor fake snow runs in London. The man is blessed with talent and he always put smiles on our faces and was willing to teach us the newest north London slang.

Words by Niels Schack We landed in Almaty after passing the last couple of days in New Delhi, enjoying the heat and taking care of last minute issues to ensure that everything went down smoothly in Kazakhstan. Alex, Sparrow and I didn’t need visas because we were American and EU residents, however our journalist Dillon, who is Canadian, needed an invitation in order to visit

06.12.2016 02:13

* FS 360 tailgrab

PHOTOS JÉRÔME TANON

Kazakhstan. Feeling a little cheeky, and with a little luck on our side, we thought we would try getting Dillon in with a letter from a friend of a friend of Sparrow’s who worked for the British Council in Almaty. Unfortunately, upon arrival at the airport, Dillon was refused access into Kazakhstan and had to book a flight to Paris where he would stay before meeting up with us later in Japan.

Sparrow had arranged a hotel for us the day before and we headed across Almaty, which was much more developed than we had expected. Enormous skyscrapers, 4x4 trucks and, most importantly, gorgeous people were everywhere you looked. A sublime mix of Asian, Mongolian and Russian, who with their kindness managed to charm us the entire time.

The only problem in Almaty: no snow. There was very little snow in the streets so instead of riding we decided to heed the advice of our only contact in town and headed to the skate/ snowboard shop called Docku. Once in front of the shop we discovered a rundown DIY skate park with a pristine mini ramp and a group of really cool skaters who eventually became our best friends for the entire trip. You have to appreciate the fact that after three weeks of living in a hut in the

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Himalayas without electricity, heating, alcohol or a place to skate, Almaty was a breath of fresh air offering all the comforts of home. We were back in a city! It was time to celebrate so we headed out with our new friends that night and celebrated our new-found freedom.

The next day we met a local photographer named Victor Magdeyev who took us around town showing us his favorite spots. But to be honest, filming in Almaty was difficult because there was no snow. In all, Sparrow and I each got two tricks. Sparrow, whose ass was still black and blue from our last week in India at a gnarly spot where he snapped two boards on two consecutive tries, found a skate line where he dropped in under a super tiny roof and another spot where there was zero snow so we built him an in-run with snow we brought up in plastic bags from the little stream below. As for me, we built an inverse pole jam next to the skate shop and two days later I found a 10-meter acid drop off a barrier that prevents landslides. It was probably the scariest drop I’ve ever done, mostly because of my fear of heights.

Snowboarding was definitely not at its best in Almaty but we met so many amazing people and shared a lot of good times.

06.12.2016 02:13

* Wild lipslide to wallride PHOTOS: DILLON CROSILLA

* Pensive Mr. Schack

Almaty was only supposed to be the first city we visited in Kazakhstan, but with such kind and generous people who quickly became good friends, we stayed there for our entire visit.

We were invited to their grandparents house for dinner, rode the Shymbulak resort and visited all the lakes surrounding the city. We truly felt welcomed into their crew and humbled to be their friends, which doesn’t always happen when you fly into a new country and don’t know anyone.

Raqmet! (Thank You)

For us, Japan was a special treat. When the trip began three months ago our plan had been to finish the trip in Mongolia.

While incessantly checking the weather in Ulaan Bataar we concluded that no precipitation coupled with –25C temperatures didn’t sound very interesting. So while I was preparing

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my things in Paris to go meet up with the crew, I got a message from Niels to book a flight to Sapporo because he wanted sushi.

Riding through bamboo shoots in knee deep fresh powder, eating mochi ice cream until you feel sick and trying your best not to crash into the gigantic snowbanks while driving on the wrong side of the road are only some of the reasons that more and more riders are taking the insanely long flight to Japan every year. After finding no snow in Kazakhstan, the crew was ecstatic to find mountains of snow in Niseko, a small ski town located in eastern Hokkaido, the northern most island situated at the top end of Japan’s crescent-shaped island conglomeration. Now in Japan, the challenge wouldn’t be trying to find snow to hit street spots, it was trying to hit them before the police showed up. Victor, Julien, Jerome and Louif all warned us that the Japanese police were quick to shut down spots and had a no-nonsense attitude when it came to riding the streets. From DJing in the ‘98 Nagano Olympics to

06.12.2016 02:14

* The gang and a Japanese 7-Eleven

* Sparrow with a cold-water rescue mission

* BS wallie to FS wallride

living in Niseko for the past 20 years showing visiting riders around town, Kwan was “the” guy to know in Niseko. Originally from Australia but of Chinese descent, Kwan had told us of an abandoned hotel where we could probably find some spots and not have any problems from the cops. We ended up spending the next four days filming trick after trick at this secret spot. Niels front lipped the roof ledge into an insane four meter wallride into a tranny that had him ollie shifty off the roof in about three meters while Sparrow set up a completely crazy wallie to front side wallride from the roof of the hotel! It seemed like their time spent not riding in Kazakhstan pumped them up to really go for it in Japan. The crew was all hyped to be in Japan with nice weather and the guys were riding so well. In order to get to the hotel we had to drive along one street where there was a huge metal structure that crossed over the entire road in a cross-like fashion. One time when we were driving past it Sparrow asked if I could stop the van so he could climb it for fun. Once he was comfortably at the top I told him to pose for a picture and it was at that mo-

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ment that Sparrow realized that he should probably grab his board and 5-0 the entire structure. It would be the last trick of the trip and the most insane of them all. Alex filmed from the roof of the van while I drove slowly toward the metal structure, while Sparrow raced through the trees to get enough speed to make the gap. Sparrow nailed the trick a couple of times to get the angles just right.

With all the filming in the bag we booked a ferry to the main island where we spent our last few days acting wild in Tokyo.

There isn’t enough space in this article to explain how Niels and Sparrow got arrested for exploding fireworks in a downtown park or how we stayed partying in the huge clubs and hole-in-the-wall bars in Shibuya every night until 6 a.m. For every weird location we found ourselves filming in and from every random bed we found ourselves sharing during the past four months, I couldn’t be happier finding myself in a city of 13 million people, but surrounded by three guys that had become my best friends.

06.12.2016 02:14

* Mans high-speed cruising the snake run with the crew right behind. He goes big everywhere

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05.12.2016 22:25

T

WORDS: TOMÁŠ KOUDELA PHOTOS: GROBE

here are few places you can enjoy a good shred in the end of April, and the Finnish resort of Ruka is definitely one of them. But, even if you fly to Helsinki, you still need to drive 11 hours up north to reach this gem. And if you start from Czech Republic, and factor in collecting the whole crew on the road, you’re looking at over 3,000 kilometers and more than 36 hours of driving. But it’s not all a drag! There are a bunch of good things on the road: the breakfast on the ferry, beers, ABC! gas stations, beers, the nature and fun with the crew, because of the beers.

“THE LANDSCAPE IN FINLAND IS REALLY NICE, THE REINDEER ARE SO STUPID AND FINNISH PEOPLE ARE REALLY HOSPITABLE” M17.4 HF.indd 75

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* People from this house were so nice; they spent some time with us drinking beers and watching the guys ride. Antti tail press.

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05.12.2016 22:27

* One of two pipes in Ruka. Mans and Horis were shredding it half the day with crazy combos

“…THE BREAKFAST ON THE FERRY, BEERS, ABC! GAS STATIONS, BEERS, THE NATURE AND FUN WITH THE CREW, BECAUSE OF THE BEERS.”

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* Famous spot in Ruka with Zoltan sending a backflip tail. Everyone killed it here.

05.12.2016 22:29

* Mans with a good looking frontside planter.

Nice facial expression, too.

We chose Ruka for our Horsefeathers team trip as it is the favorite resort of our man, Antti Jussila. The resort is insane; it’s got no hills around it and stands just 490 meters tall, but Ruka offers a great park and lot of slopes.

Also, the spots around it are sick. Our crew – Antti, Mans Hedberg, Petr Horák, Zoltan Strcul’a, camera guys Matt and Battery and photographers Grobe and myself – spent half of the time at the resort and half shredding around on the spots Antti pointed out. People in Finland are so nice even when you’re shredding in front of their house.

Again, insane. We were hitting one rail in front of a house and the owners just came out to check what the guys are throwing. So we offered them some beers and we spent a nice three hours together at the spot. A miracle!

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05.12.2016 22:29

* Horis tweaking over the river. He ended in the water on the first drop.

The unanimous favorite was shredding the snake run in the woods between the slopes. We had a nice barbecue, some heavy chillin’, rode all day, and had ourselves some fun. One of the best days of the season, for sure. As it should be. The landscape in Finland is really nice, the reindeer are so stupid and Finnish people are really hospitable. We hope to be back in Ruka soon! *You can follow our Horsefeathers Ruka Trip on #HFtripRuka

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05.12.2016 22:30

PHOTOS: SEAN KERRICK SULLIVAN

* Gray Thompson lettin’ it fly

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05.12.2016 22:52

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* Eric Messier and Tucker Andrews party boardin’

In 2010, I left Tahoe to experience other places and parts of our snowboard culture. During the few years of running around snowy cities, I was always drawn back to Tahoe. Whether it was my family or friends, or the potential and diversity that these mountains have to offer, I would continue to find myself calling up Gray and meeting up with the Warp Wave boys to do some turns and catch some air.

I wanted to make a shift in my snowboarding and I decided to spend a season tagging along with Warp Wave.

When I finally made it down in January, my first day out was a beautiful bluebird day on Donner Summit with a fresh couple feet on the ground. The excitement was palpable; the crew had been patiently waiting through many poor winters for powder like this. I believe the entire Warp Wave crew was out on the hill and the boys methodically worked through a large chunk of some classic Donner Summit lines and hits.

Everyone got at least a couple shots, ate a bunch of pow, and washed it all down with a couple beers and some pizza that afternoon. In the spirit of retracing the heritage of snowboarding in Tahoe, the stoke was high and the mood was relaxed; that day set the tone for the rest of the season.

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05.12.2016 22:53

“Snow got hot quick! We’re changing the plan and goin’ to middle of nowhere Nevada! You comin?!”

That’s the text I got from Gray at 8 a.m. Quick brain scan... “Comin’ with!!” We load up the rigs and start the trek; couple sleds and some overnight gear and we’re going to do a three night mish’ in a place I’ve barely heard of.

Sam, Gray and I link up with Messi, Oz Man and Chamba at the trailhead and it becomes certain there’s a bad ratio of humans and gear to snowmobiles. After some doubling and shuttling we’re 15 miles away from civilization. As we’re setting up camp and the sun is going down, we can’t stop staring across the valley at what we get to board on for the next three days. The anticipation continues to build as I crawl into my sleeping bag.

The following three days we spent grinning from ear to ear. Powder will do that to a group of guys like us. Camping at the scene was so awesome. All the sunshine made for epic breakys to fuel up for long, powder-driven days that ended with fire pit-star gazing and powder disbelief. It was messed!

* Zander Blackmon BS air on the Donner Pass hip

The snow gods have paid us a special visit. The place I love most is covered with a fresh blanket of perfect snow. It’s been six or seven years since my last turns in these mountains. Not by choice. The drought was real, and this lower elevation paradise was fucked for years, but now I am back and have set up camp right in the heart of the Dirty Tooth Bowl with some of my best buds and perfect, blue skies. Is this real? I must be dreaming...or has this dream actually come true? A sip of hot coffee reassures me I am not dreaming.

What should we ride first? Curtis, Gray, and I point out the possibilities. This face right here in front of us is screaming to be ridden. A blank canvas of waves, cliffs, and bubbly terrain. All of which put us right back into camp. After boot packing to the top we look out on our oasis. These are the moments I live for. I strap my feet in and radio down to the crew: “You boys ready?” I take a deep breath and point my nose down hill. Swooooooosh. It feels awfully good to be back.

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06.12.2016 00:10

* Curtis Woodman going BS 360 off the windlip

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05.12.2016 22:54

Unexpected forces placed me in the Sierra Nevada at the right time. A natural attraction drew me to the Warp Wave crew. The ethos surrounding this eclectic group of snowboarders is one of simplicity and passion. A session out with the boys brings one back to the early days where we’d ride from dawn to dusk without a care in the world. The only difference now is that Sam Tour and Gray Thompson happen to be there to capture each moment on camera in a crisp, artistic manner.

My most memorable day shooting for Aurora Boardealis was on March 15, my 28th birthday. It was in a zone that sticks out around the Tahoe Basin. An aesthetic face composed of multiple flanks, rock outcroppings, spines and chutes that provided the perfect outlet for the multiple riders to express our own personal styles. Once the skin track was set, we all lapped out several lines that made the final cut of the film, all of which happen to be my favorite shots in the movie. Thanks guys for one of the best seasons I’ve ever had in my life.

The Problem: The Solution: The Result:

Last March, Tahoe was basically perfect. The storms casually rolled in every four or five days and we were getting to tee off on all the classic terrain that mother nature so rudely hid from us the past several seasons. With all the boys in town we encountered a small problem; everyone wanted to smack powder but the crew size was outgrowing the amount of cameras. One night after 313 group text messages, we made the call. Divide and conquer! I talked with Gray (aka Squad Dad) and we made a plan. One group went south of the lake, one went east of the lake and one went north.

Johnny Brady and I paired up and formed team RedTech (Redneck Technology). We combined the best redneck activity under the sun (snowmobiling) with cutting edge technology that we don’t understand (drones). The result was radical. We went to a zone that I am very familiar with and got conditions that I don’t think I’ll ever see again. Stable, filled in and bluebird. Johnny impressed me all day - the proof is in the video. My buddy Sean (drone lord) captured the day in high definition from the skies above.

After getting back to town, we phoned the other crews to see if they were grinning like idiots as well; indeed they were. While we were out, Tuck, Nick and Gray used good old fashion leg muscles to splitboard into an area south of Tahoe. Tucker straight lined a psycho chute while Gray and Nick tackled two of the most iconic couloirs in Tahoe. All of this happened while Curtis and Eric were getting insane shots 60 miles north on Mount Rose. All in all, around five minutes of the video was captured that day and it went down in history as GNARch 23, 2016.

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05.12.2016 22:54

Gray calls me at 7 p.m. the night before.

“You wanna go on a little mish’ to South Lake?” I quickly respond, “I’m down.”

I’d hardly ever boarded down there so I was excited to see what the boys had planned. Gray, Sam, Nick and I hop into Gray’s truck and we’re at the trailhead and skinnin’ by 6:45. The closer we get to the zone, the more we realize the snow is pretty wind-affected. We’re all pretty eager to ride so Sam grabs an angle and we all start goin’ up! The excitement starts growing as Gray gets ready to drop into a pretty chossy line. Gray-lien drops in, and after what seems like a quick 15 seconds, Nick and I hear a happy hoot over the radio. “It’s fast!” Gray exclaims.

Nick hikes over a ways and gets into his line; he smoothly disappears. Gray and Nick let me know over the radio that the snow is pretty funky. I drop on my zone and can agree the snow is weird.

We cruise around to another aspect and get eyes on these short, skinny lines. I get on the knife ridge and traverse over to this pinner chute. I hack away some cornice and try to hone my inner “Griff’; a week earlier I watched him ride a very similar line in Utah. His advice: “It’s easier because you don’t have to turn.”

Still seemed sketch. I hold my breath and drop... And I botched it! Wheelied out on the little cliff after the chute. I stubbornly hike up again and give it another go. Success! I remember loving this day because I went into it with no expectations. Despite the bad snow it was time well spent in the mountains with good friends, and you can’t beat that!

* Johnny Brady scoring some pillows PHOTO: BEN BIRK

*Well, would you just look at that. Nick Russell Sierra surfin’ PHOTO: ANDREW MILLER

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05.12.2016 22:55

* Taylor Carlton, powder calligraphy PHOTO: BEN BIRK

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05.12.2016 22:55

INTERVIEW: JAKE KUZYK | PHOTOS: COLE MARTIN

-----------------------A decade and a half in the game as a pro rider, Darrell Mathes is healthier than he’s been in years and halfway into a Vans part rumored to rival his best yet.

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06.12.2016 02:46

Dumpster pop for Public

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06.12.2016 02:46

180 switch tailpress in Mass.

W

e were both just in Boreal on an early season trip, how’d you like that? Highs and lows?

It was great doing an early season trip somewhere I have never been. It really started this new year off in a different way and the crew we had really made it a memorable one.

Having Thanksgiving dinner over at our rental was exciting.

Doing what we do, it’s nice to still have that sort of typical dinner. And seeing a Canadian get up for not seconds, but thirds, was a good sign. There wasn’t so much as a low on this trip, which makes it a real success. I guess a hot tub would have been nice!

You’ve had a really successful pro career for quite some time now. How old are you, and how many years have you been officially professional?

I am close to my mid-thirties and have been professionally snowboarding for 14 years, which is crazy to think about right now.

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My friends and I loved watching your parts when we were growing up. Some of my favorites, for sure. How would you say your approach to starting the winter has changed since the Technine, or Kids Know videos.

Thanks for making me feel old! I’m at the age where I know when I feel comfortable on my board and know when it is time to start filming. With this line of work, feeling confident and comfortable is everything so when I hit that mindset, I know I’m ready. I think the “knowing” part just comes with getting older and doing this as long as I have.

Again, comparing to years past, would you say that you generally have the same method to filming a video part?

Do you have tricks or spots in mind that you look for, or is it more of a spontaneous type of approach?

If it ever snowed in Portland, I would have spots in mind, but I doubt it ever will so those will stay hidden! Usually, I watch snowboard parts depending on location to visualize new tricks that are possible. For the most part, I like to be more spontaneous and be creative while driving, searching for that unseen location.

06.12.2016 02:46

Mid-30s my ass. Youthful gap to back lip

I know you’ve dealt with some injuries over the last three or four winters. What were they exactly?

I tore my MCL and hyper extended both ankles, which has been an ongoing issue. I had surgery a few years back on one of my ankles to try and correct it.

Was there ever a point during those setbacks, while handling other responsibilities, that you wondered if another full part would be possible?

I knew it would be more difficult, knowing that the injuries would make it that much harder. Gaining the mental capacity was the hardest thing - getting that confidence back on the board. But I never stopped wanting it or trying to get back and get better.

Moving into your second year of filming for the Vans movie, are you happy with what you have filmed so far? I know a lot of the other team guys are excited about your footage.

Ya, that’s awesome to hear that people are stoked on the footage. I definitely have more tricks that I want to get, and hopefully halfway through the winter I can focus on more back-

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country stuff so I have a more well-rounded part.

You traveled a lot last year, more than I think most people would expect while owning an international brand (Howl). Anything you missed out on?

No, I think it helps motivate me to work on the marketing aspect by getting footage and photography of all the team guys. Plus, it helps me have a better understanding of what the team riders are into and their needs and wants. Winter is always dedicated toward snowboarding and I always learn something new, whether it’s work-related or something else.

Were there any major points where you thought, “I gotta switch up my routine, change things a little” in regard to health, lifestyle or anything like that?

When you get to my age, it’s really not so much of a question.

It’s more of a must. Health is really the only thing I can control so I try and make it a priority to keep up with it all. Seeing a trainer and laying off the wine gets me in work mode.

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Puttin’ the knees to the test! Ollie poke

Since the beginning of Howl you’ve always really involved your team riders, creating a big line of pro model pieces, and promoting heavily around all the guys involved. Is that something you see continuing for the brand’s future?

We have always wanted to keep that core market by highlighting the core snowboarders and giving them a real opportunity to make gloves that they want. We are blessed with having such amazing snowboarders and I would feel guilty not being able to showcase their talents.

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Do you and Nima (Jalali) kind of handle everything together, or does each of you have certain responsibilities and roles?

We have our separate roles because we are both better at different things but we have always been a team and work well discussing everything together.

06.12.2016 02:47

Method to bank in Spokane, WA

You switched up a few long-time sponsors in recent years.

How are things different now that you snowboard for Public and Ashbury. What made you decide to move to these brands?

Joe Sexton is a good friend and when he started this new brand, I was definitely a huge supporter from the beginning and admired what it stood for. I rode for Spy for over 10 years and had my ups and downs with them. They were always sup-

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portive but in the last couple years, the direction they were moving wasn’t what I wanted to be a part of. I’ve always liked the aesthetics of Ashbury and what they do for their riders.

I’m stoked I made these decisions, because at this age, I want to associate myself with things that I believe in.

06.12.2016 02:48

HIGHS AND LOWS DURING THE MAKING OF UNION’S “STRONGER” WORDS: JOHNNY O’CONNOR AND SCOTT STEVENS

I

t was the strongest of times, it was the weakest of times; from landing tricks, to laying chicks, hanging with idols and having our names under the title. It was a season that strengthened us like no other.

Prior to its completion, there were definitely some points during the winter that were not the strongest. First off, was the snow factor. Living in New England with Skylar ‘Larz’ Brent (Union filmer) waiting for snow was like waiting for someone to hand you a winning lottery ticket. It never happened. So we took our bags elsewhere.

Our first trip was to Minnesota - a land that has been raped and pillaged on the snowboard front for years, by many - with Dan Brisse, Phil Jacques, Scotty Steves, Kalle Olson and Krister Ralles. We filmed for a few weeks until the snow was down to its dirty, sugary, texture. Then, we caught wind of snow in Scandinavia.

A late hop over the pond with Scotty and Phil led us to dirty snowbanks that left us wondering if snow was good anywhere in the world. We then drove up north to a little place called Kuopio, in northern Finland, and found us some good eatin’. Good snow, new spots; it was rejuvenating to finally get what we needed. Mikael Ahtikari, our Finnish friend and Union filmer, was our guide for the trip, one that went really well, with the exception of couple questionable food choices: a “bacon burger,” which was actually two feet of bacon spiraled in between a bun, or Scott’s burnt pizza pie at 6:30 a.m. Besides those, Finland has some of the best Italian and Indian food we have ever had. To wrap this trip up, literally, I ended with a Tinder date the night before we all flew home, a date who ended up having a flight out of the same airport, around the same time, as my flight. It was an amusing moment when I asked to get dropped off in the middle of Helsinki with my board bag to go find this chick.

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* This spot has been getting plenty of action of late. Phil Jacques carves one out that is all his own, shooting the gap for a patient backside lipslide PHOTOS: E-STONE

05.12.2016 22:05

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05.12.2016 22:06

After getting home, we went right back up to old faithful - Quebec. We had good snow. Brisse, back from a broken rib injury, Torstein, Scotty, Phil, and Anto Chamberland were all on this one. It’s where we spent the rest of the winter filming in the streets.

Dissecting a city you’ve filmed in for years isn’t easy if you don’t live there. Luckily, we had enough time to read between the lines and write our own story.

Though an extended period of time in a city has its strong points, it also has its downfalls. As I’m sure everyone who films video parts knows, going too long without getting a shot can make you do some crazy things, like hitting spots you wouldn’t normally hit, but you outweigh the reward for the risk.

It’s crazy calculation, but it works…half of the time.

As you’ll see in the intro of my part, breaking my leg into pieces made me the weakest I’ve ever been after feeling the strongest I have ever felt. At nearly the peak of my snowboarding career it seemed as if my health was just thrown out the window. But that’s weak talk! I’m coming back stronger than ever bitches!

* Brisse would be one of those dudes who embody the word Stronger. Solid tail bone in SLC PHOTO: E-STONE

* Johnny with the ice plank PHOTO: JOEL FRASER

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05.12.2016 22:07

* There are a million captions for this one, but the strongest just seems to be “That’s exactly how it’s done.” JOC with a textbook backside plant.

PHOTO: E-STONE

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* Scotty with some of that signature innovation PHOTO: JOEL FRASER

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“IT WAS A SEASON THAT STRENGTHENED

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US LIKE NO OTHER”

05.12.2016 22:09

* Gap to lipslide, sneaking through gap in the fence PHOTO: JOEL FRASER

T

he season was a complete whirlwind! I mean, park beginnings to Minnesota, Finland, Utah, Bear Mountain, Quebec, Sweden, twice, and premiere tours! It was sick and and it was busy! I think Finland was the highlight! We had a great crew, from filmers to photogs to riders: Phil, JOC, Joel, Mikkel, Skylar, Flo, and…I think that was it.

It was a grim start - we were greeted in Helsinki with intense jet lag and rain. But these small inconveniences afforded plenty of room to grow. I think that’s why going four hours north to Koupio was so amazing! JOC, Phil and I basically just worked a small street for days and even flagged down a plow truck to help us build landings! Pretty rare. We also had the code to a hostel across the street to drop dumps.

Literal shits. It was incredible. Build a spot, take a shit, hit the spot. Someone, obviously, would destroy the hostel toilet and then repeat the assault the next day. Strangely, that was a huge highlight. Crap, man! It was a hoot and quite productive!

PHOTO: JOHNNY O’CONNOR

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* Keep it loose! One footer from Stevens

PHOTO: JOHNNY O’CONNOR

PHOTO: E-STONE

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PHOTO: CYRIL MÃœLLER RIDER: SAGE KOTSENBURG SPOT: OTARU, JAPAN TRICK: 50-50

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PHOTO: CYRIL MÜLLER RIDER: DBK SPOT: HOCH-YBRIG TRICK: SMOOTH CRUISIN’

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PHOTO: E-STONE RIDER: DEADLUNG SPOT: SNOWBIRD, UTAH TRICK: SHIFTY

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* PHOTO: E-STONE RIDER: CHRIS GRENIER SPOT: OTTAWA, CANADA TRICK: BS 180 SEATBELT

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PHOTO: ANDY WRIGHT RIDER: GIGI RUF SPOT: HAINES, ALASKA TRICK: DROPPIN’ IN *

05.12.2016 20:59

* PHOTO: BOB PLUMB RIDER: GARRETT WARNICK SPOT: SLC, UTAH TRICK: 50-50

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PHOTO: BOB PLUMB RIDER: BRENDAN GERARD SPOT: SLC, UTAH TRICK: FS 360 MELON *

05.12.2016 21:00

* PHOTO: OLI GAGNON RIDER: JED ANDERSON SPOT: OTTAWA, CANADA TRICK: 50-50

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PHOTO: WOJTEK ANTONÓW RIDER: WOJTEK PAWLUSIAK SPOT: BYSTRY POTOK, POLAND TRICK: 50-50 GAP 5-0 *

05.12.2016 21:01

PHOTO: COLE MARTIN RIDER: LAYNE TREETER SPOT: QUEBEC, CANADA TRICK: OLLIE TO BANK

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PHOTO: THEO ACWORTH RIDER: LUKAS ELLENSOHN SPOT: ST. CHRISTOPH, AUSTRIA TRICK: MCTWIST

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PHOTO: DOMINIC ZIMMERMANN RIDER: KEEGAN VALAIKA SPOT: CHAMPÉRY, SWITZERLAND TRICK: HIPPY JUMP

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GOODBYE

17.4

Ride it out.

Sam Taxwood, 50-50 mid-line.

PHOTO: BOB PLUMB

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INSTEP LACE LOCKOUT / INTERNAL WRAP HARNESS / H E AT M O L D A B L E L I N E R

VA NS .C OM ©2015 Vans, Inc. Photo: Aaron Blatt

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06.12.2016 00:28 03/11/2016 09:30

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06.12.2016 00:21