Nitro OFFLINE Magazine 2020-21 by Nitro Snowboards

M A G A Z I N E

ISSUE ONE

PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY

MAG 4

TOMMY DELAGO INTERVIEW

LOFOTEN EXPERIENCE TR AVEL DI ARY

LIBEREC ROADTRIP PHOTO STORY

D O M I N I K WA G N E R PL AYLIST

ALBANIA ADVENTURE PHOTO STORY

CHRISTY PRIOR INTERVIEW

US ROADTRIP PHOTO STORY

JOE SEXTON PL AYLIST

OFFLINE means taking a break from the hectic world we live in, by disconnecting and reconnecting with the people and experiences that truly m a tt e r, a n d c r e a t i n g m e m o r i e s w o r t h r e m e m b e r i n g . No m a tt e r h o w y o u d o this, it is just important that you take some time for your self and enjoy real life. For us, the easiest way to truly ge t offline is to go snowboarding with new and old friends. Snowboarding is our escape back to reality and we hope it can be your escape as well.

PRINTED ON PEFC™ CERTIFIED PAPER

TOMMY DELAGO 30 years with Nitro Snowboards

MAG 8

T OMM Y DEL A GO I N T ER V I E W

„ A b o v e a l l , i t ’s a s p e c i a l k i n d o f f a m i l y s p i r i t that has fueled Nitro from the very beginning“

hat was your first exposure to snowboarding and when was this?

hence the name - The Retro. We have stayed true to this and released a new swallowtail board almost every season since the beginning.

The first time I saw photos of snowboarding was in 1978 in Skateboarder Magazine. Being a land-locked teen in the mountains who was skating and who always wanted to surf, I immediately realized that this was going to be my way of surfing.

Do you remember who the first team riders were?

Why and how do you think your passion for snowboarding evolved into starting your brand? Were you really that into snowboarding in the beginning that you knew this is what you wanted to do and contribute to the world?

What was your original role at Nitro snowboards during the first 5 years?

By the end of the ’80s, I was 100% emerged in snowboarding: I was a Sims team rider, ran my snowboard camp and school, and was a contributing writer and tester for the leading German snowboard magazine. Still, there was no grand master plan to start a snowboard brand. Eventually, this just happened through a chance of meeting the right people at the right time. I know you have told this story before, but how, when, and where was Nitro founded? The first Nitro line has been developed during the Fall of 1989, but the final decision for the brand name was made at Vera’s Café in Ballard, Seattle, on January 6, 1990. What was one of your fondest memories from the early days? Looking back, there are quite many. The first time I ever saw someone ride a Nitro board they bought at retail. It still makes me feel proud and honored to see that happen. But it’s also great to remember how much time we were able to spend on riding and testing. The product line was much smaller, and we were breaking new ground with many of our original shapes. We were trying out dozens of shape versions for a new board. I remember spending six weeks straight at Mt. Hood during the summer with the entire team. What was the first Nitro production snowboard? Well, there was the entire 1990 line of course. But the very first board I ever designed was a swallowtail powder shaped board called the Retro. Everyone was so into asym raceboards, fast advancements in technology and the first twin shapes. Somehow, I felt a strong urge to design a board that was kind of a throwback toward the surfing origins of snowboarding,

Multiple World Champion Petra Müssig, Amy Howat from Mt. Baker, WA, Jason Brown, Drew Hicken, Keith Kimmel, Dennis Nazari, just to name few.

My main responsibility was on board and binding engineering, and of course marketing, especially in Europe. I was still a more presentable rider, so I also participated in the first videos we did (Go Nitro, Hype). Who was the original crew? Aside from my partner Sepp Ardelt and myself, there were graphics designers Bill McGown and Mike Dawson, as well as US Sales Manager Ken Kelly and our distributors in France and Italy, Damien Fenart and Edo Sgarbossa. The family grew quickly, especially with riders and distributors, some of which are still with us today. What is your role at Nitro snowboards today, 30 years later? As the line and the company grew, a few things have shifted, but I’m still a product person, with my focus on boards and boots. I try to keep an eye on the overall line, especially hardgoods, while at the same time allowing some of the younger colleagues to take over responsibility for certain categories. Nitro is one of very few remaining larger brands that are rider/owner-operated, so I also spend a good amount of time on the snow and in stores, listening and spreading our vibe. I see myself also as being responsible for keeping the brand identity true to its origins and supporting snowboarding wherever possible. During the starting stages of building snowboarding products, what were a few of the hurdles that you did not realize would be a hurdle when you started the company? One of the biggest challenges I was not aware of in the beginning was – and still is – to build a product line that works for all the different markets out there. Riding styles, graphic tastes and budgets are different between countries and we try to listen to our markets and take them seriously, even if they are small.

T O M M Y DEL A G O I N T E R V I E W

„ A s t h e l i n e a n d t h e c o m p a n y g r e w, a f e w t h i n g s have shifted, but I’m still a product person.“

Changes in suppliers or distributions often happen unplanned for and can throw a pretty unexpected wrench in your system as well. We pride ourselves in good quality, both in products and service, and the above changes have presented challenges we did not expect initially. Were there any key moments or values that you believe kept Nitro moving forward through the first 20 years? Above all, it’s a special kind of family spirit that has fueled Nitro from the very beginning. There are very few business-like structures and many shared jobs and responsibilities. We try to keep everyone involved so they feel part of the same team, whether it’s R&D, design, sales or marketing, all the way to the Am and Pro riders. You have seen trends come and go and return in product design and fashion… what were some of your favorite snowboard trends over the past 30 years? I enjoyed the atmosphere of departure in the early ’90s. Everything was possible, advancements in tech were happening all over the place and everyone was curious to try out new stuff. On the flip side, I had my worst day of snowboarding on a 151 twin with baseless bindings mounted dead center in three feet of untracked pow, so that was a personal “downer” in trends I guess. The re-introduction of splitboarding 10 years after we first started selling this kind of board was – and still is – a great movement. Finally, I am super excited about the new open-mindedness towards new board shapes, ideas, and styles that we are experiencing in the community right now. What snowboard technologies are you most proud of introducing into the snowboard world? I think it’s safe to say there are many, but here are my top picks, especially since they are still used in our line or even by others in the industry. 3-Piece Binding: Being able to center your boot on the board by properly adjusting the binding size is a key achievement we brought to snowboarding and chose not to patent. TLS Quick and highly effective, the TLS lacing system is our #1 contribution to

MAG 10

better fitting and more comfortable snowboard boots. Re-Lace System Finally overcoming the cumbersome lace-lockers was overdue and onthe-fly re-tightening your liner is a feature you need every day. Railkiller Edge 200% the strength of a regular (ski design) steel edge, the Railkiller Edge is a must-have for any street/park board. Koroyd® Core Even if the original technology is not our invention, we are responsible for developing ways to integrate this lightweight yet highly dampening material in our cores so that other snowboard and ski brands are now following. Mini Disk Minimized impact of the binding base on the board flex, combined with click-fit angle adjustment. Improving board feel and mounting convenience. You stated in Nitro´s “28 Winters” movie that; “there was a time that it was not possible to be cool or uncool in snowboarding”, how have you seen the evolution of snowboarding over the years? Snowboarding went through several stages of evolution in the past decades. After the early days back in the ’70s, we saw a decade of industrialization, where we adapted ski construction technology and materials. We also experienced the development of competition and professional snowboarding. During this time, style was less of an issue, it was secondary which board brand you rode and which type of clothing you wore, everything was fine as long as you spent time riding with others. This changed during the ’90s when snowboarding ‘came of age’. Professional snowboarding became much more serious and brands were starting to spend massive amounts of money to build their image. The entire sport became much more image-driven and suddenly, riding or wearing the wrong brand meant you’re ‘in’ or ‘out’. Snowboarding was more of a hype and fashion to many people, it overheated and we finally saw the market drop around and just after 2010. Then how have you seen the Nitro brand evolve - what values have been important to you to promote? With Nitro, we have been part of these developments since 1990, with the one exception that as a private company, we never had the exorbitant

MAG 12

T OMM Y DEL A GO I N T ER V I E W

funds of others to get too involved in the hype of the late ’90s and early 2000s. We continued to focus on our family-style way of operating and only invested the money we actually made the year before. Therefore, the ups and downs of the market have touched us less than others. But after 2012, we realized that we needed to do our share to get snowboarding back on track. We realized that we need to take a humbler approach, refocused on the joy of riding with your friends and the open-mindedness of the earlier days. We did this through our videos, team, general marketing and of course through our product line. Board lines like the Quiver Series or riders like Yung Doli would have not had much resonance 10-15 years ago, but are now a well-accepted part of many facets of snowboarding. Running a business for over 30 years is a great accomplishment no matter what industry you are in, but even more so in such a unique and niche market like snowboarding - what would you credit for the success of Nitro making it this far? I think it’s a mix of solid products, no-bullshit marketing and a lot of common-sense business style. We love what we do and avoid making products we would not buy or ride. If you could go back and change one thing that Nitro has done over the last 30 years what would it be? Tough – most of the products we created did look like a good idea at the time, even if they flopped, so no regrets. Maybe we should not have discontinued splitboards around 2000, just to bring them back 10 years later. Global warming and a focus on sustainability is a key factor for all winter sports - how would you like to see the snowboard industry address this moving forward? First off, let’s all try to avoid green-washing. I’m seeing too many attempts of brands grabbing an eco-friendly feature or two, just for marketing reasons. Global warming is an issue and it concerns us very specifically. I believe looking at the bigger picture is important here, even if it is less marketable. For example, certain inks and glues appear very eco-friendly at first glance and are therefore easy to market. Looking at the bigger picture, many of these inks and glues require extremely high amounts of energy for curing and drying, making their ecological footprint bigger than some more traditional methods. It is important to further develop these technologies until the entire process is more eco-friendly than before.

What we need is a more educated view of our entire way of doing business, real development, and less marketing-driven buzzwords. How is your motivation and outlook for the next 30 years of snowboarding and Nitro? Where, What and How will people be ripping in 2050? Of course, the environmental changes are the biggest concern and will have a major influence on the future of any wintersport. I believe that snowboarding is well prepared and will be okay if the industry continues to try to be less ‘grand’ and more grass-roots than in the past. We don’t need huge gondolas, massive resorts and après bars. A fun, local resort and a bunch of friends is just fine. The cost of tickets, accommodation, travel, and equipment will continue to rise, so (season) rental will become more important, especially for kids. Splitboarding will probably not explode but continue to grow. If we keep the current open-minded, fun-driven spirit, boards will continue to be diverse, giving everyone the possibility to find their favorite stick, whatever style of riding they may be into. How can the average person support the future of the snowboard community moving forward? What would you tell them to do? Support smaller local resorts and dealers even if they may not have the full offering of their larger counterparts. Try to make sure (your) kids have a chance to get out there and shred, but above all: get out there and ride as much as you can, share the joy with your friends and greet fellow snowboarders with a smile!

Questions: Knut Eliassen Answers: Tommy Delago Pictures: Lorenz Holder, Markus Rohrbacher and others

THE LOFOTEN EXPERIENCE Diary of an epic trip

MAG 16

T H E L O F O T EN E XP ER I ENCE

„Even though the weather was foggy and wet, we still managed to get out and fish, snowboard, and surf“

ay 1 - The adventure begins ... The idea is to drive from Munich, Germany all the way up to Lofoten, Norway where we will meet up with the rest of the Nitro Team who is coming in from all over the world to do some spring snow camping in the most picturesque location in the world! We packed up the Audi Q7´s and Audi Sport RS4 for a drive that would scare most: Munich, Germany to Lofoten, Norway which is approximately 3000km with multiple ocean and fjord crossing. That is a lot of kilometres behind the wheel, but if you consider the roads and views we will see along the way, it is a gift to be able to do it. After putting the cars to the test by driving as fast as we could on the Autobahn, we took an overnight ferry from Denmark to Bergen, Norway. The ferry was a good break from being gripped to the wheel on the Autobahn all day, especially for those driving the RS4 - its basically a supercar. Arriving in Bergen early Thursday morning, felt like arriving in a new world. The sun was shinning, and the mountain tops were covered in a snowy white blanket. The feeling of arriving to a post card view is not something you experience everyday. Now the journey continues north up the coast of Norway for the next two days. The roads here are far from the standard and speeds of the Autobahn, plus it feels like we take a ferry across the fjord every other hour. The amount of ferries on the west coast of Norway is amazing, it most be one of the only places in the world where you cross fjords multiple times a day. It´s absolutely beautiful. The goal for today is to make it to the Atlantic Ocean Road, outside of Molde, Norway. Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean Road we will continue our journey to Trondheim and stay there for the night. Trondheim is a city that looks like it comes straight out the Viking era, so we are excited to see it. The plan continues to be the same, make it to Hinnøya in Lofoten by Saturday to start bagging some peaks and pow turns and hopefully see the northern lights. Day 2 - The Atlantic Ocean Road Today the drive continued through more of the beautiful west coast of Norway. This country is full of mountain views, fjord crossings, and wonderful people. After departing the area of Stranda at the break of dawn, we took our first ferry of the day, and 5 ferries later we finally made it to the world famous Atlantic Ocean Road. The road itself is not that long, I believe it is about 8.3 km, but the way it is built connecting many many small islands together with bridges to each

one is what makes it so incredible. Honestly, it seems like a lot of work, but we are sure glad the Norwegian government built this beauty. The road has a roller coaster feel, kind of like snowboarding, full of curvy bridges, ups and downs, and phenomenal views. We were lucky that the weather was so nice, because on stormy days the waves actually crash over the road and bridges so it can be quite dangerous to drive here. The drive along this spectacular road was a good reminder of why it is sometimes worth taking the long way to get somewhere, like we are doing right now. Obviously we could have taken a plane all the way up to Lofoten, but than we would have missed out on the journey and all the beauty the world has to offer along the way. After spending, probably way to much time hanging out on the road at the edge of the ocean, we decided it was time to continue our journey north. After getting back into the Q7´s we cruised into the land of Vikings, Trondheim when the sun was finally setting. The old part of this town is literally taken out of a viking saga, old stone buildings everywhere, a river that runs around the town that seems like a moat, and a huge church (Nidarosdomen) in the centre of the city. Today was a good day and we are looking forward to finishing the trek all the way up to Lofoten tomorrow. A mellow 15.5 hour drive into the Arctic Circle. Day 3 - The Arrival The crew in the Audi´s departed Trondheim at the crack of dawn to embark on their 15.5 hour drive up to Lofoten. On the way we passed through the Arctic Circle and entered the world of the long days. The sun here is slowly staying up longer and longer each day, which makes for some incredible sunsets. Meanwhile, Team Manager Knut Eliassen and team rider Elias Elhardt arrived in Narvik, Norway mid day. They headed straight for the islands. After arriving driving about 1.5 hours Knut and Elias got their split boarding gear together and started hiking up the first peak of our Run To The Hills Lofoten Adventure. They arrived at the base of what is known as Rundtinden. The hike up Rundtinden from the North Face is a 2.5 hour hike to the summit, which is not that bad for the views it provides on the way up and on the summit. Midway up the hike, Elias Elhardt lost his pole while checking the thickness of a wind lip, which made it pretty exciting for him to summit the rest of the mountain. Once the Knut and Elias reached the summit, they set up a little camp and enjoyed the sunset, by hand planting the summit. The way down was the perfect sunset descent. When the boys came down from Rundtinden, than the Audi crew arrived. They set up camp up in the mountains and enjoyed a peaceful night full of northern lights. The perfect way to arrive in Lofoten, sunset and northern

T HE L O F O T EN E XP E R I E NC E

lights. Let the adventure begin. Day 4 - The Camping Experience Arrival day was a busy one. Team riders and people from all over the world arrived in Lofoten at our DIY camp site on the island of Hinnøya. Team riders Bryan Fox, Griffin Seibert, Benny Urban, Simon Gschaider, Jan Scherrer, Schummy, Elias Elhardt, and many more set up camp at the top of a peak with 360 degree views of the dramatic landscape and set off into the mountains to take the first turns into what seems to be the never ending sunset. After riding until the sun went down, the crew of over 20 people skinned back to base camp, for a camp fire, beers, and mother natures own light show - the Northern Lights. Snow camping is not something everyone does, but it is something that we recommend you do. With the right sleeping bag and pad, it was possible to stay warm and comfy all night long. The experience is worth it because you are out in the elements while the best part is you wake up in the elements and can just get your board and go. A couple tips for snow camping are: •

When you set up your tent, dig out a hole in front of your tent so it is easy to get in and out of your tent, and you also have a nice spot to put your boots. Eat a hot meal before bed and drink some warm tea, this will help you stay warm and get heat into the sleeping bag Use two sleeping pads below your sleeping bag. The first layer will keep the cold away from you. Put hot water into a water bottle and put it into your sleeping bag. Remember you are camping - enjoy it.

• • • •

The night was one for the books, its not often you get a group of 20+ snowboarders together up in Lofoten camping together. Day 5 - The Adventure continues After the crews first night of sleeping out in the elements together, everyone slowly woke up to another day of sunshine. Some of the crew went out for an early morning splitboard hike, mostly to go do their morning routine, but also to get some early morning lines. After everyone was finished with their morning coffee, the crew set out into the mountains to build some wind lip hips, and enjoy the fun terrain that Hinnøya has to offer. Bryan Fox, Griffin Seibert, and Knut Eliassen went off on a mini adventure to summit a new peak and check the snow condition further out in the island chain. They embarked on a 3 hour long hike up to the peak, the hike was completely worth it - offering views of the ocean on both sides. The

MAG 18

best part about this place, Lofoten, is that every time you get to the top of a peak or ridge you see a new breathtaking view. The day ended with a friendly gathering around the DIY camp spot and the crew stayed up until they saw the Northern Lights - which we did. This place is amazing Day 6 - Summit Camp We must have won the weather lottery because the sun just keeps on shinning. We packed up our first camp on the Hinnøya islands and headed to the island of Austvågøya to hike up to the top of a mountain called Rundtinden (803 Meters Over The Sea). The crew set out to get to the summit and camp on top of the peak for the night. The hike is around 2/3 hours long, but if you are carrying all the gear for camping, you better be ready to use a little more time and get tired. After ascending the summit, the crew set up the tents and begin to shred what Rundtinden had to offer, 360 views and playful terrain with post card like backdrops. Once the sun set around 8:45 pm, it was time to break out the gas stoves and start making soup, noodles, and chilli. There is nothing worth more than experiencing a sunset on the summit of the mountain with a big group of friends and new acquaintances. Now we just have to cross our fingers and hope for good weather through the night so we do not get blown off the mountain top! Day 7 - The Real Double We made it through the night on the peak of Rundtinden. It was incredible. There was no wind all night long and the temperatures were above freezing. Once we got out of the tents we were treated by the warm weather and zero wind - it was a perfect mountain morning. Imagine waking up and drinking your morning coffee on a 800 meter peak in the sun with no wind, not to mention peaks sticking out of the sea everywhere. It was a dream come true. Once we had sat around and enjoyed the exceptional location and surroundings for hours, we decided it was time to strap on the boards and surf the lines that the mountain had to offer. We road lines, built quarter pipes, caught air, and did long turns for hours. Once the sun had disappeared behind the clouds we decided it was time to go down. We thought there would be no better way to end the day, that started on the summit of a mountain to, than to go surfing. Lofoten offers some of the most exotic surf locations the world has to offer, one of the most famous locations is the Unstad Beach. The crew got out of the snowboard gear and loaded up the Audi cars with surfboards and drove off to Unstad, which was about a 1.5 hour drive away from Rundtinden.

MAG 20

T H E L O F O T EN E XP ER I ENCE

The waves were surprisingly pumping when we arrived and the crew hustled to get on the wetsuit, booties, and gloves in the 5+ degree weather. There is something surreal about walking through a snowy beach out into the water to go surfing. Once in the water we all could not stop talking about how unreal of a day this was. It was the ultimate Double Boarding day, waking up on an arctic summit and literally dropping in from the tent, to ending the day with arctic surfing. Wow! This day was one for the books! We are expecting some weather to move in the next few days, so we will be trying to explore what the Lofoten islands have to offer under the clouds. Day 8 - Weather The weather finally turned on us. We woke up to our first day of clouds and drizzling rain, which is a common thing up here on the arctic coast of Norway. We were actually kind of excited for a mellow day of rest, but after 10 am the crew began to get restless and started to make plans. One crew decided to go back to Unstad Beach because the surf report was looking promising, so they packed up the Audi Q7 with surf gear and headed off down the the Lofoten Islands to the arctic surf. Another crew decided the weather was a perfect day to go fishing in the sea, which turned out to be a good idea because they brought home Cod for the whole crew to eat for dinner. The remaining group ended up going down to the ocean to explore and look for fun little transitions and jibs. They found a perfect rock laying up against the fjord for hand plants. After the hand plant session was over they went into Svolvær for a quick bit to eat, but never made it that far. On the drive into town they saw the famous Lofoten Stockfish drying racks and decided to check it out. Stockfish is Arctic Cod that is caught during the Lofoten fishery, it is then hung on huge wooden frame to dry in the cold air. Drying the fish this way is the world´s oldest known preservation method, and the dried fish have a storage life of several years. Obviously we are snowboarders so we decided it would be fun to build a quick little quarter pipe underneath the Stockfish in celebration of our trip to Lofoten. Even though the weather was foggy and wet, we still managed to get out and fish, snowboard, and surf. The day went by faster than any of the previous days and we look forward to what tomorrow will bring. Stay tuned and see what we get up to tomorrow - the weather is looking wet again… Which means the snow is becoming a little unstable, so we will stay in the low land until the snow settles again and the sun comes out. Day 9 - Fish and Surf The weather continued today, so we were forced to enjoy what the Island of Lofoten have to offer down low along the coast line and fjord. We decided

to fish for our own dinner and catch some waves. Lofoten is known to have some of the best arctic waves on the planet so Jan Scherrer, Bryan Fox, and Basti went out to the west side of the islands. There they met up with Erik Botner, who was a previous team rider for Nitro, and now lives full time up in Lofoten running a surf/snowboard lodge called Lofoten Apartments. The waves were pumping and the weather was dramatic. After about 2 hours of surfing in the almost freezing ocean water the boys decided to head back to the camp. Once they got back to the camp they saw that the other crew had had a successful fishing experience and were preparing a Cod meal for the crew. Lofoten is a place where you can easily fish for your own meals, because the fish are vast around these parts. The most common fish you catch and eat is Cod (which is called TORSK in Norwegian). After a solid home cooked meal the crew ended another epic Lofoten day full of surprises and new experiences. Tomorrow we plan on going out and split boarding to a hidden beached called Kvalvik to set up a new base camp and check the surf and snow. Day 10 - World´s Most Beautiful Soccer Field, Couloir, and Beach We packed up our bags and cars and headed to play soccer (football) on the world´s most beautiful pitch. The field on the tip of the peninsula town of Henningsvær was empty and ready for us to play. We were 20+ people who played a full 90 minute game of glory. After we were too tired to play, we decided we should move on. The crew started the 1.5 hour drive to the beach of Kvalvik in search of more snow and waves. On the way out of Hennigsvær Bryan Fox and Griffin Siebert saw the iconic couloir named Presten Couloir, which is a 500 meters straight up from the ocean. After about an hour and a half of boot packing all the way up the boys finally reached the summit, which was probably not easy after playing a full on soccer game 30 minutes before. Once they reached the top they found an ice axe as a trophy for their effort. The ride down was one for the books and something that defines the terrain here in Lofoten - Peak To Sea. Once the rest of the crew reached the parking spot on the side of the E10 road for the hike into the Kvalvik Beach, they packed up the tents and gear for another adventure. The hike in is mellow about 30 minutes until you reach the summit where you see the beach… But the view is definitely not mellow - it is probably the most amazing beach cove in Scandinavia. Once we reached the beach after hitting the last of the snow that was around we set up camp for the night and enjoyed the sunset and the sound of the waves until everyone passed out.

T HE L O F O T EN E XP E R I E NC E

Day 11 - Lofoten Apartments We woke up to the sound of the waves bashing agains the beach and decided to surf. It is pretty special to be at a place where you can have people surfing in the water and others hiking and riding snow at the same time. This location, Kvalsvik, is literally a dream location if you are into snowboarding and surfing… Because it offers both in spades! Once the rain came again we packed up the camp and headed out back to Svolvær to go to former Nitro Rider´s (Erik Botner´s) house - The Lofoten Apartments. Erik Botner and Fredrik Evensen bought an old fishing house located on the fjord in the town of Hopen about 4 years ago and renovated it into a paradise location for skiers, surfers, and snowboarders. They have been showing the world what Lofoten has to offer for the last 2 years and we are happy to be a part of their journey. We will be leaving gear at the apartments for people to use for years to come. After a long day of driving through the windy Lofoten E10 highway, it was nice to come to such a beautiful fishing house for the night. Day 12 - Cross the Fjord We went to bed expecting the weather to be gloomy and raining, but woke to a bluebird day. Fun fact the sun rises here at 3:00am, so its nice but sometimes a little annoying… hahaha. With the sun high in the sky we figured we needed to go out and take advantage of it. The crew split up into a mountain crew and an urban crew. The mountain crew saw some lines and features right across the fjords from the Lofoten Apartment and jump in the cars to get there, except for Sven Thorgren. Sven decided to take advantage of the situation and hoped on the SUP board and crossed the fjord to the bottom of the peaks. Once the crew met up they began their decent to the top of the Hopen Lines. Couloirs and runs were had all morning long, and on the way down we came across a sweet little hip. Everyone who snowboards can relate to how fun it is to session a slushy hip. The urban crew decided to go into the City of Light, Svolvær, to look for what the city has to offer for snowboarding. After searching for spots, or actually just sightseeing the crew found a spot down by the fishing docks. As usual the Norwegian locals were friendly and stoked to see kids out in the snow having fun. After the clouds rolled in we headed back to the Lofoten Apartments to spend the rest of the night fishing off the dock and catching fish for dinner - we are officially in dream world. We have started a new saying: LOFOTEN PROVIDES - which means that this place has everything we are looking for when it comes to snowboarding, driving, surfing, mountains, fishing,

MAG 22

views, weather, camping, and everything else. Day 13 - Cabin Fever Once the clouds rolled in during the night it brought the rain with it as well. The good news about Bad weather here in Lofoten is that this usually means there is a surf swell coming in as well. Bryan, Knut, Griffin, Basti, Dominik, Erik Botner, Ludvig, Sven, and Benny Urban headed out to Unstad Beach around 6:00am to get there during high tide. High tide is usually the best time to surf up here in Lofoten. Once the crew arrived they got in the freezing arctic water for a fun session of mini shredding (the waves were not insane, but really fun). Dominik Wagner who is from Austria had never surfed before and ended up catching his first wave of his life up here. Not many people get the chance or have the courage to surf in the arctic, and there are even fewer people who catch their first wave in these arctic waters. After the crew had had enough and too cold, they headed back to the Lofoten Apartments in their Audi Q7s. Once they arrived back at the old fishing house down by the fjords they were met by the rest of the crew who were setting up a spot. The crew who had stayed inside during the rain, had apparently reached the breaking point and gone a little crazy. They were setting up a jump line into the rail that goes down onto the dock for boats…. Once you hit the rail going down onto the dock there is not enough space to stop before flying into the fjord, so when you go for it you are also committing to a cold dip in the ocean. Sven and Ludda ended up sessioning the dock rail and flipping into the water for a couple hours while the rest of the crew looked on and enjoyed the action into the night. After the dock session was over a few of the boys headed over to the local indoor climbing gym for a quick grip it and rip it session. The indoor climbing centre is located in the town of Kablevåg, and is totally worth the visit if you are into climbing on a rainy day. The fishing crew headed out to their favorite fishing spot outside of Solver and caught dinner for the crew within 20 casts. Another beautiful day here in Lofoten - even though the weather was not perfect for snowboarding - it was great for adventures. Day 14 - Going Up The Sun is finally back and the crew is more than motivated to go bag some peaks on their snowboards. We headed out on the road in the Q7s in search of our next location Stornappstinden, which is the tallest and most western peak on the Lofoten Islands. Once we made it to the base of the trail, we started the long trek up. This was the longest splitboard trek we have been on so far, and we felt it. It was not easy getting to the top, our bodies are finally starting to show signs of wear and tear after 2 weeks of getting after it on and off the mountain.

MAG 24

T H E L O F O T EN E XP ER I ENCE

Once we made it to the top, the clouds rolled in and we almost got stuck. The weather up here can be very variable, especially up on the summits of the mountains. We walked up with first layers on with the sun blazing, but ended up stuck on the peak in white out conditions in freezing temperatures. In situations like this it is important to keep your cool and not panic. So we unpacked our gear, put on additional layers, and had a nice lunch session in the clouds, and once we finished lunch we got lucky - the clouds parted and the mountain was ready to be shredded. We spent the rest of the day sessioning what the mountain provided, with dream world back drop and views. We also built a rock gap that we plan on hitting tomorrow. Once the sunset we strapped in and ripped down the mountain together and headed back to basecamp. Stay tuned for tomorrows update to see how the rock gap turns out and we might camp on the summit if the weather and wind are acceptable. Day 15 - Exploration The Weather has come to stay apparently. We woke up to the sound of rain hitting the roof top and tents…. Classic slow morning material. When the clouds are low and the rain is falling it is hard to get going in the morning, especially to go walk around in the snow. After a few hours, we all started to get cabin fever and restless. The crew naturally split up into different groups searching for different adventures. Basti, Eero, Sven, Domink, Benny, and a few others got into the Q7´s and headed off to Unstad Beach in search of mid day waves. If you ever are in Lofoten and you would like to go surf, we would highly recommend going to Unstad. It is a nice beginner friendly break and beautiful surroundings. If you are in need of gear check out the Unstad Arctic Surf for a nice coffee and you can rent gear there, but if you are looking for an affordable option check out Frost which is in the area as well. The boys ended up surfing for a couple hours before heading back to base camp at the Lofoten Apartments.

Norwegians are a special kind of human - they are always down to share and let kids do fun stuff. The neighbor said yes and actually let us come in his house and film from his deck. Eero, Dominik, and Marc session the old boat until the light was gone for the night. We ended the day with a big family style pasta dinner, UNO and Chess matches - The BEST! Day 16 - Å and The Svolvær Ski Hill A group of the crew decided to go visit the end of the Lofoten Islands late last night. It was one of those spontaneous moments, where someone says (aka photographer: Bob Plumb) lets go and than one by one people jump on board for a new adventure. The group departed around 10 pm out to the town of Reine to camp for the night and explore what the tip of the Lofoten Islands had to offer. They were met with the beautiful house lights all along the fjord around Reine, with the dark blue glow of the midnight sky this time of year. It has been pretty impressive to see the days get longer and longer since we have been here. The first nights we were here the sky would turn pitch black from 11pm until 2am, but now the sky turns only into a beautiful dark blue that gets lighter and lighter for each day that passes. After camping along one of the many Lofoten E10 highway pullouts the crew woke up to some of the most beautiful landscapes they had ever seen. After a quick coffee in the quaint town of Reine, they headed out to the end of the islands.

One crew went for a quick “just for fun” split mission in the bad weather near Kabelvåg, just to get some exercise and some turns in. While the remaining crew went on a mission to explore the area in-between Svolvær and Unstad. It was the classic sea sightseeing trip, stopping at beaches, looking at views, and searching for sea urchins and taking photos.

Once they road ended the crew hiked out to until they reached the ocean, they had made it! The end of the beautiful Lofoten Islands! The end of the island chain is beautiful, but also sad in a way, because you have this desire that you wished these beautiful mountains and beaches connected with fjords and bridges would just continue forever. After taking the obvious selfies proving that the crew made it to the end they started to hike up one of the most western couloirs in Lofoten. The couloir is a standard for this area, but far from standard anywhere else in the world - the views are filled with open ocean and glorious rock. During the hike Bob Plumb was almost hit by a 3 meter wide falling ice ball, which would have for sure done some serious damage. This time of year when the temperatures are shifting it can be very dangerous in these couloirs with falling rocks and ice, so it is very important to be prepared with helmets, and be alert at all times.

When everyone got back to the base camp - Eero Ettala noticed that the neighbor dock had an old old viking style row boat on it and thought it would be a cool idea to jib this before the sun set at 10pm. In good style, Eero walked over to the neighbors house and asked them if they would be okay if we jibbed their antique boat. Most people would probably say, “hell no you can´t snowboard on my dock, let alone jib my 80 year old boat”, but

Once the crew reached as far as they could go the decent down this tunnel of snow was nothing short of magical. Meanwhile, the crew that remained back at the camp had decided to go check out the local ski resort near the town of Svolvær, named Kongstind. This is one of the two resorts located on the Lofoten Islands, the other is in the town of Samstund. Kongstind is run by a group of volunteers and his built and run with one intention to

T HE L O F O T EN E XP E R I E NC E

grow the ski and snowboard youth and adult culture on Lofoten - you gotta respect that. Unfortunately for us the ski resort closed on April 14th, so we were not able to ride the T-Bar that takes you to the top, but we found some sweet jibs around the base area to have fun on. That is one of the greatest things about snowboarding, you can have fun riding anything. Case and point, all week we have been ripping epic peaks from summit to sea and now we are jibbing the bottom of a closed ski resort, but having just as much fun! Eero Ettala and Benny Urban put on a demo for the locals of how to build a DIY jib park and than how to rip it. Last Day - Rock Climbing and Roof Rocking The days our slowly getting longer up here in Lofoten, literally - sunrise is at 3:56am and sunset is at 10:00pm, and the sky never goes fully black just a beautiful deep blue. We have been on the road for almost three weeks now and have seen insane scenery, snowboarded, camped, played soccer, and surfed so much! Doing at least one of those things everyday, and the list of possible activities and adventures are endless up here! Today we are going to try to do some climbing. The climbing crew including Bob Plumb, Jeremy Thornburg, and climbing “expert” Griffen Siebert went to visit the famous Svolværgeita to try to make it to the top. Unfortunately, upon arrival the rock was way to wet to climb, so the crew headed for a bouldering overhang that had shelter from the weather and was dry. They met up with a local climber from the area and pushed themselves to conquer this norwegian Beta overhang. The other part of the crew was still just amped to go out and find some iconic spots to jib on down by the ocean. Eero Ettala, Benny Urban, Dominik Wagner and the rest got in their Audi Q7s, which had been charging all night, to look for some roofs to rock without using fuel only electricity. It is crazy awesome that you can now search for spots in Lofoten in a big car using only electricity - It is such a nice “quite” feeling. The crew ended up finding a typical Lofoten fish cleaning A-frame house to rock. The snow has been melting quite fast down by the fjord shoreline, so creating an in-run was pretty interesting and time consuming, but well worth it. After rocking, stalling, planting, and airing for hours the crew headed back to base camp. Everybody ended the day with a solid sauna and swim in the ocean. Lofoten never seems to let us down - Lofoten Provides! Tomorrow we will be packing up our gear and starting our journey back down to Munich Germany through the country of Sweden and Denmark. A new adventure awaits, but we wish we could stay up here for another month, because there is still so much to experience and it is simply the coolest place we have ever been!

MAG 26

Text: Pictures:

Knut Eliassen Markus Rohrbacher, Carlos Blanchard

L1BEREC A czech rail trip

L1 B ER EC - A C Z EC H R A I L T R I P

MAG 30

L1 B ER EC - A C Z EC H R A I L T R I P

MAG 32

L1 B ER EC - A C Z EC H R A I L T R I P

MAG 34

L1 B ER EC - A C Z EC H R A I L T R I P

Pictures:

MAG 36

Markus Rohrbacher

„ I alw ay s t r y t o ke e p a n op en m i nd a nd s oa k i n a s m uc h a s i c a n.“

MY PLAYLIST D o m i n i k Wa g n e r

MAG 38

ALBANIA ADVENTURE A photographic roadtrip diary

A LB A N I A A D V E N T UR E

„In today´s hyper-connected world there are not too many places left to truly escape.“

uring the process of planning Nitro´s new team movie, OFFLINE, I wanted to find a location that was a true escape from reality. After days of talking with team riders, friends, searching google earth, and researching hidden gems around the world, we found a place called “The Cursed Mountains” in the northern part of Albania about 45 minutes from the Kosovo border. We knew this had to be the place, with a name like “The Cursed Mountains” we had finally found out road trip destination. So I started to plan the trip, at first I thought we would just fly into the capital of Albania, Tirana, but then I figured if we wanted to truly capture the experience of going to a unique destination than we needed to go by car to embrace the adventure. We had already started a collaboration with Audi, so it was a no brainer to pack up the cars and just drive to the Cursed Mountains of Albania. We decided to drive from the Nitro Snowboards Headquarters, in Oberammergau, Germany through Austria and down the coast of Croatia, through Bosnia, and into Albania. We calculated this would be a 3/4 day road trip with a couple stops along the way. This is not your standard snowboard road trip route. Normally when you are going on a snowboarding trip you head North or at least up towards the mountains, not down towards the warmer climate, but that is one of the reasons for taking this adventure. On February 20th 2019 we set off on a road trip we would never forget. Before we get into the trip details and stories, I need to explain the people that came along. We had our standard snowboarders, filmers and photographers… Nitro team riders Markus Keller, Elias Elhardt, Sam Taxwood, Nitro photographer Markus Rohrbacher, videographer Karsten Boysen and Pirmin Juffinger, Andi Aurhammer and myself Knut Eliassen. This is what a normal Nitro snowboard trip would look like, a couple of media guys, team manager, and then a group of team riders, but we also wanted to involve a few more unique individuals on this adventure to emphasize the idea of how snowboarding can people of all walks of life offline. We decided to invite one of the world´s most influential and creative Youtube personalities and movie directors - Dan Mace, to join us on a real “Offline” snowboard adventures. Dan Mace is originally from South Africa, an aide surfer, filmer, and adventure enthusiast. We came in contact with him through a video he made about his passion for snowboarding on his Youtube channel a few months before the trip. We told him we would love to bring him on a snowboarding trip so he could help us spread the message of how snowboarding can bring you offline to his community and fans. When we told Dan about this trip to the Cursed Mountains of Albania he was more than excited to fly up straight from Cape Town, South Africa, to join us in Albania. He ended up coming along with his friend Willie Morris, from New York City, who is also a uniquely creative person who just loves

MAG 42

snowboarding. We figured let‘s bring him because snowboarding is as we all know more fun when it‘s shared with new and old friends. The two of them came from the opposite ends of the world to meet up with us in Albania through snowboarding. The two of them ended up booking flights into the capital city of Albania, Tirana, and they would rent a 4x4 truck to meet us up in the mountains. We also invited a musician who was in charge of creating the music for our Offline movie, Yves Ardelt, the son of Nitro co-founder Sepp Ardelt. We thought it would be amazing to have a world-class musician and snowboard enthusiast on the trip to help document the journey through sound and a different perspective. With the musician in the bag, we had finally assembled the perfect crew to explore the unknown mountains of Albania. Anyone who has ever watch a standard snowboard movie or been on a snowboarding trip before can understand that this is not your normal crew set-up. I will honestly say, created some friction, delays, and funny situations on the trip, but in the end, it added so much value and uniqueness to the overall experience. Usually, trips are very focused on getting action shots when the crew is just the riders, filmer, and photographer, but with the addition of these creative personalities, the whole crew was able to appreciate the trip, the mountains, the people, the culture, the food, and the in-between experiences not just the snowboard tricks - which was refreshing. Now that we have established the crew the destination and the reasoning behind this crazy adventure we can start the journey. The next step was to get in the car and drive 1000´s of kilometers through valleys, sand, snow, border crossings, storms, wind, and crazy unfinished roads - The Cursed Mountains of Albania - here we come... After the crew gathered from all over the world, Sam Taxwood came straight from a snowboarding trip in Georgia, Markus Keller came from Zurich, Elias Elhardt from Innsbruck and myself flew in from Oslo, Noway. We drove from the Nitro headquarters in Oberammergau, Germany to the town of Rijeka, Croatia to enjoy some ocean views and fishing. Rijeka is a Croatian port city on the northern Adriatic Sea with a population of around 130,000 people. We had heard from the local snowboarders at the bar that there is a small ski resort up in the mountains outside of Rejika, called Platak which offers groomed trails and views of the deep blue Adriatic Sea. After a few beers, Ožujsko (which is the most popular beer brand in Croatia), we decided that we would spend another night in Rijeka and explore the mountain of Platak. The next morning we woke up to the waves of the sea and the nice

A LB A N I A A D V E N T UR E

MAG 44

coastal temperature of around 19 degrees Celsius, which is not a normal temperature for a snowboarding trip mid-winter. We put on our snowboard gear, put our boards in the car and started the 45-minute drive up to the mountain. None of us had been there before or even knew if it was open, but we had faith and stoke! After driving through snowless hills and windy roads we finally saw some snow on the hilltops, and we arrived at a completely dry and snowless parking lot. The resort was closed. We walked up to the mountain and saw two older ski racers practicing turns on a small patch of snow. I walked up to them and said hello. They told me the resort closed about 2 weeks ago, but they might be able to call someone who could start the lift for us to get us to the top. After about 10 minutes another guy arrived and said he would start the lift for us and we could go ride around on the top and he would bring a snowmobile up so we could do runs. WOW! This just goes to show that Croatians are some of the nicest people and they certainly love to show people a good time. Although the resort was closed and there was not much snow, the sun was out and our motivation was high, so we did some runs through the amazing trees and built a couple of jumps. I mean, if you have the opportunity to ride around on a closed ski resort, not to mention in Croatia, then you are going to be stoked. The views from the top of Platak were endless and the water background was something I had only seen in Lake Tahoe before, the snow was decent and the trees were perfectly spaced. Elias and Sam did a couple uphill snowmobile runs, hit the side hits, and ripped tree runs all day long. After hours of building features and ripping turns, we decided to head back down to Rijeka to go out onto a sailboat and look for dinner (fish). We found a nice sailboat for rent in the harbor of Rijeka and set sail into the Kvarner Bay, which provided us with a beautiful sunset, but unfortunately not enough fish to have dinner, so we had to find a local fish restaurant along the shore to experience the seafood. After dinner, we headed back to our cars and packed up for the next morning. The next day was a beautiful 600km drive along the Croatian coastline towards Dubrovnik. After multiple stops along the coast, to swim, pee, chill, take photos, and play an occasional football game, we arrived while the sunset over Dubrovnik. For reference to those who would like to take this drive, you do have to cross into Bosnia and Herzegovina when driving this way, because they have a strip of land that reaches out to the Adriatic Sea to give them access to water. Sometimes this border crossing can take some time, but we were lucky and cruised right though, which was cool because none of us had ever been in Bosnia before, even if it was only 10 minutes of driving. Dubrovnik is a city that has become very famous over the last few years, because of its presence and location in the famous series, Game of Thrones, which means that the place is packed with tourists. We were lucky enough to get there during the office season, so we were able to see it from its best side, but we could not stay for long because we had a mountain in Albania to find. After walking around the old city and watching Sam Taxwood lose his hat in the wind over and over, we packed up the cars and planned on headed south down the coast of Montenegro and into Albania… But, because someone took the wrong left turn and then we got stuck in the line for the border we ended up going back into Bosnia, which took about 2 hours of waiting in line. When we finally made it through the Bosnian border we drove over a beautiful mountain only to be met with a huge forest fire. The hills were literally on fire. Sam Taxwood said “Well, welcome to Bosnia!” which fits the situation perfectly. After a few hours of driving on dirt roads through the mountains, we made it to Montenegro and finally to the Albanian border. When we arrived at the Albanian border we saw the famous red and black flag hanging and flying everywhere… The Albanian people are very proud of their flag, as they should be because it is one of the most badass looking flags of all time! The red stands for bravery, strength, and valor, while the black double-headed eagle represents the sovereign state of Albania. We also saw the classic black Mercedes and guys in leather jackets standing around everywhere… We had finally made it to Albania! YES! We were all so excited. Driving through the rural land felt like we were in a Wes Anderson film because all the houses were painted with such lively and exciting colors. There are also a lot of communist-era bunkers and monuments scattered around the country which is something none of us expected. While driving through the country we saw that there were people just standing along the roads everywhere, which seemed very odd, but we found out later is because they are waiting for the bus

and since there are no standard bus stops, the bus will just stop and pick everyone up waiting for a ride alongside the road. Driving in Albania is very unique because there does not seem to be any real rules. Some people are driving literally 10 km/h, some are driving 100km/h, families on mopeds, guys on donkeys, horses and anything else you can imagine… The only strategy is to just follow the flow and pass people in safe places. As the sun was slowly setting and we were getting comfortable driving on the pretty loose Albanian roads we decided to take a short cut over what seemed to be a small mountain pass to get to the town of Bajram Curri, which is the gateway to the valley of the “Cursed Mountain”, faster because we did not want to arrive in the Cursed Mountains at midnight. But, as we all know taking shortcuts in a place you have never been before, is not the smartest thing to do. This shortcut we took, ended up bringing us on a mountain road that went through mountains passes and was a dirt road no wider than a small car. When the sun finally set, the road turned to ice and snow with no guard rail to keep us from falling off down the mountainside to certain death. We did not see a single person or car for hours, so we were sure that we made a mistake. But, after about 3 hours of navigating through what we later found out was called Albania´s Death Road we finally made it to the valley of Valbone, which is where the Cursed Mountain´s rise above the Albania countryside. We continued to drive up the valley until the road ended in front of what look liked a small stone castle… We had made it! After we unpacked our bags, we were all so tired and excited that we just passed out in our beds, without really realizing where we were until we woke up the next morning. We woke up to the sun rising over one of the most beautiful valleys we had ever seen, the Valbone Valley. A place that is known to some for summer hiking and also illegal marijuana fields, but we will not get into that. What got us excited about this place was that not too many people had snowboarded here before and when looking out over the terrain it was a mystery why no one had… The terrain is insane. After walking around the “castle“ that we were staying at and meeting the local guides from the company Albania Heliski, we quickly realized that there was only enough WiFi for 5 people at a time… Something we did not mind since the environment was so beautiful and we were going snowboarding, plus we were there to get offline. Later that morning Dan and Willie arrived from their drive up from Tirana, the Albanian capital, we all met up for the first time and talked about what the plan for the week was. We were going to be split boarding and heliboarding in the mountains surrounding us. After an intense helicopter and backcountry training session, we started to get ready to get in the helicopters, and at that moment Dan Mace turned to Elias and said: “I have only gone snowboarding a few times, do you think I will be okay.” Elias´s jaw dropped and he said “What? You have only gone snowboarding a few times before and now you are going to be riding down some untouched mountain terrain in Albania. This is going to be crazy” Dan looked at Elias while they were putting their seat belts on and said: “I mean I figured I surf some pretty heavy stuff down in South Africa so I should be able to handle this”. By this time it was too late to turn back. The helicopter had lifted and they were on their way up to scope what areas we should ride over the next days. Once they landed and dropped off the crew - Elias Elhardt, Sam Taxwood, Dan Mace, Willie, Markus Keller, Karsten, Andi, Yves (two heli loads) then they all gathered together and Elias and Dan updated everyone on the situation concerning Dan´s level of riding. Everyone was very surprised but figured it was just more crazy that Dan had the balls to come on a trip like this in the first place, so the crew just continued as normal and ripped down the mountains on the first day while Dan slowly followed and got comfortable riding the snow-covered “waves” without getting in anyone‘s way. Dan also told me later that during these moments he was living completely in the moment for the first time in a long time, no internet, no distractions, just the beauty and challenge of snowboarding down the mountains of Albania. We had motivated a person who lives completely online (Youtube) to get offline - mission accomplished. Meanwhile, when the crew was up flying around the mountains I had to stay down because we did not have space in two crews for everyone…

A LB A N I A A D V E N T UR E Which I was okay with since I had flown in Helicopters before and wanted everyone else to get the experience the first couple days. After everyone left I talked to one of the guides and he introduced me to a local guy who was a backcountry hiker and I asked him where it would be good to go for a nice safe solo split… He looked at me and just pointed up the valley. So I took his advice and followed his direction up the valley, past old stone farmhouses, and snow-covered fields… One thing that I did notice were some of these houses were covered with surveillance cameras and locks, which I thought was strange. Later I found out that you should be very careful and stay away from these places because these are the “grow houses” where the local farmers keep their supplies and protection for growing marijuana up in the mountains. The routes you could take split boarding were endless, but since it was my first day I took it mellow and safe, found some ridges to slash and some views to document and headed back to our “Castle” for the week. When the crew returned after the first day out in the mountains, they were ecstatic about the terrain, the environment and ready to go the next day from sunrise to sunset. I did notice that once everyone got back to the house, there was a race to connect to the internet and become one of the “Lucky 5” that can connect. In today‘s world, we have this neverending urge to always post what we have done today to the rest of the world. Sam wanted to post to his Instagram, Elias needed to push this latest film, Contraddiction, Dan needed to upload his latest Youtube Video, I had to check my work e-mails, everyone had their “Reason” to get back online… This is something we only struggled with the first two days. After you realize that its hard to get online, you start to just stop stressing about being online and enjoy the time with actual people and experiences instead. If there is one thing we all took away from our time at the Castle it would be a greater appreciation for taking a break from the online world and enjoying the present reality. The next day was another beautiful bluebird day up on the mountain. The day before the crew had spotted a big open face that would be epic to ride altogether, but it was an early morning spot, so that morning Elias Elhardt, Sam Taxwood, and Markus Keller all dropped in together on a first decent line in Albania. There are not too many places left where you can ride fun first decent lines together with your friends. But since this was the second season of the helicopter operation in the Valbone Valley we had plenty of first decent lines to choose from. The terrain in the mountains offers everything from big open bowls to technical tight “no fall zone” chutes, which was perfect for our crew that was filled with some of the best riders in the world to guys like Dan who had only snowboarded a handful of times. After another epic day in the mountains, I asked the guide, who was from Slovenia originally and fell in love with these mountains the year before, why nobody has been down here for snowboarding and he said it is most likely because the area is relatively unknown to the western world. We were also flying in the only private helicopter in Albania. I guess that was the main reason. The mountains down here are very rocky and they reminded me of the mountains of the Dolomites in Italy, but just a little bigger and without the classic ski racers. After two beautiful days, the weather changed and became very windy and stormy, which is very common for this area - sometimes the weather will be bad for weeks on end in the cursed mountains, hence the name. We used this time to build jumps around the castle, get to know the locals, explore the surrounding area by car, and even hang out with some traditional Albanian dancers. The Albanian dancers showed us how to dance the Albanian Vallja from their local area of Bajram Curri, which was a lot of fun especially after a few Birra Korca (local Albanian Beer) and Raki. As usual, it was Elias Elhardt who embraced the Albanian Vallja dancing the most, he was dancing the whole time with the biggest smile on his face after he showed them some snowboard tricks over the bonfire. The following day after dancing into the late hours of the night, the weather was still too dangerous to go into the mountains. We decided to drive into Kosovo and visit a small traditional town called Prizren to experience some local cuisine. If you ever are in the area we recommend that you try the Byrek, its a pie made of dough filled with onions, olive oil, eggs, and minced meat. We also came in contact with a lot of friendly local people and

MAG 46

everyone was surprised that we were there for snowboarding. We had one guy run-up to all of us in the middle of town while we were eating food on the side of the street and say, “Hi are you the Nitro Snowboard guys?“ I said,” Yes, how do you know who we are?” “Well I follow @nitrousa on Instagram - so I saw that you were in Valbone, Albania and then here you are eating food at my local food spot“, he replied. We took a selfie with him and posted it on Instagram (per his request) and he joined us for a bit. It was a surreal experience that even when we intentionally set out to go somewhere to escape from the online world we are still being connected and connected with people through social media - like this guy who saw us in a small town in Kosovo. This is something I think is very cool and beneficial to the online world, it allows people to connect through borders… But back to reality, we were here to go snowboarding and that is what we did. The following next few days were amazing, no wind, full sun, a good crew, and snow that was a little wind effected, but with amazing weather, it did not matter. After spending almost over a week at the very end of the valley of the Cursed Mountains we had ridden everything we wanted to ride, captured the tricks we needed to get, and most importantly spent a solid week offline together with new and old friends experiencing good times through snowboarding with real people in a unique place. So if you are ever looking to truly escape and go on an adventure we would highly recommend the Valbone Valley in Albania for some split boarding and if you are going all in some heliboarding. After the last day of snowboarding, we backed up our cars, said goodbye to Dan Mace and Willie Morris who were heading back to Tirana to fly to different parts of the world. Dan took me aside and said this is truly one of the best offline experiences he has ever had (if you want to see the episode he made about the trip - watch it here: https://youtu.be/jy_8_EB7bM) and that he is now fully addicted to snowboarding. So, in the end, I am so stoked we were able to share this adventure with someone who has never experienced a place like this and can share the love and adventure of snowboarding to his audience of people who live online all over the world. We also said goodbye to Elias Elhardt and Markus Keller who were driving to Kosovo to go explore a unique ski resort called, Brezovicë, where they would continue filming for our OFFLINE movie. The rest of us had to head back to our daily lives… We started driving around 3 pm hoping to drive through Kosovo and into Serbia to spend the night in Belgrade, before heading to Munich. We were a little naive thinking we could make it there before midnight. Especially when we got to the Kosovo - Serbia border with Sam Taxwood and my US passports. During the 1990s (10 years) Kosovo and Serbia were at war and the US was an Allie with Kosovo, which means that even to this day no US citizens can easily cross the board from Kosovo to Serbia. The immigration officer at the border was super friendly, but he did not let us through and said we had to turn around and enter Serbia from another country. This meant that at 10 pm we had to go on a 4-hour detour and try to cross the border into Serbia from Montenegro. When we finally arrived at the Serbian border in Montenegro, the Serbian officer took all of our passports and told us to drive ahead and park and wait… We waited for 2 hours... Watching people‘s cars get searched, sent back, hand-cuffed, and a lot of people just standing around smoking… after what seemed like 5 hours we thought for sure we were being sent back to Montenegro, but in the end, they gave us our passports and let us continue. We arrived in Belgrade at 5 in the morning, exhausted and relieved, to say the least. The final day of driving went well, but there was a sad vibe in the air because our amazing offline trip was coming to an end. When we arrived in Munich we all went our separate ways and we only had our memories of what has been one of the best trips we have all been on… Offline and living in the moment with real friends real people, creating real experiences worth remembering!

CHRISTY PRIOR The snowboard powerhouse from down-under

MAG 50

CH R IS T Y P R I OR I N T ER V I E W

„ To b e h o n e s t I d i d n ’ t k n o w b e c o m i n g a professional snowboarder was a thing.“

Where did you grow up? Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand... The beach, far away from snow! Rumor has it that you started snowboarding later than most. What was it that motivated you to push yourself to become a professional snowboarder, especially when there were probably so many other girls coming up when you were? I moved to Wanaka when I was 17 to finish school and that’s where I started snowboarding as a weekend warrior. To be honest I didn’t know becoming a professional snowboarder was a thing. I just loved it. All my time and energy went into either snowboarding (including the nightlife side of snowboarding...) or working my ass off so I could go snowboarding. Everything else came second. I loved the lifestyle and the people it attracted. Was the contest scene a way for you to get recognition within snowboarding? I guess it was what put me on the map, that and my homemade edits, haha. I always loved jibbing, back then there were weekly or nightly local rail jams that usually put up a couple of hundy for 1st place and so that was my way of paying rent and covering living costs. I would also use whatever job I was working at the time to save up for chasing winter in the next hemisphere. Winning this one rail jam in 2009 was how I paid for my flight to the states the first time. I couldn’t hit jumps to save myself, but when I saw girls coming up through the NZ team and getting a bit of support towards travel, etc that’s where I set my sights. So in 2011 I moved to Breckenridge, CO, lived in a hallway, brought a season pass, utilized the free bus system and free nachos and taught myself how to jump. 2012 I won the Billabong Bro Down up in Snow Park, NZ and then got 2nd at the High Fives (New Zealand Open) a few weeks later. From there I went back to the Northern Hemisphere in 2013 and hit up a couple more contests, made a couple of short videos and signed my first sponsorship deal. Guess you could call it my breakthrough season… The following year I landed myself on the Pro Tour and the rest was history from X Games Silver and Bronze to Burton Open Gold. My first major Pro Tour event appearance was at the Dew Tour and I was lucky enough to get 3rd place 2014. Now you are wiser and experienced, and live a very healthy and focused life - can you tell me a little about your current lifestyle and what motivated you to make

these changes? My liver likes me more that’s for sure - apart from when I’m on the L1 team trips... I have always been motivated to get maximum output, I want to do all the things I love as much as I can! Being sick, low energy or injured really gets in the way of doing fun shit. So, that’s where my trial and error methodology came in. I tried everything under the sun until I came across Ayurvedic Medicine that I was introduced to via my yoga practice and never looked back. Living as close to an Ayurvedic lifestyle that is possible on the road really helps me continue to do the things I do as well as make me heal like wolverine when I get injured! What is something crazy that you want to accomplish through snowboarding, and what about in life? I want to see if my snowboarding can compete with the ‘crazy’ tricks that the girls are all getting after these days. I don’t have any desire to do triple corks, but I do have some tricks I would like to land before I hang up the boots. Over the next few years, I’m going to be working on those - and if they don’t work out… Well then, back to the drawing board! Snowboarding has been a big part of your life and now women´s snowboarding has started to progress like crazy, I would like to say some of that progression is definitely because of you, where do you think it will go from here? Maybe I tested the waters a little, but I’m not too sure how many times I want to flip and spin going forward haha - but never say never right! The day I first landed a double wild cat, only 1 or 2 girls had flipped more than once and I remember just thinking, there are only so many single wild cats I can do before just going for it so, here goes it ... Times have changed a lot since then and a double wild cat only gets you a bronze medal - if that these days! Any words of wisdom for snowboarders out there? As cliche as it sounds, I seriously was only having fun - working hard, yes, but progression was addictive to me. I saw kids blowing up around me that either had financial support or sponsorship opportunities, which made it hard to watch at times. Having to work multiple jobs just to keep the dream alive, then getting injured and not being able to ride or work constantly made me question how I was going to make it happen. I remember thinking if I´m given half of the opportunities these guys have then I’ll show them! I just stayed true to my values, worked hard and let my riding speak for itself and thankfully, eventually, it paid off. I’m not going to lie though, behind the scenes wasn´t always pretty for a while there.

C HR I S T Y P R I O R I N T E R V I E W

“A l l m y t i m e a n d e n e r g y w e n t i n t o e i t h e r snowboarding or working my ass off so I could go snowboarding. Everything else came second. I l o v e d t h e l i f e s t y l e a n d t h e p e o p l e i t a t t r a c t e d .”

There are so many talented riders out there and I think it just comes down to who wants it most and who is willing to put in work and make the necessary sacrifices. So, ask yourself, how bad do you want it? What do you need to do to get where you want to be? Then, get on with it! “Poor me” stories aren’t going to get you to the top! Blood, sweat, and tears might though ;)

Questions: Knut Eliassen Answers: Christy Prior Pictures: Markus Rohrbacher

MAG 52

US ROADTRIP From the Moab range to San Francisco c urbs

US ROADTRIP

MAG 56

US ROADTRIP

MAG 58

US ROADTRIP

MAG 60

US ROADTRIP

MAG 62

US ROADTRIP

MAG 64

„ I t h i n k h o n e s tly f o r me i t s j us t t he f or e v er s e a r c h f or s om e t hi ng ne w.“

MY PLAYLIST Joe Sexton

MAG 66