snowstyle
#1 winter’16
Contents
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Sage Kotesenburg// interview with first olympic medalist in snowboard’s slopestyle by Shay Williams
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trip essensials// 10 things that you should definitely take with you on your trip
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top places for winter sports// discover 9 best places in the world to go skiing or snowboarding
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Snowbombing music fesival// learn about a music festival which combines music, sports and parties
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new sports to try this winter// discover 6 unusual sport to add to your winter plans
Sage Kotsenburg first ever Olympic gold medalist in men’s snowboard slopestyle
interview // 3
− Our interview with the first ever Olympic gold medal winner in men’s snowboard slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, and the first gold medalist at these Olympics.
Do you feel like you were a part of snowboarding history? Yeah. We’re almost like the pioneers, you know? We had no idea what the course was going to be like or how the vibe was going to be. I think you could tell watching that we were all having a lot of fun snowboarding and we definitely didn’t let the Olympic pressure get to us. It’s one for the history books. And for my own history book, it’s something that is up there.
What’s was it like being on a team, as snowboarding is a pretty individual sport?
Just being from the US and being on the first every slopestyle team… I wasn’t worried but more interested to see how people would take it? We are way more loosey-goosey than some of the other sports. We kind of do whatever we want. That’s the sickest thing about snowboarding. You can be as serious as you want; going to the gym and jumping on trampolines if you want, or goofing around and having a bunch of fun. Because once you’re in your run, you’re definitely in this state of mind that is a next level adrenaline rush. But being on the US Team was so cool. So much support from back home. I’d read this stuff on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook, it’d be like, “Go Sage,” or “#GoUSA, you make us proud,” and when you see that stuff, it made you feel so sweet. It’s another extra little rush,
doing it for other people. You aren’t doing it for yourself anymore, you’re doing it for your country. No matter where you’re from; you could be from the smallest little country and everyone from there is rooting you on.
Did you have any hesitations before the season started about the Games?
Yeah, that’s the thing about the Olympics. We have our own tour up until the year of the Olympics, and then now we have to do a bunch of these other contests that we never really do. Some of these courses at World Cups—which we’d normally never do—were not really up to par for what we should be riding. That was my main focus: to go to the Olympics and make sure snowboarding was portrayed in a sick way. Have it be fun, and big, and everyone riding their best. No matter who won, I just wanted snowboarding to be looked at very well, and fun, but professionally too. We’re not there to only goof around. We might be loosey-goosey off the hill, but when we’re in our run, it’s serious business. I was thinking, “I hope I don’t get there and they are going to make a joke about us.” But it ended up going really smoothly. The course was super big and one of the best of the year, the day of the finals. Everything went really smoothly. All the thoughts and concerns I had got washed away as soon as I got there.
The mainstream media focused on the course being unsafe. Was it?
When we showed up, they had just finished the course. It’s pretty typical at a slopestyle contest to get there and ride the course and usually make some minor changes. Whether it’s a jump’s lip or maybe a knuckle is too sharp or too long. Maybe some of the rails are a little off. There are always things that need to be changed. And they did that. There was too much pop on the jumps and they fixed it in a day or two. After that it was perfect. As far as the safety and danger stuff goes, that bugged me. People kept saying the course was dangerous, but we’re at the Olympics. You don’t go down a luge or bobsled track or the downhill race course and say, “Oh yeah this is a mellow, safe course.” It’s gnarly stuff. I didn’t want to go there and have the course be small and be safe. Everything we do is dangerous.
Can you take me through the finals day? You weren’t an underdog, but you weren’t exactly the odds-on favorite to win gold.
We had qualifiers and I didn’t end up making it straight to finals, so I had to compete in the semifinal round, which was two days later. That day I started practicing and was just having so much fun on the course. It felt good that day. Some days you are on a course and you force yourself to do tricks or think “Oh
man, that feature is bugging me today.” But every feature I hit that whole day made sense to me. But when we were practicing I was thinking that this was such a cool experience so no matter what happens I’m going to go and have fun. That’s when I started thinking; maybe I’ll do a new trick. That’s when I thought about doing the 1620. I’d never tried it before. Ever. I thought about it in practice a little, but didn’t end up doing it… I have no idea why. I talked to the US Coach Bill Enos and told him I was thinking about a 1620 and he immediately said, “Yes, you got it. You’re riding so sick today. Don’t even think about it. Visualize obviously, but don’t think about it; go ride.” And that’s what I did. It came around perfect. I thought I could podium, but never thought I could win, but when the score came in, it was like, “OH MY GOD. It could go down.” I was third to drop as I didn’t rank very high from semis, I had to watch everyone come down for two runs. But no one knocked me out, and it was just a crazy day.
interview // 5
What went through your head when you realized you had just won. When Max [Parrot] came down, he laid down an insane run. The way the scoring was going, I didn’t think I had it, but it was going to be close. Me and Stale [Sandbech] were just
hootin’ and hollerin’. We were waving and people were just losing their minds. You get the flowers and the medal and then they do the national anthem, and that’s when it really hit me. Not on an emotional level. But everything hit me at once when the flag was going up. I just closed my eyes a couple times. I was thinking that this is the craziest moment ever and it’s something that I’ll never forget. I can still feel it now. My heart was beating so fast and I didn’t even know what to do. It was insane.
You’re known for having a unique style and different take on contest snowboarding. Is your style something you didn’t want to compromise just because it’s the Olympics? That was the thing, I was not really getting good scores in qualifiers with the run I was doing. I was doing the craziest runs I’ve ever done, from the tweaks and grabs to the rails, I was so stoked but I wasn’t getting any love. I was bummed at first but then I checked all my messages and all these people within snowboarding were saying, “Don’t change,” or “Don’t let anything get you down,” “Keep doing what you’re doing.” That’s cool, from everyone inside of snowboarding. I’m a snowboarder and regardless of what people in the mass media
Do you think that snowboarding was well represented at slopestyle? I kind of worried that it wouldn’t be portrayed well, but I think it was. A lot of people can relate to it because not everyone goes and trains for one moment for their whole life. As much as there are sacrifices in snowboarding, we go about things way differently. We have fun. We high five whether you’re from Norway or Belgium or Canada or Slovakia. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you’re welcome to snowboard and you’ll have an awesome friendship and camaraderie. That’s something a lot of viewers can relate to. We’re out there having fun, but also doing some crazy maneuvers and stunts that people are like, “What are those stunts?” “We would never do that.” I think people are really stoked on it.
Is it nuts to think about the mainstream response to it?
The whole mass media was watching slopestyle because it was this new event, on the first day. Whether you won or didn’t win, people were interviewing you. I think they did a lot better job than in previous Olympics getting the vibe right. In the mass media sense, they were all stoked on it, and they saw we were all friends. I’ve been hit up so much over the past three or four days with messages saying, “I’ve never
“ I thought I could podium, but never thought I could win “
hanging out on an inflatable thing having fun, trying to take our minds off of it. I remember hearing the announcer say, “Max’s score coming in… AND HE DOESN’T DO IT! SAGE WINS!” I honestly didn’t know what to think. Obviously, you come to the Olympics thinking about winning and I am not one to put a claim on winning, so that was crazy for me. It took so long to get there, from qualifiers to semis to watching everyone’s runs in finals. If no one was at the bottom and I couldn’t talk to anyone, I would have just laid down. But everyone was screaming and Stale was throwing me in the air. I was saying, “What is going on?!” In my head I must have said that 100 times. I’ll never forget that moment, when the score came in and my jaw dropped to the floor.
What was it like standing on stage with the American flag raised and the national anthem playing? They took us to this place when we got there, in this room. They briefed us on where to walk, what to do. They had this white board. I felt like I was in the Super Bowl and we were making a play. It was crazy. You’re still saying I can’t believe this is happening. We walk out and it was just mental. It wasn’t just US, Canada, and Norway, but there were so many people, lots of other countries
say, I’m a snowboarder and I’m going to try and stay as true as I can. Why would I ever change my run to win? I definitely switched up my run a little, doing harder rail tricks, but then I added a layback slide [laughs] which was me saying, I’m not going to do anything for you guys. No one does those in a run. But I then followed it up with a 1620. I was thinking there is a happy medium between all the creative stuff and weird tricks, but you can put something like a bigger spin or triple cork and you wouldn’t lose all your creativity. Maybe do all that cool stuff leading up to it, and then end on the super technical trick. It was something I thought about, I’m not going to change for the judges. At the end of the day I don’t care what a judge thinks about my snowboarding. Everyone has their opinion, but this is how I snowboard. Whether it’s Olympics or X Games or powder or rails. I look at things a little bit differently and I like to do weird stuff. WGoing up a rail leaning back with your hands on your board, it’s weird. I almost fell a lot of times in practice and almost thought that maybe I shouldn’t do this. I ended up just staying true to myself and to win with a run that I put together and didn’t change for a judge. Well, I guess I changed the 1620. So one feature I changed.
snowboarded but I’m going this weekend because of you,” or “My kids are going snowboarding this weekend after they saw you in slopestyle.” That’s so cool and really opened up my eyes. It’s crazy the effect you can have on kids. It would be cool to help them get into snowboarding for the right reasons.
Will you let this moment define your career?
I wouldn’t say it’s a defining moment. It’s the best moment of my life. But I would love to make a snowboard movie in a couple years or something. Something that isn’t a contest. Just get people into a different side of snowboarding. How I got into snowboarding was through movies, and then I saw the contest side. I hope that a lot of kids don’t get into snowboarding just to win the Olympics. That would bum me out. Get into it for fun and make a lot of fun. Competing is awesome. Winning is cool, but not why you should snowboard. It’s just another milestone in my career. It happened pretty early for me, but I’m ready to keep snowboarding and see what it can bring to me. Try and just enjoy it.
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Top places to go snowboarding/skiing
Niseko,Japan
SNOWBOMBING Very popular week-long winter sports and music festival held annually in the spring at the Austrian ski resort of Mayrhofen.
procession in Mayrhofen – which declares the event open. With around fifty pools and saunas within easy reach, and a backdrop of breathtaking alpine scenery, Snowbombing regards itself as a festival which, in addition to music, additionally offers luxury and comfort.European television channels and radio broadcasters have covered the event, including BBC Radio 1, Channel 4, Eurosport, Canal+ and MTV Europe. The event is now promoted and produced buy Outgoing Ltd’s subsidiary, SBH Events. This is how Patrick Smith (The Telegraph) described his experience at Snowbombing 2015: I arrive on the first day to a blizzard but am nevertheless whisked to 2,000m above sea level in the Ahornbahn cable car to the White Lounge, a spectacular igloo, replete with bar, ice sculptures and, yes, a DJ booth occupied by dubstep overlord Skrillex. As the sun sets, his cascade of vertiginous “drops” at the Arctic Disco feels in keeping with the setting – and sends the (mostly) layered-up audience berserk. Outside, meanwhile, a display of unmistakeable laddiness is taking place, as a lager-guzzling lout removes his clothes and pogoes jubilantly near a bonfire. I half expected such boisterous behaviour to be the norm at the festival – as I imagine it would be for a similar event back in Blighty – but far from it. The crowd here is good-humoured and discerning, both of which qualities help imbue Snowbombing with a sense of camaraderie. Back in the resort as the wee hours near, the high street overflows with party-goers immersing themselves in après, sampling bars and restaurants, such as the one at the Sporthotel Manni, a four-star hotel which also boasts an open-top spa. Cheaper sustenance can be found elsewhere: UFO Pizza is open late and excellent value for money, while a wurst from Hans, the much-adored and hugely popular local butcher, is a must.
Of the many venues in the village, The Racket Club and The Forest stand out. The former is a tennis centre transformed into a cavernous dance hall that tonight plays host to Fatboy Slim; his crowd-pleasing set brims with hits such as ‘Praise You’ and ‘Right Here, Right Now’. The latter is as much a feast for the eyes as it is the ears: a serene forest clearing in the shadow of snow-capped mountains. To emerge from dance master duo 2manydjs’s mash-up set here without feeling a sense of wonderment is just about inconceivable. In terms of the slopes, Snowbombing does take place as the sun starts to beam and the snow starts to thaw, but Mayrhofen is traditionally a safe bet for late-season skiing. This year, the resort benefits from a bout of heavy snowfall just as the festival begins so the ski area’s 134kms of pistes are in great shape as I hit the slopes. Faced with a labyrinth of red, blue and black runs on the piste map, I opt – sensibly – for two one-to-one tutorials, organised by the festival and each lasting two hours at a total cost of £160. Effective though these lessons are, it’ll be aeons before I’m attempting to negotiate the resort’s infamous Harakiri, Austria’s steepest marked run – perhaps one for the braver festival-goers. As the week nears its end, I tire but conclude this is hands down the best ski trip I have been on. However, a minor quibble nags at me. The organisers this year introduced a new cashless wristband – an excellent idea, in theory: less queuing and less faffing around exchanging pounds for Euros – but, not enough of the venues are affiliated with this. Too often, I find myself in a bar without access to a cash point, our wristbands invalid. Ultimately, though, as carnivalesque collective Rudimental say after their headline slot: “Snowbombing is just the greatest vibe ever – we love it.” It’s hard to disagree.
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The event has been run since 2000 when it was first held at the French resort of Risoul as an après-ski nightclub promotional exercise started by English promoters from Manchester called Outgoing Ltd. However, since 2005, the Tyrolean resort of Mayrhofen in Austria has hosted the festival which has evolved into Europe’s biggest snow and music festival. Originally a DJ and electronic dance music-themed event, live acts were added to the bill in 2008, reflecting the resurgence of indie/rock music. The events format is designed to combine winter sports (primarily snowboarding) with on-piste and après-ski music performances and themed parties in unusual locations, including an igloo village (pictured), a forest clearing, a traditional remote alpine farmstead and an open-air street party. Artistes who have appeared at Snowbombing include Fatboy Slim, Madness, Pendulum, Example, Magnetic Man, Sub Focus, Tinie Tempah, Chase & Status, Skream & Benga, Mark Ronson, Dizzee Rascal, Dirty Pretty Things, Grandmaster Flash, Foals, 2ManyDJs, The Enemy, Zane Lowe, Freestylers, Mylo, Dave Clarke, Gilles Peterson, Fabio, Grooverider, Tim Westwood, The Cuban Brothers and James Zabiela. The event has a reputation for its imaginative and humorous elements; traditional Austrian cultural references are embraced (e.g. oompah bands, lederhosen and sausages) and given a contemporary/surreal twist. Unconventional clothing is encouraged in a series of fancy dress themes which are adhered to by many attendees (aka ‘Snowbombers’) and cult celebrities like Mr. Motivator are engaged to entertain and interact with the crowd. The event is also notable for giving those who attend an alternative to flying. The Snowbombing Road Trip is not a race but a leisurely international drive from the UK to Mayrhofen, involving collecting points en route, an overnight ‘pit stop’ in Frankfurt, and an arrival
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trip essentials
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what to take with you
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tips// 12
tips// 11
1.BASTO goggles//$44.99 @lightinthebox.com 2.Original BUFF//$20.00 @buffusa.com 3.Neutrogena Sunblock//$7.39 @target.com 4.Burton Pipe Glove//39.99 @6pm.com 5.Ski-Doo Thermal layer//$64.99 @skidoooulet.com 6.K2 Rival Helmet//$53.90 @evo.com 7.Beard Head//$27.94 @baglane.com 8.Softshell Jacket//$82.99 @dc.com 9.Burton Echo Backback//$44.90 @evo.com 10.Snowbaord Pant//$149.95 @dc.om
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6 new sports to try this winter Sometimes downhill skiing and snowboarding can be expensive and inconvenient, or you might just simply be bored from it. But there should be no excuse to stay indoors all winter season long, though. If you’re willing to get creative, snow and ice can actually help you to stay in shape and can make your workouts more fun. From the tame to the exotic, these alternative winter sports will keep you outside and in shape until all the snow finally melts away.
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Snow polo
If you don’t have a fleet of polo ponies at your beck and call, snow polo (which might be even more ritzy and ridiculous than real polo) is a fun sport to observe. It tends to take place in exclusive places like Aspen and Davos, Switzerland, but if you have the opportunity to catch a match, it’s certainly exciting to watch teams of three riders and horses in studded shoes chase a big red ball around a snowy arena.
Ice boating
Winter sailors call frozen lakes “hard water” and take boats fitted with runners instead of a keel sailing across solid bodies of water. The idea is the same, but the physics are slightly different. Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire and Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota are popular spots for the sport. Ice boaters have recorded speeds of upwards of 100 miles, but more commonly they sail in the 55 mph range.
Snowshoeing
If hiking is your go-to summer sport, then snowshoeing is probably just the wintertime activity for you. If you’re after more of a cardio workout than a scenic stroll will get you, snowshoe racing -- a faster-paced version of the sport -- is growing in popularity. According to the United States Snowshoe Association, there are races scheduled in 21 states this year. Running in snowshoes, because of the increased resistance, will spike your heart rate and provide a serious winter workout.
Shovel racing
Shovel racing, which started as a way for ski-lift operators to get downhill once the lifts were closed, has become its own semi-legitimate sport. It’s exactly what it sounds like: participants slide downhill on an upturned shovel, using the handle to (sort of) steer. In 1997 it was briefly part of the Winter X Games. You don’t need an official race to participate, but if you want one, these days the biggest shovel race of the season takes place at Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico
Snowkiting
Snowkiting (which directly correlates to the summertime sport of kiteboarding) allows you to glide over snow and ice using wind power and a kite. In places like Greenland, people sometimes use it for transportation, but it’s exciting enough to do just for fun. Experts advise starting with a small trainer kite in an area with no obstruction to the wind flow or your flight and learning from someone who has experience with the sport.
Curling
Curling, the act of sliding large stones across a sheet of ice towards a target, looks straightforward, but the simple sport can be deceivingly hard to do well. It’s similar to golf because it’s a sport that requires much accuracy, but your whole team, from the curler to the sweeper, plays a part in the overall outcome. Since it was included in the Olympics in 1998 curling has become increasingly popular, so it’s easier than ever to find ice -- or “curling sheets,” as they’re called officially - to play on.