#6
www.slashmagazine.ca
Devun Walsh // Cab 360Ëš Photo // Colin Adair Spot // Whistler
DCP
SALVADOR
CONTENT Volume 2.3 Intro: Where are we going? 80 days in Argentina State of the shred Interview with Greg Desjardins Opinion A « Greene » experience Event check out: Frontline Rail Jam 2009 Photo gallery Best & Worst Company check out: Yes Snowboards Music: Nic ‘‘Molotov’’ Brunette Art: Morgan Bridge Outro: Summer time
08 20 30 34 42 44 48 50 60 64 66 68 70
Louif Paradis // Cab 270 backlip Photo // Tim Peare Spot // Gaspe
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Editor: Pat Burns Photo Director: Oli Gagnon Editorial Director: Etienne Gilbert Advertising sales: Etienne Tremblay Creative Direction: Ralph Samson, Claudia Renaud
Slash Magazine 425, Gérard-Moriset, suite 8 Québec, Qc, Canada, G1S 4V5 www.slashmagazine.ca info@slashmagazine.ca
Contributing Photographers: Ashley Barker, Ryan Odowd, Jonathan Kirby, Jerome Tanon, Tim Peare, Mathieu Couture, Oli Croteau, Mike Yoshida, DiceK, Phil Tifo, Colin Adair Contributing Writers: Andrew Burns, Gabe Langlois, Shin Campos , Nic Sauvé, Alex Cantin, Louif Paradis, Ben Bilocq, LNP, Will Lavigne, Max Legendre, Dan Migno, Oli Croteau, Eric Greene, Kareem El Rafie, DCP, Craig Beaulieu, Nat Gough , Ashley Barker Contributing art: Patrick Beaulieu. Printed in Canada: ISSN 1913-8385 Printer: Litho Chic
Le magasine Slash(ISSN 1913-8385) est publié 3 fois par année. La rédaction n’est pas responsable des textes et des photos publiés, qui engagent la seule responsabilités de leurs auteurs. Les constributions sont les bienvenues, toutefois, vous devez fournir une enveloppe pré-affranchis pour le retour. Toute reproduction sans l’accord de l’éditeur est interdite. Slash magazine(ISSN 1913-8385) is published 3 times a year. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the autor. All rights reserved on entire content. Slash magazine welcomes edittorial submissions; however, return postage must accompagny all unsolicited manuscripts, art, or photographic materials if they are to be return. Hébergement: Gc media
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Nicolas Muller Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Haines, Alaska
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Where are we going? By Etienne Gilbert
In the last issue we explored the sense and the essence of change. Today, I’m using the momentum we’ve built to pursue the subject from a different angle. The world in which we live is in constant change. Like I learned in my high school science class, “nothing is lost, nothing is created, all is transformed” or changed. Even death, which means “the end” in our common language, is in reality nothing but the transformation of one thing into another. Death is, at the same time, a rebirth, a return to the starting point, a cycle that finishes as a new one simultaneously begins, just like day and night, seasons and years that follow previous ones. Everything changes, and the same rules apply to our beliefs, our knowledge and our technology. A hundred years ago, nobody would have believed in the possibility of half of today’s technology. At the pace of things, the lifestyle we know today could very well be considered prehistoric in a hundred years from now. Who knows? We think our technology is so advanced, yet within the next millennium our knowledge will without a doubt drastically outgrow today’s, the same way the knowledge of the last millennium has been drastically outgrown by today’s. At least that’s what our present knowledge tends to make us believe. In spite of the immense technological evolution, the psychological evolution, on the other hand, is comparatively lacking, especially considering what the world is today with all its misery, conflict, brutality, destruction, fear, persecution, aggression, poverty, famine, etc. Humans have not profoundly changed, evolved or transformed in this regard. We are still brutal, violent, aggressive, competitive, fearful, egotistic and judgmental, not only towards others but also towards ourselves, and we have been acting along these norms for thousands of year in societies that we call ‘civilized’. Our society is made up of a series of institutions; political, legal, religious, financial, social class, family values etc. These institutions have been established for so long that we no longer question their relevance and instead take them for granted. Nevertheless, the profound influence they have on the molding of our comprehension and of our perspective towards our life is undeniable. Of all these social institutions, the monetary system is without a doubt the one we take for granted the most and that we question the least. We can always choose a new religion, a new political party, change our family values, create new laws or even choose a new bank, but there is no substitute for money. Can you imagine a world without money? A world where financial gain would be an ancient practice? Would that be possible? Would that be a better place?
objective? A world where the entire population would have access to the resources and knowledge it needs to live comfortably and to develop itself? A world where people would aspire to a new way of life, a way of life where the maximum potential of every individual could be developed and made profitable to their community while remaining in harmony with their environment? We all feel kind of helpless when it comes down to issues like these. It’s very understandable! The majority, if not the totality of us (the people reading this) are not part of this rich minority who has the power (monetary power) to take the type of action that would have major influence on the entire surface of the planet. Yet, what goes on in our world is nothing but the reflection of what goes on inside us. The world’s consciousness (sum of every man’s and woman’s individual consciousness, living or dead) has created and keeps creating the world in which we live. It’s kind of ridiculous to see how we’ve disconnected ourselves from our true nature. Division is everywhere, religion, politic party, social class, race, age, country, past, present, future, you, me etc. The inability to feel the connectedness gives rise to the illusion of separation, from yourself and from the rest of the world around you. We then perceive ourselves, consciously or unconsciously, as an isolated fragment. Solitude and fear arises, and conflict within and without becomes the norm. The whole can never be different from the sum of all its parts. The world is one with us, and we are one with the world. What you do to or for others, you do to or for yourself, and what you do to or for yourself, you do to or for others. If we see the need for the world’s consciousness to change and feel like something needs to be done, we have to start by revolutionizing our own consciousness. To make a change in our personal consciousness, we need to see it for what it is, for what it provides us with, and for what it deprives us of. We have to go back to the source of the problem to understand it and to be able to make new choices and then act upon them. You don’t cure a disease by treating the symptoms. It’s impossible to understand and to change our world if we don’t understand ourselves.
One thing is for sure, in a world where 1% of the population owns 40 % of the world’s wealth, where a little less than 50% of the world’s population lives on 2 dollars per day, where close to 80% lives on less than 10 dollars per day, something is definitely wrong; all the power is in the hands of a rich minority.
At this point, you might be asking yourself ‘Where the hell am I going?’ Well, back to the initial question. Where are we going? The answer is pretty simple! Nowhere! We will stay in the here and now - the only place where we can live and act fully upon the future. We are going snowboarding! Because ironically, it’s a good way to disconnect from our daily life and reconnect with our true self. We are going on a neverending trip to nowhere. A trip where your body, your snowboard or whatever else you are doing is nothing but a vessel to travel through time by, and to experience what you aspire to be. You can take the highway and put the cruise control on, or you can take full control and take the country road, visiting the infinite hidden parts inside you, seeing what you are made of and at the same time, seeing what the world is made of. Don’t take anything for granted! Don’t let the world tell you who you really are. Be your own explorer.
Our social system has transformed our world into an enterprise where profit is the primary objective. Have you ever imagined a world where the sharing, understanding and supervising of the resources and of the well-being of the population would be the new primary
If you have any comments, opinions or questions directly or indirectly related to snowboarding or to the content of our magazine, feel free to share it with me at gilbert@slashmagazine.ca It will be my pleasure to reply, or to inspire myself with your feedback in our future articles.
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80 days in
Argentina
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Story by Andrew Burns
Photos by Ashley Barker
Bs 540 // Andreas Wiig
As you wake up to the Pilot’s voice on the overhead speaker, you realize how sore and grumpy you are from the past 10 hours on a busy and uncomfortable overnight flight, eagerly anticipating coffee and some sort of pre-packaged airplane breakfast. As we descend, the sun begins to peek out over the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean and lights up the city line of Buenos Aires, Argentina, creating one of the most amazing sunrises that you will ever see (or that I have ever seen at least). Instantly, that cranky feeling from waking up on a dark, uncomfortable plane has changed to excitement and anticipation; it’s July, you’re arriving in a country where the winter season is just beginning, and the mountains are awaiting you! Impatiently, you wait in that horrible line of people trying to get off the plane, ignoring thoughts of just pushing everyone over and getting off first. As you walk through the terminal to get your bags, you notice some subtle differences, and a whole lot of Spanish writing, but nothing seems too out of place. When you walk out into the main part of the airport and look around, it hits you: I’m 15,000 kilometers from home, and nobody speaks English. This is my third year coming to Argentina for the summer, so my Spanish is fairly good and I’m familiar with the people and the way things work down here, but my first year was a whole different story: I came down alone, with no idea how to speak Spanish, and had nobody to meet me or help me out. Long story short, it took me 6 miserable days to get to the mountains and to the people I was meeting up with. Lesson learned: plan ahead. slash snowboardmag // 21
80 days in
Argentina
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Frontside boardslide // Andrew Burns
ÂŤ (...) As we descend, the sun begins to peek out over the horizon (...) creating one of the most amazing sunrises that you will ever see. Instantly, that cranky feeling from waking up on a dark, uncomfortable plane has changed to excitement and anticipation. Âť
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Method // Doran Layborn
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80 days in
Argentina Once in Buenos Aires, the crew has to meet up for some chill time before our 20 hour bus ride to Bariloche, located on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains... naturally, on the other side of the country. We had a huge Canadian posse this summer, consisting of Craig Beaulieu, Natalie Gough, Robin Van Gyn, and myself (Andrew Burns), as well as filmmaker Aaron “Trout” Maksymek, and photographer Ashley Barker. We all work at South America Snow Sessions (SASS), which is a summer snowboard and ski camp based in Bariloche, Argentina. Basically, kids come down from North America to learn backcountry and park skills in a real winter environment, as well as experiencing the amazing culture that Argentina has to offer. It’s the best experience on earth, and a second home to all of us. Our buddy Ramone has a sick house in B.A. and a mini-ramp in his backyard to boot. We head there for some beers and skating before the last leg of our journey. It’s nice to relax for a bit and take in the swift change of your surroundings. Although there’s no snow on the ground, you can tell that winter is starting from the crispness in the air. Ramone sets us up with an Argentine Asado for dinner. This is essentially the most amazing way of barbequing on the face of the earth, and an Argentine tradition. They slow cook the most tender meat you have ever tasted over wood coals from a fire, and every bite will pretty much melt in your mouth. Add a few tall Quilmes beers, some Argentine wine, and it’s on! Twenty hours later, we’re waking up to the second beautiful sunrise we get to see on our adventure. This time, it’s shining on the eastern boarder of the Andes Mountain Range, and as adrenaline and excitement rush through us, we acknowledge the prospect of riding powder that very July day, when only 48 hours before we were enjoying sunshine and beaches. The first thing we need to do is move into the coaches’ house, our home for the next 10 weeks. This will be the venue for some of the most insane times of all of our lives.
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Fs 540 // Chris Coulter
“Our home was rad. It was pretty much the sweetest house in the world, I’d say. Everyone was super tight with each other and we all had our own space if we wanted it, but at the same time if we all wanted to hang out in the living room we could. We had a sick pool table...I’d say... wow... I’d say we gambled a couple thousand dollars in pool games... me and Burns.”. – Craig Beaulieu The best time at the coaches’ house was our familystyle dinners, where we’d all sit around and laugh for like two hours, ‘cause they were just so ridiculous. Our theme days: Metal Mondays and Taco Tuesdays, there was always something going on in the house... I think there was a Taco Tuesday we had to skip ‘cause Metal Monday kind of took over and we were all too hurting to participate in Taco Tuesday festivities.” – Nat Gough
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One of the most amazing things about Argentina is the culture and surroundings. Argentines are very social and family oriented, and it shows in the way they welcome and treat visitors. Most people in the country don’t speak English, but they seem to go out of their way to be helpful and friendly towards visitors. – Ashley Barker “Metal Mondays were good times; on every Monday we’d get home from snowboarding around 5:30pm, and we’d absolutely blare Metal music out of the stereo that Shittooth (Luiz the house owner) had, which was loud enough to get people awake, if they were sleeping, so to say. Usually it either resulted in things getting broken and puking on floors, or out partying, and probably at the casino where we also gambled more money away. If you were a part of it, you were in for the long run and pretty much couldn’t get out of it.”. – Craig Beaulieu
Slash // Kyle Clancy
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“It’s amazing terrain, kind of good for all levels... and the park is better than any park I’ve ever seen in Alberta. There are some sick urban features at the bottom too, when there’s snow. Good variety...pretty sweet.” – Ashley Barker
“What more can you say about the riding... it’s pretty much the sickest place I’ve ever been riding in my life... definitely a lot of freedom and lots of terrain to ride. The snow was great and the people were nice. What more do you really want? It’s pretty much the best place you could possibly be in the summer, I’d say. It’s definitely an experience to see one of your campers that you’ve been trying to teach how to hit a jump or shred pow, and he goes and sends a line, and everybody’s freaking out. He gets to the bottom where he’s got a smile ear to ear, and you know you just made that kid’s day, or even made his summer, and he just keeps telling you how stoked he is, and it makes you feel good that you took him there, in a controlled environment, and you can have as much fun as you want... and just slay it!” – Craig Beaulieu
Log ride fs 180 // Zac Marben
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Guitar // Zac Marben
The most important thing that we had to remember was that we were in someone else’s country, and we were the outsiders. Things are much different from North America, and as one of our ski coaches always says: Come down here with no expectations and go with the flow, it will be one of the best experiences of your life!” It seems that the longer we were there, the more normal everything became. Once you adapt to a completely different culture and surroundings, it opens your eyes to the world, and all the different possibilities available to us as humans. It’s truly an amazing experience. The Andes offers some unbeatable shredding as well. At Cerro Catedral, the resort where we were riding, there’s all kinds of amazing terrain. The lower mountain has tons of sick tree runs with some steeps and pillows, and a crazy bamboo forest at the bottom (although apparently it’s not actually bamboo). The upper mountain has some super prime areas for building jumps, as well as a whole wackload of lines. Fairly easy hikes give you access to various bowls, chutes and drops, surrounded by rock spires that look like they came out of Lord of the Rings... and for the park rats, there’s a sick jump line, rail line, and other little jibs scattered around the mountain to mess around on.ig
“If I could only snowboard two weeks of the year, for whatever reason, I would save my two weeks and go to Argentina!” –Nat Gough Argentina and South America Snow Sessions is a second home to all of us. The country, the culture, the terrain, and the love for snow bring us together as one big family, and the times we’ve had together cannot be described in words or photos. The beauty within this country continues to amaze me from summer to summer, and will keep me coming back every year for the rest of my life. For more information on snowboarding in Argentina, visit www.sasnow.com
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The other day, in one of my rare appearances at one of Whistler’s bars, I had the chance to catch up with a good friend of mine. Gabe Langlois has been filming snowboarding for the last decade or so. For the last two years, he was filming for Travis Rice’s new movie “That’s it, That’s all”. We had a little bit of a drunk ramble that night about snowboarding in general, our new mag and what we could call the ‘State of the Shred” in Canada. Apparently he and Shin Campos have had their share of rambling on the same subjects and he was happy to tell me all about it, so I decided to give those guys a chance to express themselves to a bigger audience. The Snowboard industry has changed a lot over the last 15 years, but for the better or for the worse, I can’t really give a straight answer. Everybody, depending on their background, has their own vision and opinion on the matter.
Etienne Gilbert
I have to go back to “The Days” so you can get where I’m coming from. I’m talking about the original Whistler days when every shredder had a dream of coming out and riding mountains and deep BC pow. You see what I said there “Mountains” and “Pow” it’s a simple thing that drew all sorts of rag tag thugs and wannabees out of the woodwork. The Mountain either weeded them out or molded them into the snowboarder known by the world of snowboarding at that time as “Canadians”. Just so we are clear, I am not claiming that I was even there for the whole heyday but I am BC born and bred, so I take pride in our shred heritage, and when I did finally make it out to Whistler, snowboarding was alive
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and at its strongest. It’s the shredding forefathers that inspired me to finally make the migration to the Promise Land. Guys like Kevin Young, Marc Morrisette, Shin Campos, Devun Walsh, Chris Brown, Wes Makepeace, Brian Savard, Martan Gallant, Kale Stephens, Sean Johnson, Matt Domanski, and Alex Warburton were here and hitting it all. Whistler has some of the best, if not the best, alpine lines in North America on mountain and holds claim to the original pillow riding and riders. The terrain and conditions are what molded Whistler shredders into all around top to bottom riders. But in this day and age, it seems to me that these types of riders are a dying breed. It’s the terrain in front of you on a natural
Charles Gagnon // Fs 360 nose bonk Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Whistler slash snowboardmag // 31
Etienne Gilbert // Cab 540 Photo // Phil Tifo Spot // Whistler
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level that seems to be overlooked more and more. I understand that it’s not everyone that gets to ride in such a place as this, but I’ll tell you, there is still a shit load of snowboarders in town these days and I can’t think of one standout, all around, up and coming shredder who could grab the torch. But believe me, I would love to be proven wrong. I think part of the problem lies in the specifics. People don’t just go “ride the mountain” for the sake of riding the mountain much anymore. They would rather session a rail, wall, the park or a jump to dial in their skills on the specific. All I’m saying is just go out and ride the mountain a little more often and hit whatever is in front of you and let her mold you, instead of being a sheep and following the masses into what’s cool this season. I don’t really care what you love to ride but if you live in Whistler or the BC mountains and you can’t make a fast powerful, beautiful, symmetrical pow carve with punch, you need to get your shit together and get out there because otherwise you are missing the boat. It also seems to me there are some confused ass kids out there (and I’m not even judging them by their Pirate Clown suits that they are wearing these days, which by the way is really hard not to do). I’m a firm believer in doing what you love, but don’t take the easy way out and just do what everyone else is doing, go and try it all and see what happens. I believe if this generation keeps on the same path there isn’t a hope in hell for the next batch of “Canadian” shreds as we use to know them. But then again maybe I’m just a crusty old shred that has lost touch.
into the 12’s and 1440 range, we’re actually becoming more like the freestyle skiers we hated on before. All you have to do is watch any new movie and for me it’s pretty tough to get through. After the 3rd or 4th part it’s all the same stuff. These days I watch the movies to see the terrain and filming. If I’m asked about the new breed of riders, unfortunately there isn’t one Canadian kid out there. Sorry kids but spins off cheese wedges just don’t impress me that much anymore.Riders like Jake Blauvelt, Austin Smith, Gigi, Wolle and some others are people that I see bringing in some new flavour and style. Of course we have great riders such as Devun, Rencz, Benji, Kale and many others, but these are dudes who are already established. Natural terrain with the new style of tricks is what I want to see and I feel Canadian riders should be at the forefront of that. What’s up with all the new breed of riders shredding so slow? Like everyone is slip sliding down the hill, stopping at every obstacle instead of the fast top to bottom style of runs I cut my teeth on. Look around where we live (of course the West is blessed with this) and mountains are everywhere with some of the best snowboard type of terrain. Kids should be taking advantage of that instead of just trying to copy what they see out there. I hope this callout leads some new kids to come out and step up or show me I’m full of shit!! We got the goods up here in Canada and I know we also got the talent somewhere deep in Canada.
Shin Campos
Gabe Langlois
When I think of Canada Snowboarder, I think of a strong as nails rider, someone who is dedicated to the mountains and progression within them. I’ve been thinking about where snowboarding is going and where the future lies and it’s not too interesting. Seems like these days you need some sort of look because skills alone probably won’t get you ahead. Lots of riders are all doing the same stuff with very limited originality. All you see is tricks on kickers and urban riding. Riders these days aren’t using the mountains that are in front of them but instead recreate what’s been done before. What happened to simple stuff like a proper turn or the timeless method? I find that most kids haven’t gotten the basics down, like turns or straight airs, but instead go straight to spins and every rail combo. I guess that’s the new way that ‘progress’ is going, but it makes it pretty boring to watch and very robotic and uncreative. By adding spins
As for myself, I could say that I agree with most of what those guys are saying on different levels. On the other hand, it is obviously easier to be creative and original when you are part of the first group of people doing a certain thing. But then again, people used to move here (BC) to shred the mountains, now I see lots of kids moving here ‘cause they feel that this is what they have to do to please their sponsors. It’s a means to an end instead of being something they want to experience for themselves. We could actually go on and on about this subject but it’s up to you to make what you want out of snowboarding. Do “you” know what “you” want out of snowboarding?
Etienne Gilbert
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Every task or project we undertake in life deserves our full attention and we should take the time to accomplish it to the best of our abilities. No matter what Greg is doing, he puts all his energy and devotion into it. For now, snowboarding is his life and he’s got his own way to do it. If he’s not riding and working on getting footage for his own video part, he will be behind the camera filming other riders, or on his computer editing. He has been working as a digger for Camp of Champions during the summertime and now has just started his own company, a project that has been in the back of his mind for a while. The entrepreneur that was sleeping inside him is coming alive and his creative mind will without a doubt help him accomplish some great things.
-Nic SauvĂŠ All photos by Oli Croteau
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Alex Cantin You had a good season last year… what stands out in your mind about it? J- I think I’ve had a good season because I did what I wanted with the people I wanted to do it with. I even went surfing for two weeks in Maroc in early February. It allowed me to relax my body and my mind. When I got back, I was refreshed and inspired. I’ve seen a lot of “Plenty” stickers on your board! What’s that? That’s my street wear clothing project. I’m starting it with my mom, Alex Paradis (photographer) and Will Boucher (graphic designer). My
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goal is to make clothing that my friends and I have always wanted to wear but could never find anywhere. When you put your snowboard aside, what do you like to do? I like spending time at home on my computer while listening to some music, going out for dinner with my girlfriend and spending time with my friends. In the off-season, I like staying active. Mountain biking, tennis and I usually hit the gym a couple months before the season starts.
Louif Paradis What keeps you passionate about snowboarding? First of all I think the general environment in which I grew up has something to do with my passion for things. The freedom snowboarding has given me is probably a good reason why I love it so much. I noticed your part in “What” was a lot longer than in the Rome video “No Correct Way”. Why is that? At the beginning of last season Rome offered me the chance to film for their team video again. I obviously accepted and filmed my ass off for six months. I filmed one month with John Cavan, the Rome filmer, and the rest with the guys at « Brothers Factory ’. The deal was that Rome would be buying my shots off them by the end of the season. Unfortunately Rome did not buy any shots for budget reasons and other circumstances. So what I filmed with the Rome guys went in their movie and same thing for Brothers Factory.
Ben Bilocq We have lots of friends who decided to put pro snowboarding aside. What do you think about that and what keeps you going? I think that if snowboarding does not bring you as much fun as it used to and if you start reconsidering your life because you don’t make enough money out of it, it might be a good idea to move on to the next thing. As for myself, I’ve given myself some new goals. I’ll keep working with companies but I also want to use my riding and my ideas to promote my own company. People might not know that you put together a lot of the parts from the « Band Wagon » movie a couple years ago. Would you like to do more editing in the future? I don’t think I would be very into it unless it would be for my own project and that I could have 100% freedom with it and express my vision of ‘true’ snowboarding. Probably more webcast type of thing.
LNP
You’re not a skateboarder but you are influenced a lot by skateboard movies. Why is that? I don’t watch snowboard movies that much anymore to get pumped up before going riding. Skateboarders seem to have this creativity with tricks and the level of difficulty seem so unreal. They just inspire me so much when it comes down to rail riding. What made you buy a HD Camera? I wanted to bring my own vision to the project I’m involved in. I don’t want to put down the work that the filmers are doing but I think riders see things differently and that we could bring some innovation to the way snowboarding is filmed.
Five-0 Spot // Oshawa
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« Snowboarding still makes me dream but I don’t feel like it’s something out of reach anymore. »
Will Lavigne Do you see yourself doing something unrelated to snowboarding? I will try to stay and work within the industry for awhile in one way or another. If not, I would like to do business in real estate and construction. What would be one of your ultimate goals in snowboarding? Probably to bring back the freedom of mind and spirit with which I used to ride when I first started doing the snowboarding that I’m doing today.
Max Legendre Has your perspective on snowboarding changed over the years? When I started snowboarding, I was watching videos and mags with admiration and I was dreaming to one day be like those guys. Now that I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of my idols and understand better what goes on in the industry, my perception is a little different. Snowboarding still makes me dream but I don’t feel like it’s something out of reach anymore. What’s next for snowboarding? I have to answer for street riding because this is what I’m the most knowledgeable about. I still think perfection, precision, technique and size are where progress is. That’s where I see my riding going. I have so many tricks in my head that I want to do.
Dan Migno Lately there have been a couple new important things in your life that are taking some of your attention. A new computer and a new girlfriend. Which one takes most of it? I spend a lot of time on my computer but my girlfriend and I have this special thing my computer can’t give me. Ha ha! We know you are a snowboarder, a filmer and a company owner. How do you manage all that? Last summer I was questioning my involvement within the industry and I realized that just snowboarding like most of my friend do was not enough for me. I need to do more and get involved at different levels to really feel accomplished. It’s just natural for me; it just feels like the right thing to do
Nose press Spot // Quebec
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Bs 50-50 Spot // Toronto
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Oli Croteau You are one of the guys with whom I shot the most last winter. You have evolved tons and are very innovative. Yet it seems to me that you always stay in the shadow of a lot of your friends. How do you react to that? I believe that in life you get back what you’ve put in. I feel blessed with what snowboarding has provided me to this day, even if I had to invest more money from my pocket than what I made from snowboarding. I try not to compare myself too much with others. Everybody deserves what they have. You have to be part of the industry to understand that there are many factors influencing the position you occupy within it.
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How do you manage to pay for all your expenses from traveling and stuff?I work in the off-season so I can ride every day and not miss one opportunity. I’ll sell a little bit of gear if I need to. If I need more, I borrow some and pay it back in the summer. You edited one of your parts with your best trick from last year and posted it on the TWS web site. A lot of comments were posted, positive and negative. How do you react to that? It’s always good to see some people like what you do. On the other hand, lots of people talked shit about my arms. That’s pretty funny ‘cause this is my biggest style complex. I’m just gonna take it for what it is and keep working on making my style better in my own eyes.
Etienne Gilbert
Oli Gagnon
What are the things that drive you to accomplish your objectives? JSimply, to progress in what I love doing. The feeling of coming home exhausted after a day of shooting and to have accomplished at least one of the goals that I gave myself that same morning. I guess you can call it passion.
What do you think about snowboard mags being controlled by people who dont know enough about snowboarding? Why are magazines so focused on products and lifestyle instead of just promoting raw snowboarding? I’m not sure if they don’t know shit about snowboarding but I’m not a big fan of covers with a hand plant or one foot on a ridiculous obstacle. I think mags should go back to publishing more sequences to push riders to do new and perfect tricks.
Our childhood environment influences the road we choose to take in life. Can you imagine your life if you hadn’t been introduced to snowboarding? No! That’s just what I’ve always done and I just can’t see myself doing a conventional job.
Sponsors: Plenty (www.plenty-clothing.com), Drop, 32, Etnies, Holden, Deluxe, IS Design, Rome, Lifetime.
Blunt fs 270 out roof drop Spot // Quebec
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You have been snowboarding professionally and working within the industry for years now and have seen the industry going through some obvious changes. It’s easy to notice most of theses changes even if you are a younger shredder as long as you have been doing your homework and have done a little research about the history of the sport. What is not so obvious for fans and snowboarders around the world are the changes that pro riders go through throughout their career. We can’t always control the events around us but we can always react the way we want to them. As we grow older, our body changes, our mind changes, our perspectives, our motivations, our inspiration, our expectations etc. -Over the years, how did you consciously adapted to the changes outside and inside yourself and how did that affected your approach to the sport and your job? Really i dont know. Snowboarding gave me so much and made me a whole different person if i would not have grabed a skateboard at one point and went goofy from then on out. In the beginning i was just hyped to go travel with my friends from home and i did not really care about anything really. The whole expirience was what was important and i started later to focus more on parts and so on. As far as injuries go i was pretty lucky so far expept this season seems to be a tough one. Im out for the fifth time now after a bonebruise and some torn muscles. Anyway i love shredding and i think the older our lifestyle gets the more interresting it will be for sure. There is no need to adapt to anything in snowboarding. i think thats ther real important thing!
- Wolle Nyvelt
OPINION Wolle Nyvelt // Fs360 Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Haines Alaska
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Gaetan Chanut //Cab540 Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Whistler
OPINION
One thing I had to do for my career was to find a way to ride professionally for a long time. Although this came to me little by little, I adapted my riding by staying in powder most of the time. Cruising around on the hill is fun even if it’s not on a powder day, but jumping on hard pack can be very demanding on the joints, cartilages and ligaments. Powder is the reason I go big. I know my body can handle it well and I know I will be able to continue riding snowboards after my pro career is over. The other thing I had to adjust is my spending. You don’t want to spend more then you make. It’s ok to invest in a few years and have a little deficit for a while but credit card bills catch up to you and you have to pay them some how. My adaptation to that was to pay off my truck and my sled to eliminate those payments, have roommates and tenants to help paying the mortgage and try to spend wisely on needed stuff. Trust me, I am still working on the last one. Also, to be able to live at a certain level of comfort and to be able to have an alternate way of making money, I started working construction in the summer and fall. I ride pro mostly because I like it and I am success full at it. It makes me feel good to get big video parts and to get lots of nice pictures in magazines. That’s my biggest reward. I lowered my expectations from what I should be making from snowboarding and kept my focus up on the riding part of it. My inspiration is still the same as before. I feel like I am representing for all my friends that had to get on with their life and quit snowboarding sooner then what they would of wanted. I feel fortunate to be able to do what I do knowing it’s not for ever, that’s why I am enjoying every minutes of it! - Gaetan Chanut
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A
E N E E R G
By Eric Greene
EXPERIENCE
It’s difficult to use your eyes or ears these days without being exposed to some sort of media threat or alert on the environment. One channel on television is telling you about the fresh water crisis that will hit Atlanta next summer, and the next channel is advertising two for one cell phones at Wall-Mart, so what are you supposed to pay attention to, if anything? The times? Yes, they are a changing (Bob Dylan, if you didn’t pick that one up). It’s undeniable to notice and impossible to ignore that we, as humankind, have collectively made a mess of our habitat. In many aspects we’ve evolved into a subsistence society of luxury-dependant, selfish, gullible, over-consuming sheep. It’s a sad, sad day. Maybe Global Warming is just scientific speculation and mainstream media has exploited it beyond belief. After all, these are the days of conspiracy and propaganda, so perhaps we shouldn’t believe the hype. Whatever the case, questions should be asked concerning all the information that we’re being fed about the current and future conditions of our environment, in order to contribute to its preservation. Global Warming is recognized as common knowledge these days and environmentalism is a trend because of it. It’s basically a guarantee that the general public is often provided with environmental statistics and information that are not accurate. We should consider that the alternative lifestyle options we are influenced with by may be more beneficial to the economy or to our governing political bodies, rather than contributing to the environment. Many corporations are guilty of promoting their products as “environmentally friendly”, when they truly are not. The Certified Organic stickers on the fruit you buy or the Sustainable Forest Initiative labels on the timber you use may not actually mean anything. Don’t be afraid to do a background check on the products you consume. With the rapid development of new eco-friendly products and the advancement of scientific capabilities, articles on environmental awareness are often outdated by the time they are published. In that respect, with eight hundred 800 words or less, I feel it more credible necessary to focus on the habits, routines and lifestyles of us snowboarders, rather than on specific discoveries and innovations. And we’ll steer away from the all-encompassing topic of Conspiracy and the false information that the general public is inflicted with day in and day out, but the concept shall be noted. All of our jobs and lifestyles relate to the environment, but snowboarding depends a lot more on Mother Nature than say, a baker. Unless a freak drought made wheat flour completely unavailable, then that baker could be up the creek. Anyways, I think it is crucially important for the snowboarders of the world to unite and do more than our part for sustainability. There is are a growing amount number of companies in the snowboard industry that are making an effort
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Eric Greene // Treebonk Photo // Ashley Barker Spot // Whistler
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to develop eco-friendly products and are manufacturing alternatives. Board companies are developing wood options for their core materials, organic fabric outerwear is promoted almost everywhere, and the words you’re currently reading have been printed on recycled paper! These are growing trends, but they are also the sparks that will ignite the fire of our unpolluted freedom! We all need to do our part from the bottom to the top and it’s damn encouraging to see our industry initiate this transition.
Martin Gallant // Slash Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Whistler
It’s amazing to consider how we’ve taken the simplicities of our natural resources and creatively concocted the modern novelties of plastic, rubber and metal objects. However, now that we’ve made all this “stuff”, how do we get rid of it? Burn and burry it? Unfortunately that has been the theme since before the Industrial Revolution. Now we are starting to experience the difficulties in the renewal and disposal of all this shit we’ve made. The most significant opposing factortion in against our goal of conservation is ignorance. People generally don’t recognize the harm they cause through all the small aspects of routine. Leaving your car idling in the driveway, excess garbage from take-out food when you could have eaten in, or leaving the tap running the whole time you’re brushing your teeth. These small actions are the entity root of the big problem. I’ll admit that snowboarders are hypocrites to some extent. We buy and promote factory-produced goods from China, and travel using trucks, snowmobiles and airplanes. We need to be aware of all the excess in our lifestyles and cut every corner that we can in an effort to reduce it. It comes down to recognizing and questioning your own actions. How strong are your morals? Will you travel across town to recycle your bottles? Will you spend 10% more money on locally manufactured products? Will you sacrifice your time to take a train instead of a plane? It’s difficult to alter your lifestyle away from the speed and frugality desire of modern convenience, but you should feel like a sheep if you drive an SUV to Wall-mart Mart and save seventy dollars buying car accessories from an overseas factory. Modern transportation, rapid production and expediency have turned us into very impatient individuals. Here are some useful tips that we, as snowboarders, can easily apply to our lifestyles: Recycle Buy a bicycle. It’s cheap and convenient. Cut down on your electricity use at home. Purchase products from companies you support. Help their cause. Be aware of your personal consumption- how much garbage do you create? Carpool or use public transit to the mountain. Off-set your carbon emissions when you travel. Visit www. planetair.ca
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Frontline Rail Jam By Kareem El Rafie
Frontline Rail Jam is a completely rider driven, independent event that has grown from a small friend session about 5 years ago, to one of the biggest and most core city rail jams around the globe. The event is organized by “John Uppfeldt” and myself (Kareem El Rafie), owners of Frontline clothing. From the beginning, the idea was simply to collect the FL crew and friends and setup a perfect down rail in the street of “Sergels torg”, also known as “Plattan”, which is the most central square of downtown Stockholm. The first year we didn’t think we were gonna get the permission from the city but we went for it anyways. When we had given up on almost all hope 6 days before the set date, the city called us back and gave us the thumbs up. So we worked our asses off to get everything setup and finally on the event day, the sun was shining, the speakers pumping, the rail was perfect, all the riders had the best time and displayed some of the best snowboard progression on rails. This has been our motto since day one. To build the perfect set up, collect good friends and riders from all over the world and just let the riders snowboard, have fun and push the level of snowboarding. The first year we didn’t have any sponsors and we only kept it as a jam session for fun. But after such a successful event with a huge crowd, we managed to get some companies involved the following year and we were able to bring in more snow, more speakers, better setups and some prize money etc. As the years pass, we are getting more and more help from sponsors and the event keeps improving. Our goal is to make the events progress in the same way snowboarding is. We’ve had sick riders showing up at the event throughout the years along with new talents. MFM, Joni Malmi, Ero Ettala, Eiki Helgasson, Fredu Sirvio, Hans Åhlund, Halldor Helgasson, Eman Anderson, Risto Ruokola, Torstein Horgmo, Gulli Gudmundson, Jonas Carlson, Mark Sollors, Peter König, Andreas Gidlund and many others. The 2008 FL Rail Jam just went down and it was the biggest and best so far. We had riders from over 8 different countries and the riding level was retarded. With tricks getting thrown down like: Eiki ( bs 180 to switch nosepress bs 180 out, on the kink rail), Nils Arvidson ( nollie hardway bs 270, 270 out, on the kink), Gulli ( fs 180 switch 50 pop to sw bs 270, on down rail) and Halldor with (fs nosepress tailtap fs 360 out, on the down rail) you start wondering how much further rail riding will be pushed. The format is also shaped for the riders. All the riders are split up into 2 qualification heats. 4 riders from each heat and a wildcard make it into the finals. In the finals, the prize purse got up to 5,000 Euros this year; all in 50 and 100 Euro bills. Throughout the finals, I smack bills into the riders’ hands as they land their tricks, so everybody can win money and collect cash throughout the final. In the end the judges, who are always good riders themselves, pick out the best tricks on each rail and an overall winner. This year’s infamous FL Rail Jam after party was held right downtown at “Berns salonger” which is one of Sweden’s biggest and most prestigious nightclubs. Berns has a huge concert hall, a big outside patio and 2 more dance floors. This made a huge, epic playground for the 1200 + people and riders who truly wanted to send the night away to the history books. The party program was a 4 DJ lineup including DJ Sid and Joni Malmi. A legendary live act performance from “Hoffmaestro and Chraa” also blew everyone’s mind. On top of that we also had the movie premiers of Factor Films’ new movie “Notes” and Sugarshack’s “Pleasure Inc”, which are both proudly sponsored by FL clothing. Too often, nowadays’ comps are organized and sponsored by big event companies where the biggest concern is to make profit. When organizing our event, our only focus is to make a sick event for the riders to enjoy and have fun. We believe this is when the riders will bring out their best and push jibbing to the fullest. The audience will naturally get stoked and enjoy the show, which in the end will result in a good atmosphere and a perfect day. Every year we reinvested in the event. We just want to promote snowboarding, create the best ambiance possible for people to enjoy themselves and have a sweet overall day and night to remember.
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Ollie Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Haines Alaska Illustrations // Patrick Beaulieu
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Shifty Photo // Oli Croteau Spot // Quebec
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Bs 50-50 Photo // Mike Yoshida Spot // Ottawa
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Backlip Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Whistler
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Method Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Whistler
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Fs 720 Photo // Oli Gagnon Spot // Whistler
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Fs 360 Photo // DICE-K Spot // Whistler
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Tadashi
Fuse
Burton, RedBull, DVS, IS DESIGN, Whistler Blackcomb, Yukibancho, Exit Snowboard Shop and HEART Films - www.heartfilms.com
Best snowboarding trip ever ? My best snowboard trip ever was probably the second time I went to Alaska with the Heart films crew last season. Just the feeling of accomplishment and the fun we had on our road trip, riding and exploring and shooting and seeing the great scenery. It was awesome.
Worst sport other then snowboarding ? I don’t have any that I don’t like. People should be able to do what they enjoy without hating on them. Any sport is a good thing and doing what you enjoy is a great thing. Best way to get over the worst ? Thinking positively.
Worst snowboarding trip ever ? I think I was 18 or 19. I lived in a small town called Yamagata so I was super excited to go riding in Hokkaido… Hokkaido is on another island in Japan so we went there but ended up partying all day and all night that we didn’t even go snowboarding! I was so pissed off that I ended up coming home by myself.
Worst way to enjoy the best ? Thinking negatively. Best thing about snowboarding ? The best thing about snowboarding is travelling and meeting new people. The whole experience allows me to reflect on my life and my actions and make new friends and experience a lot of things that enrich my life.
Best contest ever entered ? When I was 17 years old I went to an indoor jump at Geneve, Switzerland… It was my first big contest overseas and I was so pumped and stoked. I did the trick I wanted to and I felt so good. The times were different then…People were more stoked to see progression and crazy things attempted rather than style and stomping.. It was so surreal for me, especially because this was just the beginning of my snowboard career.
Worst thing about snowboarding ? The worst thing about snowboarding as a career is there is little time to be with my family and friends. I can’t always go home or sleep in my own bed and I live out of a bag for most of the year. I hope my wife and twin girls understand.
Worst contest ever entered ? The worst contest was an air and style contest in Austria that I went to one year… I had flown all the way to Austria and during my first practice run, I fell and hurt myself and it was over. That night I stayed in a old gross hotel lying in pain and I saw a ghost. I just lay there in pain, wishing for morning to come, so I could just go home.
Worst party ever ? Usually at the end of the worst party, I can’t remember anything!
Best sport other then snowboarding ? Skateboarding and surfing. They both feel so good and I can escape into my own world. 60 // slash snowboardmag
Best party ever ? Usually at the end of the best party, I can’t remember anything!
Best thing about a stormy winter day? Sitting at home and relaxing, or snowboarding with my friends on the ski hill. Worst thing about a blue bird day ? Being super hung over.
Ollie Photo // Jonathan Kirby Spot // Whistler
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Sylvain Beauchesne
a.k.a
Beauch
Vans, Nitro, Empire, I Found, Oakley, Crooks and Castle, Nixon
Best trick ever landed ? A backside 5050 on a huge down flat with a close-out at the end and a 22 feet drop on the other side. It was short but the feeling was so so so good ! Worst bail ever (Injury) ? When I brock my leg in the backcountry and it was a 2 hour sled ride out ! Best reading material ? Slash Magazine ! Worst reading material ? Three books on really bizarre philosophy that my brother gave me for my birthday. Best contest ever entered ? Joses Quervo invitational. They treated us righ ! Worst contest ever entered ? If I tell you I’m gonna make enemies. But some people think snowboarders are circus clowns and have nothing to loose. Best sport other then snowboarding ? Skate, snowmobiling, golfing... to hard to choose. Worst sport ? Man figure skating. Best way to get over the worst ? Three feet deep, something bad happened but yet your still smiling ! Worst way to enjoy the best ? Three feet deep, and your skiing! 62 // slash snowboardmag
Best thing that ever happed to you ? When I discovered skateboarding in 1988. Worst thing that ever happed to you ? When I was young I got kicked out of my local hill for a season, it sucked! Best thing about snowboarding ? Everything about it ! Worst thing about snowboarding ? It’s addictive and I don’t know how I’m gonna stop. Best season ever ? 2007/08 was great , I worked with Standard and won a sled ! Worst season ever ? 2001-2002 was a bit rough for me. Lost my girl and some of my sponsors. Best thing to do on a stormy winter day ? What kind of question is that? Worst thing to do on a bleu bird day ? Be injured. Best thing about competition ? Seeing everybody and riding a good terrain. Worst thing about competition ? Waiting !
Sylvain Beauchesne // Method Photo // Ryan Odown Spot // Montreal
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Yes Snowboards The snowboard industry is going through difficult times these days. Every international company is being very careful with their marketing budget, considering the crash of the US economy, which represents the biggest snowboarding market of the industry. A lot of riders are getting pay cuts or even seeing their full budget disappear. This is what happened to DCP, Romain De Marchi and JP Solberg, along with a few others at Burton. You would think those guys would have been the last ones on the list. But no! You would think nobody would want to start a new board company in days like these. But no! What these guys are doing proves the dedication they have to snowboarding. This is how every snowboard company should start, driven by riders who are truly passionate about the sport and the lifestyle it provides. -Etienne Gilbert
All of us (Romain de Marchi, Jp Solberg and myself) rode for Burton for many years. We had great experiences and great fun over the years. But every 10 years or so, it seems like there is a massive shuffle internally at Burton, and they cut all of us, discontinued UNINC, and couldn’t come to terms with GiGi, so GiGi left to ride for Volcom. So, this gave us a perfect opportunity to start a project of our own. With the marketing momentum around our name and our need for riding more powder and to keep pushing our sport, it was a no-brainer. We needed to do something so we could keep going with our snowboarding adventures … Right then, JIM Z., our head designer, founder of Pulp68, residing in Geneva Switzerland, and Henry Nidecker JR, investor and board technology quality control, contacted us and offered to help us make the project a reality. Everyone was on the same page from the get –go. We all wanted to have fun, make great snowboards, with dope graphics (a new one every 4 months), and bring back some roots into snowboarding. With all of the crazy televised contests, energy drink sponsorships and crazy money-driven industry, our favorite sport, hobby and our life seemed to have lost a little bit of its soul in the last couple years.
www.yesnowboard.com, where we’ll be posting fresh content throughout the season. We’ll release limited series, sell in shops that share our ideology worldwide and get involved with POW (protect our winter foundation) It’s going to be a really good adventure. Join us! Snowboarding is our life and nobody is going to take this away from us! YOU CAN’T KILL THE PIG…YES WE CAN! Jp Solberg, Romain and myself have been filming with Absinth Films this season and we are probably in Alaska right now finishing up the movie and our season. Watch for the YES NOW BOARD team in the Absinthe Movie Premier near you this fall 09. Thanks! Dcp
We really want to re-inspire people to go out, have fun and simply enjoy snowboarding for what it is. By offering really great quality Swiss-made boards at a fair, low price, we are hoping to share our passion for snowboarding with our customers and allow them to ride sick boards for cheaper prices. We have access to some wicked technology at the Swiss Factory of NDKrative. It’s exciting to have the possibility to design our own shape, flex, sizes, rockers, graphics, website and marketing campaign…We have plans to work in collaboration with different artists for graphics, and sell the product on our website
Photo // Jerome Tanon
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DCP // Fs 180 Photo // Jerome Tanon
YES is the most commonly used word worldwide, YES is very positive, and we believe that you attract what you put out there, so we want Positive vibes and tons of Powder, NOW BOARD!
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Nic ‘‘Molotov’’ Brunette Text by Pat Burns
Nic “Molotov” Brunette is a well-known rider active in the Québec snowboard scene. He attempts many events, gets magazine coverage and film coverage with the “Brothers Factory” production. Two years ago I realized that Nic had a strong interest in music when I saw him rap in his own video part. So here is a “Snowboard vs. Music” interview. So what’s the relationship between your snowboard and your music? For me, every day is a new opportunity to create. No matter what I do, snowboard, music whatever, feeling like I’m doing something unique, feeling the progression within that field is my greatest reward and motivation. Both snowboarding and music are like an art to me. You create your own tricks on your own spots. The thing with snowboard is; you’re gonna end up hurting yourself and you get to the point where time take its toll on the body. With music, I know I’ll be able to progress for the rest of my life. Where do you see these passions taking you? I’ll always be involved with both and will create events where we can gather them together.My friends and I (P-O Houle, Jac) just started organizing what we call “The Molotov nights”. It’s simple: “We make it rain”. Fashion shows, live performances, giveaways and many more secret concepts yet to come. What is the best compliment you ever received about your snowboard or your music? That one night last year when filming with the Brothers Factory guys, I landed a stylish trick and all the guys were cheering and said: That was so “Molotov”. For a while after that, every time someone would land a good trick we would say “That was so Molotov” That was a nice little ego boost to know that my name was used to qualify something stylish. For me style is always the number one thing I look for in a rider. So what is the concept behind the Molotov movement? brother is the creator of the movement so I’ll let him speak!
Well my
Jacob: The Molotov movement is based on the revolutionary aspect of art. It reaches for that need to create inside you, to express yourself in a unique way. To be Molotov is to find a new spot and come home with a couple nice shots. To be Molotov is to spread your infinite energy while performing on stage or compose a new song that touches people. To be Molotov is to have nothing to lose and everything to gain, to feed the talent so it can flourish. To be Molotov is to be part of a family, a movement, a philosophy that finds its balance between pride and humility in order to free creativity. For any feedbacks or information on the “Molotov nights” contact me on cmatoune@live.ca. Reach the Facebook group Famille Molotov to listen Nic’s songs.
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Nic Brunette // 50-50 to tailgrab Photo //Alexis Paradis Spot // QuĂŠbec
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Morgan Bridge By Pat Burns
The influence of art within the snowboard industry is pretty obvious and very strong. This is why, in the future, we’ll be according more editorials to artists that have and are influencing snowboarding in their own ways. This time we interviewed the guys from the “Morgan Bridge” Art Gallery, located at 367 Rue Dupont, in Québec City.
If I’m correct, you guys at the Art Gallery are all good friends. Tell me a little about “Morgan Bridge” ? Matel: Morgan Bridge is a gathering of artists that are into pictorial art (painting, drawing, walls, etc). This project is simply about creating a site for displaying art from all kinds of artists. We have exposed our work as a crew in the past but this is new. The gallery context is very different from the usual frame of other galleries. Our selection criteria are a little looser then most, let’s put it that way. The gallery promotes a creative lifestyle, mostly influenced by urban art, street art graffiti or whatever you want to call it. It’s something new, fresh! Got to check it out! Some of you guys are well known and involved in the Québec snowboard scene. Pat with his clothing, Matt is an ex-rider who designed the entire I Found line and Justin from the Focus team have largely contributed to the creation of the Sugar Shack movies. What is the connection between your art and snowboarding? Patrick: Snowboarding and skateboarding have opened my eyes to unlimited creative possibilities. This is how it all started for me. From reproducing company logos on my backpack to creating drawings, printing t-shirts etc. I want to share my passion for creating in every way possible. Matel: I grew up looking at snowboard and skateboard magazines. The day I decided to start snowboarding, instead of joining the ski club, was the day when everything changed. From that day on, I’ve focused on doing what felt right and on doing things my way. With all the graphics posted in the shops I visited growing up, I quickly made the connection between the world of snowboarding and the countless hours I used to spend drawing away. I thought it would be a great way to connect both of my passions in an industry that is constantly changing. In grade 8, I created my own Buyer’s guide with my own graphics for every board company. I would spend all my time on MacPaint and other hi-tech devices. The marginal spirit that skateboarding and snowboarding had back then inspired me to do things differently, out of the box kind of things. That’s pretty much what I’ve been trying to do up to this day. Creating instead of recreating. Justin: The connection between snowboarding and art goes way back. I remember snowboard graphics created by snowboarders, like Jamie Lynn and Peter Line for example. Skateboard and snowboard graphics always seemed to have a great impact on the development of my passion for art. During the 90’s we spend so much time on our boards. We would always be looking for the next board we would get, and graphics always played a big factor in decision-making.
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But why Morgan Bridge? Justin: One night we gathered with the objective of finding a name for the gallery. We were hanging out at my place drinking beers. After a long, funny and chaotic brainstorm, we came up with Bridge because of the street name «du pont» First we thought about “bridge street”, a straight up translation but we thought it was slightly too cliché or too Graffiti shop. We needed a universal name with no attachments. Morgan Bridge came out of my mouth pretty randomly and everybody liked the way it sounded right away, so we kept it. That’s it! Pretty simple!
DCP // Slash Photo // Mathieu Couture Spot // Salvador
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: Summer time
This photo was taken in the fall, right before the opening of Whistler at the Quebec Open of Surfing held in El Salvador at El Dorado surf resort. It was more like a good way to surf with your snowboarding friends before the season kicks in. Small surf but pretty fun, and lots of partying! Most of us had their winter, powder, and snowboarding fix, so it was a good time to start anticipating all the surfing, skateboarding, mountain biking, and glacier snowboarding we would be doing in the summer. Happy end of the season, and rack up those powder days while you can; it’s surf season coming up ! -DCP
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