Dragon Lodge 25th Anniversary

25 YEARS OF

DRAGON LODGE SNOWBOARDING

Legendary Tignes-based snowboarding chalet the Dragon Lodge turns 25 this year. Working with endemic snowboard companies like Vans and Dragon for most of that time, Dragon Lodge has become a home away from home for snowboarders, skaters, artists and musicians and has become much more than just a lodge, it’s a snowboarding institution. We caught up with DLS owner John Bassett (issue 104 cover boy) to hear about a new partnership with Volcom and long-time friend of the Lodge, Schoph.

John, congrats on 25 years...

Thanks man, can’t quite believe it, definitely wouldn’t have imagined still going 25 years later when we started. We just wanted something that would allow us to keep riding each winter, and creating a place that we, our friends and likeminded riders would actually want to stay at seemed a great idea at the time as there weren’t really many, if any, places like that for snowboarders at the time.

Please tell us about the new collaboration with Volcom.

The collaboration came about through Schoph. Schoph has been a friend of the mine and Will’s for 20 odd years, riding, working and collaborating together. He’s an official part of the Dragon Lodge family and permanent ‘artist in residence,’ with the Lodge itself acting as an unofficial gallery that proudly showcases his evolution and development as an artist over the years. While riding together last winter, talking on a chairlift, and not having an outerwear sponsor since the pandemic, he just suggested he put us and Volcom in touch as he works with us both and though we’d be a perfect fit… “a no brainer” as he said in his intro email, haha!

Not only were Volcom down to support us with great gear, but they were really into the idea of creating something together. They’ve always been into supporting the art, music and creative side of boardsports culture, so the Volcom X Schoph X Dragon Lodge project was born. The idea was to turn one of the “mini-lodge” apartments upstairs into the Volcom apartment, and most excitingly, to commission Schoph to create an original, large-scale piece of art as a centrepiece. We went out in the summer and did just that: Schoph designed and painted the piece, Will and I helped with the woodwork, and Aaron Schwartz came for the week to shoot photos.

Schoph’s gone from strength to strength and is prolific with his artwork. Please tell us why you think Schoph’s art resonates in the snowboard world as much as it does...

Schoph’s also snowboarder at heart who really loves the act and culture, has been for years and always will be, so he instinctively knows what works artistically on whatever snowboard related medium he’s commissioned to create on from boards to boots to outerwear…which is why it resonates in the snowboard world as much as it does and is why he’s working with the best, from brands like Volcom, Vans and Lib-Tech and it’s why he is asked by riders like Travis Rice & Pat Moore to put his mark on their signature lines, and why he’s collaborating with Jamie Lynn on their joint brand 1910.

Which other brands do you work with and what does this look like at Dragon Lodge?

Remind Insoles, Airhole and NOW bindings are more simple situations where they provide great product for us and our team to use each winter, and we promote and endorse them to our guests both in resort and in any promo. Then there are Vans and Dragon, who we’ve been supported by for 16 and 20 years respectively. We do the same great kit for us / promo for them deal, but also over the years they have both helped put on events and gigs with us in Tignes, have run UK and European team and media trips to the lodge with their riders, hosted product tests & shoots, and run some great retailer incentives where they bring out shop staff to ride. Hopefully the Volcom partnership will develop like this too. We started off hosting skate and snowboard shop trips 25 years ago so love those weeks. We always try and recommend good local shops to our guests, and work especially closely with a couple of shops (TSA in the UK and Tignes Spirit in France).

What are the coolest things in snowboarding right now?

Honestly, snowboarding seems to be in a good place, more diverse as far as participation and exposure of different styles of riding, more women getting coverage, great edits of street, backcountry, carving, side hits… but one of the coolest things for us is to be involved in a small way with my brother’s board brand Island Snowboards. He started the lodge with me 25 years ago, moved to Japan about 15 years ago, and started Island about 3 years ago. I’s amazing to see him build & develop it slowly and it’s been great to have a small involvement in that process, to ride and give feedback on prototype boards, and Will’s been giving some design input on a new model that’ll be out this year which we’re super excited to get to try when we finally get back out to Japan in January for the first time in three years!