SNOWBOARDING Words (Give or Take)
Will Lavigne
MFR
“It’s been 20 years since I started snowboarding and I never get mad or bored with it. It’s a way of life that makes me feel good and keeps my stress low, even when I just think about it.”
“Growing up, snowboarding started as my favorite thing to do on the weekends and soon became a way to express and challenge myself in so many different ways. I take it for granted sometimes but when I stop and think about it, snowboarding gave me so much and it’s changed my life completely.”
Stale Sandbech
Bjorn Leines
“Snowboarding is what takes me away from everything else in the world. It frees my mind and I find myself just there, having the best times”
“Snowboarding is my outlet to freedom. Free to let my mind manifest the lines and tricks I dream about at night, and have it become a reality. Free from attachment, responsibilities, mind games and gravity. Snowboarding allows me to let it all go and live in the moment.”
2 We Make Snowboarding…All About the Individual
in 25 LNP “Snowboarding is my freedom. I can dress and do whatever the fuck I want. No suits, no desk, no boss. It’s just me, some friends, a camera and a city.”
Rusty Ockenden
Marie Hucal
“Snowboarding makes boys out of men. Thanks to silly sliding, it is acceptable for me and my friends to play in the snow like we did back in the day!”
“I can express myself through snowboarding. Going places spontaneously and simply dreaming up crazy ideas with friends who share the same passion. It’s my gateway for excitement, thrill and fun times.”
Lucas Debari
Johnny Lazz
“Snowboarding is more than a hobby. The activity itself acts as a portal into an alternate reality where I can exist in a constant state of STOKE”
“To me, snowboarding is personal but at the same time it isn’t, because all I want to do is rip and shred with the homies. But isn’t that what it’s all about?... FUN.”
We Make Snowboarding…All About the Individual 3
Inside The SDS
Mike Waldert &
his 2-Year Love of Alaska
When we were starting out a while back, a relocated shop kid from Rochester, NY started hanging out at the office a few days a week to help us pack boxes in the afternoons. Not only would he help pack boxes, he’d also bring a 12-pack on Fridays—which led to the nickname Beer Friday Mike. No longer really known by the Beer Friday moniker, Mike Waldert soon started working at Rome wearing a million hats and now he runs the Operations Department. Translation: he’s responsible for getting stuff made and moving it around the world (and he still wears more hats than most). Coming out of the Bones Brigade era of skateboarding, Mike mowed “a boat load” of lawns in the summer of 1987, bought his first board (a Snowtech SL150) the following winter, and promptly became one of those people who have organized their lives around snowboarding ever since. The stoked still runs deep 25 years later—Mike regularly logs more days at Stowe in the mornings before work than anyone else at Rome. For the last two years, his deep relationship with standing sideways has taken him to the Mecca of snowboarding—Thompson Pass, AK. In 2011, Mike went full dirtbag-style,
bought a large hunting tent (the kind with a wood stove) and set up in the Tailgate AK parking lot with two friends. After getting smoked out with wet wood, they got the tent dialed and proceeded to get their first small taste of riding Thompson Pass. Several days of graybird kept them off the good stuff, but after it broke Mike drop a few lines on Billy Mitchell and The Goats. Then the classic AK weather returned to shut down visibility. Though the first bag definitely wasn’t free, the hook was set. This past April, he traded the tent for a Car Danchi-style camper and the snowboard gods traded the graybird for bluebird. He parked the camper in front of the Rendezvous Heli Guides building, spent his savings on heli time with them, and had the runs of his life in the best terrain on earth. Happiness was one of his many lines—a 5,000 foot road shot that rips for the entire length. All in all, he scored eight straight days of sun with the highlight being the session in Clueland. As Mike says, “the area has all sorts of lines that were featured in the Standard Films from the 90s.” All in all, “there was no better way to call an end to a season.”
We Make Snowboarding…Directed by 100-Day Riders 5
LNP + Bjorn
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
35 We Make Snowboarding…PAINT THE HILL WITH STYLE
We Make Snowboarding…PAINT THE HILL WITH STYLE 35
MUST KNOW TECHNOLOGY
NoHang-Ups 3D Camber Profiling A Revolution in Precision that is Playful, Finesse that is Fully Powered More than any other camber out there, NoHang-Ups kills contradictions and delivers high levels of finesse and playfulness, while at the same time delivering power and directional stability. If you like ollie pop and a buttery feel, with NoHang-Ups there is no need to sacrifice one for the other. If you like directional control and a less catchy feel, NoHang-Ups delivers both. Have some cake and eat it, too.
INPUT
OUTPUT
HOW WE DESIGN IT
How the Design Makes Snowboarding Better
This is 3D camber profiling that takes rocker into a third dimension. The secret is in the shape of the NoHang-Ups Diamond and how it merges into and interacts with the three-dimensional rocker profiling in the forebody and aft section of the board.
Rocker and positive camber have their places in our line—many riders love rocker for the loose, surfy feel for pressing, playing and floating; many riders love positive camber for the poppy energy release and dynamic feel from edge to edge. With NoHangUps, we combine the best of the rocker feel and inject it was ample amounts of the positive camber feel. It is precision that is playful; it is finesse that is fully powered.
3D Camber Profiling One key component of NoHang-Ups is the 3D camber profiling in the forebody and the aft section of the board that grows as the Diamond diminishes. Starting at the edges near the binding inserts, the 3D camber profiling gets wider as it extends towards the nose and tail. The 3D profiling merges together at the widest part of the board, and terminates as the nose and tail begin to kick up. The result is an increasing amount of 3D rocker (infinite base) in the forebody and the aft section, as well as a small amount of longitudinal rocker in the nose and tail.
Playfulness and Finesse The 3D rocker profiling that increases through the forebody and aft section raises the contact points and provides lengthwise rocker that starts just inside the running length—this creates that surfy, pressable, forgiving performance that is great for floating pow, buttering a box, or stomping a sketchy landing. The best of rocker.
The NoHang-Ups Diamond
Precision and Power
This is the platform (flat or positive camber) that you stand on and which narrows to a rounded point that extends almost to the ends of the running length. So down the centerline, you have a non-rockered line of contact with the snow for almost the entire running length. These rounded points of the Diamond, and where they end, are critical to how NoHang-Ups performs.
Here’s where NoHang-Ups stands out from the camber crowd. The extension of the rounded points of the NoHangUps Diamond almost to the contact points provides three benefits lacking in rocker profiles: (1) a ton of pop in ollies, (2) anti-revert stability on landing spins, and (3) directional stability for tracking straight. The best of positive camber.
TWo camber types 3D camber profiling in the nose and tail, with a flat NoHang-Ups Diamond.
see all tech at romesnoWboards.com
3D camber profiling in the nose and tail, with a positive camber NoHang-Ups Diamond.
We Make Snowboarding…playful & Poppy 13
MUST KNOW TECHNOLOGY
Cant-in-the-Back BINDINGs Based off last year’s success in customized power transfer, we have expanded this system from the Mob to the Mob Boss and Runway models. To keep the highback in line with your lower leg for seamless response, run the highback at 3-degrees canted to the inside or change to a full 6-degrees of canting. A Rome-only design feature.
14 We Make Snowboarding‌customize support
see all tech at romesnoWboards.com
MUST KNOW TECHNOLOGY
conformgrip strap BINDINGs Maximum grip from a rubber overmolded design that conforms around the toe of the boot while getting rid of the unwanted pressure over your toes—better fit with less pressure.
see all tech at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding‌fit better 15
MUST KNOW TECHNOLOGY
trackedout sole BOOTS The NEW 3 part outsole with optimization of traction, lightness and shock absorption 1. Rubberized zones for tread with increased grip
2. Injected EVA ANTIGRAVITY midsole/outsole combo for lightness
3. ANTISHOCK gel under the heel, for a cushy imprint and softer landings
16 We Make Snowboarding‌light & grippy
see all tech at romesnoWboards.com
MUST KNOW TECHNOLOGY
touchtec gloves Riders want to stay in contact constantly these days, whether touching base with friends or checking the latest weather report. With TouchTec, fingertip nipples let you type and surf your favorite touch-screen device, available even in our warmest Index model for quick communication on the coldest days without taking your gloves off.
see all tech at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding‌grab between the legs 17
Mt. Moran Posthole For Powder
When you roll towards Jackson from the north through Teton National Park, one thing jumps out on the passenger’s side of the car that demands the attention of pretty much any snowboarder with a pulse—Mt. Moran and the Skillet Glacier. Dropping a massive 6,000 vertical feet from the top of Mt. Moran to base of the mountain on the valley floor, the Skillet is a long, obvious couloir that asks to be ridden the first time you lay eyes on it. Standing alone, away from the Grand and its neighbors, Mt. Moran dominates the northern section of the Tetons. And the Skillet, from the perspective of a snowboarder, dominates Mt. Moran. It’s a big mountain, with a big, unbroken top-to-bottom line. Starting out narrow at the top, the Skillet widens and plunges straight down the eastern face of Mt. Moran and empties in Jackson Lake. The fact that the Tetons abruptly jump off a flat valley floor to 12,000 to 13,000 means that when you unstrap from the Skillet, there’s no more riding to be done. One May, Rome’s founders Josh and Paul headed to Teton National Park to climb and ride some of the long couloirs in The Park. The first on the list was the Skillet. A local who had done the Skillet before, jumped in the car, came along for the ride and ended up being the de facto guide. After gearing up in Jackson on the lawn of Stephen Koch, Day 1 consisted of a 4-5 mile approach hike over a solid spring snow pack and some bushwhacking. With some hope of riding the line the next day, they set up camp at the base of the mountain, just north of Leigh Lake.
Then a bit of weather rolled in. A light rain started to fall that evening and continued throughout the next day. In the sogginess of Day 2, they tried to kill time by nursing a fire with collected wood. It was fire for warmth, and fire for entertainment; a wet, slow-moving, wait-it-out day. Sometime around 3 am on Day 3, they started kicking steps up and around a few ridges to get into the lower section of the Skillet. As expected, the rain that fell on camp the day before was snow on the line. The idea of cruising up spring snow was quickly replaced with the reality of kicking steps in 12 to 18 inches of snow for the full 6,000 vertical feet. The last hour or so was reduced to a step-step-rest rhythm. Finally, a hard eight or nine hours after leaving camp, they were on top of the Skillet. Even in bad visibility, the line was fun, especially the narrow “upper couloir”. Due to the snowpack’s sketchiness, they had to ride the handle conservatively and opened up a bit on the wide, rolling part of the lower glacier. After breaking down the tents and packing up gear, the long slog out started. Ten hours of postholing and shredding didn’t leave much energy for the 4-5 mile hike back to the car with a loaded backpack. Those last couple miles were pretty brutal. Finally, a good twelve or more hours after starting up the Skillet in the morning, they were back at the car. Another hour or so after that, it was beer and food at the Snake River Brewery.
We Make Snowboarding…Posthole for Powder 19
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
Development Story
CrossRocket with Co-Founder & Board Designer
Paul Maravetz
We originally developed the NoHang-Ups 3D base contour concept while looking to speed-up the learning curve for new snowboarders—the objective was to create a design that would actually develop advanced riding skills on the first day, rather than just make it less punishing. While we did care about reducing edge catches, we were also focused on adding performance characteristics that helped riders develop edge control and directional control at the same time. It wasn’t far into the testing of this new concept that we saw that the NoHang-Ups prototypes had potential beyond beginner boards. Specifically, they positively addressed many of the limitations inherent with rocker camber designs—a lack of directional stability, lack of precision, a general lowenergy feeling, and the diminished ollie pop. Moving into the development of the 2013 line, we prototyped multiple variations of NoHang-Ups 3D camber mixed with the usual board design parameters of flex, sidecut, waist width, running length, etc. The foundation of the NoHangUps technology is the Diamond platform. We experimented with the Diamond’s shape (sharper, blunter, wider, narrower, longer, shorter), and the Diamond’s camber profile (rocker, flat and even positive camber). Outside the Diamond platform,
22 We Make Snowboarding…playful & poppy
we played with different degrees of convexity (3D camber profiling) as well as where it began on the running surface of the board and where it terminated in the tips and tails. Personally the biggest surprise while testing these boards was when some of the NoHang-Ups prototypes performed better than the positive camber in situations where I find positive camber boards to be more predictable and confidence-inspiring than rocker boards. For me, positive camber boards are more stable and precise than rocker designs—two characteristics I particularly rely on when riding fast switch and while riding through areas of broken up, choppy snow. While at Snowbird in May of 2011, a section of the slope we were testing on had been crossed by a heavy spring powder sluff between runs. I came into the section very fast riding switch on a NoHangUps prototype with a positive camber Diamond and was surprised by the suddenly variable snow conditions. Rather than me losing control through this section as I expected was about to happen, the board maintained directional stability and was responsive and incredibly forgiving as I adjusted my balance and steered through the choppy section. It was this discovery that led to the Crossrocket with the new NoHang-Ups Pop camber.
Lover of poppy jumps, surfy lines and heavy bottom turns
THE CROSSROCKET All-mountain slayer, destroying all terrain; floats backcountry lines and locks into park jib spines; buttery to the touch but snappy when it’s clutch; surfs pow and cranks railed out turns
MUST-KNOW TECHNOLOGY
HotRods: Glass Single Barrel A glass rod milled into the core under the bindings and out towards the nose and tail; providing quick snappy pop for a fast response. QuickRip Sidecut Advanced sidecut geometry giving a short playful feel at slower speeds and a longer fast, stable feel at higher speeds. The Mid-Board contact points end the running length at slow speeds and add grip at high speeds. ButterOut Transition Zones Smooth as butta’; this drawn out transition zone is a playful take on our classic design, creating a play-a-round freestyle board, guaranteed to fuel your snowboard addiction.
TECH DETAILS: • SuperPop Core Matrix • StraightTriax30 Laminate • SinterTrue Base • Basalt Impact Plates
terrain mapping
FLEX & FEEL
SHAPE
CAMBER
154
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding…destroy the whole mountain 23
Short-length board for street or park with true skate feel
THE SHANK Park laps all day followed by street sessions at night; hit the same rails you skate in summer; solid back tails and effortless spins; dialed in tranny finder; nose press with no stress; 5-O’s
MUST-KNOW TECHNOLOGY
HotRods: Carbon SINGLE Barrel One rod of preloaded energy in the nose and another in the tail that takes power from your bindings and snaps it through your turns and hits. Pure ollie and nollie power without unwanted torque. Skatecore Profiling Take stock skate lines from park-to-park. A softer profile in between the bindings and a stiffer nose and tail makes the board feel like a skate for turning and ollieing. Same tail-slide feel on and off the mountain. QuickRip Sidecut Advanced sidecut geometry giving a short playful feel at slower speeds and a longer fast, stable feel at higher speeds. The Mid-Board contact points end the running length at slow speeds and add grip at high speeds. ButterOut Transition Zones Smooth as butta’; this drawn out transition zone is a playful take on our classic design, creating a play-a-round freestyle board, guaranteed to fuel your snowboard addiction.
TECH DETAILS: • SuperPop Core Matrix • StraightTriax30 Laminate • SinterTrue Base • Basalt Impact Plates
terrain mapping
FLEX & FEEL
SHAPE
CAMBER
153
24 We Make Snowboarding…blunt
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
A Brief History OF
3D Camber
3D base profiling is as old as snowboarding. Literally. The Snurfer had three base surfaces in the tail.
surfaces and base contours—multiple surfaces at different angles, channels, sections with three-dimensional continuous curves.
So don’t listen to any brand that claims they invented multiple base surfaces or 3D bases. If they or anyone else is unaware of snowboard design history, all they need to do is walk into Salty Peaks in Salt Lake City to see the experimentation with base surfaces and base contours that runs deep in snowboard history. The flight from Europe to Salt Lake might not be cheap, but a 20-minute visit to Salty Peaks is the quickest way to learn about the true history of snowboard design.
Below we show a small sampling of the key historical experiments that snowboarding’s earlier board designers created in the 3D base spectrum during the late 70s and early 80s.
Up until the late 80s, surf board design had more influence on snowboard design than skis did. Our roots were in surfing (and skating) all along, not skiing. Surfing’s influence was a worldwide trend that directly impacted the design of base surfaces. In the 70s and 80s, all the small emerging brands in the US, Europe and Japan wildly played with base
Rather than claim that the broad idea of a 3D base is something that Rome “invented”, we acknowledge that our NoHang-Ups camber idea is rooted in experimentation from the 70s, 80s and early 90s. Though we didn’t invent the broad concept of 3D bases, we definitely did invent our specific evolution of it which is different from others in where the 3D occurs in the base, and particularly the shape and placement of the non-3D Diamond that is under foot. It is the interplay between our Diamond and the continuous curvilinear 3D sections that makes the Rome idea a unique evolution of the 3D base concept.
We Make Snowboarding…aware of our history 25
Lookin’ to get boned, tweaked and pressed against walls, down rails, and barrels
THE BONELESS The closest thing to a skateboard that isn’t a skateboard; same concrete flow from skatepark to snowpark; front blunts and back boards, sliding on snow or cruising on wheels; going back to the roots of shredding
MUST-KNOW TECHNOLOGY
HotRods: Glass Single Barrel A glass rod milled into the core under the bindings and out towards the nose and tail; providing quick snappy pop for a fast response. Skatecore Profiling Take stock skate lines from park-to-park. A softer profile in between the bindings and a stiffer nose and tail makes the board feel like a skate for turning and ollieing. Same tail-slide feel on and off the mountain. ButterOut Transition Zones Smooth as butta’; this drawn out transition zone is a playful take on our classic design, creating a play-a-round freestyle board, guaranteed to fuel your snowboard addiction.
TECH DETAILS: • 4-Ply Core Matrix • Impact Base • StraightBiax Laminate
terrain mapping
FLEX & FEEL
SHAPE
CAMBER
150
26 We Make Snowboarding…feel like skateboarding
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
Movie Review
Road Kill by
Fall Line Films
Laurent has filmed quite a few video parts of his own. From Sugarshack to Any Means to Videograss to The Shred Remains, the lens has captured many raw and progressive moments of Laurent on a snowboard. But since he’d never seen Road Kill, by Fall Line Films, we thought it would be interesting to hear his take on this classic snowboard film. If you don’t know Road Kill, it’s a shred film that came out in 1994 with some riders you might have heard of—Terje, John Cardiel, Mike Ranquet, Bryan Iguchi, Shaun Palmer, and Jeff Brushie, among others. They load up in two 1976 Cadillacs with racks and cruise to different spots, mostly riding resorts before parks existed and rail spots when urban riding was just starting. While most videos of the time focused on cliff drops and
carving, Road Kill broke out and made an early statement about skate-inf luenced snowboarding. According to the back of the box, Road Kill is “24 minutes of loud music with 4 guys who don’t push each other off cliffs or try to out-carve one another. They ride and attack everything in sight.” And it set the standard for what everyone came to know for snowboard soundtracks, with music by Bad Religion, NOFX and Pennywise.
You can tell that Cardiel skated. He had super fast tweaky skate style. Brian Iguchi was super smooth, with a style all his own. Guch spinning out of the lipslide 270 out was sick. There was a ton of skating in the movie too, which you don’t really see anymore in videos. I think it painted a more complete picture of their whole life which was cool. They just wanted to skate and snowboard. Terje was pure snowboard style, a little less skatey, and almost surfy.
Since we knew Laurent hadn’t seen it, we asked him to give it a quick review. Here’s what he had to say:
The travel is another dope part of the video, and it seems very real. They didn’t have big RV’s or plane trips everywhere. They didn’t even have vans. They were driving around in old Cadillacs and having a good time. The cars would break down and that was real travel life—going to gas stations and fixing stuff just seems more real.
Road Kill was pretty awesome to watch. It seems like snowboarding was more fun and little looser back then. Everything they were doing was so new. It was like they had no videos to watch to influence them. There wasn’t anyone telling them how to ride resorts or rails. They just made the mountain their skatepark, and they had to be more creative because there weren’t parks all set up for them. Back then, you didn’t have to even finish the rail; they were just stoked to hit it.
When I was young, I only caught the tail end of the VHS-only era, where you had this precious video, and would watch it over and over again. Your tape collection was all you really had to watch for skateboarding and snowboarding.
*If you can’t find it on VHS, thank the snowboard Vishnu for YouTube because you can watch it all there in three installments. You just won’t be able to appreciate the awesome box art.
We Make Snowboarding…Respect 27
Board with skate history for skate-influenced styles
THE HAMMERHEAD Classic Hosoi shape; natural jibs encouraged; hand plant everything; f ind trannies everywhere; fun on a rope tow; park lines a staple everyday
MUST-KNOW TECHNOLOGY
Skatecore Profiling Take stock skate lines from park-to-park. A softer profile in between the bindings and a stiffer nose and tail makes the board feel like a skate for turning and ollieing. Same tail-slide feel on and off the mountain. QuickRip Sidecut Advanced sidecut geometry giving a short playful feel at slower speeds and a longer fast, stable feel at higher speeds. The Mid-Board contact points end the running length at slow speeds and add grip at high speeds. ButterOut Transition Zones Smooth as butta’; this drawn out transition zone is a playful take on our classic design, creating a play-a-round freestyle board, guaranteed to fuel your snowboard addiction.
TECH DETAILS: • Pop Core Matrix • StraightBiax Laminate • Impact Base
terrain mapping
FLEX & FEEL
SHAPE
CAMBER
ROCKER
147 *BASE COLORS MAY VARY
28 We Make Snowboarding…fun as shit
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
RESPONDS LIKE A PORSCHE, DESTROYS LIKE A TANK
THE MOD ROCKER Big park enforcer; full control stability; press happy flex with never ending pop; pow lines first followed by backcountry kickers; rollers cleared with nollies; half cab gaps with ollies; the reason we ride
MUST-KNOW TECHNOLOGY
HotRods: Carbon Double Barrel Two rods on either side of the centerline, configured for maximum power distribution to the nose and tail for a blend of longitudinal and torsional pop. Nothing better than huge nollies and ollies. QuickRip Sidecut Advanced sidecut geometry giving a short playful feel at slower speeds and a longer fast and stable feel at higher speeds. The Mid-Board contact points end the running length at slow speeds and add grip at high speeds. Kevlar Impact Plates The sweet spot is under the bindings. With all that abuse, the Kevlar in these plates protects your top sheet and transforms chatter, torque, and compression into concentrated pop.
TECH DETAILS: • AirPop Core Matrix • SuperlightBiax Laminate • SinterCarbon Base
terrain mapping
FLEX & FEEL
SHAPE
CAMBER
ROCKER
156 *BASE COLORS MAY VARY
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding…spin, press, tweak & slash 29
Split Board Stories
From The Hills We reached out to people who ride our Whiteroom and Double Agent split boards to share some of their experiences in the hills this past season.
Ryan Kirkpatrick In March I took the trip of a lifetime: heli riding in Haines, Alaska. I had been saving for three years for this opportunity. Since I knew the heli only f lew on clear days and the season was breaking records for snowfall in Haines, I decided if the heli couldn’t f ly I would still enjoy some of the fresh lines and knee deep powder. This was a great excuse to buy a split board, something that I had always wanted but never committed to—the Whiteroom was the only logical conclusion for me. Having only hiked backcountry using snowshoes up to this point, I had no idea how much my backcountry experience would change. When I put the board in touring mode for the first time I was amazed at how fast I could move and the amount of terrain I could cover. I was gliding and gripping the surface of the snow and summiting peaks with ease. In the twelve-day trip, we split boarded three days for more than 3,000 vertical feet of the best snow in the world. It was definitely the trip that I was hoping for and will be hard to beat with five days in the Heli and 3 days of backcountry splitboarding.
John Krusnoski I got my Whiteroom late last season and didn’t know until I opened the box that I was getting a 2013 stick. I was stoked! I got it just in time for a five-day backcountry yurt trip outside of Steamboat. The avalanche danger was through the roof during our trip and prevented us from riding the goods. However, we rode mostly trees the whole trip and still got some fresh stuff while living to ride another day. The Whiteroom kicked ass for that trip and the S-camber will be awesome for big peaks and open pow field days. My wife and I spend a lot of time out of bounds via legal access gates off of Beaver Creek, Vail and Breckenridge so splitboarding is perfect for in and
30 We Make Snowboarding…Seek the Untracked
out of bounds ridding at a resort with great backcountry access. I look forward trying the Double Agent with its twin shape. Chad Otterstrom has a sweet split board ridge out his back door that is loaded with log slides and mini kickers. Also, I have an area up on the grand mesa I have planned out for this coming season that has hitch hiking spots with logs, kickers and quick cliff shots above; Ideal for a mix of backcountry and freestyle.
Ryan Frazer I have had a splitboard for the past 10 years, after a lifetime of resort riding. Every turn on my split is better than a whole day (season) of riding at a resort. This year I picked up a Whiteroom. After many years of discussion, a group of us local splitboarders decided to take this season and build a backcountry cabin in the mountains near Fernie, BC. The area is known locally as “next of kin” and features steep treed terrain with cliff bands, natural gulleys and an abundance of things to huck ourselves off of. A short 45 minute sled ride from town guarantees no line ups and fresh tracks every time on my 2013 Whiteroom.
Mike Johnson I frequent my Whiteroom on Rabbit Ears Pass near Steamboat Springs, CO. I have been snow shoeing in the area for years in search of great terrain but the splitboard opened up a whole new realm of possibilities. The aggressive rocker in the front of the Whiteroom helps keep the tip. Rabbit Ears Pass is pretty famous, but we also hit some lesser-known things in CO and W Y. About 50 miles north of Rabbit Ears as the crow f lies there are all kinds of remote mountains that NOBODY rides. There is one guy running snowmobile tours out of Baggs, W Y but it’s nothing like the traffic at Rabbit Ears, and
the terrain is much more diverse. Diamond Peak is at the top of Cameron Pass and is in between Fort Collins and Walden, CO. This place gets a lot of traffic but doesn’t allow snowmobiles so it remains peaceful. Lack of snow made some of the faces impossible to ride this last season but we had great success building kickers and step downs in this area. The terrain was so much fun that I actually carried my Reverb Rocker on my back a couple times just to have a better freestyle board with me. Also, Medicine Bow Peak is in the snow range just above Centennial, W Y. Although this area is over ran with snowmobiles, the main peak is way too steep for them and delivers incredible lines if you are willing to put in the work. The road closes for the winter about 5 miles from the peak so unless you have a snowmobile its best to camp out to make the trip worth it. I had a blast adventuring with my Whiteroom and can’t wait for more snow next year!
Michael Trombetta Thanks to you guys supporting us at the Alaska Rendezvous Heli-Ski Lodge in Valdez, I was able to get my 2013 Whiteroom 165 early. Incredible ride: powerful, stable, great shape and the most fun I have had on a snowboard in the 20-plus years I have been strapping in. I rode a lot in Northern California and Nevada where I spend most of my time until the end of February when I head to AK. Thanks to the Whiteroom, this past season was one of my best yet. I put a lot of uphill time on it, had some amazing descents, and also rode it almost every day at work as an apprentice guide for Alaska Rendezvous Heli Ski Lodge. I absolutely love riding this board, and look forward to next season!
Split your love between pow lines and pow kickers
THE DOUBLE AGENT Climb up with skins and ride down with spins; build private booters with friends; no sled needed; dawn patrol hike sessions; taker of first lines down pillows; a split with a parkpowder split personality
MUST-KNOW TECHNOLOGY
PowerBars: Carbon V More power, more energy, and more carbonation! Pre-formed bands of lightweight carbon to guarantee pop in powder. PressurePop Tech: Kevlar V Found in our high-end boards with fast power transfer from the bindings to your contact points with the snow; a lethal combination of ultra-light material and highly responsive snap. Kevlar Impact Plates The sweet spot is under the bindings. With all that abuse, the Kevlar in these plates protects your top sheet and transforms chatter, torque, and compression into concentrated pop.
TECH DETAILS: • AirPop Core Matrix • StraightTriax 30 Laminate • SinterSpeed Base
terrain mapping
FLEX & FEEL
SHAPE
CAMBER
ROCKER
154
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding…get loose in untracked snow 31
Through the Eyes of Viktor
Addicted to Van Life
Last spring we got five ams together, gave them the Rome van, gave them a filmer, gave them some money, and gave them the freedom to create the video that they want. No team managers. No one from the Rome office. Once we handed over a wad of money and the keys to the most traveled van in snowboarding, it was all up to them. We just sat back and watched. No strings attached.
Amageddon. For three weeks AmArmy riders Riley Nickerson, Ian Hart, Derrek Lever, Mark Wilson, and Viktor Simco had $200 to share each day for food and hotels. What they did with the money, we don’t actually know—they could have lived off the land, slept in the van (or on floors), and pocketed the cash for other priorities. We do know that they cruised Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Washington and filmed for three weeks at the end of a quickly melting season. Riley did return the van, though it currently won’t start. We still haven’t figured out what they did to it. We asked Viktor to give us a quick rundown on the trip and what people who have experience the Rome van call Van Life. It’s crazy how fast you forget the simple things in life, like a shower and a home-cooked meal, when you’re on the road with five amazing friends and a fiery motive to just snowboard, skate, and party. Who knew that a trip called Amageddon, which started as a joke around the Rome headquarters, would become a reality? It didn’t dawn on us dirtbags until we flew into the great state of Vermont on March 21st. The chosen wretchedness consisted of Colton Feldman (filmer), Riley Nickerson, Ian Hart, Derrek Lever, Mark Wilson, and myself. Our first pit stop landed us at a closed campground in New York. The owner was sleeping, so we were left bartering a handful of
32 We Make Snowboarding…Listen to Kids on Shred
Rome die-cuts and fireworks with a 12 year-old kid if he’ d let us camp out. We woke up that morning and noticed a creek close by, so we rinsed off and hit the old dusty trail. Gas stations quickly became the one-stop savior shop for grimy food, showers in the bathroom sink, and more beer. Our hotel budget for the entire crew was $100/night, which turned into our daily beer money. Plus, we needed a way to keep driving through the night with minimal stops, so there was no need for hotels. We conjured up an idea to let one kid get some shuteye before he drove next. One of the benches in the van was taken out, so we laid sleeping bags on top of the stacked board bags, and bam!, full-proof system was established and anyone who tampered with the driving rotation was a dead man. After driving 25 hours straight from New York, we found ourselves in Colorado by morning. The exit where we pulled off had a sign that read, “Do not pick up hitchhikers! Penitentiary nearby.” That’s where we met Juanita. After getting gas, I caught her in my rearview mirror, shuffling toward the van in her “Powerpuff Girls” pajamas. She kindly asked for a ride; we said no. Then figured ah what the hell, we’re gonna go with our instincts on this one… Saddle up partner! No more than three miles down the road, I heard a soft Spanish accent whimper, “You never told me there was going to be Ketchup.” I pulled the van over to find her flip-flops and PJ’s ruined by steamy, spoiled Heinz that was under the seat. Lo siento Juanita! Luckily she didn’t hold a grudge, so we said our goodbyes with big hugs as we dropped her off at the Denver Greyhound station. For our first snowboard stop, we set it off with Hobo Shredwear’s Colin Walters at Copper Mountain in Colorado. The night rolled around and Ian Hart was 10 beers deep again, so we skated the Woodward facility and he tore that place a new asshole! Utah was next, so our good friend Nate Cruise didn’t hesitate to host a hell of a shindig for us at a bar called Johnny’s on 2nd. We busted out some hot laps at Brighton for the next 2 days, then snatched a Cobradog from our boy Matty Mo at Park City and partied with Bjorn (Leines) that night for his, well… 21st birthday!
We left Salt Lake City in one piece and Keep the Change’s Rob Balding decided to “get in the van”! We made it to Derrek Lever’s home mountain, Stevens Pass in Washington just in time for one of the best powder days of our lives! Derrek had the hook-up with lift tickets and a legit cabin through Stevens Pass Snowboard Shop, so we were set for the next five days. I’ ll never forget the first jump we built at Stevens. We worked our asses off and ate some serious shit, but at the end of the day we all walked away with well-earned shots! We didn’t want to leave the sweet cabin life, but the powder got crusty. So, we drove south to Portland, Oregon, where a mandatory Sassy’s visit went down. Then, all the sudden it was Easter morning and the sun was shining, which was perfect as we were filming at a “No Trespassing” spot in Government Camp, Oregon. If I had to pick the best skate session of the trip, it’ d be Windell’s! That park is jaw dropping, endless, and always a good time. The trip was winding down and after Derrek, Colton, and Rob had to go back home. The remnants of the crew headed back east. We wound up doing some last minute manly boardin’ at Big Sky and stayed in Bozeman, Montana that night, where we saw some sexy Daisy Duke babes! We arrived at my home in Minnesota and gave our last hoorah at the Andre Nickatina show, before Riley and Ian had to drive the van back where we started. I got a call from Riley 24 hours after he left Minnesota saying he was already in Vermont! That madman just gripped the wheel and hadn’t slept a wink. The Ol’ Trusty “SS SDS,” (as former captain John Cavan named it) hammered through 9,000+ miles without giving us a hiccup of trouble; until she took her last breath and broke down in Riley’s driveway 10 minutes from where we began the trip 25 days prior. After I got dropped off in Minnesota and finally escaped that glorious stench, I realized that I lost interest in living normally anymore and became addicted.
Addicted to the Van Life. * Watch for video, fall 2012
Playful for jumps and jibs; poppy for slashing the hills
THE LO-FI ROCKER Buttery feel in fresh or groomer; quick spins off lips; loves tail and nose presses; no leg burn in pow; fun with friends while cruisin’ the hill
MUST-KNOW TECHNOLOGY
HotRods: Glass Single Barrel A glass rod milled into the core under the bindings and out towards the nose and tail; providing quick snappy pop for a fast response. PressurePop Technology: Basalt V Lightweight earth friendly material made to direct power from under your bindings to immediate contact points with the snow; giving snappy turn initiations and power filled pop.
TECH DETAILS: • SuperPop Core Matrix • StraightBiax Laminate • SinterTrue Base
terrain mapping
FLEX & FEEL
SHAPE
CAMBER
ROCKER
146
34 We Make Snowboarding…spin & float
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
New design for precision, control and pure power
THE GOLD Fluid bottom turns; big toe side carves and slashes up walls; bomb hills high speed and float effortlessly in fields of pow; a medley of tight fast trees, natural hits, and park lap jumps
MUST-KNOW TECHNOLOGY
QuickRip Sidecut Advanced sidecut geometry giving a short playful feel at slower speeds and a longer fast, stable feel at higher speeds. The Mid-Board contact points end the running length at slow speeds and add grip at high speeds. PressurePop Technology: Kevlar V Found in our high-end boards with fast power transfer from the bindings to your contact points with the snow; a lethal combination of ultra-light material and highly responsive snap. HotRods Carbon Single Barrel One rod of preloaded energy in the nose and another in the tail that takes power from you bindings and snaps it through your turns and hits. Pure ollie and nollie power without unwanted torque.
TECH DETAILS: • SuperPop Core Matrix • StraightTriax30 Laminate • SinterSpeed Base
terrain mapping
FLEX & FEEL
SHAPE
CAMBER
ROCKER
147 *BASE COLORS MAY VARY
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding…PAINT THE HILL WITH STYLE 35
CROSSROCKET
SHANK
BUTTERKNIFE
TOUR
AGENT ROCKER
REVERB ROCKER
POSTERMANIA
HAMMERHEAD
AGENT
ANTHEM
REVERB
ARTIFACT
LOFI ROCKER (W)
VINYL ROCKER (W)
DETAIL ROCKER (W)
POWDERROOM (W)
36 We Make Snowboarding…fit the rider
see details at romesnoWboards.com
DOUBLE AGENT
WHITEROOM
NOTCH
MOD ROCKER
ARTIFACT ROCKER
factory ROCKER
GARAGE ROCKER
MOD
shiv
BONELESS
gold (W)
WILDCAT (W)
LOFI (W)
ROMP (W)
LABEL ROCKER
MINISHRED
see details at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding…fit the rider 37
Instapow Session In celebration of face shots, slashes and pillow lines, we reached out to people who follow us in the virtual world to share powder pics from their real worlds. Here are some of our favorites.
*See all the pics at #powshots.
38 We Make Snowboarding‌Get Gripped by Powder Panic
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
Targa
390
Mob
Shift
Runway (W)
Shift (W)
42 We Make Snowboarding‌respond to your STYLE
MADISON BOSS (W)
see details at romesnoWboards.com
390 Boss
Mob Boss
Arsenal
United
Strut (W)
MiniShred
see details at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding‌respond to your STYLE 43
Best Cover Ever There’s an argument for Ingemar’s method, but a bunch of us here at Rome just love this one for Lynn’s timeless style.
We Make Snowboarding…Remember 45
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
Folsom
Libertine Pureflex
Libertine
bodega
smith
Memphis Pureflex (W)
48 We Make Snowboarding‌fit better
see details at romesnoWboards.com
Bodega Pureflex
Smith Pureflex
Bastille Pureflex (W)
Memphis (W)
Smith (W)
Smith Pureflex (W)
MiniShred
see details at romesnoWboards.com
We Make Snowboarding‌fit better 49
The Former Intern
Dan Janjigian Life Between Jackson and Alaska
With a bunch of local colleges, we’ve had quite a few student riders intern at Rome over the last eleven years. Many Rome interns have gone on to other things within the “industry”. Dan Janjigian, an engineering intern from one of the early years, probably has the most enviable after life. At least that’s true if you love powder—since Rome, Jiggy’s life has been filled with countless pow days in Jackson and recently training as an apprentice guide in Alaska. Here’s what he has to say about it all.
After all these years, describe your favorite parts of living in Jackson.
engines and such, but we form like the Wu-Tang Clan or Voltron, sometimes both, and get it done.
It’s always keeping me on my toes. It’s incredibly motivating and humbling to live and explore in a place where there are so many bad ass and dedicated athletes. No matter how hard you ride, how fast you hike, how big you go, there’s always someone in these mountains that is one step ahead of you, sending it bigger.
As an apprentice, not only do I train by backing up the guides in the field as a tailguide, I spend many days dispatching, aka, talking to and tracking the guides and aircraft in the field and working ground crew, aka, landing, launching, fueling…being the right hand man to the helicopter while it’s at base.
When was your internship at Rome—what was the Agent’s or Anthem’s graphic when you were here?
Not only is the resort the best lift-accessed terrain in the US, but hands down, there is so much beyond the resort and sidecountry to explore. You could spend a lifetime in the backcountry alone. In my time here I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what there is to offer.
For people who haven’t been to Alaska, describe what it is about Alaska that makes you go back every spring.
I worked at Rome during my senior year at UVM in 2003-2004. The whole office at the time consisted of about nine people, three of us being interns. My first Rome board was a 158.5 Anthem LE. The Limited Edition graphics were really simple, mostly black, with a few silhouetted people in yellow. I actually just gave it to a friend a few years ago when he decided to quit skiing, after I put many, many miles on it. That board had survived and seen more Teton peaks than any other board I’ve owned. What did you do for the internship? I worked for Paul as an Engineering intern although I was utilized all over the office. My first day I wore a certain rival Vermont snowboard company’s hoodie and was nearly taken out back and tied to the train tracks. My day-to-day duties varied from shipping product, to cutting stencils, and eventually fabricating a simple machine to quality control test boards as they came in from the factory. At one point I was undertaking late night, unsanctioned operations in the UVM machine shop, grinding a few millimeters off of many thousands of binding screws to be the correct size. How long have you been living in Jackson? There’s an old saying that goes something like...“I moved here for a winter and haven’t left since”. For me that was 8 years ago now.
50 We Make Snowboarding…Keep Priorities Straight
Working at a place like Alaska Rendezvous Lodge Heli Guides is the dream job for a snowboarder. How did you get into working with Alaska Rendezvous Lodge? Luck. And timing I guess. I had the pleasure of being a bartender at a place in Jackson that Theo Meiners, the owner of the Rendezvous, would frequent. So after petitioning him for a few years, he approached me one day and told me to buy a ticket to Anchorage. When I showed up there in 2007, I knew I’d be bartending a few shifts, but what I didn’t know was the myriad of other jobs I’d be doing. My first day there I was shoveling snow and ice off a roof, when I was told to get dressed and get into the heli. For anyone who has ever been shredding in AK, they can attest to the feeling I had right there and then: I would do whatever it took to keep doing that for as long as I could. What do you do for Alaska Rendezvous Lodge? I do a lot of things. I’ve been an apprentice guide for the last few seasons, but my responsibilities go way deeper than that. I work with a tight crew of diesel-scented guys who are responsible for keeping the place running. It takes a real-deal team effort to maintain the generator, heaters, plumbing and grounds. Now, it’s not to say that any of us have any formal training to work on diesel
Alaska is exactly what you’ve always heard. It is the pinnacle of all things snowboarding. It’d be easy to say that it’s the massive runs that are blanketed in the most perfect you could every experience, but it goes so much deeper than that. Every single day in Alaska is an adventure; there is no such thing as an “average” day up there. It’s the kind of place that has endless appeal. You can try and put your finger on it, but Alaska has that allure of being in such a wild, untamed place, there are very few places like it left on this planet. Most people with engineering degrees go ride a place like Jackson for a year or two and then enter the “real world”. How did you make a different decision? That’s an incredibly difficult question for me to answer. I guess that my experiences and travels have conspired to keep me here, doing what I love. As clichéd as it sounds, there is nowhere I feel more at home than I do when I am in the mountains. Hopefully I have many powder days ahead of me.
The Most Important Punk Rock Band in Snowboarding
Spit Jack is our favorite punk band. Mainly because we know everyone in the band (and because they are awesome). What other punk rock band features three members who hold day jobs in the snowboarding biz? The drummer makes snowboard art, the bass player makes snowboard gloves, and the frontman manages one of the best snowboard shops in the country. Destroying one bar at a time, the legend of Spit Jack has grown as fast as the list of venues refusing to invite them back. Over the last few formative years, the band has been physically removed from venues, has played so hard they blew the power grid, and has scared the shit out of the local PD. In fall of 2010 Spit Jack was formed after some casual jam sessions led to a moment of revelation…the idea that Northern Vermont needed a band that could rock your face, clothing, and doors off, while still sounding good. Armed with all the components to make this idea come true, they set out to take over the small town of Waterbury, easily done, and move to the cities of, Burlington and even Denver. One thing that makes Spit Jack unique is that 75% of the members are snowboarders who pay the bills by working in the snowboard “industry”. For these three members, their lives took the following path—snowboard for a long time, then get a job in snowboarding and then start Spit Jack. Before they were cruising in a busted limo with a stereo that only plays Beastie Boys cuts, you could find them waking up early to hike fresh tracks or lapping the park with friends. Snowboarders are what they are and a ridiculously good punk band is what they have become. On the mic, menacingly, is Mike Toohey, a true Vermonter who made his name at Stowe coaching young groms and managing the well-known shred shop, Darkside. If you’ve seen a Spit Jack show, you understand that Toohey has a natural ability to bring raw energy to the stage. Toohey also happens to be an amazingly talented person with his feet strapped to a snowboard—and has tested for Rome for a long time.
heart, Forester worked at Causalties in Marquette, MI, then he interned for Rome as a design student, and then he made the move to Vermont to shred mornings before cranking out artwork. Holding down the low end of this rowdy rock foursome on bass is one of the Syndicate’s very own product managers—George Eget. If you’ve ever slipped your hands into a pair of Rome gloves, checked your boards in an SDS boardbag, or kept your ears warm with a little love from a Rome original hat, then you are experiencing the hard work of Rome’s one and only George Eget. Crawling his way up from the foothills of Pennsyltucky, George was addicted to the float of powder and the speed of straight-lining local hills. Along with guitarist Tom Theohary (who rides something unmentionable), Spit Jack has created something fans have come to love, and businesses have grown to hate. Their music is infectious and their growing “Spit Jack Army” has caught a fever for the cocktail of more music, whiskey, and plenty of beer. As for their name, “It is not a reference to a crude sexual act, as has often been suggested by fans and media. Nor is it a reference to audience members spitting whiskey at the stage, which happens routinely — usually as a mistaken homage to the band’s moniker.” – Dan Bolles: Seven Days “Vermont’s independent voice”
Above all…they are snowboarders.
* Spit Jack ‘s CD is availiable for purcahse on itunes. For more info about the band and list of shows, check out Spit Jack at www.spitjackband.net
Hailing from dirty Detroit (and the home mountain of TJ and Rutecki), is the rhythm and percussive backbone of Spit Jack—Mike Forester. A snowboard graphic designer at a firm in Burlington, Forester pounds out the beat of their debauchery, while being showered in whiskey and dodging jet propelled beer cans or loosely fired shot glasses. A rider at
We Make Snowboarding…dirty 51
35
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
see all models at romesnoWboards.com
35
see all tees & apparel at romesnoWboards.com
STALE
www.romesnowboards.com