COVE R S TO RY LO F OTEN ISL AND S , N O RWAY Intro by Daniel Cochrane
Photos by Bob Plumb
Grif f in Sieber t
F u j i F i l m X-T 2
T he L ofoten A rch ipela go e x tend s into t he Nor weg ia n Se a on t he nor t hwe stern fac e of Nor way w it h in t he A rct ic C i r c l e . It m o s t l i k e l y d o e s n't n e e d t o b e s a i d , b u t t h i s is not a snowboa rding Mecca. This sma ll deta il wa s of no hindra nce a s Grif f in Seiber t, Jerm, Br ya n Fox, a nd B o b P l u m b j o i n e d Te a m M a n a g e r K n u t E l i a s s e n a n d a h o s t o f r i d e r s f r o m t h e Ni t r o E u r o t e a m f o r a m u l t i - w e e k advent u re e xploring t h is u nique de st inat ion.
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T he t h ree-week e sc ape in A pri l a nd May took adva nt a ge o f t h e p r e v i o u s w i n t e r's r e m a i n i n g s n o w p a c k a s w e l l a s t he e x tended d aylig ht of spring t hat one enc ou nters in t he A rct ic Circle. T he re su lt s were t wo-fold; f irst, long d a y s a n d e x t e n d e d p e r i o d s o f "s u n s e t" l i g h t i n g m a d e for a majestic ca nva s a nd second ly a nd obvious lack of snowboa rd ing cu lt u re me a nt bot h a bla n k slate a nd a b a c k t o b a s i c s m e n t a l i t y f o r t h e c r e w. W h e n t h e r e a r e n o s t r e e t s , t h e r e a r e a s s u r e d l y n o s t r e e t s p o t s ; h o w e v e r, a n y t h i n g i s f o d d e r f o r f i l m i f y o u'r e i m a g i n a t i o n i s a gi le enoug h. Boat s a nd dock s bec a me jibs a nd stora ge t a n k s t u r n i n t o q u a r t e r p i p e s a s " d o w n t i m e" i n t h e s m a l l f ishing villages that dot the coa st wa s actua lly a ny thing but. A bove t he coa st split boa rd exped it ions y ielded majestic turns from pea k s to sea. There is something ma gic a l about rid ing snowboa rd s w it h in v ie w of t he ocea n. The sounds of your turns a re echoed by the rhy t hmic cra shing of t he waves below f u lly joining you to t he tot a l moment of e ver y t h ing t hat su rrou nd s you. Or perhaps it is t he c onnec t ion bet ween t he d i f ferent st ate s o f w a t e r, a n o d t o t h e p r o c e s s e s o f o u r n a t u r a l w o r l d t h a t enable u s to experienc e it in a mu lt it ude of way s. It w a s h e r e , o n t h e p e a k s , d u r i n g o n e o f a m y r i a d moment s, t hat Bob Plu mb c apt u red ou r cover ima ge of Grif f in Seiber t. Fa r above t he sea, a simple turn, t he c onnec t ion of pu r pose a nd intent. A moment of snowboa rd ing at it s most aut hent ic, t he ver y f irst goa l for ever yone t hat ha s ever strapped in; merely ma k ing a turn. That goa l ma nifested a million times by riders on sma l l m id-we stern h i l ls, snow-covered cit y pa rk s in E u r o p e , h i g h a b o v e t h e s e a i n o n e o f s n o w b o a r d i n g's f i n a l f r o n t i e r s L o f o t e n , N o r w a y, a n d n o w h e r e o n t h e c o v e r o f ou r hu mble public at ion a s a reminder to you where we a l l beg a n a nd where t he jou rne y ha s t he potent ia l to t a ke u s.
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