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For more than 18 years, Bataleon has led the industry in 3D shape technology. We’ve perfected our patented Triple Base Technology™, producing boards with traditional camber and lifted contact points, making snowboarding more enjoyable for all. The Future is 3D. Ride the Future.
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TRAVIS RICE
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NILS ARVIDSSON PHOTO. ALEX ROBERTS
PINK DOLLAR POSSY PORTFOLIO: BENJAMIN LITTLER SNOWBOARDING TOMORROW? INSHALLAH! YLFA RÚNARSDÓTTIR BUILDING AUDI NINES RORSCHACH: MIA LAMBSON CHROMA/POLY FOXHOLE SNOWMELT IN DENVER THE UNTITLED PAGE OASEN ---------- 22.1
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EDITOR IN CHIEF:
ONLINE EDITOR & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER:
WILL RADULA-SCOTT will@methodmag.com
NORTHERN CORRESPONDENT:
CAITLIN MURRAY caitlin@methodmag.com ART DIRECTOR:
MACIEJ PRZĘŻAK
HI!
Yeah, you, how ya’ doin? Thanks for picking up this copy of Method Mag, we’re stoked that you’re holding it in your hands. Let me kick off Volume 22 by telling you about how my day started. I have a high-backed office chair, and my cat likes to sit on the top of it. Her name is Moneypenny. She perches up there while I work, like a parrot on a pirate’s shoulder. It’s quite cozy actually, she acts like a fluffy pillow, and purrs right in my ear. Sometimes my wife gets jealous of how much time we get to spend together, because I work at home and she doesn’t. This morning I sat down to work on the mag, and, right on cue, Moneypenny jumped up behind me and settled down. Just as I’d started typing, I heard a very distinctive sound. It was the sound my cat makes when she’s about to vomit. I turned my head, just in time to watch her heave her breakfast out of her mouth. The chair is quite high, so we both had enough time to watch a half digested load of food fall, and then splat onto the floor. Unfortunately I have a rug in my office, and it doesn’t handle cat vomit particularly well. *Sigh*. She looked down at her breakfast, and then turned to look at me. I looked back at her. This wasn’t the best start to the day, but I suppose it could be worse. Then she puked again, and this time some of it went on the chair too. *Deeper sigh*. So that’s my story. It’s not particularly news-worthy, but there you go. We all face challenges in life, and whatever your own personal struggle might be, from all of us at Method Mag, we hope that you’re doing ok. Seriously, we mean that. If you ever want to reach out, about anything at all, please do. Even if it’s a complaint about the mag, we’ll still read it. We might not do anything about your complaints, but we’ll still read them. And hey, at least your cat didn’t puke on the chair you’re sitting in, as you sat in it. Or if it did, at least I can share your pain. Ok, that’s enough from me. Turn these pages and dig in. We hope the visual and written content in the upcoming volume entertains you, challenges you, and inspires you. Most of all, we hope it gets you stoked about snowboarding. When you’re done reading, we’d recommend that you go outside, strap in and have fun on your board. If it hasn’t yet snowed where you live, go outside and strap in anyway, and wait. When the snow falls eventually, you’ll be ready. Maybe take the mag with you to help pass the time. THEO X
ALL WAYS DOWN ALL WAYS DOWN ALL WAYS DOWN
THEO ACWORTH theo@methodmag.com
ONLINE GRAPHIC DESIGN:
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CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS:
Alex Roberts, Evan Pierce, Hank Elholm, Benny Urban, Ashley Rosemeyer, Theo Acworth, Kuno Egli, Niels Schack, Benjamin Littler, Arthur Ghilini, Mark Clavin, Silvano Zeiter, Markus Rohrbacher, Aaron Schwartz, Liam Glass, Troy Tanner, Trevor Brady, Oli Gagnon, Matt Georges, Fernando Marmolejo, Hondo CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:
Ashley Rosemeyer, Benjam Littler, Benny Urban, Bruno Rivoire SALES & ADVERTISING: Chris McAlpine chriso@methodmag.com Skype: chrisomcalpine +46 729 338 556 DISTRIBUTION: Steve Dowle steve@methodmag.com PRINTERS: TUIJTEL Industriestraat 10 | 3371 XD PO box 18 | 3370 AA Hardinxveld-Giessendam | NL DISTRIBUTION: Rhenus Logistics Eektestraat 2, 7575 AP Oldenzaal The Netherlands METHOD MEDIA LTD Method Media Pantiles Chambers 85 High St Royal Tunbridge Wells TN1 1XP England Tel:(+44) (0) 871-218-9978
COVER STORY We wanted to come up with three different concepts for our flip book triplets named Poly. After we shot the black and white follow-cam stuff and the night shred photos with the red strobe, I counted on the blurry guy-in-the-sky vibe to become the third and final volume. The guys from Snowpark Laax shaped a nice little hip, and we cut a hole into the table so filmer Willem Jones and I could cuddle in there to shoot. Whether the whole thing was going to work was more than questionable to me before and throughout the session. It was crucial to find just the right shutter speed to make the rider blurred against the blue sky while also keeping the trick somewhat recognisable. Little did I know that Sevey’s first hit would end up being a Method cover, but we’re more than thrilled that it did. Thank you! - SILVANO ZEITER
Copyright 2021 Method Media Ltd. No liability is accepted for the accuracy of the information contained herein, nor are any guarantees given by the magazine. Copyright worldwide of original material is held by Method Media Ltd and permission must be obtained for any use, transmission, storage or reproduction. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily shared by the publisher. Method Media Ltd assumes fuck fuckity fuck no responsibility for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. Thanks for choosing Method Mag.
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ALL WAYS DOWN ALL WAYS DOWN ALL WAYS DOWN RIDER / NATE HAUST
BOARD / AGENT
BINDINGS / KATANA
PHOTO / MICHAEL PADDOCK
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@romesnowboards
03.10.2021 13:22
PHOTO. EVAN PIERCE & HANK ELHOLM INTERVIEW. THEO ACWORTH
IT’S NOT OFTEN THAT YOU ENCOUNTER THE PHRASE ‘QUEER AS FUCK’ IN A SNOWBOARD PROJECT PROPOSAL, BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE FOUND OURSELVES READING AFTER OPENING AN EMAIL FROM CASEY PFLIPSEN ABOUT THE UPCOMING PINK DOLLAR POSSY VIDEO. THE LANGUAGE WAS DIRECT AND THE GRAPHICS WERE LOUD. WE KNEW WE HAD TO GET HIM AND HIS POSSY CO-FOUNDER ELIAS LAMM ON THE PHONE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE VIDEO, THE POSSY, AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN. THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR. THE GAME IS CHANGING. METHOD 21 ----------- 22.1
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Elias. Yeah, it kind of opened the door to more people talking about it with us, which makes us more comfortable Whereabouts are you guys in the US? to talk about it and be What are attitudes like there towards ourselves around other queer culture, and how have people people on the hill. And been reacting to the Possy? around spots too. EL: We’re in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in This isn’t the nicest Minnesota. For the most part, we’ve question, but have you been getting super positive feedback. received any negative Both from friends and people who’ve seen us on the hill or at spots, they’ve feedback, and if so, heard about the Possy, and they ask how do you handle it? us about it. This is cool because then EL: It’s pretty much all we can be more open with non-queer been positive. The only people. And we’ve also been getting a thing that I think people ton of love from people all around the have said is stuff like, ‚Why does your sexuality world and the United States. have to be involved with CP: Actually, I think Minneapolis snowboarding?’ is one of the top five gay cities in CP: Yeah, some people America right now. It has a very high are like, ‚No one cares.’ gay population, but not really inside One time someone the snowboard community. But it’s commented that on a starting to intermix, which is really TikTok video, and it was cool. a bangin’ video! We were throwing down at Were you guys nervous about Timberline. So I went putting yourselves and also the onto this dude’s profile, project out there? and I shot back in the CP: Oh yeah, a little bit at first. comment section on a EL: Yeah, at first we were nervous and video. I clapped back. didn’t know where to start to get things going. And then Seen Snowboarding Was there any and Torment did the Pride stuff last response from him? year, and after that, we were just like, CP: Surprisingly not, there was no ok, let’s get the ball rolling. response from him. I was hoping for a because you’re not sure how people will react. But when we’re together, we’re stronger in numbers. And we are queer as fuck and in your face.
H
ey Casey, hey Elias. Tell us, what is the Pink Dollar Possy? CP: We are a crew of queer snowboarders who snowboard together and make videos. Elias Lamm: It’s a space for queer snowboarders to just be themselves. In this kind of hetero snowboard world that we grew up in, we’re just trying to create that kind of space for future generations. CP: We’re here to change the game. Well, it seems like you guys are already doing exactly that. In the project deck you described the movie as an ‚unapologetic approach at bringing the queer as fuck, in your face attitude to snowboarding’. CP: Amen, that’s exactly the vibe we’re going for. There definitely isn’t too much of that sort of approach in snowboarding. Actually, there isn’t really any of that in snowboarding. What was the motivation for you to start this project and create this space? CP: We’re just sick of hiding and assimilating into a straight atmosphere, you know? When you’re around straight people all the time, it’s not as easy for us to be in your face and queer
That’s really nice to hear that those interviews and features gave you the strength and the confidence to do your own thing. That was only a year ago, and it’s already having such positive effects and bringing some big changes to snowboarding CP: Amen. EL: Shoutout to Tanner Pendleton. He’s doing a lot behind the scenes for snowboarding and the queer community.
nice little fight.
Have you ever had anything like that said to you in person? CP: I doubt anyone would ever say that to my face. If they did, I would beat their ass. And they know that. EL: If someone said that to my face I would just not respond, because I just feel bad for them. If that’s your mindset, that sucks for you. Because that’s a shitty place to be.
I’m not sure why, but something about the internet seems to make people feel entitled to pass judgement on other people’s lives. Some stuff I saw in the Snowboarder IG comments on this topic was pretty horrific. But it seems like you’re in a very confident space at And it’s really cool to hear that the moment? people have been coming up to you CP: For sure, I wouldn’t let any on the hill and talking to you about negative comments get me down. If the Possy. Absolutely. I’ve also seen some clips and photos of Russell Winfield and Krush Kulesza repping your merch? EL: Yeah, that was so sweet to see those guys support and reach out. They are some great allies.
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anything, it makes me stronger. They hate us ‚cause they ain’t us. EL: That’s a fact. If what we do is affecting you, then you’re probably a little insecure about your own sexuality. I reckon that’s pretty bang on. So going back to the project this year, I don’t actually know what it’s called. Have you settled on a name? CP: The name is ‚Performance.’ It derives from Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity and how we’re all just performing our own gender. But also when we’re on a snowboard, whether you like it or not, we’re just performing, you know? You’re performing for the camera when you’re filming a video. You say you do it for yourself, but when you’re out there risking your life, we’re really just doing it for the performance.
Can you tell us a bit more about that? CP: Yeah, so even with the title, I thought about it with Eli. The title is giving a shoutout to queer theory. I’ve also been working on some motion graphics with the help of Eli that will bring in historical images of queer theory or queer events such as Stonewall and The Compton riots, as well as everything in between then and what’s going on right now.
It’s not that common to take a conceptual approach to making a snowboard video. How has that been as a process for you? CP: It feels good. It feels amazing. It puts meaning to our snowboarding, you know? What we’re doing is more than just snowboarding. We’re trying to send a message, make some waves and change the game. EL: And we have all this B-roll that Am I right in thinking you’ve also maybe isn’t what you’d typically see been sourcing imagery from in other movies. queer historical narratives and CP: Instead of clips of us throwing incorporating them into the film? back beers, It might be shots of us ---------- 22.1
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twerkin’ that ass *laughs*. *Laughs* It sounds like a rewarding process and also an entertaining one. CP: We’re hoping we can put on a good performance for anyone who watches it. These are good questions. I’m glad that you’re asking about the project. Happy to hear that. Eli, am I right in thinking that besides ripping, you’re also editing the movie? EL: For the most part, yeah. We split up some stuff and collaborated on things. Casey is putting together Instagram edits, and I’m doing that too. But as the movie goes, I’ve been in the stew and getting familiar with all the footage and stuff. Just trying to make things flow. CP: Eli is the main editor for the movie. But as for filming, we split it up pretty evenly. Basically, we go to the spot, and I’ll film Eli do his trick, and then he would film me doing my trick. It worked out really good.
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That’s nice to hear that it works well between you. Not having a dedicated filmer can sometimes be a tricky one to balance. EL: We’re both filmmakers. So it’s kind of cool to just bring our ideas and minds together to try and create some cool shit. CP: It’s super fun.
CASEY PFLIPSEN *PHOTO. HANK ELHOM
You never get torn between the filming and riding roles? EL: Sometimes it can be hard when you’re at a spot, and you’re trying to focus on the trick, but then you’re filming and going back and forth. But for the most part, it’s really fun. One person gets a trick, and then you hop on the cam and you shoot your homie getting a trick. CP: Sometimes it’s hard. Say if I’m doing a trick, Eli will be filming it. We also might have another camera on a tripod, so I might have to press start and stop every time before I drop if the camera is too far away from Eli, or vice versa. So sometimes you’re the filmer and the snowboarder at the same time. EL: We have had some other filmers at spots. Dan Pergrin from Onlookers helped us out, that was tight. And John Rapinac, Collin Maynard and other various homies have filmed for us. CP: Having a filmer at spots has been so cool. You just get to relax. I don’t even have to think about how the shot’s gonna look ‚cause I know that Dan is going to make the shot look good. Or with people like Spencer Nelson or Riley Erickson from 1817.
CASEY PFLIPSEN *PHOTO. HANK ELHOM
It’s always good when you know the filmer their shit dialled. Were there any standout moments or stories from filming this winter? EL: One time we were at a spot, we’d been a few times and would get kicked out right away. You can only hit it right after a storm, and one morning we thought we had a chance. Three of the neighbours came out into this cul-de-sac, and they all started screaming and yelling at us. We wanted to get this shot so bad. And they were all screaming that they were calling the cops and standing in front of the rail and stuff. So that was kind of funny. CP: Imagine three Karens coming at you. [The crazy woman in St Louis waving a gun at protestors]. They
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were so aggressive, just because we wanted to snowboard on the rail in the park. It wasn’t even their property. It was so wack. Did you get the shot in the end? EL: No. CP: In the end, I walked up with my shovel in my hand and went up to one of the guys. I flipped him off and I said some gnarly shit. EL: Casey blew up on this dude. He fully had my back. CP: I really wanted Eli to get this clip. It would have been the most fire shot.
back in the car and hear the people in the front saying, ‚Oh my God, she was so hot. Check out that girl. Did you see that girl?’ CP: ‚I don’t care!’ It’s just nice to be surrounded by your people who are like you. But we still love snowboarding with our straight friends. They’re fucking awesome. Shoutout to all the straight friends who I filmed with in the past. I
Is there footage of this interaction? CP: There is, Dan was filming longlens. One of the guys was filming me on his phone, so I went up and screamed in his face. That clip is probably on Facebook somewhere. You should have asked him to AirDrop it to you. What’s the best thing about filming with the Possy? CP: I love being able to talk about hot guys with the Possy, or hot cops, but fuck cops. EL: That’s a cool thing about the Possy in general, though. We will be done at spots, and when you get back in the car you can say, ‚damn, that guy was hot’. Back in the day, you’d get ---------- 22.1
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wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. Our allies are amazing. EL: Definitely. What was coming out like for you guys? Did any of your friends inside or outside snowboarding know you were gay before you started the Possy? CP: I definitely hid it from snowboarding. A year or two ago was when I started coming out to snowboard friends. It was mostly positive reactions from family, school and snowboarding. What about you, Eli? EL: I came out, and I guess people were surprised mostly. Friends and snowboard friends started finding out. I guess one thing I found out is trying to guess whether someone knows or not. You come out, and you think they might know, and people might find out, and then you realise that people are still finding out. So you kind of end up coming out over and over again. So that’s why it’s important to just be visible.
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environment and you know your situation. EL: It’s ok if you don’t feel comfortable to come out right now. But just know that you’ve got people that love you. From our perspective, it’s been the best thing to come out and just be open. You get so much love, and you can find so much more love for yourself.
Have you guys got any advice to offer anyone who might be struggling with aspects of who they are? CP: There’s no rush to come out until you feel like you’re in a safe
Where do you hope the Pink Dollar Possy will go in the future? EL: Hopefully it can be a platform for younger kids to look up to who might be struggling with their sexuality. We know that growing up in the snowboard scene wasn’t that easy for us, so we’re just trying to normalise things for others. Also trying to get new members for the Possy. Maybe doing a full 30-minute movie with all-queer riders. CP: I hope we just keep building our queer army, and hopefully someday we’ll have money to travel to our queer friends who live far away who we can’t
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film with right now. EL: Or even sponsoring other queer riders, or having someone like Jake Kuzyk ride with us. It seems like what you’re doing is already having a very wide impact beyond what’s immediately around you, and we’re stoked to see how things develop. What’s the best thing we, as a magazine, can do to help support the Possy? CP: The best thing you can do is just make sure you’re including people from all different genders, races and sexualities. Not leaving them out in the pages. Just be conscious about who’s getting what exposure, and how much of it. But it seems like you guys are on the right track for this progression. So thank you for reaching out to us and letting us tell our story. That’s what we’re here for. Ok, I think we can leave things there. Any last words or shoutouts? CP: Shoutout to our photographer Mariah. And Dan Pergrin, Riley Erickson, Jeff Deforge, Devi Gupta. And Josh Tramby for letting us borrow his winch. He’s also a fellow gay snowboarder. EL: Shoutout Sierra. Charlie Falcher, Collin Maynor. There are some allies who helped us out a lot along the way. Shoutout to anyone who helped us at a spot last winter. METHOD 21 ----------- 22.1
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22.1
M
ethod Mag was recently approached by a brokering company, asking if we would be interested in buying something from a seller they represented. For legal purposes we won’t disclose exactly what was on the table, but it sat in the realms of technology and had the apparent potential to be very successful if handled correctly. The asking price was close to $1.000.000, which was pretty high, but we were told that the benefits were boundless. We didn’t want to miss the chance to steer the Method ship into new and prosperous waters, so we handed control of the situation to our business editor Magnus Biggs [seen below, in his file photo]. Magnus haggled hard and drove the seller down, offering to throw in a private day of riding with Travis Rice (we didn’t ask Travis, but we probably could have hooked that up), and also offering to put them on the front cover of the magazine (easily worth a million). Unfortunately, negotiations broke down, and Magnus, despite his MBA from Harvard Business School, failed to close the deal. He didn’t come away empty-handed, though. Through the experience, he’d gained some insights from the seller about business in the 21st Century. We were both intrigued and disturbed by what he had to tell us.
METHOD’S CONTENT WASN’T TRUSTWORTHY. METHOD DIDN’T HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE A BILLION-DOLLAR BRAND. WE MIGHT SAVE MONEY IN THE SHORT TERM, BUT IT WOULD COST US MORE LONG TERM. IF YOU’RE NOT GROWING, YOU’RE SHRINKING. WE WERE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE. TRADITIONAL MAGAZINES ARE NOT THE FUTURE. IF METHOD DIDN’T INVEST HEAVILY IN THE INTERNET, WE WOULD BE FOREVER DOOMED. WE WERE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE. THE SELLER WAS WILLING TO ACCEPT PAYMENT PLANS, IF WE COULDN’T PAY CASH. We were saddened to learn that we were untrustworthy and at the risk of being forever doomed. Perhaps this is the last you’ll ever hear from us? That would be a shame, don’t you think? We love making snowboard magazines, and don’t you love reading them? Besides, Magnus doesn’t want to look for another job, and he likes wearing his corduroy jacket to work. So help him out, and show him some love. Subscribe to the magazine, or snag a hoodie or something so we can continue to bring you all the snowboard goodness you need. If you all do that, we’ll get to a billion dollars eventually. For financial enquiries contact magnus@methodmag.com
SERIOUS BUSINESS ONLY.
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MIKE DARGEL [ SNOWPARK LAAX ]
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22.1
TECH TALK *WORDS. NICHOLAS WOLKEN *PHOTO. AARON SCHWARTZ
KORUA NOSERIDER
If the Noserider was a flavour, what flavour would it be? Sweet or Sour, depending on how you treat it. The pilot of the plane has passed out and the Noserider has taken the controls. What happens next? It obviously nosedives, but catches itself right before disaster strikes. The Noserider is DJing a house party, what kind of music is it playing? Groovy Funk until it dives its nose into the white stuff, then it I’ll hit the crowd with some dreamy trance beats.
If the answer is ‘Noserider’, what is the question? Unlimited Stance options? Which Greek philosopher would the Noserider most relate to? Plato and the cave allegory. What does the Noserider value in a person? Creativity, curiosity and an open mind. Which item can’t the Noserider live without? EST compatible insert discs.
The Noserider would never ever: Be boring.
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P HO T O: G U S WA RBING T O N
TU CK E R ANDR E W S
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30.09.2021 21:27
* PURPLE SQUAD
22.1 *WORDS & PHOTO. ASHLEY ROSEMEYER
HAPPENINGS
IT’S TITS T
I have been shooting this event since it was launched in 2018. The only female photographers at the time were me, Mary Walsh and Gill Montgomery. There was maybe one filmer there, and mostly riders were filming each other on their iPhones. Fast forward to 2021, there were SO MANY female photographers and also a few female filmers. I was honestly so blown away and pleasantly surprised. It is so important to have events like these that showcase the level of women’s riding and bring together this amazing snowboarding community to bounce ideas off of one another that move this industry forward in an all-inclusive light. Already looking forward to next year! * STEFFI LUXTON
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METHOD 21 ----------- 22.1 / HAPPENINGS
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p: Tim Zimmerman
he event I personally look forward to year after year, „It’s Tits!”. The female-focused and non-binary event that’s brought to you by Krush Kulesza, Jess Kimura, and Barrett Christy. It celebrates women’s snowboarding with a focus on community and progression in an inclusive, stress-free setting. This event also raises funds for B4BC (boarding for breast cancer), so how much more rad can it get?
p: Tim Zimmerman
TRAVIS RICE
MERVIN AND TRAVIS WILL BE DONATING A PORTION OF THE SALE OF EACH ORCA SNOWBOARD TO THE ORCA CONSERVANCY To learn more about their efforts and join the pod yourself go to www.orcaconservancy.org #betheirvoice
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30.09.2021 21:37
*PHOTO KUNO EGLI HOOLIGANS: YANNICK IMBODEN & WILLIAM ARNOLD
HOLD FAST TWEAK HARD WHAT DOES YOUR SATURDAY NIGHT LOOK LIKE?
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RIDE_ZE
SNOWBOARDS FOR EVERYBODY
ZERO JUDGMENTS
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3. 4. 5. *PHOTO ASHLEY ROSEMEYER
MAGGIE LEON
5 things you can’t live without
5 things you know you need to work on 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Frontboards. Relaxing. Putting. Eating healthy. My current highback project.
5 things about filming with your brother 1. 2.
He’ll give me shit and can tell if I’m not pushing myself. He knows how to set up a spot perfectly. We have the same nickname for each other so sometimes people get confused.
We’re constantly hyping each other up. He’s always down to go out and get a clip.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
My dog Snoopy. Snowboarding. Killington. My Mom. Jargs.
5 things about Spotheads 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
We’ve all known each other forever. Most dysfunctional. functioning crew. Very loud. Best people on earth to party with. I love them all. 5 things that are totally overrated 1. Only hitting natural spots. 2. Quebec City (we’ve had some unlucky times there). 3. Fashion. 4. Instagram. 5. Soda. 5 things about working at Burton 1. Snoopy can come to work with me. 2. Skating the ramps at lunch. 3. The fall bash. 4. Company meetings are fun. 5. Coworkers are cool. 5 things about the Craig Kelly Proto Facility 1. Craig’s allows us to quickly execute creative ideas - fail fast
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and fail often. 2. In the Rapid Prototype lab there are 3 different types of 3D printers used to create prototypes for various applications and environments. 3. The selective laser sintering (SLS) machine sinters a Nylon 11 material and allows our team to design and quickly grow parts to be tested on snow. 4. The board builders are insanely talented and experienced - they build some of the best boards out there. 5. If you dream up a design you can probably make it happen with the resources at Craig’s. 5 things you love about Product Design and Prototype Engineering 1.
2. 3. 4. 5.
Continually working and innovating to hopefully make an impact in the snowboard industry. Becoming more skilled in CAD surface modelling. Learning new and better practices from other engineers. Having a say in the hardwoods product direction. Working with team riders to improve our current gear.
5 favourite snowboarders 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Jess Kimura. Lucas Magoon. Johny O’Connor. Danimals. Tommy Gesme.
5 guilty pleasures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Fingerboarding. Taylor Swift. Justing Bieber. The Bachelor. Gossip Girl.
5 shout-outs 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Darkside. Burton. Doyle. Jess Kimura. Mom, Joey, and my girlfriend Kate.
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INTERVIEW. THEO ACWORTH PHOTO. NIELS SCHACK
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hy butterflies? Before we started designing anything, we knew the board was going to be called ‚Blossom’. Flowers were an obvious choice, and they are very in-trend, especially last year. We saw flowers everywhere, from Tyler The Creator to Louis Vuitton, so I thought that as a lot of cool as people were doing it right, we could mess around somewhere else. I was talking to Gus Englhorn and Estée Preda, who are some of the most creative people I know. They listen really well, and I think people like that are worth so much. So yeah, I was thinking of insects and wondering how we could do a board that’s kind of abstract. I just thought that the butterfly was a beautiful creature and a very interesting shape to play around with. When they dance, they don’t really have an up or a down. So when the board is doing 360s and spinning through the air, it sort of turns into this mush of colour, like a kaleidoscope. Something beautiful and abstract. When a nicely designed car drives quickly past you, you just see nice lines, but you can’t take in the details until it stops. You might just glimpse it for a second, but you’ll still be able to know that it was something special. I really like the idea that the way a butterfly moves kind of matches the flight and movement of a snowboard. That’s really lovely. There we go. Nature inspiring us every day. Tell me about the actual drawing and designing process of the graphic. I had the blessing and privilege to work with Jackson Tupper. We’ve had a creative friendship for a while, both inside and outside Burton. I sort of did a little residence at his house for five days while in-between filming trips for One World. I drew these 1:1 scale, so the original drawings are the same size as the boards, and we didn’t do any photoshopping. We also used pastels, which are quick and messy. With painting, you need a set of paints and different brushes and stuff, but you can just open a box of 12 pastels and start straight away. There’s something quite primitive or primal about them. Look at Picasso’s Dove of Peace, they’re just simple lines, and he’s using those pastels like a magician. The simplicity of the graphic design of the top sheet and the painting on the base sort of clash too. You know when you have the clean outside lines of a classic car, but then on the inside, their leather might be all washed out from the sun or from years of use, or there’s some weird floral print somewhere? That was kind of the idea behind that. What was it like working with Burton on this board? They really gave me a lot of trust. I’ve been hard on them about the designs of boards in the past. I would just give them a bit of sass and complain that the boards looked gross. So it was really nice of them to take the time to explain to me why some boards are the way they are and that some consumers are very different to me. It was a nice learning curve. We did this in pretty much five days. Fifty years of legacy just handed to me like ‚Yo, have fun.’ I can’t express the shivers that that gave me. It was overwhelming.
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MIKKEL BANG
EDO LUMALENS GOLD ION ©2021 Marchon Eyewear Inc.
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This seems like something that can just float around and go where it likes. Who and what was the board intended for? I didn’t want to make a niche board that was only for me. I wanted it to reach the most number of people. I wanted it to be inclusive, which is why it’s gender-neutral. The size range is really large on this board, it goes from 149 to 162, so there’s a size for everyone. When the Lamb stuff came out with Gwen Stefani back in the day, I thought that was my shit and that they made that for me! That was just one of a million examples where girls want to ride guy’s stuff, and guys want to ride girl’s stuff. Imagine a black Mercedes S Class on the streets of Berlin. Who is that car for, a man or a woman? I guess my instant reaction would be a man, but just saying that out loud sounds silly. Then you see an OG lady step out with black sunglasses and a Dior handbag, and you straight away think that’s her shit 100%. It just depends on who’s driving it. You have to twist the angle. That was at the forefront of our discussions about the board. There are masculine cars, and there are feminine cars, but that’s also a construction of what gender should be like. If the board is light enough and there’s a large size range, it’s for anyone. Wow, there’s a lot more to this board than I realised. That’s rad. I just wanted to make something beautiful too. You know how you can give porcelain a kind of romantic poetic narrative? Especially in France, where things are really pretty, you can give a mug or a plate a sort of identity, even though they’re just essential objects. We had a lot of long discussions like this until the design made sense, almost even before I did the design. It’s also very different in the sense that there’s no brand name on the base. Yeah, that’s very, very different. That was a big thing. I can’t believe they said yes to that.
How does it feel seeing people all over the world riding this board? It’s sick! Seeing Zoi [Sadowski-Synott, Brock [Crouch] and Luke [Winklemann] riding it, it’s coming alive. I knew they would be riding it, so I sort of made it for them too. I’ve been seeing it twirling in the air and looking beautiful. Also, the logo on the top sheet, we made that too, and I’m really proud of it because, in the end, it really feels like a finished product. So it’s been a gift in five pieces. First, because I think we made a very cool piece of design. Second, when everyone at Burton was hyped internally about it. Third, when we showed it to the riders and they were hyped. Fourth, when I got to ride it for the first time. Then I got hurt and really frustrated and was only focussed on physio. But now I’m coming out of it, and I get the fifth gift because the board is out, and all the public are stoked too! What was it like riding it for the first time? I was riding in Laax, literally crying. It was so fun to ride, just swooshing and swerving. It was like the board that I’ve missed since the Mr Nice Guy, the Keegan board. It’s like that, but with even more zzziiiip! It’s technical, and it’s camber, and it’s got my name on it, and in the 152 size I love. Backlips have never been this easy. What’s the future of Blossom? Well, I don’t just want to make another one that’s the same. I like my friend’s style of painting more than I like mine. I like the process of painting, but not the finished product. So I thought I’ll do the first one and prove that Burton can trust me, and then maybe I can be part of the curation process for the next board. Perhaps we’ll make it really ugly, but referencing something ugly on purpose. It might be the best idea or the worst. Can we make mistakes? That’s what Blossom is all about.
It’s like you’ve made this little magic space that’s free from the usual rules of marketing. I ride pretty heavily shaped pow boards, but I kinda want this. Thank you so much. Burton were courageous to go do this with me. I have experience in making different things, but I don’t have experience in making snowboards. I couldn’t be more appreciative of the chance. That’s how people get good at stuff, you know? Here, ‚try this’. It’s nice when people give you the things you were dreaming of, but then you also panic at the same time about the pressure. But I didn’t have to hold this project by myself at all. Everybody helped each other at the right time. Everybody involved was super supportive, so it was a very inspiring process.
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Mothership Advanced Research Station 1
NESTLED IN THE BOSOM OF THE CARINTHIAN ALPS, EVERY SNOWBOARD WE MAKE IS IMBUED WITH ALPINE MAGIC AND CLEAN ENERGY GOODNESS.
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A - Taylor Miller does not care that you skate. B- Corinne Pasela with first tracks at Brighton, Utah. C - Darren Hainrihar going heelside into Slingshot. Mt. Baker, Washington.
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I, MY NAME IS BENJAMIN LITTLER and these are my photographs. They are a collection of images from my old home at Mt. Baker Washington and my current home in Salt Lake City, Utah. I created some using a Nikon L35AF with Kodak Tri-X 400 and I made others on a Hasselblad 500C/M with Kodak Portra 400.
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I learned to snowboard on small icy hills in the wooded farmlands near my childhood home of Syracuse, New York when I was very young. Around that same time I learned to compose images from my Grandpa Bob. When I would visit we would drive the country roads around Chateaugay, New York in his old pickup truck with a Pentax K1000 and he would teach me to truly see. At night you could park on a dark hill and look down onto the lights of Montreal.
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D - Corinne Pasela utilizing the rare snowfall in Salt Lake City, Utah last winter. E ----- F -Taylor Miller is not a poser. He’s as real as they come, but he did get caught wearing a Thrasher shirt on a snowboard session and had to eat his own words. Sharpie to the shirt. ---------- 22.1
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SEASON 21/22
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PHOTO. ARTHUR GHILINI INTERVIEW. THEO ACWORTH
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AST WINTER, VICTOR DAVIET AND THE MEMBERS OF ZOM CONNECTION MADE THE JOURNEY FROM FRANCE TO THE HINDU KUSH MOUNTAIN RANGE IN PAKISTAN. THEIR GOAL WAS TO DELIVER WINTER SPORTS EQUIPMENT AND TEACH THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES ABOUT SAFETY IN THE MOUNTAINS. THEY ALSO ENDED UP DANCING IN FRONT OF HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, STORING THEIR BOARDS IN MEAT LOCKERS, WINNING NATIONAL RACES, AND GETTING PEOPLE STOKED ON SNOWBOARDING WHO’D NEVER EXPERIENCED IT BEFORE. IN A TIME OF HUGE CURRENT UPHEAVAL AND FEAR FOLLOWING THE TALIBAN TAKEOVER OF NEIGHBOURING AFGHANISTAN, THIS STORY ABOUT OPENLY SHARING THE JOY OF SLIDING SIDEWAYS NOW HOLDS EVEN MORE WEIGHT. So Victor, why Pakistan? Was this another Trip Roulette, or something else? It was a mix. So recently I’ve been getting more and more into freeriding and I also organise Safety Shred Days which is a backcountry and avalanche training course in France and Switzerland. Through that, I got in touch with Julien ‘Pica’ Herry from Chamonix. He’s the king in Chamonix for steep slope riding. He asked me to come on this trip to Pakistan with his association called Zom Connection. He got caught in an avalanche two years ago and the community there helped him a lot, so he decided to create Zom Connection as a way to give something back. The goal is to collect winter equipment in the alps and send it out to Pakistan. So in autumn we collected and sent around 3 tons of skis/snowboards/ice skates/ cross county skis/ice climbing stuff out there. The goal for this trip was to
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go over there and distribute the gear, and also teach the locals how to use it with snowboard training. But I also wanted to give them some knowledge about avalanche rescue through the organization of the 1st Safety Shred Days Pakistan edition. The whole trip was such a different and incredible experience. Were you teaching people with zero experience? Yeah, some of the kids were learning it for the first time. The connection we had with them there was insane. Everyone was so hyped about the gear that we were bringing, but also stoked to have us in their country to share some good moments onboard. Where exactly were you? We were in two different areas. The first place was in the biggest resort in Pakistan, Mallam Jabba. It has a two-seat chairlift and is in the
middle of nowhere. The slope isn’t actually groomed because they don’t know how to do it properly. We’d coordinated our trip to coincide with a snow festival they have there. It’s not sketchy, but really unorganised. There’s a giant slalom competition and also a parallel slalom. We were there a few days before it started, and most of the snowboard community was there too. There aren’t too many skiers or snowboarders in Pakistan, but there is a small community. We were teaching the kids how to do ollies and even how to do their boots up and stuff. I taught them how to build their first backcountry kickers too, building blocks and stuff. Leaning to do up your boots and building your first jumps should definitely happen on the same day. Man they didn’t even care about doing up their boots, they just wanted to ride and send it! They didn’t even METHOD 21 -----------
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have snowboard pants or gloves or sunglasses or anything. There is a rental shop there and the kids have a bit of access to equipment for free. That’s rad that the shop does that. The shop is mostly there for people who come from the city, but most visitors just want to see snow for the first time and aren’t interested in riding themselves. People are so hyped to see it for the first time. There were a lot of people wanting to take selfies with my snowboard too. We had such a good connection to the kids though. They were treating me like a king, wanting to carry my board cleaning it for me, and riding the chairlift with me. They had never seen anyone do a 360 or a backflip or even a carve. They didn’t know it was possible to do something like that on a snowboard. It was so fun.
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How long were you there for? We were in Mallam Jabba for six days. We also ended up helping them organise the festival there, and they kinda forced us to participate in the competition! So now I’m officially the fastest guy at the International Competition of Snowboarding in Pakistan, Mallam Jabba. Congratulations! Thanks, but here is the best story about the comp. So we were teaching the kids how to snowboard for two or three days before the comp. Some of my ‘favourite’ riders were actually riding in the comp too. One kid was pretty shy but I could see that he had a lot of potential, and I’d been training him up. I gave him my goggles just so he could actually see in bad weather. We weren’t speaking much because he didn’t speak much English, but we had a good connection. For the comp, he ended up in the semi final, and it was starting to get really dark and was pretty sketchy to ride. It was super icy as they’d had kind of a bad winter over there. So the organiser was saying that they needed to do the final so they could actually finish the competition, but it was almost dark! I said no way, you can’t do that, it’s so sketchy. But they did it anyway. So my kid got through the semis and into the final, and now it was fully dark. The final was like David and Goliath. A tiny kid
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against the best rider in Afghanistan, because the Afghan team was there too. I thought there was no way he was gonna make it. So they start, and on the first turn my kid slides on his back edge and falls. I was like, ‘damn, no!’ Then the Afghan guy goes full speed and does two or three turns, and then also slips out on the ice. My kid got back up and passed him, and just got over the finish line before him! This competition is a pretty big deal there, it’s the only competition of the year, THE contest, you know? Usually my kid was skiing, but because we were coaching snowboarding, he was trying that. The whole village came to watch. After he won, they carried him in the air and they were all shouting and cheering and they wrapped him in the Pakistan flag. He was still strapped into his board! I cried. It’s one of the best snowboard memories of my life. The kid won quite a lot of money too, I think twice the minimum annual salary of Pakistan, which is only 500€ or something like that. He was crying so much, he was so happy. The spirit around that night was crazy. I met the kid’s father too. He was from a super poor family and the father asked me not to forget his kid and to help him if I thought he had potential as a snowboarder. Honestly, I’ve experienced so many things in snowboarding, but that night was truly amazing.
Wow, I’m getting kind of emotional even hearing about it, I love underdog stories. It sounds like a very rewarding experience for you? It was for sure. Oh yeah, I have a good story about the hotel. There’s one hotel there, and it’s quite fancy. Wherever you go in Pakistan there are guards with AK47s. So there are two checkpoints to get into the hotel, usually the kids would carry my board to these checkpoints but then wouldn’t go any further. But after a few days of doing this, I decided that I had to invite them in. The guards were trying to say no and that it wasn’t possible. But I said no, they are my guests, and they are coming in with me! So we got to the second checkpoint, same story, but we got through and then I brought them into the hotel. They all had huge eyes because it was the first time they’d been allowed inside, despite this place being in their own resort, you know? We had some tea and I taught them how to play Uno. The people who worked in the hotel were tripping because I’d brought four kids in all with pretty dirty clothes and smelling like horses and woodsmoke. The hotel staff were probably wondering what the fuck I was doing with them. That was a really fun part of the trip. The next day it was the same story but I was with ten kids! They understood the trick!
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It definitely sounds like you were keeping things real, good on you for bringing them in there. Where did you guys go after Mallam Jabba? So then we moved to another area in the Madaklasht valley. We were in touch with a ski and snowboard association there called Hindukush Ski Club. It’s pretty far out, the road there is gnarly. Really gnarly. Like as gnarly as you can imagine, super steep drops on the sides, a super sketchy dirt road. The village we went to is pretty special because there are only 3000 people in the country (from a population of 230 million) who ski or snowboard, and 1500 of them live in this one village in the middle of the mountains! But they don’t have slopes, or even proper gear. There is one field where all the kids and people are skiing non stop, every day! They either borrow skis from the association, or the local carpenter makes them out of wood. So you have many kids just skiing on wooden skis with tiny ropes as bindings. No pants or nothing, and they just send it all day, crashing into each other and everything. It’s pretty special.
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That sounds amazing, like the same kind of energy we had for it when we were kids. Yeah. So we stayed there for more than ten days. It was the same deal, distributing some gear and giving lessons and stuff. It was hard though, because we don’t have gear for the whole community. So we sort of ‘opened’ some rental shops where the kids could get the gear for free for a whole day. That sounds like a really good way to give everyone a chance to try it. Yeah it was the best way to do it! Even if sometimes they’re all fighting to get the gear first though, they really wanted it and they are ready to fight to keep their spot! It sounds like everyone reacted pretty well to what you were doing there? Yeah, they were all super welcoming and positive. We would be invited by a different family each night for dinner, share some dancing and of course some amazing times on boards. They were hyped for sure and kept amazing connections. We also brought
some splitboards. There have crazy mountains there. One day we went out and weren’t even at the top, and we were at more than 4000m. On both sides of their village they have mountains that are over 5000m easy, maybe 6000m. But they don’t have any experience. So my mission there was to organize a Safety Shred Days - Pakistan Edition. So we did one full day of avalanche training and explanation, because they had no idea what an avalanche even was. They had for real never heard of them. So this was really explaining from the ground up, using translators. We did a conference in the morning, and then went on snow for some avy training in the afternoon. Is mountaineering and mountain culture a thing over there? Well K2 is in Pakistan, so foreigners definitely know it as a mountain destination, but within the country, not at all. They are starting to get some revenue from tourism though, from European expeditions and stuff like that.
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Is Pakistan somewhere you think you’ll go back to? I hope so, to go freeriding there would be a pretty insane and scary mission. I was with a few alpinists on this trip who had already been there many times. I heard some crazy stories from them so you’d have to be seriously prepared for that sort of trip. I like freeriding, but it’s a totally different world. It’s a different level. For me, it was super cool to travel with people like that. It definitely wasn’t a regular snowboard trip, so the splitboarding with them was pretty gnarly and intense. What did you learn along the way on this trip? How to take a Pakistani shower! Even the guides who were used to difficult conditions though that was pretty interesting. Dancing too, we learnt a lot of dancing. There was a festival in the village at one point which lasted for four days. The chief of the village would tell us that it was our turn to dance in front of the whole village around the fire in front of the musicians! So we had some crazy times with the locals. Also because they’re Muslim, their relationships with women are really strange for us. The crew talked with the heads of the villages wherever we were. They started to talk and decided that we had done many things for the boys, but nothing for the girls. It’s just not common for the girls or women to ski or snowboard. It depends on the families, but if they’re quite restrictive, then no. So we created the opportunity to organise the firstever winter sports day for the young girls in the village. All them who were under 16 could come up and we did a whole day only for them where we taught them how to ride. We had so many girls trying it for the first time. It was so rad.
to make something like that a possibility for the girls there. All the people in the village who were a bit more open-minded told us that it was the first time they had ever seen something like that. Those girls are not usually allowed to do these fun winter activities. It was pretty special, every day we had some new actions and fun memories. We had an area to store our snowboards and things. So one morning I geared up my group of girls and we went snowboarding for the day. When we came back to drop off the gear, someone had put a bench inside the storage and it was covered in raw meat that they were storing for the festival. It was fucked up! The girls were just taking off their gear and sitting next to it and touching it, and it was probably our food for the next four days. Honestly though, it was a really cool experience because it’s such a different way of life over there.
That’s awesome. I guess we don’t think about something like that being too hard to do in Europe, so that’s really cool to hear that you were able to use your position
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You also did a Trip Roulette mission when you were there? Yeah, we did one at the end of the trip, it was just the perfect opportunity. We’re going to make a documentary out of the full trip. The filmer who was shooting it was also one of my filmers for Trip Roulette. So we did one episode that was Pakistan, Donkey, and Hot Locals. I took the five best snowboarders from the valley on a small adventure as far as we could into the valley. We slept in a mosque in pretty hardcore conditions. Especially as they don’t have sleeping bags. We have good gear, but we didn’t have much to lend them, so it was pretty intense. We went snowboarding for three days under a crazy glacier and we went there with donkeys and stuff. It was pretty crazy, and it was their first backcountry experience.
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They’d never used snowshoes or splitboards before. Some had only been snowboarding for ten days or something or had maybe never taken a chairlift. I think it’s gonna be a fun episode. It sounds like you had a good time, did they? Oh yeah. Every day I get photos and messages from the kids I taught, they show me jumps they did and new tricks and stuff. That’s lovely to hear. This was such a different experience for me. I went on a trip and taught some kids and didn’t just try to push yourself and film a videopart, you know? For once it was not fully selfish, and it felt good. But it was also challenging as a rider, because
we know that a season is really short and you need to make the best out of it. I dedicated some precious time for that project and am thankful for the support my sponsors gave me. I went to Pakistan for three weeks with some alpinists to teach snowboarding to kids! It’s my style though. I’m so hyped on that trip. I had some moments that I will never forget. For a few years now, I just wanted to shoot some core snowboarding, but then also have some adventures (through the Trip Roulette web series) because I felt like I needed it. Wherever I go, I meet people who are passionate about snowboarding, no matter what their religion or their politics. That’s what I like! Meeting people from a very different culture to mine, but who are on the same trip.
Rider:
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DIALOGUE LACE SJ BOA® LOUʼS CHOICE FOR ALL DAY COMFORT IN ALL CONDITIONS
Rider: Louif Paradis
Photo: Joeseph Roby
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INTERVIEW 22.1
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LFA MAKES YOU WANT TO GO SHREDDING. HER ENTHUSIASM, DRIVE AND DEDICATION TO SNOWBOARDING ARE CONTAGIOUS. WITH SOME HEAVY VIDEO PARTS IN BOTH UNINVITED MOVIES, FOLLOWED BY INDUSTRY ACCOLADES AND A RECENT SPONSORSHIP CHANGE TO THE BIG B, YLFA IS CERTAINLY PAVING HER WAY FORWARD IN THE SNOWBOARDING SCENE. WORKING TOGETHER LAST SEASON I SAW FIRST-HAND THE DIFFERENT SIDES TO HER SNOWBOARDING. FROM SPRING PARK LAPS IN KLÄPPEN, HITTING STREET SPOTS IN KIRUNA, NATURAL QUARTERPIPE SESSIONS IN HER OLD STOMPING GROUNDS OF RIKSGRÄNSEN, TO HER EXCEPTIONAL WORK WITH THE SWEDISH PROGSESSIONS AS A COACH AND MENTOR FOR OTHER FEMALE RIDERS OF ALL AGES. YLFA SEAMLESSLY BLENDS THE FUN AND SERIOUS SIDES OF SNOWBOARDING WHILE ALWAYS BEING INCLUSIVE AND HELPING TO KEEP EVERYONE’S STOKE LEVELS HIGH. MAKE SURE YOU LOOK OUT FOR HER NEW VIDEOPART AND SHE’S ALWAYS DOWN FOR A CHAT, SO SAY HI IF YOU SEE HER ON THE HILL OR IN THE STREETS (SHE’S THE ONE WITH THE SICK STYLE). Hey Ylfa, how’s it going? Good thanks. I’m outside on my balcony. Can you hear me? Yep, all good. How was your camping weekend? Amazing. It was Midsummer in Sweden, so we were celebrating the longest day of the year. Everyone gathers with friends and has a party. We were at a friend’s parent’s place in the countryside, there was a kind of abandoned factory that we made into a party hall. That sounds rad. So you’re in Sweden right now, but you’re originally from Iceland. How come you ended up living there? I started snowboarding when I was a teenager, and I was skateboarding a bit before that. Right after I got into snowboarding, I met Halldor and Eiki at a Lobster camp in Iceland. Those guys went to the snowboarding high school in Sweden, and Eiki basically said if I want to keep snowboarding that I should move to Sweden. There just wasn’t that much on offer in Iceland. Maybe one or two parks, but the weather is so crazy, and you can’t really count on winter there, so Sweden felt like a good idea. I was kind of in that snowboarding psychosis. I just wanted to snowboard. I’m still kind of in that, I guess. So you went to the same school as those guys? No, I didn’t. I applied for it, but I didn’t get in. But there’s kind of a funny twist. When I was applying for it, you had to do it through the Swedish Ski Association website, and you couldn’t submit your application unless you’d made a second choice. So the school I ended up going to was one that I just randomly put as my second choice. I didn’t even know what or where it was. When I found out I didn’t get into my first choice, I’d planned to just keep living in Iceland. So I wasn’t too sad about it, it was kind of a random thing to apply for it in the first
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place. Then I got an email from a coach at the other school, snowboarding was petty much brand new there, and he just wanted more snowboarders to join the program, and he told me that I should really apply for it because he really wanted me to come. It’s nice when things work out like that! So I applied, and then three weeks later, I moved to Sweden. I was way, way up north, in Kiruna. I think it’s the most northern city in Europe. Or one of them, at least. How old were you when you moved there? I think I was 15, turning 16. Wow, ok, really young. How was that experience for you? Completely leaving family and jumping to another country? You know, I didn’t even think about it at the time. I was just like, let’s go. And now when I see someone that’s 15 or 16, that’s pretty young! I just didn’t think it was a big deal at all at the time. That’s pretty cool to have had that freedom and confidence. Maybe knowing Halldor and Eiki had done it made it seem a bit less intimidating? Yeah, and my mum had actually done something pretty similar herself. She moved from Iceland to Norway when she was 16 to work on a horse ranch. So that’s why she was super chill about it. She knew that it was a cool experience. I guess the school provided accommodation for you? For the first year, yes. There were a few houses close by and we all had our own rooms and shared spaces. Dorms, is that the right word? Yeah, that’s right. And then, for the second year, we looked for places ourselves. METHOD 21 -----------
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PHOTO & INTRO. ALEX ROBERTS INTERVIEW. THEO ACWORTH
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It sounds kind of like a university for kids. That was a really cool experience, and it’s the kind of thing that makes you want to stay. If I lived somewhere super far away from school or wasn’t living with the people I was at school with, I don’t know if I would have lasted. When you’re so new somewhere, and you’re kind of in the middle of nowhere, your friends become your family. You’re just with them 24/7. Are there similarities between the Icelandic language and Swedish? Yeah, for sure, there’s a lot of words that you can figure out if you listen carefully. Swedes don’t really understand Icelandic people, but Icelandic people learn Danish in school, which is similar to Swedish. So I think that’s why it was easier for me to learn Swedish. The Danish King kind of owned Iceland for a long time, so we learn Danish in school. Iceland didn’t become independent until 1944. So over the next few years of school, were you thinking that snowboarding was something that you wanted to chase professionally? Yeah, for a while. I think it was more during the first year of that school that I was thinking that, because I was still quite new to snowboarding. I’d only just found it, so I still had that special thing when you fall in love with something new. It’s like your thing, you know? But then you get a little bit older, and all sorts of other aspects of life come into play, and I maybe didn’t want to become a snowboarder so much. I even actively tried to not make it a big deal for a while. I think I was insecure and scared to take that step. I saw some people turn out to not be the best versions of themselves when they got that attention. I don’t know. I guess I both wanted it and didn’t want it. I never really let it go and stopped snowboarding, but I was maybe not answering emails if people were asking me about sponsorship. I was just a bit scared of it, I think.
LAYBACK 5-0
I guess everyone deals with pressure and expectations in different ways, but usually people grab these opportunities and figure things out afterwards, rather than turning them down in the first place! Eventually, I realised that I actually kind of did want it. It was when Jess [Kimura] reached out to me about the first Uninvited movie. Before that,
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there was a lot of talk in snowboarding and people promising things to me, but then things not happening. And that resulted in me not answering emails or just ignoring stuff or whatever. Just a lot of loose promises. So you kind of felt let down and didn’t want to chase other opportunities because of those bad experiences? Yeah, it kind of took the charm out of becoming a snowboarder. Of course, I always identified as a snowboarder, but not as a profession or anything like that. It felt halfway inclusive. Sometimes you were included when it suited everyone else in the industry, but when you wanted to be included, you weren’t. That’s how that felt, for a while anyway. I think that’s a pretty fair observation. I’ve heard a lot of people say similar things. It’s nice to get boards and stuff, but as soon as you actually want to do something more, team managers don’t answer emails, or you don’t get invited on trips. This was more about just getting stuff rather than anything else. Just getting a board in my size or boots in my size. Anything you know? It was not even about projects or anything. Oh right, you meant literally just getting the gear you wanted was a struggle? Yeah. So I guess I grew into a bit of an ignorant state of thinking that I didn’t care about any of that. Obviously I cared, but I chose to have that attitude towards it. I was just riding boards that were way too big or sample bindings that I had to fix with duct tape. And that’s cool, most people buy gear, so at the time, I was hyped about it. Maybe the silver lining to the situation is that your snowboarding could develop in its own space in a totally genuine way without any external pressure or worries about sponsors. Just riding because you love it. I think you can really see that in your riding, that you’re just having fun out there bombing around. Yeah, for sure. I’ve always had such good times with snowboarding in my life. The best times. It’s been such a fun journey, all of it. But I think at one point, I realised why a lot of girls quit snowboarding. It feels like you almost get included all the time, but you never really get into the crew, you know? And snowboarding is fun because it’s inclusive. We do it with our friends, and we do it together. Snowboarding, for me, is not going and riding alone. You go snowboarding with your ---------- 22.1
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friends because it’s fun. I’ve seen so many insanely good girls disappear. They were my idols and role models, and maybe they never snowboard again. Or they stop until they’re way older and realise, oh shit, I gave it up, why? Because they just didn’t feel like a part of it and didn’t get invited to anything. I can definitely see that. There seems to be a lot more visibility for women at the moment, though, and progression is going through the roof. I don’t even mean it about progression, just inclusion. Whatever level you’re at in snowboarding, it’s not fun if you’re not included. Anyone reading this, take note and make sure everyone has space at the table, even if it’s just joining the session! Speaking of which, you’ve just joined the Burton roster. How did that come about, and how’s it been going so far? It’s been really cool. Burton actually just opened a store in Sweden, so that’s how I came into the picture. Lina Adams is the Scandinavian manager, she contacted me, and we just started talking. It wasn’t a super easy choice to make at all because I knew everyone at Nitro and had a good relationship there. It wasn’t like I just jumped onto Burton without really thinking about it. But I think it’s given me a really good platform. The sad thing is that we’re still dealing with COVID, so I haven’t really met anyone, but we’ve had some really good zoom calls with the whole team and also anti-racism workshops and stuff. So that’s been really cool, but I’m definitely looking forward to meeting people in person, just hanging out and going riding. I think it’s also the first time that I’ve always had gear, which is awesome. That makes it a lot easier to snowboard, and it’s really good gear too. Well we’re also stoked to see you still repping the Method beanies now and then! Oh yeah, of course. We spoke earlier about role models and how you used to look up to certain riders. Do you ever think about the fact that you’re already a potential role model for younger riders, especially now you’re riding for a brand the size of Burton? I feel like I actually took on that role way before getting on Burton. There are only ever a few girls on the hill, and maybe because you’re one of the
older ones or the only one that’s riding the bigger jumps, you automatically become that role model, whether you like it or not. You just have to take that role, and sometimes it’s really hard because it takes a lot of energy, and maybe you just want to snowboard, but it’s always worth it to give other people your time. Just talk to other riders, give them the feeling that they’re included, you know? Because you get included when you take that space. Nobody gets that served to them. But if you don’t know anyone, then you might never know that. A lot of girls are scared of taking space, both in snowboarding and other parts of life. You get a lot of criticism if you’re ‚the loud girl in class’. Sadly, that is so imprinted in we how we behave as humans. Women are supposed to be sweeter and quieter. And that’s cool to be like that, but the flip side is that people might think we’re not attractive if we don’t behave like that. So many girls have a hard time inviting themselves into the group in the first place. They might get trash talked for that, and that sucks. So I always try and talk to everyone, all the girls who are at the park. It’s so important, and I’ve done that for a long time, especially here in Sweden. That’s really cool to hear. Like you said, just that one conversation might change someone’s entire experience of being on the hill or in the park. Just knowing that there’s one person who will say hi to them the next time they come or would be down to have a session together. Even if you have nothing to say to someone, you can still take the lift with them. We need to do that in snowboarding. We can’t just play the cool guy. I hate when people do that. That doesn’t make snowboarding grow, that’s why snowboarding could fade out. It stays strong when we talk and we’re nice to each other. For sure. The best thing is always just riding with people. I sometimes wonder if social media has an influence on the ‚cool guy’ thing because it makes us so focused on ourselves. I like to think that I’ll always try and talk to anyone or hang with anyone or ride with anyone, but for sure there are days where I just want to be by myself, put on music and snowboard. But there’s still a way to smile at people when you do that and not freeze them out.
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Do people ever recognise you from your parts and come up and talk to you on the hill? No, I don’t think so. I think most people just think I’m a little boy, to be honest *laughs*. But in Sweden, we’re such a small scene and you kind of know everyone, or mostly everyone. Is snowboarding something that pays the bills for you, or are you also working at the same time? Right now I work in a hotel as a receptionist. I usually work my ass off for half the year to save money for snowboarding. Last year was the first time I’d had any budget, which was really sick. That made me think that maybe I can work a bit less and actually have a bit of a pre-season instead of jumping into the season in January. So I’m hoping that now I can stop working in November. It’s always rad when you have the chance to start shooting earlier. You might already have a few cool shots before Christmas, which can take the pressure off a bit for the rest of the winter. What is it that you’ve been filming for? I’ve been filming for the new Uninvited movie. Oh nice, I heard that’s been in the works. Last winter was a weird one for everyone. How did filming go for you? To be honest, after all this COVID stuff, I’ve been super low on energy at times. I think a lot of people are going through the same thing. You’re just so tired from doing nothing. You’re not used to meeting people or doing anything, so you get exhausted when you actually do. My body was just really weak this winter. After some intensive days of filming, I’d need to rest for a long time, way longer than I usually do. And I think that goes hand in hand with mental health too. My body definitely had a way harder time recovering because my mind wasn’t totally clear. Filming is just very physically and mentally intense.
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I guess jumping straight into it after a lot of downtime is like going from 0 to 100mph. I think that a lot of people have been going through injuries and stuff this winter because of that, because your mind is not in the right place. I’ve had a bunch of injuries. Most of them were minor, but definitely a lot more than usual. And that gets into your head, and then it becomes even harder. So I’m really happy that I had the chance to film for an established project. I don’t know if I’d have the energy to fully make my own thing. Not ‚my own’ thing, but you know what I mean? Yeah. Who were you shooting with? I saw you were with Hena Ikola for a bit? Yeah, I went to Finland and met up with Hena and Roope Rautiainen. We were filming there together. Those two rip. Yeah, it was amazing. Not only are they great snowboarders, they’re so fun to hang out with. We were always having a good time. Filming with a good crew makes it for me. I don’t think filming is only worth it to get clips. Filming is worth it if the journey is great as well. That’s my point of view on it. I might not always be smiling at the spot, everyone gets frustrated, but most of the time, it’s something you enjoy. If it ends up becoming more of something that you don’t enjoy, then you’re just doing it for the prize of filming a part to feed the ego instead of doing it because it’s amazing. And it is amazing, what we’re doing is insane! *Laughs*. So I try and go in with that attitude. I don’t think anyone really gets rich from snowboarding anymore. We should do it because it’s fun. It’s not worth it to be freaking out at the spot every other day. If I get to that point, then I hope I don’t keep doing it. That’s a great attitude to have. But I think we’re all different as people. Maybe someone wants to see a part that’s just full of gnarly stuff, and someone else wants to see a part that’s just full of happy people having fun. The riding I like doing and watching is always fun. When it’s pure. There’s so much other stuff in life, people bragging about a new car or whatever. It’s so good just to let that go and go snowboarding. It doesn’t need to be the gnarliest shit to make it the most fun. And you start doing more ---------- 22.1
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tricks all the time when you’re having fun because you’re like oh, I’m going to try this, or I’m going to ride that. You can tell if someone is hyped just by watching them. When it’s forced, you can see it. That’s all I’m trying to say. It’s just two different approaches, though. Some people like the one and other people like the other. I think we share quite a similar perspective. I like seeing gnarly stuff, but I’d way rather see a trick that looks fun. That’s what your footage is like, it makes me want to go riding, and that’s awesome. It just looks like you have a really good time, and I think a lot of other people feel the same about your snowboarding. I think I ride that way because I watched that kind of snowboarding, and that’s what I want to create. I want to create whatever I get inspired from. We’re all just a product of each other’s energy, and I like that kind of energy. That’s what I want to work towards. What I’ve been trying to find in my spots this year has been colours. That’s what spoke to me. Of course, it wasn’t every spot, but when I was checking spots, I was just looking for cool colours. Then you have to make the spot work rather than only choosing perfect spots. But watching that kind of stuff makes me really happy. That’s cool to hear that you had a bit of a plan with your spots. It’s nice when you have an idea to follow that gives you direction. Yeah, it sort of gives you a framework to work within. It might not work out perfectly, you might not have the speed, or you might have to change the trick, but those kinds of challenges are really fun. We don’t have so much of a street filming culture in Sweden, at least compared to the US, so I don’t think these kids who only ride park realise how varied people’s approaches to street snowboarding can be. It’s not like just rolling up to a park rail that someone else has shaped for you. There are so many different minds behind street riding, and that’s so cool. That’s what makes your favourite boarder your favourite boarder, you know?
then didn’t snowboard at all. I guess the filming environment is maybe a little more natural for you than doing it in front of a giant crowd? I just like snowboarding in a flow state, and I can easily get to that state with filming. When you’re out filming, you’re pretty much always with people that you’re comfortable around, and they understand what you’re doing. They enjoy whatever you’re doing because they know you enjoy it. Being in front of people or being the centre of attention just stresses me out. I can’t handle pressure. I don’t really know why, because I’m not shy at all. Even when I was a kid doing a school play, I might have arranged the whole thing, but I didn’t want to be on stage. I don’t know if that makes sense, and I also don’t know if it has to. I can probably work on this. Everyone can work on everything. I rode competitions years ago in Sweden. It was just parents watching, not even a crowd, and I still got those nerves and felt that awful feeling. I just feel like that’s not worth it for me. With filming, all the nervousness is good nervousness. You have fun with it. It doesn’t get to the point where I can’t handle it. But there’s a whole different side of it, which is when you’re at the hill and everyone is a part of it. Everyone is snowboarding together. It becomes a safe environment I guess. I’m never in the middle of it. We just do it, and we’re all in it together. When you know everyone around you is on the same kind of wavelength, that’s really good. That’s the thing. You just have to surround yourself with the type of people you want to surround yourself with. Choose your environment. Choose something that gives back. Seems like you’re doing exactly that. Ok Ylfa, I reckon we can leave things there for now. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, we’re stoked to get these words and photos on paper, and stoked to see The Uninvited III when it drops! Thank you, I’m happy we did this.
For sure. I remember we met at Rock a Rail a few years ago and I was really hyped to see you ride, but I think you did maybe two runs and
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It’s
in o ur
nature.
WE RIDE TOGETHER
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Y BUSIEST TIMES AT AUDI NINES WERE EARLY IN THE MORNING BEFORE ANYONE WAS THERE. I WOULD RUN AROUND LOOKING AT ALL THE NICE LINES AND SHADOWS AND WAS PROBABLY MUTTERING ‚WOW’ UNDER MY BREATH EVERY FEW MINUTES. I ALREADY HAD THE ‚SESSION IS GOING OFF’ KIND OF ENERGY, AND THE RIDING HADN’T EVEN STARTED. THAT’S UNUSUAL. IF I WAS AT A NORMAL PARK, I PROBABLY WOULDN’T BE BREATHING THIS HEAVILY OR JIGGLING UP AND DOWN WITH EXCITEMENT BEFORE ANYONE ELSE HAD ACTUALLY ARRIVED. AN AUDI DESIGNER NAMED SEBASTIAN GEHWOLF HAD TINKERED WITH THE SETUP PLANS, AND I LIKED THE RESULT. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL, BUT BEAUTIFUL IN AN INTENSE KIND OF WAY THAT’S QUITE HARD TO EXPLAIN. IT LOOKED LIKE SOMETHING BUILT BY AN ANCIENT CIVILISATION, OR MAYBE THE ARCTIC BASE OF A JAMES BOND VILLAIN. I SHOT IT FROM THE BOTTOM, I SHOT IT FROM THE SIDES, AND I SHOT IT FROM THE AIR. THAT’S RIGHT, THE AIR, BECAUSE I’VE GOT A FLYING CAMERA. I KNOW, RIGHT? IT ACTUALLY FLIES! THAT STILL TRIPS ME OUT. I WAS ALSO GIVEN A SLED RIDE UP A NEIGHBOURING MOUNTAIN, LIKE SOME SORT OF VIP. THE DRIVER MUST HAVE SEEN MY FLYING CAMERA AND KNEW I WASN’T MESSING AROUND. OR PERHAPS DUE TO THE AFOREMENTIONED MUTTERING, HE WAS JUST TRYING TO GET ME AS FAR AWAY AS HE COULD IN CASE I WAS SOME SORT OF LUNATIC. EITHER WAY, THE SETUP ALSO LOOKED GREAT FROM A DISTANCE. WALKING IN THE SHADOWS OF THESE GIANT STRUCTURES, I WONDERED, HOW DOES MAN BUILD SUCH THINGS? I’D IMAGINE THAT’S WHAT PRISONERS OF ANCIENT ROME MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT WHEN THEY WERE BROUGHT THROUGH THE ARCHES OF THE COLOSSEUM BEFORE BEING SLAUGHTERED FOR ENTERTAINMENT. IF YOU ASKED ME TO BUILD AUDI NINES, THE END RESULT WOULD PROBABLY BE SOMETHING WITH THE WOW-FACTOR OF A SPEED BUMP IN A CARPARK. THAT’S BECAUSE MY NAME IS THEO, AND MY ONLY TOOL IS AN AVALANCHE SHOVEL. IF, ON THE OTHER HAND, MY NAME WAS DIRK SCHEUMANN AND I HAD THE HIGHLY EXPERIENCED SCHNEESTERN TEAM BEHIND ME, BACKED UP BY MARCEL BRUINHOLZ AND THE HELVEPARK TEAM, THE END RESULT IS SOMETHING FAR MORE REMARKABLE. IF YOU’D LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BRING THESE INCREDIBLE STRUCTURES TO LIFE AND HOW DIRK FEELS ABOUT DOING SO, PLEASE CONTINUE READING. IF NOT, YOU CAN STILL JUST LOOK AT THE PICTURES.
INTERVIEW & PHOTOS. THEO ACWORTH
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make a pile of snow on the right spot, make sure it’s the right height and width, and do what we can to bring it to the best possible shape early on. Then we start to cut off all the things that are not needed. If there are channels or holes, we just cut them off. For me, it’s quite a simple and methodical process. Just cutting.
How do you feel when you get sent the first setup designs? They’re always pretty insane, is there ever any hesitation to open the emails? Well, normally the emails from Nico [Zacek, the event founder] come quite late, so I open them as soon as I can because I know they’re going to create work, and it will take time to pull it off. So I usually think, ‚Oh shit, it’s already too late now!’. But we’re always late, and we never have enough time, and I’m always pretty interested when the designs show up. In the early days, we would meet three or four times in the summer to sketch and work on the designs. Now it’s super optimised, and we really know each other and how to work together. Also, Stefan [Weitnauer, NBH Consulting] takes a big role in this because he reflects mine and Nico’s thoughts and ideas and plays
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the realist between us. What you see in the end is the realistic results, but what Nico and I originally think about? Fuck, we’re even further in outer space! So Stefan is the one that brings us down to earth and makes sure that it can actually work with the time, snow and budget that we have available. How do you even begin constructing something like Audi Nines? Do you just push a giant pile of snow and then remove all the bits that don’t look like the drawings? To explain it really simply, it’s like cutting a block of wood or a sculptor working with stone. I always say that normal construction guys start building from the ground up, and we start building from the top down. That’s the main difference. We’re some of the only guys doing this. We
I like the sculpture analogy. That’s a nice way to look at it. And at the same time, very German and efficient. How do you keep track of everything with builds on this scale? That’s about 80% of what I’m doing on the site. Checking, measuring, controlling, making sure that people have the right plans. Then adjusting those plans, because we might not have enough snow and we have to lower the levels or things like this, or we run out of space or time and have to adjust the construction to match those limitations. So this is what I’m doing the whole day, just making sure that people are busy and doing the right tasks. At the end of the day, it’s the same as any construction job at another site. We’re marking things with ropes, measuring heights, using lasers and checking angles. It’s quite similar, just done in the opposite way. Building from the top to the bottom, and not from the bottom to the top. It’s not easy, though. It’s fairly easy just putting a rail into a park, but with builds of this size, the team needs to know exactly what they’re doing, otherwise, things can be a real mess. If you have a big team and there’s no leader, then things won’t get done. Same as everywhere. You have to give direction, but they are all highly professional. Once they know exactly what they’re doing, it becomes fun. METHOD 21 -----------
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I’ve worked with them for many years, and sometimes all I have to do is look at something, and they know what I’m going to say before I say it. That’s cool to hear. How big is the crew, and how many hours went into the last setup? Our team is between ten and fourteen, and normally during Audi Nines, we have around 200 workingman days at 10 hours a day, so about 2000 hours from the whole team. That’s what we calculate. That’s just building time from when we show up on-site. Some more days might be needed to push snow together, depending on the location and if they can produce it or collect it. This year we were also working with Helvepark. It was the first time for their crew to be involved with such a crazy construction. Marcel [Bruinholz] is a very good freeskier and brought in some more current trends and ideas from a rider’s perspective. The WuTang kickers next to the ball were his idea. They were great supporters for us, and it was a cool cooperation to work with them.
and let’s say, also improved the trust in our imaginations about what we can do. So when we started to build the first Nine Knights and were cutting crazy walls for the first time, we knew it was possible, and then we began to experiment. Building tunnels or constructing castle towers, combining them with rails. The latest thing was combining the designs from Sebastian Gehwolf, the Audi designer. He added those channels and cutout sections. We construct everything in technical AutoCAD programs like other construction guys are doing, and then on the build side, we have snowcats, excavators, chainsaws, snowblowers and cutting tools. The same as when we started.
Was this latest design any simpler than the castles you did back in the day? And are you happy that you don’t have to make castle towers anymore? It was really a bigger challenge, but just a different style. Jumps, quarterpipes or hips are always the same. They follow the same rules. The surrounding things are the ‚art’. So for me, it’s not a big difference if you build a castle or some futuristic design like this year. I think both are cool.
What’s the biggest challenge for you? The weather. We are experienced enough to handle the construction. From the outside, it might look unbelievable and impossible, but for us, it’s kind of normal. When I look at other jobs like doctors doing surgeries, that looks unbelievable, but it’s also kind of normal for them. So yeah, for us, it’s the weather. Cold, snow, and rain? That’s not fun. Even the sun, like we had during the buildup in Crans Montana. We had two weeks of pure sun, it was so hot. We lost 25cm on the sunny walls. It was crazy. The guys were all working in the shade as much as they could. And then, as soon as the event started, it dropped down to -19°C. Yeah, it was crazy this year. So this kind of fear always follows us around. Is it snowing? Do we need to stay longer and reshape? The weather is a challenge, definitely. Has the technology you work with changed much over the last ten years? It’s more or less the same that we used in the beginning. The techniques and the tools that we use are almost the same, but we’ve improved our skills, ---------- 22.1
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Some features don’t get ridden much. How do you feel about that when it takes so much work to make them? Of course, it happens that riders like some parts of the setup more than others. But after we’ve finished the construction, we’re just happy and super proud that we built the setup itself. So it doesn’t actually matter if they ride everything 100% perfect or not. Of course, we have guys in our team who can ride such setups themselves, so they’re always thinking about whether the riders will hit a certain quarterpipe or use a certain transfer. Or maybe some riders might come back and ask for things to be tweaked. But overall, with what we accomplish in the weeks leading up to the completion of the build, everyone is just proud when it’s done. And everyone has fun when the riders show up and see it for the first
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time and start hitting it. That’s always a cool moment and where it all pays off. It’s about impressing the riders and the media, and the world. That’s why I like that you asked me to do this interview. It’s not that often that we can actually speak about the things that happen behind the scenes. I had so much fun photographing it, so it’s my pleasure to get more insights into how it’s constructed. I saw some tweaks made to the course after the first day when Halldor [Helgason] almost fell off the side. Is it pretty common for you to tweak things with the riders? Yeah, that’s normal. We can’t move entire quarterpipes to the left or right or change angles too much on takeoffs, but I think we reach a very high level of quality from the beginning, so as soon as they start hitting it, it’s cool to ride, and there’s
nothing that doesn’t work. There are sometimes little things that we can adjust, and we try to fulfil any special wishes of certain riders if they want something crazy. But it’s nice to see inside their minds, and we do it with pleasure. Is there any particular feature you’ve built over the history of the event that you’re particularly proud of? I was quite proud of the ball this year. We used a new technique to create that, which isn’t that easy. You can’t really measure or put angles or levels or things like this like we usually do. It was challenging, but in the end, I feel incredibly proud when the whole setup is done. It’s more of an overall impression for me. How did you find the process of working and collaborating with METHOD 21 -----------
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SEBBE DE BUCK FS 180
Sebastian Gehwolf? He really brought a new flavour to the table. It was definitely cool to work with him because he can give some really technical feedback. He’s a designer, an artist and an illustrator, so it was really fun to work with him. Ultimately, it’s just another type of design for us to build. This was actually the first time that I wondered if we’d overshot the mark here, making the design a bit too fancy and detailed. I think it was the first setup, from my experience, that we spent way more time doing all the design things rather than focusing mainly on rideable surfaces. I had many discussions like this with Nico where we said that maybe it was a bit too much. I think in the future, we’ll try harder to not lose the focus on nextlevel riding and not just making art, you know? That was a challenge we had, especially this year.
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Yeah, I could see that a little bit. It’s definitely a fine line to walk, trying to make something that’s different, but also rides really well. I was thinking about why we can’t just build a normal jump anymore? Why did we have to develop our skills as riders and shapers into building snow sculptures instead of building better and better jumps? And I figured out, or my opinion is, that without these surroundings like castles and sculptures, we don’t get enough attention and exposure to finance such big events and to celebrate them. We don’t only have a core audience, and Audi Nines isn’t only about the riding experience and the tricks. It’s about doing something unique.
Unique is definitely the right word. Last question, are you still having fun building these setups? Yeah, of course. I’ve been doing this job for more than twenty years, so it can almost become a bit ‚normal’. But with Audi Nines, there is always something new, and that’s very cool. Even a new location can be a challenge. There are a lot of unknown factors involved, and that can be a crazy adventure by itself. But I can tell you from my team and me, we still have a lot of fun.
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Pic: Theo Acworth | Blue Tomato Team Rider: Toni Kerkelä
Blue Tomato Book | blue-tomato.com/book instagram.com/bluetomato | #yourrideourmission
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30.09.2021 23:22
INTERVIEW BY METHOD’S NORTHERN PSYCHIATRIST DR CAITLIN MURRAY
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*PHOTO. JESSE DAWSON
03.10.2021 13:22
H
ey Mia, tell us a bit about yourself, what’s your current position in the snowboard industry? I don’t really have an official position, but I would call myself a freelance „filmer” or videographer. I’ve been filming and editing snowboard videos for about ten years. Over the past eight years I’ve made it my career, working for Brighton Resort, USA Snowboard Slopestyle Team & Snowboarder Magazine. Lately, I’ve been branching out from only filming snowboarding, getting my hands in other action sports and reality tv projects. When I’m not working on a film, you can find me staying busy running my online vintage furniture shop, based in SLC, Utah. Sounds like you’ve had a pretty epic career so far! Did snowboarding introduce you to filming, or did that start earlier? Snowboarding was definitely the thing responsible for me ever picking up a camera. In the small town where I grew up, there was one skate shop that had a pretty limited stock of snowboard movies, and the ones I could get my hands on, I would literally play on loop non-stop. The ones I remember watching the most were FODT Cold World, Standard Films Paradox, and Mack Dawg Picture This. Those movies absolutely sparked my interest in filming and got me hooked on snowboard culture. Watching snowboard films and being more focused on the filming than the riding was the first time I really had any interest in filming or photography. Once I decided I wanted to make snowboard videos, I just leaned in and never really questioned it. For a really long time, I had tunnel vision and only wanted to film snowboarding, but over the last few years, I’ve grown to love making videos in pretty much any genre and also working in different roles in production.
succeeding at it. This is why diverse representations of gender, race and sexuality are so important! When I first started filming, I would feel so out of place and constantly have people comment on me existing as a girl with a camera. It was hard not having any representation, but when I started seeing projects like Peep Show that was filmed by women, it felt like it was possible for me to do it. I feel so fortunate to have had the platforms I have had in snowboarding, but the industry still has some work to do when it comes to highlighting voices of all genders and also creating opportunities for them. I would love to see more brands investing in gender diversity across the board, on snow and also behind the scenes.
I feel like the representation of women riders has really blown up in recent years, and that’s great. The content creators, however, are few and far between and the ones that are, seem a little overlooked. What do you think is stopping more women from getting behind the lens? It’s hard to imagine yourself doing something if you don’t have any real-life examples of people like you
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RORSCHACH
03.10.2021 13:22
It seems like there’s such a small proportion of women filmers out there. Did you find it difficult breaking into the industry, and do you think attitudes within the industry are changing? I would be lying if I said it’s been easy trying to make it as a female filmer in such a male-dominated industry. When I was first starting out, I routinely dealt with rude, discouraging and sexist comments - and occasionally straight-up sexual harassment. It sucked for sure, but eventually, I learned to not let that stuff get to me and began to feel more confident as a videographer. Over the past few years, snowboarding has begun to address its sometimes toxic culture that has been exclusionary to women and other demographics, and I can’t imagine some of the harassment I dealt with a few years ago flying
today. This is amazing progress, but there’s still more work to do. We all need to keep putting in the effort to make everyone feels like they belong, from female filmmakers to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ content creators and riders. It’s so nice to hear that things are heading in a better direction. What do you think this representation means for the new generation of snowboarders coming in? We are absolutely moving in the right direction as a community, and as we continue to work on amplifying more diverse voices, we are just opening the door for more people to fall in love with snowboarding. This new generation of riders is already benefiting from the growing representation of female and LGBTQ+ snowboarders and are bringing an influx of new talent and creativity.
It’s really refreshing to see the onedimensional snowboarder stereotype starting to break down in favour of a more nuanced and inclusive version. What’s your advice for any women thinking of picking up a camera? Just do it! The hardest part can be feeling like you have nothing to film, but sometimes you need to turn the camera on first, and the inspiration will come. Make things just to make them & not always with the intent of it having an audience, refine your craft and get those creative juices flowing in a low-pressure environment. Also, if you don’t know how to do something, there is no shame in a good YouTube tutorial. Any other thoughts you’d like to add about the industry? As women, we have to stop feeding into the scarcity mentality that there isn’t enough space in snowboarding for us all. It creates a hypercompetitive environment where we end up holding ourselves back by not sharing resources and knowledge with other women. There can be as many spots at the table as we as an industry choose to make, so instead of working against each other, let’s lift each other up and direct our energy towards changing the system and creating more space for women. This includes holding brands accountable for investing in more female and gender-diverse athletes and creatives, equal prize money, better contracts for women and creating more opportunities (ie. video projects, events, social media coverage, etc) for women to excel in. Plans for the future? Since COVID hit, I’ve taken a bit of a step back from filming snowboarding to explore other avenues of filmmaking and life. Taking some time off from the snowboarding world has been a great reminder to not take myself too seriously and that the ultimate goal of all of this is just to have fun! I’m excited to get back to working on projects that I’m passionate about. But right now, I’m just going with the flow and honestly have no idea what the future holds for me, but I have a feeling it will involve snowboarding with my friends and having a lot of fun.
*PHOTO. HONDO METHOD 21 -----------
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*PHOTO MARK CLAVIN ---------- 22.1
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GALLERY 22.1 PAGE 01 AND 02
PHOTO. LIAM GLASS
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PHOTO. FERNANDO MARMOLEJO
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GALLERY
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CHROMA AND POLY ARE THE QUIETLY ELEGANT AND INTERTWINED PROJECTS OF SEVERIN VAN DER MEER AND SILVANO ZEITER. CHROMA IS AN EXPERIMENTAL SNOWBOARD FILM SHOT BY WILLEM JONES AND DIRECTED BY ALEX TANK, WHILE POLY IS A COMPLIMENTARY MULTIMEDIA PROJECT FEATURING A SERIES OF THREE FLIPBOOKS AND AN EXHIBITION. THEY EACH CAPTURE AND CONVEY SEVEY’S SNOWBOARDING IN A VARIETY OF FORMS BUT ARE NOT WHAT YOU MIGHT EXPECT FROM A TYPICAL SNOWBOARD PROJECT. WHILE DELICATELY CONNECTED, THEY ARE ALSO ABLE TO STAND ALONE FROM EACH OTHER. EACH PIECE INVITES THE VIEWER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EXPERIENCE IN A DIFFERENT WAY, AND WHAT THEY TAKE AWAY FROM IT IS UP TO THEM.
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SILVANO ZEITER
[PHOTOGRAPHS]
THEO ACWORTH
[INTERVIEWS]
METHOD 21 -----------
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81
CHROMA/POLY
01.10.2021 00:10
T
ell us about the crew, how was it working with them all? Willem [Jones] was in since the beginning as the filmer, then Alex [Tank] took over the directing from DBK [David Bertschinger Karg] and Tobias [Bonfanti] at Hillton, and Silvano [Zeiter] was shooting photos. It’s kind of been a dream to make a project like this with friends. Has CHROMA turned out like you thought it would, or has it developed into something more? It’s definitely developed into something more, and it happened every week or two during the filming process. At first, I really wanted to ride everything naturally. Then after the first season, we figured that we kinda need some proper airtime, too, so I started to pat some stuff down, and I changed what I wanted to show with my riding. At the same time, Alex came in with his vision, and that definitely changed the whole film. So it definitely changed a few times. I can’t even tell how many. Some stuff happened super randomly and ended up turning into one of the main parts of the project. This is the main reason that I wanted to do a project like this, to be able to have impact on the direction of it, and the creative side too. This really motivated me to snowboard way more. Did you ever feel pressure having so much control of things, or did it just make it more enjoyable? We really had a vision. I knew that I had a cool opportunity with this project, and I really wanted to give my best. It pushed me to try stuff, hike more and explore more. We just went out each day and tried. If it worked out, it worked out. If not, then it didn’t. I don’t usually put pressure on myself, but I definitely felt it a little bit, especially in the second year where we knew that we had to have a film at the end of it. But it wasn’t pressure to do better or higher tricks. We just wanted to make something special. I think everyone had their own personal pressures about wanting to do this or that, but after we had our last filming session in Laax, we could all just release it and enjoy the last couple days of snowboarding together. Tell me about your relationship with Silvano and how his project POLY has developed alongside CHROMA. We have to start a bit further back
when talking about Silvano. This whole project kinda started when I moved in with him. We started hanging out and shooting together, and this friendship really made this movie happen. We’ve been talking about making something together for a while now. We knew we wanted to do some slow-shutter stuff, including photos and film together. We didn’t really know how it would turn out, though. At first, we built a rig with two different cameras on it, one photo and one film. That was when Levi [Luggen] cut my head open, and we had to stitch it up. What? I didn’t know about this. So we tried to follow each other with this rig, and it was pretty heavy. Silvano is a really good snowboarder, but we thought it would be better if Levi followed me. I sprayed him pretty good, and he came out of the cloud and didn’t really see me and fully crashed into me and cut my head open. That was when we knew it wasn’t going to work and that we needed to find another way. We didn’t even try it anymore that season. In the end, we mounted a GoPro onto Silvano’s camera, and this worked out really good. For me, that was almost the most exciting part. Shredding together, almost killing each other. A lot went into this, and I really like to look back on this process with him. It was so fun.
How do you feel about the final result? I’m so happy with how it turned out. We watched it for the first time in the sound studio, which was crazy with the music. All the hairs on our arms stood up. What do you call it, chicken skin? I’d call it goosebumps. Yeah, that. How would you describe the feeling of the film? It should be... no. I shouldn’t say what it should be. For me, it has two feelings, dark and happy. I can’t really describe it in English. Let me look up the translation. *he looks it up* Hmm, you can’t really say this in English. It’s like dark, and happiness, kinda. But that doesn’t really work together that well when I say it. I think it’s ok if the feeling of it can’t be captured by language. Yeah, I guess you really have to see it and feel it for yourself.
How much did you enjoy being strobed doing those follow shots at night? Could you even see properly with the flash? It doesn’t really blind you, but it’s definitely trippy. Like being in a nightclub, but snowboarding. I wonder what any bystanders were thinking. It must have looked so stupid *laughs*. But every run, we would check the shots, and they looked so good. We just wanted to keep doing more and more. Sounds like you were just having fun all the time and experimenting with different things. I think that was the whole point of the film, and I think I can speak for Alex and Will too. We just tried different angles and different stuff, and that motivated all of us to keep going. Just trying to make something cool.
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SEVERIN VAN DER MEER METHOD 21 ----------- 22.1
01.10.2021 00:10
“IT’S
AND
KIND
THE
OF
CREATIVE
BEEN
SIDE
A
TOO.
DREAM
THIS
TO MAKE
REALLY MOTIVATED
A
ME
PROJECT
TO
LIKE
SNOWBOARD
THIS
WAY
WITH
MORE.”
FRIENDS. TO BE
SEVEY
ABLE TO HAVE IMPACT ON THE DIRECTION OF IT,
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01.10.2021 00:10
“FOR
MAKE
ME,
YOU
THIS
HAPPY
FILM
AFTERWARDS.
IS
MAYBE
A
IT CHALLENGES
LOVE LETTER TO
YOU
SNOWBOARDING.
TO
IT’S
REFLECT
CHALLENGING,
A
IN
LITTLE
A
BIT
WAY.
ON
IT’S
YOUR
NOT
POSITION
A CUTE
IN
LITTLE
SNOWBOARDING
SNOWBOARD
AND
VIDEO
LIFE
THAT
IN
WILL
GENERAL.” LARS POPP
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METHOD 21 -----------
01.10.2021 00:10
A
s a director, how did you find stepping into a project that already existed? At first, I really wasn’t thinking of doing another snowboard film. But then DBK hit me up, and I thought maybe under these circumstances, where I could have creative freedom and was filming with someone interesting like Sevey, I could be really down. They gave me total control, and I was able to come up with my own concept and totally craft the film into what I wanted it to be. I was really happy about the trust of everyone in the project to fulfil my own vision. How big of a difference was there from the original concept to yours? Theirs was an open-ended process. They came up with a couple of conceptual ideas for parts, which are still in there, like the photo section from Silvano. But for me, this film is a love letter to snowboarding. I brought in a bit of a narrative structure. You see a character at the beginning who’s melancholy in the big city and contemplating life choices. And then snowboarding happens, which is a metaphor for freedom and fulfilling life. So that’s a new concept that I brought in, but visually it worked pretty well with the shots we had from the start of the project. There’s one section that’s only footage from the first year. But in general, it really flowed together, so there was no big ‘break’ in the direction. Everyone brought their part to it and made it what it is. Sounds like you’ve brought quite a personal perspective into it? I guess that’s what you have to do if you want to make honest work as a filmmaker. You only have your perspective and not a different one. Judging from my perspective and someone who’s somewhat grown away from the professional life of snowboarding, this was the love letter to snowboarding from me. That’s what I wanted to bring into the narrative.
So everything has really been thought through, that’s quite a rare approach to find in snowboarding. Definitely, it’s a highly conceptualised piece. Every shot has an idea and a thought process behind it. Especially the narrative parts of it. I like projects like this. For sure snowboarding should remain immature and playful, but seeing other parts of it maturing somewhat is cool too. Did the film turn out like you thought it would? This was like a narrative snowboard film fusion, where you definitely know what you want to get beforehand, at least in the narrative parts, but with snowboarding, you never know and have to adapt. So all of the snowboard segments were an open-ended process. I like to have an approach like this instead of something that’s only goal-orientated. We brought in so many talented people. Willem on the camera, Sevey on the board, Silvano as the photographer. Then a colourist and sound designer and an editor. Just a super interesting and playful combination of all of us, working together in a flat hierarchy and trying to celebrate the process of artists coming together. That’s what the film is all about. Proper collaboration. Exactly. That’s the way that I like to work. As a director, I maybe have a bit more of an overview of everything and see the whole thing at play, but I love to trust the people I work with. I want them to be artists and bring their own style. That’s why they’re in this project. The idea of snowboard films having ‘directors’ isn’t too common. As soon as I heard the word, I pictured the classic Hollywood thing, a guy in a chair with a megaphone, a riding crop and a beret. I think that time is definitely over! Me shouting from the bottom of the valley, ‘Gooo! Light’s good, do anything!’. That’s definitely not the case. The term director is a bit misleading. Of course, you have to give some direction, but also leave enough space for everyone involved to bring in their own artistic language, and the stance between everyone is what makes it special. So what does a snowboard director actually do? I was on the mountain almost every day with them. When I wasn’t there, I totally trusted Willem with the vision,
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and he knew what I wanted to have, and I knew he could do it. There can sometimes be differences in opinion about how a shot should look and how snowboarding should be implemented within them. But these discussions with Sevey were always productive. I don’t like it if a dictator says what you have to do, especially in snowboarding. Your state of flow where you can get the best out of yourself is such a fragile thing, so I tried to leave Sevey as much room as possible to ride in his way, but at the same time not lose the general direction of things. In the end, we came up with something that was good for the film and good for him as a snowboarder. And I guess for me as an ex-professional snowboarder, I could take his perspective and hopefully understand him and help to make this process happen. Sounds like you found a really good balance. Are you proud of how it’s turned out? You’re so deep into it that at some point, you don’t even know! You just do what you feel is right and do it in the best way that you think you can. Pride is a weird word, but I’m happy with how it turned out, and I can’t wait to hear what people think or what they see in the film and how they interact with it. Let’s see, it’s an experimental snowboard film in a certain transcendental style that has more of an emotional narrative than a logical movie narrative. You’re always on the edge, not sure if it’s going to work. But coming together as individuals and shaping something greater than the sum of its parts, that’s what I like so much about this project. So much blood, sweat and tears go into something like this. You have to invest a whole year of your life, if not more. I would urge people to see it on a big screen if possible. And thanks to you and Method for letting us talk indepth about these projects. It’s our pleasure. *PHOTO. HOWZEE
If I asked you to describe the feeling of the film, is that something that you can put into words? Sevey struggled with this question. It’s hard. I’m a filmmaker, so I can’t really speak about feelings. I can only show feelings. But if I had to, I’d say it’s a little bit dark. It’s challenging, in a way. It’s not a cute little snowboard video that will make you happy afterwards. Maybe it challenges you to reflect a little bit on your position in snowboarding and life in general. That’s the vibe that comes through it. I
hope so, at least.
ALEX TANK 85
CHROMA/POLY
01.10.2021 00:10
“A RIDER LIKE SEVEY, HE NEEDS TO FEEL LIKE HE HAS THE DOOR OPEN TO BE ABLE TO DO WHATEVER HE WANTS. HIS RIDING REALLY ASKS FOR THAT FREEDOM, AND AS A FILMER, YOU JUST FOLLOW.
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SEVEY
IT’S LIKE SEEING A UNICORN. IT’S SUCH A CLICHÉ, BUT IT’S THE LITTLE TURNS AND THE WAY HE GOES OVER ROLLERS AND BUMPS. IT’S THOSE MOMENTS THAT REALLY FUCK YOU UP AS A FILMER, TOO, IF YOU DIDN’T GET THEM.” METHOD 21 -----------
01.10.2021 00:10
So that’s tricky because you need such a broad scope of gear to capture it. The Hillton approach is also very cinematic. So you try to figure out what you need to actually follow him around and also to be able to film it as well as possible. So it was challenging, but in a nice way. Maybe there were times where I didn’t feel totally capable of doing it and thought that perhaps he needed a different filmer, but I really loved him for pushing through and saying that he wanted to do it with me.
WILLEM JONES H
ave you ever shot backcountry snowboarding like this, or for this long before? Never. This was my first time in a fullon backcountry project. I was pretty out of my comfort zone for a long time, but that was really cool. Especially working with someone like Sevey. The Beyond Medals guys used to call him the Mountain Goat. He just goes, and it was pretty challenging to follow him around. He would always make sure I was safe, though. A rider like Sevey, he needs to feel like he has the door open to be able to do whatever he wants. He’d make a plan one day and then switch it up the next. All over the place, but in a really cool way. His riding really asks for that freedom, and as a filmer, you just follow. What was the biggest challenge for you? Just moving around, and the gear. My snowboard experience is pretty limited to just following the park kids around, and then you end up having to do long traverses in difficult conditions. I was trying to figure out how to make the RED as compact as possible, but my balance was still really off. It’s a fine line between what you want to bring and what you actually need. Especially if you don’t have a plan. With Sevey, it’s more about connecting dots on the mountain. He’d tell me that he would jump from one spot to another, but I wouldn’t always have the total reference of what he meant because he has such a different way of looking at the mountain. Also, it’s usually the stuff he does afterwards that’s cooler.
Were there some sketchy moments? Yeah, for sure. The first time I freaked out, we were doing a long heelside traverse. I was carrying the camera and tripod in my hands and also the backpack full of heavy batteries. I was too slow and knew I couldn’t reach the endpoint. I didn’t really think, and I unstrapped one of my bindings and started slipping down with the RED and tripod in my hands. It was a thin layer of crusty powder on ice. I didn’t slip far, but it wasn’t a nice feeling. I think I made it harder than it needed to be because it was so new. I still had a rush of just being able to get to the spot. Silvano taught me a lot about where safe spots were and where to drop your gear and then go and look for angles. We also did an avalanche course before we started filming, which made me feel safer, and I also learned a lot while shooting. It was a steep learning curve but a good one to make. That’s good to hear that they were looking out for you. Yeah. I definitely doubted myself for the first month. I love Sevey, he really grew into one of my best friends, and I just want to show his riding in the best way possible. It’s like seeing a unicorn. It’s not the tricks that do it. It’s such a cliché, but it’s the little turns and the way he goes over rollers and bumps. It’s those moments that really fuck you up as a filmer, too, if you didn’t get them. Have you seen the final version of the film? A couple of months ago, I saw the first cut, and at first, I was like, ‚whoa’. It’s a little weird, but in a good way. It’s so different from other films I’ve seen. It’s not like the ‚banger ender, let’s applaud’ kinda thing. I’m curious to see how people react in the premieres. It’s really like a dream. You usually shoot commercials, which require a highly controlled approach, and are almost totally
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opposite to a project like this one. How did you find the switch? It was cool. I always felt that Sevey was pretty loose, in a cool way that everyone wants to be. He just lets it flow, and you see that in his snowboarding. After a while, I just let it go myself and went where he went. You start feeling it for sure. One day, he was hiking up and talking to Alex on the radio about his line. Silvano pointed out the line he thought Sevey would take. On the radio, Sevey said that he didn’t really know where he was going, and then he did exactly what Silvano said he’d do. You know the movie Avatar where the main guy connects his ponytail to the horse thing’s ponytail? Yeah. Sevey and Silvano are like that. Maybe you can’t print this, but I swear those two are connected by their dicks or something, like those ponytails. It’s insane how in tune they are. As a filmer, having Silvano with you is a lifesaver. I’m more than happy to have met him, and also seeing his eye at work, it’s so unique. Were there any really memorable moments for you from the last two years? Watching Sevey and Arthur Longo snowboarding together just for fun. They are the guys that just want to go go go and not always film or shoot. Just seeing them go over a little bump was so beautiful and cool. They really interpret snowboarding in a totally different way. The first time I shot with Arthur, [Julien] Perly came up to me and said, ‚I don’t know what frame you have, but make it at least 3 meters higher.’ I did that, and Arthur still went to the top of the frame. He came to check the shot, and he said, ‚Ah, you zoom. Tanner [Pendleton] also zooms, but I don’t really like it’. Then he hiked back up. I thought, ok, no zoom then. Also, that long butter from Sevey from the first year. We’d had a long dry spell on shots, and when we got that one, I was literally screaming. That was a crazy good feeling. That shot is definitely a special one. Ok, I think we can leave things there. Any closing words? I always wonder why Sevey picked me to work with. I never asked him. We just clicked, and I guess that was enough. It’s tricky to capture his riding, but seeing it all come to life is beautiful. I’m really honoured to have been a part of it.
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ow did you end up with flipbooks? When we started shooting CHROMA we also wanted to do a book project simultaneously. At first I had something else in mind that focussed a bit more on the snow structure side of things. But as the project evolved, we were shooting all these followcam sequences that would go in the film, and I thought it would be cool to do something with that. Then a friend of mine sent me a video of a flipbook showing a single tennis shot from Roger Federer. Despite being near midnight, my brain started going full speed. I knew that was it, and I was so sure that it had to be done. I thought it would be good to do three different books, and at first we’d only planned to do the black and white follow lines. Then we had a spontaneous night of riding at Rinerhorn and did those shots with the flash and red gels, and I knew that was going to be the second book. The third one is the guy in the sky stuff. I thought I’d just try them and see how they looked. It could be cool or it could be shit, but they turned out pretty good, and they became the third one. So that’s it, black & white, red, and blue. Volumes one, two and three. To convey the feeling of snowboarding with still images isn’t an easy task, but these do it in a very elegant way. Thank you. Nowadays most zines and books are usually about snowboarding culture and focus on the more offbeat side of things, similar to Honey Ryder that I did with Nicolas [Müller]. So I wanted to do something that was only about the action, but that’s kind of hard to do, if you don’t want it to look like a regular mag. So I wanted action, but not crazy action, something relatable for everyone that was just simple and fun. The followcam stuff combined with the longer exposures, it just pulls you in. You feel like you’re in there with Sevey. It seems like you’re working in a space that sits somewhere between photo and video? For me, this is a natural evolution of the way I shoot snowboarding. I started doing follow-cams with Freddy [Kalbermatten] twelve years ago, and I tried to keep that going every season. It’s exciting, shit can go wrong. Shooting snowboarding for so many years, I sort of felt bored, in a way, and I wasn’t as motivated to go out and shoot as much as I used to. But this gave me a whole new drive.
Usually at the end of the season I’m done, but this season I was the one always telling Sevey that we had to go out again and find another windlip. That was sick. It felt like when I was shooting ten years ago and was always frothing to go out. At the same time, I was so in that follow cam zone, that as soon as we posted up and shot something ‘normal’, that was also fun again. Nothing ever felt forced, it felt natural and simple. You and Sevey must have a pretty good shooter/rider relationship? Sometimes I know what Sevey is going to do before he does. I actually haven’t done these with too many riders because they require a lot of trust between them and the photographer. You have to understand each other blindly. Willem is a super rad dude, but of course he needed to know where and what Sevey was going to ride if he was going to film it. Sevey doesn’t like it when you ask him, because Sevey doesn’t know himself what he’s going to do until he’s midline! But we’re such good friends that I can tell you that he’s going to go here, then slash there, then air off that, even if he doesn’t know it yet. We really understand each other. I don’t think I could have done it this way with anyone else. It’s cool to hear how these have developed quite naturally as you shot them. They’ve really become their own body of work. CHROMA is kind of its own big universe, and POLY is a smaller complementary part of it. They work together and enhance each other, but they’re also able to stand on their own. When CHROMA and POLY are together, is there a certain order that they should be viewed? I had this discussion with Sevey. He thought that people should watch the film first, then come out and see the exhibition. I said no, it has to be the other way around. I feel like POLY is a way to prepare the viewer for the film. The books and the exhibition puts them in the right headspace to watch CHROMA. We tried to put ourselves in the heads of the audience. Sometimes people forget that the audience has no clue about what’s going on, so it’s important to remember that they’ll be seeing this shit for the first time. But people are also going to expect this to be just another snowboard film, which it kind of will be, but different. This is made by Hillton, but it’s not another GLUE or soft, which was very
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important for Sevey. Bringing Alex in to direct was a good way to differentiate it, the film has Alex’s fingerprints all over it. It’s dark-ish, but I love it. It has this red thread running through it that not everyone is going to get, but you can ask Alex and Sevey about that. The design of the books is really classy, but that doesn’t surprise me because everything you Swiss people design is classy. Did you do the design yourself? Boris Stoll is the graphic designer in charge of the movie, and it was clear to me that I’d ask him to work on POLY as well, to help make the bridge between the film and the books. He did a great job on the covers and advising me about size and page count and things like that. The barcodes are the ISBN number, and every volume has its own number. They’re also used as a graphic element, sort of representing the flipping of the photos through the book. Where can people get their hands on the books? We’re going to give them away at the premiere. Everyone there can get one, but you can also buy the full set in a box as a collectors edition. Those will be limited to 333, sold through FW, and we’ll also sell some through Doodah. Everyone I’ve shown them to feels nostalgic, like when you’d make a little stick figure animation on a pad of paper. You feel like a kid again. My favourite part about it is that the reader is responsible for making it look good, it depends on how good your flip skills are. If you suck at flipping, it won’t be a good experience! You might have to try it a few times until its smooth, but when it is, the reader will be so stoked.
SILVANO ZEITER METHOD 21 -----------
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“SOMETIMES
SEVEY DOESN’T
I KNOW WHAT
KNOW
SEVEY
HIMSELF UNTIL
IS
HE’S
GOING TO
MID-LINE!
DO
YOU HAVE
BEFORE
TO
HE DOES.
UNDERSTAND EACH
HE
OTHER
DOESN’T
BLINDLY.
LIKE
I DON’T
IT
THINK
WHEN YOU
I COULD
ASK
HAVE
HIM
DONE THIS
WHAT
WITH
HE’S GOING
ANYONE
TO DO,
ELSE.”
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T
UCKED AWAY IN THE WOODS JUST OUTSIDE INNSBRUCK IS THE FOXHOLE. IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK, YOU’D DRIVE RIGHT PAST IT. BUT, IF YOU DO KNOW WHERE TO LOOK, YOU’LL FIND THE GATHERING PLACE FOR THE SANE! GANG. HAVING YOUR OWN PRIVATE SPOT IS A SPECIAL THING. HAVING IT IN TIMES OF COVID AND LOCKDOWNS IS EXTRA SPECIAL. THIS CREW HAS CHANGED A LOT SINCE THEIR FOUNDING IN 2008, BUT NO MATTER WHAT STAGE OF LIFE THEY’RE AT NOW, THE FOXHOLE PROVIDES A PLACE TO CREATE, RIDE, AND GATHER AS A GROUP OF FRIENDS WHO LOVE SNOWBOARDING.
THOMAS „HÖRTSCH” HORHAGER
PHOTO & INTERVIEWS. THEO ACWORTH
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hat is the Foxhole? It’s a funpark for snowboarding, and it’s also a bbq and hangout spot for the crew. That’s it. We work with snow and wood, cutting and making things, and try keep a good vibe for everyone there. We also change it every day, so it doesn’t get boring. It’s always been a dream to have a place like this. What’s the deal with the land there? My family owns one or two hectares of land in the forest. We inherited it from my grandparents. Technically I’m just allowed to cut trees and plant new seeds in the ground, but somehow I managed to get these rails in there too. That was a bit of work to set it up with the local council and the guys from the Tyrolean Forest Association. I had to do a few phone calls to get permission for that. Do they know exactly what you’re doing there? Yeah, I explained it in a really good way to them. I said that we wanted to do a parkour course for snowboarding! Like a kind of ‘winter parkour’ where we jump over trees or something. For some reason, they understood that. The guy I was speaking to definitely didn’t know that we would bring so
much stuff there, but he wasn’t too upset. I’ve known him since I was 13, and I have a good relationship with him, so maybe that was an advantage for me to make this all work. There are so many hunters in the woods, and it isn’t easy to get permission to do something like this from the Tyrolean council. If you did this without permission, you’d get kicked straight away for sure. My mother works for the local council, and she said they had a lot of phone calls from hunters about ‘crazy people’ in the woods and asking what we were doing. But everyone is on my side in the council! Vote for Hörtsch. I love that you had to explain it as a kind of parkour. That seems really weird considering how popular winter sports are in Austria, especially Seefeld. Maybe he had some idea about what we wanted to do from parks in other ski resorts, but he always asked how we could turn in this terrain. So I told him that we didn’t need to turn that much. We just go straight from the top. It’s always difficult to explain to someone how good this shit is, how good it is to have a downrail or a double kink or something. So I just said it’s parkour for snowboarding.
That’s rad. So you started digging right around the lockdown at the start of winter? Yeah. We started in December 2020. That was a lockdown, I think. I can’t even remember when all of the lockdowns were now, but we were pretty lucky to have that spot to shred. What’s coming in the future for Foxhole? I was actually there last weekend and cut a few more trees to make more space, and maybe we could put a little rope-tow in there. It’s always good to have some new inventions for each season. Nice! You don’t really find rope-tows anywhere in Europe, that would be so good to have one there. We were also cutting some trees for firewood for my family, and also to have some wood for our fire there too. We’re trying to organise stuff right now for the coming season. We want to do both jumps and rails, too. So now we have more space to put some hips and longer lines. It’s definitely more organised this year. Doing this whole thing has just been a pleasure for me. And when you work, the beer tastes so much better.
W
E HAD SOMETHING LIKE THIS YEARS AGO IN RINN WITH THE T-BAR LIFT, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT WAS AN OPEN RESORT, SO WE ALSO WANTED TO HAVE OUR PRIVATE PLACE WHERE WE COULD MEET AND HANG OUT. I HAD THE OLD RAILS IN MY GARDEN, AND I TALKED WITH HÖRTSCH ABOUT FINDING A LOCATION, AND WE DID IT. AFTER YOU FINISH WORK, YOU CAN EASILY JUST GO SNOWBOARDING HERE, MAKING YOUR OWN THINGS TO RIDE AND DO CREATIVE STUFF, WHICH MAKES SNOWBOARDING FUN. IF I FINISH WORK AT 2PM, I WON’T GO UP ON THE MOUNTAIN, BUT FOXHOLE IS SO CLOSE THAT I CAN EASILY GO THERE AND SHRED FOR THREE HOURS OR SOMETHING, NO PROBLEM. LOTS OF ORIGINAL SANE! MEMBERS CAME UP. WE MISSED A FEW PEOPLE, BUT MOST OF THE OLD GANG WAS THERE, WHICH WAS SICK. WE ALWAYS HAD A BIG CREW, AND EVERYONE WAS MOTIVATED TO RIDE, LIKE THE OLD DAYS. - MICHI SCHATZ
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ILAI LOVED THE RAILS. IT WAS MORE LIKE I NEEDED TO TELL HIM THAT I WANTED A BREAK INSTEAD OF THE OTHER WAY AROUND. HE REALLY ENJOYED THE STOKE THAT HE GOT FROM EVERYONE. I REMEMBER WHEN I LIFTED HIM UP ON THE WALLRIDE FOR THE FIRST TIME, EVERYONE WAS CHEERING FOR HIM. THAT REALLY PUSHED HIM IN THE SAME WAY THAT THE GUYS ALL PUSH EACH OTHER. AFTER THAT, HE REALLY WANTED TO DO IT AGAIN BECAUSE HE LIKED THE FEELING HE GOT FROM EVERYONE. IN THE BEGINNING, HE WAS PRETTY SHY AND NOT SURE IF HE WANTED TO BE THERE, BUT ONCE HE STARTED TO SNOWBOARD AND GOT THAT STOKE, HE WAS TOTALLY FINE. - ALEX ACS
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THE FOXHOLE WAS JUST LIKE A LITTLE MÄRCHENWALD, A REAL FAIRYTALE FOREST. MICHI AND HÖRTSCH WERE PLAYING WITH ALBERT WHEN WE BROUGHT HIM HERE. THAT WAS REALLY NICE TO SEE. IT ALSO MEANT THAT I WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO RIDE MYSELF, WHICH WAS A SPECIAL THING. THEY WERE JUST MAKING A LITTLE BUILDING SITE WITH ALBERT’S SKIDOO AND EXCAVATOR TOYS. THAT WAS A REALLY NICE MEMORY. FOXHOLE ISN’T TOO FAR FROM HOME EITHER, SO IT WAS EASY TO GO THERE FOR AN AFTERNOON. ALBERT WOULD SLEEP IN THE CAR ON THE WAY THERE AND THEN WAKE UP AND PLAY IN THE WOODS. HE HAS A LITTLE RIGLET BOARD, TOO. MAYBE WE’LL TRY TO MAKE THE KIDS INTO THE NEXT GENERATION OF RIDERS, BUT IN FIVE YEARS, MAYBE THEY WON’T THINK SNOWBOARDING IS COOL AT ALL! WE WILL JUST SHOW HIM THAT IT’S REALLY FUN. IT’S UP TO HIM TO CHOOSE WHAT TO DO. IF HE’S HAPPY, WE’RE HAPPY. - JULIA BAUMGARTNER
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SIMON PIRCHER BS BLUNTSIDE
A PLACE LIKE THIS IS THE REASON I STARTED SNOWBOARDING. YOU CAN ALWAYS BUILD NEW STUFF EVERY DAY, BE AS CREATIVE AS YOU WANT AND JUST HANG WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND HAVE A GOOD TIME. I THINK THE GANG EVEN GOT A BIT STRONGER BECAUSE OF IT. HANGING OUT MORE TOGETHER, GRILLING, RIDING AND HIKING. WE HAD ONE SESSION ON A TINY SHITTY TUBE, MAYBE WITH A 5CM TAKEOFF. I LEARNT SO MANY NEW TRICKS THAT I NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED TRYING. THAT WAS SPECIAL TO ME AND REALLY EYE-OPENING, LIKE WHEN I STARTED SNOWBOARDING. JUST HAVING FUN, NO MATTER WHAT. - MAX GLATZL
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IT HAS A SKATEPARK FEELING, LIKE A DIY PARK. EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO REBUILD STUFF OR ADD STUFF IS ALWAYS TOTALLY WELCOME. THIS YEAR EVERYONE WENT TO FOXHOLE SO MUCH, WE ALMOST DIDN’T GO UP TO THE MOUNTAINS. PEOPLE CAME TO JUST HANG OUT OR HAVE A BBQ AND SOME BEERS. IT WAS LIKE A LIVING ROOM ATMOSPHERE, JUST HANGING. DIFFERENT SESSIONS WERE ALWAYS GOING DOWN. MAX’S GIRLFRIEND CAME WITH HER FRIEND AND TRIED RAILS FOR THE FIRST TIME. IT WAS SO FUN AND ENJOYABALE. EVERY TIME YOU WENT THERE, SOMEONE HAD BUILT SOMETHING NEW. YOU NEVER KNEW IF SOMEONE HAD RESHAPED OR ADDED SOMETHING OR IF THEY’D JUST REBUILT THE ENTIRE PARK. ESPECIALLY WITH HÖRTSCH AND VOLKER, AND ALSO THE MÖSLS. I DIDN’T GO FOR A WEEK, AND THEN SUDDENLY, THERE WAS A BMX-STYLE JUMP LINE. THEY WERE ALL SO MOTIVATED. WITHOUT THOSE GUYS, IT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN THE SAME. - STEVE GRUMSER
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What was the longest run of days you were digging at Foxhole? After we had the big 1.5-meter dump in February. Everyone called Hörtsch and me and asked if we wanted to go and ride pow, but we said no, we have to manage the snow at Foxhole! We were there 12 days in a row, just the two of us. Then the two Mösl twins joined, and we did a total of 19 days in a row. But it was lockdown, and that’s what we did. There was a sense of purpose to what we were doing. Shaping and then BBQing into the night. It was a good time. We were intrinsically motivated. It was for sure work, but it didn’t only feel like work.
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You did the illustrations for this feature and also the logo. Why are the fox’s eyes so red? Maybe he’s tired from all the work? Or if it’s cold, you definitely want to be sitting in front of the fire. If he was sitting there, maybe the smoke from the fire went into his eyes? That smoke can make your eyes go red for sure.
What’s your best memory from the winter? The best times were when the whole crew showed up together, grilling, riding and cheering for each other. In the deepest lockdown, even some of the German guys made it over the border and told us that they couldn’t even imagine something like this happening in Germany. Forget even thinking about it. It was definitely an escape for all of us. When I remember lockdown, all the clubs and bars and hotels were closed, and the entire gastronomy industry was shut down. It was the best time for me! Thanks to anyone I rode with this winter, the whole Sane! Gang, especially Michi and Hörtsch. It really was the winter of my life.
VOLKER SCHICKE
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GET HOOKED
You guys built a bunch of stuff up there, and the place was different every time I came up. Do you have a favourite feature that you created? We really put a lot of effort into
the main obstacles and to make everything fit into this space. Once this stuff was built, it lasted for a long time too, which was very satisfying. We also wanted it to be beautiful. You reach a point where you say, ok, that feature is ready, but a snowpark is never ready, you know? So there was no favourite feature. What’s nice is that it changes all the time, and you’re not always shredding the same thing. Variation is cool.
GET HOOKED @DEELUXEBOOTS / WWW.DEELUXE.COM
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HE TELEVISION AND THE ARMCHAIR WERE SURPRISED T TO FIND THEMSELVES ON THE STREET, BUT BEING HOUSEHOLD ITEMS, THEY MET THE CHANGE OF SITUATION
WITH QUIET ACCEPTANCE AND LITTLE COMPLAINT. EACH MORNING THE SNOWBOARDERS WOULD WALK PAST THEM, CLIMBING INTO THEIR WHITE VANS AND DRIVING AWAY, AND EACH NIGHT THEY WOULD RETURN. LIKE THE SNOWBOARDERS, THE SNOW CAME, AND THE SNOW WENT. THEN THE TELEVISION WENT TOO, HITCHING A RIDE SOUTH TO ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, LEAVING THE CHAIR ALONE AT THE CURB. WHO HAD IT BELONGED TO? IT COULDN’T REMEMBER. CHAIRS, AFTER ALL, ARE NOT FAMED FOR THEIR POWERS OF RECOLLECTION. PERHAPS IT HAD BEEN OWNED BY A WHOLESOME FAMILY WHO WORKED HARD AND LOVED EACH OTHER. OR MAYBE IT HAD BELONGED TO A SINGLE MAN, SMELLING OF CIGARETTE SMOKE AND DISCARDED DREAMS. WHAT WOULD IT SAY IF IT COULD SPEAK? NONE OF THE DUSTBOX WERE ABLE TO COAX AN ANSWER FROM ITS DAMP UPHOLSTERY. PERHAPS IT WOULD ASK, “WHY HAVE YOU CAST ME OUT?” OR “YO, CAN I PEEP THE FOOTY FROM TODAY?”. IF THE WORDS WERE THERE, THEY REMAINED UNSPOKEN. THE TELEVISION WENT ON TO BECOME A POKER HUSTLER AND MINOR CELEBRITY, BEFORE ONCE AGAIN FINDING ITSELF THROWN ONTO THE STREET AFTER IT WAS CAUGHT CHEATING IN A GAME OF STUD. IN THE END, SITTING BY A STOP SIGN UNDER A WASH OF SODIUM LIGHT, IT WISHED IT HAD STAYED IN COLORADO.
WORDS. T. W. AINSLEY PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON A DUSTBOX TRIP BY OLI GAGNON
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UNTITLED PAGE A place for space. After several conversations with our friend Niels Schack, we decided that Method and our readers would benefit from having a page that provides a quiet moment between stories. This space will expose different art forms from the friends & geniuses who surround us, pushing our brains in creative and new directions. Enjoy.
“TEA-PARTY BOXERS”
130x197 cm Acrylic on Canvas Niels Schack
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LAAX PHOTO. AARON SCHWARTZ
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NEW ZEALAND PHOTO. TROY TANNER
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METHOD
_future_wild O n l i n e re l e a s e 0 1 .1 2 . 2 0 2 1 Sevi VDM by Silvano Zeiter @fw_gear / fwapparel.com
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An Oasis is an area of fertile land in a desert, where elsewhere nothing grows or lives because it’s too hot. They occur due to freshwater sources and provide a habitat for plants, animals, and people. These days, it seems like the term Oasis has been modified a bit. It’s often used to describe any place that’s dreamy or offers an escape from our day-to-day lives. Finding places like these has always been an endeavour of humankind. People love to know what to expect, how to deal with things and avoid ending up in overwhelming situations. In other words, we like to find a comfort zone. We snowboarders, especially those who like to ride in an urban environment, often end up in parts of the world that can be pretty cold and heavy on your mind. Highway access roads, hydraulic dams, stair sets and parking lots. These places can be desolate in the winter. Yet, if they are the desert, the spots we found within them would be the Oasis, and snowboarding is what led us to them, no matter what it takes. Last season we were given the opportunity by Vans Europe to create a film and print project, which, to me, has been a dream come true. We had a lot of freedom about the entire direction of this project, including the people we wanted to involve. An all-time cast with two amazing new additions to the team, my long time friends Dominik Wagner and Kas Lemmens. Working together with my very talented friends has been an absolute blessing! We are a family who truly loves, appreciates and respects each other. I’m happy and proud to say that together we managed to bring this project to life. So here we are, five months later, with our own vision of an Oasis, or an ‘Oasen’ as it’s spelt in Sweden. OASEN is about the people involved, the love, dedication and commitment towards the thing that gives us everything: Snowboarding. One single moment shared with friends becomes a place in our mind. A memory. A place we can call OASEN. - Benny Urban
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DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DESTINED TO BE A STREET SNOWBOARDER WITH A LAST NAME LIKE URBAN? I didn’t start snowboarding because my last name described the activity I’m now doing, I just did it because I liked doing it. DOES ANYONE ELSE IN YOUR FAMILY PARTICIPATE IN URBAN ACTIVITIES? No, not really. YOUR DAD LIKES FISHING, RIGHT? MAYBE HE SHOULD TRY IT IN SOME URBAN RIVERS. STREET FISHING COULD BECOME A NEW THING. That’s definitely not a very urban activity. He’s more of a nature guy. And my mom runs a Pilates studio in the suburbs of Hamburg. So I’ll just stick with a ‘no’ for the above question. I WON’T HOLD MY BREATH FOR THE ‘URBAN ACTIVITIES’ FAMILY WEB SERIES THEN. OK, MOVING ON. YOU ENDED UP BEING MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN YOU ORIGINALLY THOUGHT FOR OASEN, RIGHT? To a certain degree, yes. I wasn’t fully responsible, but I was working pretty closely with Bruno [Rivoire, Vans TM] on the whole creation process of building it up and getting the ideas flowing. And we ended up making a movie with those ideas. I felt very privileged to be involved and, in a way, to ‘direct’ the movie. Not like a Hollywood director, but just influencing the whole project, what we were doing and how the video will look at the end. I’m pretty stoked about it. HOW DID YOU FIND THE PROCESS OF DOING ALL THAT? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SO CLOSELY INVOLVED WITH THE SHAPE AND DIRECTION OF A PROJECT BEFORE? I felt very honoured to have the chance to do this for a company like Vans. As a snowboarder, when you’re creating projects, you’re automatically doing behind the scenes stuff. Organising where to go, finding spots, getting the crew together, organising and paying filmers and so on. But it was really cool to do this for a bigger company, with maybe a bit more pressure too? I really enjoyed it. WHAT DOES THE NAME OASEN MEAN? It’s the Swedish word for Oasis. It was written on a sign we came across in the suburbs of Umeo, and we all thought it looked amazing. We were just joking about using it as a title. We had names floating around all season but couldn’t decide on one, so we just kept it in the back of our heads. The more we thought about the word itself, we realised that it had so many parallels to what we’re doing. To me, Oasen means finding your little place of happiness within your surroundings. THAT’S A VERY BEAUTIFUL ANSWER, BENNY. TELL ME ABOUT THE CREW BEHIND THE CAMERAS. To be honest, it was a dream crew. Having the opportunity to make the call on who we wanted to be involved in this project was a really nice responsibility, and I had the feeling that I could finally make a movie that I have always dreamt about doing. If I wanted to watch a snowboard movie, I would love to have it filmed by Alex [Pfeffer], art directed by Fabi [Fuchs] and photographed by Matt [Georges]. It was just really sweet to have all these experienced individuals finally come
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DO YOU BELIEVE IN DESTINY? I think everyone can influence their destiny somehow. Is that an answer?
together to create something. Honestly, I can’t wait to see the final product. I think it’s going to be a very dynamic and harmonious constellation of individuals. These guys all really know what they’re doing. WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA? HOW WAS IT FILMING WITH THESE GUYS, AND WHAT DOES THIS CREW MEAN TO YOU? This crew is absolutely amazing. I truly mean that. Everyone involved in this movie is a phenomenal snowboarder. And especially now, having Dom and Kas on board on Vans Europe, it’s such a pleasure to be on the same team as my long-term homies from way back. It might sound cheesy, but working together on a project for a company such as Vans has really been a dream come true. HOW WAS YOUR APPROACH TO SPOTS FOR OASEN? Just trying to be flexible. Every spot is basically an adventure. You never know what you’re going to get into. After doing this for 10 years, I realised that planning a lot doesn’t always help you. It can just get you frustrated when something doesn’t work out or if you plan on hitting a spot and get kicked. I definitely tried to know where to go and what to do but not being too bummed if a spot didn’t work out. Just going with the flow. A kick out might lead to you filming a cool night line at a random spot you never thought about before you saw it. WAS THERE ANY PARTICULAR STANDOUT OR HIGHLIGHT SPOTS FOR YOU? There was this big new c-ledge in Austria, and this spot actually worked out! It was at the famous David Benedek ledge in the Arlberg. A bunch of people have hit it over the last few years, and we went to check it because I had an idea for a trick. We pulled up and realised that an entirely new building complex had been constructed right next to the spot, and then we saw this giant long c-ledge. It was so sick, we had to ride it. I figured it would make sense to ask the people in the building if we can get permission because it’s just so obviously on their property. So I went in, and they were having full-on business meetings, and I was just knocking on the door with my speed-shades probably looking kinda weird. But they were super nice guys, and I talked them into giving us permission to hit it the following day. We rub-bricked it that evening and pushed a bit of snow around, so it was ready to go for the next day. It was a winch spot, and of course, the fucking winch didn’t start. We were so excited to ride this spot with no pressure of a kick out, especially after all this build-up. Long story short, Bruno ended up car-towing me across the entire parking lot with my car. He was hauling me into the spot in second gear and hockey-stopping right next to the ledge. It was really long, so it took me maybe 3035 tries to get it, but it worked out. I’m really stoked to see that clip in the movie. SO I GUESS YOU LIKE YOUR DROP-IN TOWER MORE THAN THE WINCH? Definitely the drop in tower. BECAUSE YOU MADE IT WITH YOUR GERMAN ENGINEERING SKILLS? Kind of, yeah. I wasn’t sure if that thing was even going to survive one drop. I was pretty sure it would make it through the season, but you never know what will happen. It still lives though, I love that thing.
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TELL ME ABOUT ICE SKATING ON THE CANALS IN THE NETHERLANDS THIS WINTER. That was something that I always wanted to do because people did it back in the days, but I never had the chance to because I live in the south where we don’t actually have canals, and in the last ten years, it hadn’t even been cold enough to freeze anyway. But now I live further north, and it froze this winter, so we could do it.
look really natural. If you can get something that quick, it’s usually a good sign, but sometimes if I keep going, I start to notice little things about myself, like why is my arm moving over there? These are things that I never notice in other people’s footage, but I see it in my own. Then at the end, after I’ve done the trick thirty times, I’m not moving anything at all, and it doesn’t even look interesting anymore. It just looks boring! I laugh about this with Alex and Tim [Schiphorst] sometimes.
I REMEMBER YOU TELLING ME THAT GOING UNDER THE BRIDGES WAS KIND OF SKETCHY? Yeah, because the ice under them is kind of thin, so you have to straight-line it so you don’t fall through. I guess you could probably just go normal speed, but I didn’t want to find out what happens if you do that.
SO IT’S LIKE YOU GET SO FOCUSED ON THE DETAILS THAT YOU LOSE FOCUS OF THE LARGER PICTURE? Yeah, and then the trick almost loses its flavour and looks really simple. So I might end up liking the earlier sketchier tries more.
THERE ARE LOTS OF FLOWERS IN THE NETHERLANDS, ESPECIALLY TULIPS. DO YOU LIKE TULIPS? Yes, I love tulips. Last year I posted more photos of tulips than anything else, but this year I’ve been a bit lazy. Maybe I was posting them lots because I was working as a gardener. GLAD TO HEAR THAT THE STEREOTYPES ARE REAL, BUT I GUESS WE SHOULD PROBABLY TALK ABOUT SNOWBOARDING NOW. YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO RIDE STRAIGHT AND NOT TURN. DID YOU ACTUALLY TURN YOUR BOARD THIS WINTER? I had one actual day of winter riding. Well, more like an hour. We had to do a product shoot, so we didn’t do too much riding. MAYBE YOU SHOULD DROP A SURPRISE CARVING EDIT ONE YEAR INSTEAD OF A STREET PART? It would actually be nice to link up with the Korua guys and do something like that. HOW RUSTY ARE YOUR EDGES RIGHT NOW? So rusty! I’M PICTURING YOU TRYING TO CARVE AND JUST LEAVING SKIDMARKS ALL ALONG THE MOUNTAIN. I think my board actually does on those rare times that I go on the hill. I think I’m gonna go riding in the dome this week, and I’m pretty excited about that. I KNOW YOU’RE VERY SELECTIVE ABOUT YOUR SPOTS. WHAT’S YOUR PROCESS FOR CHOOSING THE THINGS YOU WANT TO RIDE? For me, the aesthetic has to be really good. Like the surroundings of the spot, as well as the spot itself. I never really like it when there’s a random rail in the woods or something. I like when there’s architecture around a spot, buildings and people walking around and stuff like that. YOU’RE ALSO ONE OF THOSE SNOWBOARDERS WHO WILL DO A TRICK PRETTY MUCH PERFECTLY, BUT THEN YOU’LL INSIST ON DOING IT ANOTHER THIRTY TIMES BEFORE YOU’RE HAPPY. WHY IS THAT? Sometimes I land things kind of quick, and the shots
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I’M SURE THE FILMERS LOVE HEARING THAT AFTER STICKING WITH YOU ALL DAY. Yeah. Four hours or something after landing it for the first time! Sometimes I ask myself what I’ve been doing, just going home super cold and tired when I actually didn’t have to. But that’s exactly how it has to happen, you know? Luckily the people I film with are very patient with me. THIS LEADS ME NICELY ONTO MY NEXT QUESTION, WHICH IS ABOUT OASEN. HOW WAS IT ON THE ROAD WITH THIS CREW FOR THE WINTER? It was really nice. It was refreshing and interesting too because even though we’ve known each other for a pretty long time, I’ve never really had the chance to film with them too much. I filmed a little bit back in the days with Dom and Benny, but never full trips. We also had this extra camera, and we started filming each other, which helped make it feel like there was just no pressure and a friendlier vibe, you know? It just felt really natural. We worked really hard and were really productive, but it felt really laid back at the same time. TO PUT A GROUP OF PEOPLE TOGETHER FOR A PROJECT, EVEN PEOPLE WHO KNOW EACH OTHER, IT’S NOT NECESSARILY GONNA WORK OUT PERFECTLY, SO THAT’S A SPECIAL THING TO FIND. YOU GOT ANY GOOD CREW STORIES FOR US? We were driving from Innsbruck to Switzerland to link up with Gian Sutter. We all had our own cars because we’d come from different directions, and at some point, we got split up and a bit lost. I think we were somewhere near Davos. It was the middle of the night, I was driving behind Sebi, and we saw this totally snowed-in parking lot, and we just started drifting around it. Eventually, the other guys arrived, we didn’t really say anything to each other, but they straight away joined this full-on drifting session. Then it turned out that the pass into Switzerland was closed because of snow, so we had to go down the mountain again to get on the car train, and in the parking lot for the train, we had another drift session! We drifted a bit more and then went up to the desk to book our train tickets, and the woman at the desk was so pissed with us that she almost didn’t let us get on the train! She fully gave Benny and Dom shit. It was so funny.
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ke s li em e st s i do Seb ing whatever, but
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so
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HOW WAS YOUR HOLIDAY IN CROATIA? It was nice.
once to Sweden. Other than that, we were just driving around Switzerland, Italy and Austria.
DID YOU GO SPEARFISHING? Not so much, just out with the boat a lot and fishing normally.
IT’S NICE WHEN YOU CAN BE SURPRISED BY YOUR MORE IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS. We only had a limited amount of filming days, so I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to start things off with a preseason trip in Austria, but in the end, it was really worth it, and we got really good footage.
HOW DOES SPEARFISHING WORK IF YOU’RE A VEGAN? DO YOU PUT THE FISH BACK INTO THE OCEAN ONCE YOU’VE STABBED IT? Yeah I put it back after I’ve killed it. Nah, that’s the only ‘non-vegan’ thing that I do. I had just started fishing around the same time I stopped eating meat and dairy, and I like it because it teaches me a lot about the sea. So I thought I might as well keep doing it and only eat the fish I catch myself and stop everything else. So I only do it when I’m at my girlfriend’s place in Croatia. SO THE ONLY ANIMAL YOU EAT IS ONE THAT YOU CHASE UNDERWATER AND SHOOT WITH A HARPOON, THAT’S PRETTY BADASS. *Laughs* Yeah. So even in Japan I wouldn’t eat fish, because I didn’t catch it myself. JUST LOTS OF RICE? Yep, pretty much. SPEAKING OF STAPLE FOODS, HOW MUCH PASTA HAVE YOU EATEN TODAY? Quite a bit, I made pasta soup. HOW MUCH PASTA DO YOU THINK YOU ATE DURING THE WINTER, IN KILOS? Between five hundred and five hundred thousand. WHY DO YOU GET SO MAD WHEN YOU SNOWBOARD? I’m a perfectionist, but I’m not perfect. So I always doubt myself. I’ve had occasions where people have told me that a trick was fine and that I got it, and then we watched the clip days or weeks after, and it actually sucked. But sometimes, even if I land a trick perfectly, I’ll still keep trying. I guess I’m insecure about my own riding. ARE YOU INSECURE ABOUT OTHER THINGS IN LIFE? Not really. I guess with snowboarding, it’s because I love it so much. And I also have a pretty stubborn view of how I want to do things and how I think they should be. If they’re just slightly off, that’s not a make. That’s happening less now that I’m getting older, but it’s also still stupid. ANYTIME YOU LACK FAITH IN YOURSELF, JUST REMEMBER, WE BELIEVE IN YOU, DOM. Thanks. That’s why I just like being with you and other people who make me feel good. Like the crew we had this winter, it was just really nice. This was actually one of the best winters I’ve had in a long time. Getting on Vans is sort of a dream come true, and then Kas getting on too, and shooting with pretty much my best friends in snowboarding. Alex Pfeffer filming, Fabi Fuchs doing motion design and art direction, riding with Benny, Kas and Sebi. It was just the best crew ever. Everybody just supported each other to the max. It was also really nice to just stay in Europe and drive everywhere. We only flew
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SO YOU JUST MENTIONED SWEDEN, AND I WANTED TO ASK YOU HOW MUCH FUN YOU HAD BUILDING IN-RUNS THERE? *Laughs* You mean the doublekink rail? Everybody who knows me knows that I don’t give a shit how much work I have to put into something if I think it’s cool and if I know I can get the clip. There was almost no snow, and the in-run was on a heated floor. That spot was a pain in the ass, and maybe everyone hated me. We were literally watching the in-run melt while carrying snow up the stairs in the pusher. We didn’t really have any more spots lined up, so on this one, I just didn’t care how much work it was. Luckily Sebi hit the rail next to mine, so we just moved the in-run 2 meters to the right. We got really nice shots, so I guess it was worth it. AT LEAST IT GOT USED TWICE. THAT WAY, YOU DON’T HAVE TO FEEL QUITE AS GUILTY. Yeah. I was freaking out when I started hitting it because the in-run was so slim for the trick I wanted to do. I usually do quite big set-up turns, and I couldn’t do that at all. I was just going straight. But it worked pretty quick. It was at least five or six hours of building, though. Having to re-park the cars, getting the winch, everything was quite all over the place. Pretty close to the end of the build, people were over it. I said fuck it, let’s do 30 minutes more. In the end, it was the perfect amount of snow. We couldn’t have done it with any less. It was a good team effort. I’M GLAD IT WORKED OUT AND THAT NO ONE GOT MAD AT YOU AND LEFT. Usually, if Kas is there, I wouldn’t care because he approaches spots the same as me, so I always have a buddy. Unfortunately, this time he wasn’t there, but I hope I didn’t bum anybody out. I think everybody was kind of down, because we didn’t have that many things to do, so we just got it done. DO YOU HAVE A HIGHLIGHT MOMENT OR STORY FROM THE WINTER? Not really a specific story, but my highlight was Bruno [Rivoire, Vans TM] just giving us all the freedom he did. After our last trip, he gave us a huge thank you and said that he was really stoked about how everything worked. I think a project like this is a lot of weight on his shoulders. He just said fuck it, you guys do whatever you feel you need to do and he helped us with extra budget and whatever else we needed. The most satisfying thing was us all being together and making this project as good as we could. We for sure had to work hard, crossing borders and not knowing if we were even allowed to with all this COVID shit. Every trip was ‘let’s see if we can make it.’ I think we pulled it off.
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on
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he’s retiring from sn ot that owboarding because he rips. But he behav w. N o n st retired person I k e g u n t o a b u l l a t o his s y ing is the tuff s talk Alek tha way t he 0, al 7 y s and f d e ‘can a v e r r a l y a c ’t do an s ’ y i e h z ng like a ymore. r c g t n i h o d r , l o l i h u s e t i e v g a i h e mp h the air. nt the h He has the ac him bombing dow and watch ts, op p ou just a y n n t d e s h e e g Th g t ’ i i s e n b k oth it li ing kes . - Dom inik Wagner just ta
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hat’s hungry to flm are so eel like young talent t dIf e an v r u nc essio rogr needed in snow n’s p a i G boarding. I don’t think there watch o t l o are too o It’s really c many pe op u p rs d u in n a g th p i s u t y p g e o n f i s n o w m b oard career c co le omplete ly away from ke e me so happy if he continues down this road, he has a s. That would mak contest
s one to Gian i
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- Kas
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. ller t ki ilen s , t up igh Stra
ens Lemm
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wants it. arding if he ure in snowbo t u f t h ig ty br pret - Benny Urban
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g to ally stepped up her snowboardin Ivika has re d n a , d n a Finl ot in gal otin o h seen a lot of her tricks before, s ple have re l. Peo we e v e e rl w ar the ye no a s, where it’s not n s i big spot eces Th ally saril g re y n i t t i h en e a t t m e b t h r a e t s h t t , r i k b c u t jus e’s t rid sh ing er the t m is n lso been riding way more a wi s ’ e h s c S i r e . ative y h l r t spo a t gn ts, bu t s a p e o t e s s i n t ways that I wouldn’ mes i t e som an and all kinds of dc n epers a d cre n a s e d all. She’s doing wallri
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/Photos by Tim
go all in. ’ll still t she u b d, ns are mme sc s Le - Ka
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HOW’S SUMMER WORK GOING? ARE YOU LANDSCAPING AND DIGGING HOLES? Yeah, that’s what I do. I work with my dad doing landscaping and gardening. It’s pretty fun, but it’s fucking hot. THAT’S COOL. I DIDN’T KNOW YOU DID IT WITH YOUR DAD. Yeah, we do it together. WHAT’S THE SECRET TO DIGGING A GOOD HOLE? Power and a good shovel. Fuck a bad shovel. LET’S START WITH A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT PINEAPPLE ON PIZZA? That’s illegal, don’t ever ask that in Italy. WHAT IF IT WAS A REALLY, REALLY GOOD PINEAPPLE? It still doesn’t belong on pizza. WHAT IF IT WAS A REALLY SHITTY PIZZA, AND YOU NEEDED SOMETHING TO MAKE IT BETTER? WOULD YOU USE PINEAPPLE THEN? Still illegal. But I would not eat the pizza if it’s really bad. WHAT ABOUT PINEAPPLE ON PASTA? Gross, I’ve never heard of that before. DO YOU DRIVE A FIAT? No, I don’t. HOW OFTEN DO YOU SAY MY MAMMA MIA? A lot. OK, THAT’S ENOUGH OF MY BULLSHIT STEREOTYPE QUESTIONS. WE SHOULD PROBABLY TALK ABOUT OASEN. DID YOU HAVE MORE FUN SLEEPING IN THE RIDERS HOTEL OR ON THE COUCH IN THE RV? For the fun factor, the RV. For the comfort factor, Riders hotel. Best place for sure. YOU’RE THE YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE CREW, WAS EVERYONE NICE TO YOU THIS WINTER? Of course they were. We never felt an age difference. Maybe in some little ways, like cleaning the apartment and stuff. But we were all on the same page, I would say.
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THE CREW FOR THIS PROJECT WAS PRETTY SPECIAL. HOW WAS THE EXPERIENCE OF SHOOTING WITH THEM FOR A WHOLE WINTER? That crew is so amazing. They’re my favourite snowboarders, and also my favourite people just to hang with. This winter was the first time I got to film with Kas, and I’d always looked up to him a lot. I always used to watch these guys ride when I was younger, so now being in the same crew with them is crazy. We’re really good friends outside of snowboarding as well, not just on trips. Thanks to those guys for bringing me into the project. It’s really been a pleasure! This was probably the best winter I’ve ever had because of these guys. At the end of the day we’re just friends, and we go and film and have fun. WERE THERE ANY PARTICULAR STANDOUT MOMENTS? Just watching everyone ride. These guys are my favourite snowboarders, so everything they did was just amazing. Every time any of them did something or got a shot, it was a special moment. GOT ANY FUNNY OR MEMORABLE STORIES FROM THE WINTER? I don‘t know if it’s too funny, but it stuck with us the whole season. The ‘A couple of idiots on the roof” story! So we were on the property of this super fancy high-society hotel in St. Moritz. We climbed up a little roof on the backside of the hotel to prepare the spot and the whole situation seemed to be really chill. Kas started riding and this dude came towards us wearing a Thrasher shirt with open hoodie, who in my eyes was not a guy that has anything to do with this 5 star hotel. He turns out to be a really good old friend of Dominik, and was the hotel manager! He’d had a warning from another hotel worker saying, ‘can you please check the backside of the hotel because there’s a couple of idiots on the roof shovelling’. Of course the manager knew who’s it gonna be as he knew Dominik and his friends were in town! I’m not sure if he was too down, but he let us continue to do our stuff. ‘A couple idiots on the roof’ stuck with us all season long and it will probably continue as we started to say it whenever we went on a roof or got busted!
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best! Simply the As a Team Manager, you’re obsessed with gathering the greatest crew possible with the best riders. That sounds pretty basic as a task, but what does it mean to be the best in snowboarding? Straight up nothing. You could be the best, in our opinion, and never step onto any podiums. You could also attract the interest of a mainstream audience but remain pretty random for a large part of our community. The choice of who deserves the support of our industry is 100% subjective. I’ve been in this game at Vans for over a decade. I had great support from the company throughout the different projects, enjoyed some successes but also had my share of mistakes and missed opportunities in the role as T.M, but I always tried to do this job as fairly as possible. ‘Cause yes, it’s all about being fair. Fair to the brand, obviously, but also fair to the ones putting their lives on the line. The hard reality is that being the best sometimes ain’t enough. Professional snowboarding ain’t based on performance only. It’s a way to express creativity and your ability to involve your sponsors on this journey. If 80% of your job as a snowboarder is throwing your body around on sketchy and dangerous spots, that still leaves another 20%. This other part of the job will forever remain blurry and open to personal interpretation. But does anyone care about this behind-the-scenes stuff? I guess what matters to most of the audience are the bangers, the ender, and how far these riders are pushing it. From the people involved, to the choice of where and what to film, this project has undoubtedly been heavily influenced by Benny Urban. You could call it skills or “German efficiency”, but ultimately it’s a strong collaboration that’s led us here. What I really appreciated is that as “professional” as we sometimes make it sound, at the end of the day, these guys really enjoyed the whole process. Cherishing the simple fact of being outside, surrounded by friends, and playing in the snow. For this spontaneity and love for snowboarding, I would call them very objectively one of the best crew out there. - Bruno Rivoire
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