+ WANT YOU TO HAVE A WINTER FULL OF STOKE.
WE’RE GIVING AWAY A
FREE SEASON PASS TO JAY PEAK RESORT (YEAH - YOU COULD GET A WHOLE SEASON OF THIS)
ENTER TO WIN A FREE SEASON PASS AT WWW.STOKELAB.COM/CONTESTS4
Tell us in 50 words or less why you deserve to shred for free this winter. All entries due by 11:59pm EST, November 29th, 2010. Winner will be announced December 1st, 2010. Winner will also be published in Issue 3 of StokeLab Magazine. All contestants will receive a free subscription to StokeLab.
Athlete: Tim Normand Location: Solitude Backcountry, UT Photo: Justin Cash
Rider: Dustin Schaad Location: Salt Lake City, UT Photo: Steve Lloyd
Rider: Brett Colson Location: Springfield, MA Photo: Aaron Blatt
Athlete: Randy Noble Location: Fall Creek, MA Photo: Justin Cash
Athlete: Renee Cook Location: Black River, VT Photo: Justin Cash
Left and Right: Athlete: Bruce Winchenbach Location: Crested Butte, CO Photos: Justin Cash
Athletes: Alisa Paganis & “Famous” Dave Beardslee Location: Draper, UT Photo: Chad Spector
StokeVision 1.01
Eye-Popping Images
1.02
The Ingredients
1.03
Contributors
Features 2.01
Seth Wescott closes the Books on a perfect season
2.02
Rock and Roll at Highland Mountain Bike Park, New Hampshire
2.03
Artist Profile: Gould’s Gold
2.04
The Flying Bunny
2.05
South American Winter
2.06
Fat Tire Bike Week’s Cult Classic
Gear Scope 3.01
Boutique Brands, Puff the Magic Jacket, Shades of Yesterday, the Art of Shred, and more…
Location: Crested Butte, CO Photo: Mike Horn
the ingredients I look outside the StokeLab window On the first full day of Fall Aspen burning yellowfire bright Leaves casting their own morning light A few thousand feet above Chiseled stone is capped with the First Snow And the people rejoice in the valley below - Mike Horn
STOKOLOGISTS Justin Cash + Mike Horn ART DIRECTION + DESIGN
Randy Elles www.randyelles.com
Jeff Wainer www.jwainer.com COPY EDITOR
Seth Mensing WEB NINJA
Lavada Bramlitt STOKE CONTRIBUTORS
Aaron Blatt
www.adblatt.com
Alex Fenlon
www.fenlonphoto.com
Chad Spector
www.chadspector.com
Court Leve
www.courtlevephoto.com
Jason Gould
www.jasongould.net
Peter Kray
www.shredwhiteandblue.com
Steve Lloyd
www.stevelloydphoto.com CONTRIBUTE TO STOKELAB
If you are a photographer, film maker, writer, artist or Stoke enthusiast and you are interested in contributing to STOKELAB please email us at info@stokelab.com. ADVERTISING WITH STOKELAB
For rates, advertising dimensions, and more information about advertising with STOKELAB please contact our advertising department at info@stokelab.com. www.STOKELAB.com
FEATURES
Seth Wescott Surrenders To Gravity Images By Court Leve | Interview By Mike Horn
You’d think two gold medals from two consecutive Olympics would be enough to satiate U.S. snowboard cross champion Seth Wescott, including the first ever gold medal in the SBX event when it debuted in Torino in 2006. In fact, he’s the only person to ever bank Olympic gold in SBX. But hardware, Wheaties box covers, and presidential introductions aren’t the reason he rides. That’s why Wescott competes. Off course, Wescott is driven by the desire to shred rarely—if ever—ridden routes in the Alaska Mountains, and just enjoy snowboarding for what it is— fun. It all started with hiking hills as a kid, and Wescott, now 34 years old, commits to lines that his friends, and competitors, back down from. After the 2010 Games, Wescott traveled to Alaska like he has the last several years, and closed “The Books” on a perfect season by nailing the lines of a lifetime. Then he returned home to Carrabassett Valley, Maine where the Lab caught up with Wescott for a Q & A session. SL: Is there one line from this year’s trip to AK that stands out for you? SW: There were two really… for years I had seen pictures of The Books in Valdez and always wanted to have a day there. It was a perfect day; we started on the east-facing lines in the morning, took a break for lunch, and then moved over to the western-facing lines for the afternoon light. We had a rather large crew we were working with that day, and so getting first pick on lines was going to be a bit of a challenge. I had my eye on these two all morning, and as they were lighting up I saw just how beautiful they really were. Thankfully, the main one that I wanted to hit had a bit of a hectic run out, with some rocks to negotiate at what seemed like would need to be high speed. No one else wanted it for this reason and so it was Game On for me. By the third turn I was in amazement as to the snow quality and was just loving every turn.
Right where I needed to shut it down speed-wise at the bottom, I over did my toe-side turn a bit and fully whited myself out, popped through the cloud, and happened to be in the right spot. I was laughing on the runout to the glacier… as I looked back up it became apparent that the spine next to it was good to go, too. So I called back in the heli, left my friends sitting on the glacier and lapped right back up to the same LZ… jumped out, got buckled ASAP so I wouldn’t lose much light and was loving the turns the whole way back to the PZ. You wait all year to have those feelings for even a moment, and that day in the Books was my freeride highlight of the year! SL: Whom did you ride with in Alaska this past spring? How long were you up there? SW: My long-time riding partner Ueli Kestenholz from Switzerland was back with me
i have never been more alive than in those moments in the mountains
mother nature has patterns and man does erratic shit all the time
again for the 7th of the last 8 years. And then my U.S. teammates, Nate Holland and Graham Watanabe came up for the whole Tailgate Alaska scene, as well as long-time friends Rob Kingwill and Ricky Bower. So it was a blast to get out into the Chugach with so many friends this year. I was up for about five weeks this year, though it’s never long enough; about 15 days in Valdez where we flew with Aba and were guided by Dave “The Wave” Mucino, who was a blast to be out in the field with. And then Court Leve and I hopped on the ferry to Cordova to head down to Points North Heli… my yearly AK pilgrimage. We got pretty shut out with the weather there, but it always feels like going home and I really needed some down time after the craziness of an Olympic winter. SL: Does freeriding help you decompress/ relax after a long season of competing in SBX? And also help you prepare? SW: It helps decompress for sure. It really just gets me back to the root of why I snowboard in the first place... being in natural surroundings with untouched snow goes back to my days as a little kid hiking hills in my hometown, before we had gained resort acceptance. That feeling of being in powder and all alone on the mountain hasn’t changed after 24 years on snow. The big mountain experiences I feel help me grow as a rider and makes you stronger mentally, so yeah, I think it helps you come full circle each year, and refreshes you a bit to go back into the grind of the tour the next fall. SL: How does riding out sluff and avalanches compare to riding in SBX traffic?
SW: It’s different because you can see exactly how the sluff is going to run when you look at a mountain, and people in SBX will make stupid decisions and go the wrong way when it totally goes against the flow, so it doesn’t really correlate. Mother Nature has patterns and man does erratic shit all the time. SL: How do you clear your mind before dropping in on one of these big AK lines? Do you use the same method to shut out the crowd at the Olympics? SW: It’s very different preparing for the two types of riding. At the Olympics I just have to get myself fired up to go all out… loud fast music and digging up emotions during the day to get yourself worked up. I compete on a much more emotional level when I am at the top of my game than with freeriding. Big mountain is just more intuitive and finding the flow with the mountain. I will be all relaxed before dropping into a line. Plus, the initial moment of release is more of a surrender to gravity and starting to work with the natural contours and lines, where as SBX is all aggression in the pull and then trying to smooth out the path over all these obstacles that are man-made, creating a flow from unnatural shapes. SL: Bigger thrill—riding Alaska pow on a bluebird day or meeting President Obama? SW: Don’t get me wrong… I have never been in a room with a greater feeling of someone’s presence being such a powerful one then in the Blue Room of the Whitehouse this spring. And being that I am a supporter, I have such a feeling of belief in that man’s mission and desire to
i want to mellow out a bit and chase
more snow the next couple of years...
right the path of our country and take a more dignified positive approach to leading the world and trying to do right for our citizens. But when you are standing alone and the sound of the heli fades into the next valley, and you are staring down something you might have looked at for years with dreams of how you were going to ride it... I have never been more alive than in those moments in the mountains. SL: First thought after seeing yourself on a Wheaties Box? Do you get a lifetime supply of cereal? SW: There were a ton of cases that showed up at the house this spring, but I don’t think they keep coming for life. It’s surreal, starting in snowboarding in the mid-eighties there was no acceptance, the football players would throw rocks at you as you skateboarded home from school and parents would yell at you from chairlifts. We weren’t doing it because you were considered cool, but to us it was the coolest sport in the world and there was a total dedication to spending as much time as possible doing it. To see it evolve as far as it has and to have it accepted over time… the Wheaties box is just another step in that progression in the mainstream. To be a part of that social change along with Shaun [White] this year is just a sign of how far it has come. The first snowboarders ever on the box and two of them from the same Winter Games… surreal. SL: If you could hand pick one person to shred Alaska with, who would it be? SW: Terje Haakonsen. Still the greatest shred ever.
SL: Do you plan to compete in the next Winter Olympics? What’s next for Seth Wescott? SW: Yeah I have another one in me… but I want to mellow out a bit and chase more snow the next couple of years… surf more, enjoy more. Be in the moment. Ride places I haven’t ridden. The Olympics is an amazing tool if you can use it. And it gives me a reason to focus that I don’t always feel. It’s inspiring, and the emotions that have come together for me in ‘06, 2010, are something I was able to feed off of in a most lucid way. To use that stored energy of peoples’ hopes and well wishes that are handed to you as you follow the path there. It’s hard to describe, but I have been able to tap into that and harness it when I needed it. And it’s a most unbelievable feeling to let those pull you down a mountain. So the plan is, for sure, to live that experience one more time… but until then I just want to ride more and have more days that make me excited in the morning to put my boots on.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Court Leve is a well-recognized photographer now living in Truckee, California. Leve is a respected freelancer offering clients a wide scope of abilities ranging from journalism, editorial, commercial, portraiture and wedding photography. His work has been published in virtually all of the regional magazines as well as national and international publications including; Powder, Skiing, Freeskier, The Ski Mag in Australia, Parade Magazine, Forbes Life Mountain Time, and many others. See more of Court Leve’s photography at www.courtlevephoto.com
No Mud Here. Moab, Utah Photo by Mike Horn
FIRST STOP BOARD BARN
FIRST STOP BOARD BARN
FIRST STOP BOARD BARN
FIRST STOP BOARD BARN
BOARD BARN
FIRST STOP BOARD BARN
FIRST STOP BOARD BARN
FIRST STOP BOARD BARN
FIRST STOP BOARD BARN
we are out there when no one else is. why? firststopboardbarn.com firststopboardbarn.com
firststopboardbarn.com
unlike ebay user ‘SuedePumas69’ firststopboardbarn.com
we actually test every single product we carry.
firststopboardbarn.com
firststopboardbarn.com
firststopboardbarn.com
firststopboardbarn.com
meet max, one of our team riders. firststopboardbarn.com firststopboardbarn.com firststopboardbarn.com firststopboardbarn.com
mount snow, vermont -15ºf, december.
visit us at www.firststopboardbarn.com 4enter STOKELAB at checkout and take an additonal 10% off! follow max at www.facebook.com/boardbarn
THE HIGHLANDERS WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JUSTIN CASH
Ride Free or Die: It’s not just a witty take on New Hampshire’s anarchist license plate mantra. It’s a way of life. And riders are going off with a vengeance at Highland Mountain Bike Park in Northfield, New Hampshire. Berms, rollers, tight tree lines and big hits—Highland, a former ski area turned downhill biking Mecca, has all that
and more. Riders Ben Kubas, Matt Hauke and Vin Quenneville brought out the big bikes just in time for peak foliage, and showed us how it’s done in the Granite State. Apparently that includes launching huge, consequential airs, and arcing wicked turns through bermed-out sections and up wall rides at mach speed. Dropping…
Rider: Ben Kubas
Rider: Matty Hauke
Rider: Vin Quenneville
Rider: Ben Kubas
Rider: Vin Quenneville
Rider: Matty Hauke
Rider: Matty Hauke
See more of Justin Cash’s photography at www.justincash.com
Athlete: Jason Tipp
A Story In A Single Glance IMAGERY BY JASON GOULD | INTERVIEW BY MIKE HORN
Jason Gould, 38, got his start in the photo biz assisting for a guy who shot interiors for Martha Stewart. Nowadays he lives in New York City, working as a professional photographer, and bailing out of the city whenever possible to fuel his latest passion: paddling whitewater. He grew up in suburban New York and went to college in New Hampshire, where he held down ski area jobs each winter while riding the White Mountain resorts. “Snowboarding was a real passion for me from early on,” Gould says. “I remember my first days learning at Magic Mountain in Vermont in 1985. The board I was riding was a Flite with pre-highback bindings, if anyone can remember that far back.” Gould spent the snowless months riding mountain and road bikes and got into racing. After he graduated college, Gould spent his twenties racing road bikes. “I went on to spend my twenties racing road bikes on a pretty high national level, but the Tour de France was not in the cards for me,” he says. “My last season of racing bikes, I was training for the winter in Athens, Georgia and decided to take a couple of photography classes at a small photo school in Atlanta, down the street from where my girlfriend lived,” Gould explains. “I got my first 35mm SLR for my 13th birthday and photography
was always a hobby of mine up until that point, but I never considered it as a career option. I quickly became passionate about shooting and printing in the darkroom that winter. Before long my mind was made up that this would be my last season of racing bikes and I was going to move to NYC and start a career in photography. I had lots of opportunities to work with many great photographers; it was a great way to get started.”
SL: How did you break into photography? What was your first assignment/photo published? JG: I think my first real assignments came from XXL, the Hip Hop magazine. I got to shoot lots of interesting characters for them; I guess my favorite was RZA. SL: How do you describe your approach/ style to someone who isn’t a photographer? JG: Sports photography seemed like a natural fit for me as I had always been an athlete and felt a real connection with athletes. I think one of my strengths as a photographer is my ability to capture the focus, determination and heroic qualities of my subjects; this is certainly helpful in shooting athletes.
“I think my first real assignments came from XXL, the Hip Hop magazine. I got to shoot lots of interesting characters for them; I guess my favorite was RZA.” JG(cont.): My approach changes based on what I’m shooting. Some of my personal work I shoot in a more reportage style, kind of like being a fly on the wall. On jobs, I think the key is to try to recreate the action in an authentic way that lets you be as close to it as possible, and find the angles that help keep it dynamic.
images per say. In my opinion, when we look at photos it’s because we want to understand something about the subject, and facial expressions are obviously very telling.
SL: What’s the hardest sport or motion to shoot? “Easiest?”
JG: The beauty of photography for me is that I try to shoot subjects I find personal interest in. I think it really helps to have a passion for what you’re capturing, to find something special about it visually. My approach and style offers a dynamic and authentic perspective, and I hope like-minded folks will appreciate that in my images.
JG: I’d say in my experience the hardest thing to shoot is swimming from underwater. I’m not sure any sport is easy to shoot well. Each sport has its unique challenges. SL: Do you use a lot of artificial lighting? JG: I use strobe primarily inside, but I really prefer natural light or reflected light for outdoor action. Of course it depends on the situation, but with fast action in daylight there are a lot of factors that inhibit strobe from working well. I’ve always been a fan of natural light, when it’s used well. SL: You are very adept at catching athletes’ facial expressions—from anguish to exhilaration—versus just the “action” itself. Why do you take that approach, and what do you feel it adds to your imagery?
JG: I consider my photography to be about more than just the action. I think a face tells you a lot and adds a lot of interest to an image. I would say lots of my images are more portraits of people in action than action
SL: How do you end up photographing such a broad collection of people, places, and pursuits?
SL: How do you see action sports/professional sports photography evolving in the future? JG: I think there is a large movement nowadays toward still photographers shooting more and more video. I can understand the trend, and technology is certainly making it easier to capture amazing video with quality we are used to seeing in the cinema. I also think that the world is becoming a place where immediacy is king, and I believe a great still image that tells a story in a single glance of the eye will never go out of style. In fact, I think as people have less and less time to spend even watching a 15-second video clip on the Internet, the value and strength of the still image will become even more compelling.
Athlete: Matthieu Thibaud
Athlete: Billy Fortier
Athlete: Bo Ekman
Athlete: Bill Robertson
Athlete: Matthieu Thibaud
Jason Gould is a resident of NYC and lives on the Lower East Side. An avid whitewater paddler, Jason takes every opportunity to get out of the city and onto a river. Some of his clients include Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and magazines such as Bicycling, Men’s Health, and Runner’s World. www.jasongould.net
The Flying Bunny STORY AND PHOTO BY CHAD SPECTOR
“Watching my children express themselves and choreograph runs…it is beautiful...not a lot of people understand that.”—Mom Six. Years. Old. Yet Annika Vrklan, “The Flying Bunny,” dropped in on the Dew Tour in Salt Lake City this September with the composure of another California native known for flying high at an early age—Shaun White, also known as “The Flying Tomato.” White is already a megastar in both skate and snowboarding, and caught much of the media attention at the SLC event. But Vrklan made me forget about Shaun White the second she dropped in on the vert ramp in front of a hollering crowd, bunny ears flapping and all. What was billed as a Grom Demo turned out to be so much more as Annika and a slew of other 6-11-year-old skaters reminded the crowd that most athletes, famous or not, are really just kids at heart. While the older members of the group put on a display worthy of most riders twice their age, it was Annika, the youngest skater to drop in, who captured the hearts of everyone in the building. She’s been skating for nearly a ¼ of her life, starting lessons at the Encinitas YMCA at the age of 4 ½, chasing her older brothers and emulating their tricks, with the permission of her mom, of course. “I grew up skating and it was just natural for us as parents to buy them boards and have boards around for them,” said her mom, Christine Vrklan. “Being involved in board sports for so long also gave us a little higher comfort level than parents who had no knowledge of skating. For me, it is watching my children express
themselves and choreograph runs…it is beautiful...not a lot of people understand that.” According to her mom, when she’s not setting world records and sessioning the vert ramp, Annika takes gymnastics...works on perfecting her front and back handsprings, plays soccer, karate at school, and she wants to be a singer (learn guitar as well). She plays Barbies, loves drawing, and also loves interviewing her skate friends on camera. Annika takes on each run like it’s her last, and even falls with grace, sliding on her knee pads across the buff wood surface without blinking an eye. Actually, she’s smiling, and up and running, headed back to the top of the ramp before anyone can ask, “Is she alright?” She’s a world record holder too, and about to have her name inked in the Guinness Book of World Records. At this year’s Summer X Games she asked her mom to sign her up for a contest. It involved doing as many backside 50/50 grinds as you could on a mini ramp in one minute. In 2012, Annika will be published in the record books for performing 31 grinds. As Annika said, “I like learning new tricks. It makes me feel like I can do anything, like I feel free.” Sure, Shaun White took home Gold from the SLC Dew Tour event. But the Flying Bunny is hot on his heels.
Chad Spector is a Utah based freelance photographer producing images in action sports, architecture, journalism, products, advertisement, street, portraits, fashion and landscapes.
www.chadspector.com
Commitment. Issues. The sharper your edges, the straighter your priorities.
Diez Años de Chilé By Tom Winter
I’ve been traveling to Chile to ski for almost a decade. Each trip has been a revelation. The snow, the mountains and the people, all combine to make the country the best ski destination in the world, hands down. But as good as the skiing is, it’s the latter, the people, that really make the trips. I’m not talking about my travel partners, although they’ve all – with the exception of one “pro” skier who showed up with his freeloading girlfriend – been fantastic. But it’s the people I’ve met along the way who have made each trip truly special. Here are a few of my favorite images from one of my favorite places on earth.
ATHLETE: JEFF BERMAN | LOCATION: VALLE NEVADO One of the best things about skiing the Andes is the combination of vast amounts of off-piste terrain and the ease of access to this terrain. This shot of Jeff Berman was taken just outside the ropes of Valle
Nevado. The face funnels down into a narrow tube, it’s totally committing and an amazing line. But the most amazing thing about it is this particular shot only gets skied a couple of times a year, if that.
LOCATION: FARELLONES, CHILE We’d been loaned a funky apartment in Farellones for a week. It was late September and the season was winding down, with corn snow and sunny days. As is the case at every ski resort around the world, the end of the year is when the locals finally have some time for themselves, time to ski and party and blow off steam. In Chile,
no party is complete without an “asada” or barbeque, featuring lots of meat, plenty of wine and a lot of laughter. This party happened to be someone’s birthday, we never found out whose, but because we were neighbors for the week, the locals were gracious enough to invite us.
ATHLETE: CHRIS ALBERS | LOCATION: TERMAS DE CHILE Chris Albers had a really promising career as a big-mountain rider, and I worked with him for several years. Then he decided to get married and move to Leadville, Colorado to open a coffee shop. The shop has been killing it, and he now also runs a bike
shop in town. This photo brings back a lot of good memories of traveling with him, particularly this storm day at Termas, where we stuck to the bushes on the bottom half of the mountain because you couldn’t see anything up top.
ATHLETE: JAKE BOGOCH | LOCATION: FARELLONES The small town of Farellones is ground zero for skiing and snowboarding when it comes to Chile. Only one hour from Santiago, you can access El Colorado, Valle Nevado and La Parva from the village. I spent a week in this small apartment with Jake Bogoch, who was Skiing Magazine’s
editor at the time. We’d hike to burly lines all day and then end up on this little deck at our pad for glasses of Chilean vino tinto at the end of the day, with the sun setting over Santiago, far, far below us. The perfect way to end every day and one of the most blissful weeks I’ve ever enjoyed.
LOCATION: PORTILLO, CHILE Portillo had a rough year this season, maybe the worst in the resort’s history. But three years ago was a completely different story. I was down there to shoot Chris Davenport for a feature for Freeskier and a massive storm rolled in, shutting down the resort for four days. When storms hit the Andes, the snowfall is measured in meters, and this storm was par for the course. Portillo is a great place, but when everything shuts down, it really shuts down. Two days into it, everyone was going crazy from being cooped up.
ATHLETE: DANA FLAHR | LOCATION: VALLE NEVADO, CHILE Dana was just coming off knee surgery and this was his first big trip since he’d blown an ACL. We were shacked up at Valle Nevado and a nice storm rolled through.
The skiing was amazing, as was the opportunity to work with Dana. He’s a great guy and a really good skier.
ATHLETE: WILL SPILO | LOCATION: VALLE NEVADO, CHILE This was taken on Will’s last run of the last day of his (and my) first trip to Chile. It’s backcountry terrain outside of Valle Nevado. It was one of the best trips of my life
and one of the reasons why I keep going back. Will also caught the bug, and he now spends his summers as a heli guide flying out of Valle Nevado and living the dream.
Tom Winter is a founding member and Managing Principal of Carve Collective. The Collective offers a wide array of services including graphic design, corporate identity, industrial design, event management, trade show booth and interior lifestyle space creation to companies around the globe. www.tomwintermedia.com
BUTTEness an attitude a joy for living a welcoming spirit
Skier: Alex Albers Photo: Fenlonphoto.com
where time seems to stand still, at least until the landing
1961
50 YEARS
Big Air competition on Elk Avenue in the historic town of Crested Butte. Experience Colorado’s last great ski town at skicb.com/Butteness
2011
LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED
50% off lift tickets* lodging for only $50 person/night noV 24 – dec 16, 2010 *lodging purchase required.
(800)243-6866
skicb.com/50
CRESTED BUTTE COLORADO
OFF WITH YOUR CHAIN! FAT TIRE BIKE WEEK IS ON A ROLL IMAGES BY ALEX FENLON & MIKE HORN | WORDS BY MIKE HORN
A BUSLOAD OF ROWDY, RAMPED-UP AND DRESSED-UP RACERS RAMBLE UP INTO THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE CRESTED BUTTE, COLO., A TRAILER-LOAD OF BIKES NOT FAR BEHIND. AS WE NEAR THE TOP OF KEBLER PASS, THOSE WITH WINDOW SEATS SCREAM AND WHOOP AT THE CROWD GATHERED OUTSIDE. THE ROWDIES EXIT THE BUS, GRAB BIKES OFF THE TRAILER, AND GET THEIR CHAINLESS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS GAME-FACE ON. CALLING THE CHAINLESS A RACE IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT; IT’S A BATTLE OF BIKES, BRAWN AND BEER. NO PEDALING ALLOWED, THIS IS GRAVITY-FED RIDING IN ITS PUREST FORM. A LIGHT DRIZZLE IS FALLING, GREASING UP THE DIRT ROAD COMPETITORS WILL BOMB BACK TO TOWN. CARNAGE WILL ENSUE. GUARANTEED. In a Colorado mountain town where bikes outnumber people, cars and dogs, it’s no shocker when a festival dedicated to all things biking goes off the chain, as it did during Crested Butte’s 30th annual Fat Tire Bike Week this past June. But of all the bike races that week, from a cross-country suffer-fest to a 24-Hour cruiser-ride fundraiser, the Chainless World Championships reigned supreme on the Stokemeter. Think Easy Rider meets Cannonball Run. On bicycles. Riding a chainless, 40-plus-year-old cruiser bike down a mostly unpaved mountain pass sounds like a death wish. And I’ve heard the stories of Chainless Race carnage past... bikers blowing up in drainage ditches, head-to-toe road rash, spilled beers, and naked males blinding bikers from behind. But I’d never experienced it for myself until this summer.
There’s a guy across the street in just his underwear (tighties, ahhhhh!) and a helmet, local attorney and race organizer Aaron Huckstep is wearing what looks like a Brick Oven Pizza-sponsored singlet and a Lucha Libre wrestling mask, and local radio personality Chad Reich has on a stars and stripes Easy Rider helmet, and is skiing dirty snow on the side of the road. Did someone dose the water supply? Then things get serious. Sort of. Everyone is directed to lay his or her bikes down and prepare for a Le Mans start. A Forest Service officer looks on in amusement and snaps away with his digital camera. Local Chainless organizer Ben Preston bellows out the rules, tells everyone there are six kegs waiting at the bottom, and throws his helmet high in the air. When it hits the ground the crowd yells like a band of marauders and runs for their bikes.
Lissy Anderson (left) gets her buzz on
Rider Chad Reich
I grab my old Columbia cruiser, last licensed in Burlington, Vermont in ‘74-’75, and twist the tweaked handlebars back towards straight. It’s a skinny-tire townie and I have reservations about its high-speed, dirt-cornering ability. I hop on and start rolling; magnesium chloride-infused mud spatters my legs and fills the fender wells. Gaining speed down towards the “Y” intersection at Irwin, I pass someone pulling a bike out of the ditch. Man, these skinny tires fly! Entering the next passing lane means threading the needle between a swerving rider and a gravel-chocked roadside runnel.
“On your left!” I holler, convulsing across the pitted shoulder. Then it’s back to laughing, hooting and hollering, and moving fast—I pass some naked dude who likely lost some skin from the mag-chloride mud mask, and then go head-to-head with a serious “racer” who is bent at the waist with his head sticking out ahead of the handlebars like a hood ornament. Despite experiencing major speed wobbles due to warped rims, my wheels stay true and I play cat-and-mouse with a couple other
riders the next several miles, passing canned beverages back and forth when the grade mellows. The diciest section of the race is at the very end. I hang a left onto Old Kebler Pass just above town, hit the dirt and rattle out of control. No chain-action=no coaster brakes! The dust is flying, my Columbia rattles up and down like a jackhammer, its back end kicking out sideto-side. Sketching down the last stretch, I have bikers stacked up to the right that force me to the low-lying left and a garden of fist-sized rocks. Point it!
And then‌ rubber hits pavement, and it’s over. The roaring crowd encircles the finish line and coats all the riders in glory. Local Roman Kolodziej won first place, and the title of Chainless World Champion. I didn’t take home the trophy, but I did find the raddest race on the planet. And the six kegs at the after party. See you at the top of the pass next year.
Riders: Dave Ochs (left) and Chainless Champ Roman Kolodziej (right)
Alex Fenlon’s stoke for outdoor sports and photography began in Appleton, Wisconsin hopping the trimmed bushes and climbing picket fences to take Polaroids of the neighborhood MILF as she sunbathed by her backyard pool.
See more of Alex’s photography at www.fenlonphoto.com
Subscribe. It’s Free!
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST www.stokelab.com/subscribe4
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/stokelab4
THE BOUTIQUE BLOWUP: SKIS 2011 INDEPENDENTS FLY THE FREERIDE FLAG BY PETER KRAY Rocker is the rule in skis this year. Big name brands like K2 are introducing reverse camber technology throughout the entire line, while Nordica’s game-changing Radict (157/127/146) and Atomic’s Bent Chetler (140/123/134) represent the apex of new school skis for big terrain. Already ahead of the game is Rossignol, returning its new cult classic, the S7 Freeride (145/115/123), Salomon, with its gravity-ruling, team-designed El Dictator (139/114/124) and Dynastar, whose Legend Pro 115 (137/115/127) will add to the legacy of one of Rocky Mountain skiing’s most storied lines. But the biggest scoop of all is just how many boutique brands are popping out of the mountains, baking up incredible boards aimed exclusively at those independent personalities pushing the freeride state of mind. Call them “Loca-boards,” “Zip Code Carvers,” or “DIY Downhillers,” there’s a new energy around the art of building skis. Here’s your primer on what’s cool:
Brand: Wagner Buzz: The one-stop custom set-up. From total-terrain breakdown to skier-specific dimensions, flex and graphics (yes, you design it!), Pete Wagner’s customer-specific ski factory in Telluride, Colorado is the ultimate answer to your personalized ski quest. Big Board: You tell Pete. Seriously. He’ll build it. It will be a highlight of your ski existence. (This Rocky Mountain writer is rolling on a pair of custom Shred White and Bluebirds, at 187 centimeters, with 136/101/124 dimensions and graduated rocker in the tips). www.wagnerskis.com
Brand: Icelantic
Brand: DPS
Buzz: Quite likely the most talked about brand in the west. Colorado-based, with an innovative big-tip design (for super float and ease-of-turn-initiation) and wood core pop throughout the line.
Buzz: Big mountain rock-jock boards that have been designed and proven in true ‘huge’ mountain experiences.
Big Board: Dig ‘The Shaman,’ (160/110/130) with tapered tip float and an aggressive all-mountain sidecut.
Big Board: The Wailer (141/112/128) is a pure carbon fiber sandwich legend among hardchargers from Alta to Crested Butte, with a sidecut that makes it absolutely all-terrain magnificent.
www.icelanticboards.com
www.dpsskis.com
DPS product testing in Haines, Alaska
Brand: Fortitude Buzz: Fortitude founder Nick Whittemore, aka: “Danger Mouse,” recently had a couple tendons and ligaments repaired, but his Canada to Colorado cred is getting stronger every month.
Brand: Ski Logik Buzz: The gorgeous topsheets stop you in your tracks. But it’s the ski test results that prove these trophy boards really do rip.
Big Board: Go gorilla cranking big mountain turns on the Yeti (134/105/124.5), with an early rise tip for buttery transitions, and a wide platform for riding big airs out.
Big Board(s): The Howitzer, for dudes of course (137/110/131) and the alpine-Isisspecific Goddess (140/101/126), both built with off-piste tip float and all-terrain sidecut.
www.fortitudeskis.com
www.skilogik.com
Brand: Folsom Buzz: Colorado-custom vibe with a proven big-mountain track record. Big Board: Johnny C. (135/107/125) – the all-mountain everything machine, including a custom-flex, custom-stiffness and custom-graphics to ensure that personal touch. www.folsomcustomskis.com
Peter Kray is a Santa Fe-based editor and writer and the founder of Shred White and Blue American boardsports apparel. He was named by The Ski Channel as one of the 250 Most Influential People in the Snowbiz. www.shredwhiteandblue.com
Ride Snowboard Company Call it “Van Gogh Camo” or just straight up out-of-this-world, Ride’s collaboration with Spacecraft spawned a creative kit that rides as good as it looks. We highlight the hardgoods here, check out the Spaced-out apparel at ridesnowboards.com.
Ride HighLife $549.95 Snowboard topsheets, long and broad, offer a lot of creative space for artistic design. Below the surface, Ride’s HighLife is shaped with LowRize rocker in the tip and a ProRize shaped tail. That tech means you have low-rise rocker in the tip, slight rocker at the tail, and minimal-to-flat camber in between. This profile provides a surfy, floaty ride because the nose doesn’t hang up turn-toturn, but rather butters from edge to edge. The flat-cambered back end provides ample edge control and pop. Sizes: 155, 158, 159 Wide, 161, 163 Wide, 164, 167, 168 Wide, 172 Wide
“The Collector’s Kit”
Ride Insano Focus $299.95 On the flex-o-meter, Ride’s Insano Focus boots ring up a rating of ‘9’, which represents nearmaximum response. As in, these boots won’t fold mid-turn like they’re made of sponge. Boa Focus technology allows you to tighten the upper and lower boot independently for a custom fit, and it makes adjusting the boots’ fit run-to-run a breeze. The Spacecraft Blue colorway is the only way to go, but they’re also available in all black. Sizes: 7-13 (8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5)
Ride Optimo ContraBand $299.95 The futuristic Optimo ContraBand bindings are optimal for all mountain freestyle and park/pipe riding, due to the single-ratchet system that gets you in and out with a flick of a wrist. The chassis setup can be customized, is light, flexible sideto-side for freestyle, and features an adjustable toe ramp. Initial set up can be a little tricky, but Ride has an instructional video on their site that shows all you need to know. Sizes: 7-9, 9-11, 11-13
’ click to learn more
Helly Hansen Mission Down Jacket $400 Don’t be afraid of the big, bad cold—get out there. Burly down coats are built with the harshest of winter conditions in mind. Helly Hansen’s Mission Down Jacket has 510 grams of down insulation, more than enough to keep comfortable at high-mountain base camp, or on your walk to work on a -10º day. As for on-slope missions, down is more versatile than you think. Rather than wearing multiple layers beneath a hardshell jacket, you can get away with a single, short-sleeve shirt beneath the Mission Down on most winter days. If it warms up or you’re hiking about, open the pit zips for ventilation. The water-resistant outer shell, powder skirt and weather-sealed zippers all around shed snow shed snow like summer. Colors Available • Tabasco Red • Arctic Blue • Black
“Don’t be afraid of the big, bad cold”
’ click to learn more
Revo Grand Sixties $209 The frames on Revo’s Grand Sixties classic shades may well be from the actual 60’s— after all, select frames are made from recycled high-grade nylon plastics. The others are constructed of the seed from a castor bean plant instead of petroleum-based nylon. Revo captures the spirit of yesterday and today with vintage lens tints and unmistakable frame style that screams SIXTIES. Below the surface of style, the polarized lens technology is top notch, with five colors to choose from. The Grand Sixties are lightweight so they don’t burden the bridge of your nose, and are best suited for off-trail antics. Flavors Available • Matte Black/Classic Blue • Matte Black/Graphite • Matte Black/Classic Orange • Tortoise/Bronze • Frost/Cobalt
“Revo captures the spirit of yesterday and today…”
’ click to learn more
Riders: Travis White and Gavin Solberger Location: Irwin, CO Photo: Mike Horn
THAT’S ALL FOR FALL…
ISSUE NO3 COMING WINTER 2010/11