ARKADE NOVEMBER 2012

DAN BRISSE

SEAN BLACK DENNIS NAZARI

Jeremy Jones Figment JJ Pro

Action by Blotto Photo Portrait by Rick Levinson

See in color at anonoptics.com

The Future is

Binding now-snowboarding.com

2012 product of the year.

TABLE OF

CONTENTS 10-11 OPENING ACT: ONE FOOTER 16 ANGRY SNOWBOARDER: TOM SIMS 18 BURRITOS & SNOW: THE JOYS OF FAILURE 20-21 CHARACTERS WELCOME: DENNIS NAZARI 22 CHARACTERS WELCOME: COLT BOWDEN 24-25 ROAD WARRIORS: SETH HUOT 26-27 HI THERE: ANDREW ALDRIdGE 28 HI THERE: JORDAN MORSE 32-33 SALES PITCH: 2013 BINDINGS 34 A GRAPHIC STORY: 2013 ROME CROSSROCKET 36 INCENTIVE: BLAZE KOTSENBURG 38 GOOD EATS: DAVANZAS 42-43 SAYING GOODBYE TO FORUM 46-53 DAN BRISSE 56-63 SEAN BLACK 66-75 SHOOTING GALLERY 78 INSTAHAMS 80 LAST CALL: ELECTRIC HALLOWEEN

ALEX ANDREWS IN ALASKA PHOTO BY @DEANBLOTTOGRAY

OPENING ACT

Opening Act:

How are you in ... one foot or two? Each one of us has a different commitment to snowboarding.

To some it may be a career that takes up almost every minute of our daily lives. Others may balance a degree of having a “real job” with playing on the snow, and others may be trying to make the leap from “real job” to industry job. Some of you may only get a dozen days in a three month season, but that doesn’t make your love and commitment any less valid. How you are associated with snowboarding is really irrelevant as long as you feel that passion, joy and desire in your heart and soul. Ten days or a hundred, hobby or career in the end is doesn’t matter if you’re in with one foot or two it only matters that you made the leap…

BODE MERRILL IN SLC PHOTO BY E-STONE

PAUL BUNDY paul@arkadesnowboarding.com

CORY LLEWELYN cory@arkadesnowboarding.com

BRYCE PACKHAM bryce@arkadesnowboarding.com

Andy Wright, Bob Plumb, Rob Mathis, Tim Peare, Sean K. Sullivan, Dean Blotto Gray, Alex Mertz, Vernon Deck, Aaron Dodds, Teresa Flowers

Daniel Cochrane, Bob Plumb, Mark Seguin, Avran LeFeber, Seth Huot, Dave Graves, Josh Fisher, Brad Gobdel, Knut Eliassen, JF Pelchat, Kara Flitstra, Christobal Keller, Christ Brunstetter Contributing Artist: Christobal Keller

Landon Llewelyn, Cooper Llewelyn, The Norm, Marcus Patterson, Cael Campbell, Christian Crowder

@arkadesnowboarding

ARKADE MAGAZINE 127 South 800 East STE#37 SLC, UT 84102 info@arkadesnowboarding.com Facebook.com/arkadesnowboarding Twitter.com/arkadesnow Instagram @arkadesnowboarding

COVER: DAN BRISSE PHOTO: E-STONE

S

12

DISCOVER MORE HEADWEAR AND LEARN ABOUT OUR ARTIST COLLECTIVE AT SPACECRAFTCOLLECTIVE.COM

LNP & LUCAS DEBARI P: DARCY BACHA

ANGRY SNOWBOARDER

WORDS BY AVRAN LEFEBER PHOTO COURTESY OF SIMS

TOM SIMS

To those of us that devote any portion of our life to snowboarding, on September 12th of this year we all lost a great friend. Sure, we weren't the best to him at times, and there's probably a few of you that never considered him as a friend. Then there are those who never even knew this man. Some of you have even probably made a remark about his brands, whether disparaging or embracing, that is only known by you. Tom Sims was our friend, whether we ever acknowledged him or not. Without Tom, we wouldn't be part of this international brotherhood of shred. Our friendships forged in white and made of memories that will last a lifetime ultimately go back to this one man.

Tom may or may not have invented snowboarding—that’s a debatable topic, but the one thing that his legacy will always hold is he created the snowboarder. The lifestyle, the image, the retreat from the norms of society, rider influences, personal parts, the punk rock attitude, the pure freedom of riding down a hill with a smile on your face can all be attributed to Tom Sims. Without his influence at the early stages of snowboarding, we wouldn't be where we are today, nor would we have the culture and lifestyle that is presented to you on the pages of this very magazine.

While I might not have personally known Tom, I know he was a friend to me because of the lifestyle he and the generations before me created. Because of this, it isn't fair for myself to talk about a man I knew so little about personally. Instead I think paraphrasing a list of rules Tom had about life, love, snowboarding, and business from Bonfire founder Brad Steward’s memorial posted in the History of Snowboarding Facebook Group will justify Tom’s legacy.

Tom’s Rules: 4: Never go snowboarding without a camera and loads of film.

9: Never give up the back cover advertisement in any magazine.

12: If you can't be the best rider in the group, be the best-dressed.

16: Never ride without style.

20: Always ride gear that no one else can get and ride in places no one else can go. Make sure you get a photo of you doing it.

23: Always remember that snowboarding is just skateboarding on snow.

Look at the trends today, the technical advancements, the fashion forward thinking, and the riders who are filming video parts. This is Tom’s influence and, because of that, his legacy as a pioneer, legend, and innovator will never have to be questioned. The next time you question Sims as a brand or wonder what Tom Sims did for snowboarding, remember all the parts that you like about snowboarding and say to yourself, “Sims Did It First!”

Tom, as a kid who grew up in the wilds of Western New York in a bubble of snowboarding, all I can say is thank you for everything you did for me and everyone I have ever shared a moment with snowboarding. Rest in peace friend.

VISIT ANGRYSNOWBOARDER.COM FOR MORE FROM AVRAN LEFEBER

BURRITOS AND SNOW

THE

WORDS BY DANIEL COCHRANE PHOTO BY ANDY WRIGHT

J O Y S OF F A I L U R E I just want to fall…

Sometimes that is truly how I feel with snowboarding. I just want to go out there and try to do something new and fall. Over and over just fall and get that taste of failure, that reality check. There’s something different about snowboarding that is so directly opposed to what our culture has become. We have become a culture that seeks to portray only perfection. Our yards must be perfect, our hair always right, our candidates shining examples of perfection. We use perfect models for ads and then even photo shop THEM. That’s not life... that’s not snowboarding. Life is full of challenges, problems, opportunities and rewards. If you work hard you get the good parts and if you don’t you stay mired in the bad.

Snowboarding has taught me the joys of failure. How sometimes it’s better to not have things come easy, that putting in the blood, sweat, and tears makes the end result so much more satisfying. It has taught me persistence in an instant gratification world. Those times when I’m on the ground, hands and knees, just wishing the pain would stop those times are always worth it once I land that trick. The smile wipes away the pain in an instant, and that’s what always keeps me coming back for more. As the season gets under way I’m again reminded of the price I’ll pay for chasing that high. Ice packs, heat packs, ibuprofen, lots of ibuprofen, perhaps a third offseason surgery in a row? Who knows and ultimately who cares. I’d rather chase that high and deal with the consequences so I can find that feeling than give up.

Snowboarding has probably taught me more life lessons than any one person ever has and definitely taught me more than I ever learned in school. Among these are the previously mentioned notions of hard work and persistence but if there is one thing that it has taught me that is more important than any of the others it is the importance of truly living life. Not just existing like those people with the nice hair and well cut lawns but really living every day with passion and sometimes that means failure. There is a Japanese Proverb that states “Fall seven times, stand up eight” and that is snowboarding to me. All about chasing that feeling you get with number eight and when it all goes right.

“With the Draft, you can rec r e a t e w h a t i s p o s s i b l e o n a s n o w b o a r d . ”

N I CK V I S CO N T I

O N E T E C H N O L O G Y T O

R U L E

I T

A L L

P: Dave Lehl

FEATURING

THE TEAM:

ON DECK:

NICK VISCONTI SCOTTY VINE CURTIS WOODMAN SEAN BLACK CODY BOAN IAN SAMS JOE BOSLER

BRANDON HAMMID AUSTIN YOUNG MARIAH DUGAN PATRICK REDDY ERIK LEON SAMMY SPITERI MARK REININGA ELI WEINER LYNN NEIL

W W W. A R B O R C O L L E C T I V E . C O M / S N O W B O A R D S / A R B O RCO L L E C T I V E

@ A R B O R S N OW B OA R D S

D R A F T

CHARACTERS WELCOME

INTERVIEW BY MARK SEGUIN PHOTO BY BRYCE PACKHAM

DENNIS NAZARI

Tell the people of Utah about yourself, Dennis. What makes you excited to get out of bed every morning?

The only thing that really gets me out of bed in the morning is a big POW day, and that’s regardless of how much sleep I’ve had.

This is a big year for Salty Peaks. Five year anniversaries are rare in this industry, let alone twenty-five year anniversaries. What has been your favorite memory of the shop in the last twenty five years?

Wow 25 years of memories and you want me to nail it down to just one?

I guess it would have to be being invited on the 12 seat cat trip with snowboard pioneers Tom Sims, Chuck Barfoot, Dimitrije Milovich, and surf legends Mickey Munoz, Mike Doyle, Herbie Fletcher, Nat young, Joey Cabell, Mike Carnahan, Ray Santa Maria and Gerry Lopez. Having all these great minds and incredible souls together in one cat for 3 days of perfect bluebird and deep powder was as epic as it gets for me. Maybe it could be topped with a bigger cat and bringing along Heffner and few of the playboy bunnies.

But there have been so many good times you could fill a book with stories about 25 years of Vegas trade show shenanigans and parties; another book with competing in contests, designing boards and road trips; another with experiences in documenting and preserving snowboard history; and then you would have another volume for shop life and all the drama that comes with retail and the 20 something’s that are in fact addicted to snowboarding. And you could fill yet another volume with all the events and contests we have put on over the last 25 years.

Conversely, what has been the biggest challenge?

As far as consistent challenges over the last 25 years, hiring the right crew with a good snowboard knowledge and training them to be the best in the industry, but also getting them to stay in retail. After getting extensive training many branch out into other industry positions, or start their own business. Most often repping is a place some want to go, and most people that are reps today got their start at a shop.

Some go on to be team managers, graphic guys, movie producers, even product developers and sales managers. So specialty shops help train industry leaders and shop credentials go a long way when companies are hiring for a position because having a perspective on the industry at specialty brick and mortar retail is crucial.

Has there been a clear, defining moment for Salty Peaks in that time?

Sure, several. I think the most notable was after 911 when I sat down with the crew and explained some drastic abrupt changes. Cuts and freezes to shop programs, team, and parties. Most thought it was an overreaction, but by the time other shops around the country, and right here in Salt Lake, realized they needed to tighten the belt, unfortunately it was around their neck and they choked. We saw the first thinning of the heard with more than 30% to 40% of the shops around the country going out of business or getting bought out by competitors at that time.

What is the biggest factor contributing to Salty Peaks’ succeeding where so many others fail?

I believe it’s always been the independent and individual minded approach to business and taking care of customers that drives the excitement for snowboarding.

To not spend money you don’t have, to stay out of debt and to see a slower gradual growth, we always broke our own trail, never looked to others to tell us how to do things. We actually developed programs and ideas that have been used by others throughout the years like manufactures, rider support and the team concept, to product development and suggestions on how to improve products Define where the local specialty shop belongs in the puzzle that is the snowboard industry?

Well like I was just saying, the specialty shops are the testing grounds for new ideas and trends that big box retailers can’t provide. You can’t be a true snow or skate specialty shop when you sell lawn furniture , camping gear and team sports; the level of expertise is just not there. You know the “I’ve ridden that board” testimonial

by the guy you’ve seen on the hill before. At salty peaks we don’t read canned sales pitches or product info off a computer screen by someone that’s never been on a snowboard like the online sales sites do.

We provide a better knowledge base and true customer service. In Salt Lake we have 3 shops that have endured the test of time probably better than just about any other resort area, and a large part of that is because we push each other to do more and go bigger as competitors. Just like when you’re out riding with your friends you always have more fun and learn more when you ride with better riders.

Riders in this area are lucky because Salt Lake has some great shops that bring a lot of choices to the area.

The bottom line is the specialty shop that provides the “scene” and in some cases makes snowboarding more accessible

Every time I go into the repair shop at Brighton I overhear people commenting on “all those cool old snowboards” hanging on the walls over the stairs. What inspired you to start your vast collection?

I have family members that were instrumental in historical documentation and my grandfather built or restored some of the coolest buildings in and around the Long Beach area, so I picked up an interest in history and realized it’s easier to document history as it happens rather than try to go back 20 or 30 years and piece it back together. So the snowboard museum and archives is intended to be preserved for generations to come to see where the roots of snowboarding started. Some of the coolest boards on display were saved by being pulled out of the dumpster back when we started the shop.

The display at Brighton is a very condensed version of snowboarding history. I think Randy’s going to let me expand it to the other stairwell next spring.

Recently the “Free Alta” movement has had something of a revival thanks to some YouTube videos. What obligation, if any, do you think Alta has to let us ride the lifts? Do you think it will ever happen?

Alta was the first resort I ever rode the lifts at. I have seen a lot go on with Alta since the beginning. There is such an old guard there with the “we hate snowboarders with a passion” attitude at Alta that it will take a lawsuit or other forced measure to make it happen.

I remember Chick Mortensen (Alta head honcho) telling me that as long as he’s alive snowboarders will never be allowed at Alta just before he hung up on me!

I know in the late 90’s Maria McNulty made an effort to make a case against Alta based on the fact that Alta sits on land leased from the forest service and their denial of snowboarders is discriminatory in nature. I know there have been discussions about this among the snowboarding legal community over the years, and I think someday it will happen. I have done many interviews over the years where I have pegged Alta as the last resort to allow snowboarding in North America. Today we are down to 3 resorts that don’t allow snowboards, including Alta. I don’t know Mad River Glen’s story, but it doesn’t really matter. They are on the East Coast so they don’t really count as a real ski resort in my book, and Deer Valley is such a poser resort that has the weakest terrain out of all the Utah resorts, I don’t think alot of snowboarders care to go there anyway when you have true world class terrain just down the street. Deer Valley is a bit to stuffy for my liking

Thanks, Dennis for taking this time. Anyone you want to thank or shout out to?

Of course the hard working crew at the shop especially Kerri, Travis, and Randy, Zach and mop and anyone that has worked there in the past that didn’t get fired!

All the manufactures that have contributed to the progression of snowboarding, Dimitrije Milovich creator of Winterstick and along with Wayne Stoveken who from my research are the first guys to ride a “true” snowboard with hands free surfing of snow, Jake Burton for all the investment he’s made into making snowboarding a

worldwide sport and bridging continental gaps and all the work his company has done to gain acceptance and to get resorts open on a global basis, Tom Sims (R.I.P.) Chuck Barfoot and Matt Donavan for pushing freestyle boards and riding on the rest of us, Bev, Chris and Damien Sanders for getting rad in general and breaking the trail of individualism, Mike Olsen and Pete Sarri for getting off the space ship and bringing their brilliant minds to Earth for all of us to advance with and have better snowboarding equipment, Paul Alden for organizing some of the better run early contests, Tom Heish (ISM) and Kevin Kenier (TWS) for starting the first snowboard mags, all the reps out there that keep slinging product even if they aren’t making any money and to the reps on easy street that paid their dues and got the big fish brand and now they can pay bills on time, and to everyone that ever tried snowboarding and didn’t quit, all the homies and crew at Never Summer, Rome, Ride, 686, Mervin, Burton, Volcom, all the pros that still do contests and even the ones that don’t

but put out some cool parts in the vids, Drew and Rich for getting Salty’s on the map in those early years with their unique view of business and the original 8 Salty Peaks’ team riders doing it for the love of snowboarding and not a paycheck and especially all the customers that support local specialty shops and spend money at Salty Peaks cause that’s what keeps us in business and the scene thriving. I know there are Salty haters out there, usually because they got fired or are aligned with a competitor, but if you are a true non-biased customer and feel you’ve ever had a bad experience at Salty Peaks we want to try and make it up to you just give me a call at 801-273-8770 and tell me about it, cause I’m not always there to see every situation.

So pray for big dumps and lots of snow and then go play in it.

C-ya on the hill.

CHARACTERS WELCOME

WORDS BY CRISTOBAL KELLER PHOTO BY WESTON COLTON

COLTBOWDEN About two years ago I was constantly hearing Colt Bowden's name.

Whether I was talking about skateboarding or art, his name would always come up. Finally I asked the question," Who is Colt Bowden!?"

At my first Art show I finally got to meet the man whose name has been haunting my life. I was setting up my work when Colt introduced himself. It's weird cause I don't remember really anything we talked about but I do remember like it was just an hour ago how he left the show. There were all these people hanging out on the lawn in front of the venue. After saying bye Colt threw his Cruiser board on the ground, gave a nice good push, then made this sharp turn onto the sidewalk all crouched down with his hand out grazing the grass like he was surfing. Everybody on the lawn looked at him in amazement probably thinking the same thing I was thinking, "Wow, that's cool."

A few months later I get a call from Colt asking if I want to go skating with him and his buddy. I found out later that his buddy was Chris Pastras a.k.a Dune a skateboard legend. They were filming some stuff for Fuel TV and needed some skating footage. Colt suggested we do a line together where he back lips down this ledge and I go behind him and pop a trick off it. Soon

the cameras were filming and of course Colt lands his trick 1st try and I didn’t even get close to landing mine. After about 30 takes of Colt landing on his board every time, then me sliding on my face. The film crew suggests, " Colt, you keep doing your trick and let's just have your friend just ride behind you." I couldn't help but laugh to myself that I got demoted to pretty much just standing there. Once again I found myself watching Colt thinking, “Wow, that's cool."

My last story I'll share about Colt is when he invited me to help him paint a mural. I thought sure it should be fun to do a lil mural on a wall. What he didn't mention was the wall was the size of a freaking football field! I bailed after a few hours but continued to follow the progress of it. By the end of the week I saw this amazing mural go up on the huge abandoned building in Salt Lake and once again I caught myself watching Colt do his thing and thinking, " Wow, that's cool."

Colt is an amazing artist, skateboarder and friend. If you ever get the chance to meet him take a few minutes to just sit back and watch him, and I guarantee you'll say to yourself. " Wow, that's cool."

ROAD WARRIORS

WORDS BY SETH HUOT ART WORK BY CHRISTOBAL KELLER

BEST TRIP EVER

SETH HUOT

I am going to start by saying that this was “the best trip ever.” I know this phrase gets thrown around a lot in snowboarding and everything that surrounds it, but for me this trip was The Best Trip Ever.

Starts out by having a meeting with Chuck and Bob from Giro, myself, and Jeff Baker and Pat Bridges from Snowboardermag in San Clemente CA. We were going over some ways to get a story and coverage in the mag yet funding it through a catalog media blitz for my goggle sponsor Giro. Some good ideas were thrown around but nothing locked down.

Later that night over beers at the hotel with Chuck and Bob, I threw them the idea to go to Arlberg Austria. I had been there a couple years prior with Wille Yli-lluoma and Shaun McKay filming for People’s Nice Try. The place blew me away on how insane the rideable terrain was and getting to experience the Euro Shred vibe.

When Giro does a trip they do it right, they know its hard to get shots, so they make all of the accommodations top notch and spare no thrifty nonsense expense. Mainly they like to make the most to get what they need and stoke everyone out.

They came back to me a few months later and said that they had figured out what they wanted to do and Arlberg was the call. The riders were myself and Simon Chamberlain along with photographers Jeff Baker, Mike Basher and videographer Neil Goss. It was set and I was stoked.

Volcom Europe has a team house there and a local kid that grew up in the Arlberg Valley Blacky is a Volcom Family rider. Blacky is the shit, an Austrian powder hound, he knows all of the spots there and rides all over the valley every day of the winter. He is a true snowboarder and has a deep passion for scoring the best conditions and will leave no turn un-slashed to get it.

Well, Blacky happens to be my boy, so I put a call in to him saying we were coming over and want him guide us and shred with us. He was down.

Arlberg is a region and valley that goes up to a mountain pass then back down into another valley. It’s a main line of passage between Zurich and Innsbruck. On both sides of the pass there are world class ski resorts with endless off piste terrain as they call it in Europe, (backcountry) from high alpine, to tree pillow rollers run, and thick forest. It’s like 10 Grizzly Gulches and 7 Brighton’s combined. This place is seriously a snowboarder’s paradise…

The trip was booked for 2 weeks. Chuck, Bob and more of the Giro crew were only going to hang with us for a week so they rented us all a huge chalet that was absolutely the nicest mountain house I have stayed in. It was pretty much brand new, and totally Alps authentic in every way. Animal skins on the wood floors and epic hearth and fire place, and downstairs had a sauna set up and chill zone. Everyone had their own huge bedroom and bathroom..

Crazy crazy nice to say the least.

Right before we got there it dumped over 2 feet of fresh pow and a cold cold high pressure moved in. We had sunny, not a lot of wind, and cold with perfect snow and completely stable avalanche conditions. We took the

gondola up and went right into the zones to get at hitting jumps, pillows, pow slashes, cliffs, tree runs… you name it. I had been there years prior, so I was familiar with some stuff as well as Blacky showing us the secret gems.

Simon and I were losing our heads; loving every second.

We put in 6 days of the same routine: wake up in an amazing house, have a sick breakfast, get geared up, go to the zone, nonstop shred and shoot the most amazing powder terrain, come back to an epic meal that Chuck and Bob put together, sauna, chill, beers, laughs, stretch and bed. Heaven on repeat.

With the super cold high pressure locked in, the snow got better everyday. It was -20F so hiking around kept you warm and made it so you didn’t want to stop. The fact that everything we rode was so amazing and there was endless epic features to ride didn’t want to make us stop either. We found a couple of perfect jump spots that reminded me of stuff I had ridden for years in the Brighton backcountry, it felt like a second home.

Chuck and Bob had to take off so we moved out of the house and they arranged to have us stay in this all inclusive town house that was fully catered. This place was crazy, we had our own butlers! They must have been tripping when a bunch of snowboarders show up to stay when the are used to serving England and Europe’s elite. We couldn’t even go into the kitchen to make food, they locked it up, if you wanted something you just told your butler and they would go whip it up in an epic spread and bring it to you…

After shredding as soon as you would walk into the house they would say in their English accent “would you like a beer?” Amazing.

This place was equipped with a hot tub and sauna. Every night was a 5 course 5 star meal and an endless supply of beer and treats combined with total relaxation.

T-bird from Snowboarder mag got on the crew with us the last 6 days to shred take photos and write the story. The epic conditions held and we scored day after day. He is always amazing to hang with and we all had a total blast.

Blacky took us to all the goods, we even spent a day or two hitting a few sick streets spots in the St. Anton Village. We hit stuff we never would have imagined getting back in the states, like cool avalanche barrier structures and rad looking European architecture.

Our last day of shooting on the mountain was capped off with a couple sick cliff drops and rad wide open pow turns. As we hiked out of the backcountry we were enlightened by one of the most insane sunsets I have ever seen. It was absolutely mandatory to take a moment and gaze across the peaks of the Alps into the sunset reflecting on how lucky we are to enjoy such amazing times.

We had scored the perfect trip, with the perfect crew, perfect conditions, and fully took advantage of the whole Euro Apre shred vibe. It was the perfect textbook Euro pro shred trip and then some… unforgettable. Best trip of my entire snowboard career.

HI

WORDS BY MARK SEGUIN

THERE

PHOTO BY SEAN K. SULLIVAN

ANDREW

ALDRIDGE

Name: Andrew Lucas Aldridge Nick Name: Talldridge Age: 20 Birthplace: Philadelphia Hometown: Gilford, New Hampshire Home Mountain: Brighton & Gunstock (NH) Years Snowboarding: 11 years Sponsors/Hookups: Milo, Salomon, Bonfire Moment of Pride: Going to (and TMBTP crew taking second place) the Nike Chosen contest in Austria Other than snowboarding: Fly fishing, drawing, art, music and lots of skateboarding

Heroes/Idols/Role Models: Parents, family, all my friends, East Coast riders, Justin Meyer and everyone at Videograss for taking snowboarding in the right direction.

Favorite Trick: BS 180, toe edge FS 360 Currently Working On: Progressing my riding; Anything that help me put together a better and more diverse video part this year.

Plans for the Future: Snowboard for as long as possible, making connections and building friendships along the way. Long term I hope to get into graphic design in the snowboard industry.

Park or Pow: On the West Coast, powder. Powder doesn’t exist on the East Coast, so park there.

Philadelphia born jibber turned Utah powder junkie, Andrew made his mark on the global snowboard scene last season in Nike’s “The Chosen” contest. He and the “This Must Be the Place” crew claimed a second place finish in Austria. While there, Andrew was baptized into the Euro party scene, and everything that comes with it. From kicked down club doors to couches being used as public urinals; It was definitely a once in a lifetime trip. Back at his Utah home, he spends his time fly fishing (dreaming of the Brighton Anglers’ trophy catches), skating the local parks and studying communications and art at Westminster.

Andrew’s part is the opener in Connor Brown’s “This Must be The Place”. Spoiler alert: it’s really good. However, just because he snowboards better than you, it doesn’t make him cocky. Andrew credits many people for propelling his riding career forward.

Although, first and foremost are his parents. From them, he gained a love for the outdoors and a strong work ethic. That work ethic coupled with his skill on a snowboard is setting him up for a long and prosperous future in the snowboard industry.

HI

WORDS BY MARK SEGUIN

THERE

jordan

PHOTO BY CHAUNCETON BIRD

morse

There are some guys that wear loud clothes, run their mouths claiming and make a scene at every party. Jordan is not one of those guys. He is the guy who goes to a mountain or the streets and lets his snowboarding do the talking. This should not be a surprise, when, at just nineteen years old Jordie already has nine years of snowboarding under his belt. A positive outlook, ridiculous talent and great sponsors have brought him a long way from his first Rossignol deck. On top of locking down his park and resort riding game, one of Jordan’s goals is getting into the backcountry. When he’s not putting on jib clinics you can find him rooting for the Utah Jazz, skateboarding and camping.

His hometown isn’t close to his favorite mountains, Brighton and Park City, but living in Orem allows him to maintain a good shred/home life balance. Even while getting heaps of praise from people in the industry and a stellar ender in “This Must Be the Place”, Jordan keeps a low profile around town. However, you won’t see a snowboard strapped to his feet without a stoked look on his face.

Name: Jordan Tyler Morse Nick Name: Jordie, Morse Code Age: 19 Birthplace: American Fork, Utah Hometown: Orem, Utah Home Mountain: Brighton/Park City Years Snowboarding: 9 Years Sponsors/Hookups: Burton, Milo, Anon, Analog, People Water Moment of Pride: Seeing kids get hyped about what I’m doing.

Other than snowboarding: Cycling, basketball, Skateboarding and camping.

Heroes/Idols/Role Models: Mo Jennings, Ben Pellegrino Favorite Trick: Cab 270s and back lips.

Currently Working On: Going extremely fast.

Plans for the Future: Find someone to film with this season. Have fun, stay stoked on snowboarding Park or Pow: Pow

JAKE

WELCH

– BLOW

JACKET

– GUTTER

PHOTO PEARE

PANT

SPECIAL-BLEND.COM

SALES PITCH

2013

BINDINGS RAIDEN - ZERO LE PITCHED BY KNUT ELIASSEN

We wanted to show our support to our team riders, Bryan Fox and Austin Smith, and their passion of getting kids to lead a healthier life - Drink Water. They believe there should be a balance in what kids see in snowboarding - Not every kid is down for energy drinks and not every professional snowboarder is willing to promote energy drinks. We think that is such a good message and are proud of our team riders for taking the initiative of creating something as unique as Drink Water Therefore we wanted to show support by doing a collaboration binding with them. The Raiden Drink Water Bindings presented

by Nitro. The Drink Water binding is based on the Raiden Zero binding. A perfect binding for hitting all the rails and features in the park and cruising the entire mountain. Bryan Fox, Brandon Hobush, Austin Smith, Blake Geis and many more ride this binding all year long. You can find the Drink Water bindings at core snowboard shops! - $210

UNION - ATLAS PITCHED BY DAVE GRAVES

The Atlas is the new generation of performance for Union and is back for its second season! If light weight all mountain, responsive bindings are what you’re looking for, give the atlas a closer look.

The Atlas base plate has minimal binding to board contact. Only 20% of the base plate touches your board’s top sheet underfoot. The remaining area is consumed by an EVA bushing. This bushing dampening system reduces dead spots in your boards flex pattern under foot. The Atlas is bomb proof. Made with high end nylon, extruded aluminum heel loops and magnesium buckles you can rely on the Atlas to be there for you all season if not longer. The Union disc’s are universal and can be mounted on any board out there. The Atlas from Union retails $239 and comes in three sizes and 4 colors. - $239

FLUX - DMCC LIGHT PITCHED BY KARA FLIETSTRA

The DMCC light is a favorite for Flux team rider, Erik Leon, who charges the whole mountain with a freestyle mindset. Without compromising the fit and durability Flux is famous for, the DMCC light claims the title for our lightest weight binding ever created.

The baseplate features a high sidewall for foot retention and power initiation and is made from a lightweight blend of carbon infused nylon and fiberglass for extra response and snap. Paired with a milled out, freestyle-focused highback that hugs your boot, this binding provides a light-weight and aggressive freestyle ride that can be put to the test on any terrain. - $340

ROME - 390 BOSS PITCHED BY BRAD GOBDEL

This is a total workhorse binding from Rome. Not only is this binding extremely comfortable and durable, but it is also one of the most adjustable bindings on the market. It is crazy how much you can tinker with this binding to fit your boots and riding style. One feature I really like are the extra Yes I Can’t pads for the baseplate. Each 390 Boss binding comes with 3 sets of cant pads that slip under the baseplate to help keep you in a more natural position. Some of the other standout features are the lightweight aluminum Underwrap heelcup, the Vrod baseplate and the super-grippy toe strap. You can pick up a set of the 390 Boss bindings at: Salty Peaks, Epic Boardshop, Revival Freeride and Park Sportsmen. - $250

BURTON - GENISIS EST PITCHED BY JOSH FISHER

The Genesis EST is a game-changer - brand new and super unique. The Kickback Hammock is 2 piece Hi-back that suspends your boot in the Hiback. You don’t feel the Hi-back at all, but it responds instantly the moment you lean into it.

The baseplate features Burton’s Hinge, which allows flex laterally from tip to tail -mimicking the dynamics of an ollie on a skateboard. This lines up with the Squeezebox core profile on many of Burton’s boards and makes for super powerful ollies and natural board flex under foot.

The Genesis is available in either EST (which is the best possible ride on Burton’s channel) or in Re:Flex which allows you to ride this binding on any board you like. - $330

NOW - IPO PITCHED BY JF PELCHAT

In today's world it all about choices. Everyday we are faced with thousands of choices. Our best actions are normally taken on choices that will make our lives better. You buy new gear to feel good, look good and enrich your life experience. Now bindings is another choice on the wall and why should it be the best choice? Because it is a revolutionary new binding system that is different from anything else on that wall and, by the way, what's on that wall hasn't changed in 25 years. Now if you are interested in having a binding that is designed to turn a snowboard, a bindings that is more responsive and comfortable, and a binding that makes snowboarding more playful, look nowhere else. You have just narrowed your choice to the Now IPO. All you have to do is pay for it, slap it on your deck and enjoy every turn. You will be talking for years about how this was the best choice of your life. - $290

THE G R A P H I C STORY

WORDS BY MARK SEGUIN IMAGES PROVIDED BY ROME SNOWBOARDS

C R O S SR O C K E T ROME‘S

New to Rome’s lineup this is year the Crossrocket. Tested up in Little Cottonwood Canyon, at Snowbird, this new “Nohang-Ups Pop Camber” board this all mountain, all terrain board, that is buttery and snappy, floats the powder and holds the all the lines you can through at it.

The Crossrocket features four graphics. Each created with a unique blend of Americana nostalgia and core snowboarding. This is no surprise when you realize the artist behind the graphic is New York native Jon Contino. He describes himself as an “alphastructaesthetitologist”. You won’t find that word in any of Webster’s publications, but it accurately represents the many hats that Jon wears; from freelance illustrator, designer, letterer and brand-consultant to co-founder of a New York-based menswear brand.

All four decks feature shred inspired wording and art that you won’t want to cover with even your favorite decals. The Banner graphic nods to a simpler time; when all it took to make a kid happy was hanging their favorite teams’ banner on the bedroom wall. The Tattooed Arms is the rawest representation of snowboarding in the lineup. Clean design and a pair of full-sleeved arms are inked with tats that would make Bozung jealous. The Hourglass represents what we who love snowboarding know to be true. Any time spent on the mountain is time well spent. The Coffin makes you want to break out your Tim Burton film collection. Appropriately colored for the holiday most associated with coffins, the orange, black and white compliment the art perfectly. While each board is worthy of being a wall ornament, it would be a shame to never experience the double takes you’ll get on the mountain when riding the 2013 Crossrocket.

INCENTIVE $$$$

WORDS BY BLAZE KOTSENBURG PHOTO BY BOB PLUMB

BLAZE KOTSENBURG

AGE: 21

1

HOME MOUNTAIN: Park City Mountain Resort

SNOWBOARD Swindle by Nitro - $380

BINDINGS Pushers by Raiden - $190

BOOTS Kaiju by Nike Snowboarding - $350

JACKET Savant by L1 - $200

PANTS Premium Skinny Denim by L1 - $220

GOGGLES Mercenaries by Arnette - $110

BEANIE Daily by Neff - $20

HEIGHT: 5’11”

WEIGHT: 135

STANCE: Regular

How many boards do you go through a season?

Normally around 3.

What’s your favorite graphic from Nitro this season?

Favorite graphic is probably the T1.

When you go and ride for fun, who is in your crew?

There's a big list, but normally it consists of Sam Taxwood, my brother, Griffin Siebert, Big Jerm, Ben Biladeau and the list goes on.

(You know who you are) Favorite place to go after a long day of riding?

Home, to relax. Normally paint or play video games, attempting to learn guitar.

Give us the full list of your sponsors?

Nitro, L1, Raiden, Arnette, Neff, Milo, Park City Mountain Resort, Cobra Dogs.

GOOD EATS

WORDS BY DANIEL COCHRANE PHOTOS BY TERESA FLOWERS

DAVANZAS ADDRESS: 2690 Park Ave Park City, Utah (435) 649-2222

FOOD: Pizzas, Tacos, Burgers

You know those lame burger/family chains that always have the stupid Beatles posters or fake memorabilia, and whatever filling up the walls from one end of the restaurant to the other… that’s not a question it’s a statement. You KNOW those places. Well places like Davanza’s just off Main Street in Park City Utah are who these generic restaurants are trying to immolate. The difference of course is that at Davanza’s everything is genuine. Pieces collected here and there over time not bought en masse and shipped in during construction. Of special note are the hundreds of vintage beer cans that line the walls all around the restaurant. Davanza’s is the real deal. Normally you don’t associate words “greasy”, “frat-like”, or “cheap” with great food but when used to describe Davanza’s all of these are frequently used positive adjectives. I even heard someone describe it as a very ‘Cheers-like” place. I think the secret to Davanza’s

OPEN: 7 Days A Week - 11AM to 10PM

deliciousness is that they hand make everything, sauces, breads, even the burger patties. With such attention to detail it’s no wonder the food is so good.

Davanza’s is pretty chill during the day, a great place to grab burgers, pizza, fries (and AMAZING fry sauce), tacos etc. I prefer the veggie burger and fries but there’s so many things on the menu I don’t have a full on go to dish at Davanza’s.

Just a half block from Park City Mountain Resort’s Town Lift it is also a great spot to hit up when you are riding in the winter especially since you can get a full lunch for the price of fries at the resort. By night however Davanza’s can become a bit more of a hang-out/bar and a fun place to be for a completely different set of reasons. No matter which Davanza’s you choose to experience you will no doubt have a great time in this Park City mainstay.

WWW.FORUMSNOWBOARDS.COM

We Live Forum The Statement We are different. We are a community. We share a point of view and a commitment to the one thing that makes us who we are–freestyle riding. We don’t need a gold medal, overpriced product, or a season pass to have fun.

We ride with our friends in backyards, in the streets, in the mountains, and wherever we can fi nd snow. We make sacrifices to live this way because it feels like there is no other choice.

This life isn’t for everyone. When you are ready, we want you to join us.

Photos: Tim Peare & Ian Ruhter

We at Arkade thought we would be remiss if we did not address the recent news of Forum’s demise and pay homage to this amazing brand’s legacy here in our great state. Forum has always had a huge Utah presence, starting with Jeremy Jones, JP, and Bjorn in the original Forum 8 to Jake Welch, Cam Pierce, and Stevie Bell in the company’s last days. It wasn’t just about riders either, photography legend Rob Mathis was the team photographer in those early days and SLC’s Jon Spiris was behind the scenes in the team’s last days.

It truly was a brand that represented SLC. When I first moved to SLC in ‘96 and began snowboarding, it was the Forum team and their strong connection to skate culture that I most identified with. In those days I remember hiking the old Brighton pipe at the top of Majestic lift and seeing some of the guys there just blasting out of that thing getting photos. It is truly the end of an era, not only for Utah snowboarding, but for snowboarding in general. When the news broke we quickly got together and decided a tribute was in order.

At first I thought I wanted to contact some of the guys and really get some insight, but then I thought no that’s not what I want. What I wanted was that visceral first response, not anything planned or corrupted by even a few days knowledge. I went back to some of the guys’ Facebook pages and got their reaction from the moment it happened, unfiltered, unedited, and from the heart. What you will find as you read and look through the following pages is that Forum wasn’t just amazing riders, but amazing people as well; full of thanks and appreciation. No more fitting tribute to the brand that represented Utah so well. - DANIEL COCHRANE.

…I just wanted to reach out and thank everyone who has ever supported these brands. It’s a sad day in snowboarding….

- Peter Line …The 5 short years that I have been involved with the brands have been the best years of my life. I have made so many amazing friends along the way and traveled to amazing places that I would have never had the opportunity to visit otherwise, all while pursuing a career in doing what I love. I am truly blessed…

- Cam Pierce …After seven years of Forum & Special Blend it’s finally over. I wanna thank everyone for your support over the years its been the most amazing ride I could of asked for. RIP Special Blend & Forum glad I could help write part of your history…

- Stevie Bell …The past four years have been the best years of my life and am so thankful for everyone who has helped me along the way. Today is a sad day in the industry of snowboarding…

- Austen Sweetin …Thanks Forum Snowboards for taking me in under your wing and placing me in an environment to grow as a photographer and a person. All I have is respect…

- Tim Peare …For the last decade I have lived and breathed the Forum name, and through all the up's and down's, team changes, team managers, owners... those ten years, to be blunt, were fuckin awesome…

- Pat Moore …Hands down shooting with Pete and the Forum crew was the best time of my life. Thanks for letting me aim my camera in your direction…

- Rob Mathis

PHOTO: ANDY WRIGHT

PHOTO: ANDY WRIGHT

There is a thing they call The Minnesota Nice. It is basically the polite, hardworking, humble, self-sacrificing demeanor stereotypical of Minnesotans. If you need an example look no further than Dan Brisse, 10 year SLC local, and Minnesota native. Dan came up in his local scene as part of the original Bald E-Gal crew and realized to make his dreams come true he would eventually have to leave his home state and head to some mountains. Salt Lake is the place he chose to settle and, honestly, I’m not sure who got the better end of the deal, SLC or Dan. To talk to him is to really step back into a time where people were good, stoked on what they did, and looked out for each other. Compared to some of the other interviews I’ve written intros for, I really don’t know Dan that well. I’ve passed off magazines to him when I’ve seen him, and we’ve done the appropriate head nods in the lift lines, but that’s about it. At least that’s it on the surface because there have been other times when I’ve been on the hill in full gear (you know head to toe coverage no skin showing) and Brisse has rolled up and without knowing who I was just started talking to me. Asking about hits or conditions, or one time about a special color way Capita board I had. That’s how I know Dan is the real deal. Because even when he didn’t know it was me he went out of his way to talk and be nice… basically, Dan’s just a good human. And these days the industry, and even the world at large, could use more good humans. So, for that reason I was super stoked to get to do this interview for the magazine. Because the ones like Brisse are the ones that make snowboarding such a wonderful community to be part of. So here you are Dan Brisse Minnesota Nice.

PHOTO: E-STONE

PHOTO: E-STONE

Arkade: So Dan, this is kind of odd for us, we are doing this interview for the November issue, but here it is the very first of September. Why are we doing this interview so early?

Brisse: Uh… I don’t know why ARE we doing it so early?

Arkade: Well I was told that there may a hospital trip in your very near future.

Brisse: Oh haha! Yes! That IS why. Yeah, my wife is actually two weeks over due right now, so we are going to have a baby any day now. A baby boy… it’s crazy.

earlier than you. How was it at 29 to have a kid?

Arkade: (How did this turn into the Arkade interview…) It was cool, I was stoked.

Brisse: Was it hard?

Arkade: Nah it’s not hard. Well it is.. but it isn’t, you get used to it. There are things you have to change, you kind of have to give up your own schedule at times…

Brisse: Haha I CAN’T give up my schedule. I have to snowboard everyday.

Arkade: Have you wrapped your head all the way around that yet?

Arkade: I still ride a lot too so it’s ok.

Brisse: Yeah, well when it first happened I was like “Holy Shit!” But the more time has passed and the more I’ve thought about it, the more comfortable I am with it. And these last couple of weeks I’ve really been getting excited to meet him.

Brisse: Alright, alright…

Arakde: That’s awesome… September babies… I have one that was 11 today.

Arkade: Get them off to daycare so you can go do your thing... it’s good to have a kid that can take your mind away from the snowboarding. You know what I mean? Like a lot of people use snowboarding to escape the home life, but sometimes it can work in reverse. Especially when you deal with industry stuff and it’s not just fun, it’s a job.

Brisse: Dang eleven!? You’re getting busy early haha..

Brisse: Yeah for sure that makes total sense.

Arkade: Nah it wasn’t THAT early I’m an old dude, I just look young…

Arcade: So how did the season go for you this past year?

Brisse: Wait, how old are you?

Brisse: The season went pretty dang well. It was a different year. Instead of being part of Absinthe this year with their project, we went with Volcom and with what’s called the Volcom IP2 Project. It stands for Individually Produced Parts and each rider kind of does their own thing, and films the stuff they wanted to film the way they wanted to do it. It’s going to be an online release on Snowboarder.com.

Arkade: I’m 40…

Brisse: Oh, ok. So you didn’t get busy too young... I’m actually getting busy

PHOTO: E-STONE

We had our own filmers, so I had a guy that worked with me all year. The same guy who helped me do my Real Snow stuff for X-Games. We have seven full episodes and a full video part.

Arkade: We have the premiere here in a couple of weeks.

Arkade: So how different was it for you vs filming with Absinthe? This sounds like you were actually in charge of deciding things vs say Absinthe where you go out and do the riding, and let the other guys make the film decisions.

Arakde: Oh nice it’ll be good to see you.

Brisse: It was a little bit different. Crews were a little harder to come by and I had to work a bit harder to communicate with people, photographers, and find stuff to ride. That sort of thing. In the years past filming with Shane (of Absinthe) the dude just knows the mountain so well. Like when it came to hitting jumps and stuff he would just have a list ready to go, and take us up there, show us around, and get us on features. So obviously it wasn’t like that with our crew, and with the shitty snow year in Salt Lake City we traveled up to Canada and spent some time in Revelstoke and Whistler searching on our own.

Brisse: I’ll be in town for it.

Brisse: For sure…

Arkade: So I was looking at some stuff online in preparing for the interview, and I noticed you go to summer camps a lot. We even saw you at Hood this year when we were there…

Brisee: Yep. Arkade: Have you always been a summer camp guy?

Brisse: I just miss snowboarding if I’m not snowboarding during the summer. It’s

possible to make it without camps?

Brisse: I think you can still make it but it is tougher if you don’t go to camps. You know at camps the whole industry is there, it’s easy to get noticed. There are people with cameras on every single hit. But I think if you are really good and you have a crew back home, and you are filming a video part regularly or really good at contests you can definitely make it. It really is easier to go to camps though…

Arkade: Well speaking of back home crews, tell us whats up with Bald E-Gal. Brisse: Yeah it was the best crew ever, still is actually. The backbone of it all is Mike Thienes who started Bald E-Gal and he has been doing it for oh 12… 13… 14… years. I don’t even know, but it has been a long time. When I was younger in Minnesota these guys started a snowboard shop called Youth Shelter Supply which is a core shop in Central Minnesota. Thienes was part of that and he decided to do a production company called Bald E-Gal. At the time it was just a small little thing and he just picked people he saw at Minnesota resorts. We filmed around Minnesota with no budget ever, just on our own. He’s been doing it ever since and it’s turned into something awesome.

Arkade: I think the first one I saw was Keeping it Classy. That was a while back.

Brisse: Yeah that’s old. The first one’s ever were Poachers 1-3 but yeah I just got the newest in the mail today, so I get to watch it tonight. It was such a good thing that was happening back then because when I got into snowboarding I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Theines was like “start filming with us” and it was something for me to do you know, like to get in the habit each year of filming a part. I’ve been filming parts now for so long it’s just like the winter flies by because your mind is just so turning on getting this part. Those guys are amazing they basically helped me get my career going since day one.

Arkade: Yeah there has been a pretty good handful of guys to come out of that crew.

Brisse: Yeah for sure J.O.E, Sexton, Jonas Michilot, lot of dudes and there are some serious up and coming kids in there too, so who knows who else will pop out.

Arkade: So was snowboarding the reason you made the move from Minnesota to Salt Lake?

Brisse: Yeah, back then I don’t think it was possible to become a professional snowboarder living in Minneapolis. Now riders can do that in the urban scene.

It has become popular enough that you can just really be a good tech handrail rider live in Minnesota your entire career and make it. Back in 2002 that wasn’t possible so I was like, I’m going straight to the mountains right out of High School, and I heard SLC was a great place and a lot of dudes I looked up to lived there. So, I just packed my shit and moved to start pursuing the career for real.

Arkade: Once you were here what steps did you take in getting the career going? Film, contests, what worked for you?

crazy because I know people who are like “FINALLY” the season is over and I don’t “HAVE” to ride until November. But if I go too long I just start to get stir crazy. I don’t sit still very well and being that my wife’s family is up here outside of Portland, it works well for me to be able to spend summer here and get time in to ride.

Arkade: Were you able to go to camps when you were younger. Like before you were sponsored?

Brisse: No, I was never able to do that. I knew about them and some of my buddies with wealthier parents would go to them and talk about it. I’d be pretty jealous.

Arkade: Is it getting to the point where it is almost mandatory for kids to get up there? Like if you are a legitimate up and coming local guy you HAVE to get to summer camp for the exposure or do you think it’s still

Brisse: Well what I didn’t realize (was) how good everyone would be (in SLC). I thought within a year I’d be getting paid (laughing), but it was four years before I did anything that anyone noticed. Four years after being in SLC I went to the Aspen Open, which was a slope style contest where you pay $250 to enter and you get your two runs and hope you do well. I made finals and ended up winning the thing, and I think one of the Mitrani’s got second and Tim Humphries got third. At that time no one knew who they were either which is kind of funny.

So that was the first thing that got me noticed and actually got me a call from a team manager to get me hooked up.

Arkade: And who was it that called you?

Brisse: Blue Montgomery from Capita called and was just like “I heard you did great at this contest you should come to team challenge and ride with us.” From there he took me to Super Park which is where I hooked up with Volcom and there it went…

Arkade: So no starting small for you huh? Haha Brissde: No haha. If you’re gonna do it.. DO IT haha.

Arkade: How was it filming with Capita for their project year before last?

PHOTO: ANDY WRIGHT

Brisse: Well that was kind of different too because I was part of that movie, but I was also filming with Absinthe and spent most of my time with them. I had a part in Defenders and in Twelve, so when I was with the Capita guys it was just so sick. I mean every single person on that team is so awesome, down to earth and fun to be around, so every single trip I was on was awesome.

Arkade: Do you feel more pressure filming for, I guess, technically your “boss” so to speak?

Brisse: Nah I was cool with it. I mean every single year you’re making a video part for all your bosses to see eventually. Really what it comes down to though is I hope my bosses like it but I want to like it first and foremost. I think as long as the rider is hyped on it the bosses will be hyped on it.

Arkade: So since we are talking about Volcom and Capita tell me about the collaboration Volcom/Capita board you have this year…

Brisse: Yeah dude I am so stoked on this board. My first pro-model ever. Basically Volcom designed the graphic Capita did the design/construction of the board. I didn’t do a whole lot, but just tell them what I was hyped on. They made me a few different prototypes and sizes so I could use it all season and just super stoked to have a pro model for both Volcom and Capita. It’s, I think, the first collab Volcom has done on boards.

Arkade: So where did the idea originate? Like, who approached who about the project?

PHOTO: E-STONE

Brisse: Actually what happened is a couple years ago I approached Blue just asking about pro models and all that, but it never really went anywhere at the time. Then one day he calls me and asked (if) I wanted to do a pro model and I’m like “Hell Yes!“ So, then he started talking about having Volcom as a collab and having the stone on the base. I was like “this sounds amazing.” So, it was totally Blue who instigated it, and I’m not even really sure how it all happened.

But I think he was the mind behind it.

PHOTO: VERNON DECK

Arakde: Blue seems to be working a good bit of magic…

Brisse: Yeah Blue is incredible. He’s one of the best things to happen to my career.

Arkade: He’s a great guy. He has always been supportive of like my stuff and Arkade’s stuff as well. I think he still has that SLC crush; it is hard to leave here. Even when you move away, SLC just sticks with you mentally.

Brisse: Yeah... LeBlanc moved to Portland too right?

Arakde: Yeah he did when he got the whole Holden thing off the ground, but they are L.A. based now. Though, Mikey has told us before he wants to live in SLC again one day. That’d be so awesome to have him back here... he still has his house near the canyon.

Brisse: Oh that’s cool…

Arkade: So speaking of houses, how do you work that? You mentioned spending summer in Hood. Do you split time in each place or is there one that’s a home base that you come back to regularly?

Brisse: I have a townhouse in Sandy which works out perfect because I never have to cut the grass. Haha. So when I leave for the summer I don’t have to worry about that. Then we have been planning on building a house in Washington; this summer that finally worked out.

Arkade: Oh sick.

Brisse: Yeah, so we are just finishing the home and will be done with it in October.

We will have a home about an hour from Mt Hood, so planning on Summer and Fall here and then Winters in SLC. Arkade: There really doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that. Does the

wife go with you and bounce back and forth? Or does she stay in one spot?

Brisse: She goes back and forth with me. She is definitely looking forward to Summers up here in Washington. I think it’ll be easier this year having the baby for company because I really am gone a lot in the winter.

Arkade: Does she ever see the video parts and be like “You’re gonna kill yourself!”

Brisse: Well she doesn’t like it when I fall, I know that. When she sees the falls in my parts it bothers her but most of the time she trusts me. She knows I know what Im doing and make the right decisions and do what I need to do to stay healthy and get the job done.

Arkade: So what are the plans for this season? Can we talk about that? It is pretty early…

Brisse: Hmmm I’m not sure it’s real early and everything is in the planning stages, and some may or may not happen. What my plans are is I’ve heard Transworld is making a movie and I’ve talked to them about that, but I’m so torn because I love Absinthe so much. They have done so much to elevate my career and move it forward, but I’ve always wanted to film with Transworld. I think that the spot I had with Absinthe got filled very well with Cocard because he’s on point and he’s a fucking bad ass. I love the kid, so you know maybe Absinthe wouldn’t even flinch, you know? Also, be a part of Real Snow for X-Games again and do some webisode stuff. I like doing the behind the scenes stuff because it gives the chance to show the kids more about who you are and all the stuff that goes into the 3:30 video parts you see.

Arkade: Well good luck with the baby and all that, we will see you in November Dan. Thanks again.

Brisse: Yeah man. Thank you and Arkade and see you soon!

Sean Black aka _the_face_ (his instagram) is a hilarious human being. It doesn’t matter if he’s filming in the steets of Salt Lake or dancing on the hardwood floors of Maxwells, Sean is always having a good time. His snowboarding can bee seen in this years think thank video, Mind the video man. He once rubbed a clubbers perfectly gelled hair into a chaos only to turn around and try to dance on the bar. Laughing the whole time. This intro sucks just read his interview to find out about his adventures in snowboarding, sexting and other fun things.

PHOTO: SEAN K. SULLIVAN

PHOTO: ALEX MERTZ

Hello friend Hello!

What are you doing?

Drinking a smoothie Homemade?

Mmmmhhhmmmm

Nooooooooo….

Yeah I do remember that, it was awesome. Thank god he didn’t beat me up He was so pissed I think he was gonna cry. So funny BUT THERE WAS NOTHING HE WAS WILLING TO DO ABOUT IT.

Did you do anything last night?

Yeah it was Jenny Hong and Sean Luceys bday so we partied at Maxwells, I wish you guys had come.

Haha. He seriously stood there staring at you for a good 15 minutes trying to intimidate you with his bright pink shirt. Ok let’s start this interview. Who are your sponsors?

I’m pooping right now. Um...Arbor, WeSC, Drop Gloves, Milosport, Mica Watches, Beaver Wax,

Is it true you have to have a collared shirt now to get in there and pay a cover?

Um...I don’t know about the collared shirt thing because i was wearing one anyway but I did pay a $5 cover.

Speaking of pooping. You’ve hurt your shoulder a couple times. Is it hard to whip switch?

Oh its the worst. it feels so weird to stick your left hand back there. have you ever tried it?

Do remember this past summer when you rubbed that fat guys perfectly gelled hair at Maxwells?

He had a fantastically pink collared club shirt on and he tried to recruit his friends to beat you up?

Haha are we doing the interview now?

Yes I separated my shoulder a bunch of times. It’s the worst. But you know what’s harder to do than wipe?

Brush your teeth?

PHOTO: ALEX MERTZ

You got yourself a lady friend that lives out of state?

Yeah she lives in California. Her name is Jaqi and she’s just great.

Remember when you used to date her sister?

I do. I imagine in this day and age we live in, long distance relationships are easier. How do you stay in contact with each other?

Texting, Facetiming, Skyping?

Yeah I guess all of the above. We Skype a lot when we can; shit would be a lot harder if we had to write letters back and forth like in those dark days before the internet True. I believe that was called having a pen pal, not sure. Do you find yourself lonely some nights Skyping... you know interweb loving? Sexting?

Hahah I’d be lying if I said that I’ve never masturbated while on video chat. Sorry mom.

HAHA. Stop reading now mom! How does that go down?

I think I’m gonna have to cut you off.

Ok ok. Subject change. How would you describe your filming relationship with Alex Andrews?

I think its really good. Alex and I have been filming together for 5 or 6 years. Any time you’re filming it can get stressful and tensions can get high...but in general i think its really good and we push each other a lot.

I agree. You are two of my favorite people to hang with while filming. You let each other have it. The two of you are like an old married couple.

Haha.

PHOTO: SEAN K. SULLIVAN

PHOTO: BOB PLUMB

PHOTO: ANDY WRIGHT

“Stop being a pussy and just hit it” has been said several times between the two of you. Who did you film with last year?

I filmed for Think Thank’s “Mind the Video Man”. Mainly I filmed with Buffmoose and Alex but I also got to film with the majority of the people in the video....Burtner, Geno, Beresford, Ryan Paul, Nial Romanek, Sam Hulbert, Brandon Reis.

How was that?

It was really. Filming with Burtner and Geno was probably one of the coolest things from last season. They just approach filming so much differently than I had in the past.

You show up at a spot and basically every person chooses a different way to hit it and then you take turns setting it up differently. You end up with a lot more variety at the end of the day and I think that’s what makes think thank as creative as it is year after year.

Yea those videos are always really cool. Are you gonna film with them again this next season? What are your plans?

Yeah I plan on filming with Think Thank again this year.

They’ll be putting out their 10th video. All the Dinosaurs Will Die guys are gonna be in the video again this year so I think it’s gonna be the best Think Thank video ever made.

Have you been up there since it’s snowed?

Yeah I went up the first two days of the storm we got last week. I haven’t been up there since though. I heard that the snow has gotten pretty shitty, really icy.

I heard there was literally 60-100 kids up there.

Nah, that’s an exaggeration. 30 is probably the most I’ve seen up there and now that the gate is closed it should keep more people out.

Have you guys ever considered opening up your own Bonezone day care? You could charge all those kids parents hundreds of dollars. You could be rich!!!

Haha I think the name “Bonezone Daycare” sounds a little too sketchy to sell to parents.

True. Just call it snowboard school like what all those east coast kids go to. Promise the parents video AND Olympic glory!

Haha alright let’s do this. Wanna be my business partner?

Yes. I think you should be “_the_face_” of the company. Mahahaha LOLzzzzzz!!!!!!

We’ll that seems a bit arrogant on your part. The best video ever cause you are in it?

Haha umm......

Any shout outs?

It’s almost impossible to do anything by yourself so a big thanks to all those people who helped me out along the way. Especially my mom. Love her.

JUST KIDDIN The other guys are gonna make it the best ever. I’m just lucky to be in it with them.

Just have her skip the whole first half of the interview so she isn’t ashamed of her son.

Hahah good point

Have you been working on the Bonezone this summer?

Yeah I put in a couple of days but Bundy and Alex killed it up there this summer, its insane up there now.

INSTA CRAZY

INSTAHAMS I RIDE PARK CITY @IRIDEPARKCITY 1.

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@sagekotsenburg @brodiemitchell @dannykass IRPC Premiere

POWDER MOUNTAIN

@POWDERMOUNTAIN 1.

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First rule of Pow Mow..

Ohhhh Yeahhh #throwbackthursday Natural park

BRIGHTON

@BRIGHTONRESORT 1.

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#giveforumtopeter Heber Cliffs Rock Garden @chris_grenier Billboard Shot

SNOWBASIN @SNOWBASINRESORT 1.

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Who goes first..

Fun slashes #summerprojects Huckleberry Railjam

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Celia Miller P: Keith Carlsen @CeliaMiller1 @DiscreteHeadwear

ELECTRIC HALLOWEEN

WORDS BY CHRIS BRUNSTETTER PHOTOS BY CHRIS BRUNSTETTER

LASTC A L L

Nine years of the Electric Halloween Party have grown it in to a staple of the Salt Lake scene. Every year the conversations start around the first of October. "What are you going as?" "Do you think that one guy/girl is going to be there again?" "How did I wind up naked, running around the animal shelter?" The frenzy builds throughout the month, culminating in a dance fueled costume bonanza attended by Salt Lake's raddest. This year's party was again held at the Metro Bar, a great venue, with both indoor and outdoor areas, multiple bars, and a great sound system. DJ Matty Mo was at the helm, spinning everything from classic hip-hop to the inescapable "Gangnam Style". In attendance were industry bigwigs, pro riders, the snowboard media corps and over six hundred people who were dressed to the switch-fronside nines and having a blast all night. Some costume highlights were Cam Pierce as an Oompa Loompa hued "Guido", Aaron Biitner as Heath Ledger's "Joker", Salty Peaks owner Dennis Nazari as an intimidatingly accurate security guard, Electric Rep Jake Hobbs' group went as a "Day of the Dead Wedding Party" and Electric Rep Amber Pe単a as a sultry Queen of Hearts. Don't even get me started on the girls that played the "open the dictionary, point to a word, and go as a sexy version of that" game. That posse was in full effect, though I am disappointed that no one has picked up on the "Sexy Catsup Bottle", it's a fetish that dozen's of people have, OK?! Anyway, the crowd was fun, the vibe was awesome and the only advice I would offer someone who hasn't been to one of these yet, is get there early and leave there late! See you next year, you sexy catsup bottles!

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Search “Mind the Video Man” DVD includes over 40 minutes of bonus not available on iTunes!

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