10.2 English Method Snowboard Magazine

ENGLISH

£3.50·4,95 €·7,9 CFH

NOV09·DEC09

ISSUE # 26

10

9 771651 975016

Hello my name is:

Jocki Köffler

PHOTO: Jérôme Tanon SPOT: Arlberg, Austria TRICK: Fear and Loathing in Las Arlbergas

Hello my name is:

Bjorn Leines PHOTO: Oli Gagnon SPOT: Utah Backcountry TRICK: BS 720

Hello my name is:

Wille Yli-Luoma PHOTO: Oli Gagnon SPOT: Juneau, AK TRICK: Ollie

EDITORIAL

Greetings and salutations, dear reader, and welcome to the second issue of Method Mags tenth season. It took a lot of focus, caffeine, stressful days, sleepless nights and shitty food to make. But it also took a lot of passion and a lot of love.

We poured our heart and souls into making what you now hold in your hands, and we hope that it finds its rightful place in your collection after you’ve read it from cover to cover (as well as all your friends). Which brings me to the point of this little missive. I’ve worked in media my whole adult life and I’ve been hearing people talk about the death of print for a long time now. Ten years ago when I was in graduate school I wrote a dissertation about the future of print and electronic publishing, so believe me when I tell you that I’ve heard all the arguments for and against print. In these last ten years the internet, and everything it entails, has become ever more ubiquitous in every facet of our lives. A lot of the prognostications from the late 90’s turned out to be hopeless pipe dreams (remember the “paperless office”?) but there is no denying that publishing has irredeemably changed. Digital books are a reality in today’s marketplace and have made an increasingly larger dent on the bottom line of those whose business it is to print ink on paper. Even those of us who are hopelessly addicted to books and magazines,

amongst which I include myself, find that we are consuming less and less print as the years go by. So I have no problem admitting that print no longer plays the same role in human civilization as it has for the last few thousand years. But you are sorely mistaken if you think print is going to disappear, at least in our lifetimes. Sure, all the world’s newspapers might eventually fade into the twilight, but let’s face it, they are an anachronism in our digital age. No one in their right mind today would reach for a newspaper to get the latest news, so unless those papers create a new paradigm for their business, theirs will be a drawn out and painful death. As for books, the mass-market paperback will eventually disappear as tablets and digital readers become more sophisticated and interface better with their users. It’s another story for the other categories in the book business, printed books will never disappear entirely, but that is a whole other can of worms so I’m going to stick to talking about magazines because this is what you are reading and because this is what we do.

Maybe there isn’t enough room in the market for all the tens of thousands of magazines being published in the world right now. There are certainly some pretty bad ones out there, so it’s not an entirely bad thing that we stop wasting so much paper and wrecking the only home we’ve got in this universe. Yet as long as magazines offer their readers an experience that goes beyond simple divulgement of fact, as long as they become something that is worthy of treasuring and coveting, there will always be room for print magazines in our world.

For what are photography and writing and illustration and lay-out but different mediums to express oneself artistically? Ergo, what is a magazine but an amalgamation of these different mediums? Ultimately my point is that what has intrinsic value is the magazine taken as a whole; the photos, the paper, the printing and the prose converge into one small, perfect-bound work of art. That is what we try to achieve with each issue of Method, at least.

So there it is, we hope you like our art!

PS - Phelps or anyone else at Thrasher who reads this, hope you’re not pissed off about the logo or anything... Remember that imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery!

TAG

COVERSTORY

Camera:

Canon EOS-1D Mark 3 Lens:

Canon EF 15mm Fisheye Aperture · Shutter Speed · ISO:

f/5.6 · 1/250 · 100 Rider:

Louif Paradis Trick:

BS 180 to fakie 5-0 Spot:

Quebec City, Canada Date:

Dec 12, 2008

French editor & translator: Florent De Maria German editor & translator: Florian Mortan Italian editor & translator: Paolo Paganelli Senior photographers: Daniel Blom, Oli Gagnon, Frode Sandbech Staff photographers: Fred Egli, Carlos Blanchard Staff Writers: Ben Fee, Mark Rosenberg Contributing Photographers: Colin Adair, Vanessa Andrieux, Mike Basich, Tina Basich, Ashley Barker, Roger Baumer, Robert Bellamy, Blotto Photto, Nate Christenson, Jeff Curley, Vernon Deck, Andoni Epelde, E-Stone, Mark Gallup, Pirmin Juffinger, Peter Kubalac, Gabe L’Heureux, Seth Lightcap, Dan Milner, Dalton Paley, Remi Petit, Bob Plumb, Tero Repo, Lorenz Richard, Scalp, Christoph Schöch, Robbie Sell, Kealan Shilling, Stephanie Solinas, Olav Stubberud, Jêróme Tanon, Christoph Weber-Thoresen, Andy Wright Contributing writers: Colin Adair, Lasse Andersen, Mike Basich, David Benedek, Andy Finch, Freddie Frühstück, Thomas Harstad, Torstein Horgmo, Seth LIghtcap, Iouri Podlatchikov, Matty Ryan, Basa Stevulova, Jêróme Tanon, Rich van Every Tifo, Mike Yoshida, DR Zapalac

WWW.METHOD.TV camera & SHREDITOR: Tom Elliott tom@method.tv MUSIC: music@method.tv

WWW.METHODMAG.COM Web editor: Alexis de Tarade alexis@method.tv Web reporter: Edgar Lanting edgar@method.tv SENIOR Web Programmer: Laurie Barker laurie@method.tv Web Programmer: Christoph Bödl chris@method.tv

BOOM EXTREME PUBLISHING LTD

BY: oli gagnon

The first time I went to this spot with Louif it was so cold that my Ranger Power Pack blew up after just a few minutes. Unfortunately without my flashes I couldn’t get a decent still, so I shot sequences instead. After warming up with a couple of nosepresses and BS 180 to fakie 50-50, Louif stepped it up and did a BS 180 fakie 5-0.

I got the sequence, but I really wanted to get a good still on this rail with a sick trick like this.

So I told Louif that we should come back when I had a flash and shoot it again. Of course he was down, so a couple of days later we went back and got another session going. The cool thing

Editor-IN-Chief: Thomaz Autran Garcia thomaz@method.tv SENIOR EDITOR: Florent De Maria florent@method.tv Art Director: Iñigo Zapiain Ugalde inigo@method.tv Asst art Director: Malin Persson Jarskär malin@method.tv Asst art Director: Tom Lenartowicz thrilly@method.tv

is that Louif didn’t even bother warming up, he went straight to the next level trick. After just a couple of tries he got this sick BS 180 to fakie 5-0. That’s what I love about Louif as a rider, when he shows up at a spot he always thinks about what would be the hardest trick he could possibly do and just nails it.

PUBLISHER: Rasmus Ostergaard FInance Director: Mark Fenwick Executive Director: Gareth Rees Accounting: Ben Gallivan ben@method.tv CEO: Rasmus Ostergaard rasmus@method.tv - +33.672.546.456 ADVERTISING: Rasmus Ostergaard rasmus@method.tv - +33.672.546.456 PUBLIC RELATIONS: Caroline Cowley caz@method.tv DISTRIBUTION: Caroline Cowley caz@method.tv Printer: Benhamgoodheadprint Limited www.bgprint.co.uk Editorial Office METHOD MAGAZINE 25 allée du Moura, lot 8B 64200 Biarritz FRANCE Ph.: +33 (0)5 59 41 21 45 Fax: We prefer emails info@method.tv Method and all other brands associated to it are procuced by Boom Extreme Publishing Ltd. 218 Penarth Road Cardiff CF11 8NN United Kingdom Copyright 2009 Boom Extreme Publishing Ltd. No liability is accepted for the accuracy of the information contained herein, nor are any guarantees given by the magazine. Copyright worldwide of original material is held by Boom Extreme Publishing Ltd and permission must be obtained for any use, transmission, storage or reproduction. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily shared by the publisher.

Boom Extreme Publishing Ltd assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. Thanks for buying Method Mag. We sure hope you like it.

Whatever

I/15

lose the front flips though. What’s up with everyone front flipping all over the place?

Anyway, good stuff.

Think Thank "Cool story" by David Benedek

PHOTOGRAPHY: christoph weber-thoresen

Alright, first track is “Gangsta’s Paradise”

by Coolio. No way they cleared those rights. (Turns out they did, just ran into Jesse - wow). What a frigging cool song to use, I’m already loving it.

Intro: I’m liking what I see. This crew is real. No sponsor cast together bullshit.

Ben Bogart has first part, he’s got good style and sweet BS rodeos. The way you’re supposed to do them. I think he should

Tim Eddy’s next with a sweet urban line and some jumps that I feel like hitting.

Maybe 8 years ago I would have complained that those jumps are kind of small but seriously: it looks like so much more fun than hitting a 150-foot JP Solberg booter at 80mph. Plus, Tim’s got some sweet Airblaster pants that look like he’s wearing shorts. Uhh, he’s doing a bunch of grabbed boardslides now. Really don’t know about those. The front flip of railslides if you ask me.

Austin Hironaka next, awesome name.

Also incredibly sketchy 270 boardslide onto a wobbly canoe, rad. And a wicked long 50-50 on a wire.

Pat Milberry now. He’s got to be colorblind, let me hit pause real quick and break down his outfit. Wow. Bright blue pants, green T-shirt, turquoise hoody, red headphones and green gloves. Not that I

care what color my clothes or anyone else’s are, but his kit looks like a car crashing into a paint store. Or I may just be old and that’s the way kids roll now.

Sean Genovese is up with the usual great steez and great music, I have to mention.

Need to look that up. Incredible BS 360, I’m noticing way more diversity of spots throughout the vid. That’s one thing that used to be a bit of a bummer in the past.

One of the disadvantages of filming with your friends. Everyone’s at every spot. They do better this year.

Johnny Miller, who I’ve never heard of before is up next. Very clean, no rolling down the windows or anything. Not only does he have the longest 50-50 in the movie but also the longest hair. A little dorky maybe, but in a fun, World of Warcraft-meets-classic rock way. Wait, you’ve only been playing guitar for a year?

That’s a bummer. He looks like he was born with that thing.

Next part opens with Scott Stevens...wait, this must be the worst song used in any

video since Jussi’s part in “From ___ with Love”. Wow-wa-wee-wow bad. DJ Ötzi Euro techno. I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be funny. I am pretty bad at concentrating on anything if the music annoys me, so I didn’t really take any notes on this part that also features Chris Brewster, Pat McCarthy and Brady Fur. Gus Engle is next up. Always been a great fan of his riding, he’s incredible. I’m not let down. Typically ultra-creative radical shredding. Like 50-50 unstrapping, big spin out. Rad track, too. I like sad music.

Wow. Boardslide big spin, you’ve got to be kidding. Varial kickflip is a first, too.

Thinking about it though, it might be a bit overboard on the non-snowboarding side of things but whatever. Awesome.

Japan part up next. Noticing not for the first time: there’s a lot of beards in this film. Like, derelict-style beards. Zoolander was pretty good at predicting where fashion would go. Jesse Burtner´s keeping it up. Really cool stuff. Thinking about it, he´s the one guy that made riding a helmet acceptable, not Shaun. Good work!

MADISON BLACKLEY

NIKITACLOTHING.COM

Whatever

II/15

Now playing...

Andre Spinelli. He could probably be one of the top contest dudes with his technical skills but he’s always up in AK just doing his thing. Really have to give props to the entire Think Thank crew on how they keep it voluntarily amateur. That´s snowboarding.

Incredible footplants, good music, cab 3 one-foot! This feels like it could be the last part. Alley-oop footplant on a water tower, holy shit. Pretty lame if he gives himself last part in his own video but it is the best one.

Ah, wait, it’s not over yet. Chris Beresford is next, never heard of him either. Clean, tech & an insane finger flip.

Next part is Sam Hubert. Good stuff but in comparison to the other guys kind of stock and not that creative.

Blair Habenicht next. Habenicht in German means “have not”. Habenicht incredibly outstanding part.

Nick Visconti is next. WOW. Where the fuck do they find these kids? Amazing!

Pole-jam gap to FS boardslide!!!

A gnarly water gap and generally tech riding also worth mentioning.

Mark Thompson. Habenicht many different spots. Habenicht good technique on doing 900´s. Habenicht an actual double cork in his part but more like a double backflip 180.

Chris Larsen, once again unheard of to me. Great rail stuff, more on the standard heavy commitment side than the creative one but pretty gnarly stuff. Pretty sweet ending, makes it seem like a high-school flick you just finished which is awesome.

Credits: Good music! All around I’ve got to say that the flick is awesome and really gets you stoked on snowboarding. Being the jaded 40-year old that I feel like, the film could have been a bit shorter but what makes the difference is that it’s real. Real snowboarding, real friends. Think Thank rules. www.thinkthank.com

Word Association with Iikka Backstrom BY: TAG PHOTOGRAPHY: frode sandbech

- Sauna - Wildcats - James Blunt - Mustache - Droors - Storbis - Purple - Whip - 949 - Recession - the A-team - Alps - Cheese - Switch - Agony - Wide - Urban

- Naked - Party - Fag - Sometimes - Clothing - Ettala - Cush - It - Cali - Sucks - Skateboarding - Rule - Kale - Stance - Sure - Ass - Weird

Izabelle Desjardins

nikitaclothing.com

Whatever

III/15 but Steve and I still talk about doing a few gigs when we can schedule it.

London Cowboys BY: florent de maria PHOTOGRAPHY: london cowboys

If you’ve seen Danny Larsen’s part in Jolly Roger, the new Pirates movie, then you’ve heard “Bleed Me”, one of the many gems written by the London Cowboys. This band was one of the most electrifying and talented rock acts of the early 80’s, a preposterous mash-up of eminent collaborators (Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock, New York Dolls’ Jerry Nolan, The Clash’s Terry Chimes, Johnny Thunders and more) laid over an unshakable foundation, made up by Barry Jones and Steve Dior. After Relapse, a best of double-CD plus some unreleased songs, dropped last year, we thought the time was right to revive the passion for this illustrious band.

This question basically covers the last 20 years of your life, what have you been up to since the London Cowboys split?

Barry Jones: After the Cowboys finished I was still writing and did quite a lot of 8-track recording with former members Paul Wassif, drummer Danny Gerous and Steve Council. I run a scenic crew and have been working as a scenic artist for movies and TV for the last dozen years... Very long hours so I don’t get much chance to play,

Steve and you were indisputably the nucleus of the band, it seems you had a strong connection. How did you guys first meet? Did the band go beyond your initial expectations?

Steve was at the same college as my then-girlfriend, he would come by to take her out, and one time asked her who that guy is who opens the door, and she said “that’s my boyfriend Barry, and no, he doesn’t mind me going out, he’s busy in his recording studio”.

That was their last “date”, the next day Steve turned up at my door, this time with a guitar and asked if he could just hang out. Well, from that beginning we started a two decade partnership, traveled the world and got to play with our heroes.

Are you still in contact, despite the fact that you now live in LA? I spoke with Steve yesterday... When we were playing we spent more time together through trials and successes than with wives and girlfriends, that creates a bond you can’t easily break.

What’s the biggest memory you have from punk music: its controversy, its energy, its engagement, the shows, or something else?

The energy at the gigs, the graphics, the

excitement...because it was all so new and we didn’t know how far it could go. I was an ex-art student and truly believed we were involved in a “new art movement”.

What music do you listen to nowadays?

Anything and everything... I’m much more open-minded than back then, but we were very passionate about the music we were playing. Oh, I still don’t like country and western.

Do you think that without the line-up instability the band would have written more lines in music’s history books?

Would you say that the London Cowboys was the best part of your life?

I’d say that I think LC was a great band; we wrote rocking originals and maintained a standard of writing and performing that I’m still proud of. Obviously I wish we’d made millions like some of our friends...

We made many mistakes but we had a fantastic time doing it. And yes, our first year in NY probably was one of the best years of my life!

In hindsight, is there a record that means more to you than others?

I think our first album “Animal Pleasure”, still sounds good, especially the title track and “Design for Living”. Looking back, I would remix so many of our tracks, we were always short of editing time, it just seemed to work out that way. I’m most pleased with “Relapse” because there were so many unreleased songs that deserved to be heard... some I’d forgotten about.

How is the life of an English artist in America? What guided your choice?

I came here for 3 months to make a record, we were signed to MCA Records... their A&R department changed and we got dropped. We gigged around for a while but then we both got married, had kids and

had to earn a living. I’ve been an artist of some kind my whole life, I used to design posters and record sleeves and had worked in a graphics studio, so I fell into the art side of movies. There are things I miss about England, but if I did move back to Europe (with money) I’d rather live in Paris than London... the Cowboys spent a lot of time touring France, we got to know it quite well, and I’ve always loved Paris.

Whatever

IV/15

What do you like most about being a photographer? Any dislikes?

The fact that I’m my own boss and that my two biggest passions in life are my work.

And the fact that I actually make a living out of them. I don’t think it can get any better than this. I don’t think I dislike anything about being a photographer...

Maybe the industry bullshit and sitting in front of a computer to edit, but that’s really not a big deal.

Any unusual - or funny - situations come to mind from your career?

The fact that I have a criminal record in Quebec City for destroying the city’s property while shooting snowboarding.

My Cameras:

Oli Gagnon BY: florent de maria PHOTOGRAPHY: oli gagnon

Hey Oli, what’s your pick-up line if you meet a girl while you have your camera around your neck?

Pick-up lines don’t work, man... Not with the type of girl I go for at least!

What’s the story between you and cameras? Was it snowboarding that led you to photography, or the other way around?

Snowboarding definitely led me to photography. I’ve been snowboarding since I was 9 years old, and I started shooting at around 15. Just for fun at first, of course, I just wanted to shoot some photos of my friends snowboarding and skateboarding... Then a couple of years later it all got serious, I guess.

What are the three cameras you own that you wouldn’t give up even to save a friend’s life?

I don’t even own 3 cameras, haha! But if I had to pick one it would definitely be my Hasselblad. It’s the camera I’ve owned for the longest and it is just my favorite, period. You can’t beat the square format and the Hassy fisheye!

People constantly compare analog to digital. But don’t you think the composition, what you visualized before actually snapping the photo, matters a thousand times more than which format you used? Where do you stand?

I like both, really... And I still shoot a lot of film. Snowboarding is snowboarding, and I think photographers need to concentrate more on the action and shooting the gnar than trying to get artsy. I’ve heard so many stories like, “Man, I got this trick, but the photog was fucking around and missed the shot”. Lame. Don’t be that guy!

Who’s the most photogenic rider you know?

I don’t think any of the dudes are that good-looking, but there’s some pretty ladies out there...

If you could take one final picture before your last breath, which would it be?

I’d shoot a picture AFTER my last breath and send it to you, just so you can see what Hell looks like.

Thanks so much, Oli. If you have a last thing to say, say it now (before you throw me over this bridge again)...

SHRED OR DIE!

Whatever

V/15

My NaME iS...

Iouri Podlatchikov

i-POD

PH: Vernon Deck

1 - One year, snow came early and my best friend and I decided to jump off a roof during school to impress some girls, we counted till 3 and he jumped, I didn’t. He broke his back.

2 - I make fun of fat people a lot.

3 - Sometimes when I see fat people hug or dance I have to laugh very hard.

4 - I spilled yogurt on my buddy’s skateboard once (on purpose) before we got to the skatepark.

5 - I didn’t go to a radio interview this morning because I thought I would go straight after the party but I fell asleep instead.

6 - I threw a girl into a pool at a birthday party right after she had just put her brand new shoes and make-up on.

7 - I crushed two of my friends’ phones and cameras with my foot when I was drinking with them (on purpose).

8 - I feel bad meeting people who added me on Facebook after I didn’t accept them as my “friends”.

9 - Every time someone borrows my skateboard they always end up hitting something or hurting themselves. (I warn them, though.)

10 - Last summer while I was fighting a bouncer, my friend broke his hand punching out the other bouncers who were trying to jump me. (We won!)

Art LoVeS To HaVe Fun

Our friends at Artung have just created something that could be called an online alternative-art gallery: their website showcases young and talented artists from all genres, from contemporary to street art, from traditional paintings to snowboard posters (from Frédéric Egli, for example) or skateboard ones (by Kevin Métallier)...

Who ever said action photos are not art??

Its principal aim is to offer affordable art for those of us whose pockets are on the shallow side... Recently, another endeavor from the artung collective was just unveiled: their brand-spanking-new web-design & communication agency. The concept behind the agency is to join artists’ & developers’ know-how and offer you a one-stop shop for all your online or print PR needs. Have a gander at their musical homepage and enjoy. www.artung.fr www.artungstudio.com

Whatever

VI/15

DUCKSJEN: THe Acid Test BY: FLORENT DE MARIA PHOTOS: olav stubberud

Drugs can always be useful. At least as an inspiration. We have to admit that, thanks to them, the Ducksjen teaser is probably the sickest clip we’ve seen in a long time, directed by Kasper Häggstrøm, a 20-year old filmmaker from Oslo.

Kasper is not really into action sports movies, and he’s not planning to make a career out of it. “I used to make ski movies, but I got tired of the fact that everybody watching my movies was 16… or younger. But I’m going to make at least one more Ducksjen film after this one, then I will hopefully go to a film school.” You know what, Kasper, we think you should definitely go for it! Influenced by such remarkable directors as P.T. Anderson, Michel Gondry, Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham, it sounds to us like he’s found the perfect path to follow.

“We started up about a year ago, just making small edits and recruiting enough riders to make a movie. We didn’t plan anything, we just went out and started filming, and didn’t even find a name for the movie. But with no planning, comes no money, so we shot everything with ‘zero’ budget, mostly just filming spots in Oslo”, explained Kasper.

What about next year then? “Hopefully, we will have more money so we can travel some more, and maybe get a new camera.

But no dolly or heli shots though, that stuff is getting a bit played out, hehe!

No, heli shots are still pretty cool, I just wouldn’t spend all my money on them.”

Kasper Häggstrøm

The “#1 teaser” clip started almost as a joke. Kasper had just watched the Aphex Twin music videos by Cunningham, and wanted to see what he could do with his snowboard clips using “Come To Daddy” as the soundtrack. “I just made a short edit, but the other guys liked it so much that we decided to make it into a teaser.”

Kasper points out that he isn’t trying to change snowboarding, he just wanted to make something that people would remember. Our biggest question is: without abusing any illegal substances?!

“Hehe, I didn’t do any drugs while I was editing, but I worked mostly at night, so that might have something to do with the outcome…”

The movie probably won’t be as controversial as the teaser, “but I’m stoked on it so far, even though I’m not done editing it”.

Ducksjen will burn some DVD’s, make a torrent and upload the movie on Vimeo or something. Everyone will get to see it, so don’t get yer panties in a twist now. www.ducksjen.com

Aleksander Lunde BS 180 in Kirkerud

Whatever

VII/15

10X5 ThINGS

FReDriK EVeNSen BY: ALEXIS DE TARADE PHOTOGRAPHY: FRODE SANDBECH

5 things you wish you were on instead of a boat: - Hokkaido on a good day - A tropical island - A surfboard - A nice, freshly groomed golf course - A hard tennis court 5 things you wish they put in sushi: - Alcohol - Steroids - Coffee - Norwegian chocolate - Licorice 5 things you would consider using to wipe your butt if there was no toilet paper: - TTR World Tour ranking list - Towel - Newspaper - Grass if it’s outside - Somebody’s goggle wipe 5 things that will save snowboarding: - I only have one answer for this, we need to bring the fun back. There is too much winning or losing in snowboarding at the moment. Now that snowboarding is considered a serious sport, I don’t think kids find it exciting or special anymore.

5 tricks people should stop doing: - Bomb drops - Wallrides - Tailpresses - Shiftys - Methods (if they don’t know how to do them) 5 tricks you want to see more of: - Badass methods - Crails - Japans - Toeside FS spins - Rodeos 5 reasons why you wouldn’t go snowboarding: - Warm water and surf - Rain - Wimbledon tennis final - minus 40 degrees - Injuries 5 things that Norway should export to the rest of the world: - The chocolate - The winter clothes - The beautiful girls (even though we’d kinda like to keep them for ourselves) - The nice fjords and mountains - Our four beautiful seasons

Fredside invert!

5 things you figured out really late in life: - How to cook proper food - How to manage both time and money - How to be romantic - How to bend it like Beckham - How to ignore Botner when he is being a pain in the ass

5 things not to forget ever: - Love - Respect - Discipline - Humility - Humor/irony

Whatever

FlasHbaCK

VIII/15

TerJe HaAkonsen BY: TAG PHOTO: MARK GALLUP

The year was 1994. War raged in the former Yugoslavia. The first version of the Netscape Navigator web browser was launched. Kurt Cobain shuffled off this mortal coil via shotgun blast to the face. Tonya Harding had Nancy Kerrigan hobbled prior to the Lillehammer Winter Games. Woodstock celebrated its 25th anniversary. Ayrton Senna lost his life in a horrific crash in Imola. The Aum Shinrikyo released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway.

The Chunnel made its debut. Apple released the first Macs with PowerPC processors. Lorena Bobbit loped off her husband’s wang for cheating on her. Brazil won its fourth World Cup. Schindler’s LIst swept the Oscars. Black Hawks went down in Somalia. OJ fled in a white SUV after stabbing his wife to death. Ah, the nostalgia is almost overwhelming...

In our little corner of the world there was plenty going on too: the first twin-tipped boards, T-bolts, XXL flannel and size 52 jeans, Tarquin Robbins, Dale Rehberg,

The Sprocking Cat's fish never gets stale, Chile, 1994

Ride, David Vincent’s mega tweaks, the Slippery Hotdog, Guch and the Big Bear crew, Stevie Alters, Dave Hatchett conquering the Mendenhall Towers in TB 3, Peter Line’s corked spins, Volcom’s The Garden, Ingemar would be filming his part for The Meltdown Project that winter, snowboarding had just been confirmed as an Olympic sport. Like I said, it’s almost too much to bear.

1994 was also the year Burton gave Terje Haakonsen his first pro-model, aka The Sword Board. I don’t need to tell you that Haakon was light-years ahead of the pack, not only dominating the dude tube but also busting out the backcountry burl, as you can see here. The Sword Board is still one of the most iconic graphics of all time.

You might even recall GiGi riding an experimental deck with throwback Sword Board graphics in his part in Absinthe’s “POP!”.

Here you see Tear-Yay smoke one off a cliff back in the salad days of snowboarding.

Chris Chri s ´CK´ ´CK´ Kröl� Kr

Allex x Pap Papi apis

Pen Pe enken en / Au e ustri str ria

in on! the bulite�style weap ost stability... fr le ab k ea tm e unbr rovide the u n available. experience th sorber wil� p cker shape constructio ab k oc sh r! ro hor�o ow big you go no mat�er h

Whatever

IX/15

LIttle LaBEls BoND premiuM ouTerwEAR

TJ Schneider

BY: Edgar Lanting PHOTOS: BOND

Bond Premium Outerwear spawned from the creative minds of two former big corporation dudes who decided that they wanted to do things that would stoke them out instead of working in the proverbial coal mine... The result is snowboarding’s only truly sustainable brand. Read on to find out why we are fully backing Bond!

Hi Dan, tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Dan McNamara and I am the co-founder of Bond along with my partner Christian Didrichsen. We both handle multiple duties at Bond. Christian handles all of the graphic design and branding, and I focus more on the operations and sales, although there isn’t really any decision made that we both aren’t involved in.

Our Creative Director, Rob Myers, handles all of the product design for Bond and he is involved in pretty much every aspect of the business as well. We are a tight team and we all share the same vision for what we want Bond to be, so it is a great relationship.

What was the reason to start a brand like Bond?

Christian and I were talking one day on the way to the mountain about what outerwear we would ride if we didn’t work for the companies we worked for at the time.

We both talked about how there weren’t really any companies that were rooted in sustainability that were truly snowboardoriented, and that was the beginning of Bond. We wanted to make an outerwear brand that was sustainable, but was also something that snowboarders would actually wear. So many companies do small sustainable offerings, but they always look really hippy and corny. We want to make outerwear that people are stoked on that also has a true sustainability story all the way from the product to the way we travel and run the office.

What makes Bond special?

I think the biggest thing is obviously the sustainability story, but we also focus just as much on design direction, which is very important. We have been doing outerwear within this industry for over 15 years at our previous companies, so we have a good track record of forecasting trends and styles. We are using materials and colors that are a little ahead of the curve, but that keep the market interesting and keep the core shops unique from the rest of the big guys. Our distribution is very clean, and our sustainability story is the only one like it in the snowboard market. We only make snowboard outerwear, and are 100% committed to snowboarding, and that will absolutely show in what we are doing with the brand.

You guys sound pretty busy, any time left over to go shred?

We all pretty much ride as much as we can.

Just this past Tuesday Christian and I rode over 3 feet of powder at Mt. Baldy here in Southern California, and the week before that I rode powder for three days straight in Mammoth while I was there for an onsnow demo. I always laugh when people are in the snowboard industry and they only ride 4 or 5 times a season. No matter how busy you are, riding is the most important thing you can do, otherwise you aren’t going to have a clue about who you are selling to. For example, while I was in Mammoth we came up with 3 great, solid ideas for the 2011 line, which would not have happened sitting behind a desk.

These days you can work from anywhere, you just have to have the discipline to focus and get things done. If you are going to ride during the day, you better be ready to do your work late into the night, on the drive to and from, and anywhere in between. But the bottom line is that winter

is only 4-5 months max, so you have to get out and get on snow while you can.

What makes you happy about starting Bond?

Any day that we are able to come to the office and build something we are proud of is a great day for us, which is everyday.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us and backed us. We realize it isn’t easy out there right now, and we have had some great support from magazines, to retailers, to other people throughout the industry that truly believe in what we are doing. And the biggest thanks goes to all of our families, they have been super supportive and that is huge. For example, my inlaws pitched in and sewed patches on over 200 promo hats for SIA and ISPO at the last minute. You just can’t ask for better support than that!

Whatever

X/15

Haze

LEAVES with Hans aHlUnd Who came up with the concept for this ad?

Hmm, I don’t really know? It was probably a collab between the Zimtstern peeps, Marco Lutz and Stefan Bircher, and the rest of those Shining Pictures dudes. When we got there Marco tried to explain what he wanted it to look like and we also listened to the song. It all sounded good but I had no idea it would turn out that good!

How long did it take to produce?

We were out there for a few days, probably like 4 or 5 actually, waking up at 6 or something stupid like that and being out till it was dark again, it was rough. We had a chef who made sweet dinners every night, though!

How was it working with Marco Lutz?

It was cool, he knew what he wanted and how it was supposed to look (even though we couldn’t always do what he wanted), so it worked out great. Marco and the filmer Lutz Hattenauer worked really well together and the result was stunning.

BY: TAG PHOTOS: ROGER BAUMER

What was the hardest part about riding on leaves? Tell us a bit about how you guys made it work.

That shit is hard, it’s definitely not like riding on a mountain on a bluebird day with 2 feet of fresh pow! It was a big crew, probably like 20 dudes, and we made it happen with a team effort. You guys have probably strapped into your board on the grass and just fooled around before, it was kinda like that but no messing around, that shit was sketchy. Riding on leaves, you can’t really turn, you feel rocks hitting the base and edges, even poppin’ an ollie was way hard.

How scary was that gap at the end of the ad?

Maaan, I have mixed feelings when I think about that. I didn’t think it was gonna work at first, but the guys really wanted the shot and I’m not that kinda guy who let my peeps down, nahmsayin’, hehe. So we built a gnarly flat wooden ramp for the take-off, but the mountain

sloped uphill just before you hit the jump, which made it even sketchier. We put a thin layer of snow, maybe 2m x 2m in the landing for the initial impact and then I just had to ride it out on the bumpy grass hill. The in-run was probably the worst part of the whole thing! Just a thin ribbon of snow with a bunch of salt on it and a 500cc motocross bike to tow me in. I got super sprayed with dirt and mud and shit, and the in-run also got even worse after a few speed checks. But I figured that it could work so we hit it up and in the end it worked out perfectly! So I hit it a few times, did some straight airs and then some BS 180’s before we called it quits.

Everybody was stoked and it worked out great in the end, so thanks to everyone who made it happen. Yeeeeaah!

Whatever

XI/15

Origins: Tuck Knee BY: TAG PHOTOGRAPHY: fred egli

This issue we’re taking Origins right back to the origins of aerial maneuvers. Tony “Mad Dog” Alva is the O.G. rock star, he dominated skateboarding in a way few (if any) have been able to replicate over the years. In the words of the immortal Jay Adams: “Tony paved the road that all modern skaters are riding down”.

Among T.A.’s many achievements is one of the most seminal moments in skateboarding’s history: the invention of the frontside air. Up until that point, carves and the occasional edger on the coping was about as radical as you could get on your skateboard. Like I said, Mad Dog dominated.

As other skaters learned FS airs and added their own styles, including the muchderided stinkbug, Alva’s original trick became known as the tuck-knee, where your trailing hand reaches for the board from behind your leg, thus tucking your knee under your arm. Many skaters, especially older ones, still consider the tuck-knee to be the only correct way to do a FS air. In fact, some skaters, like Alva team rider John Thomas, made whole careers out of this simple yet infinitely stylish trick.

In snowboarding the tuck-knee has seen many incarnations. Riders like John Cardiel and Chris Roach took full advantage of their ridiculously soft boots and lo-back binders to crank some of the craziest tweaks ever seen on a snowboard.

As boots became stiffer and hi-backs grew increasingly taller, we no longer saw some of the knee-touching-the-board contortionist styles from years past. Still, the tuck knee has always been style incarnate, and riders such as Gigi Rüf have added this most classic of grabs to technical spins over massive gaps. In fact, tuck knees can be adapted to any sort of terrain, as demonstrated in this gargantuan bombdrop by monsieur Julien “l’Arrogs” Haricot. Now get out there and tuck those knees!

bataleon.com

joachim nyhaugen evil twin

l’arrogs airobic

photo: VanessA

david bertschinger karg fun.kink

EVIL TWIN 147 151 155 159

Whatever

XII/15

DigGINg DeEpeR with JerEMy jONes After a decade plus of dropping jaws in up to five feature film segments each winter, big mountain legend Jeremy Jones’ wicked freeride footage will be noticeably absent from this year’s crop of flicks.

But no worries, the reigning “King of the Spines” ain’t hurt or retired. Much the opposite in fact – Jones is as fit and focused as ever.

For the last year Jeremy has been 110% committed to a signature two-year film project with Teton Gravity Research entitled Deeper. Due out in the fall of 2010, Deeper will follow Jones and a select crew of rippers including Travis Rice, Jonaven Moore, and Xavier de La Rue as they assault heavy weight alpine lines in locale such as Alaska, Europe, and California.

Though the focus of Deeper will undoubtedly rest on banger shots of freaky fall lines and powerful pow play, the film

will also stand as a testament to Jones’ redefined passion for the human-powered alpine experience. Yep, you heard it right, for Deeper Jones and the crew have traded in the heli and the sleds for a quiver of splitboards.

The decision to ditch the birds and search for the soul of the alpine experience earning every line should come as no surprise from a man who founded the climate change organization Protect Our Winters and has spent more time burning jet A heli fuel than half the pro riders of the world combined. Jones is more than ready to back up the talk walking the walk.

Chipping away at his carbon footprint isn’t the only reason Jones embraced the splitboard however. As usual, it is still all about the terrain…and the buzz.

“We have been pushing the boundaries of helicopters and sleds for years,” said Jones

WORDS & PHOTOS

BY SETH LIGHTCAP

at a backcountry winter camp in California last March. “It got to the point that on the day of days we were forced to return to a zone I had already ridden. That bummed me out. I’m getting a way bigger buzz on foot these days because of that - the potential for exploring new terrain on a splitboard is endless.”

Looking ahead to this winter, deeper days will continue for Jones as he is primed to spend countless more cold nights in the backcountry searching out the sick shots and reveling in the intensity of pushing his limits far from the help of the heli or the hospital.

Share in the Deeper experience until the film drops in 2010 by checking out wild footy, photos and blog posts from Jones and the TGR posse at: www.deeperfurtherhigher.com www.jeremyjones.net

shot by Ludschi

nnn%[\\clo\%Zfd

Whatever

SHRECIPES

XIII/15

BasA StevuLoVA's HalUsKy PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER KUBALAK

Serving for 4 - 6 potatoes - Bryndza sheep cheese - Bacon... Easy peasy!

- Flour

Forget pizza, kebab and burgers: Halušky totally rocks. The only problem is that this traditional Slovakian dish has always had weak marketing, so this article is the beginning of halušky world domination and a new boom in fast-food. The ingredients are not expensive at all, so you don’t need a lot of money. You know I’m from Slovakia, everything is cheap here.

- Peel the potatos and SHRED them with a food processor. Add flour and salt, knead it well and make sure that the dough is not too runny or too dry.

- Don’t forget to boil some water. When it’s boiling, use a small spoon to drop a little piece of dough into the water.

Haluška shouldn’t fall apart, so if the piece of dough you just put in the water sticks together, you are good to go.

- When the halušky are done they will float to the top and you can pick them out with a strainer.

- I’m pretty sure you aren’t gonna find Bryndza cheese in your country, because it’s a typical Slovakian food and it hasn’t really been exported yet, so you can use feta cheese mixed with cream cheese as a substitute.

- Don’t forget to fry the bacon, making sure to dice it into little cubes beforehand.

Halušky without bacon are not halušky for me. Me, I love them.

- Cut open the dough balls, smear on the cheese, sprinkle some bacon on top and voila. I recommend a glass of milk to go along with your halušky, it complements them perfectly.

Dobrú chut’!

Whatever

XIV/15

Volcom Haus lucky winners!

PHOTOGRAPHY: vernon deck

Inge stabs out a front 3.

“Seriously, damn it… What was I thinking when I entered this contest?! That I could have a fun time in Austria hanging out with a bunch of weirdos, pounding beers and Jager shots after shredding? Hiking all day long next to the gondolas, but never using them?

Argh…”

It was a Saturday night, almost two months ago, when Danny L and I decided to head home after spending our night burning churches and slashing sheep’s throats with some friends. We decided to check our emails before hitting the sack when Danny told me about some wild contest organized

by Volcom and Method. Basically, to win you needed to bribe them with money, indecent pictures or anything that could make Freddie Frühstück (also known as Lecherous Satan) titter and pick you as the winner of a nasty weekend at the Volcom team house in St. Anton.

My name is Inge Wiig, I’m one of the two lucky winners, and this is my story:

I turned 30 on July 30 – by the way, did you see the pictures of my birthday party on Facebook? It was awesome, but I have to admit I was dressed up as Catwoman just for a laugh, because I hate leather.

I live in Norway, I’m a great snowboarder but I never made it as a pro shred because of my dependence to ciggies. I smoke 30 of them every day, but I still smell really good. Girls like it, so don’t worry about me, I love my life.

I got the confirmation that I had won one of the two spots over the Christmas holidays, so I basically had to take another week off from work. Where do I work?! Ha, you don’t even know. It’s a snowboard shop called Session, hands down the best shop in Norway. In fact, we’ve got a great offer for you, if you bring a copy of Method Mag with you when you come to the shop, we’ll give you a 40% discount off any purchase.

Not bad, eh? Anyways, I digress...

I arrived in the Arlberg on a Saturday, Freddie picked me up at the train station and we made our way to the fabulous Volcom digs (16 rooms, 1 indoor swimming pool, 2 masseuses, their own brewing vats in the basement, among other amenities), where I met the other lovely winner: Julia, a 19-year old Austrian princess.

Let’s not mince words here, my friends. I’m a stud, a real lady-killer. When I laid my eyes

on the fair Julia, my heart started to thrum like the bass line in an old Kyuss song. But hey, falling in love wasn’t the goal of my journey here. I also met the other Volcom duders, one Gary Greenshields, who was just coming off a week of the incredibly cleansing “eat-only-canned-ravioli-everyday” diet, and Vernon “All Blacks” Deck, Volcom’s infamous in-house photo dawg. I thought they were both kind of funny-looking, but they were definitely really nice guys to hang out with.

Freddie showed me my room, a wonderfully large one with a big ass TV and every season of the Family Guy on DVD. I threw my shit on the bed, ready to crack open my first fun soda but alas, we had to wait for the Method Men to show up before getting our swerve on.

Should I keep going here and talk about all the beers we downed during those epic days in the Arlberg? Isn’t that a bit boring? No..?

Okay, fine, whatever you say. But don’t expect me to give you the exact chronological order of everything that went down: I don’t have the time or the wherewithal to do so. But I’m pretty sure I could add a fresh creative twist to Method…

On the other hand, I could easily list the five best moments I had during my time at Haus de Volcom. That might sound like a piece of cake but believe me, I had a blast the whole time I was there, so it’s pretty hard to not just say I had the time of my life and call it a day.

Whatever, I’m babbling now...

#1: Hanging out with Bryan Iguchi & Mike Parillo: The Guch man, the man, the myth, the legend! He’s not impressive at first sight, solid as a rock, but still kinda tiny and a very kind man. A real teddy bear, you could say.

But strap him into his board and then you realize what all the fuss is about! Such an awesome rider… The Guch, hell yeah! #2: Well… As big of a legend as he is, I totally kicked Guch’s ass at shredding on the day we were jumping a cliff. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hit it, I was smoking a ciggie when I saw Guch guinea-pigging the cliff.

“Not too shabby”, I thought. So I decided to go for it. The result is the pic you see here, shot by Vernon, a fantastic FS3. Nobody

could believe it when I stomped the shit out of it. It was probably good enough to be the closing shot in “That’s It, That’s All”. I felt as if I had scored a goal for Norway in the World Cup, people were ripping their shirts and screaming my name. I’m not sure why the douchebags at Method didn’t run it as the cover of this issue. But I have so many pics in mags lately, I don’t even care...

#3: Pillows. Pillows in my room. Pillows all over the mountains. I had heard about them in my country, but I only really tasted them for the first time in Austria. They’re really good. Highly recommended!

#4: Sharing my room with Florent, definitely the coolest and sexiest Frenchy I’ve ever met.

Too bad he’s not talking to me anymore after I came back to the room drunk while he was sleeping and he had to spend an interminable hour dealing with my freakiness. Sorry man, I promise I won’t ash in the bed anymore.

Can we still be friends?

#5: Wet dreams. “Psyche Inge”, that’s what the girls call me when I’m sleeping.

Obviously, I was having a ridiculously good time in my dream, since my boxers were torn to shreds when I woke up. I haven’t seen Florent again since that morning...

To everybody at Volcom and Method, thank you! It was a blast. Shredding in a magical spot alongside living legend and marvelous people like yourselves, what can I say? Is there another contest this year? Can I enter?

What do you need to make sure I’m the winner again? Come on, guys, don’t leave me hanging here...

Wish you could have been there? Well, this year we are stepping it up and making this contest even juicier! How does shredding pow for a weekend with GiGi Rüf and Terje Haakonsen grab you? Yea, that’s what I thought... So make sure you check out issue 10.3 for the skinny on how to win this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

www.wesc.com

Whatever

XV/15

Flore-ette

PHOTOGRAPHY: Stephanie Solinas

Anne-Flore Marxer needs no introduction.

One of the most outspoken and charismatic riders of our time, this 25-year old triple passport holder (Switzerland, France and Lichtenstein, in case you were wondering) has done it all. She’s won the contests, gotten the banger video parts and had pretty much signature everything, including now her own fragrance with les ettes, our favorite cosmetics and lifestyle company. We sat down with Anne-Flore to talk about her fragrance, flore-ette, and how it came to be.

“The whole thing started when I was asked to answer some questions for my profile on the les ettes website. I actually started thinking about smells and how they affect us for the first time in my life”, explains Anne-Flore. “After some reflection, I

realized I felt a degree of attachment to certain smells, which seemed weird to me since I never really felt attached to them before.”

“My fragrance is made up of three main scentss. The first is apricot -- I wrecked my knee a few years ago, tore all my ligaments and got a plate on my tibia. I used apricot gel on it so the scar after my surgery would heal nicely. I love the smell of apricot so much, it’s one of my favorites ever! The second is monoi. When I went to Tahiti we used monoi every day, it’s a tanning oil made with tiare flowers, which are everywhere over there. Tiare flowers have a very noticeable yet mellow odor. I brought back monoi oil from Tahiti and I use it basically everyday after the shower. I also love that smell, it reminds me of summer and surfing.”

“The third and final scent is orange blossom, it’s a smell from Morocco that my mom always had around when I was a kid.

I was pretty hyper and she thought the orange blossom had a calming effect on me, it also evokes some great memories.”

“So I brought back these 3 scents to les ettes for my profile and the girls liked them so much they thought it would be cool for me to create my own fragrance.

Since I always do my best to get involved with my sponsors, I decided to go for it.”

“It’s funny though, because I never really wore perfume before, I’m not a big fan of strong scents and smells. Which is why I think les ettes is a great company to be associated with, it’s cool to see perfumes that are light and fresh instead of making me want to sneeze all the time. All les ettes perfumes are non-alcoholic, which means they are better for your skin if you spend a lot of time outside like me.”

“All the smells I used in flore-ette are very gentle, I’m very energetic but all the scents I like are ‘calm’. The grand nez (top smeller) at the place where they make the les ettes perfumes really liked the scents I brought, so they put together a bunch of samples and the only one I liked was the one that became flore-ette. My mom used to call me that when I was a kid, so it all worked out perfectly.”

“It’s funny how life works out sometimes, it brings you to places you never thought you would be. I never imagined I would someday have my own personal fragrance, and it’s just so refreshing to be working on something that isn’t directly related to snowboarding.” “But then again working on flore-ette has been sort of an extension of what I do with my outerwear and boards. I’m just trying to create something that suits the style and lifestyle of girls who are confident and positive and strong, something for the girls that rock.”

PH: Nikdesign

Name: December / Monster Girl Europe Lives: Gothenburg / Sweden Likes: To Party Hard

HAVE TEAMED UP TO FIND 6 EUROPEAN MONSTER GIRLS FOR OUR 2011 CALENDAR SHOOT YOU WILL BE INVITED TO A WEEKS PHOTOSHOOT IN LES 2 ALPES JULY 2010 THE SEARCH IS ON!

Bindings Union Force ny.com ndingcompa bi www.union

t

ke

Jac ’s en

om oW o l Ig t.eu st te rotes o Pr w.p ww

ignature ny Kass S

an Oakley D y.com le k a .o www

Volcom Stoney GoreTex Jacket www.volcomeurope.c om

ggles

Series Go

O’Neill Regula tor Pants www.oneill.com

Lib Tech Phoenix Ser ies Mark Landvik “L ando” BTX www.lib-tech.com

Rip Cu rl Emb ossed www.r Puffer ipcurl.

Wome eu n’s

2 Board m Ride DH oards.co esnowb id .r w w w

ck Boots Salomon Savage Bla ard.com bo ow nsn mo www.salo Nikita Never land P www.n ant ikitaclo thing.c om

Jacket

Capita Ch arlie Slash er - Pow F www.capit K asnowboar ding.com

K2 Virtue Women’s Binding www.k2snowboarding.com

DC Park Boot www.dcshoes.c om

Oxbow Regar d Women’s Pant www.oxbow orld.com

WESC Manu el Jacket www.wesc.co m

Bon fir www e Vent P ant .bon fires now boar din

g.co m

Nike 6.0 M ogan Mid iD www.nike. com

le ogg ist G om M e .c y Th rope Rox roxy-eu w. ww

ass Pro Model Nitro Cheryl M m www.nitrousa.co

es

on

ph

d ea H II on m Ic y.co dy nd an ca lc ull ul .sk Sk w w w

Smith I/O Gog gle www.sm ithoptic s.com

Vans Grunt Insulated Jacket www.vanssnow.com

BY: TORSTEIN HORGMO photos: NATE CHRISTENSON

Alright, the fIrst thing you wanna do is to fInd a decent-sized jump in the park or if you’re lucky you’ve found a sweet backcountry spot to build a big booter.

The reason why you need a big jump is because you are going to need a lot of airtime for this trick if you wanna make it easy on yourself.

Try to grab right away and look over your shoulder at the same time. Indy or melon are good grabs for this move.

Keep grabbing and looking over that shoulder. At this point you should have a lot of rotation in your body and you won’t be slowing down.

Hopefully you’ve got the speed down to hit the sweet spot and you know how to do at least a front seven. With that in mind, this should be movin’ on train tracks.

Then, once you get to 900 and you’ve automatically spotted your landing, it’s time to open up everything. Let go of the grab and prepare for touchdown, this will stop your rotation and should set you up good for the landing.

Stomp a seven first and then approach the jump with just a hair more speed. Line up your shoulders/arms for the kicker coming in heelside. (That’s the only way I know how). Jank it off the kicker a little harder than you would for a sev.

If you got a good snap off the kicker this should be pretty basic to land on a park jump.

If you’re jumping in pow and you didnt get it the first time, just go up an d try again, except make sure you pick a different line so you won’t land in a bo mb hole.

And if you end up hitting a tree as hard as I did here on this booter in Tahoe, forget everything I just said, just hold on for dear life and hope for the best!

Haha!

If you are chucking this in the backcountry, you have to adjust for the powder landing, which is totally different than landing in the park.

Try to stomp with both your feet at the same time but keep your weight slightly back, that way you’ll avoid hooking your nose in the snow and tomahawking down the landing. Good luck!

PH: Scalp

photos: fred egli, robert bellamy, scalp & andoni epelde

-ass when even You know your stee is bad ches your kit. Tonton the on-hill netting mat rt at the W채ngl T채nglHolland, mondo FS inve Mayrhofen, Austria

Competitive snowboarding is not really our cup of tea here at Method. That said, we always have a blast at contests, seeing all our friends and getting shit-faced. These are some of our favorite shots from the contests we are backing. Who ever said contests are no good for getting banger shots?

PH: Fred Egli

Daisuke Murakami came all the way from the land of sushi, sake and closetsized apartments to stomp this cranked out method at the Innsbruck Air & Style.

PH: Robert Bellamy

e meter when there’s on t a 10-meter air r at his own Who cares abou ows up a rooste thr rje Te d, ha of fresh to be lo, Norway Challenge, Os event, The Arctic

Math Crepel dismounts off the BEO Balance Beam with a perfect Elguerial. Yep, you read it right, an Elguerial, now go find out who Eddie Elguera was! BEO, Laax, Switzerland

PH: Fred Egli

PH: Fred Egli What are those, floating grapes?

Risto Mattila mega backside air at the O’Neill Evolution in Davos

Peetu D2 reels in the first win of his TTR title-winning season, freestyle. ch, Zurich, Switzerland

PH: An

doni ç

Epelde

Yep, a park-style jump at the Back to Powder event, you just gotta play the hand that life deals you. David Livet, front 7 over the gaping chasm.

Areches-Beaufort, France

PH: Fred Egli

ph: Robbie Sell

We don’t know if it’s the tight pants, the narrow stance or the Force, but Jed’s preternatural skills are truly a sight to behold. The talented Mr. Anderson getting jibby on an electrical box in his hometown, Calgary, Canada

J E D

A N D E R S O N

BY: FLORENT DE MARIA photos: robbie sell & ashley barker America loves heroes. We love them too, but only when they have that special “je ne sais quoi” that makes them stand out from a bland, pasteurized sea of self-proclaimed champions.

If you go back a few years, you may recall hearing about an insanely talented kid from Calgary who burst onto the scene and then just as suddenly seemed to vanish into thin air. Nobody really knew what was up with Jed...

Maybe he moved back into his “Jedcave” where he could enjoy himself without any external pressures and work on all sort of radical maneuvers that we are still trying to wrap our minds around.

This may sound rather far-fetched, possibly even preposterous to you, I know... Till the day Jed re-surfaced from the underground, this time headed straight for the bright lights of the big time.

But instead of spending his time saving helpless victims of the criminal hinterlands like others of his ilk, Jed prefers to use his creativity and skills to show what being a super(shred)-hero is really all about: stimulating snowboarding’s collective frontal cortex to the point of total sensory meltdown.

His outstanding entry in These Days, as well as the charisma, style and carefree attitude he displayed in August, that little gem of a movie produced by our homies at Airblaster, revealed to the entire world just how talented the talented Mr. Anderson really is.

If you saw the clip entitled “Jed is a Jedi” on METHOD TV back in early September, where our protagonist landed some of the most technical shit ever done on rails (and we’re talking some seriously face-melting shit here), you know that sooner or later, it won’t be some psychotic billionaire in a bat costume you’ll see flying through the sky, it’ll be an awesome kid with crazed hair rocking tight pants, a narrow stance and a psychedelic cape with a big JA symbol emblazoned across the back.

PS - Our hero, a so-called “rail monkey” whose haters are legion, also took first in the dude tube at last season’s Canadian Open, proving that, like an iceberg, there is much more to Jed than meets the eye.

ph: Ashley Barker

Cheese Dicks for life!

King Arthur showing the local Lancelots how to overcome giant snow piles, hefting a ginormous alley-oop FS 3 lien into the stratosphere in a rare moment when the Nordic light reigned over the normally omnipresent Ragnarรถk gloom.

by: Freddie FrĂźhstĂźck photo: vernon deck, lorenz richard, frode sandbech

For the 3rd year running, the Volcom snow-risk-taking team ventured to Trysil, in the distant Norse-land, to partake in springtime debauchery poorly disguised as snowboarding. We made the trek up north to the land of Odin, black metal, church burning and fornication, where consuming MjĂśd (Ed note: mead) with reckless abandon is as essential as it is traditional when it comes to winter survival. In fact, in dire times, even in this day and age, one may still witness all of the above performed simultaneously by diehard descendants of the Viking

PH: Vernon Deck

PH: Vernon Deck

Eirik Haugo staying true to the Voss credo -- flipping the bird to the behemoth Beelzebub that is anything and everything except drinking beer, snowboarding and living life to its fullest, commonly known as a 9-to-5er. Antichrist backflip.

Finnish rider Juuso Laivisto offended the Nordic god Thor, son of Odin, with the dual cardinal sins of listening to dancehall techno in the land of the blackest metal and donning sloggies (slim-fitting underwear worn mostly by metrosexuals and the gays). Here he is doing his utmost to escape the flying fury of MjÜllnir, Thor’s fabled avenging hammer.

PH: Frode Sandbech

PH: Lorenz Richard

brethren. Can you think of a better place to visit? Neither can I. Why, however, the Norwegian Tourist board NEVER mentions this in their “Visit Norway” brochures instead of the same tired formula of fjords, waterfalls and girls posing in traditional outfits in the middle of flower fields, is a mystery.

The kind people at Trysil hooked us up with a mansion on top of the hill with flat-screen TV’s, fireplaces, saunas, jacuzzi, marble kitchens and whatnot. I was a little disappointed that après-riding ball-tickling supermodels were not included in the accommodation package, but quickly forgot about that upon entering the first mountain hut and seeing with my own eyes what sort of hiring criteria Trysil management enforces when selecting amongst the 1000+ girls that apply for work here each year. If you are male and nonneutered, you will appreciate.

Swordsman of highest rank and creator of the Trysil Snow Valhalla, Claes Högström is seen here sampling his masterpiece with a pagan textbook Method.

Resident shaper Claes Högström, who needs no further introduction after years of shaping for TAC, Air & Style and the O’Neill Evolution to name but a few events, had already worked his magic weeks before our arrival. Claes worked 18-hour shifts while we were there, the result of which you can see in the photos.

The sun shone for a whole week and come the weekend it was resortclosing festivity time… Any rumor you might have heard about Norwegians

PH: Lorenz Richard

PH: Lo renz PH: Lorenz Richard

Richard

Our landlocked collaborator from the land of wild pigs and giant schnitzels was taken by surprise with the relentless onslaught on his reproductive organs by the hordes of Nordic Freyja goddesses, infamous for their insatiable sexual appetite, fertility and craving for pearl necklaces. In a final attempt to shake off the nymphs in hot pursuit and retain the last drop of his seed, Marc hurls himself into a stratospheric BS rodeo 7.

PH: Lorenz Richard

There were zombie-eyed teenage girls, cougars, milfs and everything in between, it looked like a scene from the Night of the Living Drunks.

being born with skis on their feet is a load of bollocks. They were born with alcohol in their hands, and only invented skis to be able to move quicker from one snowcovered, alcohol-containing log cabin to the next.

The dudes were hitting a huge hip at the bottom of the hill, when all of a sudden sex started to rain from the sky. There were zombie-eyed teenage girls, cougars, milfs and everything in between, it looked like a scene from the Night of the Living Drunks.

Turns out our hip was smack dab in the middle of the trail that connected two of the biggest watering holes on the hill and every couple of minutes some drunkoff-his-tits-has-been in a Phenix condom suit would send it, aiming at the hip but involuntarily doing a 2-meter high, uncontrolled half-backflip when reaching the tranny, landing on his head and most likely breaking his neck in the process.

At least they were all too drunk to notice or care. Then there were the catastrophebound Viking rednecks careening down the snow park on their asses with garbage

bags or anything else they could find that slid, beer in hand, ciggie in mouth, hitting anything that crossed their path at Mach 2, totally out of control...

An interesting side-effect of the above junkshow was a bevy of suddenly abandoned, just-as-smashed girls, who just happened to be craving some intense swordplay. Our ever-sopolite boys immediately agreed on a timeout to show the womenfolk their fencing skills, well aware of the fact that Norwegian girls are as famous for spreading the love as foreigners are for partaking in it.

Vikings up here get so hammered once the sun’s rays break winter’s icy grip, they don’t even realize they’re naked or trying to ski uphill, cursing at their gear, wondering why their skis won’t glide. Hey buddy, point those things the other way, the hill is BEHIND you. I could go on and on but I’ll hold my piece for now…

Come experience Trysil for yourself! A massive thanks to Claes, none of this would have been possible without you. Very big thanks also to Ola Mattson and his Trysil crew. Thanks to the slednecks and everyone else who helped out, you know who you are.

See you next year. Trysil is the largest resort in Norway and its park, which is shaped daily, is arguably the nation’s finest, with over 20 kickers and 20 rails. www.trysil.com

PH: Lorenz Richard

Dark Horse Disciple Larsen is rock ‘n roll to the bone... Or is he? Lately, when he thinks nobody’s watching, he’s been spotted getting jiggy with it, waving his Viking hand in the air like he just don’t care. Is everything okay, Danny?

You’re sending out mixed messages, man. Free-balling lien blaster.

PH: Rob ert B

ellamy

Elias was born with a disability.

He’s incapable of frow ning!

by: Florent de Maria & tag photo: andoni epelde, carlos blanchard vernon deck, vanessa andrieux & robert bellamy

What’s up Elias, are you goofy or regular?

Hey, I’m in Mayrhofen at the moment, chilling outside on the balcony. Just got back from a day of shredding on my board, standing regular.

So are you a goofy or regular guy?

I guess I’m a regular guy in many things, but when it comes to daydreaming and losing stuff, I’m definitely goofy!

So how does it feel to score the last part of a major production like the Pirates in your first year filming? So stoked! I didn’t expect it at all. Especially because I only got to film for a month and a half.

Was filming with the Pirates and having a good winter a total eye-opening experience? It was just a really good experience, I had always dreamed of having the opportunity to go filming with the Pirates some day. That dream became a reality last year and even more last Friday at the premiere, when I saw the final result!

What’s the main thing you learned from this past winter of shredding and filming?

I realized once again that the more fun I have shredding, the better I can snowboard.

What I learned from that awareness is that if I focus a little less on contests or filming, take a step back and just go shredding with my friends, then I get stoked and I’m able to give my best again… As for filming, I learned that it’s a little different than what I thought it would be. I was hoping for way more shredding time. In reality we spent a lot of time making decisions with the rest of the crew, waiting for good conditions, hiking or just building a jump. But it was fun anyway and sometimes, when it’s a small crew, usually when we’re riding more natural stuff, we even get to shred a lot… and in the best terrain too! It was such a fun winter.

Do you feel like having such a good winter and putting together a banger part is a reward for all your perseverance and effort you’ve put in?

I’m definitely happy with how it came together after all that waiting for good weather, traveling to score fresh powder and hiking... on occasion even “swimming” in two meters of fresh snow. Either way, even if I hadn’t gotten such a good part I felt like it was such a reward to be able to ride in such awesome conditions and in such great terrain. And honestly, I think I was really lucky with how things worked out for me in the end with the movie.

You had a pretty crazy problem with your lungs a couple of years ago, tell us a bit about that.

Yea, when I was 17 I took a year off from school and just went snowboarding. It all went pretty good and I was traveling a lot.

At the end of that season, after I got home from the Arctic Challenge, I got a really bad lung inflammation. I even stayed in a lung disease-specific hospital for quite some time. After that, I recovered super slow and always felt weak and a bit dizzy, so I went to a bunch of different doctors. They all had different opinions about what the cause of my problem with my lungs could be (for example, one of them thought it was due to gastroenteritis). After trying a bunch of treatments, I was over it and just stopped all of them, mostly because the inflammation kept getting better on its own anyways, slowly but surely. After taking a break for a year and a half, I started to get into snowboarding again. Last year I finished school and now I’m so stoked to be back on my board, more than ever actually.

Did you think at one point that snowboarding was over for you? Where do you find the strength to persevere in this situation?

Snowboarding was always there and I never thought I would stop riding. It’s given me a lot, even though I wasn’t strapped into

Flight of the Bumblebee! We don’t know what trick this is, but it looks rawesome, Montafon backcountry.

PH: Vanessa Andrieux

and I took a step back ain that realized once ag an more out there th ch u m so s e’ er th owboard world. just this little sn

my board. Nevertheless, I did think for a while that this whole snowboard career thing wouldn’t happen and I opened my mind to other things. I was ready to go in another direction but never to give up snowboarding.

I took a step back and realized once again that there’s so much more out there than just this little snowboard world. I started to read a

lot, got into music and got together with my girlfriend, who I was with for three years.

Were you scared about slamming, maybe feeling a bit fragile (for lack of a better word) when you got back on your board?

When I first got back on my board in my home resort after that long break, I had some of the best powder days I’ve ever had. From that moment on I completely fell in love with

snowboarding again, so the feeling for my board was back too. I didn’t rush myself to get back to the level where I stopped. I just rode a lot whilst finishing school and in time it all just came back to me. It came back to me pretty fast, actually.

You seem to be really interested in photography...

Yes, I really like photography although

Screw cheese wedges, Elias sends it into the cream cheese aux naturelle. Corked cab 5 cliff bomb in the Arlberg.

PH: Andoni Epelde

I have to admit that, especially these days, I’m more of a tourist snap-shooter than an artist. I love the power of expression that pictures can have.

You just got back from sampling some Southern Hemisphere mountain mozzarella. Tell us a bit about your adventure, where did you go exactly?

Did you get to sample some of the local culture?

Yes, I just got back from Argentina, I was filming for the second volume of the Rip Curl movie, “Welcome Home”. It was a super good experience. Although we only had two good days where conditions were right for filming, it was totally worth it to go there.

Those two days were really amazing and apart from that it was also just really good to experience the country, get to know a little bit about their culture and see all these mind-blowing landscapes every day. On the mountain we were surrounded by deep blue lakes, green islands and forests and big white mountains. It isn’t always easy to get to know more about the local culture on

Do you have any sort of mentor in snowboarding? Not necessarily about

double pillow Elias doing the Misty Mountain Hop, y. scorcher in the Arlberg backcountr

PH: Andoni Epelde

riding skills, but someone who helped you in your evolution, who supported you, who you rode with for a while?

Yes, I definitely have someone like this, his name is Friedl May. I met Friedl right when I started to get more into snowboarding, I guess I was about 15. From that day on we always went

snowboarding trips, since we spend most of our time in resorts. And resorts are all pretty much the same, so I was happy I got to spend some time in Buenos Aires before I spent 22 hours on a bus to Bariloche. But when we got there our teammate Mati Radaelli, who’s a local, was there to welcome us. It was really good to hang out with him and all the locals there.

riding together. He already had his driver’s license, so we would road trip every weekend to ride park or score some powder. We had a super good time shredding together and I also learned a lot from him. To this day he is still one of my best friends, he’s the person I like to ride with the most. Without him I probably wouldn’t be where I’m now. Thank you, buddy!

Do you think snowboarding changed you as a person?

Did it change your perception of life?

Snowboarding definitely had a influence on who I am now, since it’s such a big part of my life. As for snowboarding influencing my perception of life, I guess it did. In my opinion it’s not only genetics that come into play, every experience I’ve had so far in my life has shaped my perceptions and who I am.

Frosty, floaty, frontside 7

tail fling into the deep end.

PH: Carlos Blanchard

uch things have m w o h r te at m No the 20 years, I think st la e th in ed g n cha riding powder is re a u o y en h w n. feeling you get as it’s always bee d o o g s a st ju l il st

Elias had to turn on his high beams for this hairy landing in Austria.

Many people used to see you as a contest rider, nothing else. Were you aware of this? Are your two parts this year your answer to the haters and doubters?

No, I wasn’t aware of that and honestly I didn’t care too much anyways, since I never saw myself as a straight-up park rat or contest rider. I grew up in a resort where we didn’t have a park to ride, shredding the backcountry has always been where my heart is at.

What vision do you have of snowboarding nowadays? Do you talk about its history and progression with older riders?

Funny you asked me that, just today I was talking with a older friend about how crazy fast snowboarding is progressing these days.

I guess the sport is getting more and more professional in every way. That’s probably unavoidable, when it gets that big. But what’s important is that the spirit is still there. No matter how much things have changed in the last 20 years, I think the feeling you get when you are riding powder is still just as good as it’s always been for all the shredders out there.

How hard is it for you to combine your love life with your career?

Not too hard. I had a girlfriend for three years until not so long ago. Although I was away pretty often, especially in the past year and she was also traveling a lot, we managed to see each other quite a bit. Most importantly, we still felt really good being together even though we didn’t see each other every day. But now I’m single again, and it’s not the worst thing to be whilst living this crazy lifestyle...

What is the most important lesson you’ve ever learned in your life?

Never wax your board with diesel fuel during the finals of a snowboard contest…

Uh, diesel fuel? WTF? Anyway, do your jaw muscles ever feel sore from smiling so much? Haha! We think it’s super cool that you are such a positive person, have you always been this way?

Funny you’re asking me about my jaw muscles, they’re actually giving me a pretty hard time. At the end of a happy day, I get all kinds of cramps and stuff in that whole area…just kidding, haha! Seriously though, I think I’ve always been this way. When I’m really happy about something, like for example most of the time when I’m on my snowboard, I just can’t help but smile.

PH: Vernon Deck

What is the one question no one ever asked you in an interview and you wished they had? Here is your chance to answer it!

Question: Do you want me to organize a pool party for you with hundreds of hot girls, Manu Chao as a live act and invite all your best friends? Answer: Yea, why not!

Haha, awesome, thanx buddy!

B

ozWreck. Where do I start... I’m not gonna really go over how it all started because I’m sick of telling that story. Kinda. Actually, I’m real sick of that story. This is gonna be the most random, off-the-top-of-myhead article you have ever seen. METHOD probably won’t even want to run it, but I’m just gonna say, how ever it comes out is how it is.

by: MATTY RYAN photos: bob plumb, blotto photto & e-stone

back Matty “Homewreck� Ryan puts up a gnarly y of lip on the most iconic goalpost in the histor snowboarding, Eisenhower Jr. High, Utah

PH: Bob Plumb

Some would have just fallen off, some would be full-on drug addicts and alcoholics with nowhere to take their skills but the bar.

PH: Bob Plumb

To me right now Bozwreck is my life, as well as many others’ lives. I just laugh sometimes and think what the fuck we would all be doing if we didn’t have Bozwreck. Some would have just fallen off, some would be full-on drug addicts and alcoholics with nowhere to take their skills but the bar. I’m not saying this to prove that we all party or whatever, because fuck partying. Not that I don’t love it, what I mean is I think the reason we have that rep is because when all the Bozwreck homies get together it’s a scene. Whether it be nightlife or a day at the Rail Gardens or just meeting up somewhere, it always seems to be a party, because we all like to hang that much and just rap out and fuck with each other. Just like your crew of friends, it’s no different.

So you gather all these absolute head-cases together and whether it be positive or negative, you’re bound to be entertained. It is crazy to me where it has gotten, with little

es for miles... oto from here, pil I can smell this phth the whole crew jammed into wi Keeping it real ssion to Quebec City one room on a mi to no funds. And say what you will, we may all be a bunch of idiots or what ever, but if anyone out there hasn’t notic ed, we are all doing this as a family and not letting the priorty be money-making.

Yes, money and easy living would be nice, duh. But I think it wouldn’t be Bozw reck if that was the case. And I really am work ing hard at this whole thing at the mom ent, even though I’ve gone through phas es where I could give a fuck about Bozw reck and just thought it was a joke myse lf.

What really pisses me off is the fact that people seem to think that we think we are the shit. When we started this whole thing we weren’t trying to compete with all the shit going on in snowboarding.

We still ain’t. We just wanted to contr ol our own way of how we think snow boarding could be. I won’t even say shou ld be,

because who’s to say what we are doing is how it should be. That just ain’t right.

This is just how we do the damned thing.

If you like it we are here with open arms and if you don’t, so be it. It’s fine by me.

So where was I... Fuck, I’m trailing off.

Oh yea, so here’s how I view Bozwreck right now: I just don’t want it to go away because when I was young and coming up I would have been so hyped if I had had Bozwreck to relate to. Because shit man, life ain’t easy. It’s a fucking struggle.

Straight up. No matter your current situation, rich, poor, whatever. To me Bozwreck is something to relate to that is within your reach of reality. Anything we are doing, your crew can go out and do the same thing. It’s just sad that we were the first to really, really do it on our own. I see companies doing our thing now, which is for whatever brands cool and I’m psyched are trying to come up.

Wreck & Nutz don’t fuck around,

son

PH: Bob Pl umb

Nasty ng out of rehab!

Boznutz breakiep in the bowels of SLC de d front boar

PH: Bob Plumb

PH: Bob Plumb

But I will say this, everyone wants to be huge, big-time, fucking pretending they’re bringing in lots of cash. I mean, good for you but you’re just a hot topic. We are trying to get some miles out of Bozwreck and let this whole thing grow on its own. People always say, or I’ve heard people say, that Bozwreck is a lifestyle and it makes me proud to hear that. Maybe they’re just a small crew or whatever but some people actually get what we are trying to do.

It’s funny because this is how I know that I fucking love all the homies that are in the family. No cocky attitudes, no one trying to out-trick each other. Homies barely even talking about snowboarding all that much, it’s just friends that get along and actually do just love to shred, man. What I also love is the fact that everyone is just psyched for each other when a trick gets even remotely landed, haha. Like, you just have to barely ride away and you got Keegan, who probably just front boarded a 20-split-20 getting hyped on someone fucking shredding and getting something on a ten-stair. So there is nothing but love between all the homies.

I’m not sure what I want to say about Bozwreck 3000, except I thought it was good, real good. Butterz fucking straight murdered it. I was a little out of my mind last season, but Nate was way on point pretty much all winter. Keegan filmed for like 3 videos. Cale filmed two last parts, I know he probably didn’t

Jeff Fuck up here and you’ll get jacked.Ogden, Richards burly 50-50 pop over in Utah

PH: Bob Plumb

PH: Bob Plumb

PH: Bob Plumb

get the last part in that other video and I’m sure some other maurk did instead, but shit, Cale is the best and works real hard. Eacott came through with another banger part, I know what you’re thinking but just hang on now, there is just something about Eacott’s style. It’s the

After making a withdrawal at the bank, Bode Merrill deposits this switch front board revert pop over in downtown SLC

shit, a little sketchy, but I love watching that homie work for his tricks because the end result always so crazy. It’s either like, “fucking finally!” or “holy fuck, did he just do that?” and everyone usually goes nuts.

Timmy Ronan, he’s a new homie on the scene and fit in just fine with the crew. He has one of my favorite parts ever. Antho broke his arm but still had enough passion to come meet up

with us whenever we called him.

And he always had a joint in hand, Antho is the best. I would say Antho is my favorite snowboarder, for real.

It’s hard to explain if you don’t know him, but he is legit as fuck. The kid is so hungry, watching him get psyched is so rad, it’s like it’s too much even for him to handle.

ika

Smoooooth like jazz... Keegan Vala finesses a switch 5-0

PH: Blotto Photto

as well after Technine Deadlung, new on the scene als, but fuck it man, Deadturned their back on his ritu time, in his own way. own his on shit lung handles his s still got it, don’t Kid’ ?

How can you not respect that e to Bradshaw... com we then And g. sleep on Deadlun at Technine Cole from He actually hid footage all year h homies muc how is this y, sorr but , (we love you Cole in our part er long a get d love Bozwreck) just so he coul footage park his only n’t was that ng movie, somethi wait, it’s Marco’s video, that Technine didn’t want. Or to call Ralphy, has like I who sier, sorry, haha. Mes was just hung up a little been down since day one, he making the move. he’s But . shit r bit on some othe

PH: Bob Plumb

A class act: J2 is always down to get minted

umb

PH: Bob Pl

,

Peepin’ footy: Keegan, Butters, Cale Nutz & Homewreck

e Rooftops for ramps! Deadlund nolli back 180 to flat

Let’s see, we also have the only good snowboard photographer on our side.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching him blow up so hard that you’re gonna start hearing people say to Lizard King (aka Mike Plumb)“Oh yea, you’re Bob Plumb’s brother”. You heard it here first. We’ve also got our double O.G. filmer LJ, who hates filming. Then it all comes down to my new personal favorite: Butterz. The kid was such a big part of Bozwreck 3000, I can’t even explain my appreciation for him. He really pulled through for us, even to just get the movie out. Personally, I had to change some things in my life and unfortunately moved away from SLC, and Nate was in Greece drinking all day, everyday. So to me the reason why we are here today and now, the reason why this video even happened and is a hit is because of our filmer and homie, Butterz. Brock Nielson, remember the name.

So now we are almost a fully-functional brand, videos, boards, t-shirts... Who the fuck would have thought that when Nate and I combined our nicknames to make one video game character we would be in this spot someday? From here on out we will see what happens, but we’re not going anywhere, no matter how hard it may be.

PH: Bob Plumb

PH: E-Stone

Cale Zima has big, shiny, balls of brass.

MEGA ollie!

Some of you guppies reading this might not recognize the name Kevin Jones. In the late nineties and early oughts, KJ was untouchable, one of the best and most well-rounded snowboarders in the world, a contest killer and video part slayer. Multiple X-Games golds?

Check. Mack Dawg closer parts? Check. Five years ago, at the height of his career, Jones dropped off the face of planet shred. But a couple of months ago we heard rumors of KJ sightings in AK. Stoked that one of our all-time heroes was back, we tracked him down and got the 411 on what is up in his world.

by: TAG photos: jeff curley

First question is pretty obvious, where have you been the last 5 years? What have you been up to?

Basically I was fucking over it!! I had nine X-Games medals, ESPN Snowboarder of the Year two years in a row, a hundred video parts, Snowboarder Mag Rider of the Year three years in a row, had the interviews in all the magazines I cared about… I thought I had done all the stuff I wanted to do in snowboarding and I wasn’t all broken like so many of my friends and peers. That, plus the part of snowboarding that I HATED like crabs (aka the industry), finally got to me.

I had had enough of broken promises, lies, friendships lost in business deals, corporate sponsors and all the big shot pricks that come along with them. Contests, people not paying their bills... Want an example? In 2001 I won

US$25,000 at the Sims World Championship of Snowboarding, so I went to cash my check and it bounced. I called the owner and he said he’d make sure personally that I would get my money. Did I mention I was in contract negotiations with Sims that year? All lies...

I could keep going but basically I was just sick of all the bullshit. Seeing snowboarding shit on the people that made the sport what it is today. It’s not like surfing or skating where they take care of their own, in snowboarding they fire you and leave you out on the lawn like a decrepit piece of crap. There was just no life for me in snowboarding anymore, at least that was the way I saw it at the time. Add to that a nonstop schedule for 14 years and you get burned out. I wanted to do summer things. I wanted a family, I wanted my good

friends and family not to write me off any more because I was never around. I wanted people to be my friend for who I was and not what I was.

So I did what every “American Dreamer” does. I got married. Wow. Had the cars, the dogs, the beautiful wife, the houses, the nice furniture, boats, camper... You know, everything you’re supposed to have when you “make it”. Kind of like that Talking Heads song. Long story long, I was miserable. I never stopped snowboarding but not doing it at the same level as before was eating at my soul. I couldn’t enjoy myself -- I started to drink too much. It sucked. I did have a fly-fishing addiction that kept me going for a while, but that was like methadone to a heroin addict… Something was missing... It was just a matter of time.

So what made you decide that you wanted to start shredding again?

I realized I am and always will be a snowboarder, until I literally cannot do it anymore... and then some! I realized I had the best job that I could ever have, really, there is nothing I’d rather do. I just got so engulfed in the snowboard industry and “wifey world” I forgot what it was all about and who I was all about. I had so much resentment that I forgot the most important equation ever: friends + powder = fun (+ helicopters = more fun!). I will still sag my pants when I’m sixty and I want to be buried with my avalanche beacon on. I even started speaking my own language, I only speak in Avalung. (Rule #1: If you don’t know what an Avalung is, you have been in the park too long.) Now I’m divorced and back to normal operations. A little older, smarter and definitely poorer!

So are you fully back in the game now or what?

I don’t know what the definition of the “the game” is exactly, but as far as snowboarding and filming are concerned I am in 100%! I still feel that I can contribute and make people want to snowboard.

When I can’t do that anymore I won’t, but I’ll still be looking for powder somewhere.

You filmed with Standard this season, how did it go?

Yea, I have always worked well with the Standard guys. Dave and Mike were like rock stars when I was coming into the scene. They had their own language, long hair and were just destroying the Tahoe backcountry. You may think you have

Crazy exposure? Ridiculously steep lines? Ain’t no thing, KJ fucking charges!

Valdez, AK

found something from Mt. Whitney to Mt. Hood, but I’ll bet you the Hatchet brothers were there first! Not to mention opening and blowing up the whole Alaska scene. They have become some of my best friends over the years and I trust them with my life! I’m really excited to see what we will get into this next year.

How different are things today than when you were coming up? In your opinion is snowboarding better or worse off?

As far as the industry goes, I used to care.

I used to work hard, pour my heart and soul into designing boots, gloves, boards, bindings, ad layouts, jackets, pants, action figures, baseball cards, bubble gum, whatever... Now I just want to concentrate on shredding. I’ll let the skittle-thugged out kids get the fashion awards. By the way, day-glo is not new, neither are Ray Ban’s.

Check out Tom Burt circa ’95. It’s definitely a little like the era when heavy metal sucked right now in snowboarding. Remember when like Poison, Warrant, all those glam bands were wearing make-up in the 80’s? I mean, there’s some good riding going on right now but what the hell are you wearing… I love it! I don’t know, it’s cool. Snowboarding has always had the “I-don’t-give-a-shit-whatI-look-like” attitude, so to each their own.

The industry is just part of the deal. I don’t know if it’s better or worse, it’s just there. It’s kind of like the music scene... Nobody liked the first couple of labels they recorded for, because they finally woke up and saw they were being shafted!

What kind of support are you getting from sponsors?

Billabong! Here is a company that has definitely been behind me. I have been on their team for fifteen years, through thick

and thin. When I told them I was coming back they said, “We knew you would, it just took you a little longer than we thought. What do you need?” That is rare in this industry and I respect them for that. Props to Eeens, G-man and Droooks! Thank you also to DVS, Forum, Bern helmets and Union bindings.

So what really blows your hair back these days, switch back 9’s into an untracked landing or big rooster tails in blower pow?

Good riding is good riding, I love to ride and watch everything! (Except racing, sorry!)

What I love watching the most is powder, good lines, no pat-downs, no kickers, just looking at the mountain and playing with it like Jeremy Jones and Terje do. Two totally different styles, but it’s so awesome to watch the masters, truly ahead of the rest for so long. I also love really well-rounded parts, guys who have more than one specialty. Travis

Look out, KJ is back and he’s hungry.

Rice and JP Walker were definitely standouts for me this last year!

Some of the riders we spoke to recently about your comeback had no idea who you are, what’s the most important thing kids today should know about Kevin Jones?

I think one of the coolest parts of our sport is its history, how it came from skateboarding and punk rock mixed with ski culture and day-glo outfits.

I remember Eddie Wall in like 1999 thought that I invented the nose butter!

I cracked up and made him watch The Hard, The Hungry and The Homeless, TB2 and TB3. And New Kids on the Twock! I think it’s cool to look back and see who was doing what and having respect for

the people who literally paved the way for me. I contributed… hopefully to some of the newer guys. (I know at least one!) When this generation is gone there will be another one after it and so it goes. I am really proud just to be mentioned alongside so many great snowboarders of the past and present.

Method is turning 10 this year, what was going on in your life a decade ago? Where do you see yourself when Method turns 20?

Ten years ago… I won the X-Games slope style, was Snowboarder of the Year in Snowboarder Magazine, filmed with Mack Dawg for Technical Difficulties and Standard Films’ TB8 Infinity. I was living in Mammoth Lakes and Truckee, California. Ten years from now hopefully I will still be able to afford living in Jackson Hole! I might be fly-fishing

somewhere, who knows? I do know one thing, if I’m here I’ll be snowboarding!

Final thoughts, anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to say?

I just re-read this interview and it seems a little negative. That is not what I was trying to get across. I would not take back a day of what I have gone through with this life of snowboarding, I have been places and seen things that I would never have thought possible in my wildest dreams! Remember, snowboarding is fun!

I realized I am and always will be a snowboarder, until I literally cannot do it anymore...

Some things just get better with age, KJ lays into a heelside at Mach 3 in Alaska

BY: mike basisch photos: dan milner, dalton paley, mike basich, tina basich I think childhood dreams are a big part of everyone’s life.

I have always felt some are meant to remain as dreams, and others become reality when the child in you needs more room to expand. The dream of building my own house with my own hands is one that has stuck with me since I was about 11. However, it wasn’t until the age of 32 that I felt like it was time for me to convert my dream into reality. In hindsight, I don’t think I could have done it any sooner than I did, even though I have been way too excited about it for as long as I can remember.

It seemed to come to me at a time in my life when I was feeling the need to expand upward and outward, yet ground my feet at the same time. Armed with the knowledge that the mountains are where I have always felt most alive, I ended up on a beautiful 40-acre plot of land in the Tahoe area. It just so happened that when I first got my land it was the middle of the winter, so I got to see how the wind, snow and sun moved through the area.

When spring came and the snow started to melt it was like unwrapping a Christmas present, I was left with a ton of granite rocks. Through that winter I couldn’t think about anything besides designing my house.

I’d read about the Golden Ratio in the past and was thinking about using those divine proportions, which lead me to the realization that I needed to forget everything I knew about measurement and structure and figure out what shape and form felt right to me.

It struck me even more after I discovered this posture (and its proportions) has been drawn for centuries, most notably by Leonardo da Vinci. This simple schematic, your body and limbs extended to their full length, creating the shape of a star, which in turn creates a pentagon if you connect every point. This most basic and divine of blueprints became the floor plan for my house.

h sich Basic ike Ba PH PH: M

PH: Tina Basich

Since this was going to be my house, I started to think about the moments in my life where I have felt most alive. It all became perfectly clear to me once I realized that standing on a mountain peak was that moment. I looked at all the photos I have of me standing on a peak and in each one I had the same posture, with arms stretched way out and feet firmly planted. It seemed to become even clearer once it dawned on me that this posture mirrored how I felt exactly: a desire to expand upward and outward whilst grounding my feet at the same time.

PH: Mike Basich

A true Renaissance Man, Mike Basich stands in the portal of his ultimate creation

Where my feet were became the door; my outstretched arms became the windows. As a remembrance of my birthday I put a piece of metal in the window which, at the precise time of my birth, shines a star where my heart would be within the floor plan, a simple reminder of my starting point in this life. As time went by and I slowly finalized my creation, I realized it all came to me from pure instinct and if you give structure to your instinct you end up with the Golden Ratio, because our bodies reflect this divine geometrical concept.

But I think that during the creation of any art there is always room for each of us to express who we are and how we feel. It is so open, a total unknown until you bring your passion to life, whatever it may be, within PH: Mike Basich

I needed to forget ev measurement and sterything I knew about ru what shape and form cture and figure out felt right to me.

PH: Dan Milner

own Mikey getting totally pitted in his backyard, toeside burner

this space. You could say my house has become my canvas where I paint the picture of who I am and who I am becoming. A simple empirical observation of my property made it clear that granite rocks had no problem surviving up here, so my house was built from the one thing I knew would resist whatever Nature threw at it.

I am now 36 and should be totally finished with my house by the time you read this. It definitely hasn’t been the easiest thing to build, what with the 3-mile snowmobile ride in during the winter and the rough drive up in the summer. But dreams don’t come easy, especially when you want to be on top of the mountain you are trying to conquer, otherwise it wouldn’t have started off as a dream, right?

-Mike Basich

PH: Dan Milner

Area 241 is dead sexy! Zak Shelhamer kicks out a Grasser in Mikey’s voluptuous backyard

Everyone dreams about having their own piece of heaven, and Mikey has created just that. It may only be 40 acres, but where that boundary starts and where it ends is unknown to me. You get out there and it is open for miles and miles. Maybe you’re a snowboarder and want to drop cliffs or build jumps. Some might want to stop by after mountain biking the Flume Trail. Others will want to shralp around on their new snow machine. Maybe you’re more chill and just want to hang on Mikey’s deck to watch the wildlife and enjoy the views. You could be a water dog and just enjoy the creeks or the awesome lake back there. Me, I choose D -- all of the above!

PH: Dalton Paley

Mikey has built an incredible home out there, completely by hand.

Now when I say “by hand” that goes beyond what most would consider by hand. When he builds a door, he dries out the wood he milled himself off his own property. The hinge and frame he welded himself. The custom handle made from deer’s antlers is stout. It swings perfectly into the rock wall surrounding it. At night, when you approach the door, the light from inside his house lights up the stars embedded in the door. This is just one example of hundreds of handcrafted items in Mikey’s house. Each one is crafted to the littlest detail.

The awesome thing is how many friends have helped him. I think because people are blown away by more than just Mikey’s talent, but also by his personality. He is one unique and creative individual.

- Andy Finch When I first arrived at AREA 241 it was simply astounding for me.

To see what Mikey had done with his bare hands in a true labor of love was so inspiring. This was not just a cabin and riding area, it was so much more.

To me I felt like a personal creative expression that is unique and full of passion. I respect Mikey for taking his life in his own direction and doing something that helps sustain and preserve the environment.

Seeing the rope-tow he built was a clear indication that Mikey likes to do things his own way. The contraption was something out of a mad scientist movie - and it really worked! I’ll be forever bowing to Mr. Basich; as our good friend and snowboard legend Jason Ford often proclaims: “Mikey Wins!”

-Rich Van Every PH: Mike Basich

I didn’t wanna do this interview, I tried to hide as long as I could, farmed some hair, got an offshore account and a new passport, I’m even pretending to be dead in this shot, but those pesky fuckers from Method never lost my scent... So here it is, the Laurent-Nicolas Paquin interview, hope it was worth the wait!

So, Laurent... Why have you been dodging our interview for so long? Haha! I was out of town for some summer snowboarding in Whistler and didn’t have my computer with me!

I

by: FLORENT DE MARIA Y WRIGHT photo: OLI GAGNON & AND

Did summer treat you well? Some decent parties and some skateboarding, I suppose? Yeah, lots of both, haha. I was in Whistler so I skated everyday, sometimes in Vancouver too. Then I came back to my hometown and skated our shitty parks with my friends...lots of games of S.K.A.T.E. You guys seem to have a really strong bond within the French-Canadian troupe, always hanging with each other, pushing each other, giving each other props...

Basically showing each other mad love. Is this the French side in your culture shining through? Yeah, we’ve been snowboarding

with each other forever now, so it’s normal for me to be pushed and stoked and to hang with those dudes. People see us a lot together, because it’s always easier for us to speak in French than in English....but I have a lot of good English friends now.

In which ways are French-Canadians different from the rest of North America?

There’s the accent, of course, but you guys definitely have some qualities that the others are jealous of, no? It’s super cold so we’re used to cold weather, which is good for snowboarding. All my friends are awesome

people so we’ re pretty cool people, HO! amazingly cu And we have te girls here, haha!

Did you mov e from your home town, visibility as a Charny, to ge pro rider or t more did you neve it that much? r really care about I did try that once but it w asn’t for visi the backcoun bility, it was try a go in W to give histler. I boug and a truck an ht a snowmob d tried to get ile some shots bu liking it one t ended up no bit. I just thin t k about street time, so I’m tricks all the not made for backcountry the filming ki ri ding, at leas nd. t not

PH: Oli Gagnon

You must be more well-kno wn in Charny even Alex Co by now than uture Inc. or the Chaudier think about e Falls, no? Do using your fa you me to run fo I’m a low-pro r City Hall? N file dude. I do ah ! ru n the skatep since I’m the ark though, only one to sk ate it... All th smoke cigs an e kids here ju d drink beer st in their stup id race cars.

How proud ar e your parent s of your care Did they shak er? edown the ce llar in search clothes to gi for their old ve you so you could rock th you’ve got go at awesome ing on? Dude look , my parents couldn’t ask are the best, for better! M I y da d has pretty m picture I ever uch every got in mags all over his offi will go and m ce. My mom ake bigger ve rsion of all th and put it al e covers I got l over the ba se ment, haha. because they It’s been hard saw me drop out of school certain if it w and not be as gonna wor k out for me, saw me worki but they also ng my ass off , so they’re su per stoked!

I just think about street tricks all the time, so I’m not made for backcountry riding, at least not the filming kind.

PH: Oli Gagnon

Talk about a tranny

finder, this shit is ban

anas! BS 50-50 pop out

at the Rail

leon Bonaparte impression

Laurent-Nicolas does his best Napo

Most everybody starts snowboarding on park jumps before rails or urban stuff.

Were you going wild in the streets from day one or did you work your way up to gnarly stuff? I wasn’t wild in the streets from day one... I started like everybody else, on a jump I built next to the condo my parents had rented for Christmas in Stoneham. I was trying to do frontflips because I almost died trying backies!

First boxes appeared at our resort and then rails. So we just started riding the new stuff, then figured out it was like skateboarding and that the whole city was full of down rails...so we went to the streets!

Is it because you live in a place with no big mountains and tons of rails, or are you more attuned to the skateboard aesthetic, where the streets are your canvas? Mostly because we don’t have big mountains, but the skate aspect is also a big reason. I started skateboarding before snowboarding so I’ve always been super influenced by it. Street riding is the skateboarding-influenced part of snowboarding for sure.

PH: Oli Gagnon

Holding a pres one through tos on a kinked rail is a lot hard er than it seem the end, SLC s, LNP push

If you were born in a warmer place, would you be skateboarding with a snowboard influence? How do you think it would look like? If I was born somewhere warmer for sure I would be skateboarding right now, as much as I could. It’s hard to say whether skaters look at snowboarding for inspiration or not, because most of them don’t like it. I kinda understand why... when you don’t know snowboarding that well the only thing you see is neon green pants and dudes doing the spinner on flat boxes. Skaters are kind of bitchy too sometimes, they only like their sport. But I have friends here that skate and watch my parts and they’re hyped!

es

PH: Oli Gagn

on

Blunt 2 the way70 out, check ou to the d onkey dt how homie s ick. Fla li wless! des this beas t all

PH: Oli Gagn

on

Satan shows up and tells you not to be afraid because it’s gonna be sick if you get it. Jesus would pussy out for sure

PH: Oli Gagnon

In the mid dle of a ball sy rail, do yo that time st u ever feel ops, Jesus appears an how proud d tells you he is of the crazy ham dropping? mer you ar e Yeah, with out the Jesu s pa like Satan sh rt though, it’s more ows up and tells you not because it’s to be afraid gonna be si ck if would puss you get it.

Jesus y out for su re, hahaha. yeah the fe No, but real eling is insa ly, ne, to land watch it on it and then camera...it to ’s the best feeling ever !

What was th e worst thin g you expe or a friend rienced - yo - on a rail? u Man! I’ve se going dow en some sh n too many it times to m one. I pers ention just onally smas hed my face butt-checke on stairs, d super har d and shit gotten a st my pants, air massage a couple of ti my friend ge mes. I saw t really hur t and that’s big concuss the worst, ion, it was h ard-ass bail the dude ou that put t for a mon th! It’s nev your friends er cool to se get hurt m e an, I’m telli ng you!

Your riding exudes an urban style, attitude to your o. Do you fe el more at within the “home” cityscape th an lost in wid mountain e-open spaces? Do you feel th about your e same way personal/c ul tural life? both, but I I like have more fun on a tiny pole jam at hill with a the end than on a giant covered mou powderntain. Don ’t get me w rong, I love

Who says white me

n can’t jump? Stalefi sh street gapper in

Quebec City

PH: Oli G

agnon

PH: Oli Gagn

on

Stop staring pressing his at the beautiful sunset an board, looong d flat bar in th check out how hard Laur e Mormon ca ent is pital

PH: Oli Gagnon

Can you believe how many banger shots there are in this interview? Laurent is a lean, mean, jib machine: front blunt pop over into the cement bank in Quebec

than t much better yle doesn’t getime, Grand Rapids, MI st : re he t un Let’s be bl t comes correct every this. Lauren

powder, if there is powder I will go and ride it. But I was raised snowboarding in the street and that upbringing develops in you a sense of looking at shit and telling yourself ‘’Whoa! I could slide that, then drop off...that would be rad!’’. It’s always harder in the mountains... Also, I can’t film in the powder because I’m too late.... Nowadays you gotta do the big jumps and I’m scared shitless!

Urban shots & compositions offer more aesthetic possibilities than any other type of snowboard photos. Do you care about which photographer you’re going to shoot with, his “eye”, if you guys share the same vision?

Not really, but it’s always cool if you’ve known the dude for ever...just like Oli G. But I’ve been on trips with lots of other photo dudes and they always get good shots, and they’re always different from one another... But since I know Oli better I can joke around and give him shit for taking so long to set up his stupid flash, hahaha!

Your clothes are definitely a throwback to the 70’s, so I suppose you have some major influences from that era? If not, which bands, artists and directors make you happy? I was super hippie last year, but I went back to my old roots of rock, I still have a bunch of sweet silk shirts though! I don’t really have any influences from that era, I just look at artists and always skaters too and I like what they wear, so I just kind of copy them. But since everybody has his own style, it’s not exactly the same as the dude who was the inspiration. I just like to dress like I want, that’s all!

Are your massive hair and beard an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to board control while you’re shredding? It’s got nothing to do with board control, it’s a style I like, it’s a super big disadvantage with girls but I don’t care. One day I’ll find one that doesn’t care about how I look and will think I’m cool and funny! HO! I’m growing a massive beard right now, I’m pretty hyped on that!

Snowboarding certainly made your life better, but is there still something you would love to complain about? Nah, since I live off snowboarding, I think it’s my responsibility to enjoy it as much as I can because some people would love to have my life. But honestly, planes blow, hahaha. Fuck flying, I have the worst luck...lost bags or broken down planes!

We wanted to do a “My Name Is...” with you, it didn’t happen though... But you won’t get away from telling us about the biggest prank or shenanigan you’d like to take back or make amends for. There’s gotta be at least one, right? I don’t really know, I have a pretty bad memory so I don’t remember. But I like to call my friend Will on his cell phone when it’s right next to me or in the same room. Or I will hug the dude I sleep next to because he’s a homophobe, hahaha, I’m not gay but I’m not scared to hug a man! Hahaha!

You’ve been riding for Holden for a few years now.

Holden is more inspired by art and creativity than any other brand in snowboarding. Was there any reason that led you to join them? Or was it just Mike who bribed you with some empty promises of hooking you up with kegs of free beer every weekend? Hahaha, that would be sweet, but it’s not what happened. I actually bought a whole Holden kit before I got sponsored by the rep here in Québec. I just thought it was the best outerwear company

PH: Andy Wright

and it still is. The people that work there are awesome, Mikey is the man! Kids, stop wearing neon pants and pink jackets, buy some Holden, it’s actually earth-friendly and looks badass. Watch for skinny pants soon... yep, you know it!

Are you involved in their creative process?

Or do you just ask them to create super slim pants with kaleidoscopes all over? Haha, I worked with Mikey to create a skinny fit this year, so I’m super hyped. Before I just used to get my favorite model of pants and sew them so they were like painted-on jeans, hahaha!

Have you ever tried to jump hurdles in those pants? Yeah dude, I snowboard in those, they get a pretty intense stress test in the crotch area...and it worked! No ripped crotches!

During the winter I’d like to have Big Lou Paradise’s skills so I can do BS 270 on to fakie or cab 3 switch nosepress...or any trick he does because they’re freaking perfect every time.

If you could swap skills for a weekend with anyone but Céline Dion (sorry, I know you were psyched on that...), who would it be?

Right now, any badass skateboarder, like Slash, Brian Herman, Spanky, Lizard or Reynolds and try to go film a little badass skate part for the Videograss bonuses.

Well, that’s it. Thanks for your time, we hope it wasn’t too much of a hassle to answer all these questions. Enjoy your season! Dude, thanks a lot, I was just sitting in my living room with a fresh coffee...I’m gonna go eat and then skate now! Shred and destroy, hahahaha!

text & photos: colin adair While summer is in full swing and you are enjoying sunshine, patios, beaches, beer and girls in skimpy clothing, there are a few dedicated snowboarders who head to the Southern Hemishpere in search of powder and cold air. In our case, we gave up our summer bliss in order to shoot the catalog and test products for DC’s 2010 line. Devun Walsh came straight from the golf course in Vancouver, Iikka Backstrom and Lauri Heiskari dried off from surfing in Southern California and Aaron Biittner parked his motorcycle in Utah. We all congregated in Atlanta to catch a flight to our final destination: Santiago, Chile. We would be spending the next 10 days in Valle Nevado and El Colorado, two resorts a couple hours outside the Chilean capital. Being a virgin to South America, I had no idea what to expect but the others had all been there before and had mixed things to say about the snow shredding. One thing I kept hearing about from everyone was the ride up to Valle Nevado. Basically it’s a series of switchbacks and hairpin turns that climbs up the mountains for over an hour. Probably not a big deal from a European perspective but for a kid from Canada with a fear of heights, it was a hell-ride. I was somehow positioned by the window on the side of the van that

looked down over the edge of the precipice as we approached each turn. As we climbed and climbed, all I could think was “I can’t believe we have to go back down this road to get home!” Thoughts of chartering a heli to the airport entered my mind.

Once we finally made it to the resort, things were looking good. We had arrived on a beautiful sunny day. Cool temperatures and a fresh snowfall had arrived the day before. Now it was time to shred.

When you’ve been riding your beach towel all summer it’s always weird to throw on all your gear a day later and think about snowboarding, but once you are on the hill it all comes back quickly. One thing is guaranteed on these trips: good times. Lots of pranks, shit-talking and mayhem are the norm on any road trip. Throw together a group of good friends who haven’t seen each other in months and you’ve got yourself a pressure-cooker. Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. South American snowboarding is a bit of gamble in terms of snow conditions but if you time it right and your ol’ Carpe Diem-meter is on full then head on down and give ‘er. Just make sure you bring a few of your closest friends and it won’t matter if it snows or rains, good times will ensue.

Blunt to Fakie, El Colorado: This is on the second-to-last day, the same as Devun’s roof jib.

It’s actually only about 20 meters away. It was a perfect set-up, with a steep hill as an in-run and this fence just waiting to be hit. We got a lot of shots in this little zone. It was definitely a fun setup and a nice change of pace from the previous days of intense snowstorms. We sesssioned it till the sun went down.

Loading the team van, Valle Nevado This is us loading the van as fast as possible to get the fuck out of Valle Nevado before they closed the highway.

Only hours after this shot, there was a huge avalanche across the road and it was closed for days. We would have missed our flights home. Not too bad, considering we would have been shredding powder but it would be an expensive inconvenience, rescheduling 10 flights home. You can also see the team van really well in this shot. Pretty inconspicuous. “Hey, are you guys the DC team?” “No, sorry man. That’s not us. You got the wrong guys.”

Heli Pow Slash, Valle Nevado: This was a really sick day. Heli. A meter of snow.

Sun. Valle Nevado is fun but the runs are kind of short (unless you do some serious hiking or ride down the highway and get picked up). We flew into the mountain ranges behind the resort and I was really blown away by the size and scale of the mountains. It wasn’t what I was expecting. We built a big jump in the morning, which took a lot longer than we thought, so we were only left with one last run before going home. I got to do some nice turns after getting this shot and met up with the crew. As we rode further down to meet the heli for the ride home, the snow started to get really windblown and firm. There was a sort of a ditch created by the boards of the riders ahead of me and if you hit the sides you were toast. I think I wiped out about 5 times on the way down, doing cartwheels with my camera pack on!

Frontside 180, Valle Nevado: This was our first day shooting on this trip. You can’t help but spot this jump over a big rock into a gully, it’s just off the cat track on one of the main runs in Valle Nevado. Basically the guys were hitting this straight off the plane.

We had arrived the day before and barely had a chance to ride around and scope stuff out before they shut the resort down. The second day we went straight to this set-up, which was kind of sketchy. Air over the rock, land in the steep gully and don’t fall or you’ll pile drive into the ditch at the bottom. But everyone landed some pretty good tricks, this is Iikka doing a buttery-ass FS 180 lien.

On the way home from the concert the chain on one of the tires blew out and we had to fix it. Biittner decided to give Nick Olsen, one of the DC guys, a gnarly wedgie.

Nick was picking underwear out of his ass for days.

Tail Tap, El Colorado: We heard there was a huge snowstorm coming to the area and that there was a chance we could get stuck in Valle Nevado if we stayed. Because we were supposed to be leaving in two days, we decided to head down the road to another resort called El Colorado. We got out just in time but it was such a sketchy drive, with blowing snow making the road invisible at times.

If you go over the edge of the road there you are definitely gonna get seriously fucked up, possibly dead. We made it, but El Colorado was buried under a meter of snow and trying to drive around the narrow streets in the shitty 2-wheel drive team van was close to impossible. The next day it was still snowing hard, so we walked around and did some street shredding, which was fun. It eventually cleared up but too late to head up, so we found some stuff to jump over, onto, around... Devun might be considered one of the greatest backcountry riders ever but people forget he has sick style no matter what he does.

This is the day after our night out with AC/ DC. Things got a little weird and ridiculous.

Probably had nothing to do with the night before or anything. Shitty weather and we had to get some product stuff out of the way. Iikka is gonna be pissed at me for sending this photo!

Pow Slash under the chair, Valle Nevado: We had some really fun pow days, this one was right in the middle of our trip after a snowstorm that had kept us inside our tiny condo for 2 days. Valle Nevado has fun hits and airs all over the place. Taking advantage of the fresh snow, we carved out a few really fun “hit runs” by lapping them over and over. It was late in the day and I spotted a little patch of snow that was about the only place that had some sun left on it.

I asked Devun and Iikka to do some slashes cause it was perfect for a backlit photo.

They did it a few times each, it was just one of those fun little sessions that you’re never quite sure will turn out. I like the feel of this shot, kind of like a surfer in the barrel.

Valle Nevado “Red skies at night, sailor’s delight,” that’s what we say in Canada. I’m guessing it’s different in Chile cause the next day was total shit. Go figure.

We go to this tiny little restaurant/bar to eat dinner, next thing we know it’s a full-on AC/DC concert. These guys are amazing. It sounded so much like the real thing, it was truly insane. I guess they are super famous around Chile for covering AC/DC and we had front row seats in a tiny bar. Good times indeed.

Pow SMASH, Valle Nevado: Probably the best photo of the trip and one of my all-time favorites. Lauri dove into this pow turn and ended up so deep you could only see his head. The top layer of snow was a bit firm so it made the chunks you see flying, giving this shot a real sense of energy and power. As he rode past me after the shot he was yelling cause he thought he had screwed it up, but obviously not. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, shooting pow turns is not as easy as it would seem. So when you get a good one, you are stoked. I wouldn’t say the DC team in general is known for shooting powder so it was great to get some really heli/powder-type shots to go along with the jibbing and jumping. These guys love powder just as much as anyone. What’s not to love, right??

Sometimes you just need a new perspective on life... Will Lavigne, switch back 5, Park City, Utah

PH: Oli Gagnon

This shot is pretty. Almost as pretty as Emeric Front, in fact. Cliff stomper in Prato Nevoso, Italy PH: Daniel Blom

Lebanon is not the kind of place where you would expect to drop into a run like this. Thea Stenshagen taking the plunge in Faraya PH: Carlos Blanchard

Ah, down days... Danny Kass & Eero Ettala doing cerebral chin-ups, Pemberton, Canada PH: Oli Gagnon

In case you were wondering, it helps when I slam. Lance from Team Thunder PH: Kealan Schilling

...and my roof is pink! Stefan Maurer, IBK PH: Gabe L’Heureux

Burly jibs don’t faze the Haze! Hans Ahlund, FS 5-0 in Valmorel, France PH: Daniel Blom

Gigi R端f narrowly escapes the fangs of the evil dragon Glaurung PH: Frode Sandbech

Like a snow leopard stalking his prey, Nico M端ller looking for his lunch

PH: Frode Sandbech

Nicolas Wolken going downtown with no regard for life and limb, indy poker in Closters, Switzerland PH: Carlos Blanchard

Scotty Stevens is the lord of board control, gap to fastplant tailgrab PH: Oli Gagnon

Night of the Living Shred, Florent Marot breaks out an indy to fakie in Val d’Isere

PH: Fred Egli

Sani Alibabic totally hugged this tree, Squaw Valley, California PH: Gabe L’Heureux

TJ Schneider blasts through door, barely escaping the wrath of Mesha-Streisand PH: Joel Fraser Wolfgang Nyvelt all flaredthe outback in St. Moritz PH: Frode Sandbech

Anne-Flore Marxer digs into a meaty heelside, Pemberton, Canada PH: Oli Gagnon

Easy steezy, Chris Cunningham breaks off a sweet back lip in Oulu, Finland

PH: Fred Egli

Marco Concin, crispy tail basher in the Arlberg PH: Carlos Blanchard

Aleksander Ostreng

Made in: Norway

Years packed: 18

Local Mountain: Kirkerudbakken, Norway Stance: +12, -9

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, cab 10 corker in Hemsedal

Reg/Goo: Regular

FRESH MEAT FRESH MEAT FRESH MEAT FRESH

PHOTOs : frode sandbech Safety trick: BS 720

I LOVE!:

Favorite trick: Handplant

-

Favorite terrain: Park and powder

My family Friends Music Food Of course, snowboarding

Sponsors: DC, Electric, Swag, Vestal

I guess I should give dude some props, but fuck that... let’s start off by letting the world know how much he can piss me off! First off, he is the master of irritating people,

like logging into my Facebook and changing my status to “Thomas says: ‘all girls are whores’”

at… Once everyone knows that side of Aleksander, and shit like th props too...

I can give the little guy some He is funny as hell, pretty much never get and s pissed off.

Actually, I don’t thi nk I’ve ever seen him in a bad mood.

t

A lo amazing. are pretty ding skills 80’s, ar 10 bo do ow to how His sn age know of kids his

but if you ask them to do a handplant or a simple carve nder rides they don’t even know what those are. Aleksa d, like a legend when he is cruising aroun

doing FS inverts and other handplants all over the mountain, all kinds of transfers and method airs with a style similar to Terje’s.

I have seen him thr ow down a cab 126 straight into a BS 0 double cork, 1080 double cork, followed by

FS 1080 then ending his run by tweaking a crail.

That’s what I call a good mix of new-school progressive riding and still knowing the roots of snowboarding by enjoying a

good solid tweak! I’m stoked to get to work

with Aleksander

and I’m confident he will be one of the major players ie!

y soon. Keep shredding, hom

in the snowboarding circus prett

- Thomas Harstad, DC Team Manager

RIDER CHRISTIAN SCHAIDREITER & MAX WEIKL / PIC DUDE

10 GOLDEN YEARS HOORAY FOR 10 MORE

NEWS

•WE CELEBRATE OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY - WITH NEW OBSTACLES & EVENTS •11TH - 13TH DEC. - FORT SHREDDERLAND - PARK OPENING WITH MTV-PARTY

ABSOLUT AB A BSO OLLUT PARK

W W W . A B S O L U T P A R K . C O M

Ståle Sandbech

Made in: Norway

Years packed: 16

Local Mountain: Kirkerud, Norway Stance: +15, -12 Reg/Goo: Goofy

PHOTOs : frode sandbech

FRESH MEAT FRESH MEAT FRESH MEAT FRESH

Safety trick: BS 7

I LOVE!:

Favorite trick: BS air

-

Favorite terrain:Park

My family Friends Snowboarding Sunny days Food

Sponsors: Oakley, Thirtytwo / Etnies, Rome, Smartfish and Session Shop

So we were on our way

th the Airwalk

to Hemsedal wi

e had 000 and w

1999/2

team back in

h our team

a deal wit

Frode Sandbech (now METHOD senior photographer)

rider

. to pick him up

I got out Sandbech house and We rolled up to the t of the blue ou s bags when lp Frode with hi ds me and ar tow g of the car to he in nn ru e a little kid cam e nuts. kicked me in th Ståle Sandbech.

That was the first time I met

d all grown up an Yes, now he is the nicest kid, to in ed rn tu to ride s ks ha at wants ew tric learn n spiring. ebody th m to so y e d a is in just to se is so re rd and that ha is a pure joy his age and he ve ever seen at ha I kid st be e He is th to travel with! out of s the shit at he kick th ad gl st I am ju my balls! g now and not in snowboardin the other kids en, Oakley Team

- Lasse Anders

Manager

Camembert wedge with a little summer crust for extra flavor, hefty huck at Hood

r

PH: Pirmin Juffinge

PH: Christoph Schoech

Who says you need snow to snowb oard, lateseason Method rammer jammer

Tomaso Fuego Piedra aka Thomas Feurstein from the puzzling

valley of Montafon- Austria has officially outgrown childhood.

His mom’s infamous blueberr

y pancakes,

although still high on the agen

da,

tein s r u e f s a thom

a : Austri Made in

ia cked: 18 a, Austr Years pa etta Nov r v l i S : untain Local Mo +17, -15 Stance: SHHMEAT FRE Goofy ES , R h F c F e Reg/Goo: ho toph sc is r h c : PHOTO ffinger I LOVE!: Pirmin Ju ve one :) ha t ents n’ ick: Do - My parriends Safety tr f ink a y M th I , mm never trick: Hm - Naturefood Favorite air over a cliffI’m - Good girls rk pa e nice BS - Nice d. In th now gets ol FS 5’s right feeling Park terrain: Favorite

: Sponsors eeluxe, olcom, D V Nitro, Level, love Sajas, oards skateb

are no longer what first comes to this young man’s mind after a day of riding.

These days, the blossoming of the valley girls’ Germknödel-shaped volcanoes, imprisoned in oppressive dirndls, mere millimeters away from bursting forth, is the ONLY and EVERYT HING on Th frontal lobe omas’ .

That is when he’s not sno wbo

arding, of course.

ctive wings of his so-called private filmer, roommate and valley collaborator

Under the prote

Pirmin Juffinger, Thomas has churned out a series of impressiv e riding videos, earning himself a spot on Volcom’s Euro team in the process.

Now, out of school, and with a driver’s license

in his pocket, Firestone will soon come to a mountain near you to raise hell, track out your powder, steal your liquor and conquer your woman… Consider yourselves warned.

- Freddie Frühstück

FLY

"The fly is dope! Doesn't even feel like riding a helmet! It fits to kill, looks great and best they tagged it ASTM!“ gian simmen TSG team rider

fly SOLID COLOR & Graphic Design Super light - only 379g TSG low and snug fit ASTM 2040/CE EN 1077b certified

TECHNICAL SAFETY GEAR DESIGNED BY RIDERS

PHOTO: PHILIPP RUGGLI

Who says you need snow to snowboard, late-season Method rammer jammer

victor daviet

Years packed: 19 Local Mountain: Gap, France Stance: Pretty much maxed out

Made in: France

phOTO: Jérôme Tanon, Remi Petit Sponsors: Rip Curl, Salomon, Atmo Crew, Pag Nkw

FRESH MEAT FRESH ME AT FRESH MEAT FRESH

I LOVE!: - Sky-diving - A cold iced tea after sexy time - Le magret de canard au ging embre et au miel - Traveling and all the craz y stories from the road - My girlfriend and my fami ly.. (big ups Mom & Dad and peace to my bro)

PH: Jérôme Tanon

Reg/Goo: Regs

Safety trick: BS 180 double shifty or crossrockets Favorite trick: First trac ks on kickers Favorite terrain:Backcountry

We nicknamed Victor “quad-chin” because of his crazy face-distortion skills. de him

rs his busted grill ma

I guess over the yea

less self-conscious and turned him into a good and gen erous dude

who has no problem laughing at himself.

Victor loves just shredding arou nd having fun, and you can feel it when you ride with him.

He’s aaaalways down for shooting something, even if it’s the most experimental-unpublishable-pseudo-artistic shit ever.

He’s alway s is gonna w positive, “everythin g ork out”

and if for some reason it doesn’t,

od reason to

have a go at least we’ll

ses off!

laugh our as

Victor can also be pretty mature about snowboarding though,

he’s only 19 and already focusing only on shooting, trying new things and joy, instead of contests.

I wanna see his fugly-ass face in one of the big movies real soon, that’s for fucking sure!

PH: Remi Petit

- Jérôme Tanon

SUBSCRIBE TO

& GET A FREE TEE get

4

issues delivered to your door and pick your tee:

ON

30â‚Ź LY

need more friends? wear YOUR METHOD TEE! Just go to www.methodmag.com/subscribe and get your METHOD on!

Tees supplied by

20 QUESTIONS

I/I

What would you compare the Pyrenees to if you were trying to explain where you are from to someone who doesn’t know anything about mountains?

If you compared them to cars, the Alps would be a big, modern pick-up truck, whereas the Pyrenees would be an old Mercedes coupe from the sixties. Less efficient, but so much more charming.

If you could change the position of any part of your body, which would it be?

People often say that I have a dick for brains, but if I had to get surgery or something, I guess I don’t really know, I’d have to think about it.

How many times do you say the word “shit” per line dropped?

From where I come, we actually say “putain”… And it’s definitely at least two or three putains per line… Putain…

Xavier de Le Rue

Do you think fish get dehydrated?

You don’t seem too dehydrated to churn out these questions. But tomorrow, when you wake up, it’ll be a different story…

BY: FLORENT DE MARIA photo: tero repo

Do you swear you were alone and sober when answering these questions?

I don’t have to swear anything to you, especially since I doubt you were sober yourself to come up with questions like these…

How was your last costume party?

It was on a boat in Ushuaia, we were supposed to leave for Antarctica, but the boat was broken… The theme was skull and crossbones, and everyone was mooning each other. Unfortunately the “puritanical” Americans weren’t really feeling it when I winked at them.

If you were born in another country, would you prefer to be called Xavier Of The Street or Xaver Der Straße?

Javier De La Calle, it’s closer to my roots…

Hey, it’s not my fault if I have that name, I was born with it.

You never thought of becoming a street shredder that last name?

Hahaha… Wise guy… With a name like that, I had no choice but to move away from the street. It was too much pressure to live up to.

The mountain was my way out.

Is there a de Le Rue snowboard academy?

Who’s the next champ to come out of the family fortress?

It looks like we’re pretty much done. By the way, the last De Le Rue is a really good vintage. But we’ll be harvesting a new generation soon and in that case, I think we’ll have to change ownership.

Incidentally, I’d like to ride more often with Victor. It might already be a couple or three years since we last rode together…

Did you ever realize, once you were safely at the bottom of your line, that you forgot your house keys up on the top of the mountain?

No, but in 2005, at the Verbier Extreme, I made it to the bottom, chilled for a bit, and when I wanted to leave, I thought someone had stolen my backpack. I freaked out.

Then I realized I had left it at the start gate and ridden my line without a backpack.

Even though it’s mandatory to have all your avalanche gear with you during the contest, nobody said a thing.

What’s your favorite medication?

Saucisson and big lines. I guarantee you, taking medication is more of a psychological thing than anything else.

Do you ever use the buttons on your boxers? ???

Honestly, the Smurfs always getting the best of Gargamel, I mean come on, life doesn’t always go your way. You think it was all made-up or what?

Nowadays everything is made-up; you can’t trust anybody. Then again, taking into consideration the way he looked, Gargamel didn’t deserve any better.

Sarkozy and you are on the lift. Suddenly the chair grinds to a halt…

We’d just talk at first, I’d want to see how far he can take it and then, I’d ask him if he knew what base jumping is. We have some old debts to settle, so the timing couldn’t be better.

Final exam question in philosophy: is it absurd to want the impossible?

That’s what they teach us…what they force us to believe. And if we fail in this impossible quest, you can be sure someone will be there to tell you “see, I told you so”… You just have to let it go, do the things you believe in.

Name one argument in favor of ponytails.

I could be really nasty right now, especially if we’re talking about two ponytails. But I have a daughter and I wouldn’t like her to read that kind of stuff.

What dirty trick would you do to keep your brother Paulo from vying for the gold against you in boardercross at the next Olympics?

After trying to make me look like a loser, with a shitty name and strong sexual proclivities, now you want to make me out as scum… The thing is, we’re going to be racing head-to-head, the others don’t have the slightest chance.

How old were you when you stopped paying with your GI Joe’s?

How about your sister, how old was she?

What would make snowboarding better?

I can see you are feeling guilty now, you feel like you need to ask me a normal question for once.

Did you tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

As much as I could, considering the questions I got… I had to exaggerate or slightly “distort” the truth a couple of times though. It’s a matter of dignity…

OVER IT

I/I

OVER IT

ambition boyfriend named Rich. Rich was a nice enough guy, as those types are, but he was just a mobile home for patchouli to live.

Anyhow, one day in the car Jen mentioned that she often fantasized about the times we spent together, and bluntly stated that Rich wasn’t packing much more than a onehitter in his corduroys. I felt bad for them both, for my presence was definitely causing a disruption between them, whether Rich knew it or not. I only had a couple days to go at their place, so I would try my damnedest to be good. That night though, after Jen’s confession in the car, being good proved much more difficult than I hoped.

Jen, Rich and I ate a nice family dinner, then sat down to watch American Beauty. I was on the couch, hoping that the conversation from earlier in the day would have disappeared into the past, but Jen gave me a sly little look and plopped down on the opposite end. Rich bebopped around the living room lighting incense and shit before coming to join us. He smoked some weed, said something stupid, then went to bed.

THE RECESSION, OR:

sorry mom, but your friend humped my foot and her boyfriend got my shit on him BY: ben fee illustration: malin persson jarskär

Until a certain age, you tell your mother everything. I stopped when I awoke one night fearing that somebody had thrown cream of mushroom soup on my crotch.

That was my first wet dream. That was semen. That is when I learned that little boys shouldn’t share everything with mom.

When I got older, and my mom’s friends got younger, I learned that mothers and their teenage sons do still share similar things: a passion for women between the ages of 25 and 35! A particular friend of my mom’s, let’s say her name is Jen, showed an interest in me and, on more than a few occasions, showed me the magic that sat below her lower back tattoo.

Years passed, girlfriends came and went, and my mother’s friend acquired and discarded some beaus along the way as well.

As fate would have it, I was stranded in Colorado with nowhere to stay except with Jen and her new dreadlocked rasta-imposta, jam band, groundscoring, black-hole-for-

Now, as stupid as this guy was, I didn’t hate him. I thought if he had any issues with his girlfriend, they were his to deal with. But this is easier said than done—when you’re in your 20s, pinned in the corner with your mom’s revving-ready friend, the brain behind your eyes retreats and lets the one above your thighs find the treats. Once Rich was in bed I found Jen’s foot lurking its way over towards me. My heart began to race, and my eyes meandered to their bedroom door, behind which laid Rich. That poor bastard.

Jen’s foot was now planted on my lap. She batted her eyes and smiled somewhere between sexually and bashfully, which meant she knew exactly what she was doing.

The ball of her foot was examining the balls in my crotch with growing interest. Needless to say, I had a growing interest of my own, which her toe began to massage. She had a black lab dog. A dumb dog. It just flopped its tail back and forth, its glazed eyes cluelessly observing its mother priming my junk with her foot. She put her finger in her mouth, and teased it about, slowly sliding it in and out… sheesh. It was getting weird. And hot.

But still weird.

She pointed to my foot, then to her lap. My crotch thought I should abide, so abide I did.

She undid her belt, and the metal from her COLORADO belt buckle seemed to echo in a crackling boom from the walls. My eyes locked onto that door. That poor bastard. In between he and his horny unsatisfied girlfriend lay a thin piece of wood. Oh wood, you concealer of lies, and saver of lives. Thank you once again. This guy had a peaceful demeanor, but anyone who catches their girlfriend with a dude’s foot in her coochie would probably go ape shit. My foot.

Her lightly-shaved mound sort of tickled my foot, until it started to get wet, then it was just plain funny. It was like walking on a light

swamp. One that quivered and throbbed.

She pulsed against my foot, gripping it with her long fingers and pushing it closer to her oceanic creature. I think my long toe strolled where my weiner once did. Jen bit her lip and shoved a pillow halfway down her throat, just in case that door hadn’t muffled the sound of her gasps. I was nervous, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t boner time to the max. She undid my belt and slinked back to her corner. Her feet jogged over and gripped my winky… and you know what? It kind of ruled. She walked around down there for a while before calling in the opposable thumbs to finish the job. Man, I let it rip all over Rich’s couch. That poor sap behind the door.

Stop looking at me, dog.

I guess since I’d just made my bed, or rather made a mess in my bed, it was time to lay in it. The next morning came quickly. I was the only one in the house and I was still alive, so that door did its job. I’m not sure if it’s what I ate the night before or nerves, or both, but I had to number two really badly! I wasted no time getting comfortable on their toilet to make waste. It was pure fire. My conscience was pouring out of me in the form of poop.

I tidied up, flushed and started prepping for a shower. Until the toilet projectile vomited back at me what I had just bombarded it with.

Oh, what a horrible noise. From the depths it came. Heaving. Chucking. Like a fire hose set free. The toilet was shitting all over their bathroom—splattering their magazines with excrement. I was gagging and sliding around trying to keep their reading materials safe.

After there was nothing but bile in the belly of that beast, I made sure there was no more water in the tank and played janitor to myself.

I used some printer paper and trash bags and towels to clean up the turd hurricane that had ripped through the WC. Maybe this was my punishment? Fair enough. All was okay.

I was able to dry out their magazines, clean the shitty towels, and take a bath before they came home.

I lay napping on the couch when they came home. I was proud to have replaced my divots.

I was a good house guest. Rich threw me up a peace sign and bopped into the bathroom. I heard him pee, flush, then a splash followed by expletives. He ran out a minute later with poop all over his hands. My poop. Jesus, what had this bastard done to deserve this? It was out of my hands. Something was getting him back. He was frenzied trying to get this shit sorted out. I asked if I could help. Anything to keep from bursting into laughter.

I knew at this point that I must have done the right thing. I’m not sure if he ever found out what happened between Jen and I. They broke up, and I found out that he was abusive. A “nightmare” she said to me. He deserved it indeed. I can’t help but think that these moments are precisely what dreams are made of. Wet ones, especially. Ones that you don’t tell your mom about.