The Red Bulletin US 12/21

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

U.S. EDITION DEC. 2021, $5.99

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

CARISSA MOORE’S CROWNING MOMENT H E R O E S

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THE RED BULLETIN 12/2021

After a perfect year, capped by Olympic gold and her fifth world championship, the GOAT in women’s surfing is leaning into her Hawaiian roots.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

HEROIC FIGURES You don’t have to stream a film from the Marvel Universe to watch superheroes in action. This issue is anchored by stories of real-life characters who deserve admiration for their courage, feats or noble qualities. Take “Crowning Achievement” (page 22), our cover story on Carissa Moore.

The pro surfer just wrapped up the closest thing to a perfect year—winning Olympic gold and her fifth world championship—while inspiring people with her grit, humility, joy, honesty and expressive surfing.

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE

CHRISTOPHER A. DANIEL

The Atlanta-based writer traveled to New Orleans to profile Mac Phipps. “It was an uplifting experience because I got to hear a variety of inspiring stories about how one person touched so many lives,” says Daniel, whose work has appeared in Vogue, The Undefeated and Grammy.com.

“He never stopped being of service to others despite the personal challenges he faced from the criminal justice system.” Page 60

Photographer Steven Lippman shot portraits of Carissa Moore at Makapu‘u Beach in eastern Oahu and at her home in Honolulu over two days in October.

This issue celebrates other worthy heroes. Like Jake Burton Carpenter, a dreamer who helped make snowboarding a global culture. Or Mac Phipps, a hip-hop star who spent two decades in prison on a dubious conviction before earning clemency—a story about finding grace when things go wrong. And photographer Jimmy Chin, who has transported us to the edges of the world for 20-plus years.

We hope these heroes inspire you to live a bigger life.

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Yu profiled Carissa Moore for our cover story. “I was struck by how her success and influence on the sport is due to so much more than her athletic prowess,” says the New York-based writer, whose work has appeared in Runner’s World, Outside and espnW. “I was honored to help capture this historic moment—Carissa bringing the first surfing gold medal home to Hawaii, where modern surfing was born.” Page 22

THE RED BULLETIN

STEVEN LIPPMAN (COVER)

CHRISTINE YU

CONTENTS December

FEATURES

2 2 Crowning Achievement

With a fifth world title and an Olympic gold medal, Carissa Moore is firmly in the conversation as surfing’s GOAT.

3 6 Over the Top

For 20-plus years, Jimmy Chin has documented the most epic adventures, and a new anthology celebrates his life’s work.

4 8 The Never-Ending Ride

The late Jake Burton Carpenter inspired countless snowboarders to live life to the fullest. A recent documentary and new interviews honor his legacy as an innovative disruptor.

6 0 Playing by Heart

McKinley “Mac” Phipps’s music career was cut short by a questionable conviction for manslaughter. Now, 21 years later, he’s been granted clemency—and a chance to prove his worth.

70 Going Live

As concerts make a welcome return, here is a tribute to the glory of IRL events through the eyes of photographer Roger Ho.

60 THE CREATOR

Mac Phipps kept making music when he was in prison and discovered a new talent for mentoring young men.

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THE RED BULLETIN

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HAWAIIAN GOLD Representing Hawaiian surf culture on the biggest stage, Moore wears a haku and holds a vintage longboard on Makapu‘u Beach in Oahu.

THE

DEPARTURE

Taking You to New Heights

11 Snowboarder Maddie Mastro eyes Beijing 14 Ultrarunner Timothy Olson

finds healing in his sport

16 Freediving in Polynesia;

freesking in France

18 Music producer Ashibah

puts it all in the mix

20 Jack Antonoff shares songs

he wishes he’d produced

GUIDE

Get it. Do it. See it.

83 Travel: Tasty brews and immersive art in Denver 86 Freeskier Birk Irving reveals his top training tips 88 Dates for your calendar 90 Gift guide: Sweet gadgets and primo bike gear 94 Anatomy of gear 96 The Red Bulletin worldwide

STEVEN LIPPMAN, ROGER HO, DAYMON GARDNER

98 Chasing storms in Ireland

70 EVENING POST

“The best moments happen at the end,” says photographer Roger Ho, who captured Post Malone in 2018.

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LIFE

&

STYLE

BEYOND

THE

ORDINARY

THE

FREQUENT FLYER

DANIEL MILCHEV/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

With a halfpipe showdown looming in Beijing, Maddie Mastro is ready to soar.

Mastro, shown here at the 2020 Burton U.S. Open in Vail, is focused on bringing hardware home from Beijing.

THE RED BULLETIN

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A

t a certain point in her snowboarding career, Maddie Mastro learned that while executing a trick 50 feet in the air, she needed not only to be aware of how her body was moving through space, but to simultaneously focus on her landing. It’s how she has avoided getting the “twisties,” like Simone Biles did in this year’s Summer Olympics, and how she has managed to stay at the forefront of women’s snowboarding.

“People watching snowboarders doing big tricks are like, ‘Wow, that’s scary,’ ” she says. “But we get accustomed to that scary feeling and go higher. A lot can go wrong when you’re flying through the air, but if you’re doing it right, you’re always seeing. The more you see, the better. So I’m always telling myself, ‘Keep your eyes open. Don’t go into a blackout zone. Pay attention.

And take the world in.’ ” So far, Mastro’s method has paid off. In 2018, only 17 at the time, she competed in her first Olympics, finishing 12th in the halfpipe. But later

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that year, while training, she mastered the double crippler, a frontside double backflip with no spin. Then in 2019 she became the first woman to do the trick in competition (at the Burton U.S. Open), earning herself an upset win over longtime standout Chloe Kim. “I had been building up to a double crippler for my entire career,” she told X Games snowboard researcher Colin Bane at the time, “so it was unreal for it to happen at the U.S. Open and even more unreal to come out ahead of Chloe after all her success in the last few years.”

In fact, Mastro—who turns 21 a couple days after the closing ceremonies in Beijing—and Kim have been rivals since they were little girls competing in local events. “They went 1 and 2 with Chloe in 1 and Maddie in 2 in dozens of contests starting when they were both 6 years old,” says Bane. “One time I pulled a bunch of old USASA results. Chloe frequently won on amplitude alone—often soaring several feet higher out of the pipe than her competitors. But Maddie has been right there keeping the pressure on all along, and her determination to make doubles the standard in her runs has forced progression from Chloe and the rest of the women’s field.

Maddie landing the double crippler for the win over Chloe changed the game.”

Another longtime rival and friend, Noelle Edwards, attributes Mastro’s success to her always being “one of the coolest girls at the top of the halfpipe. When I say ‘cool,’ I mean like a cucumber,” says Edwards. “I admired her strength as a competitor from an early age. When the announcer said her name, you knew you were about to witness an incredibly stylish and consistent run. Maddie is about three years younger

than me and I could tell that she was always wise beyond her years as a competitor.”

As she matured, Edwards says, Mastro became not only an athlete but a community member: “Maddie lifts others up, especially other women snowboarders, and genuinely cares about the progression of the sport as it pertains to female snowboarding. Her winning the U.S. Open was a reflection of this.” Edwards recalls watching Mastro at the bottom of the halfpipe as she waited for her score after the first run. “I saw her interact with the young kids who were so excited to be near her. She could not have been more gracious to be in the presence of their admiration. Across the board, Maddie has always been incredibly humble about her success.”

Now, more than humility, focus is what she’ll need to top the podium in Beijing. Some expert observers say she’ll have to “unlock” the double crippler if she hopes to beat her competition. But Mastro sees it differently. “I feel like I’ve unlocked it,” she says.

“I don’t want to put my entire success on one trick, and I don’t think the double crippler will be that for me. I want my run to build off of the tricks I already have. I think bettering my overall snowboarding is the key to my success.”

But in February it’ll take more than boosting out of the pipe and defying the twisties for her to win. Mastro knows this; it’s her second Games.

“Going once and having that experience and dealing with pressure is going to be super beneficial,” she says.

“I’ve grown from it and saw what I did wrong. I succumbed to pressure from exterior forces. This time I’m gonna go, have fun and snowboard.”

Which Mastro will do with her eyes open, paying attention, taking the world in.

—Tracy Ross THE RED BULLETIN

LORENZ RICHARD/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, JOSEPH ROBY/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

T H E D E PA RT U R E

Mastro’s silver medal at the 2021 Winter X Games underscored her ascendance in the halfpipe.

“MADDIE LIFTS OTHERS UP— ESPECIALLY OTHER WOMEN.” THE RED BULLETIN

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T H E D E PA RT U R E

For this ultrarunner, running from Mexico to Canada in the fastest time ever recorded was not just an extreme physical challenge—it was part of a healing process.

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t was around 2:30 a.m. when Timothy Olson awoke to the sound of thunder. Poking his head from his bivvy bag, he saw a “breathtaking electrical sky” lit by purple sheet lightning. “It was so trippy, I was in awe,” the ultrarunner recalls. Olson was about halfway through a 51-day, 2,650-mile quest to become the fastest person to complete the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT) from the Mexican to Canadian borders, and had stopped, nearly 11,000 feet up, on the Muir Pass in the Sierra Nevada.

A bad place to be in a storm.

Pushing on, his gear soaked and with almost 1,000 miles still to go, a ghostlike figure appeared out of the darkness. “He said, ‘Timothy Olson, you’re doing awesome, keep it up,’ ” he remembers. “Then he was gone, almost like he was never there.

But the feeling of love stuck.”

Love is important to Olson, whose then-pregnant wife and two young boys at home were at the forefront of his mind during the trip. More difficult for the 38-year-old from smalltown Wisconsin is cultivating selflove. The young Timothy Olson, he says, was a lost and anxious kid. After turning to drink and drugs to numb his pain, his life spiraled out of control, and he ended up in jail for possession; then a friend took his own life in prison. “It was a dark time for me,” Olson says candidly. Beset with thoughts of suicide, he began the slow process of replacing his addictions with something positive. “I cleaned up through running, going for

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short runs and just throwing up and detoxing. I was so out of shape; it was horrible.”

Olson moved to Oregon, where his local trail literally fed into the PCT. With meditation as part of his recovery, he cultivated the mental fortitude to tackle 100-mile-plus races, taking several titles in the process. Then, in June of this year, Olson decided to tackle the iconic trail, arriving at the Canadian border on July 22 after 51 days, 16 hours and 55 minutes, beating Belgian Karel Sabbe’s 2016 fastest known time (FKT) by almost 16 hours.

Here’s what it taught him. the red bulletin: How does meditation help what you do? timothy olson: Running saved my life, and meditation taught me spirituality and how to connect to nature. I’d see these runs as my vision quest.

All the demons come up, so it’s about working on the things that don’t serve me. I learned to care for myself again. For an endurance event like this, I needed my mental game as good as my physical game. I wouldn’t think about 2,600 miles; I’d think, “How can I not step on a rattlesnake?” I believed I could do it, but there was still the doubt—no one had done this.

Meditating helped me find the space to resonate.

How has running helped you through trauma?

A couple of years ago, my wife had a miscarriage at 17 weeks.

We felt lost and we struggled in

What happened to your body when you stopped?

Stopping felt like a car crash.

Canada wasn’t open, due to COVID, so I had to go back 30 miles to where my crew was. My legs had been hurting the whole time, but that night it turned into a complete spasm that continued for four days. We almost went to a hospital to get me an IV. When we got home, I was on the couch because I couldn’t walk upstairs to bed.

It felt like my legs were being stabbed. I should have been more prepared, but I couldn’t google “What to do after you run 2,600 miles.”

How many pairs of shoes did you go through?

Around eight. I’d write the names of my kids and my wife on my shoes—I actually finished the PCT with the shoes that had my new baby girl’s name written on them.

What did achieving the FKT on the PCT teach you about life?

That you can hit rock bottom again and again but get back up and overcome it. The PCT is almost a metaphor for life. You go through the desert where it’s hot and dry and you think you might die. Then you get to the Sierras where you’re on top of the world. Then the storms come. There are fires and downed trees in the final section.

Things keep coming and it’s up to you to get up every morning for whatever life has to offer. timothyallenolson.com THE RED BULLETIN

TOM WARD

TRAIL THERAPY

our relationship. I was tempted to turn to alcohol, and I felt suicidal again. But then I felt this grace, like I needed to keep living. Running and mediation helped me tremendously, and I wanted to continue to share that. Unfortunately, we went through another miscarriage last year. As part of my FKT attempt, we raised money for Return to Zero: HOPE, a nonprofit that supports families enduring similar situations.

ADIDAS

Timothy Olson

“I WANTED TO SHOW YOU CAN HIT ROCK BOTTOM BUT OVERCOME IT.”

THE RED BULLETIN

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French Polynesia

WATER DANCE

The biodiverse waters of French Polynesia are teeming with aquatic wildlife: more than 1,000 species of fish, 11 types of dolphin, the humpback whale—and the lesserspotted Marianne Aventurier.

As captured in this image by her husband, photographer Alex Voyer, the French freediver can easily match her dorsal-finned counterparts for poise and grace beneath the surface.

Instagram: @alexvoyer_fisheye

DAVYDD CHONG ALEX VOYER/RED BULL ILLUME, ALBAN GUERRY-SUIRE/RED BULL ILLUME

Savoie, France

ALPINE AIR LINE

Virgin snow is to a freeskier what freshly laid concrete is to a naughty child: irresistible. “I know this spot well,” says Alban Guerry-Suire, the man who shot this exhilarating act of environmental destruction, “but we never had the chance to ride it without any tracks. The clouds were moving quickly, so I told [Anthony Robert, the skier] to get ready for my signal. After 10 minutes, ‘Go!’ He lost speed on the flat part, but he managed to catch some air. It was perfect.”

Instagram: @_stonecat

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T H E D E PA RT U R E

Ashibah

because when you’re on the road you don’t always get downtime to figure out the next steps.

Usually when I make music I test it on a dance floor, so I had to learn to trust my instincts.

F

rom DJing to composing and producing to recording her own vocals—all self-taught —Sarah Finne Christensen, better known as rising house-music star Ashibah, can do it all. It’s fitting, then, that her recent single with London producer Saffron Stone, “On the Line,” includes the lyric: “Don’t break the rules, define them.” It’s a mantra she applies to life. As a teen growing up in Cairo, the Danish-Egyptian earned a black belt in karate, taught herself to DJ and at 16 became the youngest member of the Egyptian national basketball team. Later in life, she also briefly worked as a zookeeper.

“Basketball was my dad’s biggest dream for me,” she says.

“I wanted to make my parents happy, so I began playing as soon as I could walk.” But, having written her first song— “about a crush”—at the age of 7, music won out: “It’s the one thing that made sense to me, that calls the loudest inside me.”

Intent on a career in music, at 19, Finne Christensen returned to her country of birth, Denmark, where she built up a reputation in Copenhagen’s club scene. Following a brief relocation to Brazil in 2013 after the success of her breakout hit, “Circles,” featuring Brazilian DJ Vintage Culture, Denmark is now her permanent home, shared with wife and writing partner Nikoline.

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With dance floor hits including 2019’s “We Found Love” and 2020’s “Devotion” to her name, Ashibah is riding high. In August this year, she released her third track with Defected Records, “My Eyes Only.” And with lockdown restrictions relaxing, she’s back doing what she loves best, playing live at events that promote the causes she most values: diversity, equality and human rights. In August, the 37-year-old performed at the WorldPride and Fluid Festival: “[Fluid] is run by some amazing women. I got to close that stage and it was absolutely insane. I’m ready to get out there again.” the red bulletin: How does it feel being on stage? ashibah: Completely euphoric.

No drug in the world could give you that. When that amount of energy is coming at me, it’s like rocket power. I remember the first time I went to a rave—the energy, the way that people were connected. What I love about rave culture is that it’s about community. I was always very different, so it was hard to find a place where I felt at home, but I felt it on the dance floor.

How did you cope with being unable to perform live?

I channeled all my frustration and energy into the studio, trying to make as much music as possible and develop as an artist,

Your track “Intro Rework” has more than 140 million plays on YouTube. How does it feel to reach so many people?

Quite crazy. There’s a funny story to that one. Vintage Culture and [fellow Brazilian DJ] Bruno Be, who made that version, played it to me, and I was going to include it in my set. But I love to do live mashups, so I was in the north of Brazil and I put it on and was like, “Ooh, I think I got an idea,” and I just grabbed the mic and started singing. From that day, it went absolutely mad. The vibe was right, the energy was right, and that’s when you try things.

Taking those risks is the best part of being in house music.

And far away from zookeeping.

How did that come about?

I was on a trainee program, and I picked up a lot of elephant shit.

As a musician, you get scared that you need something to fall back on in case it doesn’t work out, but I realized I don’t want a safety net. Music is the only thing that makes sense to me. ashibah.com THE RED BULLETIN

RACHAEL SIGEE

Basketball prodigy, karate black belt, zookeeper, global house-music producer—Ashibah proves you can be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of one.

Dance music has been a very male-dominated scene. What’s been your experience?

The same as for other female producers and singers. I’ve always used it as fuel, because I believe the work speaks for itself. Thank god, I’ve never experienced anything that crossed my boundaries. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat in sessions where I’ve done everything and people are like, “Yeah, but who produced this?” “Me.” “No, but who made this?” “Still me.” But it’s changing, because there are so many amazing females out there showing we have a right to sit at the table.

CLIX PRODUCTIONS

PUTTING IT ALL IN THE MIX

“RAVE CULTURE GAVE ME A PLACE WHERE I FINALLY FELT AT HOME.”

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T H E D E PA RT U R E

Playlist

SOUNDS SUBLIME

Jack Antonoff—pop music’s hottest producer—reveals four songs in rock history he wishes he’d produced.

W

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R.E.M. “AT MY MOST BEAUTIFUL” (1998) “This is a pure love song talking about counting someone’s eyelashes. The hook is: ‘I found a way to make you smile’—such a simple lyric. And there are these chamber Beach Boys elements: tubular bells and timpani. All the magic of falling in love is wrapped up in there.

How the fuck they did that I’ll never know, but they really bottled up that feeling.”

FIONA APPLE “LIMP” (1999) “This is from her When the Pawn… album, produced by [singer-songwriter] Jon Brion.

There’s no better drum sound and no better playing—it’s [legendary California session drummer] Matt Chamberlain.

The outfit that the song is being held in, the darkness and rage and all of the percussion—I think there are two kits at one point and they’re panned all crazy. It’s just a master class.”

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS “SAN BERNARDINO” (2008) “There are these pizzicato strings and then the occasional long swells. It’s the most genius backdrop to [frontman] John Darnielle telling the story. I love it because it makes me think, ‘Jesus Christ, who thought of that?’ And I’m good at the craft.

But we’re all trying something way bigger than that to capture a feeling that’s theoretically uncapturable unless some of this weird magic happens.”

THE RED BULLETIN

CARLOTTA KOHL

THE WATERBOYS “THE WHOLE OF THE MOON” (1985) “One of the most perfect songs ever written. But that aside, the production of it carries so much joy; it’s so alive and bouncy. I would never have thought those sounds would match the yearning and near rage of [the singer], who just can’t get what someone else has—but, against all the odds, they do. It’s the hallmark of amazing production: ‘How the fuck does this work?’ ”

MARCEL ANDERS

hen artists such as Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Lorde and St. Vincent feel like they want to sonically break the mold, they call Jack Antonoff. The 37-year-old from New Jersey earned his stripes as guitarist and drummer in indiepop band Fun—biggest hit: 2011’s multimillion-selling single “We Are Young”—before making his name as an innovative producer.

The predominance of percussive tunes with acoustic guitars and big choruses in the pop charts is testimony to his influence. To celebrate the recent release of Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night —his third album as synth-pop act Bleachers—Antonoff picks four tunes that sound perfect to his ears. bleachersmusic.com

NEW DOCUMENTARY NOW STREAMING ©2021 WarnerMedia Direct, LLC. All Rights Reserved. HBO Max™ is used under license.

HEROES 2021

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Crowning Achievement

With a fifth world title and an Olympic gold medal, Carissa Moore is firmly in the conversation of who is the greatest surfer of all time. What else does the Champ have to prove?

Words CHRISTINE YU Photography STEVEN LIPPMAN

Filled with pride to represent Hawaiian surf culture on the biggest stages, Moore wore a haku and held a vintage longboard at Makapu‘u Beach on eastern Oahu on October 9.

Moore—who won Olympic gold in July, nailed down a world championship in September and now is getting some much needed downtime in her native Oahu—has plenty to smile about.

HEROES 2021

A

ll Carissa Moore could do was wait.

She’s accustomed to waiting during events—waiting for the swell, waiting for the contest to be called on, waiting to surf her heat, waiting for scores to drop.

But this was different. It was Rip Curl WSL Finals day, the winner-takes-all event that would crown the 2021 world champion. And Moore was defending her title.

Previously, titles had been determined based on the total number of points a surfer accumulated during the season; the person with the most points won.

But that old method involved a lot of hypotheticals and math. Sometimes it led to anticlimactic end-of-season competitions that were meaningless because the title had already been decided. To spice things up, the World Surf League instituted a new format for 2021.

For the first time, the world title would be decided in the water on a single day. The five surfers atop the leaderboard at the end of the regular season would advance to the WSL Finals and battle it out elimination-bracket style. The surfers seeded No. 4 and 5 would compete in Match 1. The winner would go on to surf against the No. 3 seed, and so on.

As the No. 1 seed, Moore received a free pass to the Title Match, a best-ofthree-heats competition. It was an enviable position. She only had to surf against one competitor. Essentially, it was hers to lose.

So Moore waited. She caught some warm-up waves on that September morning and then chilled at home. About an hour and a half before her heat, she headed to the contest site at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California. She donned her red Beats headphones and

listened to “Krack” by Soulwax, a song recommended by her coach, Mitchel Cary Ross. As the afternoon rolled around, Moore learned who she’d face off against: Brazilian-born, Hawaiian-raised Tatiana Weston-Webb.

Initially, the first heat looked like it would go down in typical Carissa Moore fashion. She caught a wave right off the buzzer and gradually ratcheted up her scores—3.00, 5.73, 8.33. It was like she was winding up for a knockout punch.

Except it never happened. Moore seemed uncharacteristically out of rhythm, falling off the wave on her turns.

In a normal contest, Moore would have had a couple of heats to work out the kinks. But here she had to paddle out cold into one of the most important matchups of her career. Meanwhile, Weston-Webb was warmed up, having surfed against Sally Fitzgibbons in the prior round. Her backhand was relentless, gaining momentum with each ride, until she was in the lead. With less than 30 seconds left, both surfers vied for a wave, but WestonWebb held priority, giving her first dibs, and she nabbed another solid score. With only nine seconds left, Moore was still hunting for something, anything to surf, but nothing materialized. “Did that just happen? Did that really just happen?” she asked herself when the buzzer rang.

As she came in from the water, she realized the title could slip through her fingers. Her nerves got to her. She could tell by the way she rode her waves and in her decision-making. “I wanted to win one. I wanted to win two. I wanted it to be over,” she recalls during a FaceTime interview. Now she had 35 minutes to rein in her emotions before surfing two must-win heats. But her thoughts spiraled. Was she capable of winning?

What if she fails? “This is everything that 25

HEROES 2021

She pulled strength from her team— her coach; her dad; her husband, Luke Untermann. “My husband looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, ‘Babe, if anyone can do this, you can,’ ” Moore recalls. It was more than a pep talk. Her team’s unconditional love and belief buoyed her and reminded her why she loves surfing—as a way to express herself, not for the trophies. It was like they were already chairing her down the beach, the traditional celebration when an athlete wins an event. She was already the champ, regardless of what happened next.

With the residue of the first heat washed off her jersey, she waded into the water with a clean slate. Her renewed confidence was evident from her first wave of the second heat. She carved up a glassy Lowers wall with her trademark powerful, sweeping turns. She won the next two heats in convincing fashion for back-to-back world championship titles.

Moore is a Hall of Fame surfer who has long been in the conversation as to who is the greatest surfer of all time. 2021 put a

huge exclamation mark on that claim. She won the first digital Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. She placed no lower than third at any event on the Championship Tour and held onto the coveted yellow jersey the entire season. She landed one of the biggest aerials in competition, a massive air reverse in the quarterfinals of the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup in Australia, surprising even herself. She won the first Olympic gold medal for surfing in Tokyo.

She claimed her fifth world title. Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL’s head of competition and a former pro surfer, says Moore’s year is “probably the most successful year anyone’s ever had in the sport.”

And she’s only 29.

Some might say Moore’s rise to the top was inevitable, a foregone conclusion.

People expected great things of her long before she competed professionally. But it’s more than just her accomplishments that set her apart. It’s the way she surfs— freely, from the heart—that makes her one of the best and most progressive surfers of her generation and beyond.

Scenes from a perfect year (clockwise from top left): Moore holds the hardware in San Clemente in September after winning her fifth world championship; carving with characteristic power at the Corona Mexico Open in Huatulco in August; celebrating a historic victory with Team USA after a golden run in Tokyo.

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GETTY IMAGES(2), RYAN MILLER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

I’ve worked for and I’m down one” is what she told herself.

Those questions left an opening for a pesky voice to creep in, a voice Moore calls “Old Riss.” Old Riss is selfflagellating and spins tales designed to drag Moore to dark depths like an unrelenting wave. In recent years, Moore has worked hard to quiet Old Riss—to acknowledge her presence, yes, but also learn how to talk to herself with kindness.

Yet Old Riss was back in full force in the locker room at Lowers.

Moore felt pushed up against the wall. “It was like, hey, you can either continue this negative self-doubt, downward spiral and just give up now,” she says. “Or you can dig deep and give it your best shot and fight.” She had a talk with Old Riss, firmly saying “Not today.”

She then leaned on her preparation, remembering her sessions at Lowers over the years and training with her dad, Chris Moore, back home on Oahu. A quick call with her sports psych helped ground her.

Surf pic

Her office is in the ocean, but Moore recharges inside the cathedral of greenery that envelops her home in Honolulu’s Palolo Valley.

HEROES 2021

Moore says she’s been on a journey to find the freedom to trust herself. And it’s paying off.

When she meets and inspires girls to surf, Moore says, “it makes me feel full in my heart.”

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n the lead-up to the WSL Finals, Moore was home on Oahu doing what she’s done countless times: surfing under the watchful eye of her dad. They ran practices sessions—30 minutes in the water, rest for five minutes, repeat— designed to simulate the new contest format. Moore was born in Honolulu, and it was her dad who introduced her to surfing in the turquoise waters off of Waikiki Beach when she was 5. He was her first coach (and remains her coach today). Like any proud parent, he posted videos of little Carissa surfing to a blog.

He wholeheartedly believed in her and her ability to accomplish anything she set her mind to. “He’s always pushed me to strive for more than I thought I could,” she says. That unfettered confidence gave her the freedom to experiment, beyond what other kids were doing in the water.

Miley-Dyer remembers watching those clips when she was still competing on tour. It was the first time she’d really seen a girl—not even out of middle school—do maneuvers like aerials, fin throws and massive carving turns. “We all kind of went ‘Who is this?’ ” Miley-Dyer recalls.

It’s no surprise people predicted Moore would change the trajectory of the sport when she burst on the competitive surf scene at age 12. As an amateur, she

racked up 11 National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) titles.

When Moore finally arrived on tour in 2010 as a teenager, everyone expected her to be crowned world champion right out of the gate. While she didn’t win a title her rookie year—that would have to wait until her second year on tour—she did stress-test the boundaries of highperformance surfing. “Shooting for a contest win is one thing, but being able to do it in a unique fashion is even more special,” Moore says.

Her style would come to define power surfing. She rides waves with an impeccable flow punctuated by staccato power punches at the lip, whip-quick snaps back into the pocket, the wave’s energy center, before unleashing another artful, swooping line across the face. She’s pushed the progression of technical tricks in women’s competitions, too. “No one had been doing them,” Miley-Dyer says.

“There was no real kind of rubric for how these things were scored.”

Moore is quick to point out that she’s not solely responsible for the sport’s development. Prior women on tour had set a benchmark for her performance goals, both where she needed to go and surpass. Plus, current athletes—Stephanie Gilmore, Tyler Wright, Lakey Peterson

and Caroline Marks—aren’t slouches.

“There’s been this healthy push among all of my peers that has really helped us keep raising the bar,” Moore says. “We can show the girls what is possible, but that you can go past it.”

“Carissa is someone I have so much respect for,” says 19-year-old Marks, who also represented the United States at the Olympics. But Marks first had to wrap her head around the fact that she was now surfing alongside one of her idols. In 2019, Marks notched her first pro win against Moore, a moment she describes as “crazy.” But if she’s honest, Marks didn’t want to compete against anyone else in that situation because “she makes me a better surfer.”

While Moore’s technical prowess had an immediate impact on her peers, her biggest influence has been more subtle.

She rewrote the script on what’s possible for women in the sport and for the rising generation of women surfers, she instilled the power to believe.

Izzi Gomez first believed she could win a world title by watching Moore. Gomez, 21, now a five-time stand-up paddle surfing world champion, started to take surfing seriously at age 12. She didn’t have a coach, but she had Moore. Gomez studied footage of the badass girl ripping 29

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and surfing like a guy, which Gomez says is “how you want to surf to be the best.”

When Nike released the film Leave a Message in 2011, it was radical for its display of women’s surfing as, well, surfing, not padded with artsy lifestyle shots. “I would always fast-forward to her part because she was pulling into huge barrels, doing airs, blowing her fins out.

Just the coolest moves. At the time, no other girls were doing that,” Gomez says.

Then she would hit the water to try and mimic Moore’s “futuristic” style.

Miley-Dyer saw that impact, too. “The fact that [Carissa] was consistently doing [these maneuvers] and, importantly, that she did them when she was young, makes it tangible for a lot of young kids,” she says. Nailing gnarly aerials and surfing waves like Pipeline wasn’t just something to aspire to. It was something they could do now, and today there’s a crew of unbelievably talented teen girls—like Caitlin Simmers, Erin Brooks, Bettylou Sakura Johnson and Vaihiti Mahana— who are sending it. “They’ve grown up only watching that in the competitive arena. It’s totally normal for them that women would be doing airs and that they should be doing the airs. It’s that flow-on effect from someone like Carissa,” MileyDyer says.

And it turns out, inspiration is a twoway street. Moore is in awe of the young ones, too. “These kids growing up right now!” she says. “I’m like, you know what?

I may never do that in my lifetime and that’s alright. But if I could try to keep up a little, that would be pretty fun.”

While she’s checked off every major professional accomplishment, Moore still has goals. Improving her backside barrelriding technique. Getting better at waves of consequence like Teahupo’o. Flying above the lip more. Making her surfing look even more seamless, graceful and radical at the same time. And doing it all within a 30-minute heat format. “It’s different when you’re just surfing all day long,” she says. “When you have to do it under pressure, and in a time frame, it’s a really fun challenge.”

Miley-Dyer thinks people will look back on Moore’s old blog posts the same way they look back at Kelly Slater in Black and White—as radical. “They’ll remember that as being the beginning of this new revolution in women’s surfing,” she says.

“Where everyone started doing all the tricks that all the boys could do because Carissa could do it.”

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She’s a fierce competitor, but Moore—here sharing a laugh with Maya (left) and Tuffy—believes in the power of aloha.

“She’s not just the world champion.

She’s the people’s champion.”

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efore leaving for the Tokyo Olympics, Moore was invited to a screening of Waterman, a new documentary about Duke Kahanamoku.

He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming, the revered Ambassador of Aloha, the godfather of modern surfing.

His dream was to see surfing in the Olympics, something he pushed for beginning at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Growing up, Moore says she passed Kahanamoku’s statue almost every day on her way to surf Waikiki. She admits that she didn’t know much about his legacy— not only his Olympic achievements but the kind of person he was and how he used surfing to spread love and aloha. She told me about a scene of his funeral (in 1968). There was nowhere to stand on the beach because he’d touched so many people during his lifetime. “Being able to

see that film before I left gave me this sense of pride to be a Hawaiian, to be a surfer, and to go to the Olympics and see his dream come true,” she says. “I’m so proud to be a small part of the story.”

You could say Moore isn’t just part of Kahanamoku’s legacy; she’s carrying it on.

When I asked people to describe Moore, the same answer repeats: She’s a good human. “She’s not just a world champion,” Marks says. “She’s the people’s champion.”

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“I want people to remember my surfing because it made them feel something.”

Moore, who also likes to skateboard and hike, has a basic open-air boxing gym in her yard.

It’s safe to say she has some power.

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Moore has often said that surfing is an extension of herself and a way to connect with others. “I want people to remember my surfing because it made them feel something,” she says—and that it leads people to be more understanding and empathetic, too. It’s the North Star that keeps her centered amid the chaos of traveling the globe, the heavy expectations and the inevitable target on her back.

“What I’ve consistently seen her do through her career is think about ways to motivate herself that are important to her as well as uplifting for the sport,” Miley-Dyer says. After Moore’s first pro win in New Zealand, she donated her prize money to a local boardriders club, something Miley-Dyer had never seen anyone do before. More recently, to express her gratitude to the Japanese community of Makinohara for hosting Team USA’s training camp before the Olympics, she thanked them, her whole speech in their native language.

In 2018, Moore launched Moore Aloha, a nonprofit whose mission is to encourage young girls to be strong, confident and compassionate people.

Moore had a hard time balancing life as a professional athlete and a teenager who, like other adolescents, grappled with her changing body and finding her identity. “I’ve put so much pressure on myself my whole life to get a certain result,” she says. “It was this search for like, ‘Who am I if I’m not winning contests?’ ” But unlike most adolescents, Moore’s struggles played out under the harsh light of public opinion. People relentlessly picked apart her appearance, compounding the feeling that she wasn’t enough despite her success.

She has spoken openly about binge eating and the body shaming she experienced as a young athlete, as well as the professional burnout that followed her third world title in 2015. The Moore Aloha nonprofit is another way to

remind people (including herself) to believe in themselves, that their worth is defined by more than their résumé.

“Those are the times when you have to go back to the drawing board,” she says.

“For me, it was all about reconnecting with love and happiness, finding more peace and just living a good life, you know?” Her husband. Family and friends. Skateboarding with her dogs.

Hiking the lush trails around her home in the hills above Honolulu. Scrapbooking.

And yes, surfing, too.

“It’s really cool to hear Carissa speak on that from her personal experience,” Gomez says. “She’s showing, I can still be beautiful and an amazing human and an amazing athlete.” Moore admits her motivation is selfish, too.

She feels good when she sees girls smile, walk away with a new friend and feel empowered after riding a surfboard for the first time. “It makes me feel full in my heart,” she says.

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here’s a photo of Moore standing in front of a low barrier with the word “Tokyo” painted on it. She’s looking out toward the ocean. The clouds show glints of the fading sun. She has a red, white and blue towel wrapped around her waist and her hands rest on her hips. Her shoulders hang low, betraying a sense of calm, a quiet confidence that no matter what the Universe rolls her way, she knows she’s living by her standards of success and happiness.

And the Universe had tricks up her sleeve at the Olympics. For one, Moore wished she had known that each heat would involve sprinting down the beach and then paddling out into the surf. Then she would have trained for it, she jokes.

And due to COVID-19 restrictions, her trusted team couldn’t travel with her; she’d only have Team USA by her side.

The biggest wild card was the surf itself. Conditions during the initial 33

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Winning medals and titles is great, but Moore also wants to have a life full of love and happiness.

“I’ve been on this journey, especially this year, of feeling more comfortable in my own skin.”

rounds were lackluster, then came to life with Tropical Storm Nepartak.

Organizers scrambled to move up the contest and run the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal rounds in one day.

After a long day, Moore advanced to the gold medal match, the last heat of the day, against South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag. She had a moment of doubt beforehand. Naturally, she called home and was reminded she already knew what to do. She was ready.

With foamy, choppy surf, this wasn’t going to be a shoot-out of technical skill.

This was going to be a tactical game of wave selection and getting points on the board. At times it felt more like a battle against the ocean, both athletes repeatedly washed over by the whitewater and paddling endlessly against the current. Eventually it was Moore who found her rhythm. She capitalized on the handful of clean wave faces, the ones with the most scoring potential, and went to work. Roundhouse cutbacks. Laybacks. Power and drive through end sections of waves.

In the fading daylight, announcers started counting down the clock. Moore, still paddling back to the lineup, was unaware. She looked back toward the beach and sat up on her board, a look of confusion on her face before a flash of realization. She covered her face with her hands before letting a brilliant smile shine and raising her arms in celebration. Team USA embraced her and chaired her up the beach. She achieved a dream she hadn’t even foreseen a few years earlier.

When she returned to Honolulu, she made a special trip down to Kahanamoku’s statue and shared her leis with him.

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oore is talking about freedom.

“I’ve been on this journey, especially this year, of feeling more comfortable in my own skin and my decision-making, of trusting myself,” she says. It’s been a journey to believe. A search for freedom, an ease that allows her interior mindset to match her exterior actions. “As a performer, I feel like I’m just starting to feel in sync with who I am personally and professionally,” she says.

That freedom has allowed her to rise up, meet a tough sequence of challenges this year and ultimately perform her best.

It’s the culmination of years of work on a personal and professional level. It was on display on tour—the fire in her belly, the gratitude for the day-to-day grind.

It was on display at the Olympics, where she learned to trust herself without her core team on site and where her new family, her Team USA family, stepped in to fill their shoes. And it was on display at Lowers when she let go of the doubts.

“Any other year, I would have crumbled,” she admits.

Moore says the enormity of the year hasn’t sunk in, but every now and then she’ll catch herself and think, “Oh my gosh, that was fun. That was pretty cool.”

And she’s not done yet.

Maybe Moore will pass Layne Beachley and Gilmore for most world titles of all time (seven), but it doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, Moore is making fans feel something with her surfing. With her fairy-tale year, she’s inspired thousands to believe in the power of belief. The possibility. The awe.

The freedom. The magic that if you just follow your heart and lead with love, anything is possible.

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HEROES 2021

Over the Top For 20-plus years, no one has done more to document the limits of climbing than Jimmy Chin. Now, with a new anthology of his life’s work, it’s time to honor an artist and climber who has transported intrepid souls to the edges of the world.

Words PETER FLAX Photography JIMMY CHIN

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Jimmy Chin Yosemite

Here Chin is jugging— climbing up a rope with ascenders—on the Pacific Ocean Wall of El Capitan in 2007. Though he has climbed extensively on every continent, Chin says that Yosemite has inspired his work more than any other landscape on Earth.

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CHEYNE LEMPE

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JIMMY CHIN

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BASE Jumpers Yosemite

CHRIS FIGENSHAU/PANERAI

is describing what drives him to the edges of the world, to document adventures in foreign lands and hostile conditions.

“My original inspiration was simply to live out of my car—to live the life of a nomad,” Chin tells The Red Bulletin. “And that sense of curiosity is still with me, this deep need to explore the world and different landscapes, and also to explore my creative potential.”

That profound curiosity and creative searching has taken Chin to the top of Everest (twice), to intensely technical climbs on every continent, to wild places dominated by rock, snow, ice and the elements—and it also has yielded dozens of magazine covers and multiple award-winning films (including Free Solo). Over the course of his 20-plus-year career, he’s done nothing less than transport us to the boundaries of human potential, to bring outsiders inside the era’s greatest adventures, to share the soul of exploration with the masses.

And now, thanks to his new photography anthology— titled There and Back—the full scope of Chin’s work is finally on display in one place. “This is a deeply personal book and project,” says Chin, who admits he’s been pondering the idea of this retrospective for a decade. “As I have pursued my explorations I’ve had these pinnacle moments, moments that were difficult or extraordinary.

I put these little markers in my life’s timeline, that these were moments that would land in the book.”

Of course the anthology is full of legendary mountains and soaring granite walls, but it’s also full of people— iconic climbers who joined Chin on the summits and everyday people from different cultures he visited along the way. “The big reason I pursued this career is to cultivate intense relationships and experiences,” Chin says. “Honestly, assembling all these memories in the book was an emotional journey. It celebrates all these people and mentors I forged relationships with—and some of them are no longer with us.”

Chin says he was surprised at how emotional it was to finally hold a bound copy of There and Back. “I was moved—carrying the weight of the book in my hands felt so good because I’ve been carrying the weight of these stories and images for a long time,” he says. “I haven’t opened up like this because it always felt like I was telling someone else’s story. This time it’s personal.”

The renowned photographer, filmmaker and adventurer dedicated this highly personal project to his two young children. “They don’t really know what daddy does,” laughs Chin. “I had them in mind with this book— to create an archive that they could go back to and look at and share as a piece of their family history.”

Chin, who began climbing Yosemite’s big walls as a teenager, returned to the park in the fall of 2009 to document the climbing culture in that cathedral of granite. Here he captures two unnamed BASE jumpers in flight at dusk.

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Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell Yosemite

In January 2015, Chin spent the better part of a month high above Yosemite Valley as Jorgeson and Caldwell grinded their way up the seemingly impossible 3,000-foot slab of granite called the Dawn Wall, an effort that also was documented in a film named after the face.

Cedar Wright Mali In 2004, Chin made his first trip to Mali. Here he captures Cedar Wright climbing on Kaga Pamari, one of five fingers on the so-called Hand of Fatima, a complex of the tallest freestanding sandstone towers in the world.

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Stephen Koch Tibet

In 2003, Chin joined Koch—a snowboarder on a quest to ride the so-called Seven Summits—to take a stab at Everest’s north face. Here Koch climbs an ice tower on the Central Rongbuk Glacier. After nearly dying in a huge avalanche at 23,000 feet, the duo abandoned the expedition. Chin says it was a reminder that the goal in climbing is to come home alive.

Travis Rice Kamchatka

In February 2014, Chin ventured to the remote Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia to document the adventures of snowboarder Travis Rice. Here Rice leans into heavy winds as military-grade Russian Mi-17 helicopters lurk in the background.

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Jamison Walsh New York City

Taking his climbing skills to the urban jungle, Chin ascended to the top of One World Trade Center in 2016 with Walsh, one of two Americans certified to climb the spire for annual inspections. Chin says that interference from the building’s massive antenna rendered some of his equipment useless and required last-minute improvisation.

Alex Honnold Borneo In April 2009, Chin traveled to Borneo with a crew that included Conrad Anker, Kevin Thaw and Alex Honnold, then only 24 and on his first international expedition.

Here Honnold rappels down to a hanging camp high above the South China Sea after a windy and rainy day of climbing.

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Alex Honnold Yosemite

Chin captures Honnold on a pitch high on the Freerider route on El Capitan, thousands of feet above the valley floor. He says that Honnold was climbing so fast that it was a struggle to keep up and use the viewfinder of his camera.

He shot this image with the camera on his hip.

Alex Honnold Yosemite When Honnold, after 3 hours and 56 minutes, summitted El Capitan on June 3, 2017, after a free climb of mind-blowing proportions, Chin captured the exaltation of the moment. Along with his wife, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Chin spent two years tracking Honnold’s quest for the Oscarwinning film Free Solo.

Alex Honnold Yosemite

Here Honnold free solos the so-called Enduro Corner, a 5.12b pitch 2,000 feet off the deck that is one of the cruxes of the Freerider route up El Capitan. Though Honnold seemed quite relaxed, Chin says that he found filming and photographing the climber on such challenging pitches to be quite stressful.

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HEROES 2021 David Breashears

Mount Everest In 2004, Chin was asked to join an all-star team—which included Breashears and Ed Viesturs—to climb Everest and capture scenic footage. This would become one of Chin’s two successful ascents of the world’s tallest mountain.

Here Breashears mounts a series of creaking ladders on the Khumbu Icefall.

All images from There and Back: Photographs from the Edge by Jimmy Chin.

Copyright © 2021 by Jimmy Chin. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

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Jake Burton Carpenter passed away in 2019, but his legacy lives on through Burton Snowboards, the company he founded.

The NeverEnding Ride The late Jake Burton Carpenter, an entrepreneurial disruptor who shepherded snowboarding into the mainstream, inspired countless riders to live life to the fullest.

That legacy is honored in a new documentary, Dear Rider, and through recent interviews with The Red Bulletin.

MARK GALLUP

Words BILL DONAHUE

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Carpenter never turned down a chance for an adventure: “Jake didn’t just bring us snowboarding. He opened up his lifestyle to all of us,” says a friend.

MARK GALLUP

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J

ake Burton Carpenter was the father of snowboarding, the mind behind the sport’s most celebrated brand and the man who first stood up for scraggly renegade boarders, demanding they be allowed access to the exclusive, manicured snows of the nation’s ski resorts.

During the four decades Jake ran Burton, he spawned and evolved a rebel culture whose spirit—both raucous and human, both nature-loving and fearless— now permeates the entire action sports universe.

Burton died of cancer in 2019. This November, HBO Max, in association with Red Bull Media House, will release Dear Rider, an HBO Original Documentary that chronicles how Jake pioneered the sport. We interviewed some of the film’s key players, and they told us Jake’s life story in their own words.

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The Early Years: 1954 to 1970

Timi Carpenter Jake was a little mischievous. He just wanted to have a good time.

Timi Carpenter, 25, Jake’s youngest son; Creative Director, Mine77, a Burton brand Jake lost his older brother in Vietnam when he was 12, and George was a very proper dude. He was the co-captain of the football team at his boarding school, and the senior prefect and the class president. He went to Yale. He was a Marine. He was the good son in the family, and I think Jake’s dad was kind of taken aback by his death. It fucked up the family dynamic, so that Jake felt pretty alone. He started getting into trouble.

Mark Heingartner, 58, two-time snowboarding world champion; early Burton employee Early on, he bought a Snurfer for 10 dollars, and he surfed the golf courses.

Jake grew up in an upper-middle-class family on Long Island, the youngest of four children.

Donna Carpenter, 58, Jake’s widow; owner, Burton Snowboards It took him a very long time with me before he would talk about losing his brother. Or his mom. She passed away when he was 17. Those deaths were really painful for him. But I think they shaped him. They made him see how important it is to live in the moment, to have fun.

Recalling his early love of Snurfing, Carpenter launched Burton Snowboards in Vermont in 1977.

Donna Carpenter It became a theme in his life that he loved to dress in drag. He took any excuse—Halloween, a costume party. He would just go for it. When he was a little kid, his sisters would spend hours dressing him up, putting on makeup, wigs, dresses.

At Brooks School [in Massachusetts], where Jake was a boarding student, they had this tradition among the derelicts. It involved a secret set of keys that opened every lock in the school, including the one on the headmaster’s gun cabinet, and one year Jake was picked as the keeper of the keys. This was totally underground, but a janitor found the keys in Jake’s bag. The school called his father, and on the five-hour ride home, he said to Jake, “If you don’t get your shit together, the whole family’s going to have to move.” [His dad didn’t want Jake to go to the local public school.]

Timi Carpenter It was apparently a very quiet car ride. My dad was angry at the world and in this pit of despair. He told me that’s when he decided that whatever the fuck he was going to do in life, he was going to apply himself.

Burton’s Beginnings: 1970-1982

Mark Heingartner The showroom was in the dining room, the basement was the shipping area, and the barn was where manufacturing happened. The barn was basically a wood shop, and every board was handcut and hand-sawed.

I started working for him when I was a punk kid in high school. It was just me and three other kids in the factory, and Jake was like an older brother to us. He was the grown-up in the room, and he took a lot of pride in the product from the get-go.

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DONNA CARPENTER

At his next boarding school–Marvelwood, in Connecticut—Jake became valedictorian. In college at New York University, he was the captain of the swim team. Then, upon graduation, he plied a conventional path and landed a job at an investment banking firm that, as he says in Dear Rider, “sold little companies to big companies.” He was bored, and in 1977, he remembered his Snurfing days and concocted what he once called a “get-rich-quick scheme.” He moved to Vermont and into a remote farmhouse, to launch Burton Snowboards.

COURTESY OF BURTON AND DONNA CARPENTER

Top row, left to right: A very young Jake ready for winter; Jake (far left) on a family ski trip in Vermont with sister Carolyn, cousin Bradley and sister Katherine in 1964; young Jake. Second row: Jake after graduating high school; enjoying his snowboard.

Third row: Jake building a board; with wife, Donna. Bottom row: Jake riding an early version of a snowboard controlled by a rope.

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Donna Carpenter He worked 14 hours a day and survived on Slim Jims and black coffee. He was that focused on making snowboards. And this is a guy who started out with no technical skills. He failed shop class. He couldn’t fucking change a lightbulb.

When I first met him on New Year’s Eve in 1982, at a bar in Londonderry, Vermont, he was drinking Jack Daniel’s and milk. For a pre-ulcerous stomach, he said. He told me his name was Jake and that he made snowboards. I thought, “This business is going nowhere.”

But I started coming up on the weekends from New York, to help him. He was taking these prelaminated pieces of wood and dipping them into polyurethane and hanging them to dry. It was a very toxic process. We wore these respirators connected to a hole in the wall, and sometimes people would blow marijuana smoke into the hole, so I’d get high. Jake thought that was hilarious.

Mike Cox, 56, Burton Global Brand Ambassador He was a prankster. Once, when we were hiking up Mount Mansfield in Vermont, we came across this young couple. Jake asked them, “Do you want us to take your picture?” Then he had me take the camera, and he got up behind them and mooned me in their picture. They had no idea.

Mark Heingartner He had a way of making everything fun. Whenever it snowed, he gave us a few hours off to go ride.

Donna Carpenter But he was lonely up there in Vermont. He was busting his ass, trying to figure out how to launch the business and not run out of money. His friends in New York were looking at him, thinking, “What are you doing with your life?” And the ski areas were actively fighting him, trying to keep snowboarders off their mountains. They told him, “Oh, our insurance won’t cover it.” And at our first trade show–Ski Industries of America (SIA) in 1982—they literally sent union guys, the setup guys, to remove us. They told us, “You are not part of this industry.”

I remember Jake getting into a tug of war over a board. And somehow, we stayed.

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Methodical Growth and the Sound of Punk: 1982-1996

The first National Snowboarding Championships took place at a small Vermont ski area, Suicide Six, in 1982.

A contingent of Michigan-based Snurfers came east to race and slept on Jake’s floor, and one daredevil hit 63 miles an hour, in basketball shoes. In 1985, with Jake as host and MC, the event moved to Stratton Mountain, a larger Vermont resort, and officially became the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships. Burton employee Andy Coghlan won the slalom by .01 seconds.

Donna Carpenter There were women competing at the U.S. Open early on, and I remember asking him, “Hey, what are we going to do about the women and prize money?” He said, “Why wouldn’t we pay them the same?”

Kelly Clark, 38, Olympic gold medalist, halfpipe Burton did more for women’s snowboarding than probably any other company. They didn’t treat us less than the guys and they made a place for us. And I was a direct recipient of that kind of investment.

Mark Heingartner His goal was to grow the sport. We started going to ski areas, a few other Burton riders and I, and our job was to prove to the ski patrol and to the mountain management that snowboarding was safe, that we could make turns and stop on a dime, that it was compatible with skiing.

Mike Cox At sales meetings, Jake was really intimidating and super focused. At the very first meeting in 1990, he listened to us present products and then said, “These guys are supposed to be the best of the best?” I was like, “Ugh.” But when he spoke, it was really inspirational. He talked about what snowboarding meant to him, and about how we were a community.

It felt like we were a family and the customers could become a part of it.

Donna Carpenter We hired a guy to work with the insurance companies and to iron out legalities with the ski areas. But we THE RED BULLETIN

COURTESY OF JACK COGHLAN, MARK GALLUP

1982: The early days of the Burton factory in Vermont, with brothers Andy and Jack Coghlan.

“My dad had a certain energy about him,” says son Timi.

“I realized at a young age that people wanted to be around him because he was authentic and real.”

were bringing to the mountain all these 15- and 16-year-old kids who didn’t know the protocol of ski areas. So for a while there, we focused on manners and etiquette in our communications to customers.

We said, “Hey, you’ve got to follow the rules at ski areas.” But this was a demographic that was just going to say “Fuck you” anyway.

Mike Cox At the SIA trade shows in the ’90s, one company had a school bus as a booth, and there were Vegas strippers and showgirls in there. They had porn stars signing posters. The ski side of the arena was super boring, super stale. But on the snowboard side, there was buzz. Every night at 5, they’d start serving beer. Punk bands played live, and it was so loud you couldn’t do meetings—nobody could hear. I remember one day Jake and I just stood away from the Burton booth a little bit, and it looked like a beehive, with people coming and going, and we just looked at each other and nodded, thinking “Holy shit! It’s game on!”

World Domination and a Bustling Family Life: 1996-2011

By 1996, Jake and Donna were the parents of three young sons and also the lords of a multimillion-dollar business that was growing 25 to 30 percent every year.

In 1998, snowboarding made its Olympic debut in Nagano, Japan. Four years later, when the Olympics were held in Park City, two Burton team riders scored gold. And in 2006, Burton rider Shaun White—the 56

Flying Tomato, the most legendary snowboarder of all time—found himself on the cover of Rolling Stone, shirtless and draped in the American flag. Jake was now the paterfamilias of a global brand—and also the Pied Piper of an ever-growing band of outsiders.

Mike Cox Jake and Donna had this party every year, the Fall Bash, which started with 25 guests and has grown to 1,200 people. And everyone gets to walk through their house, their closets, their barn, their yard.

Kelly Clark He wasn’t afraid to have a good time—like having a fireworks show at his house in Vermont on a Tuesday.

Donna Carpenter What Jake tapped into—what he realized, starting snowboarding—is that humans need to play, even when they’re adults. Up until our kids were all 6 feet tall, we had a basketball hoop in our living room. And Jake and the boys would all play PIG to see who took out the garbage.

Timi Carpenter The ball was small, but it was a legit hoop with a metal rim 8 feet high, and you had to dribble—there was no traveling allowed. We would break so much shit—so many picture frames and lights. And Jake would just get them replaced. The games would get physical. At the Fall Bash one time, late night, Jake took a pretty hard foul from one of his buddies. He THE RED BULLETIN

COURTESY OF BURTON/JEFF CURTES

Left to right: Sons Taylor, George and Timi with Jake and Donna Carpenter at Baldface Lodge in British Columbia in 2012.

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went down face first and got two black eyes. And he had a TV interview the next day. He had to wear these big sunglasses to cover the bruises.

He was my Little League coach, and one day when it was pouring rain, he decided to teach us how to slide. So he just started running, full sprint, and then dove headfirst into home. Just ruined all his clothing.

Then he was like, “That’s how you do it.”

On good snow days, my dad let us skip school and go riding. He was good. He was so quick

through the trees, and when I was younger, he would hit the jumps and some little rails. Even into his mid-50s, he was still going for it, and my brothers and I still talk about the last time he ever hit a box jump. When you get on a box, you have to stay completely flat, but my dad got nervous, and he tried to turn off the box. And he fell hard. He hit his back on this piece of metal. And he was like, “That’s it. I’m done. I’m going to stick to the trees and the backcountry.”

MARK GALLUP

Night session at Whistler, circa 2001.

“Even into his mid50s, he was still going for it,” says Timi.

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The Long Fight: 2011-2019

In 2011, Jake sent his 800 employees a memo saying, “The bad news is that I have cancer. The good news is that it is as curable as it gets.” He underwent chemotherapy for seminoma, a form of testicular cancer, and was able to beat it. But then four years later, in 2015, he was diagnosed with Miller Fisher syndrome, a rare disease that temporarily paralyzes the nervous system.

Donna Carpenter The doctor told him, “If this is what we think it is, tomorrow you’re not going to be able to open your eyes, the next day you’re not going to be able to swallow, and the day after that you’re not going to be able to breathe.” Soon, the doctors told us, “We don’t know how long he’ll be paralyzed. We don’t know if we can stop the paralysis.”

Timi Carpenter He was the most active person I ever met. And all of a sudden, he was in a hospital bed, locked in his body.

Timi Carpenter Once he got back on his feet, he was just off to the races. He started riding a hundred days a year again.

We went to snowboard events in Europe and hung out with the riders all night. For my 21st birthday in 2017, he took me to Burning Man. And I remember him dancing at this party and schmoozing this crowd.

This girl I was talking with was like, “Wow, that dude’s super fun and rad.” And I was like, “Yeah, that’s my dad.”

Donna Carpenter When he was 63, he said, “I think my best friend right now is Mark McMorris.” And he was a 20-something pro snowboarder from Saskatchewan, Canada.

Mark McMorris, 27, nine-time X Games gold medalist We were homies. We fed off each other. He was super 58

inspiring to me, and a good friend. In 2017, when I hit a tree at Whistler and got hospitalized, he flew to visit me, the founder of the biggest snowboard brand in the world. I don’t think that would have happened at any other company of that scale. We just kicked it.

He brought me food. We hung out.

All over the world, Jake and I would check out clothes and different products for inspiration. No one cared more about product than that guy. He obsessed over the most minuscule details. He could talk about a backpack strap for an hour and a half—where it was snagging, whatever. He looked to me for what was cool and what was next. For a while, he would only listen to hip-hop because we listened to hip-hop.

Timi Carpenter I was worried about Jake. I told him, “Hey, man, you were just laid up for a long time. You probably need to ease back into life and take better care of yourself.”

But he was kind of having none of it. He said, “I’m on my victory lap.”

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GABRIEL L’HEUREUX

Donna Carpenter By the third week, he was distraught. You could see it, watching his heart monitor. His pulse went from like 52 to 160. He never lost the ability to move his hands, though. He could write, even if he couldn’t see, and one night, when our sons were visiting, he wrote, “I want to commit suicide.”

Then, the next morning, I’ll never forget it, I walked in and he’d written this long note saying, “I realize I have no control over this. I surrender.” And when the nurses took him outside and sat him in front of the mountains (we were in New Hampshire), he wrote, “I want to live now.”

We got to the rehab a couple of days before his birthday, and he said to me—he was on a ventilator; he was doing this by writing—“I want to give every patient and doctor a cupcake.” So I had this friend of mine order 300 cupcakes.

“Ride for Jake” event at the Burton U.S. Open in February 2020.

Then one day he called me, and there was just something in his voice. I could tell right away. “The cancer came back,” he said, “but I’m doing everything I can to fight it.” He told me, “I’ve beaten it before. I’ll beat it again.” But he sounded flat and defeated.

Donna Carpenter I think that if Miller Fisher hadn’t happened, he could have fought the cancer a second time. But now I think he just knew in his heart that he had fought all he could. He saw what chemotherapy does to you. And he didn’t want to waste away and die like that. And he didn’t really have his sense of humor anymore— that’s how I knew.

The Never-Ending Ride

Jake Burton passed away on November 20, 2019.

Mike Cox Right after Jake died, an old Burton rep called me.

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And he said, “I realize that Jake didn’t just bring us snowboarding. He opened up his lifestyle to all of us, and then we all looked at it and said, ‘Yeah, I want to live like that, too.’ ”

Donna Carpenter If people want to honor his legacy, they should get out there and ride. Snowboarding is the best way to get in the moment and to be one with nature. Stay a community. Have each other’s backs.

Kelly Clark He always put snowboarding first, and he listened to the riders. I think he’d be proud if we could continue that legacy.

Mark McMorris We just gotta keep it core. Enjoy the mountains with your friends, push the boundaries. Don’t be the skier on the hill. Stay rebellious. Standing sideways is the dopest thing ever.

Learn more about Jake Burton Carpenter in the HBO Original documentary Dear Rider, now streaming on HBO Max.

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HEROES 2021

McKinley “Mac” Phipps was photographed for The Red Bulletin in New Orleans on September 29.

Playing by Heart McKinley “Mac” Phipps was a prodigious rapper whose promising music career was cut short by a questionable conviction for manslaughter. Now, 21 years later, the governor of Louisiana has granted him clemency—and a chance to prove his worth.

But for those who know Mac, there was nothing to prove: He’s never stopped being the person, the creator and the mentor he always was.

Words CHRISTOPHER A. DANIEL Photography DAYMON GARDNER

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n July 2021, McKinley “Mac” Phipps began volunteering in New Orleans at Son of a Saint, a nonprofit that helps empower and support boys who’ve lost their fathers to prison or death. During that first visit, he met with each young man around a ping-pong table in the office lobby. He didn’t know how to play, but he picked up a paddle anyway, challenging everyone and anyone nearby to a round. As he swung the paddle, he also lobbed questions at the kids, asking them about their favorite foods and what rappers they currently liked.

After Phipps shared his own list of rappers with them, the boys were impressed that this tall, thin 44-year-old knew such a range of new artists. One kid confidently stood up and shared that he was interested in producing and making beats, but he’d never met anyone in the music industry before. In that moment, Phipps chose not to disclose his successful past in the entertainment industry—or that he was just released from prison—but the staff at Son of a Saint could instantly sense his presence was making an impact.

“Mac just wanted to help others in a very authentic way,” says Sonny Lee III, Son of a Saint’s founder and CEO. “It wasn’t about him; he makes everyone feel like they’re important. He knows how to connect with young people through whatever interests them.”

“Mac was vulnerable, forthcoming and strong with them, too,” adds Elliot Hutchinson, the organization’s senior brand and communications manager.

“You were almost watching peers welcome their friend. You can’t replicate Mac’s downhome feeling.”

A couple months later, near the end of September, Phipps is riding around New Orleans and playing catch up with old friends. Horns are honking at him on every corner. Locals swarm the car to take selfies or reach out of their car windows

to dap him up. Others even try to spit bars on the fly to the man once called “the Camouflage Assassin.” Everyone tells the rapper formerly signed to No Limit Records how happy they are to see him.

It is an odd moment for Phipps. “It all felt so weird, but it feels good that everybody embraced me,” he says later, while sitting for morning coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde in City Park.

“All of my life, I believe I’ve been surrounded by the same individuals but in different forms. But love and family are the most important things when it’s all said and done.”

The attention has caught Phipps by surprise. Just a few months earlier, on June 22, 2021, he was released from prison after serving 21 years of a 30-year sentence for manslaughter for a nightclub shooting in Slidell, Louisiana, on February 21, 2000. There’s no doubt that 19-year-old clubgoer Barron Victor Jr. was killed in that incident. But Phipps and those close to him declare his innocence, and a series of investigative pieces by HuffPost and NPR Music have substantiated many of their claims.

Although Phipps hasn’t been exonerated, the governor of Louisiana granted him clemency in April, and Phipps’s lawyers are working to get his conviction overturned.

Yet Phipps isn’t bitter about his past, and now he’s on a mission to inspire others while taking a step toward reigniting his music career. But how does he continue to maintain such a positive outlook on life? How does he avoid becoming another statistic lost in mass incarceration? For Phipps, the answers lie in committing his life to service and maintaining his passion for creating with his bare hands, regardless of the situation.

“I embrace new stuff,” Phipps says.

“Once I got out of prison, I felt like a stranger, but I always anticipated my freedom around the corner. I enjoy the little things just a bit more.”

Since his release from prison in June, Phipps has worked closely with Son of a Saint, a nonprofit that helps fatherless boys.

”When it comes to music, I’m restless. I’m never gonna be waiting.”

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M

cKinley Phipps grew up as the eldest of six kids in Uptown New Orleans’ Broadmoor community.

As the first person in his immediate family to pursue music professionally, Phipps developed a love for hip-hop by watching one of his uncle’s friends DJ family parties. His mother, Sheila, a painter and visual artist, encouraged Phipps to pursue a creative path. His dad, McKinley Sr., a Vietnam vet who worked for the VA Hospital, instilled in him values to take care of his family.

Local rapper Gregory D and DJ Mannie Fresh noticed his talent from an early age. Phipps was a prodigious talent with an impressive flow and an extensive vocabulary, and when the preteen wasn’t in school, he was already in the studio recording until the wee hours of the morning. He promised his parents that he would keep his grades up if they agreed to let him sign a record deal. “He was beyond his years,” DJ Wop, Phipps’s first DJ, says. “That little dude was phenomenal. He memorized his rhymes pretty quickly. It’s almost like he’s remembering it as he’s writing.

Mac is not a five-take person; it’s either one or two takes.”

At age 13, Phipps signed with Yo! Records, an indie label out of Dallas, and released his debut LP, The Lyrical Midget, in 1990. Though Phipps penned the bulk of the tracks, the album’s lead single and video, “I Need Wheels,” was written

by Gregory D. The label’s marketing

As a rapper, Phipps was a child prodigy who released his debut album when he was just 13 years old.

strategy was to brand Phipps similar to the Fresh Prince.

Phipps wasn’t feeling it. “I was a Rakim head, so I was a battle rapper in my mind, but the record label had a different strategy for me,” he says.

“When it comes to music, I’m restless.

I’m never gonna be waiting.”

The deal with Yo! Records folded in 1991, but Phipps kept up his momentum for making music. In 1996, the lyricist released the single “Mad or Jealous” on another small label as part of the male/ female rap duo Mac and Storm. He also joined Psychoward, a large hip-hop collective with more than 20 DJs and MCs. “Mac had fun with this rap shit,” Psychoward member Bigg Cheeez says.

“He was loving every minute of it. Mac already knows what he’s writing. It’s in his head already, like he’s copying it from his mind or something.”

Because of his drive and dedication to his craft, things started to look up for Phipps. Music executive Kevin Liles of Def Jam Records wanted to sign him but Phipps anticipated being homesick. He feared the possibility of not making it, considering his past experiences with record labels. “I didn’t know if I was ready to move to New York just yet,” Phipps says. “It was frightening to a 19-year-old that had never been out there before.

I knew you could be in the business, have a record deal and not make any money.”

Phipps knew he had the ability to make music that could both wow an

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audience and encourage his peers to take their craft seriously, and by 1997, Phipps’s golden opportunity came knocking. He signed with rap mogul Master P’s No Limit Records because “he was the first person to give me a check for rap” after Phipps appeared on Kane & Abel’s “God and Gunz” the year prior. Phipps released his gold-certified No Limit debut album, Shell Shocked, in 1998 and became known for his wordplay and rhyme schemes.

“It felt like I accomplished something,” Phipps says. “It assured me that I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want to stop there because I needed to be triple platinum.”

By age 21, Phipps was releasing albums on Master P’s No Limit Records, which included artists like Snoop Dogg, C-Murder and Mia X.

In the late ’90s, No Limit Records was a New Orleans-based empire that featured the hottest roster in hip-hop— rappers like Mystikal, Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, Silkk the Shocker, Fiend and Mia X. Phipps was in his element.

Whenever he was in the studio, Phipps would turn out all the lights and memorize his verses in just one or two takes. “I don’t want anything I see to influence what I’m thinking or what I’m about to spew out,” he says. “I know exactly what I’m coming in to do, and it only takes me a couple of minutes.”

Phipps’s No Limit cohorts quickly took notice of his professionalism, as well as his in-and-out style of recording. “He

was one of the most talented artists that I’d ever heard in our city,” Mia X says.

“He had a great work ethic and got the assignment from the beginning. All of our records went really fast. He does not play; he listens to the music, writes his stuff, lays it down and we clock out.”

Fiend concurs. “It was a joy being in the studio because I got to see this genius be unapologetically who he was,” he says.

“He was a lyricist’s lyricist. We motivated each other. There was never any competition, just genuine love. If there ever was negative energy, he would try to see how to resolve or rectify the situation.

When it was time to hit the booth or the stage, he was coming with that fire.”

The culture of No Limit created a standard of excellence. At the height of the record company’s success, all of the artists and producers on the label worked nonstop. On tour, their routine was usually to land at the airport, check into the hotel and go to the concert venue with no time in between.

There were usually no afterparties or record-release events. The only regret Phipps has from that time was not being able to enjoy some of the places and landmarks he traveled to, both here and abroad. “I honestly never really stopped to take all of the No Limit success in,” he says. “It did feel good to be part of something that was bigger than me. No Limit was a movement, so everywhere we went, it was all about respect.”

Mia X saw Phipps, one of the youngest No Limit artists, as her little brother. Like her labelmates, she was impressed by his sense of responsibility. “We came from a label where the intent for all of the artists was to take care of their families,” she says. “Nobody had the intention to be a baller. Our work was an assembly line. When we got onstage is where we felt the love and support. We were very family oriented. The success didn’t really hit us until now.”

Things began to change ahead of the new millennium. Following the disappointing sales of Phipps’s second LP on No Limit—1999’s World War III—he joined the supergroup 504 Boyz (as in the New Orleans area code) for the Goodfellas album in 2000. Still, he knew it was time to take matters into his own hands. He had started making plans to start his own record label and explored becoming a serial entrepreneur. He wasn’t prepared for the night that would change the course of his life.

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t was February 20, 2000, a day Phipps still calls “a blur.” He was scheduled to perform at one of his mother’s events at Club Mercedes in Slidell, Louisiana, a sundown town located in St. Tammany Parish. Slightly exhausted from traveling and performing, Phipps was standing against the wall near some of his entourage when a fight broke out.

Gunshots were fired, and Barron Victor Jr., a 19-year-old attendee standing in the crowd, was struck in the arm by one of the bullets—and was later pronounced dead from excessive bleeding. Phipps went in search of his mother in the rear of the club before he left, then headed back to his home in Baton Rouge. He was later arrested at his home for second-degree murder.

Despite having eyewitnesses and no evidence pointing back to Phipps, he was convicted of manslaughter the following year. In court, he was tried by an allwhite jury. Lyrics to one of Phipps’s songs, “Murda Murda Kill Kill,” along with his “Camouflage Assassin” alias, were used as tactics to discredit him.

Phipps was just 22 years old, and at the time of his conviction, Louisiana law required inmates to serve 85 percent of their sentence. His family and friends were in disbelief about the outcome.

“He defused shit,” says Russell Baker, a childhood friend and tour manager.

“He was never a humbuggish cat. He was always trying to see the good in situations. He never hurt a fly or even got a traffic ticket. When I heard that guilty verdict, I cried like a 5-year-old all the way back to New Orleans.”

News of Phipps’s arrest sent shockwaves through the No Limit family.

Prior to his imprisonment, the artists were periodically harassed and surveilled in their lavish homes, especially as the label ascended in the music industry and Master P became one of the most successful businessmen in entertainment.

Phipps didn’t necessarily perceive that profiling as racially motivated because he never changed his mission: to create music. “I don’t really give attention to things that are outside of my sphere of

During his time behind bars, Phipps never stopped creating and making music. He became president of the prison’s music association and taught keyboard lessons as well as an intro-to-hip-hop class.

direct influence,” Phipps says. “If everyone on Earth likes you, then something ain’t right. I was focused on being an artist and the music. I needed to make a record that was going 10-times platinum.”

The constant headlines that insisted upon Phipps’s guilt made everyone in his circle sick. “We understood what kind of target we had on our backs because of all of this money people thought was being made,” Mia X says. “Normally, we never strayed away from doing things outside of No Limit. We always moved as a unit.

When they did break off, I was worried.”

It was a dark time, but Phipps was unbothered by the outcome. Even though he was behind bars in an uncomfortable situation, he felt determined to use his time to connect with others and offer kind words when he could. With his unborn son on the way, the rapper decided to make the best of the situation. As time wore on, Phipps noticed an influx of younger inmates entering the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, a multi-security-level institution located 70 miles northwest of New Orleans, and he began having candid conversations with them about their past and entertained their questions about his.

For the young men—many of them still teenagers—Phipps became known as their surrogate dad, thanks to his open ear and compassionate approach.

For Phipps, mentorship helped to fill a bigger void—that is, his inability to be physically present to raise his own son.

“Mac defused shit. He never was a humbuggish cat. He was always trying to see the good in situations.”

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“I started doing it for selfish reasons; I wanted to understand my son because I had been away from him his whole life,” Phipps says. “Because I couldn’t raise my son, I wanted to raise somebody else’s child.”

“I didn’t want to be bitter, because I understand where that could take you, and it’s a danger to everybody around you,” he continues. “I didn’t want to be mad at everybody for what had happened in my life.”

To keep himself busy, Phipps tried a number of trades while he was incarcerated. He was a dishwasher in the kitchen, an onion picker in the fields, a barber for three years and spent time in the infirmary cataloging inventory.

Before he was granted work release, he worked out of the records department.

But throughout his time at Elayn Hunt, Phipps never stopped creating and making music. He became president of the institution’s music association, which had a room full of musical instruments. When he wasn’t practicing, Phipps taught keyboard lessons and an introduction-to-hip-hop course. Anytime he saw good rappers, he “always tried to write material that would outshine them,” he confides.

“It kept me sharp,” Phipps says.

“We had one of the baddest bands in Louisiana in prison. It was fun, and that’s what kept me creative. We used to perform at different events, and I stayed writing stuff I felt would sound good to the brothers on the yard.”

When Phipps wasn’t in the music room or mentoring young inmates, he devoted his time to building sneakers, toys and screen prints in the hobby shop.

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“Every artist should have something they know how to do, because nobody can ever take that away from you.” ways to create,” he says. “My personality has to create something.”

Over the years, Phipps’s family and friends continued to spearhead efforts to grant him his freedom. Petitions full of signatures began circulating.

Phipps’s mother used her art to advocate for her son. She painted portraits of him while he was imprisoned and created traveling art exhibits with themes around mass incarceration and criminal justice reform.

“My mom just did whatever she felt she could do,” Phipps says. “Being away from them for so long has made me appreciate them so much more. When all the cameras go off and people ain’t yelling your name no more, your people will be the only ones there.”

In 2012, after more than a decade in prison, Phipps was honored for his mentorship at Elayn Hunt. The staff surprised him with a humanitarian award for his service.

“You never know who’s watching you or what you do,” Phipps says. “I didn’t know anybody was paying attention to the stuff I was doing. I was just doing it; I didn’t even know it was a thing. It was given to me for just being me.”

As the years passed, Phipps had grown accustomed to being behind bars, but he didn’t want his family to feel continually disappointed by him not coming home, despite their efforts. He had demonstrated good behavior—had been awarded for it—so he started making requests for a parole hearing.

It didn’t quite work out as he hoped.

“I was nervous as hell but cautiously optimistic,” Phipps says. After his initial request failed in 2016, Phipps was granted clemency by Governor John Bel Edwards in April 2021. Two months later, he was granted parole by the State of Louisiana, over Zoom.

For so long, the thought of being free seemed impossible to Phipps, but on June 22, 2021, Phipps walked out of Elayn Hunt Correctional Center and into the next phase of his life with tears in his eyes. As part of Phipps’s parole, he has a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., must complete six hours of community service 68

each month, has weekly visits with his parole officer and must refrain from being in venues where alcohol is served.

“Prison made me numb,” Phipps says. “I’d gotten disappointed so many times. When they finally granted me [clemency], it was one of the best feelings I’d ever had in my life.”

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wo weeks after Phipps was released, he started working closely with Son of a Saint.

Stepping back into mentorship was an “easy transition,” he says. At Elayn Hunt, Phipps underwent training with a psychiatrist and social workers to become certified as a mentor, and he credits that training for making fast connections with the boys at Son of a Saint. “It keeps me grounded and reminds me of the need for that help,” Phipps continues. “I’m contributing the best way I know how to change someone’s life for the better.”

At Son of a Saint’s summer academy in August, Phipps spoke candidly to the boys about his past in music—and in prison. According to staff, many of the boys googled Phipps before his part of the program, and they immediately started taking the program more seriously after they learned about his music career. Originally, organizers set aside 10 minutes for Phipps to speak, but it stretched on for much longer.

“Mac ended up hijacking our entire program, but it was great to see that,” says Shaq Cosse, Son of a Saint’s activities coordinator. “The kids realized how possible it was to be in the presence of someone who did [music] successfully.

When they were able to make that connection, they started to take that craft a little more seriously.”

“We want our mentors to just be organic and themselves, and Mac has no problem doing that,” adds William Jones, Son of a Saint’s community outreach and volunteer coordinator.

As for just being himself, Phipps continues doing what’s dearest to his heart: making music and creating with his hands. In Arabi, Louisiana, a nearby suburb of New Orleans, he shares a suite,

which also houses a preproduction studio and a rehearsal space, with his wife, Angelique. Phipps also works out of his mother’s art gallery and builds kitchen cabinets with a friend who’s a successful contractor.

“I have all of these trades so that I can be able to take care of my family,” he says.

“Every artist and individual should have something they know how to do, because nobody can ever take that away from you.”

Phipps recently released a new single, the autobiographical “21 Summers,” with Monsta Beatz, a New Orleans-based production duo that’s worked with artists like Wiz Khalifa and Lil Wayne.

Blessed with a few more gray hairs these days, Phipps says he was afraid his style of rap had become outdated, but he chose to stick with his signature flow.

According to his producers, they were honored to witness how Phipps’s work ethic has maintained its consistency.

“I was super impressed with how sharp he was still after being down for so long,” says Jean Lephare, one half of Monsta Beatz. “He came into the studio, heard the beat and got in the booth.

Artists these days will punch in or do two bars here and there. He had his stuff laid out, did one or two takes and that was it.”

And now, the void Phipps felt after being away from his son for all those years has finally been filled. He’s reunited with his 21-year-old son, McKinley “Taquan” Green, who goes by the rap name Bandana Kin. The skills he learned in prison—pouring his life into mentoring the young men at Elayn Hunt—are now helping him regain a relationship with his son. As devastating as it is, Phipps doesn’t take his time in prison for granted.

Instead, his sentence has become a catalyst for becoming more aware of the smaller things he may have overlooked.

Have no doubt, spending all that time away from his loved ones was rough for Phipps, but it’s given him a different outlook on life. He realizes that his positivity—and his ability to stay active in the face of adversity—attracts people to him in a good way. And after all those years behind bars, he’s learned to appreciate living in the moment.

“Before prison, I was in a rush, doing everything at 100 miles an hour,” Phipps says. “Prison helps you put your priorities in perspective. You have no control because everything is structured for you. I’m a lot more patient than I was. It’s a process.”

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Phipps recently released a new single, the autobiographical “21 Summers,” and on October 9, he gave his first performance in decades.

Going Live

As concerts and music festivals become a reality once more, here is a tribute to the glory of IRL events through the perceptive eyes of photographer Roger Ho. Words NORA O’DONNELL Photography ROGER HO

Post Malone wraps up his set at the Astroworld Festival in Houston in 2018: “The best moments happen at the end,” says Ho. “I always try to stay until the end to capture those moments.”

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THE CAMERAPERSON The phrase “do what you love” certainly befits 37-year-old photographer Roger Ho. “I just bought a camera around 2010 and got super into it,” says the Austinbased Ho, who studied 3D animation in college but ultimately felt burnt out by his work in that field. “I loved it so much I quit my day job.” Ho, who’s largely selftrained, credits practice and persistence when it comes to landing his dream job as a concert photographer. “It’s so hard to get your foot in the door because it’s one of the coolest jobs in the world.

You have to have a thick skin and be ready for all of your emails to be ignored,” he says. But all that hard work has paid off, and now major festivals hire Ho to serve as their in-house photographer—a gig that’s a reality again after more than a year of canceled live events.

“Concerts are such a big part of my life,” he adds. “I started going as a fan to take photos, and I just kept doing that. I feel really lucky that I get to do this for a living.”

Follow Roger on Instagram: @rohofoto

“This was one of the last sets of the night, and I never made it into the pit,” says Ho, who was walking behind the crowd during this Moby performance at FYF Fest in Los Angeles in 2016. “Everyone was going crazy, and the production and lighting was amazing.”

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Any photographer who is able to capture Grace Jones is in for a visual feast. “Every photo I took was a good photo,” admits Ho, who shot the multihyphenate icon at FYF Fest in L.A. in 2016.

“This was my most iconic image—like it got stolen the most,” says Ho, who took this picture of Childish Gambino at the ACL Festival in 2014 just before he left the pit. “I’m pretty sure I was the only photographer to get this moment.”

“At every performance, he just gives it his all,” Ho says of the Future Islands frontman, Samuel T. Herring. “He’s so emotional—one of the most fun bands to photograph,” he adds of this photo from Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin in 2015.

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“I love this shot because I got lucky with the LED light,” jokes Ho, who snapped Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the 2017 Austin City Limits Festival just as he jumped into the air and the lights turned red and blue.

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Coachella 2017 marked Ho’s first time working as a staff photographer for the festival. On this image of Lorde: “She’s another amazing performer with such stage presence. She does all these crazy hair flips, and I love it.”

“I never thought I’d be able to photograph Missy Elliott,” says Ho, who was on stage with her at FYF Fest in 2017. “It’s important to be invisible—I’m always hiding behind speakers and stuff like that. You get your shot and then go hide.”

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Daniel Caesar at the Austin City Limits Moody Theater in September 2019: “I was allowed to shoot the whole set from the crowd, and I just loved how the fog was going up,” says Ho. “If the artists are cool with me staying the whole time, I usually take advantage of that.”

“When you’re new to a photo team, you have to pay your dues,” Ho says of his first time shooting the Weeknd for the ACL Fest in 2015. He shot this epic image of the artist while perched on a ladder.

“Pyro always makes for a good photo,” he adds.

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guide Get it. Do it. See it.

VISIT DENVER

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH If you’re heading to Colorado to hit the slopes but craving some in-person experiences, extend your stay in Denver for a long weekend filled with immersive art, good brews and gourmet bites in this vibrant capital city. Words CARLY FISHER

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Do it

O

WHERE TO DRINK

Dubbed “the Napa Valley of Beer,” Denver and its surrounding suburbs are home to more than 148

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WHERE TO EAT

At the recently opened Beer Spa, you can enjoy brews on tap after a long soak in a beer hydrotherapy bath.

craft breweries, essentially necessitating its own pilgrimage. When you’re short on time, it’s best to let the experts do the work. Hop on one of the Denver Microbrew Tours through LoDo (Lower Downtown), where you can sample four breweries on a 1.5-mile guided walking tour, or the RiNo Beer and Graffiti Tour, which winds through River North’s (RiNo) taggedup streets, sampling beverages along the way. For something truly immersive, check out the recently opened Beer Spa, which offers private 90-minute “beer therapy” experiences, including a beer hydrotherapy bath, infrared sauna, rain shower and wooden deck.

Tipplers should know that Denver isn’t just a beer town anymore. In addition to the Denver Craft Beer Trail, the city also has its own spirits trail, with many locations between RiNo and the Highlands. Among the stops: Ironton Distillery,the Family Jones Spirit House and Mythology Distillery, a craft distillery focused on environmental sustainability that was inspired by a trip to Alaska. Mythology’s water conservation measures save up to 500 gallons per batch;

spent grain is repurposed for cattle feed; and 90 percent of all waste is composted or recycled. Mythology’s Foragers Gin uses botanicals harvested from the Denver Botanic Gardens. Discerning spirits enthusiasts should also check out Colorado Sake Company, the state’s first sake distillery, offering six types, all using traditional brewing methods and local ingredients.

Although you can still comfortably wear jeans to most any restaurant, Denver has built a reputation as a major foodie town thanks in part to James Beard-winning chefs like Jennifer Jasinski of Rioja and Alex Seidel of Mercantile Dining & Provision, who helped put the city on the map. Since their early wins, the scene has grown substantially to include more than 18 James Beard semifinalists in 2020. Sunday Vinyl, from the James Beard Award-winning team at Frasca Hospitality Group, is a seasonally driven restaurant and wine bar with a curated music theme.

The gourmet food halls and markets aren’t too shabby, either, where you can taste everything under one roof.

Chef Caroline Glover’s restaurant, Annette, located within Stanley Marketplace, was named one of the “50 Best New Restaurants in America”

by Bon Appétit in 2017 and has earned four James Beard nods between 2017 and 2020.

Broadway Market features an open-concept layout of restaurant stalls ranging from fried chicken and pizza to curry and sushi, plus a chocolatier, coffeehouse, bar and self-serve beer wall.

Taste your way through indie restaurants like Bellota,

THE BEER SPA(2), REBECCA ANN

ne could argue that Denver has become more synonymous as the Beer Capital of America than an outpost of the Old West, but every January, the town turns into a real cow parade as it transforms into the home of the National Western Stock Show. Over 30 Longhorn cattle can be found walking through the streets of downtown Denver during this annual spectacle, which might look like another surrealist room ripped out of the recently opened immersive art experience, Meow Wolf.

You just can’t expect anything less than quirky in the Mile High City, even with all the extreme sports, vinylthemed wine bars, music festivals and craft beer that already lure in hipsters from across the country. This is the state that legalized cannabis in 2012, housed Hunter S. Thompson, served as the backdrop to countless Westerns and became the inspiration for John Denver’s soulful, iconic ode “Rocky Mountain High.” Point being: You likely come to Denver because it’s still a little wild in the Old West.

While Denver still bears the reputation as a gateway to the slopes during ski season, the city has grown exponentially over the past decade and is finally coming into its own as a worthy destination—even in the dead of winter. With trains running directly from the airport to downtown’s Union Station, it’s easy to take in the city by foot even without a car. Here are the coolest things you can do if you extend your stay for a couple of days.

Taste gourmet food at the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, an eastern suburb.

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Denver

After a $150 million renovation, the Denver Art Museum reopens to the public this fall just in time to explore eight levels of art galleries and its new outdoor public spaces.

Among its first exhibitions: Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France, a retrospective of American works between 1855 and 1913 that features transatlantic painters such as James Abbott McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt.

WHERE TO STAY

Immersive art at the new Meow Wolf exhibit.

KATE RUSSELL, NATHAN HINDMAN

Award-winning restaurants abound in the Mile High City. a regional Mexican restaurant and tequila bar; Melted, an inventive ice cream shop from renowned restaurateur Bryan Dayton and pastry chef Jennifer Akina; and Temaki Den, a modern hand-roll concept from the team behind Denver’s acclaimed Sushi Den at the Source Hotel + Market Hall. Sample the state’s best taprooms, tasting rooms, food and entertainment at the indoor/outdoor venue Number Thirty Eight (named because Colorado was the 38th state in the Union), housed within a massive 12,000-square-foot former neon sign factory in RiNo that opens onto an 18,000-squarefoot outdoor “lawn” that includes year-round live

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entertainment and panoramic views of the Rockies.

WHERE TO PLAY

Book ahead if you want to visit Meow Wolf. The Santa Fe-based company known for its wildly popular immersive art exhibits opened a permanent installation in Denver to sold-out crowds.

More than 110 Coloradobased artists contributed to the Denver venue, which features four floors of colorful, interactive rooms to explore as well as a 450-capacity music venue, café and retail space.

Denver’s most historic block, Larimer Square, transformed into a modern destination over the past year, featuring a floral design studio, vintage clothing shop and tattoo parlor, as well as a Chinese street-food spot, fried chicken shop, ice cream parlor and a year-round farmers market.

Red Rocks, Denver’s iconic outdoor amphitheater, shuts down for winter, but Mission Ballroom, the stateof-the-art, 4,000-person venue in RiNo, is expecting to have an incredible lineup that’s worth the trip, including Thundercat, Chvrches, Purity Ring, My Morning Jacket, Ministry, the Flaming Lips, Ty Segall, Lorde and Judas Priest.

Boutique hotels are destinations within themselves, with state-­of-the-art lodgings and some of the city’s newest bars and restaurants. Set up base camp at Catbird, a unique and stylish home away from home featuring adaptable guest rooms with custom-built, multifunctional furniture and premium amenities—such as full kitchens and a 4K ultra HD projector with 6-by-8-foot drop-down projection screen.

There’s also a 3,300-squarefoot rooftop deck with fire pits that offers sweeping views of Denver’s skyline and the Rocky Mountains. In late fall, the Slate Denver opens at the historic original Emily Griffith Opportunity School— a sleek boutique property adjacent to Emily’s Alley, Denver’s newest dining and shopping destination.

The 3,300-square-foot rooftop deck at Catbird offers great views of Denver.

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Do it “Just cruising a halfpipe, when you’re matching all the trannies perfectly, it’s the craziest feeling,” says Irving.

TRAIN LIKE A PRO

“YOU CAN GO AS BIG AS YOU WANT TO GO”

Freeskier Birk Irving reveals how he trains for high-flying halfpipe acrobatics.

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F

reeskier Birk Irving completes a halfpipe run in 30 seconds.

In that time, he might throw six different tricks, flowing seamlessly through the transitions to land one high-risk aerial after another. Each trick sends him flying above the halfpipe’s lip.

The journey started early. “My parents were both skiers, so they slapped me on skis in the driveway at age 2,” says Irving, who grew up near Winter Park, Colorado. Drawn by the creativity and freedom it offered, Irving turned to freeskiing. “There’s no rules, no regulations—you can do it

how you want to do it,” says Irving, who landed his first 360 at age 5.

Until his early teens, he competed in both slopestyle and halfpipe. An injury led Irving, now 22, to focus on the halfpipe. It suited him. In 2017 Irving scored his first big result, a fourth place at X Games in SuperPipe.

A steady climb up the rankings followed. In 2021, Irving won a bronze medal in SuperPipe at X Games and a bronze in halfpipe at the FIS Freeskiing World Championships.

“It’s not like anything else,” he says.

“Every course is the same exact thing, but you can go as big as you want to go.”

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Fitness

S N OW S ES S I O N S

N EW TR I C KS

“I like to be quick and efficient”

“I don’t overthink it— I just do it”

LORENZ RICHARD/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

JEN SEE

“I like a big foam-roll sesh in the morning to get all the blood flowing. Usually my go-to warmup is some lunges, some squats, some hip stuff. Warmed up, I go out to the halfpipe, usually with one thing in my mind that I’m going to work on. I try not to tire myself out; I just do three or four runs. Then I work on that one trick for a bit. After I feel like it’s all dialed, I head home and just chill and get ready for the next day. I’m out there anywhere from two to four hours.”

“If it’s something new that I think I can do, I don’t put too much thought into it. I just go out to the pipe and warm up a couple runs. Most bigger tricks are some sort of double, so I’ll do the first and second flip as separate tricks and try to get the feeling for each.

I’ll have my coach film both parts of it. Then I’ll go back and watch the video. I’ll see where my power is and how it’s all looking.

Sometimes I’ll cut them together to make it look like the full trick. When I have the feeling, I just go do it.”

M E NTAL GAM E

STR E N GTH TR AI N I N G

“Most tricks are more scary than difficult”

“I need to have explosiveness and power”

“For me, it’s all a big mental game. For 90 percent of the tricks, it’s a lot scarier than it is difficult. Obviously, everyone who is doing this stuff has the talent to do it. Your body knows what to do, but it’s just so scary and hard to wrap your head around. I don’t like to do too much visualization, because eventually I end up too much in my head about things. I don’t have any sort of rituals I do before a contest.

I do all the tricks in my training and try to be dialed and ready.

Then I just turn my music up really loud and go.”

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“Sometimes, the halfpipe wall is more vert in some spots. I really have to have that explosiveness and power to be able to push off and get off the wall. And quickness, too—being able to land a trick and then be ready for my next hit. When I’m home, I try to go to the gym every day.

I work on explosive power and overall strength. I work legs mostly, and core circuits, just to keep my back good. I do a lot of box jumps. During the summer, I ride my mountain bike. It’s mostly just for fun, but it gets my cardio up, too.”

“HAVING THE RIGHT FRIEND GROUP REALLY HELPED ME” “When I was younger, I didn’t think all this was going to amount to anything. When you’re younger, it feels super far-fetched. For me, surrounding myself with a good friend group, and having people to ski with every day—that was probably the biggest thing. Once you have a whole friend group like that, they push you just as much as you push them.

It’s just sick to have people like that around me.”

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November to 15 December RED BULL SOUNDCLASH

The ultimate battle of the bands is back IRL! At each SoundClash event, two acts must engage in a friendly face-off for four rounds, and the one with the biggest crowd reaction is crowned the winner. This year’s lineup kicks off in Atlanta on November 30, with the Grammy-nominated rapper-singer Shelley (FKA DRAM) going head to head with California rapper Westside Boogie; in Houston, local soul band the Suffers duke it out with NOLA-based group Tank and the Bangas on December 2; in Nashville, R&B singersongwriter and Music City native Bren Joy clashes with South Carolina blues rockers the Marcus King Band on December 9; and last but not least, rapper Danny Brown (pictured) battles rapper-singer Rico Nasty (right page) in Chicago on December 15.

For tickets, visit redbull. com/soundclash or just scan the QR code below.

DANNY BROWN 88

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POONEH GHANA, ATLANTIC RECORDS

Calendar

SUS

RICO NASTY

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GIFT GUIDE 2021

HIGH-TECH HEALTH These gadgets can improve your fitness, recovery and mental health—or make your workouts more fun.

Words JOE LINDSEY

WHOOP 4.0

With simple yet elegant fitness-tracking metrics, this minimalist strap and smartphone app have been athlete favorites since 2012. This new version has more sensors for better accuracy, pulse oximetry and skin temperature measurement, even gentle vibrations to wake you at an optimal time. The 4.0 strap is 33 percent smaller, compatible with Whoop’s new Any-Wear clothing and comes free with a Whoop subscription. $180/6 months; whoop.com

WITHINGS BODY CARDIO

Go past weight and BMI metrics with this feature-packed smart scale. It uses bioelectric impedance to offer detailed tracking of full bodycomposition metrics like muscle and bone mass, as well as heart rate data. The companion Health Mate app focuses on trends rather than day-today fluctuations to help you reach health and fitness goals. With profiles and memory functions for up to eight users, it’s great for roommates and families. $150; withings.com 90

AFTERSHOKZ AEROPEX

Keep that high-energy workout playlist spinning with bone-conduction headphones, which transmit rich bass and crisp treble to your inner ear but allow your ear canals to process ambient sounds from the outside world. The Aeropex has a snug headband that stays in place during vigorous exercise, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity for dependable streaming of music and calls, 8-hour battery life and IPX67 waterproofing. Available in two sizes. $160; aftershokz.com

HYPERICE CORE

Meditation is a useful tool for stress reduction, mental health and better sleep. And with this trainer, you can do it more methodically. Start a session in Core’s app, hold the rosewood orb and let its ECG sensors track your brain activity.

If you’re amped, it guides you back to calm practice with audible cues and vibrations.

The app features a library of meditations, with more content available through a premium subscription ($70/year). $179; hellocore.com

SUUNTO 9 PEAK

The 9 series from Suunto is one of the best GPS sportwatches for adventurers, but most models are chunky. The 9 Peak packs that functionality into a case that’s smaller, thinner and lighter than the 9 Baro. The feature set is formidable: 80 sport modes, automatic backlighting to save battery power (up to 170 hours), heatmaps for route planning, sleep tracking, weather forecasts and storm alarm, even pulse oximetry to track your health at altitude. From $569; suunto.com THE RED BULLETIN

MARC PRO

Hard training can bring aches and pains, but electronic muscle stimulation (e-stim) devices can speed recovery and reduce inflammation. Attach the Marc Pro’s electrodes for an active recovery session that stimulates muscle activation, which research shows soothes sore muscles without bodywork or pharmaceuticals.

E-stim doesn’t build muscle and isn’t meant for injuries, but it can help you recover and keep pushing. $700; marcpro.com

G U I D E

GIFT GUIDE 2021

PEDAL PRESENTS

Give the goodies every bike rider wants to get for the holidays.

Words JOE LINDSEY

LECTRIC XP 2.0

For zippy commutes, urban errands and almost anything you’d use a car for, this e-bike is a solid pick. The 500-watt motor boosts up to 20 mph, with a throttle for safe acceleration in traffic. It comes equipped with a rear rack, fenders and integrated lights. The low-height frame is easy to mount and folds for compact storage. The wide tires and suspension fork can handle tough city streets. Expect up to 45 miles of range per charge. $1,000; lectricebikes.com

SILCA T-RATCHET + TI TORQUE KIT

Newer performance bikes have torque ratings on almost every bolt; they’re key to avoiding overtightening that might break carbon-fiber parts.

This tool features precision torque measurement to ensure field repairs are done right. It has an ergonomic handle and ratchet-style mechanism for comfortable work on bolts in tight spots. Ten interchangeable tool heads fit almost every part on a bike, and the tool disassembles for compact storage. $120; silca.cc

GIRO LATCH SHOE

Flat pedals offer excellent bike control but tend to transmit more bumps and jolts to your feet, especially if riding aggressively. The Latch’s answer? Mute Foam, a slow-rebounding midsole material that acts like suspension to help dampen chatter. The durable microfiber upper is lace-up for comfort and reinforced around the toe and heel. The grippy Tack rubber outsole provides a confident connection to the bike for the control you need. $150; giro.com

CAMELBAK MULE COMMUTE 22

Combining a burly construction with a thoughtful design for urban riding, this new 22-liter (1,342cu in) pack features a roomy central compartment for bulky cargo; a weatherproof laptop sleeve to protect valuable electronics; and accessory pockets for water bottles, bike locks and essentials like your phone and wallet. The Air Support back panel helps you arrive at work dry, while reflective details and a loop for a taillight increase visibility. $120;camelbak.com 92

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CANYON GRIZL CF SL 6

If you want to go way out there, this new adventure bike will take you there. It features a stout, lightweight carbon-fiber frame with clearance for 50-mm-wide tires. So you’ll have the traction and cushion to tame rough terrain, while the multitude of pack and accessory mounts ensures you can carry the food, water and gear you need. It comes with a Shimano GRX 400 drivetrain geared for steep climbs and hydraulic disc brakes. $2,300; canyon.com

GARMIN RALLY RS200 PEDALS

Power training is the fastest way to get fitter.

These pedals capture power output on both sides for metrics like left/right power balance and are accurate within 1 percent. The durable bodies are certified IPX7 waterproof, come in three popular pedal styles and are easy to swap between bikes. Low-power ANT+ and Bluetooth communication gives you 120 hours of battery life. Pair to a Garmin head unit for advanced analytics. $1.100; garmin.com THE RED BULLETIN

The Canyon Grizl CF SL 6 is up for a big backcountry adventure.

WaveCel protects against the forces thought to cause concussions and traumatic brain injuries.

BONTRAGER STARVOS WAVECEL

Style, meet safety. The standout feature is WaveCel, an innovative, honeycomb-like structure that protects against linear crash forces and rotational, shearing forces thought to play a role in traumatic brain injury. The Starvos brings WaveCel tech down to its lowest price ever—and gets a five-star rating in Virginia Tech’s well-regarded helmet-testing protocol. Spacious vents and internal channeling help keep you cool.

And it comes in five sizes. $100; trekbikes.com 93

A N ATO M Y O F G E A R Two innovative bikes, deconstructed.

Words JOE LINDSEY

Y

eti Cycles is known for making kickass mountain bikes with obsessive engineering. So it’s no surprise the brand took five years to engineer, test and refine its first e-bike. The result is a pedal-assist rig that remains faithful to Yeti’s shred-hard, race-to-win ethos.

PERFECT POWER-UP

Shimano’s EP8 motor delivers up to 85 Nm of torque via variableoutput assist: a natural-feeling boost to your own pedaling.

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BREAKING THE MOLD

Because existing frames aren’t up to the forces an e-mtb dishes out, Yeti had to create 25 new molds for this burly-but-light carbonfiber masterpiece.

F I N E -T U N E YOUR RIDE

An adjustable leverage ratio lets riders select firm suspension for pedaling support or a softer feel for daredevil descending.

YETI 160E An e-mountain bike made for racing $10,100 Weight: 49.8 lbs yeticycles.com

LONG LIFE

Upgraded capacity on the hidden 630 watthour battery lets you focus on the ride without worrying if you have the juice to get back to the trailhead.

P U R P O S E LY PLUSH

To account for the motor’s added weight and power, Yeti designed an all-new, e-bike-specific rear suspension, Sixfinity, with 160 mm of travel.

WIRE. LESS.

Elegant internal electronics routing doesn’t only look badass; it keeps cables safe from snags and the elements.

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G U I D E

S

pecialized’s Aethos is an anomaly among high-end road bikes from major brands: Instead of being optimized for aerodynamics and stiffness like race bikes, it’s designed to deliver sublime ride quality. Here’s what makes it so special.

SPECIALIZED S-WORKS AETHOS DURA-ACE DI2 A performance road bike for connoisseurs of the ride $14,000 Weight: 13.4 lbs specialized.com

ROUND IS RIGHT

Round tubes are lighter and absorb road chatter better than airfoil shapes; sophisticated computer modeling helped Specialized ovalize crucial locations for better stiffness.

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W AT C H T H E W AT T S

The crankset’s built-in dual-sided power meter puts detailed training data right at your fingertips so you can get fitter, faster.

SUPERIOR STOPPERS

The Dura-Ace hydraulic disc brakes feature unparalleled power and modulation, with finetuned control for zesty descending.

ALLAROUNDER

With clearance for 32 mm tires, the Aethos is perfect for venturing onto dirt roads or soft-surface paths for a little exploration.

PA D D L E SHIFTING PRECISION

Shimano’s new 12-speed Dura-Ace Di2 drivetrain goes partly wireless to execute fast, crisp gear shifts with the touch of a button.

F E AT H E R Y FRAME

At just 585 grams (in size medium), the Aethos is arguably the lightest performance road frame available.

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GLOBAL TEAM

THE RED BULLETIN WORLDWIDE

The Red Bulletin is published in six countries. The cover of this month’s U.K. edition features BMX phenom Sebastian “Bas” Keep, who’s known for his incredible stunts.

For more stories beyond the ordinary, go to redbulletin.com.

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THE RED BULLETIN Switzerland, ISSN 2308-5886 Editor Stefania Telesca Proofreaders Hans Fleißner (manager), Petra Hannert, Monika Hasleder, Billy Kirnbauer-Walek Country Project Management Meike Koch Media Sales & Brand Partnerships Christian Bürgi (Team Lead), christian.buergi@redbull.com Marcel Bannwart, marcel.bannwart@redbull.com Jessica Pünchera, jessica.puenchera@redbull.com Goldbach Publishing Marco Nicoli, marco.nicoli@goldbach.com

THE RED BULLETIN United Kingdom, ISSN 2308-5894 Editor Tom Guise Associate Editor Lou Boyd Chief Sub-Editor Davydd Chong Publishing Management Ollie Stretton Advertising Sales Mark Bishop, mark.bishop@redbull.com

THE RED BULLETIN

NEO

Worldwide Box Office:

Original Release Date:

3/31/1999

(The One / Mr. Anderson) Neo, the sixth incarnation of the One, a man born inside the Matrix who had the ability to change whatever he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit.

PILLS

A choice. The red pill offers a chance to see reality, though the truth may be unsettling. The blue pill offers continued ignorance.

$466 Million

THE MATRIX

A computer-generated dreamworld. Built to keep humans under control in order to convert them into energy.

MORPHEUS

TRINITY

Mysterious hacker and captain of the Nebuchadnezzar, and the man who freed Neo after spending his life searching for the One.

Elite hacker and Morpheus’ first mate.

She is the first to make contact with Neo.

THE ONE

Keanu Reeves was 33 during the filming of The Matrix.

The One has been prophesied to return to destroy the Matrix and end the war, bringing freedom to the human race.

BULLET TIME

AGENT SMITH

By the middle of 2002, the famous “Bullet Time“ sequence had been spoofed in over 20 different movies.

A security program designed to police the Matrix, he is the opposite of Neo in every way.

OWN THE ORIGINAL ON 4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAY AND DIGITAL NOW TM

TM

SCI-FI VIOLENCE AND BRIEF LANGUAGE

© 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.

Action highlight

Howling winds and smashing surf? Just another day for the world’s best windsurfers competing in Red Bull Storm Chase. For three days in March 2019, wind and waves battered Magheroarty Beach in the northwest corner of Ireland—all thanks to a feisty weather system named Storm Gareth.

Here Australian Jaeger Stone gets an assist from Gareth and catches some crazy air while Adam Lewis of Great Britain follows in pursuit. Stone returns to Storm Chase this year, just as the winter swells start hopping: The competition window runs from October 6 through March 30, 2022.

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The next issue of THE RED BULLETIN is out on December 21.

THE RED BULLETIN

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