Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine - Issue Sixteen - Winter 2020/2021

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Winter 2020/ 2021

Issue Number Sixteen

[o] Aaron Schwartz

www.koruashapes.com #madeforturning

James Niederberger Shape: Dart 60

Issue Number Sixteen 07

Anna Gasser airs it out.

Photo: Aaron Blatt EDITOR’S NOTE

Pent

Up

What is the color of snowboarding?

W

e are teetering over a no-fall zone on the precipice of civil unrest, divided by archaically ingrained ideologies, amid a global pandemic that continues to ravage communities far and wide. Small businesses, startups, and long-loved venues and institutions like Snowboarder Magazine and Powder have been uprooted and destroyed.

Life and snowboarding as we know it are swept up in a peculiar flux and all we know is we can do better.

2020 has been a cluster of what-the-fuck moments, a never-ending hangover of suck, with glimmers of what we previously took for granted. The spontaneity of a powder day without the worry of a resort reservation. Squishing in to share a shotski with eight drooling randoms at the bar.

Racing for the last tram, squeezing in with 100 other putrid-smelling riders, all vying for one more lap…

Here at Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine, we’ve always sought to celebrate shred culture in and among the Tetons, and we’re sure as hell not letting COVID-19 stop us now. As we endure this new normal,

WORDS: HEATHER HENDRICKS PHOTO: A ARON BLATT

we’re beyond grateful and honored to continue crafting this magazine for you, and highlighting all the good that still abounds.

As we dive into our sixteenth issue, we realize we’ve grown up. Now, more than ever, it’s our responsibility to elevate the people, photos, and voices of those within our pages that have previously been underrepresented. In this issue we strive to explore and highlight diversity in snowboarding, through stories featuring LGBTQ+, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous community members.

Many of us are writing or working on this from a place of white privilege, and we understand our work has only just begun.

We want to continue fostering a welcoming, vibrant, and inclusive community that is built by snowboarders, for snowboarders, no matter their identity or heritage.

The following pages are packed with fascinating reads. Long-time local DJ and rider Elliot Alston talks with our publisher Olaus Linn about the shortcomings of Jackson’s cultural understanding and ways

we can do better as a community. Zeppelin Zeerip explores the fight for our public lands and how it’s inextricably connected to climate change. Alex Showerman, an advocate for LGBTQ+ folx, opens up about this year’s ShaperSummit board test. And, as the pandemic panics on, we reflect on the glory days of hitchhiking on Teton Pass through Scott Davidson’s eyes and polaroids—a simple but profound part of our normal lives that we hope will return someday soon when it is once again safe to ride in a car with a kind stranger.

There’s a lot to this issue, because there’s a lot to us as snowboarders. We are bound together by our love of sliding sideways, and we’re riding this out together.

Drop in, and ride on.

XOXO, HH

Heather Hendricks believes in loving the wine, not the label. She has a multitude of stories from her years in the snow industry… only a few are acceptable for print. @heatherhendrickshh

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 08

The Crew WINTER 2020-2021

EDITOR

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Heather Hendricks editor@jhsnowboarder.com

Mark Epstein mark.epstein@sharpeyedeer.com

PHOTO EDITOR

CFO / COPYEDITOR

Ben Gavelda photos@jhsnowboarder.com

Jenelle Linn jenelle.linn@sharpeyedeer.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Olaus Linn olaus@sharpeyedeer.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Deidre Norman sales@jhsnowboarder.com SALES DIRECTOR

Jon Grinney jon.grinney@jhsnowboarder.com SENIOR DESIGNER

Ryan Dee ryan.dee@sharpeyedeer.com

BIG THANKS

Sarah Christine Mary Pat Walker Ben Linn PUBLISHER

Sharp Eye Deer sharpeyedeer.com ON THE WEB

jhsnowboarder.com SUBSCRIPTIONS

jhsnowboarder.com/subscribe MAILING ADDRESS

3875 W Linn Ranch Rd Wilson, WY 83014

CONTRIBUTORS

Scott Davidson Ryan Dee Carly Finke Ben Gavelda Heather Hendricks Jessica Kaplan Izzy Lidsky Olaus Linn Katie Lozancich Derek MacDonald Forrest Shearer Alex Showerman Randy Strand Lindsay Vallen Zeppelin Zeerip BOARD MEMBERS

Halina Boyd Mark Carter Mikey Franco Bryan Iguchi Rob Kingwill Jeff Moran Lance Pitman Julie Zell

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Talia Atkins Aaron Blatt Peter Cirilli Scott Davidson Ryan Dee Mark Epstein Carly Finke Oli Gagnon Ben Gavelda David Gonzales Jacob J. Sofia Jaramillo Tristan Kolb Katie Lozancich Robert MacInnis Fred Marmsater Andrew Miller Alex Pashley Keegan Rice William Saunders Stephen Shelesky Jared Spieker Re Wikstrom @dirt.coast COVER ARTIST

Erick Nelson

Issue Number Sixteen 09

Contents ISSUE SIXTEEN

EDITOR’S NOTE - 05

RETURNING THE SOUL - 30

COURSE CRAFTSMEN - 72

UNSTOPPABLE FORCE - 102

Heather Hendricks

Alex Showerman

Ryan Dee

Lindsay Vallen

CUT FROM THE WILD- 10

THE GALLERY - 37

LAND GRAB - 76

RESHAPING THE MOLD - 108

Izzy Lidsky

Select Photography

SOMETHING GOOD TO SAY - 15

SHREDDING THE SNAKE - 52

Olaus Linn POWERFUL COMMUNITY - 18

Derek MacDonald INCLUSIVE MOUNTAINS- 25

Jessica Kaplan

Lindsay Vallen SCRATCHING THE SURFACE - 58

Sofia Jaramillo & Emilé Zynobia

Zeppelin Zeerip WINDING THROUGH THE WINDS - 80

Forrest Shearer THE GLORY DAYS - 88

Scott Davidson HER OWN WAY - 95

MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPING - 64

Ben Gavelda

Heather Hendricks & Blake Hansen

THIS PAGE

© 2020 Sharp Eye Deer LLC All Rights Reserved

Blake Paul sending in Jackson Hole.

Photo: Oli Gagnon

Carly Finke PAVING A PATH - 110

Derek MacDonald ATTAINABLE ADVENTURE - 112

Katie Lozancich DROPPING NEXT- 115

Randy Strand

ON THE COVER

“The Landlord” 8.5”x8.5” Vector Illustration Erick Nelson

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 12

COVER ARTIST

Cut From The Wild

Erick Nelson’s “The Landlord,” printmaking, and how he made it to Jackson Hole WO R D S : I Z Z Y L I D S KY PHOTOS: RYAN DEE

Issue Number Sixteen

E

rick Nelson ended up in Jackson Hole the way most of us did—by finding a place to live and never leaving. Hailing from Massachusetts, he remembers learning to snowboard when he was 13 at Blue Hills Ski Area, just outside of Boston. The 300 vertical feet of riding that Blue Hills had to offer was enough to get him hooked on the sport, the lifestyle, and perhaps most importantly, a new form of artistic inspiration. Landing in Jackson in 2012 was a serendipitous culmination of chance, childhood experiences, and a love of the natural environment.

Nelson was formally trained at Colorado College as a printmaker, and he recalls an early impatience with making art. Although he has been drawing and creating since he was able to hold a crayon, the nature of printmaking is all about process and patience as the artist creates a matrix that will eventually end up as the print itself.

One of the things that draws Nelson to

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printmaking is that it’s one of the most tactile iterations of 2D art. It was described to him once as “sculptural draftsmanship.”

Woodblock relief prints, his go-to medium, are perfect for someone who once struggled to slow down in his work. These days, he’s working in digital mediums as well. While there are certainly differences between the two ways of making art, he is learning to embrace all of the unique things that digital illustration can offer and exploring them to fit his style.

As many artists living in Jackson do, Nelson draws much of his inspiration from the mountains. Nelson’s work confirms his belief that beauty can be found anywhere you look. He also credits some of his professors at Colorado College, both in and out of the printmaking discipline, as influential in his work today. They taught him the value of art for art’s sake, which has stuck with him more than some of his formal training ever did. Lately, Nelson

has been particularly taken and inspired by sundogs (rainbow light patterns) that form over the snow as the winter sun rises.

Nelson’s cover art for Issue Sixteen of Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine explores a couple of different themes. Entitled “The Landlord,” the piece intends to touch on the housing issues our community faces and also the deeper meaning of ownership and land. The way Nelson sees it, we’re just renting our time in the mountains, on the rivers, on the planet itself. His imagery discusses our yearning for knowledge of the mountains and also their mysteries. The artwork was created digitally, but Nelson used the same reductive process he would in a woodcut print for a similar, organic effect.

See more of Erick’s work at ericknelson.co

IL Izzy Lidsky hails from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, but is now living happily in the Tetons. She enjoys all things outdoors, painting, and baking. @izzylidsky

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Issue Number Sixteen 17

Something Good To Say DJ turned activist Elliot Alston talks about the challenges of building community WORDS: OLAUS LINN PHOTOS: MARK EPSTEIN

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lliot Alston always has something to say. He’s been a fixture of the snowboarding and music scene in Jackson Hole for years, but in the great reshuffling of life during the pandemic he has turned to something new: activism. Jackson Hole Snowboader Magazine was able to catch up with Elliot to get his take on how issues of race, diversity, and cultural identity affect Jackson Hole and snowboarding.

Olaus Linn: What

have you been up to since I haven’t seen anyone in six fricken’ months?

I’ve been working, just trying to figure out how the pandemic is affecting Elliot Alston:

us all. I’ve just been trying to get my head above water. I also helped start a non-profit called African American Latinx MultiCultural Association (AALMA).

Linn:

Why don’t you tell me about that?

Well, in Teton County I feel like there is a lack of representation as an African American, but also for all minorities. Since I’m not DJ-ing and my profession is gone, I decided to get into some activism and some real stuff.

Alston:

Linn:

What’s the mission of AALMA?

Basically to create awareness about the culture of Jackson and let people know what’s going on here. How some issues are affecting us as minorities, in our own community. As we all know, in Jackson, our working class is getting pushed out further and further, day by day. What are we really doing from the inside of our community to actually strengthen the fabric of it?

Alston:

What are the top things Jackson Hole can do to represent everyone and build culture and community?

Linn:

I talk to a lot of kids that went to high school here. I think in the early Alston:

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 18

“When something gets too popular, they just buy it and mainstream it and vavoom.”

2000s, 20-25% of the public high schools were Latinx. Now it’s up to about 35% and there’s still no real integration. Jackson is an awesome place that still promotes segregation on a certain level.

Linn:

I’m sure that’s only getting worse in a pandemic when there is no opportunity to get together in groups or do anything that mixes people together.

Alston:

Linn:

It’s a tough scenario. We want AALMA to serve as a place for awareness of culture, and a place to create an open dialogue for people. We’d eventually like to have some sort of brick and mortar resource center to help our community. We want to do things to generate awareness that there is culture in Jackson. It’s not just the one percent community. There’s still other people here striving and trying to do the right thing besides tax shelter their money, you know?

Alston:

Let’s talk about how snowboarding fits into this a little bit. Obviously throughout the years there have been some superstar black snowboarders: Kier Dillon was a personal hero of mine. I had his poster up on my wall for years.

Linn:

Alston:

Oh ya, that’s my guy!

But snowboarding is also sort of this lily-white space and has been for a long time. How do you see the moment that we are all in and the things you’re doing relating to that?

I’m gonna push on the idea of minorities and environmentalism. What our environment means to us. We need to be aware of so many things, like how we are living, water supply, in all of our communities, and not just Jackson. I guess I have a broad vision, but more than anything I want to bring kids and get them into these mountains, get them out here doin’ things out of their everyday environment.

A bunch of kids out of Casper or Gillette that might not have the access to ski, snowboard, fish, all of these beautiful things that I enjoy. More than wanting to show them those for their own sake, I want to show how important the environment is through those things.

I feel like in my experience in action sports, the industry is only lettin’ a couple brothas in at a time. We are in a predominantly Caucasian sport. We are in a luxury sport.

This isn’t a sport to where it’s cheap, right?

You can be in an urban area and all you need is a basketball and some tennis shoes and you can get it in—you can do all the

training you need to be successful.

That’s why I feel like skateboarding is growing so much for minorities. All you need is a skateboard and some shoes and you have the platform and the environment to be successful. You have the streets. There’s skate parks everywhere now. Where we jump into snowboarding and skiing, you need a mountain, you need lift tickets, you need gear… It’s a whole lot more to get into it, you know?

Linn: Totally. Even

just getting to the mountains requires a plane ticket and several flights, and all this stuff.

It’s not that there’s an intentional lack of representation, but the snowboard industry is dominated by a certain culture.

But there are organizations within snowboarding that give a lot back to minorities. Some large companies like Burton and their Stoked program—taking minority kids into the mountains and gettin’ them out. Even locally you see what Coombs Outdoors does and how awesome that is for our community. We look at organizations like that locally and we are like YES. Our visions are different but we are all trying to push in the same direction to create awareness.

Alston:

Issue Number Sixteen 19 Linn: The

culture question is so interesting with skateboarding and snowboarding cuz both of those sports have borrowed/ stolen so much from Black street culture.

Ripped the outfits, ripped the music, ripped everything. What do you think these industries and sports owe to that culture, and how do we acknowledge that debt?

I feel like there are phases with culture—it kind of ramps. Hip-hop, rock music, art, sports, and culture are always ingrained and intertwined. Whether it’s snowboarding or basketball—always intertwined. Obviously we live in America: when something gets too popular, they just buy it and mainstream it and vavoom.

Alston:

Linn:

It’s a Mountain Dew commercial.

It could be a part of Hispanic culture, Black culture, white culture, once that shit gets popular, they just buy your ass. It’s up to us to protect that culture to a certain level more than having it exploited.

Alston:

So in terms of snowboarding and the state of snowboarding, you feel like staying true to our roots by focusing on the sport for the love of it is the way forward?

Linn:

Yes, as little as I might have, I still try to put my money in local directions and into brands that are working to acknowledge my culture of being an African American. If I’m running your product or buying your product, I want to feel good about where I’m spending my money and where it might go in this corporate world… I mean, at least fake it for a brotha. (laughs) Alston:

It’s a good first step—it’s some form of acknowledgement.

Linn:

Ya, it’s somethin’. It’s some change.

It’s like looking at the small victories in Alston:

the pandemic. Like we got Trump out of office–BOOM–that’s a huge plus for us as minorities and for everyone.

Well buddy, I could talk all day but someone has to transcribe this… I take little shreds of hope out of this whole thing. So many people had this moment of awakening over the summer where it’s not enough to not be racist myself, I actually have to work to be actively anti-racist.

Acknowledging somebody’s culture, talking to someone else, whatever it was, everyone realized they weren’t doing enough.

Linn:

Even me. As a Black man, I realized I wasn’t doing enough. I’ve had jobs, I’ve done the Jackson thing. Maybe I couldn’t buy a house in Indian Springs, but I could live here, live a happy life, a simple life, in a good community, right? And I wasn’t even doing enough. I look back and think I could have been doing so much more. So, I guess, I ask people in our local community, are you a have, or a have-not? There is still an element in Jackson where you can go out and create change in the community and do good things for people in general.

Alston:

I understand that I do have some privilege, even being an African American male, even in today’s society and how it views us. Like if I’m doing the right thing here, and people see it, and we are making the right moves, people will see that. That’s about all I can do, man. Put my best foot forward and use my privilege because I haven’t had it as good as some other people, but I haven’t had it as bad as other people, and I know I’m doing alright. So with my little alright, I’m gonna use it to push forward.

OL Olaus Linn is the publisher and creative director for JHSM. He hasn’t had a haircut since March. @olaus

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 20

Powerful

Local nonprofits strive to provide outdoor opportunities for Jackson Hole youth

T

The town of Jackson, Wyoming, sits just 20 minutes outside of Grand Teton National Park and 58 miles from the southern border of Yellowstone National Park. The town is surrounded by ski hills: Snow King Mountain Resort is located right in the town itself, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is 20 minutes away, and Grand Targhee Resort, although on the other side of the Tetons, isn’t too bad of a drive either. The area also boasts some of the most well-

known backcountry snowboarding access in the country. The valley’s crown jewel, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, has been voted the best ski area in North America many times over and averages 459 inches of light, dry Wyoming powder annually. Teton County, Wyoming, which contains the town and all three ski resorts, is also considered one of the wealthiest places in America.

But most of you likely know all of that...

Issue Number Sixteen 21

Community WORDS: DEREK MACDONALD

PHOTOS: DAVID GONZALES & TALIA ATKINS

Photo: David Gonzales

What you may not realize is that within this playground for the rich and famous exists a large youth population who come from lowincome backgrounds and cannot access the same experiences as other members of our community. They are the daughters and sons of the working-class folks who clean hotel rooms, cook meals, and drive buses. Helping these kids access the outdoors is exactly what two local nonprofits, Coombs Outdoors and Carving The Future, are on a mission to do.

The Doug Coombs Foundation launched in 2012 and renamed itself Coombs Outdoors in 2019. Doug Coombs was a legendary ski guide and extreme skier who tragically passed away in 2006 from a skiing accident in La Grave, France. His wife, Emily Coombs, started the organization in honor of her late husband, their shared passion for outdoor recreation, and with a goal of empowering the youth of Jackson Hole to reach their full potential.

In an effort to create a healthy community where every child thrives, Coombs Outdoors provides year-round outdoor programming for youth from Kindergarten through High School graduation. Their vision is to create “a world in which all kids are able to reap the benefits of the great outdoors, regardlesss of socio-economic, racial, or cultural barriers.�

Carving The Future was founded by former pro snowboarder Adam Dowell in 2018.

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 22

Shadows of our future.

Photo: Talia Atkins

Adam’s life changed when he was gifted a snowboard as a kid. His older brothers were snowboarders, but his family couldn’t afford a board for him. The kindness of a stranger’s donation eventually led Adam to a 15 year professional snowboarding career.

That initial act of generosity also provided him with a lifelong love of the mountains and an outlet to direct his energy during emotionally challenging times.

Carving The Future believes that board sports serve as a powerful way to mitigate mental health challenges for young people.

“Wyoming’s teen suicide rate is triple the national average,” says board member Talia Atkins. “From 2015 to 2019, teen suicide in Wyoming jumped 40%. Being a teen is already hard, but 50% of kids do not get medical care for a treatable mental health

diagnosis. Teton County is not free from these statistics,” Atkins continues.

Coombs Outdoors has historically focused on skiing, but in 2019, Carving The Future made a financial contribution to Coombs which provided support to all of the snowboarders enrolled in Coombs’ winter programs. This included covering the cost associated with snowboard rentals as well as lessons for 27 kids. A partnership blossomed between the two organizations.

Recently, honor roll students from the Arapahoe School on the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming have been able to come to Snow King Mountain Resort for ski or snowboard lessons through Coombs Outdoors. Many of the students wanted to snowboard, and Snow King

found itself short on snowboard instructors.

Volunteers from Coombs and Carving The Future stepped up to help the young future rippers get acquainted with the basics of snowboarding. Coombs Outdoors was able to handle the logistics of the outdoor programming and Carving The Future ensured that the students had boards to ride and equipment to keep them both safe and warm. The Arapahoe School took trips to Jackson Hole four times last season and are on track to continue coming this winter, barring any change of plans resulting from COVID-19 safety protocols.

Coombs Outdoors is seeing more interest in snowboarding from their other program participants as well. Out of 80 kids, as many as 10 are currently eager to commit to a full season of snowboard programming,

Issue Number Sixteen 23

There’s power in empowering our youth. Photo: Talia Atkins

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 24

according to Maggie Shipley, Program Manager for Coombs Outdoors. Hugo Alverado is a high school participant who was new to snowboarding last year. He ended up becoming a full-blown shredder who averaged three to four days a week on snow by the end of the season. Shipley thinks it would be fun to have their entire student group try snowboarding for a day, to give other students like Hugo a chance to fall in love with riding.

Carving The Future puts their outreach efforts into large single-day events such as Go Skate Day, creating awareness at snowboard industry events, and even hosting competitions. They put together a pop-up skateboarding competition in the fall of 2020 as part of Old Bill’s Fun Run for Charities.

Talia Atkins also recently launched G.A.P. (Girls Actively Participating) clinics, to help ensure that female-identifying young people have access to boardsports. Carving

The Future also runs a robust gear donation program, allowing them to redirect older, gently-used boards and other gear to kids who might just need a snowboard from a stranger to jump start their own dreams of going pro.

What does the future look like for these organizations? Carving The Future and Coombs Outdoors both show promising growth. Coombs Outdoors has created

Issue Number Sixteen 25

Photo: David Gonzales

invaluable relationships with kids in the community and their families. Carving The Future has created opportunities for many of those kids to own gear. Both organizations are focused on incorporating more training in order to better equip their staff for working with youth who are dealing with trauma or come from challenging backgrounds.

It only takes one caring person taking an interest in a young person’s life to change

it for the better. Snowboarding can provide an escape from the difficulties of both adolescence and economic hardship, and be an avenue that teaches kids to find and embrace their passions. Despite the stark income inequality of Jackson Hole, Coombs Outdoors and Carving The Future are helping make the outdoors more inclusive and accessible, and creating a powerful new community of riders in the process. DM

COOMBS OUTDOORS

@coombsoutdoors Coombsoutdoors.org

CARVING THE FUTURE

@carvingthefuture Carvingthefuture.com

Derek MacDonald is a storyteller based in Jackson, WY. He’s happiest chasing sunrises with several cups of coffee and his snowboard. @_derekmacdonald

Issue Number Sixteen 27 Timi Carpenter lighting it up.

Inclusive Mountains Burton Snowboards moves forward with gender expansive products in its 2021 collection WORDS: JESSICA KAPLAN PHOTOS: PETER CIRILLI / COURTESY OF BURTON SNOWBOARDS

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 28

Mine77 was created by Jake Burton and continues to flourish through the work of his three sons.

Issue Number Sixteen 29

“Jake always wanted anyone, of any gender, to rock it if they think it’s cool.”

T

he rapidly expanding global movement towards inclusion has been embraced by the snowboard industry.

Brands and media companies have begun to realize the need to step up and embrace change. Burton Snowboards—no stranger to pushing things forward in snowboarding—has gone a step beyond talk by releasing an entire line of genderneautral gear. Enter Mine77 and the Family Tree Collection.

“It’s 2020 and inclusivity is not only needed, but shouldn’t feel forced,” says John ‘Tiggs’ Cartiglia, Senior Product Manager of Special Projects for Burton and Mine77. “I think it’s great that Mine is doing it—it’s a natural evolution of where Burton is as a progressive company, but our work is not done. We can always make it better towards the future—the second you become complacent is the second you’re not doing enough.”

First conceptualized by the late Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards, Mine77 was an incubator project for the pioneer when his wife, Donna Carpenter, encouraged him to ‘do his own thing’ and create something for himself. He started with a mantra: ‘The Mine is Ours.’

“What I take away from the mantra of Mine from my past conversations with Jake... it’s a collective effort, and for everyone,” Cartiglia shares. “Ideas, feedback and criticism can come from anywhere and the product is for anyone who feels they want to put it on and wear it. It shouldn’t be gender-specific. Jake always wanted anyone, of any gender, to rock it if they think it’s cool.”

Creative Direction for Mine77 is now spearheaded by Timi Carpenter—one of the Carpenter’s three sons—who is pushing it forward with three to four limited drops a year since its debut in 2018. The latest release includes a recent collaboration with Tupac Shakur’s estate, producing a set of bindings, the Mine-Vita, and a board, All Eyez on Me, showcasing some of the late artist’s lyrics. Another highlight from this drop is a Merino-lite Reversible Insulator set in either desert camo or striking purple, which boasts an exceedingly cool ‘77’ embroidered baffling.

Longtime Burton team member and frequent Jackson Hole rider Danny Davis continues to be an integral part of research and development for Mine77. From roundtable feedback sessions, to living

and breathing the product at its core and intimate time spent riding and hanging with Jake, Davis has a deeper perspective on the line.

“With Mine77, Jake involved everyone,” says Davis. “He had women, he had men involved; his son Timi was being shot for campaigns… He wanted his friends to wear the collection—and Jake was friends with all walks of life. ‘If we make this and if you like it and fit into it, then awesome, wear it.’

Jake was making it for everyone.”

From a hardgoods perspective, the intention of making boards gender nonconforming is equally important for both Mine77 and the Family Tree collection. Davis’ opinion on gender with boards is both futuristic and fluid. He shares some of his inspirational foundation with Burton Field Testing Engineer and Product Developer, John ‘JG’ Gerndt, and says, “JG is the kind of guy who has always ridden women’s boards. He’s never seen a board as binary.

The Family Tree boards are all shapes and work for people with different heights and weights.”

The spirit and attitude of the Family Tree collection has been identified with

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 30

a nonbinary approach since its launch in 2013, yet the 2020/2021 quiver marks the first time it has been marketed without male or female labels. This year they are solely boards—boards that are ideal for Jackson Hole and the Tetons as they are specifically tooled for powder, freeriding, backcountry, and beyond, gender notwithstanding.

and it suffices to say, she knows her stuff.

“Product doesn’t know what gender you are, product doesn’t know what gender you subscribe to, it has no idea what color your hair is—product only knows where you want to go and wants to be the tool to get you there,” she explains.

“For the first time in the 2021 Family Tree Collection, we completely removed gender,” shares Lesley Betts, a 13-year veteran at Burton who has put in her time as a Senior Product Line Merchandiser of Hardgoods.

One of the ways the Family Tree Collection has achieved that this season is with its size offerings. All boards in the collection range from a 142 or 144, on the smaller scale, and all the way up to a 164 or 170, allowing for any body shape or size or height to find a board that fits.

Betts is integral in the arc of the progression of the Family Tree Collection,

Snowboarding will always be a beacon of freedom and personal expression. It feels

right that brands like Burton continue to push snowboard culture forward to include all of humankind. Betts respectfully shares, “I feel honored to be working for a brand who is allowing us to take the wheel and experiment with chances on something like this. I’m very stoked Burton was ahead of the curve and not solely a reaction to what is happening in the world right now.”

JK

Jess Kaplan is the founder of @siderealhaus in JH, and a board member for Burton’s Chill Foundation. @jessicalkaplan siderealhaus.com

SNOWBOARDS

MADE IN JACKSON, WYOMING SINCE 2000

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 32

RATED RADICAL

Returning The Soul The Shaper Summit is more than just a board test, it’s a soul test WORDS: ALEX SHOWERMAN PHOTOS: KEEGAN RICE & JACOB J.

A fishtail fancy feast.

Photo: Keegan Rice

Issue Number Sixteen 33

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opsicle stick snowboards never spoke to me. I taught myself to snowboard arching turns on fresh snow in the pasture behind my house, and at the old rope tow that ran off an antique truck motor in East Corinth, Vermont. Snowboarding was never about the park or pipe because there wasn’t any. It was about the pure bliss of painting a turn on fresh snow.

Yet, driven by the popularity of the X Games and the Olympics, snowboard design became monotonous and lacked soul. It lost its way from the joyful radicals who invented the new sport, and became defined by the very things we had previously spurned: judges, competitions, ego, vanity, elitism, and big-moneyed corporate partners. It left those of us in search of the perfect turn in the dark and ultimately led me to fall out of love with snowboarding.

Then came Rob Kingwill’s ShaperSummit in 2013. Decidedly radical, the ShaperSummit rejected those uninspired shapes and looked back to our roots for inspiration. It was thanks to this event that we saw the triumphant return of the classic swallowtail and new applications of OG shapes. I remember drooling over the Franco Snowshapes and Gentemsticks that graced the pages of TransWorld SNOWboarding Magazine, dreaming that one day that I would get to ride these legendary boards.

I’ll never forget the call from Adam Broderick, TransWorld’s Gear Editor in 2016, “Can you get to Jackson? We have a place, food, and lift tickets for you at the ShaperSummit. It’s next week though...”

I dropped everything, including my

savings account, on a $900 plane ticket that required a night spent in Dallas and somehow made it to Jackson just in time for the snow to start flying.

like Weston, Pallas, and Elevated Surfcraft into mainstream snowboard culture. The ShaperSummit had once again returned the soul to snowboarding.

The event was (and still is) a who’s who of grassroots snowboarding, and I instantly felt at home. There’s a special serendipity to the interactions both in the tent and out on the mountain. A chance encounter in the gondola line with Leo Tsuo, the owner of Weston, would fundamentally change the

For me though, the highlight was not the plethora of boards, but a conversation shared on a boot pack out to Four Pines with Chuck Mclean, the founder of Dig My Quiver. We chatted about building positivity and stoke in the snowboard community. About avoiding snowboarding’s cultural devils of ego and elitism, and to instead foster a culture of support and stoke.

Months later, with the world in the grip of a global pandemic, after a summer of unrest and a divisive political election, I found myself reflecting most on that conversation.

I wondered about how we translate all of the knowledge and stoke inside the physical tent of the ShaperSummit to broadening the proverbial tent of snowboarding?

Alex living her best life. Photo: Jacob J.

course of my life. He recommended I try a board of his called the Backwoods, and I was instantly hooked. It would become my go-to board for the next four seasons.

Four years later, I finally returned to the Summit in February of 2020, now working for Weston. It felt like coming full-circle in my journey with snowboarding and I was excited to see how the event had evolved. This small grassroots event had ushered in a golden era of board design, and helped to propel small indy upstarts

How do we continue to expand the product offerings of Rated Radical-worthy boards for women? How do we break down barriers for LGBTQ+ people and BIPOC who have long felt relegated to outsider status in our sport? What do we all collectively want snowboarding to look like years from now, and how can this incredible event help shape that future as it has the boards we get to ride today? The ShaperSummit–and snowboarding itself–is about more than just gear and turns. It is a living culture, and it’s up to all of us to define it. AS Alex Showerman is an LGBTQ+ womxn, athlete, advocate, storyteller, and brand strategist who works with values-driven brands like Weston. @AlexShowerman

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 34

Women’s Rated Radical READ THE REST AT SHAPERSUMMIT.COM

Franco Snowshapes Lipstick

Nitro Squash

Lib Tech T. Rice Orca

TEST ER: ALLI N OL AN D

T EST ER: ST EPH AN I E N I TSCH

TESTER : CAMI L A BR OWN

SI ZE: 1 52

SI ZE: 1 53

SIZE: 1 53

“WOW. I’ve been harassing Mikey [Franco] for a softer board for old ladies for a while and they are getting close to nailing it with this one! It looks like this board will be all nose and very stiff, but it held tight like a tiny tiger in a Cheyenne Bowl and flew across the flats like it was on rails, taking me back to the tent in enviable style.

It doesn’t look like an everyday board, but it just might be.”

“Whoa nelly, she can turn and burn! I just wanted to keep cruising on this sucker!

Pure carving. OMG-inducing. I will say it was a bit chattery on steeper, torn-up slopes, but cruised on groomers, and made wide sweeping turns. I didn’t get too airy riding this, but I had an easy time popping off anything in sight. Nicely done!”

“I was super impressed at how nimble and playful this board was despite its width and overall large surface area. The 153 floats like a 159 but the shape made it easy to transition from edge to edge. A powerfully playful snowboard! Loved it! Handles anything you throw at it, but still is easy to maneuver. Soooooo stompy.”

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Women’s Rated Radical READ THE REST AT SHAPERSUMMIT.COM

MTN Local Frozen Fishstick

Weston Eclipse

Arbor Veda

TEST E R : ALEX SH OWE RMAN

T EST ER : MEG MAT H ESON

TESTER : H EAT H ER H ENDRICKS

SI ZE: 1 5 4 . 5

SI ZE: 150

SIZE: 150

“While all the young guns were hucking to flat into skied out moguls, Max Holzman of MTN Local was laying trenches on groomers with his smooth, easy going and joyful turns. His Frozen Fishstick is the embodiment of that style and offered effortless turns on less than ideal conditions.

Would love to add this to my quiver!”

“This board rules—great job Weston! The shape is surfy yet versatile. I really dig how much power the tail has, it wants to pop when you engage it. I truly feel this board is a unicorn. Not sure there’s much (if anything) to improve with this one.

Somehow Weston has created what is in my mind the perfect board. Made by women for women. Beautiful art and beautiful story behind it. Gimme!”

“Yowzer, this deck does it all. The bite on turns was unmatched as it locked into high-speed carves with ease. I raced a crew of dudes off the Teton lift, and felt super confident pointing it SFD, given its edgeto-edge responsiveness. No pow in sight, but it held super tight on hardpack, and was surfy in the soft stuff. The directional shape isn’t crazy, but there’s enough taper to feel spoony. Hello new daily driver.”

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 36

Men’s Rated Radical READ THE REST AT SHAPERSUMMIT.COM

Pogo Maverick

Salomon HPS - Takaharut Nakai

Igneous Dark Star

TEST ER: R OB K IN G WI LL

T EST ER : OL AUS LI N N

TESTER : D R EW H AYES

SI ZE: 2 3 0

SI ZE: 1 58

SIZE: 156

“This board is built to the highest standards.

The way the early rise blends into the sidecut is seamless. Damp but still playful, this board feels like it is instantly a part of you, reacting immediately. Amazing!

The beautiful wood topsheet and one ultra smooth ride.”

“I was shocked by how much I loved this board. The shape is mellow, by ShaperSummit standards, and at 158 it was smaller than what I usually ride. But the board is just such a joy to ride! The wide directional nose profile and stubby round tail were perfectly balanced, and the construction felt incredibly solid all over the mountain in challenging conditions.

Don’t let the subtelty of the shape or the topsheet design fool you—Wolle Nyvelt and Takaharu Nakai designed this thing from the base up to be a precision shred machine. Go ride it.”

“Really stable charger at high speeds. Very predictable edge-to-edge and could easily get it to lock in carves. It’s an all mountain crusher that I’d like to get in pow. Pretty poppy, especially off the small tail. I really enjoyed charging fast on this board.”

Issue Number Sixteen 37

Men’s Rated Radical READ THE REST AT SHAPERSUMMIT.COM

Burton Hometown Hero

Cardiff Crane

Never Summer Harpoon

TEST E R : E D D I E WALL

T EST ER : SH AWN R OBERTS

TESTER : JAMES BL ACK

SI ZE: 1 5 6

SI ZE: 158

SIZE: 159

“Best board I have ridden so far this test!

So much fun, I felt like I had been riding it for years. Love everything about it, and honestly don’t have anything bad to say about it. It was a bit stiff, so could be a hair softer, but all in all this is a solid deck.”

“I loved every second on this board. I rode it in all conditions and could not find a flaw.

It felt like it was made for me. High speeds, freestyle, powder, it allowed me to push its limits and still always asked “What’s next?”

Rides like a hard-charging groomer board but handles freestyle like a park board. It’s worth the cost. It has a top speed, but it took some effort to reach it. I’d ride the 162 if looking exclusively for powder but the 158 can go easily from all inbounds conditions to the backcountry, no problem.”

“This board feels very playful, but has stability when you need it most. Camber profile eases in and out of butters and turns, which is opposed by a stable and responsive front end and a snappy tail. Crackin’ ollies, bombin’, butterin’, heel side scrape’n—truly a rad board!”

Explore deeper, live bigger.

Find us at

Award-winning women’s splitboards and snowboards for the path less taken.

Needle & Shred 176 N Main St. Victor, ID 503-914-9629 needleandshred.co

or pallassnowboards.com

Best Asian Cuisine

Issue Number Sixteen Photo: Aaron Blatt 39 Rider: Brock Crouch

The Gallery Mind-bending photos for your viewing pleasure PHOTOS: A ARON BLATT, OLI GAGNON, JARED SPIEKER, ANDREW MILLER & ALEX PASHLEY

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 40

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Photo: Oli Gagnon Rider: Arthur Longo

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 42 Photo: Jared Spieker Rider: Hans Mindnich

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 44

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Photo: Oli Gagnon Rider: Pat Moore

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Photo: Andrew Miller Rider: Bryan Iguchi

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 48

Photo: Jared Spieker Rider: Leanne Pelosi

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Photo: Oli Gagnon Rider: Hana Beaman

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 50

Photo: Andrew Miller Rider: Nick Russell

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 52

Photo: Alex Pashley Rider: Mary Rand

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 54

Shredding The Snake Surfing mountain waves with Alpha Barrie and Zack Kresge WORDS: LINDSAY VALLEN PHOTOS: KEEGAN RICE

Issue Number Sixteen

D During the late spring and early summer in the Snake River Canyon, just south of Jackson, Wyoming, lies a magical wave form: the Lunch Counter rapid. During the early summer runoff, a group of surfers can always be found on the surrounding rocks, taking turns catching the standing wave. Local surfers and snowboarders, Zack Kresge and Alpha Barrie, grew up surfing in the ocean. We sat down with them to chat about how this land-locked wave taps into the same feeling. It’s a common thread that motivates all of us—surfers, snowboards, and adventurers alike. It’s addictive–a sense not easily described.

ALPHA BARRIE

Alpha Barrie grew up in Bureh, Sierra Leone, a small coastal community in West Africa. He learned to surf at the Bureh Beach Surf Club, the only surf club that existed in Sierra Leone when he was 11 or 12 years old. From that early age, Alpha was immediately hooked. “My community is really small and it’s the only place you can find local surfers,” Alpha says. “There are like 10-15 people in a lineup.”

Zack Kresge night surfs the Snake River.

Alpha has been living in Victor on-and-off since the winter of 2016 on a sponsored visa. He spends six months here, and then six months back in Sierra Leone. Alpha’s sponsor Adam Towle brought him to the Lunch Counter wave for the first time three summers ago. “I’m a surfer, I love waves.

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 56

Alpha Barrie poised to drop in.

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“I’m addicted to it.

I like waves, it doesn’t matter what kind.”

Once I see waves, I want to make the best of it,” says Alpha.

Alpha borrowed boards from Adam and began frequenting the river wave.

Admittedly, he had no idea what he was doing at first. “Lunch Counter is the first river wave I’ve ever done in my whole life, it’s a totally different skill,” Alpha explains.

“It’s a constant wave, the tricky part is how to read that kind of wave.” Through practice and persistence, each time Alpha rides at Lunch Counter, he feels he’s getting better.

“My second year, I started getting the feeling; every year I’m stepping it up.”

Alpha took up snowboarding to further that feeling. He rides at Grand Targhee Resort and hikes Teton Pass every chance he gets.

“I feel like I’m surfing, that’s one of the reasons I love going snowboarding. I love the pow–it’s so floaty and fun. Getting face shots, it’s like surfing.”

ZACK KRESGE

Zack Kresge found himself in Jackson Hole the same way many of us do. He showed

up for a raft-guiding job in 2017, called his campsite in Curtis Canyon home for the summer, and came back the next winter to ski. Three years later, another passion lures him to stay—surfing. “When the wave is in, I surf every day because it’s only in for such a short period of time, anywhere from three weeks to two months,” Zack says.

Zack has been a surfer his entire life.

He grew up on Maui, Hawaii, playing on the beach and surfing with his family and friends, with all the kids learning together. “Growing up surfing made me more comfortable in the water and kind of opened me up to other water sports, but I wish I surfed more growing up on Maui,” Zack reflects.

He sees the wave every day while raft guiding on the Snake River in the summer.

“Once I got to Jackson and found river surfing, I had a shitty foam board. I slowly worked my way up borrowing boards from friends and then I started buying boards.”

Now he has a full quiver for the river.

“I have a 4’10, 5’0, and 5’5, from White Buffalo Shapes. I can surf from about 6,000

CFS to about 13,000 CFS because of the higher volume boards,” he says.

When asked how the river compares to surfing at home, Zack shares, “Mountain surfing is a lot more relaxed, you can throw a couple PBR’s in your wetsuit, paddle over, and be at your own break and your own zone with people supporting you.”

When Zack and Alpha were posited with the question of which waves they love more, the answers came easy. “I still love surfing the ocean more, the unpredictability of something is so fun,” says Zack. Alpha, on the other hand, just loves to surf, “Honestly, I just like waves, I grew up in the ocean, and I’m used to it…addicted to it. I like waves, it doesn’t matter what kind.”

LV

Lindsay Vallen is community reporter for Jackson Hole Buckrail. @itsme_linds

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 58

Going surfing, Wyoming style.

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The scene at Lunch Counter on the Snake River.

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S

ofia Jaramillo and Emilé Zynobia are friends and women of color working to create a space for themselves and other BIPOC in the outdoor world. Sofia Jaramillo is a professional photographer, shooting for major news publications like the New York Times and National Geographic, and a variety of outdoor brands. Emilé Zynobia is a professional snowboarder and environmental writer, who came to Jackson Hole for the first time at age 13, and fell in love with snowboarding, the mountains, and the people. In addition to her freelance life, she’s pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Management at Yale University. Along with other Jackson locals of diverse backgrounds, Sofia and Emilé are part of the growing BIPOC mountain community. The pair have found synergy collaborating on projects for The North Face and Patagonia, with many more stories and projects already in the pipeline.

In the following conversation, Sofia and Emilé dive into what creativity means to them, explore their relationships to snowboarding as women of color, and discuss what allyship really means.

Sofia, you’ve become quite an accomplished photographer over the last couple of years. What is one piece of advice you would give to photographers who aspire to the level of careership you’ve attained?

Emilé Zynobia:

I would say shoot the work you love and trust it’ll take you where you’re supposed to go. I had a really good friend tell me that one day, and it’s definitely rang true in my life. How do you push yourself ?

Sofia Jaramillo:

Scratching the Surface

A conversation exploring creativity, snowboarding, and what allyship really means WORDS: SOFIA JARAMILLO & EMILÉ ZYNOBIA PHOTOS: SOFIA JARAMILLO

Issue Number Sixteen 61

EmilĂŠ Zynobia tree-riding through a forest fire burn.

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 62 Emilé:

I think under external physical environmental stresses or stressors, you really learn about how much you’re capable of—I don’t regularly love to suffer at that level, but I always think it’s a good reminder and puts a lot of life into perspective. So many people, due to various circumstances, don’t have the comforts we have.

that’s kind of a way that I’m able to refill my creativity well. As someone who is creative for work, you’re always expected to be creative, so therefore you also need to do the work to replenish that creativity when it’s low. It’s not a realistic expectation to think that people can always be consistently creative.

I can relate to that and why we love being in the mountains, regardless of the conditions. When you are presented with those stressors in the mountains, you’re reminded of your connection to the earth and how you can persist through struggle.

Where do you draw inspiration and/or creativity from?

Emilé: Yes, like

Sofia:

I think it’s always sort of a moving target. Currently, I’m drawing inspiration from a lot of the women in snowboarding.

It is incredible to witness how much women have been able to achieve in the last couple of years with films like The Uninvited, Full Moon, and Facets. It makes me think about the ways I am holding myself back and whether I can push myself in a similar way...

In the midst of this pandemic, I’m drawing inspiration from the mundane—we’re all spending a lot more time close to home. It’s beautiful to root into the simple acts that sustain us through the days.

Emilé:

Absolutely. I think that there are so many incredible women, especially in Jackson. I’ve been inspired by so many of them. In some ways, the women here are at a different level and it encourages you to push yourself. For me, that was a surprise.

I didn’t think that the women here would be what inspired me. I thought it was going to be the mountains, but it’s all about interacting with women in the mountains.

My creativity ebbs and flows, and there are times when I need to find an artistic outlet in something that isn’t my work. So I do pottery. It is art just for myself, and Sofia:

a muscle you have to work. I find that between school and the amount of writing work I’ve been getting, I’ve definitely come close to the point of burnout. It’s a new place for me to be, because honestly, I wouldn’t have really done much writing without you pushing me to write for Patagonia. Now writing is a real possibility for me. And so now it’s not just about having the cool one-off piece, but exploring how you make the creative flow sustainable. What other than pottery helps you replenish your creativity?

When I’m hanging out with my friends or going on a backpacking trip just shooting for myself. Or leaving my camera at home, and going out and having adventures without the camera.

Sofia:

Emilé: The

times that refresh me are those moments where I just like to be goofy and kind of like a kid again, where there isn’t any sort of purpose or outcome. I definitely find that in the mountains.

I think that’s why I like shooting with snowboarders, because in some ways, you are more playful than the skiers I go out with.

Sofia:

I snowboarded for the first time at 13, when my grandparents started raising me and brought me to Jackson. Every winter from then on, I fell in love, I was absolutely obsessed. I still have all of those early copies of Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine. I have them stacked in my closet.

Emilé:

I followed all the local characters, but I really wasn’t that good for many years. I sort of stuck with it because it gave me so much joy, and it fed me. I’ve been so lucky to be in Jackson Hole long enough to meet many of my idols, and even get to ride and make a few turns with some of them. Once I got to college, I was able to snowboard more consistently. I went to school in Montana and the snow was just as epic there. Then I graduated and moved back to Jackson and kept snowboarding for like six, seven years.

Then finally I went back to graduate school.

But with the pandemic, now I’m back. I’m so grateful to sort of be at this point where I get to do it and someone like you wants to take my picture. Getting to this point makes me feel like anything is possible and, honestly, snowboarding has always been this vehicle that’s made me feel like anything is possible.

I definitely feel like you deserve to be highlighted as a snowboarder. I love working with you because you’re a great person and you’re fun to be around. And you can shred. But I also see so much potential in you, and I think that’s one of the reasons I love photography, because it helps me see the light in everyone.

Sofia:

Emilé:

you!

Damn, that’s a compliment. Thank

Okay, so you started snowboarding when you were 13. And after college, it sounds like you got to do it a lot more.

What does it mean to you now?

Sofia:

I’ve been thinking about this more and more because like, you know, I’m approaching 30, and it’s definitely that point in my life where people—well at least society—tells you that you should be on a particular path. I’m finding that I feel better than ever snowboarding and l know that I want to do this for as long as I Emilé:

Issue Number Sixteen 63

EmilĂŠ skinning up Teton Pass in the mid-winter sun.

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 64 Sofia and EmilĂŠ enjoying a day on Teton Pass.

Photo: Dave Ryder

Issue Number Sixteen 65

can. So it’s definitely making me consider what that means for my trajectory. I think what it means to me, at this point, is tied to my identity as a Black woman, a woman of color. I recognize that a lot of BIPOC women carry a great deal of pain, and snowboarding is this way that I can access that sort of inner-play, inner-child, and inner-joy that is healing.

Sofia: That’s

interesting to talk about, that shortened childhood joy. I didn’t think about it that way.

So many of us don’t get to be kids or we’re forced to grow up really quickly.

I think these are really important spaces for everyone to be able to access. There are high rates of abuse in all its forms and I’ve certainly suffered from that. And, you know, there’s nothing that heals me like getting to like fly off of something into some powder, that just allows me to enter into embodied healing. What made you end up choosing photography as your career path? Was there an element of fear, a leap of faith of sorts?

Emilé:

Sofia: There

was never fear. I was always just very certain that it was what I wanted to do. I was about 15 when I went on a road trip with my dad and he lent me a pointand-shoot camera. I took this one picture of a lighthouse, and somehow, miraculously, it turned out really good. I looked at that picture and felt like damn, this is like opening Christmas presents. I want to do this over and over again. But there certainly was fear going freelance and running my own business. I had a really good mentor in Seattle, an amazing documentary photographer and he told me, “You just got to jump off the cliff and have faith that all will work out.” And I never forgot those words and I think that’s always really inspired me at different steps in my career to pursue things, regardless of whether the answer is guaranteed.

Emilé:

How does your Latina background inform your photography?

it’s a major problem in society and why wouldn’t that bleed into snow sports?

Well, I grew up in a very white ski town as a Colombian American woman and I didn’t see anyone who looked like me besides my dad. I didn’t see people like me hiking in the kids camps that I used to go to, or on the ski slopes. So for me, what photography does is give me the opportunity to make those images that I didn’t see when I was a kid. And in turn, hopefully be able to inspire the next kid.

Sofia:

Sofia:

I think a question that you and I have both been thinking about is how do we want to see snow sports evolve and change? What do you think is going well and what do you think needs improvement?

Emilé:

A big thing for me that I’ve been thinking a lot about the past year, is that representation is a good first step, but then actually showing real support. That’s the next big follow-through that needs to happen from brands in the snow industry.

This can come in many different ways.

It can come through sponsorship, or by including more people of color in shoots and films. I’d like to see films that are all BIPOC, but I’d also like to see films that have equal parts, white people and BIPOC. Hopefully we’re gonna get there someday…

Sofia:

I think a lot of the industry is hammering in on representation, but again, that’s just one piece and that support needs to come in the form of product and financial support. Not just to individuals, but to community organizations who are doing the work. More than anything, I’d love to see brands doing their own work internally. The fact that 73 million people voted for Trump shows us that there’s so much work that still needs to be done across the country, Every community needs to do their own anti-racism work. I think Emilé:

Yeah and for people not to rely on BIPOC folks to do that work for them. Being a true ally is going beyond just making sure that there is diverse representation. I think a really good place to start is for anyone who’s involved in the industry to take steps on their own to understand anti-racism—again, without asking BIPOC folks to do that work for them. That is another reason I’m so passionate about anti-racism work and elevating BIPOC is because I recognize my privilege as a white-passing person of color and as someone of mixed race. I feel a sense of duty to use that privilege to elevate others.

Yea, frankly, what I want more than anything is to see more of us out there.

Jackson Hole and winter sports are very exclusive. I think there are some people who are really getting it right. And I definitely want to shout out people like Robin Van Gyn and Michelle Parker, who are really using their platforms to advocate for antiracism work and for Indigenous peoples.

Not to mention the many BIPOC folks like Vasu Sojitra and Brooklyn Bell. We need more people, more athletes, advocating for and committing to this shift. That’s real allyship, right?

Emilé:

SJ & EZ

Sofia Jaramillo is a Latina adventure photographer and filmmaker based out of Jackson. Her mission is to uplift and tell the stories of BIPOC athletes and friends. @sofia_ jaramillo5 Emilé Zynobia is a budding writer and adventurer. Follow her journey and kernels of keen wisdom: @curlsinthewild

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 66

Mountain Landscaping Transforming Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for Travis Rice’s Natural Selection event WORDS: BEN GAVELDA PHOTOS: BEN GAVELDA & RYAN DEE

Issue Number Sixteen 67

Riders Ben Ferguson, Bode Merrill and Pat Moore came to help out the course building crew for a week this past summer.

Photo: Ben Gavelda

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 68

Ben Ferguson and Sage Kotsenburg haulin’ logs.

Photo: Ryan Dee

T

hick thuds vibrate the boulder field, then a shuddering crack of rock is followed by cheers from the crowd. The crew building the Natural Selection course at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ( JHMR) are rolling boulders, tossing logs, cutting through brush and removing dangerous debris. I’ve come to call it “mountain landscaping.” The build crew has been hard at work all summer long constructing landings, clearing out deadfall, and turning this swath of hillside into an earthly snowboarding playground that will soon be open to the public to shred.

This process is more than simply enhancing existing terrain. It’s a long-held vision from legendary rider Travis Rice finally coming

to fruition and full circle here in Jackson Hole. The inaugural Jackson Hole Natural Selection event in 2008 was a never-beendone blend of competition and enhanced natural terrain features. Rice, who spent many years on the international contest circuit, saw a need for diversity.

The feedback was immense and positive.

There had been nothing like it before.

But Travis had a bigger goal. “I thought it still kind of came up short in terms of a competition-style venue with film-level riding,” he says. “We learned a lot from that contest and stepped back.”

“There came a point where there was a real desire from a lot of riders for something different,” he says. “Most of them would spend half the season competing in halfpipe and park, and the other half filming and riding backcountry. I wanted to find a way to meld these two worlds.” With support from Quiksilver and JHMR, the first now-legendary event was held on a stormy, powdery day in Dick’s Ditch.

Many years went by before the event resurfaced again. In that time there was a lot of searching. “It’s so specific what we’re looking for,” Travis says. “It’s a game of probabilities. The terrain is also very specific. I understand you can do this riding anywhere, but for the event it was more about the probabilities of it being successful.

The elevations can’t be too high or low, the aspect can’t be too far south or north, it goes

Issue Number Sixteen 69

Pat Moore testing out the course last winter.

Photo: Ben Gavelda

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 70

on. On top of that it’s all dead in the water if you don’t have a supportive partner.”

In 2012 the event relaunched as the Super Natural, and the following year, the Ultra Natural. “Super Natural was many years of me looking for areas that had more of a Pacific Northwest snowpack,” he says. “I looked in Washington, Oregon, Coastal BC, Interior BC, I looked everywhere in the northwest. It took five years. I finally landed on a face at Baldface Lodge and kicked off a lifelong partnership with Jeff Pensiero.

With the support of Red Bull, we spent about two years building the event. We had a crew of 10 of Canada’s finest arborists and lumberjacks and safety personnel.”

Now many years have passed since the Ultra Natural event, and Travis has been scheming all the while. His grand view was to create an event tour. It’s finally coming to realization this season, back where it all began.

“Jackson Hole Mountain Resort actually came to me to see if we could bring the event back here,” he says. “It took me a bit to be convinced that we could actually do it.

There’s a lot going on at the mountain and to plug this kind of event into the resort is no small task. We’ve spent the last several years preparing to run it here. This season we are kicking off the first-of-its-kind Natural Selection Tour. It’s a three-stop tour that starts with Jackson Hole, February 3rd-9th

2021. There will be a full field of athletes and there will be a livecast of the event aired on Red Bull TV. Several weeks after will be another event at Baldface in Canada and the third and final event will be at the Tordrilllo Mountain Lodge in Alaska.”

As Travis says, it all comes down to terrain.

There’s been a lot of buzz about what’s happening in the rocky zone rider’s left of the Teton Lift over the past few summers.

Wooden structures are now visible from the parking lot. “The Teton Lift opened up some of the nastiest and most exciting terrain on the mountain,” he says. “There are also a lot of hazards there. So many broken trees, stumps, sticks, big bushes, a lot of sharp and

Pat Moore piecing together a skinny launch pad.

Photo: Ben Gavelda-

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Travis Rice lays out a backflip at the Natural Selection test event.

Photo: Ben Gavelda

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 72

jagged rocks. It’s the kind of run that even in mid-winter you ride pretty defensively.”

Stumbling around the tumbling terrain of the Moran Face in the summer it’s quite obvious how nasty the run is. Rideability and safety are the main goals.

“The mission is to leave as much as we can of the natural variability and dynamic uniqueness of what nature has created up there,” Travis says. “It’s going in and trying to interpret what Mother Nature has already created and making it as rideable as possible. For us to make some enhancements on natural terrain so that we can have enough variability of A+ features on an event venue that it helps support and showcase the creative expression of all the individual riders. At the end of the day there are two goals: to have a contest venue that is incredible and exciting, and to create this new type of area on the mountain that’s an enhancement for the general public.”

Back at the Moran Face venue, riders and crew are sweaty and scraped, with clothes dabbed in pine tree sap and sawdust. They gather chainsaws, breaker bars, backpacks, and loppers, and begin the scramble back up the mountain. The hillside is an unstable boulder field that’s filled with a few tree islands, thick brush, downed trees, and cliffs.

It’s ankle rolling paradise. The interesting thing is, come wintertime, few will know anything happened under the snow.

It’s a ton of effort for one vision and one event, but it’s 13 years in the making, a pure study of progressing riding and terrain. The group continues clawing their way up the mountain while dense smoke from recordbreaking forest fires on the West Coast fills the valley. The mountain has evolved.

BG

If you look up Ben Gavelda in the dictionary it says “mountain man.” @bengavelda

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Sage Kotsenburg airing one of the large gaps at last year’s test event.

Photo: Ryan Dee

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Course Craftsmen

Meet the crew that brought the Natural Selection course to life WORDS & PHOTOS: RYAN DEE

M

y left hand was firmly gripped around the old 4Runner’s “oh-shit” handle as we bounced up a service road at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Through the smell of a D.O.G. breakfast burrito and the constant chatter of the car and all its contents, Colter Buhler calmly read the day’s horoscopes from the Jackson Hole Daily for all those aboard.

For months this has been the typical commute for the local build crew for Travis Rice’s Natural Selection event. Today is one of the final days for the crew, a project 3+ years in the making. This group, plus many others that I wasn’t able to capture, have been clearing debris, building log flumes, crafting large take-offs and immense landings, and hauling countless

feet of lumber up, down, and across the steep slopes of the Moran Face at JHMR. Alongside Travis Rice, they brought to life a vision of natural terrain amplified by human-made features, and it wouldn’t have been possible without their dedication.

On this cold morning in October the crew was in high spirits as they fought to dismantle the “Flume-X,” a long, roughlyassembled wooden trough. With the aid of gravity, the Flume-X brought the much needed lumber quickly down the mountain to where they were building. There was an air of excitement and relief that their commitment to the course was coming to an end. They were worn, bruised, and tired but also stoked to have done their part in bringing Natural Selection to

life. When asked what feature they most look forward to experiencing this winter, no one could narrow it down to a single structure. The Turtle Shell, Master Blaster, Bode’s Jump, Aircraft Carrier, and many more names get thrown around for the features. All you need to know is that they are all handcrafted and going to be an otherworldly experience with a white blanket of Jackson Hole’s finest.

So if you run into any of this crew on the mountain this winter or at the bar, make sure to give them some stoke or consider putting their next beer on your tab.

RD Ryan Dee is a photographer with a fondness for GIFs. @ryandeecreative

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Mike McKelvey

Colter Buhler, Mark Landvik, and Bode Merrill working hard.

Mark Landvik

Colter Buhler

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The infamous Flume-X. The flume was an ever-expanding operation that was torn down and rebuilt in new positions as features were built further down the slope.

Beware of flying lumber!

Ranyon D’arge showing a little stoke from his Ewok inspired tower. Ranyon and his crew built a viewing tower out of natural timber for the Natural Selection judges and VIPs to use during the event.

Clockwise from bottom: Travis Rice, Kenny Soklowski, and Sage Kotsenburg envisioning a feature. The process of building features relied entirely on what the mountain provided and the lines that the builders imagined.

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Kenny Soklowski

Ryan Barbieri

Sam Phillips

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Land

Zeppelin tweaks out on public lands.

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T

he Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

ANWR. The Refuge. The American Serengeti. The Refuge goes by a variety of monikers, and although ANWR is the most commonly used, it is the least popular among the Gwich’in, the local native tribe that continues to defend it against oil companies who are eagerly awaiting permission to drill for oil in the Refuge.

As I sit at a dining room table in Arctic Village, Alaska, I recognize that the debate over the Arctic Refuge is more than just a tribal issue, it’s truly at the nexus of the public lands and climate change fights. To protect the climate, we must protect public lands, and as snowboarders and outdoors people, we’ve got to do our part.

Grab

A snowboarder finds his calling fighting to protect public lands and stop climate change WORDS: ZEPPELIN ZEERIP PHOTOS: SOFIA JARAMILLO

The fight over drilling on Alaska’s coastal plain is quickly approaching five decades long. It may be one of the longest and most widely publicized environmental battles in U.S. history. At the center of it are the Gwich’in, a tribe whose lands border the southern edge of the Refuge, and who consider the coastal plain to be ‘the place where life begins.’ Every spring, tens of thousands of caribou come to the coastal plain to have their calves, safe from the threat of bears, wolves, and wolverines that live in the mountains. The Gwich’in have lived in harmony with the caribou for millennia, and depend on them not only for their meat, but also for their spiritual and mental health.

Why am I here, in a town of 150 people north of the Arctic circle? Because the Arctic Refuge is part of America’s public lands, and after recognizing that those lands and climate change are inextricably linked, I made it my mission to join the fight for their protection.

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“I made it my mission to join the fight for their protection.”

In America, over 640 million acres of land is owned by the federal government and managed as public lands. That’s land that is held in trust for you, me, and future generations of American’s to enjoy. It’s forests, rivers, plains, and mountains that see over 900 million users every year, support over 800,000 jobs, and contribute $49 billion in economic activity annually.

Over the past decade, those same lands also accounted for approximately 40% of total U.S. coal production, 26% of U.S. oil, and 23% of U.S. natural gas. Despite their popularity and economic impact, public lands are under threat from increased development. Protecting public lands and preventing future oil and gas development not only ensures that we have healthy ecosystems, it also helps mitigate the impacts of climate change.

I’ve been a snowboarder for over 20 years— at this point it’s part of my core identity.

I’ve chased storms, spent 100+ days a year in search of the perfect turn, and ridden throughout the world. But I had never before seen myself as a conservationist and I hadn’t yet connected snowboarding to the surrounding environment. I’d never recognized how important access to public lands is to snowboarding and how vital a cold winter is to the future of our sport.

All of that changed in the winter of 2017. I saw environmental protections systematically rolled back. The United States pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement and Bears Ears National

Monument was slashed by 85%. I came to the abrupt realization that it was no longer enough to simply go out and enjoy the outdoors; I had to do my part to advocate for them and stand in their defense. I recognized that the same forests and mountains that I spent all winter exploring no longer enjoyed the protections that they once did.

I teamed up with Protect Our Winters (POW) to lobby in Washington D.C. and spent the last four years producing The Ground Between Us, a feature length documentary film about our public lands.

I watched firsthand as Ryan Zinke advised President Trump to atrophy Bears Ears National Monument, and sat through Bureau of Land Management hearings as Gwich’in elders pleaded to ban drilling in the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou. I joined hundreds of others to protest the environmental rollbacks enacted during the last four years. I discovered the history of our public lands, their importance to people on all sides of the political spectrum, and how they can truly be our first defense against climate change.

The more involved I became with the public lands debate, the more educated I became about climate change. I learned that the global average temperature has already increased 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900, that snow totals are dropping precipitously across the country, and that the Arctic sea ice minimum has decreased 12.8% per decade since 1979. The writing

is on the wall. Without immediate and significant action, snowboarding and outdoor sports as we know them will be forever changed for the worse.

Think this isn’t impacting Jackson Hole?

Think again. A study by the Teton Research Institute and Charture Institute reported that average annual temperatures in the valley have already risen by 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1948, and are predicted to rise another 3.5 to 6.2 degrees by 2100.

That means shorter ski seasons, fewer pow days, and more rain in the winter.

It also means the entire west, including our Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, will continue to experience larger and longer fire seasons, decreasing the number of trees.

Our habitats and ecosystems are intricately connected across all four seasons. This change in temperature will completely alter our lives.

Local involvement is key to stem the tide.

Volunteer with local conservation groups, call your senators and representatives, write letters to the editor of your local paper, and most importantly, show up to vote. Together we can protect our public lands and reverse the course of climate change, but it’s going to take every one of us working together.

ZZ Zeppelin Zeerip has the coolest name of all time. His films include The Ground Between Us, Made in the Mitten, The Hermit, and Joint Effort. @ZeppelinZeerip

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The Tetons are just a small slice of America’s vast public treasures.

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Issue Number Sixteen 83

Winding through the Winds Diverging from the common path in the wilds of the Wind River Range WORDS: FORREST SHEARER PHOTOS: FRED MARMSATER

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Late last spring, an ambitious crew of riders embarked on a mission to camp and snowboard deep in Wyoming’s Wind River Range. ‘The Winds’ as they are commonly referred to, are a remote and brutally rugged mountain range that boast two of the three tallest peaks in Wyoming. It’s no small task accessing this area chock full of massive mountains. The varied group of Forrest Shearer, Nathaniel Murphy, Ryan Cruze, Nick Kalisz, Clark Henarie, Andy Spilecki, and Aharon Bram made multiple trips in search of spring lines. Below is an excerpt from Forrest Shearer on the journey.

M

isconceptions about a snowboarding trip: how much riding you’re going to get in, the shots you’re going to come back with, how much fun you’re going to have... It’s interesting how my point of view has been skewed over the years. I might be addicted to suffering. Diverging from the trail, the common path, and instead choosing to walk chossy ridgelines, bushwhack through devil’s club, or push my luck across frozen lakes.

Fast forward to an evening slog under a full moon sky. Headlamps off, Murph [Nathaniel Murphy] and I grew accustomed to the darkness and making quick travel with only the joined company of our shadows. We had aborted our plans and were heading back–a mutiny of sorts– which split our crew apart. The weather went to shit and we were the last men standing. Our route had us skirting around semi-frozen lakes and our estimated time of arrival wasn’t until early the next morning.

We were pulling an all-nighter.

Ryan Cruze clings to a steep face deep in the Wind River Range.

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Lakes offer easy access (when frozen).

If you throw caution to the wind, you behave in a way that is not considered sensible or careful. Around 2 a.m. the entire bottom half of my body was soaking wet.

I had just fallen in a frozen lake. Less than five feet from the edge, I tried to leap for higher ground from breaking ice, but I was sluggish in ski-mode and tethered to a pack sled with all my belongings. Sinking fast into the cold water, I did my best to get out of a serious quicksand situation and to safety. It could have been much worse, shit, there was no one around for miles. Resting now on the snow bank, I changed my socks into the extra dirty pair and just laughed.

You can’t win ‘em all.

The cost of entry is probably the biggest setback getting into the Wind River Range.

What price are you willing to pay to get to your destination? I always ask myself this question when deciding to go somewhere.

That’s likely why it has taken me so long to make it to the Winds. It’s just far enough away that I’ve always made the decision to go elsewhere. With splitboarding comes exploration and an ever-growing hit list of mountains. A good problem to have.

Traveling on foot is usually the biggest reward, but at the same time this mode of transportation can also be a big setback due to fatigue and carrying a heavy load.

Bringing enough food and having enough reserve physical energy can make or break a

trip. And going into The Winds during the winter can be borderline crazy, a decision that most aren’t willing to risk.

The Winds are the perfect test piece for those willing to go the extra mile. They are home to the original NOLS wilderness course. This land has been held sacred by Indiginous tribes (Shoshone and Crow), and long-traveled by sheepherders, cattlemen, and pioneering climbers. They are seriously huge: over a 100 miles of wild and remote ridge lines cresting some of the highest peaks of the Continental Divide.

This means it’s a day’s length or more from many of the desolate trailheads, with equally long approaches to reach routes.

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The sufferfest at least afforded some nice sunsets.

Taking a slower approach is what makes this place so unique— you pass numerous lakes formed by glaciers and trace the steps of many animal migration routes inhabited by wolves, grizzlies, and wolverines. Getting anywhere in this part of Wyoming is a serious feat in itself. It’s taxing not only on the body, but also on the mind: a serious beatdown. Would I do it again? Maybe?

But then again, what is suffering without coming out the other side a changed human—with a new-found respect for wilderness, and for yourself ? In the Winds you are put in your place.

The natural environment is king and we are all just small dots on a very big playing field. It’s humbling to say the least. Our

trip began on the edge. One foot still in the pandemic the other in the unknown. Sleds in tow, a week or more worth of rations, and a solid crew eager to not cross another track. We unplugged from the outside world and started off into no man’s land.

Destination: anywhere but the new normal we left behind. It turned out snowboarding was not the first priority on this trip.

Route finding in the Winds is a definite challenge. It is hard to judge the scale, as the terrain is so vast. It was as if we were crossing a big glacier or walking from the outskirts of Vegas to the strip. So close, yet so far away. Another challenge was timing—due to fluctuating weather conditions, the timing was

really tricky. Conditions warmed up substantially, making the window for actual snowboarding short-lived. A bigger red flag, rapid warming of the snow, caused avalanches to be a serious concern. Finally, there was the issue of getting wet... It’s probably best to bring an extra set of socks.

Hell, you might want to carry a pair of rubber boots. But after all is said and done, it was the sunsets that I’m still thinking about. Redolent of the sweeping high peaks of the Central Rockies, sky-stretched sunsets etched into the craggy cliffs.

FS Forrest Shearer is a snowboarder, storyteller, and an environmental activist. @forrestshearer

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Forrest Shearer slices a turn above a duo of frozen lakes.

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The Glory Days

An ode to the Teton Pass Project and the hitchhikers of yesteryear WORDS & PHOTOS: SCOTT DAVIDSON

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I

remember waking up at 6 a.m. to check the Bridger Teton Avalanche Center website as well as the webcams at the top of Teton Pass. I would load my backpack up with two packs of film, head out the door, and park my truck at the Stagecoach Bar. The first thing after that was to turn on my beacon. I make it a rule in life that as soon as I get out of my truck, the beacon goes on before even putting on my boots. The rule goes “On at the Car, Off at the Bar.” Hitchhiking has never been hard here.

Within minutes, I would be picked up by some amazing people, and like a chairlift bump, they would bring me up Highway 22 to the top of Teton Pass.

The people that picked me up usually liked to talk. I loved asking people why they picked me up, how their day was going and what they were up to. I feel like some of these folks would talk to me like they would their barber. No holding back. It was an open environment to not feel judged in the comfort of their own vehicle. Who was I to judge anyway? Everyone has their own story and life is not always perfect. When we were nearly to the top of the pass, I would ask the driver if I could take their photograph and then explain the Teton Pass Project: my mission to capture these experiences. I never once had a person say no. I would pull out my polaroid camera and snap two photographs, one for me and one for them. I felt like this was my way of giving back to the driver and saying thank you for the ride. I said my goodbyes, and went off to go shred a lap.

Over the years, I have shared some very beautiful moments with many unique

people. This project all started when I was picked up by a gentleman that was headed home to grab his wife’s baby bag in Driggs, because his wife was giving birth in Jackson.

When I asked him why he picked me up, he said, “I wanted to tell someone that I’m going to be a dad!” It’s these stories that made hitchhiking this mountain highway such a special experience.

The hitchhiking culture on Teton Pass was unique. It was this place where you could feel safe, and almost always find a ride within a few minutes. Hitchhiking got a bad reputation at some point in the wider world, and people became afraid of other human beings. Not here. Don’t get me wrong, you didn’t always pick up the person with a big beard, backpack, and a dog. Oh wait, yes you did: that guy just had the best run of his life and was trying to get back up for one more. Hitching here was simply using the kindness of people and their transportation to replace chairlifts, in order to ride the most amazing powder available in Wyoming and Idaho. The ease and access of hitchhiking the Pass back then is what I call the Glory Days.

In the middle of the 2019-2020 winter, something happened that changed the world. It felt like all the things that we took advantage of in life were taken away from us at once. Whether it was shoulderto-shoulder Tram cars, Disco Night at the ‘Coach, or randomly getting picked up by strangers on the Pass...high fives were replaced with waves, smiles were replaced by surgical masks, and hanging out with friends only happened online. We began to distance ourselves from strangers in the

grocery store and on the street. COVID-19 killed the main blood line of Teton Pass.

No longer do people feel the need to jeopardize themselves or others for the sake of a ride.

Every hitch-hiking ride I have taken has been amazing and I thank everyone who picked me up over the years. I hope to see you all again soon. We are all going through a tough time right now and I hope everyone stays safe and healthy. It may take some time to get back to normal—and it might never go back to the way it was. But when things do become safe for everyone again, I hope you’ll pick up a rider on Teton Pass and share your story.

A FEW STATISTICS THAT I HAVE FOUND OVER THE YEARS:

• 3 out of 4 vehicles that picked me up were pickup trucks • 50/50 mix of men and women • 20% of people had a dog in the car • 2 out of 5 people were also going skiing that day • 1 out 8 people had no idea what I was doing out there and just wanted to help out • 100% of people agreed to let me take their photo

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01 Beth Ward

02 Doug Wichmon

03 Ryan May

Who needs Lyft when Beth is running Teton Pass lifts for free. Thank you for picking me and another random hitchhiker up on your way home from work.

Doug had just finished skiing at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and was on his way home to Victor. He claims there is only place in the world that he will pick up hitchhikers‌Teton Pass.

Ryan might have every ski bum’s dream job.

He takes care of a house all winter and waits for the family to return in the summer. Hey Ryan, you got a hot tub?

04 Mike & Jean Louise

05 Miles, Kona & Kari

06 Max Haller

Mike came to Yellowstone National Park on a vacation from Scotland fifteen years ago. When he ran out of money he got a job here in the Tetons. The rest is history.

He was so proud of baby Jean that he asked to have his photograph with her.

Miles has lived in Jackson his whole life.

He was heading to Idaho Falls to pick up a camper for his big truck. He plans on taking off next summer and hitting the road with his two beautiful pitbulls Kona and Kari.

Thanks for the ride and all the dog kisses.

When I saw this car in the distance I knew they would pick me up. How did I know?

Because he had Montana plates. Sure enough, Max was heading back to Bozeman where he is going to school for engineering.

Issue Number Sixteen I Can’t See One day this little Subaru picked me up at the bottom on Coal Creek. When I got in the car, there was a donut-sized hole of visibility in her windshield. She started white-knuckle driving up the Pass and the small hole quickly vanished. She had to stop the car in the middle of the road and throw on her emergency flashers. I jumped out and started chipping away at the ice so that we could safely keep driving. One of the most intense rides I’ve ever had!

Christian Horger When Christian pulled over I noticed that on the side of his vehicle it said ‘Taxi.’

I looked into the car and saw a woman sitting in the back seat. He gestured to me to jump in the front and away we went. It turns out the woman was his fare and he had driven her to Driggs to test drive a car.

The car turned out to be a POS and now he was giving her a ride back to Jackson.

On their way back he decided to pick me up free of charge. He claimed it was his good deed for the day.

Nick Romo Nick picked me up in the most massive diesel dually I have ever seen. You never want to run into Nick when he’s at work.

Why? He’s a repo man—and doesn’t take crap from anyone. He told me a story about how someone recently pulled a shotgun on him while he was repossessing their car. He ended up taking the car and the gun right out of the guy’s hands. Nick is tough as nails but has a huge heart.

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08 Henry

09 Mark and the Mystery Machine

Martin and Kajsa had just dropped off Kajsa’s kid at ski school and only had time for one lap on the Pass. Thanks for the ride and I hope it was a good one.

Henry picked me up on the Old Pass Road. He had moved to Jackson recently from Boulder, Colorado. He was driving to Rexburg, Idaho, to cash a check because he didn’t have a bank in Jackson yet. Or a job or place to live. A common problem for lots of people around these parts! Good luck buddy and thanks for the lift.

When I saw this thing pull over I thought we were going to find a talking Great Dane and solve the big Mystery of where the Hole actually is. Instead, the five people in the van just wanted to shred powder on the Pass. Mark imports vintage vans from Japan and resells them here in the USA.

10 Val Hitchhikes

11 Sami Robinson

12 Tinder Date

A super weird guy picked up Valerie and me the other day. This guy drove us up the Pass at 70mph. He was passing cars and didn’t say a single word to us. When he dropped us off at the top he flipped a U-turn and sped right back down the way we came. Wonder if he was just out for a rip?

Before I even unclicked my skis she asked me if I wanted a ride. She told me that she keeps a logbook of hitchhiking the Pass in the summer, and claimed to have over a hundred rides. Sami is a Teton Pass pro, but obviously didn’t understand where to sign the polaroid.

When I asked these three what they were doing today with no hesitation, replied, “Skiing the Middle.” Thanks for all the laughs guys.

SD Scott Davidson believes the creative adult is the child who survived. @mountainstache

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BEST PIZZA

Issue Number Sixteen 97 Steph Nitsch is a brand and board visionary.

Photo: Re Wikstrom

Her Own Way

Stephanie Nitsch is the leading lady at Pallas Snowboards, a brand that is defying boundaries WORDS: HEATHER HENDRICKS & BLAKE HANSEN PHOTOS: RE WIKSTROM & @DIRT.COAST

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Pallas Snowboards is a snowboard and splitboard manufacturer fueled by innovation and inclusivity. We spoke with owner and founder Stephanie Nitsch on her snowboarding origins, thoughts on the current womens’ backcountry scene, and building a burgeoning womxn-specific brand. Pallas team rider Blake Hansen opens things up with stories of her working relationship with Steph:

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remember my first time meeting Steph Nitsch like it was yesterday. It was 2016 and I was new to splitboarding. We were with a group of women I didn’t know, I was just coming into my own womanhood at 26 years old. I was carrying 65 pounds of camera gear to shoot video for Pallas. I had a lot to be nervous about. As we moved into our tour, Steph walked with me for a bit and expressed some of the kindest sentiments of inclusion I’ve ever received.

I remember the initial moment of relief I felt after she voiced to me how stoked she was to have recently learned a little about me and that I was willing to help her with Pallas. I wouldn’t say that the rest of the day went smoothly though.

The snow was shit and we came to find out a few of the other girls were new to the sport as well. We all experienced learning curves that day—film clips were not stacked. One thing I quickly learned was bringing an entire cinema kit with multiple lenses on a backcountry tour was not the way to go. At one point, I was the last person on top, strapped in and ready for my run. All I had to do was stand up and cruise. But have you ever tried to stand up, strapped to your board in heavy, wet snow with 65 pounds on your back?

Yeah, the ladies waited for me for a while that day.

I’ve since made a lot of changes to my backcountry camera kit, but one thing that’s been a consistent presence over the years is Steph’s constant smirk. It just oozes with her confidence in me and shows her cynical enjoyment of watching my growing pains.

Love her to death! BH

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU GET INTO SNOWBOARDING?

I started snowboarding around 1996 at Mt. Hood, mostly because I was an impressionable 12-year-old that just wanted to be a cool ‘90s kid. It did nothing to help my street cred, and I was a pretty terrible snowboarder for about 7 years. Then I got to college, did summer school so I could bump chairs in the winter, and logged a few hundred-day seasons. That’s when snowboarding really got into my blood.

WHEN AND WHERE DID YOU FIRST START TO GET INTO SPLITBOARDING?

I finished school and moved back to Park City in 2006 and learned about ski touring from my friends. I was too intimidated to try splitboarding with them, so it wasn’t until 2009 when I finally got the courage to try it out. I kept it really safe, which meant going “touring” on packed-out snowshoe trails behind my house and learning what to do through trial and error.

After a few “practice” runs, I got invited on a guided backcountry program at Solitude Resort, and I was not prepared

for the gongshow I put on. Wanna learn how to hate splitboarding? Go touring your first time with a crew of experienced backcountry skiers who don’t know shit about you or splitboarding, then have the local TV station film it all as part of a news segment (which they kept rebroadcasting even a few years later). I’m sure it’s still out there on the internet… But standing on top of a new mountain with a completely new perspective and appreciation for riding pow was pretty good, and I was willing to keep suffering through the learning curve if it meant doing more of that.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST SPLITBOARD GEAR LIKE?

I don’t remember if I didn’t have enough money for a real setup, or I just wasn’t sure if this was a sport I was ready to commit to, but I went the homemade route, which is what a lot of people did at the time. I handed off my Option Bella 159, a pair of regular Rome bindings and the Voile binding adapters to Jake Lawlor in Salt Lake City. He was splitting boards in his garage for a bunch of people. It was a clunker. Rode like a door and heavy as hell.

I guess that was kind of the norm then.

Funny enough, that homemade split was the only split I rode before starting Pallas.

My mind was blown when I rode my first “real” setup. That alone got me excited about my future of splitboarding.

Yet it wasn’t until maybe four or five years ago that splitboard tech finally latched on and gear quality shot up. I think the binding companies—Spark, Phantom, Karakoram, Voile—have really fueled that development.

The basic construction between snowboards and splitboards is much more similar than resort versus touring bindings. I think a big

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“I logged a few hundred-day seasons and snowboarding really got into my blood.”

Steph ripping deep Utah pow.

Photo: @ dirt.coast

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reason splitboarding became more viable is because of what all those guys have done for binding development.

WHO IS A FEMALE SPLITBOARD PIONEER YOU LOOK UP TO?

When I was getting into it, I didn’t know many splitboarders in the first place, let alone women doing it. The only girl I knew who was splitboarding was Cindi Lou Grant.

She was either sponsored by Voile or soon to be sponsored, but in any case, I knew about her because she was just out there all the time and became a staple in the Wasatch. I loved that splitboarding was an extension of her everyday life. Her approach felt so simple, accessible, and welcoming, and as a

new splitboarder, I think I really needed that kind of gentle inspiration. How else do you get into this sport when you don’t have an existing community to support you?

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE THINGS CINDI DID THAT INFLUENCED YOU AND POSSIBLY OTHERS?

The year I started splitting, I was in a really low place in life. My best friend died, my mom got cancer, my parents divorced, I had surgery from a bike crash… all within a few months. And my coping mechanisms were not healthy. I remember grasping for a positive change, and from what I knew of Cindi, she seemed to embrace a force of tranquil energy within her riding in a

beautiful, healthy, and holistic way that I could maybe relate to.

It sounds funny, but I never really considered that playing in the mountains could coexist with a softer side of myself.

It was either push harder, deeper, steeper, further—or nothing. And with the exception of a few pro riders, I saw women in snowboarding chronically recognized as glorified ski bunnies, which is a shitty baseline for women in any sport. So I’ve always felt like I’ve had to push and push and push in snowboarding to break that mold, to the point where it’s physically and emotionally damaging. But Cindi’s approach to splitboarding inspired a more dynamic and balanced mindset, and I think

So edgy.

Photo: Re Wikstrom

Issue Number Sixteen 101 Remember kids, every job requires math.

Photo: Re Wikstrom

that’s so deeply important in this sport, where your mindset is arguably your most critical piece of gear.

TELL US ABOUT PALLAS SNOWBOARDS! WHEN, HOW, WHY DID YOU START THIS?

Pallas came together in Salt Lake City, Utah in the fall of 2013 from two directions. One was the culmination of my experiences learning to split, the challenges that came with it and wanting to build a bigger community of women splitters. The other was from Alister Horn of Chimera Snowboards who wanted to bring his split designs to the women’s market and was looking for a woman to partner with. He had the physical tools to bring Pallas to life.

I had the life experience to make it happen.

We both saw a profound hole in women’s splitboard design and general support for its riders.

Alister was stoked to share Chimera’s innovations with Pallas, meaning we weren’t just building boards for the sake of filling this void. We wanted to build really cool stuff and elevate the integrity of women’s board construction and design.

But more than boards, we’re driven to bring knowledge and community into what we do.

These are things that are essential for the safety and happiness of all backcountry and resort riders. That’s been a driving force from our start and is even more critical this year with new splitboarders expected to enter the backcountry.

IN YOUR OPINION, WHERE ARE WOMEN CURRENTLY IN THE SPLITBOARD MOVEMENT?

There are way more women taking initiative to get into splitboarding lately, and it’s exciting to watch the momentum build. I’m also excited to see new creative programs that encourage women to continue building their current knowledge and level up. It used to be that rec programs of any sport were geared only towards beginners and low intermediates, but they seem to be slowly incorporating more advanced skills, which is most excellent.

Where I see fewer women is in lead roles within their own touring groups or community hubs—women tend to

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take more of a back seat to trip planning, decision-making, or even showing up to events. But the continued pursuit of backcountry education and riding more frequently are really valuable to equalizing the participation.

WHAT FEMALES DO YOU SEE PUSHING SPLITBOARDING NOW? HOW SO?

I’m a big fan of women who are pushing splitboarding from the inside. My friend– and Pallas team rider–Christine Feleki out of Squamish, British Columbia, has been busting her ass in the guiding world, teaching avalanche and skills courses and educating other women in the backcountry.

Hands-down she is the strongest, most qualified splitboarder I’ve ridden with. Lexie Anderson, Iris Lazzarechi, and Izzy Lazarus are also really passionate about bringing more women into the mountains within their own communities, and I hope that’s a trend that continues.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST STRUGGLE BUILDING PALLAS?

The struggle for me is drawing a line between the nature of business and the nature of being a human. There’s so much pressure from the world right now to be a positive catalyst for change, and I’ve always thought that businesses play a powerful role in evolving social behaviors.

So as people rally behind gender equality, Pallas is in a position to really speak up.

But how do we use our voice? If we talk about it more, we have less time to actually do something. And at the end of the day, we’re a small company that wants to make a living wage. So we gotta shut up and do the work and hope that our actions speak louder than words.

SNOWBOARDING AS A WHOLE NEEDS TO BE BETTER AT BEING INCLUSIVE TO ALL. HOW DO YOU DO THAT AT PALLAS?

Pallas was born from a lack of inclusion, and I like to think we inherently understand the importance of encouraging different perspectives to come deeper into the sport. Our most valuable tools for that are education and community. I think by design, snowboarding is progressive, fun, and inclusive—but if you don’t have the supportive environment you need, that world will feel exclusive, isolating and uninviting. So let’s make it supportive and unlock that world for everyone who’s ever felt left out.

The “cool vibe” of snowboarding and splitboarding has really stunted the progression of the sport, and I’m not talking about the level or style of riding.

Somehow, falling under the lift, or buying the wrong gear, or asking a question became something to ridicule. And when you’re singled out for not knowing any better–and it only takes one or two times–it’s pretty demoralizing to your progress. So your progression is shot down. Which leads to hitting a plateau with riding. Which leads to frustration and eventually leaving the sport altogether because it just isn’t fun anymore. It sounds dramatic and oversimplified, but I see this happening over and over, particularly (but not exclusively) with women.

WHERE DO YOU SEE PALLAS’ TRAJECTORY? WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST STUMBLING BLOCKS TO GET THERE? HOW CAN YOUR COMMUNITY HELP?

We don’t offer beginner-friendly boards, so speaking to new snowboarders at the start of their new adventure is kinda tough.

But once they get hooked on riding, that’s when we’re ready to say hey, come join us and let’s go a little deeper into this new adventure together. Join us for a splitboard clinic, meet us for a beer after, stay in touch, and let us know where your next adventure takes you. These small acts are a powerful force in creating a progressive and inclusive community. They’re contagious, too. Everyone thrives when you’re given the space to learn and explore freely.

FAVORITE JACKSON HOLE SHRED MEMORY AND WHY?

On the last day of ShaperSummit, some fellow shapers and I started the tradition of grabbing our favorite boards and going for half laps on Sweetwater or Teewinot while everyone else is doing a top-to-bottom party lap. It’s the culmination of everything that makes me happy when I’m riding: sunny weather, snow, friends, and good energy.

HOW CAN WOMEN GET INVOLVED WITH PALLAS OR DEMO A BOARD?

We’ve always hosted women’s splitboard clinics and meetups–mostly during splitboard festivals–as a way to help connect women within their own communities and expand their backcountry skills. We’re hoping to do more of that this year, with limited-capacity demos and backcountry 101 workshops around the West, including the Tetons, but it’s totally dependent on COVID. We’ll have demo and retail boards in Needle and Shred in Victor, Idaho, opening this winter. Demos and retail gear are also stocked on our site: pallassnowboards.com HH Heather Hendricks likes to live life on the road. Maybe one day she’ll settle down...

Maybe. @heatherhendrickshh

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Supporting the JH Snowboard community since 1997.

Jocelyn Emery Cell: (307) 690-7138 jocelyn.emery@jhsir.com www.jhsir.com

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 104

Unstoppable Force Despite injuries and injustices Brolin Mawejje seeks to ride above WORDS: LINDSAY VALLEN PHOTOS: WILLIAM SAUNDERS

B

Brolin Mawejje has a goal. He wants to be the first slopestyle snowboarder to ride in the Olympics for his native country, Uganda.

Mawejje grew up outside of Kampala, Uganda before moving to Massachusetts at the age of 12. That’s when he found snowboarding and his [adopted] family, the Hessler’s.

When he was 16, his family moved to Jackson, Wyoming, setting his snowboarding career in motion. Brolin’s story was initially documented in the

2014 film, Far From Home. Brolin and his brothers Phillip, Jimmy, and Jack Hessler collaborated on the movie, which was later sold to Red Bull.

This season, Brolin is focusing on qualifying for slopestyle in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China. He is self-funding his journey by working as an insurance broker during the non-winter months. “I’m trying to make my snowboarding adventures happen,” he says.

Issue Number Sixteen 105

Brolin flying high on a practice airbag.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and setbacks from injuries, Brolin remains positive.

“This past summer would have been the beginning of qualification for the Southern Hemisphere, but because of COVID, everyone is in the same boat. Competition is a little bit up in the air, so the goal is to be in shape and be able to globally access whatever competition I need to,” says Brolin.

“My biggest objective is making sure that not only do I resume being back on snow fulltime, but I also need to be able to attend the

World Championships in China in March.”

COVID-19 has made Brolin’s quest to reach the Olympics more uncertain. “I’ve put my whole life, money, energy, blood, sweat, and tears into being able to fulfill this dream and at least coming close enough to make it a reality and maybe being able to leave a path for somebody else to finish. It’s not over yet,” he says.

“For me 2020 is just kind of a definition of the entirety of my whole life, just feeling

like you’re on the edge, and being able to adapt,” says Brolin. He adds, “Where I started off life and where I’m at right now has prepared me to understand that at every corner I’m ready to adapt and adjust.”

On March 4, 2020, Brolin fell during a World Cup Competition, “I had grade four AC separation and messed up my shoulder; three days later I had surgery and a day after surgery, the whole country shut down.

So for me, COVID didn’t change much in

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 106

“People are recognizing and accepting that the ladder is just not the same.�

Issue Number Sixteen 107

Brolin is proud of his Ugandan heritage.

thinking about what am I missing on snow, but really utilizing the time to come back stronger than ever,” Brolin explains.

This is Brolin’s second attempt at qualifying for the Winter Olympics. In 2018, he was 15 points away, until a health scare in Kazakhstan sidelined him from competition.

“My heart beats very slow, mainly because I went from living at sea level to living in the mountains for the last 15 years, so my body adapted and my system slowed down,” says Brolin. “They were looking for my heartbeat but could only hear it every other beat so they thought I had a hole in my heart. They gave me amphetamines to try to increase my heart pumping capacity. While everyone is a hummingbird, I’m like a sleeping bear.

So they shot my heart into a compulsive heart attack,” he says.

“Simply, it was a misunderstanding of African American anatomy and how my body works,” says Brolin. Instead of viewing this potentially life-ending experience as negative, he instead pushed onward.

“I utilized a bad situation into a good situation. I went back and got my master’s in Epidemiology and a couple of years later, the world had a pandemic that requires epidemiologists, so it’s kind of funny.”

His experience in Kazakhstan exemplifies the inequality black people face in all facets of society—including healthcare.

Along with the pandemic, 2020 has seen a revived discussion about racial injustices, particularly in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. “The truth is, from the Black community; there is nothing new being screamed,” says Brolin, “It’s very apparent and very evident—I’ve run into racism,

whether it’s nationally or internationally, by being not only the only African, but also the only person of color [at snowboard events].

That feels [like you] need to toe and walk the right line.”

As a Black athlete in a sport dominated by white riders, racism is something Brolin has dealt with his entire career. “It is who I am. I can’t run away from the fact that I’m Black, but I also can’t run away from the fact that I have benefitted and utilized what I like to call my thick skin,” he says.

“Having come from such hardship to have somebody look at my skin color, I laugh in their face, especially if we are on the same mountain together because you have completely missed the point: I’ve made it to your mountain.”

Brolin is acutely aware of his position in history and conscious of his own level of

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privilege. “I’m excited to be a Black man in 2021. Definitely, life would have been different even 10 years ago, 20 years ago, especially 40 or 50 years ago,” he explains.

“A lot of talk can happen, but change is a funny thing, you really got to see it to believe it. It was positive to be able to see a lot of communication on injustices and inequality not only coming from a lot of people like myself, who are Black athletes, but also from some of our peers within the industry and community, to see it coming from people who have not experienced it, but who are recognizing and accepting that the ladder is just not the same.”

He explained this metaphorical ladder in terms of his own experiences,“For someone of the opposite race, the ladder and the path is completely different. One person is climbing a hill; the other person is climbing a mountain.”

“My goal is to try to just utilize the platform that I have to say that whether you’re an African, an immigrant, or a Black kid, you might be in an industry with a lot of people that don’t look like you, but don’t allow that to deter you from finding your true self and expressing that,” he said.

Brolin Mawejje currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, but Jackson Hole will always be his home mountain. He is sponsored by JHMR and Bombas apparel. He is self-funding his journey to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. @thebyron_ma

LV

Lindsay Vallen is community reporter for Jackson Hole Buckrail. @itsme_linds

Brolin boosting on the practice airbag.

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 110

Reshaping the Mold Weston’s Leo Tsuo is breaking down barriers and building an inclusive backcountry brand W O R D S & P H O T O : C A R LY F I N K E

Issue Number Sixteen

“People have a syntax error when they see a short Asian guy pull up to a trailhead with sleds on the deck of a full ton truck.”

M

y name is Carly and I’ve been a team rider with Weston for 5 years. I learned to snowboard as an adult: I know what it’s like to feel invisible because I’m not dressed the part, how incredibly intimidating the top of the terrain park can be, and what it feels like for no one to have expectations that I ride well because I’m ‘just a girl.’ I had fallen deeply in love with the sport and was motivated to become a walking, talking underdog story. After a handful of broken bones and a few major surgeries, I am far beyond being a newbie: I have the ‘cool clothes,’ I have next year’s snowboards, and I’m put in front of the camera to spray up snow from time to time.

Yet, I still feel incredibly intimidated by the entire snowsports industry.

Leo Tsuo is the owner of Weston, the second-largest splitboard company in the United States. “Getting into the backcountry was the most challenging experience when it comes to feeling welcome. It’s where elitism rules.

Protectionism rules. Don’t have the right safety gear? Go the fuck home. Stay away from me. Where you going? ‘Somewhere.’

It’s the fraternal order of backcountry riders,” Leo says.

“My life has been about community building. With b-boying [breakdancing], I learned that you have to create your own community. A community is not just

people with common interests, it’s uniting (comm - unity). It requires effort to create.

In b-boying, it’s the practice spots where people feel welcome. It’s having events that people look forward to. It’s about teaching the next generation the ways. I took this thinking to Weston. I took the way welcoming snowmobilers treated me versus the way backcountry riders treated me, and said, let’s just create something different.”

Leo learned to use his differences as fuel to continue breaking stereotypes and molds. He understands what it feels like to be ‘different.’ Inclusion efforts and celebrating underrepresented demographics is something I’ve watched Leo infuse into his brand since he stepped into ownership in 2016. Just recently, Weston teamed up with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education to create scholarship opportunities for avalanche education courses to help reduce potential barriers for underrepresented groups in the backcountry such as women, BIPOC, and LGTBQ+ individuals, in hopes of developing a more diverse backcountry community.

I asked him to elaborate on these ideas and ideals. “To put it simply, imagine for a second you were to walk into a party that someone invited you to and everyone is in full blown death metal head / mohawk wearing / spiked leathers / punk rock

blaring. Except you,” he says. “You need to spend the entire day with this group, would you feel welcome? This is what underrepresented groups feel every day of our lives. We’ve learned to cope, but the majority (straight white males) have no idea what it feels like sometimes to live as an underrepresented group. I think that everyone, at some point in time, has felt like they don’t belong and I believe it is within everyone’s ability to sympathize with what it’s like to not feel welcome. That is why it’s important to recognize that we can do something about it and let everything feel more welcome. In this case, we are handing out leathers at the door rather than handing out leathers to someone that’s already clearly in.”

Leo Tsuo has designed, implemented, and created a new kind of community within the backcountry: one that prioritizes education over fear, communication over secrecy, inclusion over elitism. He is, in real time, changing the game. I am writing this to personally thank Leo for handing out leathers at the door. Without his efforts to build an inviting community, I can say with certainty, I would have been defeated by the intimidation factor and would not be able to call myself a splitboarder today. CF Carly Finke is a gal living in Minturn, Colorado, chasing dreams of eating bean burritos and riding pow for as long as the snow keeps falling. @carly_finke

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 112 LOCAL LEGEND

Paving a Path Randy Strand builds community through snowboarding WORDS: DEREK MACDONALD PH OTO : ST E PH E N S H E L E S KY

Issue Number Sixteen 113

“Randy has found a home mentoring the young guns of snowboarding.”

R

andy Strand and his signature grin are everywhere in Jackson Hole.

Though he hails from Roxbury, New Jersey, Randy could find himself at home anywhere on the planet so long as there was a snowboard on his feet and a group of friends to test jokes on nearby. He is jovial, fluent in sarcasm and large frontside 360’s, and comes equipped with a severely contagious laugh, making him one of Jackson’s most coveted riding partners.

has found a home mentoring the young guns of snowboarding’s future. To watch him interact with his entourage of frothing teenage competitors is inspiring. The freeride athletes know that they can trust Randy to impart practical on-snow wisdom and the technical guidance to be able to navigate everything from exposed lines to terrain park features. They also know that they’re required to have fun doing it, too, or they’ll owe coach push ups.

Randy cares about snowboarding and snowboard culture more than most. He’s been consuming snowboard media since he was a kid. Watching video parts on repeat, rewinding to see how tricks were done.

Then he’d read the magazine articles from the trips where video parts were filmed, all the while wondering how those people did it. How did they get to a point in life where their world simply revolved around snowboarding?

The dynamic between furthering his personal career while simultaneously working to develop young athletes has been striking. As a coach, he is very transparent about what it takes to pursue the goal of being a pro snowboarder. He will often be heard sharing his experiences in an honest way and discussing topics with his athletes such as forging opportunities, creating projects, forming relationships, getting sponsors, and putting the work in to create the path you want.

Randy moved to Jackson in pursuit of his own pro snowboard career. He’s found success on his adventure with support from companies like Trew Gear, Rossignol, Zeal Optics, and Avalon7. But pro status isn’t the only thing that he’s chasing. As part of the Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club’s Freeride Program coaching staff, Randy

Randy first met Rob Kingwill at Camp of Champions in Whistler, B.C. Kinger was Randy’s coach when he attended the camp as a teenager. Years later, they now share laps, laughs, and a respect for the lifestyle they’ve both chosen in Jackson. “People ahead of you pave the path to empower you,

whether they know it or not,” says Strand.

Rob Kingwell did that for Randy and now Randy is doing that for the Freeride Program athletes, helping them start their own journeys in snowboarding. He also credits former Freeride Program Director (and Storm Show film star) Rob LaPier with blazing a trail for him. Strand says that LaPier’s life and career showed him that you can create the path you want. He hopes and believes that he can help build the snowboarding community in Jackson Hole like both Robs before him.

Randy has now met the people from the magazine pages and snowboarding videos, and he has gone on to discover that they’re people too. They’re snowboarders, but they’re also tending bars, cutting hair, building houses, and coaching the next generation. What seems like an impossible pipedream turns into the community you’ve been searching for. The only cost of admission is the desire to contribute.

DM

Derek MacDonald is a Massachusetts native that grew up snowboarding in Vermont’s Mad River Valley. @_derekmacdonald

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 114

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

Attainable Adventure Tana Hoffman is getting women off the sidelines and into the mountains WORDS & PHOTOS: KATIE LOZANCICH

Issue Number Sixteen 115

I

n college, right down the street from my favorite coffee shop was this small bridal boutique. On my way to study, I’d always stop for a few seconds to admire the decadent gowns displayed in the windows.

Inside, I could spot shoppers relaxing on plush sofas with glasses of prosecco.

Storekeepers buzzed back and forth from the dress racks, their arms overflowing with white dresses. I’ve never gone wedding dress shopping, but sitting in the Mountainist retail and rental gear shop in Alpine, Wyoming, gives me an idea of what those brides were feeling. Except here you won’t find any chiffon, satin, or silk. Instead, the clothing racks and walls are bursting with neon Gore-Tex monosuits, synthetic mountain bike jerseys, hard dirt bike armor, and avalanche safety equipment.

This powersports and outdoor retailer for women isn’t meant for the quick shopper.

Founder and CEO Tana Hoffman encourages Mountainist guests to settle in and enjoy a sparkling water while she and her staff do the hard work. “My goal is for you to tell us what you want to accomplish, and we’ll help you find the right thing.”

Her women’s adventure boutique has equipment for mountain biking, fly fishing, backcountry snowboarding and skiing, and motorized recreation. It also doesn’t play by the retail rule book—Tana chooses to stock both men’s and women’s gear for her female shoppers. “Our approach isn’t what’s the best women’s gear, but what’s the best gear for these women,” she says. If you can’t make it to the brick and mortar shop in Alpine, not a problem. This individualized approach is part of Mountainist’s online experience too. It’s not unusual for Tana to do an hour-long Zoom call with a customer, guiding them through the items

they might need for their first-ever dirt bike or snowmobile ride.

Like her brick and mortar shop, the Mountainist website stands apart from most direct-to-consumer e-commerce sites. Front and center are how-to articles and gear blogs exploring how gear fits for different body types. Of everything she’s doing with Mountainist, Tana is most excited to see the company’s media side grow. With ideas like her Ask an Editor column, she hopes to connect professional athletes with everyday adventurers—and that’s only scratching the surface.

As an East-coast transplant to the wild west of Wyoming, Tana knows all too well what it’s like being a newcomer to intimidating sports like backcountry snowboarding and snowmobiling. When she arrived, she didn’t have any female mentors to lean on and often purchased the wrong gear, ultimately wasting money on pricey items that weren’t right for her. “If Mountainist came down to one word, it’s about access,” she explains, and accessibility is intertwined with gear.

Essential items like snowmobile monosuits can range from $400 to $850—a steep price tag for someone on the fence. Renting, Tana argues, is a way to eliminate that barrier.

“It’s tough to show up when you run the risk of being called a Jerry,” Tana points out.

With so much technical gear and knowhow involved, beginners are easy to spot.

It was never Tana’s plan to pursue a career in retail. Despite high school jobs at bridal boutiques and outdoor gear shops, she spent the last ten years making a name for herself as a digital marketer, crafting compelling brand narratives for companies like Winter Park Resort and Teton Gravity Research.

The spark for Mountainist, however, came

from scrolling through comments on TGR’s website and social media. “I kept seeing people say, ‘I wish I could do this, but I don’t know where to start,’” she explains.

She especially heard and noted this refrain from women.

Initially, she hoped Mountainist could be a women’s outdoor media platform, focusing on overcoming what she calls the “zero-toone.” It’s the initial step a person takes to rent a snowboard or go to a snowmobiling clinic. Tana aspires to make that leap shorter, more comfortable and digestible, but all businesses need to generate revenue.

Rather than rely on the media arm to do that, Tana realized that renting and selling gear could support her cause. Now, not only does this business model fuel her burgeoning media platform, but she’s using it to give back by putting 2% of every Mountainist sale towards their Grit Grant Fund. The fund’s purpose is to help women pursue their dream adventure and is another way to break down the financial barriers to entry into these sports.

Between the grants, the articles, and lowcost gear rentals, Mountainist is becoming that reliable friend we’ve all leaned on when we first got into these adventure sports. The kind person who, without hesitation, lent you their extra jacket or gave you tips for setting a skin track. Except the Mountainist is a step above: it’s a whole community of like-minded gals. It takes a bold idea like this to make impactful change.

KL

Katie Lozancich is a freelance storyteller, photographer, and badass that always meets deadline. @_katielo

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Issue Number Sixteen

Dropping Next

Marvin Martel is more than a great rider, he embodies snowboarding culture WORDS: RANDY STRAND PHOTO: TRISTAN KOLB

I

f you’ve ever seen a group of groms [young riders] ripping around Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and wondered who they were, it’s probably Marvin Martel and his friends. It doesn’t matter what the conditions are; Marvin will be out on the mountain charging around and smiling from ear to ear.

There is way more to snowboarding than just being on a board. There is a deep culture and lifestyle that fully embodies snowboarding and Marvin is completely engulfed by it. He is constantly telling stories about his adventures of the day on snow and loves sharing his stoke for riding with the other kids.

Marvin has been a part of the JHSC Freeride Program for a handful of years

now and has been the team captain for the last two years. Being a coach for the Freeride Program myself, I couldn’t expect a better team captain. He is not only a talented snowboarder, but also a tremendous role model for the entire team.

He might not realize it, but all of the younger athletes flock to him while he is in the team room telling stories and going on with his antics. In such a creative and impressive setting, surrounded by talent, Marvin’s personality shines through and stands out. There have been many times he has had all of the coaches smiling and laughing with his goofy ways.

Marvin has helped me on multiple occasions when I have been in a bind while coaching the team. He is so quick to step forward and offer his assistance to anyone

in need. He’s also really good at flipping the switch from fun mode to serious mode when it is appropriate and that is very difficult to find in a teenager in any setting, let alone while snowboarding. He is the definition of a leader, and I am so proud of how he has progressed as an athlete and as a person in the last few years.

There is a difference between someone who has gone snowboarding and someone who is a snowboarder; Marvin Martel embraces that culture and stands out even in a place full of bright stars.

RS Randy Strand is the head snowboard coach for the JHSC Freeride Program and loves playing live music when he’s not snowboarding. @randystrand3

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Shred Coalition Rider Michael McKelvey sends the Old Pass Road Gap. Photo: Rob MacInnis