John Rodosky

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– INTERVIEW –

secrets of the illuminati

WORDS: JOHN RODOSKY PHOTO: @JEEP_CHIEF IMAGES

In some ways, growing up in Jackson Hole is like growing up on an island. Although thousands of miles away from the nearest ocean, Jackson’s vast mountain ranges enshroud it much like a coastline.

From the age of about 10 to 14, my friends and I understood very little about snowboard culture as a whole. For us, the world of snowboarding started and ended within the Jackson Hole community. Travis Rice was the best snowboarder in the world and BlueBird Wax and Illuminati Snowboards were the two coolest companies by far.

It wasn’t the big name pros of the day like Bjorn Leines or Kevin Jones that we idolized, it was the Illuminati team, guys like Mark Carter, Bryan Iguchi and Adam Dowell. The one thing that made us feel worthy enough to stand behind these dudes in the lift line was the Illuminati decks underneath our feet. For a time it seemed like anyone who was anyone was riding the red and black boards of Illuminati, thanks to one man who founded the iconic snowboard company: Lance Pitman.

With this being a very important issue— Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine’s 10 year anniversary—I decided to catch up with Lance to relive some stories from Illuminati’s heyday and a period of time that led to many of the things we take for granted in the Jackson Hole Snowboard scene, this magazine included.

JOHN RODOSKY: What was it like to grow up as a snowboarder in Jackson back in the 90s?

LANCE PITMAN: We grow up in the place we grow up, and we have little context for what it’s like compared to something else. The town was smaller, the snowboard scene was just getting started. Basically all snowboarders knew each other and just about all of them were skateboarders too.

RODO: At what point did you break into the professional snowboard world? Did you take the contest or the film route?

PITMAN: I got my first nationally published advertisement at age 15 in Snowboarder Magazine. It was an advert for Bonfire clothing. I was into contests for sure. I won quite a few of them as a kid on the intermountain USSA circuit. Filming before the digital revolution was a whole other beast. We were lucky to get to use a camera that shot with any decent quality, and 16mm film was only for the pros.

I was pro for K2 for seven years. In my mind I had already hit the big time. I was a teenager getting paid salary, incentives and travel budget. I made good money for a few years and I think that fed my ego in a way I wasn’t prepared for. I wanted more.

RODO: When did you realize you wanted to go your own way?

PITMAN: In the fall of 1999 I was on a

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Lance enjoys another Jackson Hole haunt that recently closed its doors: the Glory Bowl Warming Hut.

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plane to Switzerland when I decided I was leaving K2 to start Illuminati Snowboards. It came like a bolt of lightning. Inspiration. I started drawing the logo on a coaster that I had in my bag from an airport bar.

RODO: To this day I still think it is one of the coolest images for branding and marketing. It has all the essential pieces to make up a bad-ass snowboard company. Was there a time you felt like things were really going to take off?

PITMAN: Once we had Guch on the program and survived the first three years I thought we were going to be viewed with a bit more respect, and I think we were. I can’t take full credit for the branding. I had the idea for the name, concept and logo with the segmented pentagon, however, Neil Rankin (Solid Snowboards), who was an early partner, did the actual graphic design work. Together we came up with the first ad. It was the aerial view of the Pentagon Defense building. I told him to put “there’s a conspiracy in snowboarding” as the tag line.

RODO: The storefront was a really cool spot for a while. I remember hanging around the shop after school and probably driving you guys all crazy. In my mind it was the height of the brand. What was that like?

PITMAN: That was the height in terms of sales, exposure, involvement, etc. That time was pretty chaotic and awesome. Starting the Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine was part of that, and it was the most fun time. Getting to express our version of snowboarding in that format, and celebrate the release with the party each year was all very fun and exciting.

RODO: I never knew Illuminati was actually involved in the process of creating the first issue of JH Snowboarder Mag. What’s the story there?

PITMAN: The magazine came out of an idea I was envisioning for the new Illuminati catalog. I wanted to make it more like a magazine, with content rather than just snowboard product info and images. We had been shooting with [JHSM co-founder] Jesse Brown a ton and had a lot of great images. Once the idea of selling ad space came into the picture, it just made sense to make it a magazine with its own brand identity. It was about 16K for the entire first production run of magazines. We charged the whole thing on Illuminati’s credit card.

RODO: Damn, so you’re a small local snowboard company still in the process of getting its feet on the ground and you decide to pull a $16,000 trigger to create a free local magazine?

“It was about 16K for the entire first production run of Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazines. We charged the whole thing on Illuminati’s credit card.”

PITMAN: We felt it was a risk worth taking because we had about 70 percent of that cost covered from advertisers who said they were in. I am really glad we started the magazine, and it couldn’t have happened without the hustle and help of Jesse Brown and Kristin Joy, who took over the magazine when I (Illuminati) stepped out. I think the mag really brought something fun and meaningful to the community of snowboarders around Jackson.

RODO: I think “fun and meaningful” would be an understatement. The mag has been a staple of the shred scene since day one. Illuminati did eventually close its doors, that must have been difficult to see something you had created come to an end. PITMAN: Just before I made the decision to close down I felt like the walls were coming down. It was more of a personal thing though. It was my ego that was coming down because of the transformational inner work I was doing. The decision to close and make a transition was really an outward expression of that inner work, and it was very personal and had to do with my being asthmatic and needing to work on that. The company was actually sort of kicking ass at that time.

RODO: So it’s been seven years since Illuminati closed its storefront. What does snowboarding mean to you now?

PITMAN: Snowboarding is pretty much therapy for me now. It’s something I deeply care about and is also very personal for me in how it has shaped my worldview and taught me about the world. I would say I love it more than ever, and also, I ride a lot less, simply because I want to use my energy for other things. No regrets. I’m madly in love with the process of life that has included snowboarding. Tough times and all.

RODO: Thank you for your time. And thank you for making the decision all those years ago to swipe that credit card. I think in a lot of ways JH Snowboarder Mag creates a similar atmosphere to what Illuminati did, it gives the community a common bond, something to be excited about and contribute to. Keeps the kids stoked and reminds the old guys why snowboarding is still the best. While just about everyone may not have known until now, myself included, we have a huge debt of gratitude to you for turning an idea into a magazine 10 years in the making. jr

Raised in Jackson Hole, John Rodosky dips his toes in everything from journalism and filmmaking to global big mountain competitions. @RodoPhoto