A group of six snowboards planned to hike Japan’s Mt. Kurodake on the north island of Hokkaido to cap off the 2009 season of snowboarding, but when a storm came and they got lost, their plans changed according to a story told by Chris Holmes to the Times Online. His first quote kind of explains the situation.
“I’m a relatively inexperienced snowboarder so I didn’t want to go on,” Mr Holmes, 34, told The Times from his home in Hokkaido where he is still trying to get feeling back into his icy cold feet. . . Three of the group continued on to the peak and returned safely to base camp later that evening. But the other six who descended earlier were less fortunate. . . The men and women from New Zealand, Australia and Holland became so lost and disorientated trying to navigate their way down the steep mountainside they were forced to dig a snow cave and sleep huddled together on a bed of pine leaves as the temperature dropped below zero.
Another lesson in backcountry snowboarding from the “inexperienced.”
This Saturday night March 21, 2009 Whistler’s Blake Jorgenson Gallery is hosting the opening party for OG snowboard photographer Dano Pendygrasse’s showOdds And Ends from an Unusual Life. This week Pique News Magazine profiled Dano and got behind the man behind the lens.
While there are plenty of Whistler residents who have been around for the long-haul, witnessing the town’s evolution from a garbage dump into a world-class resort. Dano Pendygrasse has been busy capturing the transformation of the community – more specifically, the snowboard community – from behind the lens of his camera.
If we were in Whistler this weekend, we’d be there.
Riding the lift at the Tahoe Legends of Snowboarding on March 14, 2009 with Joel Gomez, Mike Chantry, Tina Basich, Jeff Brushie, Mikey Basich, Dave Seoane, Tom Burt, and Norm Sayler with the closer.
Dave Seoane’s Life Sentence lifetime season pass was denied, Shawn Farmer poached the pipe, Tom Burt charged the Palisades on a 25-year-old board, Mike and Tina Basich put another siblings halfpipe win on their resumes, Edgar “Pineapple” Rivera did some spittin’ on the mic, Mike McDaniel sat in the judges chair, former resort owner Norm Sayler hung out at the bottom of the pipe, and Damian Sanders, Keith Kimmel,Amy Roberts, and Joel Gomez were inducted into the Tahoe Legends of Snowboarding and get their names listed on the perpetual trophies kept in the old school lodge at Donner Ski Ranch. (Neither Damian nor Keith showed up to accept their awards. Damian got wrecked on his moto bike, and we think Keith is just shy.)
Throw in Chris Roach, Jeff Brushie, Jim Rippey, Jason Borgstede, Noah Salasnek, Rocket Reeves, Jon Baiocchi, Dave Alden, Bob Klein, and four-time world champion Terry Kidwell on rhythm guitar and you have a rockin’ day on snow with most of the people basically responsible for what snowboarding isy all together on March 14, 2009 for the 5th Annual Tahoe Legends of Snowboarding.
The group congregated at an authentic u-ditch pipe for an old school halfpipe contest, and freeriding on classic snowriding crafts. It was an impressive gathering of snowboarding’s living history that often gets overlooked in the commercial rush to move more units. To those who grew up idolizing snowboarding’s pioneers, The Tahoe Legends of Snowboarding is a chance to remember why we got into it in the first place: hanging out with friends and sliding on snow.
A big thanks to the original Tahoe Legend Don Bostick for making it all happen.
Hannah Teter dislocated her shoulder during practice for the US Snowboarding Grand Prix at Killington, Vermont, according to a story in USA Today.
Teter was practicing for a qualifying event at Killington Ski Area on Friday when she fell on a jump in the 22-foot halfpipe and came up grabbing her right shoulder. She rode to the end of the pipe and was met by a trainer who led her down the mountain.
Next year we’re all going to care about these contests, might as well get used to it this weekend (March 13-15, 2009) as the 2009 Grand Prix Season wraps up at Killington, Vermont. Watch it live on Go211.com.
Kevin Zacher, for going against the grain in snowboarding and shooting the lifestyle, not the action, as a priority. Ari Marcipolis as well for that. Trevor Graves and his drive to always deliver something fresh. Vincent Skoglund for his moonlight series and his double exposures. Albert Watson and his portraits. Michael Kenna and his landscapes, not your typical landscapes either.
Cole obviously knows where to turn for inspiration, and from the looks of his client list he knows better than most just how to balance art and commerce.
Just got an invitation to Chill’s 10th Anniversary Pizza Party at the US Open of Snowboarding and it reminded us how much late-night at Stratton Mountain sucks.
After standing around The Grizzly one night yelling into the ear of the Right Coast’s most skilled advertising peddler and listening to a New York City magazine editor tell people how much money they’ll make from “just one mention in my mag” (all with painfully loud dj shrapnel blasting) there’s nothing we wanted more than a quiet late night snack. Guess what? Not a lick of food anywhere.
On the way back to our room we noticed a stack of pizza boxes flowing out of a trash can and couldn’t help but check. . . yep. Three pieces of cheese pizza. Thanks, Chill. You changed our lives.
Determined not to get an office job, Broz started making snowboards out of his parents’ garage. Self-taught, he would make a board, test it on a slope and often bring it back in pieces to fix it in the garage. Soon, he found his interest in making boards surpassing his urge to ride them.”My passion shifted quickly,” he recalls. . . . Eleven years later, he has the skills to make excellent boards from scratch, tailored to any rider’s needs. He models himself after custom surfboard shapers, who get a sense of each rider they shape for and build a unique creation tailored to that customer.
Looks like more and more people are over riding the Anheuser Busch snowboard brands and would rather ride boards with a little more local flavor.
