Board Exam: 2008/2009 Salomon Answer Snowboard Review

The Rep Said: Great, poppy all-mountain freestyle board.

Stats/Setup: I'm checking in around 6'1" and 170# depending on what I ate for breakfast. I got the 32s on my toes, size 10.5 Focus Boas to be exact. Keeping them company are some Union Force SL bindings. I rode this board on a demo day, so I only had it for one, short run. "It" was the 159 size.

Conditions: Rain at the resort (Mt. Hood Meadows). Groomers anywhere from hard and icy at the top of the lift to soft and slushy at the base.

First impression: Cool graphics-on-wood topsheet. Average weight.

The Ride: In a word, poppy. This is a cambered board with bamboo construction that will have you boosting over 'SLOW' signs with your eyes closed. Couple that with a mid-firm flex (I'd give it a 6 out of 10, 10 being lead pipe) and this board owned Ridge Run, which is basically a long quarterpipe wall, regular-footer's (me) frontside. Careful with the switch, though, it is  a directional deck.

Bottom Line: The rep nailed it. The Salomon Answer is a super-poppy, all-mountain frestyler. Hit the pipe, lap the park, maybe skip the rails. At least I did. Spring from turn to turn with all the life expected from that much bamboo. Maybe even feel good about the environmental qualities of your board. The Salomon Answer, what was the question again?

Video Review: Forum or Against 'Em

Rider List:
Peter Line, Eddie Wall, Joni Malmi, John Jackson, Pat Moore, Jake Blauvelt, Stevie Bell, Nic Sauve, Travis Kennedy, Jake Welch

Opinion:
A well-done, trippy opening sequence (if a bit long), set the tone early. This video has a ton of personality and I actually learned something about the riders as people throughout the each section. How about that!? It isn't the case of personality being the compliment because the riding sucked, either... in fact the riding was on-point, too. That's right, the rare double of being full of bangers while also giving you time to catch your breath. It seemed like every other rider in this flick got broken off hard. Lots of injuries on the Forum team last season and lots of gutsy parts from riders who weren't playing with a full deck, so to speak. By now, you've probably seen that both Pat and Jake were nominated for Transworld Awards. Jake's is not the part you might imagine. Pat's is, and then some. It was great to see Peter Line out there this year with his distinct style yet again. All the parts are really solid in this video. It really doesn't let up throughout. The action is mostly urban with a bit of park and backcountry freestyle and even some big mountain when you least expect it.

My only let down came at the end. Daniel Ek's section (and Greg Bretz's, but I don't know much about him) was limited to 2 shots at the very end. I'm not talking during the credits, I'm talking after the credits. I don't know if he was hurt or what, but fuck that shit! I'm expecting big things from that kid. He's got so much energy and talent it's unreal. Set a Google alert for his name and watch it blow up. You'll see. Anyway, I was talking slops on this video. The only other one was that they recycled some spots. I'll let 'em off the hook this time, but only because they used some shots from Mt. Hood SkiBowl, which is the closest chairlift to my front door. Represent! or something

Overall, Forum or Against 'Em kicked ass and for 6 bucks on iTunes, you can hardly go wrong. Get it, you won't regret it.

Video Review: Standard Films - Aesthetica

Rider list:
Mark Landvik, Eric Jackson, Mads Jonsson, Mathieu Crepel, Chas Guldemond, Torstein Horgmo, Johan Olofsson, Juuso Laivisto, Kazuhiro Kokubo, Xavier Delarue, Dan Migno, Launie Kauk, Keegan Valaika, Sylvain Beauch, Priscilla Levac, Sammy Luebke, JJ Thomas, Mitch Reed

Opinion:
These guys threw down from the press of 'play'. Aesthetica had a quick, well-done intro and got right into the opening section. (I've already seen the trailer, why show it to me again?)I won't give away whose section is where, I think that's part of the fun of watching the video. I will say that guys like Mark Landvik and Eric Jackson went huge in the backcountry and had fun, well-paced parts to show for it. Xavier Delarue survived possibly the gnarliest avalanche ever caught on tape. Torstein Horgmo absolutely owned everything he touched (largely park and urban). Johan and Mads have a rad co-op section where Johan noboards. A couple riders who hit heavy on half parts were Priscilla Levac and Chas Guldemond. 'Cilla started off with a fun stunt and went on to pull off some feats of urban daring. Think long handrails in a single bound type shit. You know Chuck G has the park on lock, what with the 1440 at last years Vail Session (R.I.P.) and any number of high contest finishes. This partial part shows a little more of what he's capable in other areas. I expect big things from him; be it contest or video, he's just fun to watch. Overall, I had to buy this video first because they didn't go on tour with it. I say it was money well-spent. The action is intense and non-stop and it covers big mountain, backcountry freestyle, park and urban action. It's well-paced with lifestyle shots and some comentary, too. Well worth the purchase, I highly recommend it.

2008/2009 Snowboard Videos: A Primer

Oregon resorts aren't getting much snow yet, so I'm taking this opportunity to talk about this year's crop of shred vids. If you're waiting out the dry spell like me, nothing keeps you stoked like a little snow porn and the footage this year has money shots a-plenty. First, a bit of business.

This year was status quo for films, but that might end soon. The long and short of it goes a little like this: Mack Dawg isn't making a rider part video next year and one of their big shots, Brad Kremer is filming for Burton. Said corporation went on to say that its riders will only ride in its video(s?). Was that you, Keanu? 'Whoa' is right. Where does that put guys like Nicolas Müller (who has something like a 15-year relationship with Absinthe)? Time will tell, but I guess Kremer might be filming him from here on out. What does that mean for Absinthe? They'll undoubtedly pick up some of MDP's crew. Travis Rice might step in. He filmed with them last time he was in the midst of a two-year Brainfarm mega-movie (more on that later). Had Gigi, JP and Romain left as well, it would have gone from scorpion to avalanche burial in the blink of a shutter. Currently it looks like the latter two (Gigi is with Volcom for sure) will be Burton-free going forward, for better or worse. Hope they didn't get stuck in any adjustable-rate mortgages...

Honestly, I think the crop next year will be just as good as this year. Mack Dawg mentioned a Peter Line documentary that will probably be great. Burton will have a much better video than it has in years past. Dawger's talent will redistribute leaving the top two tiers of videos similar to this year's. Some Euro companies like Isenseven will step up. And, finally, plenty of videos like Thirty Two/Stepchild or Actionhorse will just be available for free download. You know, like this year. Maybe we just file it under 'the more things change, the more things stay the same.' But of course this year's financial and snowfall situations will factor in, too. They exist far beyond my knowledge, control or willingness to predict, therefor; this post is destined to remain incomplete.

Next post will get into specific movies, I promise.