Shred-tober?

I can see Rock-tober, Jock-tober, Shock-tober, Cock-tober and even Manitowoc-tober; but Shred-tober doesn't so much roll off the tongue as it stutters and gets spit out. Shred video double features are fun, though, whatever you call them. Sporting goods mega-store US Outdoor is teaming with K2 for three nights of action for a quality cause. That cause is Portland ripper Kevin Nimick's battle against cancer. All shows are $2 and at Portland's Clinton Street Theater. Here's the rest:

Purgatory: A Brief Guide to Videos, Since You Probably Can't Ride Yet

No, not the formerly-known-as ski resort. I'm talking about when you can see the goods, but can't get in. As in, this time of year. It's snowing. The weather outside is shitty, but still you can't snowboard. It might be another couple weeks, even by the resort's most optimistic forecast. How the hell is a pusher of p-tex supposed to stay sane? Watch a ton of videos, that's how. The following is a brief 'what's what' of the few videos I've watched this season. No one can tell you what to watch, but I can lay out the info as objectively as possible. Pick out the one that most suits your taste and it'll keep you from going cuckoo for snow snow puffs until you can finally get out there.

In a land...

Title: Jeremy Jones' Deeper

Crew: Teton Gravity Research

Riders: Jeremy Jones, Travis Rice, Xavier De Le Rue, Josh Dirksen, Ryland Bell, Jonaven Moore, Forrest Shearer, Johan Olofsson, Lucas Debari, and Tom Burt

What It's Got: backcountry, documentary style, big lines, long trips, hikes to every drop, huge mountains, Alaska, Chamonix, Sierras, Antarctica, a few backcountry booters, that epic feeling

What It's Not: parks, rails, anything urban

My Opinion: If it doesn't make you want to shred, it will make you want to get better.

A fresh one-footer over a foot of fresh powder

Title:  Right Brain, Left Brain (disclaimer: I only saw the Right Brain)

Crew: Think Thank

Riders: Jesse Burtner, Matt Edgers, Scott Stevens, Sean Genovese, Gus Engle, Pat Milbery, Nick Visconti, Tim Eddy, Mark Thompson, Jason Robinson, Chris Beresford, Austin Hironaka, Blair Habenicht, Chris Larson, Ben Bogart, Sam Hulbert, Austen Granger, Andre Spinelli, Chris Brewster, Jess Kimura (no wonder they 'needed' two discs)

What It's Got: lots of jibs, some park, some backcountry, crazy one-footed stylings, crazier 'kickflips' and other no-footed shenanigans, some big spins off of big jumps, fun feeling, fast pace

What It's Not: that self-serious feeling that so many videos get these days

My Opinion: It will make you look at snowboarding (and your snowboard) differently and that's a good thing.

Yes it was

Title: In Color

Crew: Transworld Snowbording

Riders: Chris Bradshaw, Devun Walsh, Iikka Backstrom, Jake Olson Elm, Jussi Oksanen, Keegan Valaika, Mark Sollors, Mikkel Bang, Phil Jacques

What It's Got: shred porn, good mix of urban and backcountry (maybe leans more toward urban), giant glacier-maw gap, old-school and new-school riders, solid

What's It's Not: big mountain lines, lacking

My Opinion: Plenty of amazing riding, so why was I feeling a little 'meh' at the end? Was that just me?

Minibike himself showing love at his hometown screening of 9191.

Title: 9191

Crew: Volcom

Riders: Gigi Rüf, Nicolas Müller, Austin Smith, Curtis Cizek, Wille Yli-Luoma, Wolle Nyvelt, Jake Blauvelt, Blair Habenicht, Luke Mitrani, Bryan Iguchi

What It's Got: Gigi-centric without actually feeling Gigi-centric, custom-made soundtrack (Slayer's drummer performs a drum solo), extraordinarily creative backcountry, enough of said backcountry to make you want to spring for a heli this year (as if you didn't already)

What It's Not: urban, bad

My Opinion: This one really made me want to ride. Add a little more documentary and it's up there with the best ever.

No, it's not censored in the actual movie

Title: Fuck It

Crew: Forum

Riders: John Jackson, Stevie Bell, Nic Sauve, Niko Cioffi, Austen Sweetin, Jake Welch, Cameron Pierce, Pat Moore, Andreas Wiig

What It's Got: funny intro sequences, urban, big park jumps, John Jackson getting gnar in the backcountry, some others get a little in the backcountry

What It's Not: Peter Line, Daniel Ek

My Opinion: I was bored with all the rail and park porn. Then John Jackson came on and I got stoked.


Hopefully this list will help you get a grip on some of the videos out there this year. As usual, you have dozens of choices and they're all different. Mostly different. The few I've listed are but mere flakes on the grand mountain of shred celluloid. Fortunately, unlike Indy's choice in The Last Crusade, you can't really go wrong. And with iTunes out there, you can put a couple bucks away toward your season pass, too. If you're lucky, you have friends who like shred flicks, too and you can borrow some. Trade back and forth and get a little library thing going. Which makes me think, why isn't there any place out there where you can rent these videos? Would anyone else partake in this? I know I would. While I'm mini-ranting, does anyone else feel like it's giving away the ending when people who preview videos tell you who had the ender? I do. That shit has got to stop!

Deeper and 9191 are the two from this list that I'll buy. Their re-watching potential is sooo high. I'll also probably buy Absinthe's NowHere (though maybe on iTunes) because I know, instinctively, that it's going to be good. I might have to get Right Brain, Left Brain, too, if only to see the other half.

No matter how close the season is, it will always feel like an eternity. With the right exercise and stretching routine to get you in shape (you know, so you can actually ride without feeling like every bit of soft tissue in your knee is going to explode on every landing) and a couple movies to keep the kid in you alive you'll be on that first chair in no time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find someone to convert my old, twisted Mack Dawg tapes to DVD.

Washington State Represents with Cool Story and As Green As It Gets

In the seen-it-all world of snowboarding, originality is hard to come by. Thank God for Jesse Burtner, Sean Genovese and the Think Thank crew. I'm not talking about adding another 180 to a spin, I'm talking about a new way to tell a snowboarding story. I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, though. Seattle hosted the premier of Think Thank's new video Cool Story and YKWII/Snowboard Connection's As Green As It Gets got the crowd all warmed up.

This can mean only one thing...

As Green As It Gets came out strong with Austen Sweetin showing some range. I've seen Austen at rail jams and the Baker Banked, but in this part he lets us see what else he's got, including some footage from Superpark. Seth Kitzke also brought a stellar part to the table. Just a couple guys showing that the Northwest has a bright future. Also, it was good to see the crowed stoked on some local boys. I didn't take notes and I couldn't win a game of memory if all the tiles were apples, so check out YKWII and Snowboard Connection if you want to know more.

The autograph line was long on both sides.
In there are Blair Habenicht, Austin Hironaka, Matt Edgers, Jesse Burtner, others?

Now, on to the feature presentation of the evening, Cool Story. Starring John Candy as the coach of a ragtag bunch... wait, that's Cool Runnings. Cool Story stars the Think Thank crew and tells the story of their winter. It still follows the standard rider part formula, but breaks with convention in that it moves chronologically through the winter with each rider introducing himself, or someone else, at a specific time and place. The execution is a shred diary full of personality.

Burtner, best face forward. He also hosted the longest product raffle ever.
Thanks to the sponsors: Lib Tech, Snowboy Productions, Spacecraft, others?

Ben Bogart scored the opener and gives us a hustler's perspective on 'this economy.' He proves his worth on street rails and jumps equally. Austin Hironaka's moving up that ladder, watch out for him. Progression, right thar. Burtner shows a blatant disregard for bindings. Andre Spinelli takes it to the Alaskan backcountry and gets all double-corky (and I don't mean retarded). So many parts stand out that I could name them all... and there's a lot of them. This thing just keeps delivering. Rails, backcountry pow booters, resort fun sessions; so all-inclusive it's the Club Med of snowboarding.

This flick is worth a buy on dollars per minute alone, but that's not all, the riding is hair-pullingly great, too. Not to sound like Ron Popeil, but what more do you want than a good long shred vid to get you in that winter state of mind? Go buy a copy, a cold beverage, a snack, maybe a catheter and get ready to experience all that snowboarding has to offer. Except pretentious trick porn. None of that here.