Snowboard Colorado Magazine (V3I3)

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NEVER BEFORE HAS A GOGGLE PROVIDED THIS LEVEL OF PERIPHERAL VISION, INTERCHANGEABILITY, FOG-FREE PERFORMANCE, AND SEAMLESS HELMET INTEGRATION. AUTHENTIC SINCE 1965.

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F O R E P L A Y

I S S U E 3 . 3

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12PAGE NOVEMBER 2012 snowboard-colorado.com

N O V E M B E R

I S S U E 3 . 3

FROM THE EDITOR

BLUE RIBBON

OUTSIDE THE BOX

LENSMEN

THE CHOP HOUSE

SOMETHING.NICE

VIDEO STASH

WE’VE GOT COMPANY

NEW TECH

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

LAST RESORT

STYLE POINTS

A TRIBUTE TO

TOM SIMS

TRICK TIPS

ART INSTALLMENT

ON BLAST

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C OV E R

“Chris Coulter sending a Cab five over

the (locally) infamous Red Mountain

Pass road gap near Silverton, CO. We

got shut down after the second hit,

but the highway cop sent to bust

us thought it was rad enough to

let Chris hit it one more time

so he cou ld watch .”

-Ben Eng

RIDER: Chris Coulter

PHOTOGRAPHER: Ben Eng

LOCATION: Red Mountain Pass, CO

C O N T E N T S

“FOR A GUY FROM HADDONFIELD, NEW

JERSEY, WHO SPENT MOST OF HIS LIFE IN

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, SIMS MANAGED

TO MAKE AN AWFULLY BIG IMPACT ON THE

HISTORY OF SNOWBOARDING HERE IN

COLORADO”

“EVERYBODY WAS PARTYING ALL

DAY. I THINK THERE WERE, LIKE,

150,000 PEOPLE THAT WERE

CAMPING AT IT. IT WAS GNARLY,

SO MANY BABES”

ONE STYLE . TWO SIZES. www.dragonal l iance.comEXCLUSIVE VIDEO

ONE STYLE . TWO SIZES. www.dragonal l iance.comEXCLUSIVE VIDEO


F R O M T H E E D I T O R

OUR 20TH ISSUE

Even though my Letter From the Editor is usually the first thing

you read, it’s almost always the last piece to go into making this

magazine. One reason for that is that I don’t need to make any phone

calls or wait for e-mails back in order to complete it; it’s all on me.

Sometimes I leave it because it allows me to address something

current, like Arapahoe Basin becoming the first Colorado mountain

to open, on October 17, 2012. But most of the time, it because my

head is in a million different places. Editing, sales, design, publishing,

website, events ... I try to keep as much involved in all I can. Not

that I’m a micromanager, my crew is more than capable of providing

stellar work, and I’m all about giving people enough rope to hang

themselves, it’s just that this magazine means so much to me that it’s

important to make sure every inch of it is the best it can be without

any of us going insane.

You would think that in the third year of this magazine we’d have a

pretty steady routine of things by now. Unfortunately, in the publishing

world, routine is pretty much a pipe dream. There’s always something

that will take a normal routine and somehow turn it into a total shit

show. I’m not striving for perfection; I’m striving for quality. Each

magazine will always have its blemishes. We’ll always look back at

past issues and reflect on how much better we could have done, but

most of all we know that we’ll keep learning with every issue we put

out. The magazine will continue to grow at a slow and steady rate to

make sure we don’t lose sight of what we are or why we do what we

do. It will never be a perfect magazine, if there even is such a thing,

but as long as it’s something that’s supported by the real people who

snowboard here in Colorado, we’re satisfied.

In this issue, there are so many things that I want to highlight. Kicking

off the issue, we present you a Blue Ribbon article highlighting the

Colorado native, Michael Wick. This kid is a character, if I’ve ever seen

one! Make sure you check out his section and keep an eye out for Mike

in the near future. I have a feeling you may be seeing a lot more of

this guy.

One particular section that’s a must read this month is our Video Stash

with People Films. We caught up with legendary filmmaker, Pierre

Minhondo about his latest project, Pretty Wise, and the struggles and

complete makeover People worked through this year.

Last but not least, make sure to check out through this month’s feature.

Contributing writer Colin Bane gives us an excellent refl ection on Tom

Sims and Sims’ contributions to Colorado snowboarding. With the passing

of the snowboard pioneer last month, it was necessary to do our part to

relay to the younger generations Sims’ efforts and accomplishments. After

all, he is a man responsible for where we are today.

With that said, I’m honored to bring you the 20th installment of

Snowboard Colorado Magazine.

WORDS: ADAM SCHMIDT

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@SBCOMAG

@SBCOMAG

@SNOWBOARDCOMAG

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EDITOR IN CHIEFADAM SCHMIDT

MANAGING EDITORMIKE GOODWIN

ASSOCIATE EDITORMATTHEW SECKINGER

ART DIRECTORANDREW LANGFORD

ASSOCIATE DESIGNERCODY ADAMS

OPERATIONS DIRECTORBILLY CONNOR

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVESJESSICA DEALALEXANDRA LOHR

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSCOLIN BANEDAVE LEHLCHAD OTTERSTROM JJ THOMASTIM WENGER

GUEST EDITORGREG SUDAC

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERAARON DODDS

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS GEOFF ANDRUIK, SCOTT ASKINS,CHRISTOPHER BALDWIN, JEFF BROCKMEYER, JAMES CASSIMUS, BEN ENG, BUD FAWCETT,JON HILL, ZACH HOOPER, DAVE LEHL,ANDREW MILLER, CHAD OTTERSTROM,

TERRY RATZLAFF, GORDON YOULD

www.snowboard-colorado.com

Snowboard Colorado is a free magazine distributed eight times per year, once a month from September to April.

CONTACTADDRESS: 565 E. 70th Ave. 8-EDenver, CO 80229

303-325-3040

Contributions: Snowboard Colorado Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited contributions unless otherwise agreed to in writing. Send all contributions and job inquiries to: [email protected] carry Snowboard Colorado in your store please send an email to [email protected]. Copyright © 2012 Core Market Media LLC.All rights reserved.

N OV E M B E R I S S U E 3 . 3

BINDINGS: Reload BOOTS: Freedom

www.northwavesnow.comselena

balcon

i.com

INTERNATIONALTEAM

VICTOR DE LE RUE NICK VISCONTIALVARO VOGEL GIAN SIMMEN

MERCEDES NICOLL

Distributed by

[email protected] 800.223.3207 vittoriaindustries.com


B LU E R I B B O N

MICHAEL WICK

Lately, whenever I see Michael Wick, I hear the gnat-assed, knee sock

sporting football coach from Dazed and Confused in my head, teasing

out a premonition of Randy Floyd and friend’s summer: “You know,

you’re sitting around the pool all day, chasing the muff around.” I have

seen Michael a number of times this fall, in completely contrasting

situations (Wednesday night movie premiere, midday rail jam), yet

the constants remain. He is loose, rocking a Hawaiian shirt, and he’s

got chicks with him. Always just having a damn good time. It’s like

he’s just checked into this perpetual ‘70s-era poolside disco. He’s

even determined this Austin Powers-esque delivery, unabashedly

slipping retro-sex intimations into his regular speech. “Oh, she’s still

purrrrring,” in reference to how his 15-passenger van, decked with

hardwood and lined with blue shag, is running. Or in response to his

female preferences: “(She’s) Gotta be able to groove. Spice!”

Michael has been on the Colorado scene for a good minute now,

getting his start on the Forum program a few years back. “Mike

Osborne, who works at BC hooked me up with Dougie (Olsen) one day.

I just sent Dougie a little bit of footage when I was, like, 15 and he gave

me a snowboard. It kind of escalated from there.” He has been with

Forum ever since, putting in work and moving up the ladder. “Mike

Swift, the new Forum Colorado rep, is the man, super-rad dude that

has always been supportive. And John Spiris, he used to be the Celtek

team manager and just became the Forum team manager this year,

he is another guy who has helped me a ton. Cool dude that definitely

likes to get shit done.”

At a crisp 19-years young, that ripping testosterone has helped

Michael get some shit of his own done in recent months, putting

together a summer part with Connor Brown up at High Cascade and

landing cameo shots in Dylan Thompson’s “Summer Shred” video

releases. “I am homies with the filmer that was making those edits,”

says Wick. “Dylan, Pat Richer (the filmer, aka Throwback Pat) and I

ended up camping together the whole summer. We became good

homies and he asked me to be in them!” Michael also spent much of

the last year cementing his place in the SLC-based, on-snow-college

bash that is Lick the Cat.

WORDS: MIKE GOODWIN

D.O.B.: 02/18/93RESIDES: Park City, UTHOMETOWN: Denver, CO

SPONSORS: Forum, Special Blend, Dragon, Hobo Shredwear

f: 21b: -18 22 in. 154 cm. regular

“GOTTA BE ABLE TO GROOVE. SPICE!”

ISSUE 3.3 23 PAGE

“I know Big Jerm and all the Park City local kids started it. I am not

sure, like two years ago, and then they just asked me to be part of

the crew,” says Wick of his posse inception. (The group was recently

featured in Snowboarder Magazine’s “Tribes” section).

“Lick the Cat is taking over. It’s basically all the good homies that

we snowboard with. (The brothers Kotsenburg, Sam Taxwood, Griffin

Siebert, the list goes on and on.) We are all kind of the same age and

we just like to fuck shit up and snowboard to good music and lick a

whole lot of cats! If you know what I mean.”

Some may deem the Lick the Cat handle repulsive, yet I find it

particularly fitting of Michael’s gentle, swing-ish nature. Though I

assume the name is drawn more from an insatiable teen quest for

pussy than any all-equivocal nod to sexual reciprocity, his inclusion

is appropriate because Wick falls on the nice guy side of the playboy

spectrum. More Leon Phelps than Tommy Lee. Or, as his homie Zak

Hale describes his game, “It’s like picking a berry. It could either be

sour as fuck or the sweetest thing you ever tasted.”

“What do girls think of your van,” I ask.

“I have heard when they walk up they are a little skeptical, but then

once you get them in, it’s game over. That’s when all the writ comes

out.”

“You need to explain writ for me,” I tell him.

“It’s from this video, “The 7-Minute Thug Workout: How to Cook

Crack.” And the key to the crack-cooking game is all in the writ, like

the wrist. It ended up catching on and everybody got hyped on it.

Just whenever anything went down this summer we just always put

up the writ.”

“Tell me a story about your van that I can publish.”

“I am trying to think. I don’t know. I am trying to think of one that

will be usable.”

“I HAVE HEARD WHEN THEY WALK UP THEY ARE A

LITTLE SKEPTICAL, BUT THEN ONCE YOU GET THEM

IN, IT’S GAME OVER. THAT’S WHEN ALL THE WRIT

COMES OUT”

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“Well, you could tell part of a story.”

“Let’s see how this one sounds,” he begins. “We were at a music

festival in Minnesota, WE Fest.”

“Glee fest?”

“WE Fest, like W-E Fest. Everybody was partying all day. I think there

were, like, 150,000 people that were camping at it. It was gnarly,

so many babes. Then all these security dudes started riding around

on horses and the weather got really gnarly and they are telling

everybody to stay in their tents because there was a possible tornado

coming through the campsite. It started raining all gnarly. I put my

swimsuit on and was just sending it outside. When people got bored

of the rain, we started partying in the van. The partying was just going

off. There were so many babes coming in the van and then I ended up

with some chick and everybody had left the van. I didn’t see him, but

one of my friends opened the door and saw me getting it with some

spicy blond girl.”

“Spicy blond girl,” I laugh. Is that what you said, “Gettin’ it in the van?”

“Yeah, gettin’ writ!”

Michael will be taking the show west to Salt Lake City this year,

meeting up with the rest of his brethren, living in Sage Kotsenburg’s

basement and possibly helping put together a full-length video. “The

move really just comes down to filming. The whole crew is out there,

just all the people that I really love to board with. Little bit of a rumor

that we might make a Lick the Cat movie,” says Wick. “We just got

a new VHX and Carlino’s fisheye lens, so we are ready this year. I

just want to basically film with whoever I can and just kind of stack

footage.”

He’s not one to get caught up in any of the nonsense of the snowboard

world. He’s always down to bust his ass, but you won’t find him

freaking out or stressing when things aren’t going exactly the way he

planned. Just a nice dude sporting island gear and some killer teeth

who’s always looking to keep the party rollin’.

“IT STARTED RAINING ALL GNARLY,

I PUT MY SWIMSUIT ON AND WAS JUST

SENDING IT OUTSIDE”

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OUTS IDE THE BOX

LONNIE KAUK

IT WAS A TOUGH YEAR SNOW-

WISE FOR A LOT OF FOLKS. DID

YOU END UP FLYING ALL OVER

THE PLACE?

Actually, this year I just drove up

to Whistler and stayed there for

two and a half months and didn’t

go anywhere. Just hit the sled.

This year I switched it up because

DC and I parted ways, which is

definitely for the better. Because

of that I filmed with the People

crew this year. DC was making

their own movie and they had all

this budget cut stuff going on.

Luckily, the team manager gave

me a heads up and was like, “I

don’t know what these guys are

gonna do dude.” Everybody was

getting cuts with their checks, less

travel. It was just kind of sketchy.

So, I was like, “it’s definitely time

to bounce.” DC was the one

kind of footing the bill with the

Standard thing and Monster, my

main hook up, was kind of down

for me to do something else and

see what happens.

STANDARD WAS SOMETHING

YOU HAD DONE FOR A GOOD

BIT. WHAT WAS THE SWITCH LIKE

FROM STANDARD TO PEOPLE?

I think it ’s cool because with

Standard, those guys make it

pretty easy, in a way. They give

you a really good mold for putting

things together. What ’s cool

about them, too, is all the trips

are usually planned out. You just

basically have to call your sponsor

up and be like, “Hey, there is a trip

going on up here and all I need to

do is use my travel for that. So can

you just pay for it and we are all

good.” So, it was cool this year.

It was more like, “Man, what are

we gonna do?” I had been up to

Whistler a little bit, so I decided I

was going to go up there and rent

a place and just go chill. Hang out.

Just go out as many days as I can.

SO, FILMING WITH PEOPLE WAS

A BIT MORE LIBERATING?

Yeah, for sure. Just a chill vibe.

That’s what I always like, when

the vibe is good. Especially with

snowboarding fi lms. Obviously, you

are fi lming snowboarding, that’s

what you’re doing. But at the same

time, you could see the ultimate

video part, where the guy is just

killing it and he is doing every

trick there is, but it’s like, “OK

cool, you rip, you kill it, but what

else?” How about tell the story

a little bit more rather than like

a four-to five-minute video part

with all snowboarding in it. Takeoff,

landing, takeoff, landing and then

it’s over. You’re like, “Dude, that

was sick, but who is he?”

SNEAK SOME PERSONALITY IN

THERE.

Yeah, exactly. Then I think people

can really get psyched on the

person and how he rides and

it’s just all around inspiration. Or

maybe the guy is a total asshole

and you can see that, too. It’s an

opportunity for the guys to be

themselves.

INTERVIEW: MIKE GOODWIN

D.O.B.: 3/16/82RESIDES: Mammoth Lakes, CAHOMETOWN: Yosemite Valley, CA

SPONSORS: Monster Energy, Mammoth Mt., Lobster, Switchback, Hoppipolla, Adeline, Kicker

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LONNIE IS ONE OF THE MELLOWEST DUDES I HAVE EVER SPOKEN TO.

SUPER POSITIVE AND SUPER MOTIVATED. HE HAS MADE SOME MAJOR

SWITCH UPS THIS PAST YEAR AND WE TALKED THIS SUMMER ABOUT

WHAT THAT MEANS FOR HIM.

f: 18b: -18goofy 24 in. 154 cm.

ISSUE 3.3 27 PAGE

ARE YOU THE ONLY NATIVE

AMERICAN PRO SNOWBOARDER?

Yeah, from what I know. I am half

native, so I would say that I would

be the one carrying the most of it.

Some other people are for sure,

just not as much maybe.

YO U R FAT H E R H AS H A D A

PROLIFIC CLIMBING CAREER.

YOU’RE A CLIMBER YOURSELF,

CORRECT?

Actua l ly, yeah . I have some

sponsors and get paid and stuff.

I have another out let to get

myself out there, which is cool,

and the even cooler part is that

our dad, he never taught us how

to climb. I mean, he took us out

here and there but never really

showed us anything. I picked

it up on my own after I hurt my

ankle skateboarding. I needed

something to help get it better. So

I started climbing and after a while

I had this feeling like, “whoa, this is

rad.” Actually, last summer I spent

about a month working on this one

climb that my dad put up in 1991

or something. There had only been

one other guy who did it before

me and he did it probably, like, two

weeks before I did it and he is a

real famous climber. He is amazing

and he was like, “Man that thing is

hard.” So, that was cool, too.

WHAT’S THE CLIMB CALLED?

It’s called “Crossroads” and the

grade is 14a. It’s really famous.

It’s so cool because there are only

three people to have done it in the

whole wide world.

AND YOU’RE ONE OF THEM.

Yeah, third one.

THAT’S WILD.

Yeah , i t ’ s p re t ty g reat . I t ’ s

awesome. There i s a who le

story to be filmed within that.

That’s what I would like to do. A

documentary kind of film covering

the climbing, the snowboarding -

just your whole take on the whole

scene. Even with my dad’s story,

too, it’s pretty heavy.

ARE YOU ON LOBSTER NOW?

Yeah, I hooked up with those guys

and it is awesome. It is kind of like

how it used to be.

OLD-SCHOOL FEEL?

Yeah, because they are just like,

“Man, be yourself, we don’t care.

It’s all good.”

SO, YOU’RE HYPED ON THE

SWITCH?

Yeah, in this game of being a pro

athlete, it’s all about the sponsors

that will help you just be yourself

and promote yourself. And when

you do a video part or anything

like that - it’s you, it’s totally you.

It’s not somebody that they are

just telling you to be. I like to think

of it like this; there are all these

companies out there, and they

sponsor all these kids and they get

these kids so hyped out on doing

so great and all this stuff. It’s almost

like the kids are the horse and they

just jump in front of that carrot

and run as fast as they can. They

run so fast that they forget about

who they are and where they come

from. They tire them out so bad

and then it’s like, “OK next.” And

that’s it. When you actually have

an opportunity to show who you

are and everything, it’s a cool and

powerful opportunity. Kids look up

to you. They will listen to you. If you

go out and win a bunch of contests,

kids are going to look up to you and

you have the opportunity to share

something with them, other than

your snowboarding, you know?

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“IT’S SO COOL BECAUSE

THERE ARE ONLY THREE

PEOPLE TO HAVE DONE

IT IN THE WHOLE WIDE

WORLD”


AFTER HOURS

To your average video-watching shred dog, urban sessions probably

look like a hoot. You’re out past your bedtime in the crisp night air

bagging hammers with your buddies. While that may be partially

true, most kids are never privy to the true inner workings of an

inner-city rail mission. For every trick a rider makes, there are

endless issues at hand, trying to ensure that no bangers are missed

on camera. Although each spot comes with its own unique problems,

let’s focus on a few of the most basic.

The main buzzkil l facing any urban session is the cops. In my

experience, no matter where you are and no matter how benign your

setup, they’re not having any of it. Sometimes you can talk them into

letting you stay, assuming you don’t have a snotty attitude. Always

be nice, don’t talk back, and promise that you’ll clean up when you’re

done. If they can see you as a group of kids out having fun and not

a bunch of smart-mouthed little pricks, your chances of not getting

kicked out skyrocket.

The second major issue working against a rider’s rail wizardry is

that your typical city is not set up for you to get your jib on. Streets

are flat (mostly) and until someone invents a non-gravity powered

snowboard, you’re going to have issues. In the past couple of years,

bungees have exploded onto the scene making the problem of

getting speed far more negotiable. They don’t work for every spot,

but they definitely help in most situations. I’m still a big fan of drop-

in ramps since they don’t go whizzing by your head at 60 mph like

a bungee does when someone lets go of it. I swear someone’s going

to get killed by one of those things, so don’t stand where you can

get smacked by one! On this particular night, Jonah Owen was using

a drop in and a bungee to get enough speed for this switch lipslide

270 out.

Thirdly, most spots need some sort of sculpting before they’re

rideable. This usually always means shoveling enough snow onto

the concrete to make an in-run, a kicker to the rail and enough

of the fluffy stuff to land on without coming to a screeching halt.

Luckily for us on this night, some previous shredders had already

done most of the hard work, so the in-run and kicker were already

in place. However, the booter they’d built was about three feet tall,

so we chopped that sucker down to a manageable size. You do not

want your snow step to be as tall as the rail, kids.

Finally, you almost always need some form of illumination. Even if

the spot has a streetlight nearby, it’s not going to be bright enough

for a decent shot. That’s where the good old generator comes in.

These things weigh a ton, rarely ever start up right away and make

your car stink like a petroleum refinery. If your buddy has a truck,

get them to haul the dumb thing around in the back. Next, you need

some sort of high-powered floods to plug into it. I own your run-

of-the-mill Home Depot construction specials. While they work fine

for brightening up the spot, I’m pretty sure most filmers hate their

pee-colored hue and opt for something 10 times more expensive out

of the B&H catalog.

As I said earlier, there are a million things that make urban sessioning

vastly more difficult than riding up the lift and jibbing your way back

down. If you’re going to get after it in the streets, get ready to put

some serious time and effort in.

WORDS: DAVE LEHL

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THE CHOP HOUSE

NOVEMBER

November. There’s no holding back this month. Every resort in Colorado

will be open by Thanksgiving and now people start to really flood up the

mountains. My favorite place in November is Breckenridge, hands down.

They open on the 9th this year and the last few years have opened with

a triple line of jumps and a couple rails. I usually only go to A-basin or

Loveland a couple times in October to break in my gear and wait until

now to really start snowboarding everyday.

With the addition of each new snowboard addict, November gets crazier

every year. The good part about November, though, is that if we pray

hard enough, we will get the snow needed to allow the resorts to open

up more terrain and spread the crowds out. November has been known

to have a good pow day here or there, but I usually try to stick to the

hardpack. Even if we do get a lot of snow, it’s so light that even if it’s five

feet deep, there’s still no base and you go right to the ground. You end

up stuck a lot. Loveland Pass is a great place to go build a mini-kicker or

do some low-tide pow laps with a rock board if you don’t have a pass or

just want to get away from the long, early-season lift lines.

If you are looking to ride the park in November, you’re going to have to

dial your dodging skills. Skiers have always been the majority on the hill

and now that they are all over the park, it has gotten very busy. Imagine

if 200 Rollerbladers started coming to your skate park that could only

hold a max of 20 skaters. Nothing against skiers, if it wasn’t for them

we might not have metal edges. I’m just saying be ready to dodge,

snowboarders or skiers.

You can also rip Denver and Boulder this time of year. It gets cold on the

Front Range and tends to snow regularly. That means no more hitting

up your buddy’s slider bar. Time to break out the Banshee Bungee and

take it to the streets. If you’re not into riding park or jibbing the city

in November, there’s always EpicMix. This is a good month to start

clocking vertical with your Epic Pass; just sign up for EpicMix and start

doing laps. It becomes addicting, as nerdy as it is. I took a lot more laps

last year just trying to catch up with Nate Dogggg’s vertical. Both the

Keystone and Vail gondolas are good for this. As I said earlier, the pow

up here is very rarely good in November unless you really pray. However,

it’s almost guaranteed to be good down at Wolf Creek. Check their

website for their snowfall report. Anywhere between 125-200 inches

year-to-date means it is all-time. Once they have over 200 inches, the

rest of Colorado usually has enough and you won’t have to make the

long drive down there anymore. That is, unless you already live down

there, of course. Come the end of the month, Thanksgiving hits and,

provided we are getting good snow, winter is here! No more riding the

white ribbon of death; you’ll be in dreamland until the end of May, if

you want!

WORDS: CHAD OTTERSTROM

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FOLLOW CHAD ON INSTAGRAM @CHAD_OTTERSTROM

IMAGINE IF 200 ROLLERBLADERS STARTED COMING TO YOUR SKATE PARK THAT COULD ONLY HOLD A MAX OF 20 SKATERS

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Snowboard Colorado.pdf 1 9/14/12 2:38 PM


S O M E T H I N G . N I C E

WELCOME TO THE PROS, KID

Everyone who competes in a sport remembers their first contest as

an amateur, and then as a pro, if they get there. My first crack at a

pro contest was one I’ll never forget! I was 13 years old when I heard

that the ASP halfpipe competition was coming to Vail. I knew I wasn’t

going to win or anything, but just having the chance to drop in and

compete against my favorite pros at the time like Todd Richards, Jeff

Brushie, and Stevie Alters was too hard to pass up.

I spent the week prior to the event practicing relentlessly. Every day,

for hours on end, I would hike and ride that halfpipe at Gold Peak

until I couldn’t stand anymore. The weather that week was amazing,

and I clearly remember having some great moments during practice

where I was thinking to myself, “Man, I might surprise some guys this

weekend.”

Finally the day came, and sure enough it was a snowy one. Up until

then, I never really did a contest while it was snowing, but it was not

the day to make excuses. I remember being so nervous around all the

pros and barely getting any practice due to the crowded frenzy that

is a professional halfpipe contest. I did, however, get a few good runs

and still felt like I could make the first cut and shock some locals. As

my first run drew near, sure enough, the snow flakes got larger and

stickier than I ever remember seeing them. But the guys who were

going before me seemed to be doing OK. I still thought I had a good

chance at lighting up that halfpipe and impressing all my friends and

family who had come out to watch.

The starter called my number and said I was clear to drop. The pipe

looked perfect and I was frothing at the chance to go huge and put on

a show. But as I dropped in and made my way across the flat bottom

to my first hit, I realized I was barely moving. It was as if my board had

a sheet of sandpaper stuck to the bottom of it. I’ll never forget going

through my run and feeling so helpless and frustrated. I don’t think I

did one air over the lip of the pipe. The new snow that had fallen made

it impossible for me to get any sort of momentum built up and I think

I ended up finishing close to last place.

Of course, my parents said I did fine and all that, but the truth was

that I just had the worst contest run of my young competitive career,

and I was pretty embarrassed, to say the least. Todd Richards went on

to win that day, and I couldn’t figure out how he was managing to get

out of the pipe in those conditions and link all his impressive moves.

Looking back, it’s safe to say that my first pro event was a major

bust. Competing in the halfpipe during a snowstorm is an art in

itself - it would take me 10 more years of competing to figure out

how to pull it off. In the end, it was a great, humbling day that I will

never forget!

WORDS: JJ THOMAS

FOLLOW JJ ON TWITTER@JJTHOMAS_

IT WAS AS IF MY BOARD HAD A SHEET OF SANDPAPER STUCK TO THE BOTTOM OF IT

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Photo: PirumovRider: Balakhovskiy

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V I D E O S TA S H

PEOPLE FILMS - PRETTY WISE

What camera / cameras did you use to shoot the video?

The movie was shot primarily with the Canon 60D and the Panasonic

HPX cameras. From a direction standpoint, I really like a mixed media feel

by using different cameras for action, lifestyle and cut shots. By using

different cameras for certain shots, you can give the viewer a variety

of feeling rather than just one look for an entire movie. The HPX is a

workhorse of a camera. It shoots action great, is extremely reliable and

puts out a great image. However, this camera is diffi cult to create images

with a lot of depth of fi eld and a more cinematic look. This is where the

Canon DSLR cameras come in handy. The depth of fi eld that you can

achieve with these cameras is incredible and the feel that you achieve

with that look is really nice, both for action, scenic and lifestyle shots.

Did you have a favorite location to shoot this year? What made it so

good?

We fi lmed in Austria for about a month and I would say that was my

favorite trip. Austria is just a majestic place, in my eyes. Not only is the

terrain incredible, but everything around you is so visually stimulating.

The architecture, the food, the people, the mountains and the resorts all

have so much history. It is just as much fun fi lming snowboarding there as

it is fi lming the surrounding area, eating at the restaurants and meeting

the locals.

What was it like shooting with a completely new crew this year? How

has People changed?

It was a lot of fun having a completely new crew. For example, in Austria

I was with Rusty Ockenden, Shayne Pospisil, Elias Elhardt, Marco Smolla

and photographer Jerome Tanon. None of us knew each other coming

into the trip and within a day it was as if we had known each other for

years. It’s pretty amazing that having snowboarding as a common bond

can bring together friendships like that. I feel like this is the next chapter

for People and we will continue to make videos with creative and talented

individuals.

How has your job changed since the Neoproto days?

It’s defi nitely turned into more of a job since the Neoproto days. I have a

lot more responsibility and instead of just being able to make a movie, I

have to deal with all aspects of the company. It is tough because as DVD

sales decline and there is less and less money coming in, I have to stretch

myself thin in order to make the movie, create all of the web content that

our sponsors require and run the business. I feel like the movie suffers

from this. Something will need to change in the future or independent

companies like People Films will no longer be able to keep making these

movies.

Did you hit any major obstacles along the way or was this year pretty

smooth?

There were some pretty major obstacles, for sure. On December 1, 2011,

which is when I would have usually started fi lming for Pretty Wise, I didn’t

have any fi lmers, any riders or any sponsors. My business partner of 10

years left to go to work at Burton. All the riders from our previous movie

Good Look left for movies that their sponsors were making, other videos

and to do web specifi c projects. All that was left from People at that

point was Shaun McKay and I. With the help of friends in the industry I

was able to round up a new crew of riders, fi lmers and sponsors and start

fi lming by January 1.

It was a really unsure, scary and stressful time in my life. I didn’t know

if I was going to be able to make another movie or even have a job. I

felt disrespected by a lot of people who I no longer respect anymore.

However, at the end of the day, I pulled through with the help of my close

friends and was able to save the company and continue making these

fi lms that I love making.

Standout parts in your opinion?

Some of the riders that standout in the movie are Jason Robinson, Rusty

Ockenden, Will Lavigne, Shaun McKay and Scot Brown.

QUESTIONS WITH: PIERRE MINHONDOBY: MIKE GOODWIN

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Riders: Jason Robinson, Rusty Ockenden, Robbie Walker, Shayne Pospisil, Jake Koia, Lonnie Kauk, Elias Elhardt, Johnny Lazz, Scot Brown, Marco Smolla, Mark Carter, Jason Dubois, Will Lavigne, and Shaun McKay.

Sponsors: Arnette, Transworld Snowboarding, K2 Snowboarding, Dakine, Monster, Rip Curl, Flow Snowboarding, Head Snowboards, The North Face, Oakley, iNi Cooperative, Rome SDS, Plant A Seed Project, Billabong, Distortion Boarding, & Kids Know Distribution

Locations: Austria, Alaska, Montana, Mammoth, Snoqualmie, Japan, Whistler, Quebec

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SnowAd.indd 1 10/1/12 2:22 PM


WE’VE GOT COMPANY

CAMTROL

In this age of POVs and follow-cams, there is quite a range of filmers on

the mountain: young bucks to weathered vets. Add to that the multitude

of camera types and models available, and there is a mass of styles and

designs to cater to. Camtrol Free Shooting Tools recently opened their

headquarters in Breckenridge and is positioned to provide a line of tools

suitable for just about any camera wielder.

“Camtrol is a tool for everybody,” says Camtrol founder Jonny Rowen.

“Camtrol is an on-the-go, modular, production tool that can be tethered

to any device for absolute ease of use, variety, flexibility and shooting

styles for anybody who wants to see what they are doing.”

The handles feature three ball joints that allow the user to shape the

handle exactly how they need for virtually any type of camera: DSLRs,

Camcorders, POV Cams, iPhones, iPods and anything else without

a handle. With most setups, you are restricted to a limited range of

motion that is constrained from your waist to chin. However, the locking-

ball-joint system used in Camtrol products allows for quick and easy

adjustments when shooting overhead angles, and especially, low angles.

While Rowen was living in the Lake Tahoe area, he would often film

family and friends on the weekends and was frustrated by the difficulties

he felt controlling his camera. After building a model in his garage and

sporting it around the hill, it was clear that he was not the only person

looking for that kind of tool. “I couldn’t not be approached by people in

the lift-line asking me where I got it or where they could get one,” says

Rowen. “At that point, I decided that it was a valid product and that I

was going to pursue patenting my idea so that I could protect it and go

into manufacturing.”

Bringing this product to consumers was no easy task. “The legality

behind patenting, copyrighting and trademarking was something

I had to learn,” explains Rowen in regard to the initial speed bumps

he encountered when starting the company. “Most of the struggles

that come with a new product, other than that, come from convincing

people to try something new.”

They sorted through the obstacles and introduced their product, getting

Camtrols into the hands of the key videographers across the industry.

Filmers at Mt. Hood and Camp of Champions used the handles this

summer, and a number of video crews were hooked up with handles to

use for their feature films this season. The word is quickly spreading,

especially right here at home.

“Colorado, to me, has always been the mecca of new products and

new sports,” says Rowen. “We felt that the company vision was about

a lifestyle of filming your life experience and that is what Colorado

natives are all about.

Colorado has also facilitated the growth of the Camtrol team. One tends

to meet like-minded individuals when living in this state and Matt Guess,

Camtrol VP of Sales & Marketing/Team Manager, is not immune to the

allure of the Rockies. Matt and Jonny met a couple years ago at SIA in

Denver. Guess saw the passion Rowen had for this new product and

was sold on the idea. What started as a simple sponsor relationship

blossomed into a much bigger role for Guess. Matt’s strong feelings

about Colorado reflect Rowen’s. Guess says he loves being in the

environment where this new product thrives. “I am very excited for the

future of Camtrol,” says Guess.

If you want your ideas to succeed, you must have passion. Then, you

need to surround yourself with like-minded individuals that share that

passion with you. The Camtrol dudes seems to be on the right track.

WORDS: BILLY CONNOR

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“I COULDN’T NOT BE APPROACHED BY PEOPLE IN THE LIFT-LINE ASKING ME WHERE I GOT IT OR WHERE THEY COULD GET ONE”

©2012 Luxottica Group. All rights reserved.

Designer: Creative Dir: Account Mgr: Account:

Traffic:Proofreader:Studio:Production:Copy Writer:

Project Mgr:Product Mgr:Editor:Legal:C

lient

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100%

WASSERMAN MEDIA GROUP | 760.602.6200 | Prepared by Jason Bump | www.wmgllc.com | All rights reserved 2012

Pub: Bleed: Trim:Live: Scale:

Snowboard Colorado

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Mechanical Version:

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Date Initials OK Date Initials OK Date Initials OK

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AN2012_SageKotsenburg_SnowboardColorado_Nov.indd 1 10/8/12 2:00 PM

©2012 Luxottica Group. All rights reserved.

Designer: Creative Dir: Account Mgr: Account:

Traffic:Proofreader:Studio:Production:Copy Writer:

Project Mgr:Product Mgr:Editor:Legal:C

lient

Date: Client: Job Number: File Name:

Insertion Date(s):

Print Scale:

October 8, 2012Arnette AN2012_SageKotsenburg_Snow-boardColorado_Nov.indd

100%

WASSERMAN MEDIA GROUP | 760.602.6200 | Prepared by Jason Bump | www.wmgllc.com | All rights reserved 2012

Pub: Bleed: Trim:Live: Scale:

Snowboard Colorado

.125 in8.375 x 10.875 in NA 100%

Mechanical Version:

1

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Inks: CMYK

Notes:

Fonts: Univers Bold

Date Initials OK Date Initials OK Date Initials OK

Round #:

AN2012_SageKotsenburg_SnowboardColorado_Nov.indd 1 10/8/12 2:00 PM


N E W T E C H

ZEAL OPTICS

Admittedly, when I hear the phrase “POV,” I don’t necessarily think of

goggles, or snowboarding. However, the point-of-view camera is only

becoming more popular, and this year, with the iON, Zeal is tossing

their own spin into the mix.

Zeal was the first goggle company to incorporate a GPS system into

their product, and upon realizing that the wide-screen viewfinder used

for the GPS display in their Z3 goggle would work for video, they set

out to find a way to take the next step. “The iON basically came out

of us filming our own things and realizing that we weren’t getting the

shots we wanted because we had no vantage point,” says Chelsea

Lawson, Zeal’s head of public relations. “We were looking for a way to

mix technology, function and fashion together.”

Keeping the development in-house was a priority and a number of

engineers were brought aboard, with teams working separately on

certain aspects of the camera. “There were specific engineers for every

component of the electronics package,” says Lawson.

After two years of development, we will see the iON on the market for

the 2012/2013 season. The built-in camera can shoot in both 1080p

and 720p at 30 and 60 fps, respectively, and is supported by 8GB of

included SD card memory, which is good for up to four hours of HD

video. Exposure and white balance are set automatically and there are

three adjustable scene settings: auto, low light and sunny. The camera

also boasts 8MP photo capabilities and has settings for single shot,

sequence and time lapse.

While the camera specs are similar to those found in competing

models, there are a couple of distinctions that separate the iON. One,

the camera can be fully operated through the goggle without having

to remove your gloves. Secondly, because of the in-lens viewfinder,

there is no need to consistently check to see if your camera is on or

ask someone else on the hill if it’s on. All of that information sits on

the 16x9 widescreen display, right in front of your eyes. “The Zeal iON

is a game changer for POV cameras. No more guessing how the video

is turning out. Instead you can play back your footage whenever you

want,” says rider Kimmy Fasani. “I was happily surprised to see how

easy this goggle and camera were to use.”

WORDS: MIKE GOODWIN

THE BUILT-IN CAMERA CAN SHOOT IN BOTH 1080P AND 720P AT 30 AND 60 FPS, RESPECTIVELY, AND IS SUPPORTED BY 8GB OF INCLUDED SD CARD MEMORY, WHICH IS GOOD FOR UP TO FOUR HOURS OF HD VIDEO

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BURTON / RAMPANT / $199.95

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BURTON / FELIX / $279.95

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K E Y S T O N E

L A S T R E S O R T

WORDS BY: SOME PEOPLE

ISSUE 3.3 51 PAGE

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BOASTING 3,148 ACRES OF TERRAIN FEATURING EVERYTHING

FROM STEEPS TO TOP RANKED PARKS TO CAT-ACCESSED

BOARDING, KEYSTONE RESORT HAS UNLIMITED POTENTIAL

FOR RIDERS SEEKING A MOUNTAIN THAT HAS IT ALL WITHOUT

TRAVELING FAR TO GET THE GOODS. LOCATED 75 MILES FROM

DENVER, DOWN EVERYONE’S FAVORITE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARTERY,

INTERSTATE 70, KEYSTONE SITS ABOUT SEVEN MILES CLOSER TO

DENVER THAN BRECKENRIDGE, GRANTING YOU ANOTHER SNOOZE

ON THE ALARM CLOCK. OR, FORGET THE ALARM AND SLEEP IN:

KEYSTONE IS THE ONLY RESORT ON THE VAIL RESORTS EPIC PASS

THAT OFFERS NIGHT RIDING.

Accessibility comes easy at Keystone. Upon arriving, forget about

needing cash or parking miles away, Keystone is one of the few

places in Colorado you can park for free and walk to the lift. On

the mountain, 6 carpets and 14 lifts (most of which are high-speed)

make getting to your favorite spot easier and quicker. From River

Run Village, the eight-passenger gondola zips you up the front side

of the mountain. From there you can access the second gondola,

the Outpost Gondola that spans from the top of the front side

(Dercum Mountain) to North Peak. This can be a lifesaver when the

temperatures drop and you seek the solitude further back on the

mountain.

For riders seeking steeps and deep terrain, Keystone’s three peaks,

with a number of ridges and bowls make for awesome freeriding.

For only five bucks extra, you can hitch a snowcat ride to some of

Keystone’s best backcountry riding terrain - in-bounds. Or if you

prefer the old heel-toe express, you can always access this terrain on

foot. The coveted spots are the Outback, Windows and Independence

Bowl where you can find your share of trees, cliffs and powder. The

Outback is the highest lift-accessed peak at Keystone that delivers cat

access to the North and South Bowls for amazing tree riding. For the

quickest access to the goods after a storm, head into the Windows, a

short hike from the top of Dercum Mountain, for some good trees to

thrash through. The newest of the bowls at Keystone is Independence

Bowl where you can find breathtaking views from the top via snowcat

or on foot and stellar riding on the way down.

KEYSTONE THE A51 TERRAIN PARK IS UNDOUBTEDLY

KEYSTONE’S MASTERPIECE.

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THE COVETED SPOTS ARE THE

OUTBACK, WINDOWS AND

INDEPENDENCE BOWL

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ESTABLISHED: 1970

SUMMIT ELEVATION:12,408 FT.

BASE ELEVATION: 8,280 FT.

VERTICAL DROP: 3,128 FT.

TRAILS: 135

LIFTS: 20

ACRES: 3,148

SNOWMAKING COVERAGE: 662 ACRES

LONGEST TRAIL: 3.5 MILES

TERRAIN PARKS: 3

HALFPIPE: YES

ANNUAL AVERAGE SNOWFALL: 235 INCHES

NIGHT RIDING: YES

KEYSTONE

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The A51 Terrain Park is undoubtedly Keystone’s masterpiece. It has

been ranked within the top three parks in the world and is ridden

by some of the best in the world, too. Keystone usually opens in

November with more features than any mountain in North America

and when fully open (typically by Thanksgiving), A51 boasts over 100

features that deliver everything from innovative jumps to jibs. The

2012-2013 season marks the 10th anniversary of A51 and to celebrate

they will showcase a signature 10th-year park feature. Both the A51

double and the Peru High Speed Quad run right over the park and it

can be something else just riding the those lifts and watching some

of the world’s best snowboarders rip A51. With ride times of five

and seven minutes, respectively, they make for endless park and full-

mountain laps. Thanks to the northeastern aspect of the A51 park,

you can lap in the sunshine and worry less about wind affecting your

hangtime.

Keystone’s progressive terrain park features provide the perfect place

to develop some Evil Knievel moves. From Freda’s Incubator to Main

Street you can take small steps, moving from a small box to a handrail

or a three-foot jump to a 60-foot booter. Keystone’s park staff keeps

the features in immaculate shape and they switch things up regularly

to create fresh lines. The A51 terrain parks have such a variety of

features; if you put in your time here, you will certainly get better.

Main Street has the big jump line where a set of three, X Games-

sized jumps are built each year. Park Lane has the medium jump line

and The Alley has some of the greasiest down bars this side of the

Continental Divide. For those seeking to shake things up, a trip down

the I-70 park line will do it with creative features that allow you to

THE ALLEY HAS SOME OF THE GREASIEST DOWN

BARS THIS SIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE

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ISSUE 3.3 55 PAGE

link together unique lines. The Rail Garden after the Main Street jump

line is another area for creativity, but on a much larger scale than I-70.

These features test anyone’s ability on a snowboard. If you decide to

wander the mountain looking for another park, you won’t find one.

Keystone keeps all of its features in A51.

If you prefer a little more to your park run than just jumps and

rails, Keystone has you covered with wide-open groomers that are

perfect for mobbing. Some of the best runs are just after the park.

Cut right at the end of the park down Ballhooter for some mellow

cruisers, or point it down the ski racing trail Go Devil to get that

adrenaline flowing.

When it comes to eats, the village has an array of joints to choose

from. On your way back to your car at the end of the day, it is very

likely you will pass Pizza On The Run before you reach the parking

lot. The smell of pizza pumping out of this place can really test your

willpower and it’ll be hard to not run in for a slice to-go. There are

other options for pizza as well, especially for those headed back to

I-70. Jersey Boy’s in Dillon is the place for a good East Coast slice of

pizza. With roots back east in Newark, New Jersey, this place knows

what’s up with pizza and for me is the go-to spot for a little taste of

home. Nothing completes a day of snowboarding more than pizza

and beer.

AN AWESOME THING ABOUT KEYSTONE IS THAT

FOR $5 ON TOP OF YOUR LIFT TICKET OR SEASON

PASS YOU HAVE ACCESS TO CAT BOARDING

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WHEN FULLY OPEN, A51 TYPICALLY HAS OVER 100

FEATURES AND IS OFTEN RANKED WITHIN THE

TOP THREE PARKS IN THE WORLD

ISSUE 3.3 57 PAGE

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Now if pizza is not your thing, there is the famous Dos Locos Mexican

Restaurant and Cantina. This place has an awesome happy hour with

Mexican food, wings, and booze. And if you’re on a strict budget, you

can be the stingy one who makes a meal out of the free chips and

salsa. Watch your timing at Dos Locos, though, because tables fill up

fast, especially weekends when the game is on. If late-night action is

what you’re into, Dos Locos offers karaoke on Thursday nights.

For those seeking events that add to the mountain experience,

Keystone has played host to a number of contests and events you’ll

see in snowboard magazines and first-hand throughout the season.

The launch of the River Run Rail Series gives local riders a chance

to throw down and win prizes (including cash) in a Rail Jam at the

base of the River Run Gondola pre-season in September, opening

weekend in November and closing weekend in April. The biggest

events have included Volcom Peanut Butter and Rail Jam, Transworld

Snowboarding’s TransAm, Snowboarder Magazine’s Superpark and

Ms. Superpark.

Keystone is a place where both park dwellers and freeriders can get

their fix. With night boarding and other activities going on around the

village, Keystone is a great option to consider when looking avoiding

the I-70 rush hours during peak season. Make a point to leave the

couch behind a couple times this winter and go ride Keystone Resort.

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NOTHING COMPLETES A DAY OF SNOWBOARDING

MORE THAN PIZZA AND BEER

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60PAGE

r: alex yoder // p: aaron dodds // l: silverton, co

s T y l E p o i N t s

61 PAGE

62PAGE

r: luke haddock // p: christopher baldwin // l: denver, co


The Future is

now-snowboarding.com

Binding

2012 product of the year.2012 product of the year.2012 product of the year.

Expect films | Torstein.net

A SNOWBOARD DOCUMENTARY ABOUT TORSTEIN HORGMO BY TOBIAS FRØYSTAD

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY BLUEPRINT OF RYMESAYER ENTERTAINMENT & SPECIAL GUEST

DENVER, CO FILM PREMIERE NOVEMBER 15TH, 2012

Summit Music Hall - 1902 Blake St. Denver, CO 80202

Tickets: thesummitmusichall.com

65 PAGE

r: mike basich // p: andrew miller // l: silverton, co


Expect films | Torstein.net

A SNOWBOARD DOCUMENTARY ABOUT TORSTEIN HORGMO BY TOBIAS FRØYSTAD

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY BLUEPRINT OF RYMESAYER ENTERTAINMENT & SPECIAL GUEST

DENVER, CO FILM PREMIERE NOVEMBER 15TH, 2012

Summit Music Hall - 1902 Blake St. Denver, CO 80202

Tickets: thesummitmusichall.com

66PAGE

r: colin tucker // p: zach hooper // l: snowmass, co


67 PAGE

www.skicooper.com

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GET HIGH, GET DEEP, GET AFTER IT.RIDE THE RIDGE

Opperated out of scenic

Ski Cooper Mountain near

Leadville, Colorado. We take

you up to the Continental Divide

and release you to some of

Colorado’s best powder turns

and Rocky Mountain views!

CHICAGORIDGEsnowcat tours

r: forest bailey // p: aaron dodds // l: wolf creek, co


www.skicooper.com

photo

s |

scott

dw

sm

ith

GET HIGH, GET DEEP, GET AFTER IT.RIDE THE RIDGE

Opperated out of scenic

Ski Cooper Mountain near

Leadville, Colorado. We take

you up to the Continental Divide

and release you to some of

Colorado’s best powder turns

and Rocky Mountain views!

CHICAGORIDGEsnowcat tours

70PAGE

71 PAGE

r: jared jordan // p: terry ratzlaff // l: denver, co


72PAGE NOVEMBER 2012 snowboard-colorado.com72PAGE NOVEMBER 2012 snowboard-colorado.com

pioneer

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a p e r s o n t h a t o r i g i n a t e s a n e w l i n e o f t h o u g h t , a c t i v i t y ,

m e t h o d o r t e c h n i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t

P: JAMES CASSIMUS

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY COLLECTIVE LICENSING INTERNATIONAL LLC

ISSUE 3.3 73 PAGEISSUE 3.3 73 PAGE

There’s a well-worn quote about the Velvet Underground frequently

attributed to Brian Eno that has attained mythic status in the history

of rock and roll: “Only five thousand people ever bought a Velvet

Underground album, but every single one of them started a band.”

Trent Bush, the only snowboarder member on the board of directors at

the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum in Vail and co-founder of the

Colorado Snowboard Archive exhibit there, attributes a similar level of

infl uence to Tom Sims in the world of snowboarding. “He just embodied

this whole lifestyle as this wild-eyed, rock-and-roll Southern California

guy upending ski culture, and he was infectious,” Bush says. “He was one

of the most important and vocal carriers of the torch for snowboarding

from the beginning, and anyone who got near him wanted to be involved

in what he was doing. People crossed paths with Tom and then went and

started their own companies.”

“ S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 1 2 , A S W E A L L N OW K N OW, WA S A

HEAVY DAY. TOM S IMS PASSED AWAY AT FAR TOO YOUNG

OF AN AGE. IT WAS AN IMMENSE LOSS TO SNOWBOARDING

A N D S K AT E B O A R D I N G A N D T O A L L W H O K N E W H I M .

LU C K Y F O R U S , TO M L E F T B E H I N D A L E G AC Y A N D H I S

AC C O M P L I S H M E N T S S P E A K F O R T H E M S E LV E S . A T R U E

P IONEER , TOM BROUGHT FORWARD-THINKING CONCEPTS

A N D I N N O V A T I O N S T H A T F O R E V E R C H A N G E D T H E

L A N DSC A P E O F T H E S N OW A N D S KAT E I N D U ST R I E S . H E

ESSENTIALLY SHAPED BOTH OF THESE S IDEWAYS -STANDING

D I SC I P L I N E S AS W E K N OW T H E M TO DAY. H I S CO N STA N T

QUEST FOR THE DEEPEST POWDER, THE LONGEST DOWNHILL

PAVED ROAD AND THE SMOOTHEST WAVE HAS BEEN, AND

ALWAYS WILL BE , AN INSPIRATION TO US ALL .”

- MARC VITELLI , S IMS SNOWBOARDS

R e f l e c t i o n s

o n S i m s ’ C o l o r a d o s t o r y

B y C o l i n B a n e

R e f l e c t i o n s

o n S i m s ’ C o l o r a d o s t o r y

B y C o l i n B a n e

P: JAMES CASSIMUS


For a guy from Haddonfield, New Jersey, who spent

most of his life in Southern California, Sims managed

to make an awfully big impact on the history of

snowboarding here in Colorado. Sims, who is credited

with inventing the prototype for the modern snowboard in his junior

high wood shop class back in New Jersey in 1963, was also among the

first to sell and distribute boards in Colorado and helped convince ski

area operators at Ski Cooper and Berthoud Pass to let some of the first

snowboarders on their slopes. He ultimately lived to see the sport he

helped create welcomed and embraced by every ski area in Colorado

and nearly every ski area in the U.S. and around the world and was still

charging hard in Colorado every chance he got, including recent trips to

Breckenridge and a heli-boarding trip to Silverton Mountain.

“With the passing of Tom Sims, the world lost a true pioneer in snowboard

and skateboard culture that goes so much further than his impact in

the products that carried the Sims name,” wrote Bush and his Colorado

Snowboard Archive co-founders David Alden and Kurt Olesek, in a

statement after Sims’ death from cardiac arrest was reported in September.

That raggedy old board Sims cobbled together back in 1963 is one of

several early SIMS Snowboards prototypes on display in the Colorado

Snowboard Archive’s permanent exhibit at the Colorado Ski & Snowboard

Museum. “Tom’s vision and relentless drive helped shape the identity of an

entire generation who discovered a lifestyle that he helped create. Anyone

fortunate enough to have stepped on a snowboard or skateboard in the last

few decades owes a huge debt of gratitude to Tom Sims, and the work we

did with Tom to create the Colorado Snowboard Archive in the Colorado

Ski & Snowboard Museum in Vail has taken on even more importance as a

way to preserve his legacy. We join the entire snowboard and skateboard

world in our best wishes for Tom’s family, and Tom, while you’ve moved

on to deeper powder and smoother streets, you will never be forgotten.”

Sims’ Colorado story dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, after

founding SIMS Snowboards in 1976, when he began his campaign to

convince ski areas to allow his boards on the slopes. He competed in

– and won – some of the earliest contests at Ski Cooper and Berthoud

Pass, going as far back as 1981, events that were aimed specifically at

demonstrating how far snowboarding had come in a few short years

and how it could be compatible with existing ski areas. It worked: Ski

Cooper and Berthoud Pass worked to sort out the insurance issues

around allowing snowboarders on their slopes and chairlifts, and the

success of those early events helped pave the way for other ski areas

in Colorado to open to snowboarders within a few years.

“I was involved with those first Berthoud Pass contests and I remember

Tom driving up and pulling a board out of his trunk with a P-Tex bottom

and metal edges when there wasn’t another soul out there with anything

like that,” recalls Bill Wright, owner of the Wright Life shop in Fort

Collins, one of the first local shops to carry SIMS Snowboards and the

longest continually-operating snowboard shop in Colorado. “He then

proceeded to just destroy the entire field, but in the process he gave the

rest of us a glimpse of what was possible on a snowboard.”

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proceeded to just destroy the entire field, but in the process he gave the

rest of us a glimpse of what was possible on a snowboard.”

“With the passing of Tom Sims, the world lost a true pioneer in snowboard

and skateboard culture that goes so much further than his impact in

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did with Tom to create the Colorado Snowboard Archive in the Colorado

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Wright has three museum-worthy vintage SIMS Snowboards models

among his private collection on display in the shop, including a yellow

plastic contraption involving a wooden skateboard deck that was one

of Sims’ early prototypes from the 1970s. “I was very sad to hear of

Tom’s death, and it’s been reminding me of those very early days of

the sport when it was just SIMS and Burton, and Tom and Jake were

the guys answering the phones,” he says. “To get boards and stuff you

pretty much went through them. It’s sort of amazing to think back on

how far it’s all come.”

Sims collaborated closely with Bush, Olesek, and Alden (a former SIMS

team rider) on the Colorado Snowboard Archive, where promotional

posters and results sheets from events like Berthoud’s “King of the

Mountain” are among the collection’s treasures, and Bush says his

research confirms Wright’s first-person recollection. “Everyone else

was showing up with wood boards and plastic boards, and he shows

up with a fiberglass composite snowboard not all that different from

some of today’s boards,” Bush says. “At every contest he rode in back

then he did a thing called the SIMS Challenge, where if you beat Tom

he’d give you a free board. I don’t even know if he ever had to give one

away. That was always his deal in the early days: he was the best, but he

also really wanted to see people rise to the challenge because he was

trying to grow the sport and the whole lifestyle.” Those contests now

make up some of the earliest history of snowboarding, in Colorado or

anywhere else.

“In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s Tom and other snowboarding

pioneers saw Colorado as the key battleground,” Bush says. “The

Colorado ski industry was already well established and there was

a high concentration of ski areas here, so Tom realized that if the

acceptance of snowboarding was going to happen on a big scale,

it kind of needed to happen here first. Colorado was also just a

natural crossroads at that time, with Tom coming from the West,

Jake Burton from the East, and then Winterstick happening in Utah

and Mervin coming from the Northwest. Colorado was where all

those roads converged.”

By the time Sims helped bring the World Snowboard Classic to

Breckenridge in 1986, the sport was already well on its way to fulfilling

his prophecy. “It will become the mainstream sport for teenagers

and guys in their twenties within five years, I believe,” Sims told

sportscaster John Keating, then of Denver’s KMGH 7 News, the local

ABC affiliate, during coverage of the ‘86 Worlds, in one of the many

awesome old videos we dug up on YouTube. He wasn’t far off. Within

that five-year span nearly every ski resort in Colorado had come

around to allowing snowboarders, and even the International Olympic

Committee had seen the light, announcing that the sport Sims helped

create would make its debut as a medal sport at the 1998 Winter

Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Wright has three museum-worthy vintage SIMS Snowboards models

among his private collection on display in the shop, including a yellow

plastic contraption involving a wooden skateboard deck that was one

pioneers saw Colorado as the key battleground,” Bush says. “The



acceptance of snowboarding was going to happen on a big scale,




Sims was also a pioneer in building a team of pro riders to represent

his brand, recruiting riders like Craig Kelly, Terry Kidwell, Noah Salasnek

and Shaun Palmer who would become legends in the sport, as well as

sponsoring dozens of Colorado locals over the years. Chris Pappas,

Tim Windell (now best known as the founder of the Windells Camp

at Mt. Hood in Oregon), Kevin Delaney and David Alden were among

the first waves of SIMS Snowboards riders, and the SIMS current pro

lineup includes Breckenridge frequenter Seth Hill and Vail’s Bryan Daino,

with Snowmass local Gwyneth Tefft representing on the amateur team.

Although Sims was as into slalom snowboard racing as anyone back in

the day (search YouTube for some epic videos of him trying to shave

extra seconds off in a neoprene surfing dry suit) he was also largely

responsible for shaping the freestyle aspect of the sport, a direction that

even his earliest team rider selections reflect.

“Had Tom not been around, I don’t know if the freestyle aspect of

snowboarding would exist so much today,” Bush says. “It probably would

have gone more towards ski-style racing, you know, slalom and giant

slalom and downhill, because the other guys in the sport early on all

came from ski backgrounds. Tom came from surfing and skateboarding,

and he was very influential, from a very early stage, in keeping that skate

roots and surf roots mentality. Anyone who was on SIMS back then was

also a skateboarder, and that made a huge difference in the direction

everything would take.”

Sims took his own legacy seriously in his final years, and took an active

role in seeing it preserved out of fear that Burton and others would

overshadow him in the annals of snowboard history.

“He was very, very vocal – almost overzealous at times – about what

his contribution was, and is, to snowboarding and skateboarding and

youth culture and the whole thing,” Bush recalls. “And he wasn’t wrong!

There were a couple of guys who were ground zero in the birth of

what snowboarding is today and he was one of them. He deserves a

lot of credit for that. But, I do think he felt that his legacy was being

overshadowed. For better or for worse, he was a much better rider and

innovator and ambassador for the sport than he was a business guy, by

his own admission, and some of his license deals didn’t work out so well

over the years. We were really fortunate to get to work with him to get

his story and to have him so willing to donate some of his most historic

boards for the museum. When we first got involved with the project

and started digging around in some of the snowboard stuff the museum

already had, we were surprised to find some of Tom’s stuff in there,

along with video of a 1995 presentation at the museum, then called the

Colorado Ski Museum, where he was already arguing that they should

add snowboarding to the name. He’d beaten us to the punch by more

than a decade.“

Speaking of stories, as anyone who ever rode up a chairlift or ran into

Sims in a bar at the base area can attest, he was a guy who could talk

your ear off about snowboarding, and could spin a back-in-the-day yarn

with the best of them.


snowboarding would exist so much today,” Bush says. “It probably would snowboarding would exist so much today,” Bush says. “It probably would


snowboarding would exist so much today,” Bush says. “It probably would

Sims was also a pioneer in building a team of pro riders to represent

SIMS AND TERRY KIDWELLP: BUD FAWCETT


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“The amount of knowledge and historic context we got from him

anytime we had a question – things we’d never known before – was

just incredible,” Bush says. “But as we were bumping up against our

deadlines to get the exhibit open at the museum last year, we actually

got to the point of not wanting to call him when we had questions

because you’d get on the phone with him and he’d talk for an hour!

He was super enthusiastic, which was great, but we were sitting there

on deadline trying to get stuff done because the doors were going to

open, trying – and failing – to reign him in! Looking back on it now,

there’s a sense of, ‘thank God we had those conversations and got

those stories from him when we did,’ because it turned out to be our

last chance.”

Sims can rest in peace knowing that his legacy will, indeed, be

preserved, both at the museum and in the collective memory

of everyone who inherits his passion for zipping sideways down

mountains and roads and waves. His contributions to snowboarding,

in particular, were heavily reported in the days and weeks after his

death, and the roots of nearly everything about today’s snowboard

culture have been traced back to him as snowboarders everywhere

have been sharing their remembrances. He’s probably single-handedly

responsible for exporting stereotypical, Southern California surfer

slang to the mountains, for one thing. So when you’re getting radical

out there this season you can thank Tom Sims for both helping shape

that experience and for giving you the appropriate vocabulary to

describe it.

“Growing up in Colorado in the ‘70s and ‘80s, you couldn’t really be

a surfer, obviously, but we were envious of that surf lifestyle and we

were skateboarders who were looking to take that same thrill to the

mountains,” says Tim Canaday, Co-Founder of Never Summer Industries.

“Tom Sims came through and showed everybody how it could be done.

I never knew him personally, but Sims’ designs were an inspiration to us

early on when we first started making our Swift Snowboards, later on

when we founded Never Summer Industries and again when we got into

the longboard market. Without Sims, I don’t even know if there would

be such a thing as a ‘longboard market’ today. He was the original.”

Sims can be seen rocking a ridiculously long longboard in the 1976

sk8sploitation film classic Freewheelin’, sporting short shorts and a

mustache that would be the envy of any modern-day hipster as he’s

bombing hills and carving bowls alongside the likes of Stacy Peralta. He

spent decades trying to promote the idea that longboards gave the best

approximation of the sensations of surfing and snowboarding before it

finally caught on. But, like many of Sims’ innovations, longboarding is

now beloved around the world. Go to any college campus in Colorado,

on any given day, count the number of longboarders cruising by, and

know that Tom Sims spent most of his life hoping that day would come,

a project as dear to his heart as promoting snowboarding.

Sims’ Colorado connection was cemented in 2006 when he granted

global licensing rights of his brand to Englewood-based Collective

Licensing International. “Tom owned and had complete control of


the brand up until his passing and, I assume, has passed it onto his

wife,” says Marc Vitelli, Brand Manager for SIMS Snowboards. “We are

running the brand, and have been for the past six-plus years, with Tom’s

ownership and involvement.”

Although Sims was not involved with daily operations at SIMS

Snowboards, Vitelli says he worked closely with him to restore and

rebuild the brand’s equity during that time, re-branding and working to

re-educate retailers and consumers about the brand’s authentic roots

in both snowboarding and skateboarding, with an emphasis on telling

the story of Sims’ innovations and historic firsts, including the first

snowboard with metal edges, the first folding highback bindings and

the first true twin-tip shapes to facilitate switch riding.

Sims’ fi nal innovation, Vitelli says, is being unveiled in this season’s boards:

the SIMS E-Board (short for ergonomic snowboard) is a skateboard-

inspired project Sims worked on over the last four years with Louis

Fournier, using wedges on the board beneath the bindings to better align

a rider’s hips, knees and ankles, reducing leg fatigue and injury. “I mention

it because Tom was still at the forefront in facilitating and bringing new

performance-based functionality to snowboard design right up to the end

of his life,” Vitelli says. “He was a true pioneer all along.”

While we don’t tend to think of SIMS Snowboards as a Colorado

company in the same sense that we do with the handful of local

companies – Never Summer, Unity, Venture, Oz, High Society Freeride,

etc. that manufacture boards right in here in Colorado, Vitelli says the

brand has embraced both its local roots and its Colorado future.

“Since 2006, we have sponsored camps at both Echo Mountain

and Woodward at Copper – we’ve been doing summer camps at

Woodward every year since they opened – and every photo shoot that

we have done since 2006, we have always done in Colorado, exploring

different resorts and backcountry areas all over the state,” Vitelli says.

Vitelli says he is currently working on a permanent online memorial

to commemorate the history of the SIMS brand and Tom Sims’

contributions to both snowboarding and skateboarding, and that a

memorial event in Colorado is currently being planned.

“I hope the next generations of snowboarders, here in Colorado

and around the world, will learn of Tom’s legacy just as the first

generations of riders now remember him,” Vitelli says. “He really

created what we all know today as snowboarding: when he wanted

to emulate surfing on the streets of New Jersey in the early ‘60s he

built a longboard, and when he wanted to do it in the winter time

he built a snowboard. He knew that he wanted to live this surfing

lifestyle year-round, and even from a young age, he had a vision for

how to make that happen. He was the first true boardsports pioneer

and the first who could hold his own on a surfboard, a skateboard

and a snowboard. That combination really shaped everything he did

in snowboarding.”

lifestyle year-round, and even from a young age, he had a vision for

how to make that happen. He was the first true boardsports pioneer how to make that happen. He was the first true boardsports pioneer


how to make that happen. He was the first true boardsports pioneer



in snowboarding.”




The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum will also be planning a memorial

event this winter, according to Bush.

“I went to the paddle-out ceremony in California and it was amazing

to see so many people – and so many snowboard legends – come out

for it,” Bush says, referring to the memorial ceremony at Hammond’s

Beach in Montecito on September 16 that attracted approximately 300

of Sims’ friends, fans, family members and even some of his former

rivals, like Chuck Barfoot. “That paddle-out ceremony couldn’t have been

more appropriate because Sims was a surfer through and through. But I

think it will be equally important to make sure something in his memory

happens on snow this season.”

Aaron Brill, co-owner of Silverton Mountain – the only snowboarder-

owned area we know of – says Sims was still ripping in the final years of

his life, recalling a surprise visit from him in 2011.

“SIMS Snowboards brought out their team to spend a couple days

in the backcountry near Silverton, and at the last minute Tom Sims

decided to jump on the trip,” Brill says. “They stayed in a backcountry

hut and set it up so we went and picked them up with a heli and

brought them over to Silverton. “We took them in the heli right to the

top of the peak, took them straight to the goods, and everyone was

ripping it up. He was solid: he was holding his own riding hard with the

best of the SIMS team at the time, throwing up big powder trails. You

would have never guessed the guy was 60 at the time. The only sign

he showed of his age was he was like, ‘no hiking.’ He’d ride anything,

but he did not want to walk!”

Brill credits Sims with inspiring his own career in snowboard and,

indirectly, with inspiring him to open his own snowboarding paradise

at Silverton Mountain.

“I started snowboarding back in the early 1980s, before most of the ski

areas allowed it, and watching Sims and his peers battle for ski area

acceptance when I was a kid I remember thinking, ‘someday I’m going

to open my own mountain, and run it my way,’” Brill says. “The first

snowboard I ever bought with real edges and rode at a ski area was a

SIMS board, and when I think back to everything he did back then it’s

crazy. I mean, you just don’t find guys like that these days. He created

the boards, he created the team, he was an awesome snowboarder and

all that, but he also had to convince the ski areas to let him ride in the

first place! He had to do and be everything. He had to be the athlete, the

builder, the production guy, the salesman, and the ambassador. There’s

no argument, without Tom Sims, snowboarding would be very different

today, if it existed at all.”

/ pī - Ə - ‘nir /

first place! He had to do and be everything. He had to be the athlete, the

builder, the production guy, the salesman, and the ambassador. There’s builder, the production guy, the salesman, and the ambassador. There’s


builder, the production guy, the salesman, and the ambassador. There’s





no argument, without Tom Sims, snowboarding would be very different no argument, without Tom Sims, snowboarding would be very different

P: B

UD

FA

WC

ET

T

PHOTOS: AARON DODDS

SB CONOV ‘12

8.375X10.875 (WXH)0.125” BLEEDS ON ALL EDGES

QUESTIONS REGARDING FILES:GABE RE (303) 761-1345 X 21

QUESTIONS REGARDING AD:CARLY WILLIAMS (303) 761-1345 X 26

SNOWBOARD_CO.indd 1 10/2/12 12:32 PM


T R I C K T I P S

ISSUE 3.3 83 PAGE

ALLEY-OOP BACKSIDE RODEO 360ON A QUARTER PIPE

WITH HANS MINDICH

Approach the quarterpipe going

straight. As you make your way

up the tranny, make sure you’re

in the power stance.

As you get to the vertical part of

the pipe, almost at the top, pop

with both legs and lean back a

little, like a backflip.

Look as you would if you were

doing a normal back flip, but as

you look back, bring your knees

in and grab melon. (For both style

and rotation. This is also the scary

part).

Once you’re upside down and a

little sideways, you should feel

the rotation start to come right

around to the point where you

can start to get your feet under

you.

Once you get here, you’re just

about home free, my friends. Just

spot your landing and get ready

to ride out switch.

If you fall, don’t blame me. Hence

the words “Trick Tip”; i t just

means I’m giving tips.

in and grab melon. (For both style

you look back, bring your knees

doing a normal back flip, but as

Look as you would if you were

and rotation. This is also the scary

part).

R: H

AN

S M

IND

NE

CH

PH

OTO

S: A

AR

ON

DO

DD

S

LOOK AS YOU WOULD IF YOU WERE DOING

A NORMAL BACK FLIP ...


A R T I N S TA L L M E N T

BRANDON WILSON

This month I got to chat with former Breckenridge resident, wildly-

creative artist and Zion Snowboards designer, Brandon Wilson.

After following the usual routine, living in Breck and running a small

clothing company, Brandon decided to get more serious about his

desired career in art. He moved back to his hometown of Kansas City,

Missouri, and went back to school for graphic design.

After school, Wilson worked his ass off and landed fun design jobs

for Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and United Way, to name a few. He enjoyed

his success, but his roots in the snowboard world were still pulling

at him, like they do for many of us when we decide to “grow up”

and get a real job. Years later, he was ready to break off on his own

to focus on designing for a select few companies that he was most

passionate about. Over the course of this last year, he has gotten to

focus whole heartedly on work for Ridefourever.com / Studio Skate

Supply, a Kansas City based skate/snow brand, Zion Snowboards and

a few others.

Zion’s headquarters are in Canada, but the company has a strong

connection to Colorado. The company’s owner, Walter Froese, has

become a great friend of ours from all the way up in Vancouver,

without even meeting any of us. Through his pure vision for a core

snowboard company and his fun, kind personality, Froese has made

many long-distance friends here in Colorado, just through phone calls

and Skype. Years ago, Wilson was introduced to Froese through Zion

team rider, Summit County business owner, and mutual friend Floyd

Ralph. Froese and Wilson quickly realized they had a similar vision

and have been working together ever since. Wilson started small,

doing art for a board or two, and gradually took on more and more

responsibility. He now primarily runs the direction of the design for

Zion. He does most of the art himself, with help from a few of his

friends (www.austinwalshstudio.com & tadcarpenter.com ), and of

course, Froese. Eventually he would love to continue to add additional

artists as Zion grows.

Our featured Zion board this season is the Lost Series. This series

of snowboards is about taking scenarios that wouldn’t present

themselves in everyday l ife and making odd, but fun collage

environments on the boards. This year ’s Lost Series centers on

dreamy childhood thoughts. The theme came from Wilson’s own

childhood memories of low-budget, cross-country road trips his whole

family used to take. He told me stories about how they would drive

everywhere with a mission to find motels with the craziest amenities,

like mini-golf with dinosaurs and plastic-palm-tree sprinkled pools,

and how his imagination would go crazy at those places. To him, the

board and his memories create the same feeling that snowboarding

does, a fun, free sense of travel and transportation.

Zion is the love child of the people who work on it. They all have

full-time jobs to pay the bills, but this company transports them to

the world they love and gives them that childlike excitement. We

support their absolute love and core mentality when it comes to

making quality, well designed snowboards.

Visit Brandon’s website: http://www.contrabrand.net.

WORDS: ALEXANDRA LOHR

ZIO

NT

HE

LO

ST

SE

RIE

S

THE THEME CAME FROM BRANDON’S OWN CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

OF LOW-BUDGET, CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIPS HIS WHOLE FAMILY

USED TO TAKE

r: charlie hoch // p: ben eng // l: summitville, co


wi-mesnowboards.comfacebook.com/wimeshred

VIVA LA SHRED


VIVA LA SHRED

r: blake axelson // p: aaron dodds // l: snowmass, co



VIVA LA SHRED

r: blake axelson // p: aaron dodds // l: snowmass, co



O N B L A S T

FRONTSIDE FIVE

Bands come and go, especially in the punk-rock world. The few that are

able to stay together for the long term maintain their longevity not only

by being a good band and staying appealing but because they hold on

to the people and the places that have helped them get to where they

are. Denver’s Frontside Five have stayed true to their skate-rock roots

for a full decade now and have no plans of changing that anytime soon.

“We have developed a solid, core group of friends and family over the

past 10 years,” says Robdogg, the bands drummer. “The bonds we have

are unbreakable. Staying true to our word, true to our friends and true

to our family will keep the momentum of Frontside Five always going.”

Their sound is defi nitely punk rock, but it’s not your everyday, harmonic

“whoa-oh” punk. It’s faster, more in your face and full of unrelenting

energy and passion. It’s skate rock. In Denver, Frontside Five is that band.

They’ve made records, been all over the country, played with many of

the legendary bands that helped shape the punk rock scene and have

done it all by their own sweat and blood. And they are celebrating it all

on October 27 at their 10-year anniversary party at the Marquis Theater.

The band is currently made up of fi ve hardcore rockers who have made

skateboarding almost as much of the band’s image as the music itself.

Get there early at their next show and you can help them load their gear

on to their boards and push it in the back door of the venue. If you’re

lucky you can snag a Frontside Five skate deck from their merch table.

Back in the day, the guys got their start rocking Denver’s abundant and

beloved rock n’ roll dives, including the 15th St. Tavern (now defunct),

Larimer Lounge, Climax Lounge, and the fi nest spot on East Colfax, the

Lion’s Lair. They also got hooked up at the Bluebird and Gothic. “We

would personally like to thank Peter Ore for setting us up with our fi rst

big show with The Exploited at the Gothic Theatre in 2003, and two years

of playing the main stage of Red Rocks for the Punk Rocks shows in 2008

and 2009,” says Robdogg.

Over the last decade, the band has watched Denver’s punk scene grow

into what it is now, with so many bands and people involved that is hard

to stay on top of them all. “The minors who used to come out to our

shows are now of age and full-fl edged bar drinkers,” Robdogg says. “We

encourage them to buy us shots since they are the demographic with the

most disposable income.”

These drinkers only have a select number of nights a year when they can

buy them shots, as the four guys and one gal in the band have priorities

outside of Frontside Five. “Skateboarding and music are big parts of our

lives, but not the only thing we have going for us,” says Robdogg. “We’ve

been very picky when it comes down to the shows we are playing around

Denver. We don’t have the time to take every show we get offered. We’ve

been having fun disappearing off of the local radar and coming out of

nowhere with some of the best shows we’ve played in 10 years.”

Their homemade record label, Fivecore Records, was born in 2005 to

help out fi ve Denver bands. “The fi rst bands on the label were Frontside

Five, Lyin’ Bitch and The Restraining Orders, King Rat, Valiomierda, and

Truckasaurus,” says Robdogg. “Eventually, we began signing nationally

touring bands and developed several touring circuits that kept these

bands busy on the road.”

“The record industry changed almost overnight,” he says. “People were

not buying CDs, and record stores were closing quickly. The digital music

age was here and free file sharing was making things hard to make a

profit. We decided to pull the plug on Fivecore Records last year. We

were spending a lot of time working on the label, but at this point, we

couldn’t justify spending so much time on something that didn’t pay

the bills.”

Even without the label, Frontside Five plans to put out a new record in

the near future and do some touring. As far as where else they will be

leaving their mark? “A whole bunch of stickers on the urinals of your

favorite bar,” Robdogg says.

Check out Frontside Five online at facebook.com/frontside.fi ve.

WORDS: TIM WENGER

“THE MINORS WHO USED TO

COME OUT TO OUR SHOWS

ARE NOW OF AGE AND FULL-

FLEDGED BAR DRINKERS”

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/K2SNOWBOARDING.COUTWY

#K2SB

LIKE US ON FACEBOOKAT K2 SNOWBOARDING

IN THE ROCKIES

CUT OUT MYMUSTACHE, WEAR IT

AND WIN

COME DEMO THE LATEST GEAR EARLYAT LOVELAND BASIN

NOVEMBER 11,14,15,17,18JOIN US AT 1UP IN DENVER

FOR K2UESDAY! ONNOVEMBER 20TH AND

PLAY “GAMES FOR GEAR”

222222SNOWBOARDING

Photos/Tripp Fay Rider/Greyson Cli�ord

You know the moments. The ones you always want to remember. The ones you tell your friends about in your abbreviated summary of your vacation. You'll find plenty of those

moments here in Steamboat. More than you could ever capture in a few words. More than you can capture in a post. Or a text. Because it's the mission of everyone who's lucky

enough to live in this special place, to help create so many of them for you.

Start making memories. Visit steamboat.com

You know the moments. The ones you always want to remember. The ones you tell your friends about in your abbreviated summary of your vacation. You'll find plenty of those

moments here in Steamboat. More than you could ever capture in a few words. More than you can capture in a post. Or a text. Because it's the mission of everyone who's lucky

enough to live in this special place, to help create so many of them for you.

Start making memories. Visit steamboat.com

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