what do you think about the progression of snowboarding?

[dizzy 0]

First Descent, a feature full-length movie about snowboarding came out on dec. 3rd in the U.S.

http://www.firstdescentmovie.com/

i haven't seen the movie (haven't found any torrents yet), but it makes me wonder about the direction snowboarding is going...

[grungy-gonads 54]

What do you think dizzy? I'm not sure I even think about things like this.

[fb_steve 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by dizzy:

i haven't seen the movie (haven't found any torrents yet)

Hahaha, good call!

[dizzy 0]

well, if you think about snowboarding, it originally had a rebellious edge to it. it has a lot of influence from surf and skate culture. but since snowboarding has gained popularity in the last 10 or so years, i've started to wonder... when i was in junior high school, it was something different, something my friends and i did, something a lot of people didn't do. it was our thing.

 

on one hand, if the "sport" (some people don't call snowboarding a sport, but a way of thinking or a way of living) gets too many people involved, the slopes become too crowded. Yet, on the other hand, if there's not enough people involved, few customers would buy equipment every year and the industry would suffer.

 

... so i do wonder how riding is progressing. for better or worse, i'm not sure... i wonder what others think

 

i've only seen the trailer of First Descent (did you check it out?!), but while i'm glad to see snowboarding make it to the big screen, i wonder how much Hollywood/Corporations had they their hand in the production/distribution of the film.

 

all the greats Farmer, Terje, Jake Burton, Sherman Popper, even Steve Alters, Brian Thien, The Guch, Craig Kelly (R.I.P.), Tom Burt, and everyone else who rips (i.e. they are GOOD) were and are inspirations and get more people into riding. i wonder what kind of impact the movie will have on snowboarding as a whole...

[Oyuki kigan 0]

so what is progress?

 

Sure, tricks are getting gnarlier, but is that progress? The equipment is getting me technical, is that progress?

 

I tend to measure progress in terms of fun, with snowboarding. The bindings don`t kill your feet anymore, so that is a plus. And pipes don`t have to be dug by hand anymore, which is nice.

But has snowboarding as a whole gotten more `fun`? Expensive, yes. Dangerous, yes. Easier to learn, yes. But fun, i don`t think so.

 

The best time i had on a board in the last 10 years was last year. And it was when i kinda went backwards in terms of technology, and did a powder run without being strapped into my bindings. That was amazing, and it made just the act of turning into something increadibly challenging (but not in a danderous way)and FUN.

 

So no, i don`t think it is progressing in the same way other people think it is.

[dizzy 0]

i don't know much about the snow industry in japan, but i like to know which resorts change owners, and which resorts are self sustained or owned. overall, more people have been exposed to snowboarding, which is great. the movie seems to be about giving respect to the last generation of riders and showcasing the current superstars.

 

but it does come down to how much fun you and your friends have. like you, oyuki, i had tons of fun when i started doing something new. riding the park and the pipe was and is a great learning process. it feels great when you finally land and stick a trick you've been working on or go to steeper terrain. that, to me, is progress.

 

how did you do a powder run w/o strapping into bindings? do you mean you had your boot in the bindings or you rode flat on top of the board, like surfing? so, that's progress to you. Cool!

[SerreChe 2]

Snowboarding used to be a free riders' sport. Then skateboarders' type peeps came to the sport. The corporate mega marketing machine followed the kids with the deep pockets and the flashy language and the sport became what it is today (and this is not a negative statement, I am always amazed by some of the tricks the kids pull).

 

I started boarding in the early 80s. When I discovered the sport, I could not believe how incredible the sensations were, and I knew that something that good could not stay unknown for very long. And it did not. I still managed to get almost 10 years of uncrowded off-piste under the belt before the full-out snowboarding craze started.

 

So what has changed?

 

Better equipment

More types of snowboarders (free riders, park rats etc...)

Overcrowded, over-tracked off-piste

Media hype

Corporate marketing frenzy (amazing how quickly snowboarding made it into becoming an olympic sport)

 

I guess you cannot have the best of everything.

 

For the better for the worse? your call.

 

Personally I think the pioneering spirit of snowboarding was lost in the early 90s. It does not mean that snowboarding does not have pioneers nowadays, it is just that most are doing it for the media coverage or the sponsors.

 

Sometimes I wish (more of a dream ) snowboarding would become uncool or supplanted by another snow sport so that we could get the old feeling back. But overall cannot complain, I just have to work a bit harder for those un-tracked spots, still makes it worthwhile.

[Marco Fernandez 0]

Yeah, well that's just like you oppinion man...

 

I saw that there's a board on the market that has no steel edges, for rails and such. Next thing you know they'll come back out with the woody, rope and all. Yeah, the back country heli ski trip is on my to do list. The stuff the newest wave of pros is busting: insane and on the way to peaking out.

 

appoligies for the short attention span.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

Just watch Jeremy Jones

 

That dude goes off - Im mean F'ing off!

 

about the evolution, dunno, dont board that much though do love the feeling of it.... but, yall kinda peaked - skiers are back ta kickin your @sses again. We can go faster, higher, and throw cooler lookin tricks

[mattlucas 0]

I was watching the national news last night and it showed some coverage of the Pipe competition at Whistler

Japanese girl and guy were competing. The guy may have even won the thing. I'm not to sure. It was confusing.

But the Japanese guy was on the podium and there was a closeup shot. He looked like a girl (not his fault) and was really young but was pretending to be a gangster. Making ganster style gestures.

I had a good laugh at Snowboarding there

[Ocean11 0]

Toque, that was painful watching wasn't it? My son did a quick and very sarcastic impression of matey's posturing.

 

Although he pulled some very fancy tricks, there was no grace at all to his movement.

[SerreChe 2]

Pyro, the first paragraph is facts. The rest, you are right, it is just my opinion. Did not know that there was a board without steel edges out there, interesting to see that. Steel edges is one of those progresses I am glad happened, although I do not ride rails and the like.

 

Yama, yes skiers have caught-up in the park and elsewhere. I think a boarder will leave a skier in the dust when it comes to most powder conditions. On slopes and really steep pitches, skiers dominate for sure.

 

Toque, O11, The hip-hop/gansta fashion is just painful to watch. Makes you want to become a skier! Wish they moved on to a new style, but again it might be even more ridiculous than the current one.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

for regression/progression, go here. www.noboard.ca

[Yuki's Passion 1]

SerreChe, you think skiers cant go faster than boarders in powder now with 130 waists and 188 long? C'mon, thats the old days mate...

[SerreChe 2]

I could be wrong Yama, but I still think so!

 

Yes, I tend to be ol' fashioned.

 

If those waists keep on growing those skis will end up looking like snowboards. Funny that eh!?

[nzlegend 1]

I am been riding powder for long time on a board and can go pretty quick if I want (usually I go slowly and savour it) The first time I went riding with Fattwins in powder he and another skier from Evergreen were gone and I couldnt keep up.

its a myth that needs to be buried that skiers are slower in powder.

[SerreChe 2]

Hmmmm, so maybe I am wrong.

 

snowglider, could it be that FT and the other dude knew the terrain and you did not? Or simply differences in abilities? It sounds like FT is pretty high up there in terms of skiing skills.

 

In pow I still feel quicker on my board than on my skis, but that's just me.

[tsondaboy 0]

I have to add that it is not a matter of how snowboarding is progressing but a matter of in what way people progress wile snowboarding.

So, there are people that progress in a “bad” way wile snowboarding and people that tend to progress in a “good” way.

How many of the “pioneers” have you watched making them self ridiculous in front of the camera, dressed like gangsters and speak in a manner that speaks someone that hardly ever made it passed junior high? People that love what they are doing don’t need fancy clothes or trendy way of speaking to have fun on the board.

And in the bottom line, kids are kids and they can be excused for many things, what is really ridiculous and gets on my nerves is when you she “adults” acting like kids on the slopes. And acting like a kid doesn’t include the people that enjoy riding with the hart of a kid.

[number9 0]

Snowboarding is mainstream now right, is there an area of the world where skiing is more popular than snowboarding, especially among the young?

 

Kinda like hip hop I guess. There's still underground creative stuff going on, but a lot of it gets buried under the mainstream commercialism.

[Davo 1]

Trying hard to be a gangsta is so mainstream too init.

 

Snowboarding is progressing just fine for me. I think that an interesting point for me is that, aside from something to teleport my ass from an avalanche, there is no need I can see for much improvement on what exists gear wise.

 

Basically if I could afford the best gear available right now then I can't really see how it can be improved on. Of course this is my opinion from a freeriders perspective. I suppose beacon tech could improve a lot but it's better to improve your skills to avoid that situation in the first place.

 

As for freeriding in the pow pow boarders vs skiers...it's all the same to me. Skiers who do freeride just tend to be more skilled than the boarders, and have better mountain knowledge to boot, in my experience.

[dizzy 0]

 Quote:

but, yall kinda peaked - skiers are back ta kickin your @sses again. We can go faster, higher, and throw cooler lookin tricks

Yama, that skier-boarder clash is so 15 years ago but i'll take you up on it
world record for a boarder is 57 meters (length)of air by Mads jonsson, 2005

agree w/ you about JJ. He rips anything he touches.
do skiers get as many chicks as snowboarders?

[AK 77 0]

I am a snowboarder, but I have to admit that in general skiers can go faster in most conditions - it's a simple matter of bio-mechanics and the fact that 2 things are stable than 1.

 

For this reason, I guess that a skier could jump further than Mads' amazing 57m air, as what enables a skier or snowbaorder to do this is stability on the run in, and up to the lip,

and secondly, the ability to stomp the landing.

 

Skiers have an advantage in both these areas, because a snowboard is inherantly unstable holding a straight line on piste at speed (for run-in), and plastic ski boots combined with knees bending in line with the major forces of landing allow easier stomped landings.

 

It also easier to spin on skis - as the legs are not fixed apart, which slows a spin down.

 

Skis (thanks to snowboarding) are now just as good in powder too, so no advantage there.

 

What's my point?

 

There is no point in comparing the two things.

Snowboarding is a different beast- the fact that you cannot move your meet and so have to RIDE a board requires different skills, and creates a different sensation.

 

It's like comparing rollerblading and skating.

(a bit harsh on skiers that, but you get my point).

[Oyuki kigan 0]

grabbing your skis still looks dumb if you are already holding onto poles. And skiing fakie makes you stick your ass out in a very homoerotic way.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Oyuki kigan:
grabbing your skis still looks dumb if you are already holding onto poles. And skiing fakie makes you stick your ass out in a very homoerotic way.

you seem to have some homoerotic fantasies about skiers there mate. C'mon, fess up, youre a closet skier arent ya

[Marco Fernandez 0]

Sorry just making a refference to the movie The Big Libowski. When "the dude" has his confrontaion with "hay soose".

 

Any how.

 

Been there once but Wistler-Blackcomb is my favorite resort. I think it's got the most vertical drop, like a mile. But by the time you get to the bottom there are rivers of slush. Except for the wetness carving the heavy wet stuff after making it all the way down gives you a little confidence when you legs feel like noodles.