No wonder the cinematography and visual effects are phenomenal.

STANCE doesn’t have the level of testosterone that most boarder flicks do.  Not because it isn’t a diesel film but because it’s comprised of all ladies!  It involves beautiful aerials, fine shots, curvy mountains, and sexy music, which is everything I’ve ever wanted in a snowboard film.

“By combining forces with the industry’s best brands and riders our aim is not only to create the most innovative female snowboarding film to date, but to start a larger initiative to push snowboarding’s creative and cinematic boundaries.  With Jmills Ent as an avenue for professional athletes and media artists to express themselves to their full potential, new ground can be covered.  STANCE will be a platform that shredders, core and recreational alike, are excited to take part in.  You know your STANCE — now come take a look at ours.”

With Stan Evans producing and Jeremy Miller directing, no wonder the cinematography and visual effects are phenomenal.  The hues and perspectives were legitimately out of this world.  Mad props to all the smooth ladies featured in STANCE, including Gretchen Bleiler, Hana Beaman, Jamie Anderson, Kimmy Fasani, Lisa Filzmoser, Jenny Jones, Torah Bright, Raewyn Reid, Molly Aguirre, and Gabi Viteri.

I suggest checking out the 32 minute full feature far below.  If you don’t have time, then the trailer is right here:

Don’t forget to admire:
13:05 where Molly Aguirre jumps a fence into backside 90° spin to a tree bonk to finish full 360°.
18:22 where Torah Bright does a cab 540° for her fresh sesh in the pipe.

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My favorite scene is at 7:46, where your first angle is watching through construction tubes as Kimmy Fasani’s legs walk past the opposite end.  The next shot is the same angle, but of Kimmy hitting the kicker to jump onto the tube you’re looking through.  Then you see her 50-50 it and dismount with a backside 180.

What do you think of the snowfall overlay effect, my snowboarder amigo?

I would have been tweeting each and every flawlessly executed aerial as well as the wipeouts.

Kelly Clark and Shaun White both landed first place spots at the Copper leg of the Grand Prix Tour yesterday.  If you have been paying attention to the lead up and to the qualifiers, you must have known.

Unfortunately I don’t get paid to write, and am not sent around the world to document snowboarding events or expeditions, otherwise I would have been tweeting each and every flawlessly executed aerial as well as the wipeouts from the past three days.  That being said, I would love to be able to recount  what went down and what I thought of each rider’s runs for you, but I can’t cause I wasn’t there.  What will have to suffice are the scores and the following images of the top two women and men accompanied by related video footage.

2010 US Snowboarding Grand Prix Results
Copper Mountain, Colorado on Dec. 12, 2009

Men:

1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, CA, 47.00
2. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 45.60
3. Zack Black, Breckenridge, CO, 44.10
4. Fredrik Austbo, Norway, 41.20
5. JJ Thomas, Golden, CO, 41.10
6. Greg Bretz, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 40.00
7. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, CO, 39.40
8. Tore-V Holvik, Norway, 34.80
9. Ryo Aono, Japan, 34.00
10. Jack Mitrani, Mammoth, CA, 28.80

Women:

1. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 44.50
2. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, CO, 42.60
3. Soko Yamaoka, Japan, 40.20
4. Quera Castellet, Spain, 30.50
5. Ellery Hollingsworth, Stratton, VT, 35.80
6. Madeline Schaffrick, Steamboat Springs, Co, 35.50
7. Holly Crawford, Australia, 24.00
8. Clair Bidez, Minturn, CO, 13.60

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Do you know any media or gear companies that are looking for a journalist to rock out columns or blogs for them?  If you do, I would hope that you urge them to hit me up!

Were you at Copper this weekend, my snowboarder amigo?

If you can throw down crazy with steez I’m on your side.

Like I had forewarned in my article about Project X, Shaun White is too far ahead of the rest of the pack.  Yesterday he took first place in the qualifiers at Copper in Colorado, and closest on his heels was Louie Vito also pulling off back to back doubles.

Turns out that you must blast “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John (Louie Vito) or “Mother” by Danzig (Shaun White) while throwing gnarly aerials in the pipe to be considered an Olympic candidate.

1st Shaun White:

Men’s Grand Prix Qualifiers:

1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, CA, 49.50
2. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 48.60
3. Greg Bretz, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 45.70
4. Danny Davis, Detroit, MI, 45.50
5. Dustin Craven, Canada, 44.50
6. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, NH, 44.30
7. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, CO, 43.30
8. JJ Thomas, Golden, CO, 43.20
9. Jack Mitrani, Mammoth, CA, 43.10
10. Ryoh Aono, Japan, 42.90
11. Tore Holvik, Norway, 42.90
12. Elijah Teter, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 42.60
13. Charles Reid, Canada, 42.50
14. Nathan Johnstone, Australia, 42.40
15. Zack Black, Breckenridge, CO, 41.80
16. Fredrik Austbo, Norway, 41.40

If you want more info about the Grand Prix Tour and related events, check out Olympic Beginnings.

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We have to consider if this double corking around is truly progressive riding.  I haven’t decided if I’m one hundred percent about ‘em, but if you can throw down crazy with steez I’m on your side.

What do you think of these back to back doubles, my snowboarder amigo?

These three venues will progressively determine which riders truly have what it takes to rock the gold in Vancouver.

The beginning of the official trail to Olympic glory started yesterday with Gretchen Bleiler stealing first at the women’s qualifiers event, with their finals on Saturday.  50 ladies threw down in the pipe at Copper in Colorado, with two heats determining the final eight for Saturday’s event.

1st Gretchen Bleiler:

Women’s Grand Prix Qualifiers:

1. Gretchen Bleiler, 47.1
2. Kelly Clark, 45.7
3. Soko Yamaoka, 43.5
4. Maddy Schaffrick,  43.2
5. Quera Castellet, 43
6. Ellery Hollindsworth, 41.4
7. Holly Crawford, 41.1
8. Clair Bidez,  41.07 (everyone else has her listed at 41.70, but they’re wrong)

Dreams will be made and broken during the 2010 US Snowboarding Grand Prix as the tour makes three stops in its 14th season.  A total of five Olympic qualification competitions will take place at Copper Mountain in Colorado’s Summit County and Mammoth Mountain in the Mammoth Lakes region of California.  The tour will make its final stop at Park City Mountain Resort, the venue for the 2002 Olympics, to announce the 2010 Olympic halfpipe team.

The Grand Prix series will narrow down the competition for Olympic spots through its first two tour stops and solidify the 2010 team at the final event in Park City.  “Copper, Mammoth and Park City are all classic Grand Prix sites and will provide a most fitting stage on which to name the Olympic halfpipe team for 2010,” said Grand Prix Tour Director Eric Webster.  “Copper, Mammoth and Park City all have a proven track record in hosting world class snowboard events, which lends confidence to the riders and coaches in a season with so much on the line.”  Each with their own 22′ halfpipe, these three venues will progressively determine which riders truly have what it takes to rock the gold in Vancouver.

The competition will heat up as Olympic gold medalists Kelly Clark (Snow Mountain, VT), Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT), and Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA), along with fellow Olympic medalists Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO), JJ Thomas (Golden, CO) and Danny Kass (Portland, OR) all look for another shot at Olympic glory.  Joining them in the hunt will be Grand Prix overall champions Steve Fisher (Breckenridge, CO) and Louie Vito (Sandy, UT) as well as Grand Prix podium performers Ellery Hollingsworth (Stratton, VT), Clair Bidez (Minturn, CO) Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA) and Olympian Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, CA).

2010 US Snowboard Grand Prix Schedule:

1. Dec. 10-12, 2009, Copper Mountain
2. Jan. 6-10, 2010, Mammoth Mountain
3. Jan. 22-23, 2010, Park City Mountain (followed by the Vancouver Olympic Team Announcement)

Check out US Snowboarding for more information about the Grand Prix Tour and its venues.

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Which rider are you gunning for, my snowboarder amigo?

Let me really explore the boundaries of what I can do and the tricks that I’ve contemplated over years, and never really had the chance or inspiration to try.
~ Shaun White

Project X is not a sexually deviant playhouse, nor is it an alien research base.  For those of you who don’t know, Red Bull and Silverton Mountain partnered to provide Shaun White with the most innovative sport-advancing facility to date.  Project X is that arena of freshness: a perfectly produced 550′ long monster pipe with a 20′ by 30′ foam pit at the end.

With Silverton being the only snow area designed exclusively for advanced and expert skiers and riders, they have less patrons all year than most resorts have in a day.  It’s also the highest ski area with some of the most prime powder in the nation.  So considering all of these factors, why wouldn’t Shaun and Red Bull go straight to Silverton?

They were sneaky, stealthy, sexy assassins putting the whole venture together.  Before creating any of the snow structure they had to flood the basin with pow produced by means of large 25lb charges (bombs), which instigated 30 avalanches and allowed for 250,000 cubic yards of snow to be molded into Project X.  Then consider the 8,000lb steel structure made into a diesel foam pit.

34 hours in the pipe developing new tricks never seen before, Shaun White learned in hours what otherwise could have taken years.  If you go to the Project X site and meander over to the New Tricks section, you can see his Front Double Cork Ten, Switch Back 900, Double Back Rodeo, and Cab Double Cork Ten practiced and then gracefully executed.

“There was an element of ‘What the hell do we do with it?’ but I had a wish list of the kind of tricks I wanted to do.  And every single trick I set out to do, I can now do, which is awesome.  Trial and error was really how we found out what was possible.  You look at what other people have done and try to improve on that or add variations.  Or you just wonder, what if?  What if I just kept flipping?  That was the luxury of the foam pit, because you would never try it otherwise, you would just beyond hurt yourself.  The first tricks I attempted were just hideous.”

Even though Justin Hynes spells it Sean, here’s a link to the Staying on Top interview I quoted.

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Project X launched Shaun White even further ahead of the game.  Unfair ahead.  If there’s a way, Shaun has the will.

Can you imagine the freedom to practice in an ultimately optimal facility, my snowboarder amigo?

Board sports, for the most part, are about expressing individuality.

When contemplating what to wear on the mountain, most riders will attempt to conjure images in their mind’s eye that stray from apparel conventions and blow away what we know of snow-safe outer wear.  This is why, when the first outfitting of snowboarder Olympians took place in ‘98, Burton took the stance that our sport’s individualistic culture deems uniformity as contrarian.  Burton’s come around since ‘98, deciding that this is a prime opportunity to show the masses you can be truly unique while stylistically conform at the same time, or maybe this is still just another way Burton can rake in the dough and dominate the industry even further.

They are the provider of gear for the US Olympic Snowboard team, and recently unveiled their not-so-uniforms this past week.  This time around they have a fresh idea to take the red white and blue, transpose it into plaid outerwear, and then combine a complementary worn-jean pant look.  Not exactly a lame spandex suit, is it?  I don’t really think the team would be caught dead in those onesies anyways.

As with all product development, Burton purports that this Olympian garb has also been through rigid rider testing and input.  They even held a roundtable discussion with top pro-snowboarders and Olympic hopefuls Elena Hight, Mason Aguirre, Danny Davis, Kevin Pearce, Jack Mitrani, Luke Mitrani, Steve Fisher, Scotty Lago, and Louie Vito to review design concepts for the outerwear before arriving at the final creation.  The main issue was to harmoniously balance individualistic boarder style and team togetherness, and since last time around Burton’s outfits were baseball jersey reminiscent, this year the “sports team” concept has been ousted.

“Board sports, for the most part, are about expressing individuality — that’s what makes them cool,” said Greg Dacyshyn, the company’s creative director.  “So the whole uniform thing, you know, it’s a sensitive subject.”

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I’d def rock this outfit to work if I could.  Well, that’s if I had a job.  Plaid aligns with boarder taste and is back in mass style again, while the ripped and ravaged look is always fresh.  Good job Burton (or the underpaid/unpaid product design intern)!

What do you think of the US Olympic team’s new outfits, my snowboarder amigo?

Change is in the air.

Check out the Thirtytwo Team featuring: JP Walker, Simon Chamberlain, Markku Koski, Marie-France Roy, Chris Bradshaw, Jon Kooley, Nima Jalali, Scott Stevens, Joe Sexton, Chris Grenier, Johnny Miller, Stale Sandbech, Tyler Flanagan and Ben Bilocq.

Here’s their edit from the happenings of this season so far:

Don’t forget to admire:
0:52 where Chris Grenier rides up a set of stairs to the jump onto the outside railing and backside Boardslide down.
1:25 where Scott Stevens does a mighty One-Footed Boardslide.
1:53 where Chris Bradshaw launches of a little trailer to Boardslide a covered one to hop into a 50-50 atop the van.

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My favorite shot is a simple one, but majestic nonetheless.  At 1:56 Simon Chamberlain comes through trees where it feels like his tail will clip the camera, but gracefully launches off the hill into a frontside 180° Backflip, and the cam follows him into the air and down the mountain.

What’s your favorite segment, my snowboarder amigo?

Be able to admire the alternate boarding styles and creativity found in other countries.

On tour for screenings of their film Homies 2: Locked Outside, Homies crew of French heavy hitters are taking over the European Union.  Even if you don’t live in the EU you can still experience their flow here at TheSnowBoardScene.

“On November 6th 2009, the Homies crew left to Manchester for their only UK premiere and on snow demo at the Chill FactorE.

Pierre Rué, Nico Droz, Paul Lambersens, Aymeric Tonin, and Arthur Girault had a blast up there for their first session of the season with local Advita riders John Weatherley and Ross Needham.”

Check my post about the Chill FactorE, and here’s the Homies crew’s indoor sesh:

This is their teaser for Homies 2: Locked Outside:

And for a full length feature by SnowWorld, if you have the hour to kill and want to be healthily jealous in the process, here’s the first Homies film:

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Now, you may wonder why the first crew I presented on TheSnowBoardScene was a European one.  Good question.  I think it is necessary for international relations and world peace.  Or if you can’t connect that, then you have to be able to admire the alternate boarding styles and creativity found in other countries.

Can you tell the difference between styles in Europeans and Americans, my snowboarder amigo?

A collaborative art project in honor of Jeff Anderson.  One photographer is paired with one artist to create an original piece.

Jeff Anderson was a professional snowboarder for ten of the twenty-three years that he lived his amazing life.  In that time he touched thousands of lives around the world in both the snowboard and skate communities.

Jeff Anderson Dies in Japan

Jake Burton Remembers Jeff Anderson

Interview with Jeff Anderson

Joel Muzzey: “Jeff Anderson is snowboarding.  True Mammoth local.  First-generation grom.  Child of the 80s.  Student of Life.  Malcontent.  Handrail destroyer.  Artist.  Aerialist.  Younger brother.  Devoted friend.”

In honor of what would be Jeff’s 30th birthday this November, and to raise money for the JLA Memorial Fund, a group of world-renowned photographers and artists, friends of Jeff and of snowboarding have come together to create an unparalleled body of work titled:

One photographer is paired with one artist to create an original 30” x 40” piece.  A photo of Jeff, shot by the photographer, has been enlarged onto archival canvas upon which the artist paints or uses any medium to create a unique collaborative work.  The resulting pieces are one of a kind, the partnerships formed in this project a tribute to the depth of the snowboarding, skateboarding and art communities.

All proceeds from I AM SNOWBOARDING go directly to the JLA Memorial Fund – the completion of the Brothers Skateboard Park in Mammoth and the support of local art.

The collection will be released for the first time in The Village at Mammoth, Mammoth Lakes, CA on November 14th, 2009 and will be open to the public for two weeks through November 29th.  Opening Reception Saturday, November 14th from six to nine in the evening during Mammoth Mountain’s Big Kickoff Weekend.

Limited edition prints will be available online through Asymbol Gallery – Travis Rice and Mike Parillo’s new endeavor that showcases the art and photography that have defined their lifestyle for the past decade.  Asymbol is set to launch this November.  Originals will be auctioned at the end of the season.  Details TBA.

Please visit www.iamJLA.org for more info.

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If you live in the Mammoth area then I urge you to visit The Village.  If not to support the JLA Memorial Fund and it’s meaningful endeavors, then go to experience the beautiful unity of snowboard culture and different artistic mediums.

What about Jeff Anderson’s legacy, my snowboarder amigo?