172 Search Results for "surfing"

• Carving Through History With C Carving Through History With Chuck Barfoot Part One: The Old Days

  • From: jakedesroches
  • Description:

    

    With each year that passes, the opportunity for seeing, meeting, and speaking with a snowboarding legend diminishes. The passing of Tom Sims last September is a stark reminder of this. The ranks of the original riders, the guys who took what we would consider simple wooden or fiberglass planks to the snow, are fading fast. On Friday February 1st at the SIA Snow Show, I was fortunate enough to come across one of the original riders. I was lucky enough to meet Chuck Barfoot.
    
    After speaking to Chuck and his board-building partner Ernie Delost, I was nearly at a loss of words. I had never met a stranger who had lived through so much snowboarding history, let alone helped to create it. I knew I needed to learn more about this man. Before he parted to meet with old friends on the snow show floor, I asked if he would be willing to do a brief interview with me the next day.
     
    Being simply a down to earth guy, he agreed to come back the next morning and speak with me for fifteen minutes. This fifteen-minute meeting turned into a thirteen-minute interview plus another twenty minutes of great conversation, just talking, laughing, and enjoying the snow show vibe.
    
    Chuck Barfoot is a humble, inspiring, and truly good man. We should be thankful he loves snowboarding so much, because without him we might still be riding wooden boards with black grip tape and skyhooks for bindings (ok, it probably wouldn’t be that bad).
    
    This is Chuck’s story.
    
    The Old Days
    
    Chuck Barfoot started surfing in Beach Haven, New Jersey in 1961. Nine years later, in 1970, he moved to Santa Barbara, California and was living with Tom Sims. Chuck was well positioned to help craft the snowboarding industry that we know today, but he didn’t know it.
    
    It was 1977; he was working for Tom Sims, building prototypes and doing research and development on the classic skateboards and surfboards that Sims produced. At this point, he had never even touched his feet on a board and placed that board on the snow. He was a surfer and a skater. He had no idea how much his life would change.
    
    One day, Tom Sims approached Barfoot with a project Bob Webber and Tom had worked on. According to Barfoot, it was a “yellow plastic ski board with a skateboard deck on it.” It had black grip tape, and skyhooks for the riders’ feet. The board worked, but it had some problems.
    
    The grip tape would pack with snow, and the skyhooks were permanently mounted regular or goofy. There was no switching the skyhooks from regular to goofy, or vice versa. At the time, these snowboards were a rare thing (the word “snowboard” wasn’t even used yet). If you had a board, you wanted to share it with all your friends. With the skyhooks mounted only in one direction, if your friend was regular and you were goofy one of you was simply out of luck.
    
    Tom Sims approached Barfoot with the crude snowboard device and said, “What can we do to fix these problems?” Barfoot gave the board a quick look up and down and replied, “Well first, get rid of the black grip tape.” He replaced the standard black tape with a sheet of clear plastic grip tape, and then sprayed the board with a coat of silicon to help relieve the skate deck from packing with snow. Thinking about how to fix the skyhook problem, Barfoot took rubber bungee cord and bolted it to the top of the skate deck, running from tip to tail. Instead of having a set mounted position, a regular-footed rider could now stand on it, set his feet underneath the bungee, ride down a hill, and then hand the deck over to his goofy-footed friend.
    
    Snowboarding could now be shared.
    Sims knew Barfoot was onto something. Shortly after this, Sims approached Barfoot again and asked, “How about building me a fiberglass prototype of a board I built like in 1963?“ Always the tinkerer, Barfoot began working on what he described as, “a little four foot bullet with a v-bottom.”
    
    At this point, it was 1978 and Chuck Barfoot had still never ridden a snowboard, a snurfer, or even one of those plastic ski boards. Barfoot finished his fiberglass copy and knew he could do better. He took the board back to Tom Sims and immediately said; “I can build something way better.”
    
    Sims told Barfoot to go for it, and go for it Barfoot did. He wanted to craft a board that would let surfers and skaters like him carve through snow just like they were surfing or skating.
    Barfoot began designing his first snowboard in his head; “The idea was like putting two skis together, with camber and channels.” The channels ran along the sidecut of the board, allowing loose snow to flow (at this point, boards were only made for riding powder). He started by building a mold, “a solid rectangular fiberglass shape, with camber, v-shape, nose and tail lift, and sidecut.” After the mold was complete, Barfoot built his first snowboard.
    
    It was time for him and Bob Webber to begin the nearly thousand-mile journey from the Southern California Coast to entry three between the Snowbird and Alta ski resorts. At the time, entry three was a series of switchbacks winding up the mountain. He had no idea that his life was about to change forever.
    
    We aren’t all lucky enough to first experience snowboarding riding in 18 inches of champagne Utah powder on Christmas day, but lucky for us, Barfoot was.
    
    “I remember taking off, taking my very first toe and heel turns, 15 yard beautiful carves all the way down the freaking mountain.” Chuck reminisced. He wore a red, white, and blue jersey, and after getting to the bottom he grabbed his board, held it high above his head, and screamed. “YEAHHH!”
    
    Chuck Barfoot and Bob Webber weren’t the only ones enjoying a miraculous Christmas. By some stroke of luck, fate, or both, they spotted another rider, sporting a snurfer-like board with a rope on the nose, coming down the mountain. It ended up being Jeff Grell’s older brother, Jay (Jeff was one of the designers of the highback binding).
    
    Barfoot was amazed. “We were like ‘Oh my god!’ So we snowboarded together all day long.” The three pioneers enjoyed a day of powder, laughter, and camaraderie that truly created history. To this day, riders across the world unknowingly seek to emulate those three young men as they search for that perfect day of freedom, riding, and friendship.
    
    Barfoot continued to work for Sims for the next several years. But that day was the real beginning of Barfoot Boards. His mind and more importantly his heart were in it. He worked hard, building one of a kind snowboards. Each new board was a little bit different from the last, a little lighter, just a bit more flex, a new shape.
    
    “I did about fifteen different models until I had boards that worked, really-really well.” He described his motivation for building boards. “It was basically just to surf snow.”
    With such a simple goal in mind, Chuck lovingly built boards for Sims until the 1980 – 1981 season, when he left Sims Snowboards and founded Barfoot Boards. He continued to build individually crafted snowboards and skateboards for the next twenty odd years. Until, around the 2003 – 2004 season, his company had grown too large. It was out of control and unfocused. It became such a problem, that he decided to stop producing snowboards (he continued to craft surf-style longboard skateboards under the Barfoot brand).
    
    Chuck didn’t sound happy as he said this. “Things were being done for not the right reasons. It was more about money and all that stuff.” Chuck was fed up with the corporatism that had invaded his, and so many other good companies.
    
    “My philosophy has always been, build something really good, that works. Take care of someone and they'll be back, and your company will grow and the money will come with that. And that's not the corporate world. And I am so far away from the corporate world.”
    
    Fast-forward ten years, and lucky for us, those same snowboard corporations, the mass media, and most importantly, the internet, created a huge market for snowboarding. The market was so big, that people wanted something smaller, something personal. People began demanding a product made just for them.
    “The internet got so many people getting ahold of me saying, ‘You need to be building boards again. My fifteen year old Barfoot is at the end of its road, I need a new board.’ So my old partner, Ernie Delost, him and I got back together again. So him and I, we are hand building the boards in his factory.
    
    We design them together. We hand build them in house, and that’s just what I love doing. So that’s why I'm building boards again. It’s for the right reasons.” As Chuck said this, the grin on his face widened to remind me of a child’s first visit to a toy store, his mind hungry for the possibility of building even greater adventures.
    
    What really amazed me about my meeting with Chuck Barfoot was his willingness to become my friend after just speaking a few words with me. I never once caught a rude tone come out of his mouth, and it was hard to catch him without a smile. The word that kept coming up was “personable.” With his business, Chuck wanted to, and still wants to create a personal connection with every single one of his customers (and many more lucky people, like me). He was also very humble. It never once seemed like he was boasting, or trying to make what he did out for more than it was. Long after our interview was over, and just before we said our goodbyes, Chuck Barfoot left me with one last history lesson.
    
    “All credit really goes to Dimitrije Milovich, Winterstick founder. He was the one that set the right direction. P-tex base, sidecut, steel edges, swallowtails — it was straight up surfing on powder-no rope attached.”
    
    Remember to check back later this week for part two, “Barfoot is Back,” a sneak peek at the new Barfoot Boards.
    
    Save big on 2012-2013 Snowboards when you buy online through Dogfunk.com, while giving back to TGR

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 72
  • Not yet rated

• Inside The Jib Factory Inside The Jib Factory

  • From: sethlightcap
  • Description:

    
    
    X Games terrain park builders Snow Park Technologies to star in reality TV show on National Geographic Channel.
    
    Story and Photos By Seth Lightcap
    
    Reality TV has shown us dirty jobs, dangerous jobs and of course, ‘only in Nevada’ jobs (see Cathouse). But for once, you’re late night channel surfing is about to drop you into the boots of a talented crew doing a really freakin’ cool job.
    
    Ever wonder what it takes to build an X Games halfpipe or design a super-human sized slopestyle feature? You’re about to find out as the exploits of Snow Park Technologies, the rockstar terrain park builders tasked with creating the X Games courses and signature resort terrain parks at Sun Valley, Northstar and Vail, will be featured in a reality TV show on the National Geographic Channel. The eight-episode series, called ‘Mountain Movers’, will air in late-spring 2013.
    
    Snow Park Technologies (SPT) was founded on the sunny So-Cal slopes of Snow Summit Resort in 1997 by then Snow Summit terrain park director Chris ‘Gunny’ Gunnarson. Gunnarson’s offshoot terrain park consulting business has since grown to become the world’s foremost designer and builder of resort terrain parks, competition courses and signature park features. SPT is known for it’s exacting logistical expertise and innovative production abilities having built every Winter X Games course there’s ever been, as well as next-level park features like the cubed halfpipe that SPT created for Red Bull and Simon Dumont at Squaw Valley in 2011.
    
    The talents of SPT’s crew of cat drivers and jib builders attracted the attention of NatGeo Channel who are currently filming SPT’s operations as they criss-cross the globe building halfpipes and terrain parks. The show will offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at SPT’s unique construction efforts, said Gunnarson.
    
    “‘Mountain Movers’ will tell the story about the design and construction efforts that go into the work we do at SPT, and the different conditions and environments we deal with along the way,” said Gunnarson. “The idea is that each episode will follow one project from start to finish — from initial design and planning through the execution of the project on site.”
    
    
    
    Armed with a no-nonsense, get-it-done-right attitude, Gunnarson will take a lead role in the TV series as the show chronicles the SPT president’s moves leading the company.
    
    
    
    
    
    Beyond strictly on-snow, on-location scenes, Mountain Movers will showcase SPT’s new Jib Factory, a cavernous office/production facility in Verdi, Nevada where they design terrain park layouts and build the rails and wallrides. SPT’s drive to bang out on-time construction, delivery and installation of such features will be a focal point of the show. This massive 40x30 foot wallride (the biggest SPT has ever built) was constructed early-January in the Jib Factory for the 2013 Winter-X Snowboard Street course.
    
    
    
    
    
    Snow Park Technologies’ lead fabricator Tyrone Coyne is arguably the king of terrain park rail and jib building. Coyne built the world’s first “fun box” (a slide-able park feature with lexan plastic on top of it) when he was working at Snow Summit Resort in the late ’90s and has been designing and crafting signature terrain park features for SPT ever since. With a masterful eye for jib design and a steady hand with a welding torch, Coyne is the shop supervisor of SPT’s Jib Factory. Get ready for some heavy metal moments as the NatGeo cameras capture Coyne in action building monster features.
    
    
    
    Laying down corduroy in a snowcat may not sound that riveting, but sculpting jumps and halfpipes should present some interesting angles on some serious cat-time. SPT Project Manager, Corley Howard (shown here), and the legendary halfpipe cutter and SPT Business Director Frank Wells will be two of the cat drivers featured.
    
    
    
    “The weapon of choice is the Prinoth Bison X,” said Howard, talking about the best snowcat for building terrain parks. The Italian-made Bison X is a terrain park-specific snowcat equipped with special features that allows them to push snow more efficiently than a standard grooming cat that’s designed to go faster up and down ski runs. SPT has its own custom-wrapped Bison X that will star in the TV show and snowcat snafus will be a likely source of tension in the story line.
    
    
    
    
    
    SPT uses a software program called Google Sketch-Up to create 3D renderings of what a terrain park feature will look like on the mountain before it’s built. These drawings allow SPT to precisely present its suggested park layouts to resort and event management. The dimensions of the drawings can be used to determine the amount of steel needed to build a rail or the water volume needed to make enough snow to build a jump or halfpipe. These drawings depict a new jump line at SPT partner resort Alpine Meadows.
    
    
    
    
    
    Nobody builds bigger, badder jibs than SPT. Inside the Jib Factory, SPT fabricators Sean Picard and Erik Jakobsen prepare a couple gargantuan rails for primetime. Two of these rail segments came together to form the ‘Bat-wing’ rail featured in the 2013 Winter X slopestyle course.
    
    Look out for more info on ‘Mountain Movers’ including scheduled air dates at snowparktech.com.

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 86
  • Not yet rated

• News: Indonesia Offers Year Ro News: Indonesia Offers Year Round Surf Adventures

  • From: mikehardaker
  • Description:

    

    Finding it hard to surf on snow this winter?  A great cure is a surf trip, especially one to Indo! Pulseline Adventure has started offering trips to surfing’s mecca region of Indonesia as a guest of their international surfing program.  Perfect uncrowded waves, pristine waters and the finest accommodations in the region are just a few of the reasons you should check out this location.
    
    Did I mention this wave factory has the most consistent lined up surf in the world?  The secret on Sumatra has finally gotten out, in addition to world-class waves, you can expect the South Pacific's finest food, premier accommodations, and most knowledge surf guides.
    
    Peak Surf Season: March – October: Recommended Board 6”2 Channel Island
    
    Mellower Waves: November – February: Recommended Board 7”0 Fish
    
    To learn more about this program and to check out additional images visit Pulseline Adventures website at: http://www.pulselineadventure.com/indonesia

  • Blog post
  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 72
  • Not yet rated

• Interview: Hayden Price's Alta Interview: Hayden Price's Alta Life

  • From: brodyleven
  • Description:

    Hayden Price crushing in Alta. Photo by Adam Clark.
    
    Skiing around Alta with Hayden Price is like riding with the best skier you know, your best friend, and the best tour guide ever. Except he’s the guide skiing up to a cliff zone, throwing a huge 180 into pow, and only waiting for you because he wants to watch and give you a high five. You don't actually ski with Hayden at Alta as much as you follow him, graciously. The 26-year-old has had an Alta season pass for 24 seasons. He has a distinct style on skis—seemingly disinterested with passing trends, though invariably on the cutting edge. Hayden was the first skier I remember really watching—like, taking notes and emulating—when I moved to SLC seven years ago. He can't ski Alta without people following him, and you'd be intimidated by that fact if he weren’t the happiest, mellowest, and friendliest icon on the mountain. Everyone knows him and he knows the mountain from behind a set of powder-surfing eyes like none other. He's that popular local shredder at your little hometown hill…except he’s that guy at freaking Alta.
    
    
    
    

    BRODY: Hey dude. Where are you and what's been happening?
    
    HAYDEN: Hey Brody! I have been enjoying a better snow year here in Utah’s Wasatch mountains and am currently packing up my gear to head to Canada on a film trip.
    
    BRODY: Where did you grow up? How often did you ski?
    
    HAYDEN: I grew up at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. I skied mainly on the weekends.
    
    BRODY: Although you were frequently at Alta, your home was actually down Little Cottonwood Canyon’s Highway 210, in Salt Lake City. What differentiates you from a skier who has grown up living right in the Town of Alta?
    
    HAYDEN: Growing up in Salt Lake City was a true blessing. I had the oasis of Alta only a stone’s throw away and yet grew up in a metropolitan city. I believe this kept me open to the diversity that may not otherwise be found if I grew up in the bubble that is Alta. Seriously, it is a different world up there, and you feel it the moment you arrive.  SLC has a great music, art, and food scene that I really enjoy. Variety is the spice of life.
    
    BRODY: Speaking of variety, please describe your ski style and what influences it.
    
    HAYDEN: My style is a cornucopia. I spent years dedicated to the idea that I if I can ski it forward, I should be able to ski it backward. As that motivation evolved, I looked to other sports for inspiration because I felt skiing was a little dried up. I saw the way other action sports were using their apparatuses and wanted to emulate the moves they were doing on my skis. Skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing and mountain biking had a lot to offer my thirst for different skiing. Growing up at Alta, surrounded by loads of “classic” skiers, I strived to differentiate myself from the masses. I skied a whole season of resort riding without poles in hopes of cultivating a unique relationship with my edges and the way my skis flexed. Watching all the possibilities a skater has for doing tricks, I felt there must be more I can do on my skis. I am currently focused on butters, presses, scrapes and strange transitions. If there is snow, I’ll slide on it and find something that makes it interesting to me.
    
    BRODY: You ski huge cliffs, backcountry tours, park, natural jumps, and super deep pow. People don't understand what kind of equipment you use for such an array of pursuits. Do you have an arsenal of gear, or what? What is one piece of gear you couldn't live without?

    Hayden Price dropping into a line. Photo by Brody Leven.

    HAYDEN: I definitely have an arsenal. Skiing is so particular now that I choose my skis specifically for what I’m doing that day. I have a lightweight tech binding setup for long tours and soul pow turns, and multiple sidecountry setups consisting of Marker Dukes or Alpine Trekkers for hitting jumps and drops out of the resort. My inbounds bindings are Rossignol FKS. All of my skis are 110mm under foot or wider, and all have some type of rocker technology. I couldn’t live without my Full Tilt boots.
    
    BRODY: Surface employed your snow-snorkel expertise in designing a new ski. Please explain.
    
    HAYDEN: The Lab001. I look to other sports for inspiration not only for ski sliding techniques but also for the technologies they are using. The new Lab ski has a front-to-back “3 stage rocker” as well as “Deep Dish” technology. This idea comes from our desire to have a really surfy powder ski that has a catch-free feeling.  The “Deep Dish” is a left-to-right convexity on the base of the skis. Essentially, the ski is base-high by a few centimeters.  This really allows the ski to be tossed around at will and opens up the world of trickery in powder snow.
    
    BRODY: Do you film with anyone? Where can people see and follow you (besides as fast as they can at Alta)?
    
    HAYDEN: I filmed with Sweetgrass Productions last year in Nelson, BC. This season I have been focused on working with local [Little Cottonwood Canyon] boys, Dubsatch Collective. We have a great season lined up with some really fun ideas. Stay tuned, as webisodes are dropping frequently on dubsatch.com
    
    BRODY: Why Alta?
    
    HAYDEN: It is the birthplace of powder skiing. The quality and quantity of powder that falls at the end of Little Cottonwood Canyon is unmatched worldwide. You can’t beat the access, the people, and the terrain. Alta and the surrounding areas are pure magic!
    
    BRODY: Your skillset is not only strong but also uniquely diverse, how did it develop?
    
    HAYDEN: I watched my home hill heroes, like Sage, and wanted to do what they were doing while adding my own flavor to the mix. [As a teenager,] I would ride Chip’s Run at Snowbird with all of my snowboard homies, copying the style of tricks they were doing off the cat tracks and gaps. I ran a terrain park at Alta with my friend Jordan for a few years. We always pushed each other to do more creative tricks and to be able to do them in many ways and on different terrain. I am really into climbing and mountaineering, too. Combine the jib aspects and long distance pursuits for fresh snow and you get me, HP.
    
    BRODY: Who do you love to ski with? Do you like everyone following you?
    
    HAYDEN: I love to ski with friends and family. Skiing with any of the Dubsatch crew is always great and I don’t mind anyone following us around. Join in on the fun!
    Regardless of whether he grew up in the Town of Alta or twenty minutes down the road, Hayden is most at home on that mountain. His skillset reaches from one end of skiing’s spectrum to the other while being one of those skiers who you recognize through unique skiing style, not through his outerwear or the bottom half of his face in the liftline. Since that season seven years ago, when I first realized how capable he was in the mountains, I’ve watched Hayden’s mentorships and friendships develop within the Little Cottonwood Canyon ski community. Not only does everyone know HP, but they only have compliments to offer. Forthcoming video parts will finally expose HP to the world, showcasing his talents as not a park skier, backcountry skier or Alta skier, but as a mountain skier.
    
    Hayden Price on cover of Backcountry Magazine.

    Want to ski like Hayden, book your next Alta ski vacation online through http://mountainreservations.com
    

  • Blog post
  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 160
  • Not yet rated

• News: 104" of New Snow at Snow News: 104" of New Snow at Snowbird Breaks 40+ Year Average for the Month of December!

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

     

    

    Planning a trip to Snowbird this winter, better bring your fat skis and big pow surfing boards as the Bird received a whopping 104” of Utah’s famous champagne powder during the month of December.  Temperatures have remained cold and the skiing is all time right now. Snowbird is home to legendary waist-deep Wasatch powder and world-class terrain, and with all this snow the resort broke a 40 year average for the month of December. Can you say lake effect?
    
    Our latest update from Snowbird a few days ago mentioned “It was an interesting powder day at Snowbird Ski Resort, with many employees leaving their houses with 24” on the ground, arriving at Snowbird to find about a foot at the base of the resort, and about 6” at Hidden Peak this morning. The current total is about 15,” and more snow is in the forecast.”
    
    Save 25% OFF Snowbird single day lift tickets – Snowbird Lift Ticket Sale

  • Blog post
  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 101
  • Not yet rated

• News: Jeremy Jones' Further Se News: Jeremy Jones' Further Series Premieres On Outside Television December 13

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    

    (Teton Village, Wyo.) - The award-winning producers from multimedia action sports brand Teton Gravity Research (TGR) have produced a ten-episode original series giving viewers an intense look at the personalities, adventure, drama, and excitement from two years of filming Further with Jeremy Jones. Showcasing some of the greatest snowboarding adventures on the planet, the original TV series will air exclusively on Outside Television, premiering Thursday, December 13 at 9:30pm EST with new episodes each Thursday. Outside will also provide Further fans with dual encore episodes every weekend.
    
    The second installment in the Jeremy Jones trilogy that began with Outside Television's popular series Jeremy Jones' Deeper last year, Further explores some of the world's most remote mountain terrain while continuing Jones' mission to camp deep in the backcountry and on the summits of unridden lines to access near-vertical spines and wide-open powder fields. Join Jeremy and his crew as they push their minds and bodies Further.
    
    “We've always thought this type of riding is perfect for a television series, which allows us to go more in-depth and show viewers more of these trips to tell the full story,” says Jeremy Jones. “We learned what's possible working on Deeper, and we've been able to build upon that experience with Further, both in terms of riding and the overall production.”
    
    “This is exactly the sort of flagship programming we want people to identify with Outside Television,” echoes Rob Faris, senior vice president of programming and production for Outside Television, which has been expanding rapidly through Comcast Xfinity and other systems since June. “The true success of the Jeremy Jones trilogy is the overall quality of story development, characters and production rather than devising action just for the thrill of it. We look forward to continuing this franchise even beyond Deeper and Further and are fortunate to have attracted such world-class partners as Teton Gravity Research and Jeremy Jones.”
    
    About Teton Gravity Research
    
    One of the world's leading action sports brands, TGR has produced 30 award-winning feature-length films, numerous television series, and national television commercial spots. Known for its cutting edge media and lifestyle product, TGR works with the top athletes in their respective disciplines, capturing, celebrating, and bringing to life the passion and enthusiasm associated with action sports. TGR is a proud member of 1% For The Planet and strongly believes in protecting the environment in which the team works and plays. For more information on TGR, please visit tetongravity.com, one of the leading online destinations and communities in the action sports industry.
    
    About Outside Television
    
    Outside Television is the only national programming network dedicated to the active outside lifestyle and the more than 141 million Americans who regularly participate. Based on Outside Magazine and its critically acclaimed brand, Outside Television embraces running, biking, skiing, hiking, sailing, surfing, kayaking, snowshoeing and any other adventures involving wind, water, snow and terrain; as well as the full spectrum of the people’s lives who engage in them. Offering exclusively high-definition programs, Outside Television is fast becoming a fixture among leading cable, satellite, telco and broadband providers’ sports and entertainment offerings. To learn more about Outside Television, visit www.outsidetelevision.com.

  • Blog post
  • 5 months ago
  • Views: 121
  • Not yet rated

• Into The Mind Of Dave Mossop: Into The Mind Of Dave Mossop: Heel Pieces

  • From: ryandunfee
  • Description:

    
    
    “Heel Pieces” is a column by Ryan Dunfee published twice a month on TetonGravity.com. In each entry, Dunfee tackles one of the top ski news stories of the moment in an effort to provide insight behind the hype. This week, Dunfee caught up with Sherpas Cinema director Dave Mossop to learn more about the production company's much anticipated action sports film “Into The Mind.”
    
    Into The Mind Of Dave Mossop: Heel Pieces

    The skiing internet was awash last week with fans and industry figures alike all trying to outdo each-other in stating their enthusiasm for the Sherpas Cinema trailer for "Into The Mind" that features Imagineer-level visual trickery, cinematography that would make the producers of "Planet Earth" cough up a lung, and explosive action shots set to a soundtrack of electronic and tribal beats. While the combined effect sent most into a social media sharing hysteria with captions written in caps lock, this author saw only two filmmaking phenomena historically doomed to fail: getting action sports athletes (namely skiers) to reveal anything remotely insightful from their "Minds," and casting multiple sports, in this case skiing, snowboarding, surfing, and white-water kayaking, in the same film. I took Sherpas director Dave Mossop to task on how exactly he hopes to transcend boundaries a second time with "Into The Mind."
    
    Ryan Dunfee: It’s a historical fact that no skier in history since Ernest Hemingway has ever said anything remotely insightful. By going “Into The Mind(s)” of skiers, what do you hope to reveal to the world? That they are all stoked, love skiing with friends, and feel they need to work hard to get shots?
    
    Sherpas Cinema director Dave Mossop: Any real mountain person knows that skiing and snowboarding isn’t always stoke and fun with your friends.  It’s about challenge, perseverance, freezing weather, shit conditions, and a lifetime of enduring injuries, and even death.  Yes, skiing is fun, extremely fun, but it also comes with all of humanity’s many emotions.  We want to show that living a ski or snowboarding lifestyle is one of the greatest lives on Earth, and that all these emotions play a role in taking you to your ultimate potential.
    
    RD: Can you explain, mechanically, how you guys achieved those motion sickness-inducing rolling circle shots?
    
    DM: Stick, camera, tape. This is all you need. Tape camera to one end, pivot stick on other end.
    
    RD: You highlight a diverse selection of athletes skiing, surfing, snowboarding, and kayaking. Traditionally, cross-sport movies have never performed very well. How do you plan on breaking the mold this time around?
    
    DM: We'll be trying to not make it lame.

    RD: What can viewers who’ve seen All.I.Can expect to be the same or different, stylistically or otherwise, this time around?
    
    DM: We learned a lot during the making of All.I.Can., and we want to bring that knowledge to the table.  We can’t stop being who we are, so you’ll see our personalities come through as always, but we hope to evolve to a higher level of storytelling. ITM will take a slice from the avalanche safety message of The Fine Line and the environmental consciousness of All.I.Can, but those aren’t what this is about. This will be new.
    
    RD: What are you guys doing in the filming, interviewing, etc. that is going to do a better job of getting to some deeper emotional or psychological understandings that other filmmakers have been able to accomplish before? Are there other films, inside of skiing or outside, that influenced the approach to Inside The Mind?
    
    DM: Well, we’ll probably just avoid interviews entirely. Actions speak louder than words. 
    
    Our work is, of course, inspired and heavily influenced by dozens of incredible artists.  Films that pop to mind include: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malcovich, Inception, Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Baraka, Dark Side of The Lens, Nostalgia, There Will Be Blood, Stranger Than Paradise, Jacob’s Ladder. And great directors like Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Tarantino, Ron Fricke, Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky, Chris Cunningham, Dziga Vertov, Wim Wenders, Wes Anderson, The Cohen Bros, etc.
    
    

    
    
    Order your copy of Into the Mind, available at http://amazon.con

  • Blog post
  • 5 months ago
  • Views: 163
  • Not yet rated

• mikehardaker

  • Member
  • Points:1610
  • Views: 103
  • Since: 6 months ago
  • Not yet rated

• Surfing the Jackson Hole Stash Surfing the Jackson Hole Stash

  • From: jacksonhole
  • Description:

    The Jackson Hole Park and Pipe crew has built some of the biggest and baddest Stash features on the planet! Watch as they spin through the parks at Jackson Hole.
    
    Click Here To Watch More Videos By Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

     

  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 15
  • Not yet rated

• Video: Into The Mind Teaser By Video: Into The Mind Teaser By Sherpas Cinema

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    
    
    From the makers of All.I.Can comes the new feature film: INTO THE MIND
    
    Blur the lines between dream state and reality, as you perceive the world through the minds of many. Into the Mind contemplates the experiences passed between mentors and peers to paint a philosophical portrait of human kind. What drives us to overcome challenge? How do we justify risk? What forces are at the core of a mountain addiction? Unique athlete segments over a multitude of mountain sport genres depict the connectivity of Earth, and window into never seen before moments. Explore how we begin our perception of self, construct the foundations of confidence, and are ultimately led up the path of self-actualization.
    
    As Buddha once said, “The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
    Into The Mind is about becoming.
    
    Presented by The North Face - COMING FALL 2013
    
    intothemindmovie.com
    facebook.com/sherpascinema
    
    Directors: Dave Mossop and Eric Crosland
    Producer: Malcolm Sangster
    Music: A Tribe Called Red - Electric Powwow
    Original Score by Jacob Yoffee, Sound Design: Cody Petersen

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 120
  • Not yet rated

• DCP Solo in Chile - Part 1 - T DCP Solo in Chile - Part 1 - The North Face

  • From: thenorthface
  • Description:

    DCP heads to Chile with a couple GoPros, two snowboards, and a surfboard. He goes with the flow, meeting surf, skate and snowboard legends, surfing big waves and shredding epic chutes. Check out this video by YES Snowboards.
    
    Click Here To Watch Videos By The North Face

  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 47
  • Not yet rated

• Video: Umbrella Skydive Stunt Video: Umbrella Skydive Stunt And A SoCal Vacation - Roner Vision

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    
    
    Big mountain skier and BASE jumper Erik Roner takes on the action sports mecca of Southern California starting with a Myth Busters-style skydive with a large patio umbrella out of a Hot Air Balloon to see how long it holds. Two-year-old Oskar goes big wave surfing, and Erik gets ready for winter at the Adventure Ski School moving carpet in Encinitas, aka the “Gnarpet.” All this and more on the most A.D.D episode of Roner Vision ever!

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 166
  • Not yet rated

• Video: Surfing Sandy - Kelly S Video: Surfing Sandy - Kelly Slater And More Surfing Hurricane Sandy

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    The Lighter Side Of Sandy: Kelly Slater drops in for a sick Boynton Beach Inlet session at dusk.
    
    Shot and edited by Peter Crawford
    
    Music Credit Turbonegro : Prince Of The Rodeo
    
    

    A quick teaser of some of the footage from he Sandy swell. Shot over a few days in south Florida.
    
    *SLOW MOTION DISCLAIMER: There is a lot of slow motion in this video. It was shot on a slow motion camera so that's kind of the point.
    
    Film and Edit: Cavin Brothers
    colorblindmedia.com
    
    Surfers: Evan Geiselman, Tayler Brothers, Jesse Heilman, Oliver Kurtz, Chris Ward, Cory Lopez, Shea Lopez, Asher Nolan, Pete Mendia
    
    Music: Flight Facilities - Crave You (Adventure Club Remix)

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 184
  • Not yet rated

• Historic Paddle-In Session Goi Historic Paddle-In Session Going Down At Jaws

  • From: ToddJones
  • Description:

    Shane Dorian rides an epic wave at Jaws. Photo by Richard Hallman via Surfline.com.
    
    Here are some videos of what is being called a historic paddle-in session at Jaws. People are saying this is the most game-changing thing in surfing in years. There is a new rule at Jaws where if people are paddling in, then no tow-ins are allowed.

    Shane Dorian, the Walsh brothers and a few others have been keeping the skis away on these big swells. The tow-in scene got out of control and they implemented this new program. Those guys will still tow, but they are raising the bar on when it’s time to tow and when not.

    Today is supposed to be bigger, stay tuned for more videos and an interview with Ian Walsh.

    
    Keala Kennelly paddling in to Jaws on october 9, 2012 Go girl! Get barreled!

    Here's Shane Dorian's second and amazingly deep paddle-in tube at Jaws on October 9, 2012, video by Elliot Leboe. An entry in the Ride of the Year division of the 2012/13 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards. For more info see the event site at www.BillabongXXL.com

    
    Maui local Albee Layer got barreled twice...well, see for yourself!

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 174
  • Not yet rated

• Video: Summertime, Skydiving & Video: Summertime, Skydiving & Extreme Tubing: Roner Vision

  • From: media-75233
  • Description:

    Erik Roner has been keeping busy as evidence from this action-packed new episode of RonerVision! Erik kicks things off skydiving with buddy Bob Burnquist over the 2012 Nike US Open of Surfing and gives us his take on parachute packing 101. Next Erik heads out to Glen Helen raceway joining Greg Godfrey and some of the Nitro Circus Crew for an epic night of truck racing. Summer wouldn't be complete without some good old fashioned R&R, so Erik finishes things off back home in Tahoe, living the good life with son Oskar. As always Oskar gets into big things—this month it's extreme tubing. Hang on!

  • Blog post
  • 8 months ago
  • Views: 195
  • Not yet rated

• Video: Holding Your Breath For Video: Holding Your Breath For Three Minutes With Big Wave Surfer Ian Walsh

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

     

    In this episode of The Ian Walsh Experience, Ian undergoes training to improve his lung capacity and peace of mind when he wipes out on huge waves. With the help of specialized trainers, he increases his breath holds to over three minutes in just one day. Big wave surfing requires more than just physical fitness; it requires mental endurance to prepare for the inevitable hold-downs that happen when pushing limits goes wrong. 

     

    Catch Up On Previous Episodes Of The Ian Walsh Experience Here:

    
    Epic Maui Surfing – Jaws To Honolua With Ian Walsh 

     

    Meet Ian Walsh's Family Of Big Wave Charging Surfers  

     

    Series Premiere – Ian Walsh Welcomes You To His World

  • Blog post
  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 277
  • Not yet rated

• Under The Influence With Seth Under The Influence With Seth Morrison - Blast From The Past Episode 19

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    In this episode of Teton Gravity Research's web series Blast From The Past, drop in with skiing's all-time boss Seth Morrison as he rips Haines, Alaska, in TGR's 2008 feature film, Under The Influence. With one of the longest careers in freeskiing history, no one else has influenced the sport like Seth Morrison. No one charges as hard with as smooth and steady style as Seth. Rest assured, the big mountain king of front flips and back flips is ripping just as hard today as he ever has. Be sure to check out his segment in TGR's 2012 release, The Dream Factory.
    
    TGR's Blast From The Past web series will take you back in time to revisit some of our favorite film segments from 15 years of action sports filmmaking. From shredding Alaska spines set to Metallica to surfing El Salvador's endless beaches, Blast From The Past is your one stop for TGR's greatest film segments.
    
    Click Here To Get Old School And Rip In Blast From The Past
    
    Click Here To Buy Under The Influence
    
    Click Here To Watch The Dream Factory Trailer

  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 231
  • Not yet rated

• Video: Barreled In Mexico - Br Video: Barreled In Mexico - Brothers On The Run Episode 9

  • From: media-75233
  • Description:

    Snowboarders John and Eric Jackson are still in Mexico on an epic roadtrip from Alaska to the tip of South America. In Mexico, they are giving back to some of the locals by providing shoes and food in an underprivileged area of town. They are also surfing. Their mystery friend Panchito bids farewell, before the brother's paddle out into some double overhead surf at Pascuales.

    Support Brothers for Hope http://Jaxunion.com
    
    Stay tuned every other Tuesday.

  • Blog post
  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 214
  • Not yet rated

• Candide Thovex Is An Anomaly - Candide Thovex Is An Anomaly - Blast From The Past Episode 18

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    In this episode of Teton Gravity Research's web series Blast From The Past, we take a look back at Candide Thovex's ground-breaking segment from TGR's 2006 feature film, Anomaly. From his hometown of La Clusaz, France, to Aspen, Colorado, to  Seward, Alaska, Candide Thovex absolutely crushes everything in his path from park jumps, to the X Games, to the big mountains. Shortly after this, Candide hurt his back and was out of the ski game until about 2010. Now in 2012, Candide is back with his own movie titled Few Words.

    TGR's Blast From The Past web series will take you back in time to revisit some of our favorite film segments from 15 years of action sports filmmaking. From shredding Alaska spines set to Metallica to surfing El Salvador's endless beaches, Blast From The Past is your one stop for TGR's greatest film segments.

    Click Here To Get Old School And Rip In Blast From The Past

    Click Here To Buy Anomaly

  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 348
  • Not yet rated

• Video: Scoring Perfect Waves i Video: Scoring Perfect Waves in Baja - Brothers on the Run Episode 8

  • From: media-75233
  • Description:

    John and Eric Jackson continue their journey from Alaska to the tip of South America. In this episode, they drive through Mexico in search of some perfect waves. Along the way they pick up a mystery man known as Panchito, get some downhill longboarding in, and manage to get the van stuck in a parking garage, all before scoring some Baja swell.
    
    Support Brothers for Hope
    
    Stay tuned for a new episode every other Tuesday.

  • Blog post
  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 218
  • Not yet rated