FrontLipped

My First Day

Jason Petznick — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:40:59 +0000

If you live anywhere other than Ontario, this day has probably come and gone for you. Unfortunately, us folk out towards the east side of the country are still stuck trying to play a hand that most people would’ve folded by now.

The title of this post isn’t entirely true (I put in a couple hours at Cypress while I was in Vancouver last month), but I managed to get out to Horseshoe Resort this morning for my first day of the Ontario season. I could drop some names (Trevor Harris, Connor Dudgeon and Mark Goodall were there) and I could talk about the tricks that were landed (or at least attempted… apparently I forgot how to tailpress?), but I won’t.

Aside from the sheer relief of just being back out on snow, there’s something special about the first day of the season. The feeling of getting comfortable on new gear, not landing old tricks and taking that first good slam (you know the one I’m talking about) all seem to just roll right off your back. These are the things that can nearly ruin a day in the middle of the season, but, at the beginning, none of them seem to matter.

(Here comes the cheesy closing remarks!) Now that I got my first day, I’m looking forward to a great season. Ontario is awesome because there are so many different resorts and so many different crews all in such a small area, so there’s always something different going on. Hopefully you all manage to chalk up your first day on snow soon. Happy shredding!

Anto Chamberland – Everybody knows that he’s insane

Jason Petznick — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:24:10 +0000

Jason Dubois and Antonin Chamberland’s full parts from the latest Brothers Factory flick Tabarnac came out online today, but something struck me after I watched them. Both of these guys competed in Empire’s DC Trick List contest in the spring, but, while Dubois’s part with BF re-used a couple of the shots (not surprising when you look at any rider who films for two projects in the same season), Anto’s BF part was entirely new footage.

Let’s put this into perspective. Anto had 64 shots in the Trick List video and 30 (that I counted) in his Tabarnac part. That’s 94 shots. We’re not talking half-assed b-roll in either though. Both parts are full of proper hammers from start to finish. Give him four months of filming (120 days; beginning of December to end of April), and that’s creeping pretty damn close to a shot a day. Stupid impressive when you take into consideration getting kicked out of spots, taking days off to mend injuries, wasting days on travelling and simply having a life outside of snowboarding. At the end of the Trick List battle Dubois and Chamberland ended up splitting the grand prize, but if you ask me who won the war in the long run, my vote’s for Anto.

It may sound cliche, but here’s 8 minutes of absolute destruction.

Why won’t it just f#%king snow already?

Jason Petznick — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:39:05 +0000

I hate this time of year. It’s the end of November in Ontario, and I’ve been stuck seeing updates about how epic the mountains out west are for a solid two weeks already. It’s enough to drive you insane.

Really though, I love this time of year because it’s what makes being a snowboarder in Ontario special. We’re not handed great snow and an early start to the season. We’re at home every day checking Facebook for updates from the local hill, waiting to hear the snow guns fire up, watching (and re-watching) old snowboard videos, driving hours to ride sketchy pre-season rail jams and strapping in behind the local arena to session a piece of corrugated pipe. And when the snow final comes and the lifts start running, we turn it on for three and a half months without missing a single chance to ride because we never know how hard the January thaw will hit.

While you’re waiting, add these to your news feed now…

Blue Mountain
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Horseshoe
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Mount St Louis
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Glen Eden
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Chicopee
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Lakeridge
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Boler
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Pre Season shred with Cimal

Jason Petznick — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:40:00 +0000

We’re all sick of pre season tube edits at this point, and that’s alright because there’s not a single piece of PVC to be seen in this edit. Check out some of the Cimal Outerwear crew getting after it.

And a few words with Mason Hambly…

Who’s riding?
Mason Hambly, Luke Hambly, Jesse Hambly, Brady Smith and Ben Poechman.

Which of you would win in a fight?
Obviously me with my kick ass kung fu.

What are your plans for the winter?
Mostly riding in Ontario, hitting handrails and filming.

Makin’ it (Movember) Rain at Horseshoe Resort

Jason Petznick — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:33:17 +0000

Sunny skies in the morning gave way to clouds and dirty snow in the afternoon, but it didn’t do anything to bring down the mood at Horseshoe Resort’s Movember Rain Rail Jam. Cass Ironside was holding it down on the mic and Andrew Skelhorn was heading up the judging duties as B101 streamed through the sound system. Preseason jams in Ontario always manage to draw crowds, and this event was no different with more than 50 riders registered in the Pro and Am categories (there were skiers too, but, really, who cares?). Local shreds Brad Gauley, Steve Powling and Jon Rusk were all in attendance, but they decided slapping high fives, playing with puppies and shooting hoops was more interesting than strapping in.

Not much has changed over the summer. Pat Hrivnak still has super loose style (in the good way), Will Johnson still has more fun than anyone else and Mason Hambly still goes 160% on every hit. Jake Fine had one of the scarier moments of the day when he almost reverse taco-ed the down-flat, but, like a boss, he got up and landed a couple solid frontside lipslides and bluntslides. It was obvious early on that Joel Dalacker was going to make the cut. I don’t know who he was snaking in line, but I think he got almost twice as many runs as anyone else in the qualifier. Jeff Robinson was an obvious choice too, matching up tech tricks with flawless execution. Craig Gouweloos rode solid enough to make it through to the final, but, personally, I would have put him through anyways just because the base of his board said “PUSSY” on it. Cole Cummings and Max Eberhart rounded out the 5-man final, but, to be honest, I wasn’t paying close enough attention to be able to tell you what they landed to make it there.

In the finals, everyone had three hits to put down their best trick. Cole went 0 for 3 on his attempts, and Robinson struggled to lock into his back 180 on to the down-flat. It looked like Craig was going for 50-50 frontside 3 out, but he couldn’t quite torque around the spin and settled for a 180. Dalacker managed to land a super clean back 270 tailslide on the downbar, but it wasn’t enough to top Eberhart who pulled out a couple front blunt combos to take the top step on the podium. In the end, everyone did some shredboarding and got a little bit more stoked for the season to start. With Horseshoe announcing December 3rd as their projected Opening Day, it won’t be long before winter is in full swing.

Women’s Snowboard
1st – Leanna King
2nd – Catriona Boyd
3rd – Samm Denena

Am Snowboard
1st – Malcolm Eppinger
2nd – Chris Cooper
3rd – Silas MacKinnon

Pro Snowboard
1st – Max Eberhart
2nd – Joel Dalacker
3rd – Craig Gouweloos

Movember Rain was sponsored by Capita, Union, Ashbury, Spy, Sandbox, Salomon, Bonfire, Coal, Rome, 686, SAXX on behalf of Tropical North, Horseshoe Resort, SBC

Bneeth – Rising from the Ashes

Jason Petznick — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:15:24 +0000

It’s amazing how fast news travels in our world today. It crossed my Twitter feed this morning, and I knew right away that it was going to be big news. DC Canada’s former Marketing Manager Mikey Scott has brought back Bneeth, and is working on something big. Bringing together 26 of North America’s greatest skate and snow writers, photographers and videographers into the Time Capsule Project. Over the next 12 months (starting December 1), these contributors will document the path along the journey to producing the content that’ll inevitably end up in your hands and on your computer or TV screen. With a stable of bloggers that includes Matt Houghton, Scott Birke, Ryan Stutt, Scott Serfas, Andrew Norton, Brian Caissie, Gerhard Gross and Colin Adair, there’s no question that the content is going to be top shelf. I know I’ll be following along, so make sure you get on this one before you find yourself saying, “The Time Capsule Project? What’s that?”

For a full list of contributors on the Time Capsule project, and to have your mind blown by words on a screen, check out Bneeth (just make sure you have lots of time to kill, because you’re gonna be glued to your computer).

Where have all the (pro) models gone?

Jason Petznick — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:12:06 +0000

This snowboard changed my life.

If you’ve been around long enough, you’d recognize it as Jeremy Jones’s pro model from the year of True Life. I never owned this board, and (to be honest) I don’t even think I knew exactly what the graphic was at the time. The reason I remember it so well is because this was the board that our “local hero” was riding the year I started snowboarding. I couldn’t even tell you what his name was anymore, but I’ll never forget seeing someone with true style shredding this board.

I read an interview today on YoBeat where Snowboarder Magazine Editor Pat Bridges mentioned something that struck a chord with me. He was talking about how shitty it is that fewer and fewer brands are making pro models each season.

“This is what happens when someone out of touch is forced to sell snowboards. In turn that shop only buys products which can be moved by someone with the least snowboarding knowledge possible.” – Bridges

Forum is a perfect example of this. The year True Life came out, Forum made and marketed five pro model boards (Peter Line, Bjorn Leines, JP Walker, Devun Walsh and Jeremy Jones). Today, Pat Moore is the only rider on the Forum roster with his own model.

“Yet if 50% of the boards in stores today were pro models and the other 50% were mid level and entry level boards would less snowboards be sold? I doubt it.” – Bridges

To me the only brand that’s still giving credit where it’s due is Stepchild. These guys reward their team members, and I’d be willing to bet that it’s the only brand left that has actually been consistently adding pro models to it’s lineup since the brand was founded.

“Seriously. If pro models were all there was, people would still need to buy boards. How the ink hits the top sheet doesn’t effect the experience, but it does effect the culture and in turn how rich of a lifestyle experience we create.” – Bridges

What’s the result of this? “It’s the erosion of pro rider esteem,” says Bridges. If brands were still making pro models, the industry would have more iconic riders. Instead, we’re stuck in an age where riders are only remembered and talked about until the next shitty GoPro edit comes out online from some B-List crew. It’s a damn shame, but nothing’s gonna change until more kids start going in to shops and asking for these boards. If this starts to happen, then the shop buyers (and the brands themselves) will hopefully start to realize how much these boards mean to the industry and we’ll actually be able to do something to save this endangered species.

Endeavor Snowboards drops in on a new site

Jason Petznick — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:22:47 +0000

Most brands don’t let their new websites go live until sometime in September when the product hits the shelves. Endeavor us apparently changing the game this year, giving kids the chance to drool all over their keyboards (or iPhones, or iPads, or whatever they’re using to browse the internet these days) dreaming about what gear they’re gonna pick up in the Fall.

Check it out here.

BOOH Crew says word

Jason Petznick — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:47:11 +0000

Chicopee was my home ~~mountain~~ slope growing up, and I still love going back to ride there. These kids are the next generation coming out of Kitchener/Waterloo and they’re making the most of what they have on their doorstep.

Featuring Tomi Maletic, Danny Glibota, Scott Snider, Alex Bielawski, Ed Gallant, Josh Blasman, Scott Askes, Matt Lindberg, Alex Ioannidis and Landon Jones.

The Nic Sauve interview

Jason Petznick — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:14:07 +0000

This little gem has been sitting on my desktop since last September probably. I did a quick interview with Nic Sauve for Snowboard Canada’s website about snagging the opening part in Forum’s latest movie F’ It. It never ended up on the web, so instead of letting it rot on my hard drive, I figured I’d post it up here for your enjoyment.

Jason Petznick: What have you been up to lately?

Nic Sauve: Just got back from a week in SoCal for the F’ It world premiere. The whole team was there so it was good times! Other than that I’ve been mountain biking and staying physically active a lot when I’m home.

JP: Where did you go to relax this summer?

NS: I took some time to relax with my girl in spring this year. We went to the Philippines for three weeks in May. It was kind of crazy out there. We explored the country as much as we could and chilled in some pretty unique spots, did some surfing and diving. After that I was shredding for most of the summer in Whistler and France.

JP: The premiere tour for the Forum video is looking pretty busy, do you like traveling on the tour?

NS: Travelling with the crew is always awesome. I love it. Everyone just makes everything a good time. I’ve never been on a big trip like the coming one, but I’m sure it will be fun.

JP: How was the World Premiere of F’ It down in Newport Beach?

NS: Kinda crazy. None of us had seen anything except for the guys involved in making it, so we were all a little anxious to see it. Our TM Kevin Keller rented this two-story high Red Bull bus to drive us around town. Inside the bus was a bar, with a DJ and stuff. I thought it was pretty funny. We had our own party for most of the night.

JP: When did you find out you had the opening part in the movie?

NS: At some point during the summer Kevin told me I might get the opener, but I wasn’t sure until I would see. So I really found out last week in Newport.

JP: Did it ever cross your mind during the season that you might have a chance at the opening part?

NS: Not really. I wasn’t thinking about that at all actually. I got injured pretty bad on the 1st of March, and it ended my season pretty quickly. I fell from 20 feet up straight to concrete, hip first. So I was out for a while, but I guess early season paid off.

JP: Who was your favourite teammate to shred with this season?

NS: Well all the guys I was shredding with this season were awesome. Stevie, Cam, Nikko. Motivated and killing it.

JP: What was your favourite shot from your part this year?

NS: Cab 270 on this flat bar into a backside wallride. That session was super fun. We filmed it on New Year’s Eve a few minutes before the countdown, and popped a bottle of champagne right when we got done. I guess it was a pretty good way to start the year 2010!