Stepchild Snowboards: Going Green?
The trend for 2010 in the industry seems to be towards the green movement. Eco-friendly materials and recycled construction. Stepchild too claims to be going green, and by green, they mean the colour green. That’s it. Stepchild founder Sean Johnson sums up the decisions to take a jab at companies claim green by saying “…It’s not poking fun at the companies that are really making a difference in the world today with the environmental issues. It’s more aimed at the companies that claim to be green for the sole purpose to increase sales….If you take this catalog too seriously, you need to lighten up – it’s snowboarding.”
If anyone understands snowboarding, it’s Stepchild. Since day one, they’ve been about putting the shred before the paper pushing. Entering their seventh year of business, the continue to look into more eco-friendly materials and construction methods. In the meantime, they promise to reduce their footprint by wearing smaller shoes and building boards that last longer. Here’s a peek at the boards they’re talking about for 2010.
First of all, it’s worth mentioning that select models will be available with RETT (Round Edge Tapered Tuning). Team rider JP Walker describes RETT as “The board comes from the factory with the option of pre-dulled edges between the bindings that gradually gets sharper as it reaches the nose and tail. Basically, you can put bindings on it and dive into your local double kink without any hesitation.”
Stepchild’s entry level board, the Latchkey, is geared towards park and rails. It’s got a soft flex and a true twin shape. If you’re looking to dive into park next season, take a look at the Latchkey. It rides great and have an affordable price tag to boot.
Slightly stiffer flexing than the Latchkey, Everything Sucks is next years version of the Powder Sucks board from this season. They graphics are sick and you know it’s legit when a company can say they suck with ease. The board also names a bunch of other things that suck, but don’t get distracted while riding.
New for next season is the Chi Borg. This twin tip board features 6mm of reverse camber to keep it buttery and give you smoother pop. It’s got a medium flex rating, but falls more on the softer side of medium when riding. Perfect for all you mountain needs, it handles itself well in the park but also in the deep, fluffy stuff.
The Jib Stick is back next season with 3 different sizes of reverse camber corresponding to the size of the board. The 148 will feature 4mm rocker, the 153 will have 6mm of rocker and rounding the line up with 8mm of rocker will be the 156. Once again, this is a medium flexing board, but feels much softer when you’re actually riding it. Specific to the Jib Stick is the Trojan rubber…strip inserted into the sidewall for shock absorption purposes. It also has the option of RETT. PS: I love this board.
JP’s pro model for 2010 features a new mini 138 and a 157 in the size line up. This board is a twin tip, but it designed with a Kicker III core, basically meaning that it can cross over from street to backcountry with no problems. It’s also got a 14 hole insert pattern on each foot so you can dial your stance in. No need for Buton ESTs!
Long time team rider, Simon Chamberlain’s new pro model should remind a lot of you about those good times as a kid, playing with Lego. Simon went with a directional nose shape this season to stay above the snow in the pow, but has a centered stance and a twin core shape, to keep it riding like a twin in the park. The carbon stringers in the core add hecka pop!
Everyone’s doing collabs, so why not Stepchild? Upcoming is the Thirty Two/Stepchild collaboration using the Everything Sucks board. It comes in a limited colourway and Thirty Two will be putting out its Lashed boot in a matching, collab colour too!
On the women’s side of things, Stepchild offers you two boards. The Harlequin, which is the entry level twin tip with soft flex, or the Moustache Rider, a narrower twin tip featuring Kicker I core (Read: smoother flexing and poppy!) for those with small feet and a slightly stiffer flex.
Thanks to Perry Pugh at OB1 Enterprises for helping me out and allowing me to take a Jib Stick out to the hill for some testing. Like I said, I loved the board. Keep your eyes peeled for all the product reviews to start falling in a matter of days.
Hit the foam pits!
Sam
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Signal Snowboards – Rider Owned and Operated
I recently broke my thumb in practice at the Showdown Over the City so I’ve got a good week left to catch up on my blogging. First off, I wanted to announce that I’m more than stoked to be riding for Signal Snowboards and Celsius. Like an unfaithful boyfriend, I have been eyeing down the Signal website for the past few months, checking out the product at SIA in Las Vegas and have happily made the “board sponsor” transfer.
Evidence that the 156 Park Series can eat powder as well. R: Barry Hartman PH: Bryant Bell
I’ve been riding the 156 Signal Park deck for the past couple weeks and am really stoked. When it dumped, the thing floated ontop of powder. It’s a solid park board that felt great on the 70-foot booter that Grouse Mountain built. The best thing about the Park Series is that you can find one for $400 since it’s Signal’s lowest priced deck.
Broken thumb FS 7 in the semis. Photo: Bryant Bell
FS pretzel. Photo: Bryant Bell
Signal homie Tim Barker showin' how it's done. Photo: Bryant Bell
Grouse Mountain extended their closing until April 26th so don’t pack in your shred anytime soon. With about three weeks left you can be sure the park crew will be on top of their game.
Peace,
Hartman
APRIL FOOLS!
Hey everyone, this week is April Fools!!! So get in the spirit and go raid your moms closet and get on the tightest and brightest fitting one piece you can find! Get out those fanny packs, sunscreen and headbands! Get into value village and get whatever you can find! We will be there all weekend giving out yellow flavoured snowcones to the best dressed!!!!
Check it out!
Showdown update to come soon!
-Dan
Think you can rep harder then Spencer Watson? Napking says prove it…
Hello!
My good friend and fellow PYP member Pat King also runs a company called napKING. He is proud to announce the “Think you can rep harder then Spencer Watson?” Contest. So here is the deal, you submit a video to Pat himself of you repping something SUPER hard, doesn’t have to be napKING, just a video of you repping things super hard, the winner will get some 2010 product that NOBODY has seen yet. You don’t have to buy anything to enter this, grab a camera and go have some fun! Good luck everyone!
PYPeace!
Chuckles
Random Rambles II
Hiya folks, you know the drill.
Fellow blogger Dan Jonas and I were able to get out paws on some 2010 Ride gear to take to Grouse mountain. With the help of Rodrigo Caula, proprietor of Choice Apparel, and two femmes from Grouse’s local J-Crew, Alice Gorton and Sydney Schram, we were able to test the Crush, Machete and DH on the men’s side, and the Canvas and Compact on the women’s side as well as a bunch of bindings and those crazy light boots. Keep your eyes peeled for product reviews coming soon.
Speaking of Choice Apparel, the new product was shipped out last Wednesday and the line is officially launched as of March 11th. If you haven’t already done so, hit up the site and get your orders in via email at choiceapparel@hotmail.com!
Some more Choice news. Grouse Mountain pro team rider, Jenelle Pritchard is the first girl on the Choice team. Yay!
It’s been flaking kittens for the past week and that good ol’ west coast snow is covering the mountains. It’s wet, it’s heavy, and it’s so much fun. Get out and play in the trees, but don’t slow down or get stuck.
Is it just me or is that quarter pipe amazingly fun? Good job, park crew.
I currently have no park board due to base delamination. Lucky for me, it’s been pow so I’ve been able to get my 159 out of retirement. Anyone wanna help me out with something a little/a lot smaller?
I’m going to be sitting down with the founder of Spacecraft Clothing, Stefan Hofmann, for an interactive interview this weekend. For those that haven’t heard, Spacecraft is an art project using clothing as a medium. Go and check it out. The product is sick and the art is even better. They’re currently based out of Bali and keep a grassroots feel to everything they do. Pacific Boarder will be carrying the spring line, so make sure you go and take a look. I’ll have more on Spacecraft in the next couple days.
Shreddies for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner,
Sam
Union Binding Company: 2010 Sneak Peek
The first year Union hit the snowboard scene, their bombproof bindings had a zero percent warranty return rate. Entering their 5th season, their 2010 lineup remains an industry standard in strength and versatility. Union isn’t all hype either, there’s a very good reason riders want to strap into a pair of their bindings.
The Tech
I’m a huge tech nerd. When it comes to boards, bindings, boots, whatever, I want to know what all the tech means. Leafing through tech profiles, it is apparent what sets Union apart from the rest. First of all, their belief in their product quality is so high, that unlike other brands, they offer you a lifetime warranty on their gear. Guaranteed you probably won’t use it. They’re using industry firsts, such as magnesium and aluminum injected heelcups for strength and injected EVA bushings to dampen vibrations while riding. Their bindings also reduce the dead zone bindings create in the natural flex of the board. If you’ve ever mounted a pair of bindings, then taken them off after a season, you’ve noticed the wear mark on the board from the base of your bindings. Try throwing on a pair of Unions. Only 19% of the base is in contact with the board, eliminating a lot of the dead zone and allowing you to experience a lot more of the true flex of your board.
Union offers two shapes of highbacks. Asymmetric/Symmetric highbacks distribute the force and stress on the highbacks out from the bottom of the highback to the outer edges near the top. Multizone highbacks layer the design into three zones, each with its own strength to flex ratio, with the most strength located at the base and going up to a 50-50 split between strength and flex at the top.
The base structure is made to dampen vibrations. It layers a solid, one piece fibreglass blend base with injected EVA and purethane bushings, followed by a durometer dampener to essentially eliminate dead zones.
Union was one of the first five companies worldwide to use injected magnesium for their heelcups. When it comes to snowboarding, they are the only company to use this tech. It results in a stronger and lighter heelcup, reducing the overall weight of the binding. Their also use injected aluminum heelcups of most of their models, which are anodized after they come out of the mold. Anodizing basically means that it’s strong than straight up aluminum. I’m switched my old heelcups to anodized injected aluminum (thanks Dad!) when they broke and I’ve sh*t kicked them to the curb, but the heelcups still hold strong. It makes a difference.
The Product
For those of you that I’ve bored with the tech, perk up. Here’s a sneak peek at the product.
The Force-MCs feature an asymmetrical carbon highback and magnesium hardware to ensure strength and resulting in one of the lightest bindings out there.
The Data features 3D molded ankle straps, aluminum heelcups and comes in a killer Rasta colourway. Next year also marks the first season Union is putting out a true pro model.
The Danny Kass is based off the Contact chasis and features carbon infused into the baseplate and highback. Available in Danny’s own Turbo colourway.
Speaking of the Contact, this binding offers minimal board to binding contact and is designed to compliment reverse camber boards and their flex patterns and is exteremely lightweight.
This year, Union is also hitting the sustainable, enviro conscious maket with the Re-Union. This binding is the same as the Cadet but uses recycled EVA and excess/byproduct materials left from the manufacture of the other bindings in the Union line. Along with creating an amazing binding, they’ve also essentialy eliminated all nylon waste. Couple this with the Capita Geen Machine and you’ve gotta yourself a hippiemobile on snow.
On the woman’s end of things, the tech is the same, but the fitting is made for a woman’s physique.
The Trilogy features a highback made specifically for a woman’s calf, which is lower than a man’s, provide a more comfortable fit. It also has a woman’s specific baseplate and a softer flex profile designed with a lighter weight rider in mind.
The Milan is another woman’s specific binder featuring an anatomic specific Multizone highback for more comfort and super cush padding that’ll let you ride all day.
Keep your eyes peeled for Union on store shelves next September. Thanks once again to Mikey Scott and Tony Lefroy for helping us get some of the product in the park for some reviews, which will be coming your way soon.
See you on the hill,
Sam
Ride Snowboards: Always DFC
The folks at Ride Snowboards have always been down for the cause (DFC). They even took it as far as making it a limited line of DFC product for a couple seasons. I was reading the early winter issue of Snowboard Canada and saw a letter published in the reader mail section. This guy was saying that it seems like Burton is the only company to progress the sport. Dear sir, Burton is making exclusive gear for their boards. Buy their boards, buy their bindings. It’s simple marketing. EST isn’t progressing anything. But I digress.
All I have to say to this guy is look into Ride. 2009 isn’t done yet, but the upcoming 2010 line up from Ride contains more tech than a full 4 year engineering degree. The theme for the line up is light. As in lightweight. Be prepared to get your mind blown by the little things and the big things Ride is doing to make riding more fun for everyone.
Boots
Ride Insano featturing BlownLight Meta soles and Closer lacing system
Select boot models, namely the Insano, RFL and FUL for men and the Cadence for women, for the upcoming season contain ultralight blown insoles. Traditional soles take rubber and compress it into a mold, compressing the rubber and making it dense. BlownLight Meta soles have a shell of full phylon (read: super light!) injected with foam in select pockets, leaving room for a support shim in the arch and a super cush gel pad for your nimble heels. What’s more, they’ve got ice picks of hardened plastic under the toes for making hiking the park easier. In terms of liners, they’ve done away with the ankle strap and put velcro on the tongue, so it just stick in place. Simple, fast, light and snug. They’ve also profiled their liner to their boot, using contact points to attach the liner to the boot for a better fit, less heel lift, and, best of all, a light, comfortable feeling that’ll make you think you’re walking on water. The Closer system on Boa Coiler boots ensure that the force along the lace line is spread evenly, giving you a tight, comfortable fit all the way down to your toes. For you picky people, there is a Focus Boas system on the men’s Crew boot.
Bindings
How wide is your stance? If you’re like me, it’s full maxed out. Looks good, makes some tricks easier, but also spells the death of your knees. Not with the new Ride binders! They’ve cantered footbeds, angled towards the center of your board. They come in a variety of degrees for a fully customizable stance. Try the Wedgie 1.0, 2.0, 2.5 or 4.0. Check your degrees, son. Also, the Contrabands are back this year as Nitrane Contrabands, fetureing a gel V-net between the forked opening. It looks good, and it provides extra grip on your boot to make it fit nice and snug into the bindings. Who thought Wedgies could be this comfortable? Also available on women’s bindings. Oh yea, did I mention the women’s Bandita Contrabands? No web toes on these yet, try back in a couple seasons. For the guys out there looking for a truly unique looking bindings, Ride has the EX for you in the Franken colourway. No single piece is the same colour. EVER!
Left: Men's EX and Nitrane Contraband. Right: Women's Bandita Contraband
Boards, Boards, Boards
Last season, Ride featured their Lowrise rocker on one DFC model board, the Crush. This season, the DFC line has been done away with, and the Crush is going on the main line. You’ve seen boarding companies do art collaborations with huge LA firms for limited edition bards. Ride took their art team to the poorest elementary school art program in Seattle and got Pam Neithercott’s 3rd period grade 7 art class to draw a mythical creature consisting of two other animals. The results can bee seen on the top sheet of the Crush…BUT! only when it gets cold. That’s right kids, the top sheet is a blank piece of lined paper at room temperature, but drop that deck in the cold and the ink changes colour and the prints are visible in black. Mood Changing Inks!? Legit collab!? High five! All proceeds from the collaboration go to Danny Way Middle School. Speaking of Mood Changing Inks, the Ride Kink also features this tech. Solid colour it your house, fully inked on the hill. Also featuring the Membrain topsheet, so light, it’s almost paper thin!
The big news for this season is the Ride Machete, featuring Lowrise Rocker. This board is couples rocker with a Blenz sidewall for a hook free ride. The top sheet was desgined by the folks at Morning Breath Inc. and is influenced by grafiti culutre, creating an intense pop art/street graf fusion. You could frame it and stick it in a art gallery when you’re not riding it.
Ride x Morning Breath Inc. bring Brooklyn to you
The DH2 is back this year with matching plaid Ltd edition Contrabands. The big news with the DH2 are the limited edition DH2′s. No one knows what these boards are going to look like. Shops are going to have to order all three versions without even so much as a sneak peek. The DH2.1, 2.2 and2.3 are slated to be released on Oct.1, Nov.1 and Dec.1, respectively. This one time release graphic is sure to be sick, but the only issue lies in which will be the sickest. I’m collecting wagers all summer. $50, 7:1 odds that it’s DH2.2. Also features Membrain.
The women’s line also feautres a Lowrise rocker on the all new Compact with Membrain topsheet. How else do you think that sparkle on the topsheet is possible? Lowrise is also on the Canvas, a full Ride/Matix collaboration. The complete kit features the Sigma MVMNT binding and Cadence boot, all in a matched out colourway.
Left to Right: The Machete, Compact and Crush
True to form, the folks at Ride stuck to their world renowned die cut bases. To change it up next season, Ride put solid graphics on the bases then overlayed them with die cut patterns which are semi transparent. Bascially, it’s a front to back artistic bonanza.
There you have it. A quick overview of Ride’s lineup. Jason and Myrosha were nice enough to give me a tour of the showroom and let me take a few pictures. Thanks a lot guys! They are also hooking us up with some product to test out, so we’ll be better able to inform you on a bunch of park boards, bindings and those super light boots! Stay tuned for the reviews from Dan Jonas, Alice Gorton and yours truly.
Let the kids ride for free,
Sam
Capita Snowboards: Super Scary Corporation
Capita has been on the up and up since 2000. This Seattle-based company currently has one of the sickest teams in the industry, featuring the likes of Danny Kass, Dan Brisse and TJ Schenider, to name a few. Capita created a lot of hype last season with their late release Horrorscope FK and had people raving about this soft park board. Just ask fellow blogger Dan Jonas, he’d probably marry his Horrorscope if it was a girl. Recently, I was able to talk to Mikey Scott, Marketing Manager for Capita and Union in Canada. Capita is sticking to the saying that you don’t change a good thing… unless you’re making it even better, and that’s exactly what they’ve done. The line up is super diverse and covers all your riding needs.
The big news for next year are the Green Machine FK and the Charlie Slasher Pow FK. This season, the Horrorscope featured Park FK, which kept the base flat between the bindings, reverse camber to the the effective edge and flat kick tips. This tech is featured on their Green Machine, which features a sustainable core to make construction more eco-friendly. If there’s anything us Canadians like, it’s eco-friendliness. Next season will mark the introduction of Pow FK, which is featured on the Charlie Slasher. This keeps the base flat from effective egde to effective edge then goes up into flat kick tips, to give the board more lift on those epic “I’m stuck in waist deep pow!” days… except you won’t be stuck with this deck.
Park FK on top, Pow FK on the bottom
Keeping it hippie conscious! The fine print says Mother Earth thanks you
Capita has also extended the number of boards that now feature Park FK. Decks that feature this tech include the Indoor Survival, previously my favourite Capita board with traditional camber, Horrorscope, Green Machine and Space Metal Fantasy for women. Needless to say, I’m super stoked on the Indoor Survival FK. All these decks look sick., but don’t take my word for it, judge for yourselves!
In addition to all the FK boards, the keystone Stairmaster and Stairmaster Extreme decks are back. As some of you may know, the Horrorscope is based off the Stairmaster series. It’s basically a FK Stairmaster, which explains why Stairmaster doesn’t feature FK. That’s just be silly and redundant. The Stairmaster Extreme in particular is looking amazingly rad with it’s tabloid collage influenced art work and screen printed base. Let this board be a reminder to all you wanna be rockstars. Keep your clothes on and you’ll stay off the front page.
Tried, tested and true, the Stairmaster Extreme is back
Mikey and Tony are also letting us grab a few decks off them to test THIS WEEK! The tests will be dropping on Wednesday, so if any of these decks look interesting to you, and they should, be sure to check back soon, as we will have have some feedback for you and even some video footage of how they ride. We even have the lovely Alice Gorton helping us out with the women’s boards, for you ladies out there.
Cheers without the beers,
Sam
New Choice News
Just a quick one today to let you know that my good friend Mr. Rod Caula of Choice Apparel has some new pics of the new t-shirts on his site. They should be here in about 2 weeks, they look super sick!
On another note, Grouse Mountain Pro Team Rider Jenelle Pritchard is also now on the Choice Apparel team which is super sick as well.
Even more good news! My recovery is going very well, and I will be heading to the Okanagan next week to do some filming with Progressive Youth Productions (check out the PYP Facebook Group) and by the time I am back I should be well enough to film on Grouse Mountain on foot, my goal is to be on skis in 4-6 weeks just cruising and being super careful and filming. So fingers crossed! Also after the trip you should be very excited to see PYP’s promo/teaser, it will have a mix of everything from urban to park to pow, so keep the eyes peeled.
Keep it real,
Chuckles
Dissection! feat. Line Afterbang
So initially I was searching around for a little more info on Line’s new Afterbang when I had trouble finding pictures explaining the basic construction of a ski. Upon failing to find anything, I took the liberty of doing the work myself, and cut up two different skis. Hurrah!
So, to be blunt (and to the best of my knowledge) there are basically two key ways a ski is manufactured:
1. Traditional wood core
2. Monocoque
In the traditional method, it all revolves around the material for the core. Usually wood or foam is used, although some manufacturers like Atomic use rails and channels and what have you, but they all follow the basic idea. The core material is wrapped in fiberglass and glued to the base, a top sheet and graphic is put on top, and polyurethane sidewalls are added to the sides.
Monocoque construction was developed in the late 80s – early 90s by Salomon and Elan. Instead of having a core surrounded by sidewalls and top sheet, Monocoque technology uses a single one-piece cap that covers both the top and sides. Monocoque by definition, is a construction technique that uses an object’s external skin to bear weight as opposed to relying entirely on the center/core. By doing so for skis, a lighter core can be used, thus making the ski weigh less.You can pretty easily point of the difference between traditional and Monocoque skis – just look at the sides. This video is great for showing how Monocoque skis are put together.
[video]
After much searching on the world wide web, I failed to get a decent cross-section shot of both Monocoque and the traditional construction. Then I remembered I had some old garbage skis just jamming in my basement, waiting to be dealt with. The first victim was from a pair of Rossignol 557 Sports; they have the traditional wood core, making them a great candidate.
My dad really wanted these when they first came out
Sidewall construction
I grabbed a jigsaw, and said goodbye to this fine piece of French crafstmanship.
Sorry France
Despite a brand new blade, the ski was rather difficult to cut, particularily on the metal edges. The blade ended up getting so hot it melted a nice trail through the base, but I tidied it up with a knife. Anyways here is what I got.
Finally a good shot
I had fun cutting up the Rossi, but it was time to hack at a Monocoque ski. I had a pair of Salomon 1080′s I was saving to someday be some sort of urban ski, despite one was broken and held together by a bolt. These skis have a core of injected foam, making them much lighter than the Rossignols.
Yes they are painted purple
Away I went again. Like last time, the edges took me forever to cut through. This time however, the foam core made the blade zip through like cake, and I was done in half the time. A neat thing newer skis have is a layer (or two) of aluminum beneath the cap. This is sometimes called a “torsion box” as it affects the flex and responsiveness of the ski, and it also aids in counteracting vibration.
Despite being very thin, the aluminum proves to be highly effective
With that said, I finally have a better understanding of what’s on the inside of those things we call skis. There are plenty of variations out there in terms of construction; my present ski has air injected into the fiberglass fibers to make it lighter. Really necessary? I think not, but some swear by such differences.
Now we know how skis work on the inside right? Wrong! Introducing the Line Afterbang!
Super neato, although the graphics are a bit much
These skis are neither traditional nor Monocoque. The idea was that, like a skateboard, your skis get banged up and thrown around quite a bit. Instead of using fragile materials to create a park ski that is set to recieve decent amounts of abuse, why not make it like a skateboard? And thus, the Afterbang was born. Instead of a vertically laid core (the pattern in which the wood runs), the Afterbang has a horizontally laid seven ply maple core like a skate deck. The construction results in an very customizable flex pattern, allowing the butter zone to be moved just in front of the binding, making it easier to push out your presses and butters. Secondly, and frankly most importantly, the ski’s durability is increased exponentially. The Afterbang was recently featured on the Yes Network.
When this ski does reach the hands of consumers, I will be super duper keen to see how it performs.
That’s all for now kids. I hope you learned something new from all this, as I sure did!
Dad I owe you a new blade...
Payyyyce
-Cam