Monthly Archives: August 2010

Im sitting on the Park City Party Bus. Bode Merrill is “pole dancing” in the middle of the bus while Cale Zima shouts at the top of his lungs to what evers blaring on the system. Chris Grenier is slumped in the corner next to me and my obviously rattled girlfriend is squeezed between us. There are shop kids, filmers, company owners, and a healthy dose of bros in the mix. Beer cans, coolers, and, bottles of booze are flowing from person to person inside. Its 10:45 pm Ive been up since 2:30 am and have to be back up again tomorrow at 2:30 am less than four hours away. I feel like that kid in Almost Famous, except old.

Eight hours earlier….  I’m leaving work at 3 pm. I had hoped to leave at noon. I have just received emails with a contact name on the Absinthe tour that could get me to Justin Hostynek for an interview. I’m stressed because I’m barely prepared for an interview and now I’m running late. There’s a wreck on I-15 and my 20 minute drive home takes an hour. Shit.

Six hours earlier, Im showered, my girl is home, and were ready to head to PC. I have a crumpled piece of paper in my pocket with a few feeble questions scribbled on them. Were both starving and do that “I dunno what do you want” “I dunno I dont wanna choose , you pick” routine but decide on dinner in PC. We get to PC  and its cold and rainy, Im stoked. We get Pizza, Salad and two beers. Its $45 and I tossed the receipt in the trash without thinking. Shit.

Three hours earlier, people are already lining up outside The Egyptian so we get inline. The doors open and we go in. As we go I overhear the ticket guy telling someone they just bought the last tickets for the evening. The ticket guy is my contact but I dont know that. We find a seat and meet Jeff,a Yobeat kid, and his friends. He says hes heard of me but Im not sure if hes telling the truth or being nice.  My girl senses me getting a big head and starts to rag on me in front of the Yobeat kids. They laugh but I win by telling them she pays the bills while I get my shred on all season. Its half true…ok  ok three quarters.

Two hours earlier, Im wondering if I should try to hook up with Cale, who said hed help me meet my contact, or wait until after the showing. The product toss begins and I decide to wait.  The lights go down and the movie starts. Its amazing of course, heres my review.

One hour earlier, the film has ended and theres some more give aways including a special Absinthe/Yes collaboration snowboard.  Everyone starts to leave and I try to get Cales attention but fail. Im not too worried as there is an autograph signing where I know Ill be able to get everything worked out. As we walk out Justin is just to the left of me working on some media equipment. I take the chance and walk over and introduce myself. Hes very soft spoken but seems genuinely interested in answering some questions after the signing.

Less than an hour before, Im hanging out in the lobby taking some pictures of the guys and meeting some people Ive talked to via the interweb. Eventually the lobby empties and its just me, my girl, Cale, Cales parents, Nicolas Muller, Justin, and a few guys who work at the theater. Theres a loud noise outside and a few industry people I recognize are jumping in and out of the front door. I look outside and see the PC PartyBus. Everyone starts to leave and Justin approaches me and says.. “Hop on the bus.” I look at my girl and she looks at me. It’s 10:45 and I have to be at work in less than four hours. I take a breath… Fuck it. We get on.

The party bus rides around PC for a little while. Its pandemonium on board. The reason Im here, Justin Hostynek, isnt participating in the festivities. He stands on the steps of the bus looking out the door into the rainy evening. This is stop 1 of 50 I guess there will be plenty of time to party for him down the road. Eventually the bus comes to a stop. I figure PC is small enough that it wont be a big deal to get back to the car when we decide to leave. My girl points out it will be very easy because the PartyBus has ended its travels across the street from the Egyptian Hotel. Weve gone nowhere. Justin says were going into a bar inside and heads onward. Someone I need to talk to for other reasons pops out of the bus and I get sidetracked. I finish talking turn around and Hostynek is gone. Damn.

We head into the building that houses the bar. My girl starts to get jittery because its so late and things are still somewhat up in the air. I try to calm her down and we walk into the bar.  Justin is nowhere to be seen but I see my Absinthe contact whom I finally met on the bus. Hes Justins assistant on the tour and looks as out of place as we do. I head towards the contact and then see Justin. I decide to just ask him if hed like to exchange emails instead but when I do hes adamant  that we do the interview. We find a place on the patio and my girl heads to the bar. I take out my recorder and start….

I tell him that I had recently purchased Tribal on VHS from a local thrift store. It completed my Hostynek/Armbruster collection. I had noticed that many of Nowheres riders were in that movie also. Freddie, JP, Wolle, Ggi, Nicolas, and Romain are all there. I ask him how hard is it to have a ten year relationship with these guys yet ultimately have to keep it in a business perspective and he replies….

“It is THE hardest thing to do for sure, because we have to keep it progressive and there is definitely a period of time that these guys can be progressive, and you know we communicate with them  throughout the time that they are progressive that you know this is your time, youre shining now and we want to keep that going as long as possible but you know its not going to last forever…”

This is a set up question. I want to ask about the Burton purge and eventual set up of Yes. Its interesting to me because Absinthe has business relations with both sides of that fence but I dont want to come off as if Im trying to stir up drama so soon into the interview. Instead I steer it in a different direction.

I ask him if he feels any validation when someone like Wolle for example is able to receive little to no coverage stateside other than Absinthes  Films yet still hes able to get into the top ten riders of the year list. In fact Absinthe features the talents of three perennial top ten in Gigi, Nicolas, and Wolle. Justin replies…

“Well with the case of Wolle you could just tell. Like just how he skateboards and how he snowboards, like in the first year, in Tribal he didnt have a long section but it was like this guy has crazy potential. Hes got really good style and for us its what we look for is really good style. Its not about how many tricks you can do or how times you can rotate its really about style”

From here pre-planned questions go out the window and the interview gets more organic. The first thing I think of as Justins talking about style is Bode whos the perfect blend of style and progression. I ask him what does he think when he gets someone like Bode who, well who basically falls into his lap and blows up. Justin replies..

“Its amazing. Sometimes that just happens but its also just part of doing what we do for so long. Its like those are the kind of people that are going to be attracted to what we do because they see our commitment level and thats the way they want to be represented because they see how into it we are. Its not just slapping a part together. Its really thought out and we go through great pains to make sure its as good as it can be.”

As Justin talked about the effort of constructing a part I began to think of how Absinthes films really differ from every one elses. Instead of hammer after hammer either in the backcountry or urban Absinthes films always seem to have an ebb and flow to them. Not meaning boring segments mixed with exciting one but just a flow where theres a series of build ups to epic  montages of riders mixed with single parts. I asked Justin about his thoughts on the subject. Was it a conscious effort on his and Patricks  part and he interjected…

“It just happens, a movie like this just makes itself. If you try to plan it out too much youre going to spend so much time trying to swim upstream. You just let things come together and identify when something magical is happening and help it happen. Make sure that it happens that its covered properly and thats its documented properly”

I say that as an editor it has to be a nightmare …

“You know it is, in May you really have no idea what you have but you just submerge yourself in it for a month or more and things start to come out. Like we knew we had the Nicolas and Jake segment when I filmed it so we knew we had that at the end of March. So you have these new situations. I knew Brusty went to Russia with Terje, JP, and Freddie but I had no idea what they got. I saw a tiny fraction of what they shot and  I was like “too bad Russia didnt work out” but then when we  sifted through all the edits that we had from there there was alot of really cool stuff and it turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the movie.  So its easy to like just hit sort of a point of despair in May when we dont know what we have. We have all this footage we have to sift through and now with digi it makes it WAY harder. With 16 you have a finite amount of footage cause when youre rolling 16  its expensive so people roll less of it. But when people are pushing a play button on a digi camera its just ridiculous how much media you end up with and have to sift through. So thats something that I really had to struggle with this year and that was hard but we had the riders come out and we had Shane come out and hes an integral part in breaking it all down and saying “this is good” ” this is the good stuff”. Its good to have him there as someone to bounce ideas off and to have another opinion of like whats standing out to you.”

I see Justins kind of getting into talking about the process now so I ask him about Jake ( Blauvelt) who had a real standout part in Nowhere. I asked him about Jakes seemingly effortless integration into the crew and how that helped progress the film.  I was somewhat surprised at Justins answer…

‘Weve been wanting to work with Jake for the last three years and hes expressed that interest and weve expressed that interest but Forum really had him locked in with their film and he really didnt have the freedom to do what he wanted to do and I think thats was a big part of why he decided to move on. So he could do what he wanted to with his riding . So he could go ride with Gigi , Nicolas, and Wolle. He told me at the beginning of the year thats what he really wanted to do was ride with those guys  so I made sure that happened. Knowing his riding style was going to mesh perfect with their riding style because he looks up to those guys and the camaraderie that they have.”

I comment that this freedom that Absinthe gives the riders is what ultimately helps define and sculpt their movies and Justin continues…

“You give the riders the freedom and you give the movie freedom. Its almost like the movie is a being of itself. You just give it the freedom to grow and become what its going to become. The ingredients are the riders and the filmers and with some luck you have good conditions and you just let the film become. You cant script it. I mean like the humor that comes out like Cales part this year or in Mikeys part in Optimistic or MFM in Optimistic you cant script it. You just document what these guys are doing and sometimes they do really funny shit and then youve documented it…”

At this point my interview recording is over powered by someone yelling Happy Birthday. I look over and see Cale some others and my girl. Shes screaming that its her 21st birthday. Shes actually 32 but Cale tells her not to say that or no one would buy her drinks. I remember its a young guys sport… Im 38… damn. I remember  talking about some of the insane lines that Nicolas, Gigi, and Jeremy do and does he ever wonder how they are going to get down but replies are muffled by Cale and everyone else. Justin says that they take the safety seriously and that the guys are professionals. He says the one time they took extra measures was when filming Chads gap for Pop. Adding lift pole padding to tree trunks and other measures.

We wind down the interview speaking about POW and how Absinthes Sphere of Influence tour is carbon neutral. Justin elaborates…..

“Were working with Native Energy.  Its a company that hires Native Americans to build wind power turbines. We take proceeds from our ticket sales, one dollar from every ticket sold on the tour, no sorry thats POW. We give alot of money to alot of people (laughs). We give 1 dollar from every ticket to POW, and 1 dollar from every ticket to a local non profit to keep something local more rootsy. Then we work with Native Energy to figure out how much carbon was used on the tour and we give them a certain amount of money to build these wind turbines which helps offset the carbon footprint that we make. If everyone were just to do SOMETHING wed be in a whole different place.”

And with that we ended the interview. It was almost midnight as me and my girl headed to the car for the drive home to SLC.  We didnt attend the SLC  premiere the next night because it really was her birthday.

I went to work with 90 minutes of sleep and came home the next day feeling much like what Justin must feel like in May. With a jumble of hazy memories and recordings I sat down and this is what I came up with. It was there the whole time I just had to let it flow out.

Sold out ...

Justin holding the Absinthe/Yes collab board

Bode and Jeff from Milosport

Cale has puppy eyes for Grenier

Cale and Justin Hostynek

Grendy and Bode talking about hammers

Cale and Nico Muller

Party Bus insanity

This was Tweeted a few weeks ago by someone I follow….

Now Ive talked about this before but its definitely worth repeating. Mostly because its getting into the late part of summer and there are those of you out there that are wanting to move west to a snow town. A very small amount of you actually will but most of you will put it off until next year ( just like you did last year). Its a scary thing to pick up and move across the country to a new place but not as scary as you think.  It is also much easier than you think.  Theres many things I could post or link to try and persuade you to finally make that move but nothing beats a first hand account. The following are the adventures and advice from four people each with a different version of the same dream. Two you are most likely familiar with, the third is my own account and the fourth is someone thats making the move from Indiana (via Tennessee) to Utah at this very moment to chase his own snow dreams. All three were kind enough to answer the same questions about moving to chase dreams of living the snow life and to help give you insight as to how  the experience worked for them. As you will see although all four of us have the same dreams none of us have traveled the same path yet when its all said and done here we all are living that dream. Answering the questions are myself, a snowboardingforum.com and Twitter friend SnowVols, The Angrysnowboarder, and Shayboarder.

How long did you consider making a move to a new place purely for snowboarding before you actually did it?

Burritos… I didnt plan too long. Most of my closest friends started getting the hell out of Alabama and I knew it was a now or never thing for me too. In less than a year I was able to save enough to move to Utah and get a place.

SnowVols… I first went to Colorado in January of 2008, so not too long but moving to the Western US is the only place I could see myself living.

Angrysnowboarder… Funny thing it took me 3 tries to get away from New York. The first was right after I graduated high school I was saving money and shredding at the local hill when I eviscerated my spleen. That took a few years to recover from then I tried again but made it as far as Las Vegas where I encountered the wonderful world of booze, boobs, and gambling for a few months then returned home. The third time was a charm. All in all I started considering moving west when I was about 16ish and realized that Western NY just didn’t have enough to keep me satisfied. A few hiccups in the road but I’ve been outwest now for the majority of this century and have no ambition of ever moving back.

Shayboarder… I grew up in Washington state and have always loved the northwest living.  It’s my home grounds and the snowboarding scene there is so laid back and they just kill it on the mountain.  As much as I loved it, I was ready to try someplace new.  I wanted to live in another location to experience it.  I knew that I could always come back to Washington if things didn’t work out so that was good to keep in the back of my mind.  Colorado was high on the list, the snowfall and sunny days seemed the opposite of the northwest plus they have a longer season with A-Basin nearby.  I made the decision to visit Steamboat Springs for a couple days to test it out and I knew once I was there that I’d be moving there.  A month later everything was packed and I made the move.

Many times those that are considering making a move for riding have to weigh how much there is to leave behind. How much did you leave behind as far as career (if any) at the time, family, and material possessions?

Burritos… Although I have a college degree Im not really too into using it (yet) and the same was true when I was getting ready to move to SLC. I had a good job but nothing that  couldnt be equaled here in SLC with a little looking.  I come from a very small family and only my mom and grandmother lived in Alabama everyone else is spread from Florida to Ohio and Texas. As far as material possessions were concerned I packed up a Ryder truck and took everything I owned with me.

SnowVols… At the beginning of March of this year, I started a new job in Indiana.  I had just become situated in my new job when this opportunity arose so I dropped that job and took another job right out of Salt Lake City in order to live in the mountains.  When I left for Indiana I was already away from my friends and family back home in Tennessee so it really did not affect me in my decision making.

Angrysnowboard… Most material possessions are easily replaced so I didn’t care about that stuff all that much. Plus I had my gear with me which is all I needed since I moved to shred. Toughest part about moving was leaving my dog at my parents to have them watch him. Poor guy didn’t know what to do right away. Luckily for me my parents were going to Montana a few months after I moved so I was able to have them drive him out to me. That dog has been a champ with moving all over and visiting both coasts.  When it came to my family there were things that made it easy and hard at the same time. My brother had just opened his bar a year or two before I moved so he was dealing with that and I had been helping out when I could. I was living with my grandmother who had just down sized in houses after my grandfather had died, so she lost my company and having someone to take care of. Then of course there were my parents who haven’t always seen eye to eye with my lifes decisions. I know they were a bit scared of me just taking the plunge and doing it.

Shayboarder… The timing worked out perfectly for making a new start.  I had completed my college degree the season before and was ready to try something new.  I knew that I would be leaving friends and family but I also wanted to live in a new location and try it.  Everything I owned fit into my truck and uhaul for the move out to Colorado.

Did you have any support network in place at your desired destination, friends, family, a waiting job?

Burritos… When I moved out here my Dad lived here but other than that I didnt know anyone. I came out here found a job, flew back to Alabama loaded the truck and drove out here. ProTip .. if you get a job first and then move your moving expenses can be tax deductible.

SnowVols… The only thing I have waiting for me in Utah is a job.  I figure I can get the rest once I am situated.

Angrysnowboarder… I had some rough connections set up in Tahoe for housing, a girl in Washington, and it was mud season so not exactly ideal to find a job. All in all I definitely pulled all the rookie mistakes on that one and if it hadn’t been for the girl I would have been fucked so hard. She definitely bailed my ass out when the shit hit the fan down in Tahoe and helped me even more when I made it up to Washington.

Shayboarder… I moved out to Colorado with Steamboat Springs in mind because it was the one resort town in Colorado where I knew someone even though I barely knew the person.  Within a week I found a place to live and left couch surfing at that person’s house and within a month I had a job lined up working year round for the ski resort.  Eventually I made my own friends in town but I had the support of friends and family for trying out Colorado. The first couple months were tough because I moved out with an ex and we broke up soon after moving to Colorado.  But as a result instead of counting on someone to be there, I had to find and reach out to make new friends.  Most of those friends are friends today.

Looking back was the whole process easier or harder than you anticipated? What has been your highest and lowest point through it all?

Burritos… Looking back it really was easy. I saved up a bit of money, came out, found a job, went back and grabbed my stuff. Once I was out here and stable I found a better job and nicer spot to live. I believe in general many people over think things and making a move like this is no exception.  There hasnt been any specific low so far  its all been great but I guess if there is one regret its not doing it sooner. I had the opportunity to move out here in the late 80′s when modern snowboarding was just taking shape and sometimes I wonder what if I had taken that opportunity. The high point is easy, its every deep pow day when Im strapping in and the resort is empty because every one else has been suckered into some sort of lame corporate career job. Having more days riding before the new year than most get all season is a good feeling.

SnowVols… So far it has been easy enough.  The hardest part was getting the interview.  I had applied to countless amount of jobs in Colorado and Utah with no response.  I started to believe I was just going to have to save up enough money to make the move and wait tables until I found a different job but I was lucky this place interviewed me.  I am still really early into my adventure, but the drive across the US from Tennessee to Utah has been good.  It is always enjoyable to see the country.  The lowest part would still be the drive because sitting for 12-16 hours in a car with no A/C is miserable in the heat of the day.

Angrysnowboard… There were definitely aspects that were easy and ones that were way harder than I anticipated. I made the decision to move on a whim and that was easy, but getting out west and staying was the hard part. Now I look at where I’m at with things and I’m happy I did it and encourage others to follow suit. There’s definite stand outs in the low points that I’m not proud of. Having to leave my dog behind twice and ultimately give him up was probably one of the bigger ones although he is doing great now living with my 91 year old grandmother. There’s other things that have sucked that I’m just now able to step up and be big enough to apologize for with certain people and I’ll leave it at that, they know who they are and how bad I feel about the shit that transpired. So once again I’ll just say I’m sorry to those people for all the grief and bull shit I caused. As far as a high point I’d say being able to continue living the life I’m living and not cashing in and moving back east for mediocrity has been huge. Getting to shred 100 plus days a year, product testing with various brands, and just knowing that people pay thousands of dollars to experience for a week what I experience all winter long.

Shayboarder… It was the best decision I’ve made, moving to Colorado changed my life.  For the last four years I’ve lived in a resort town where everyone loves and lives for the snow, I’ve made countless friends and the experiences have been worth the move.  The process was tough but it felt right, timing was right.  Probably the lowest point is realizing that I’d have to wrack up some credit card debt to help with the cost of moving but it’s worth the price.  The highest point has been how much it’s paid off and the powder days during some epic snowfall years were worth every low point I’ve encountered.

Finally what advice or tips would you give to anyone who just cant get over that mental hump and pull the trigger and make the move?

Burritos… I think too many people out there get hung up on their job as a major deterrent for moving. In my mind if youd leave your current job for another job in town why not leave it for one in another town? If you think you are irreplaceable you are most likely wrong. Hell theres protocol in place to swear in the VP minutes after the death of a President, dont think youre so special that supermegagiantcorp cant replace you. If you have that desire to go enjoy the snow life you really should go, regret is a terrible thing. Hell even if I were destitute in SLC and snowboarding I still would think it better than comfortable in Alabama bored as hell wondering what if. They say money cant buy happiness and I for sure believe thats true. I know a few folks that are very well off with careers, nice cars, and big homes but theyve all confided in me at some point that they think Im the lucky one for getting to “play” so much. Life is about living, enjoying and having fun not about business meetings, progress reports, or mission statements.Dont be worried about what others think or if you will disappoint your parents or whoever. As a parent myself I can tell you the biggest wish I have for my children is that they live a life that makes them happy and fulfilled. If thats working nights waiting tables so they can ride all day then so be it. If its working 70 hours a week in the stock market so they have a big stucco house then thats fine too as long as they are truly fulfilled.

SnowVols… They should do what is best for them.  If they see themselves moving to the mountains then they should do it, while it might take them some time to save up in order to move since moving is expensive.  I knew if I didn’t move I would regret it the rest of my life and who wants to live with a life full of regret?  If you are wanting a professional type job, don’t be too proud to flip burgers or wait tables until a different job opens up because either way you are living where you want to be.  Always live your life to the fullest since you only get one.

Angrysnowboard… Alright if you’re serious about moving then just shit and get off the pot. Too many people sit around and say next year I’ll move when I have the finances, or when I have this, or when I have that. Fuck it, you spend the first 18 years of your life a slave to school and doing what’s expected of you. After that you use the bull shit that’s force fed to you to apply to an expensive college that puts you in debt and gives you a piece of paper that says you’re educated. Then you spend the next 25 years trying to pay off that debt all while getting married and raising a family. Break the fucking shackles of conformity people and realize that you have 1 life to live and retiring to the mountains is lame you won’t ride like you’re 20 years old when you’re 60 and that’s a fact, well unless you’re Todd Richards but he drinks the blood of virgins. Your life is what you make of it and in the end would you rather say I shredded my face off in my teens and twenties, then did the adult thing or would you rather take the expected route and say I’m 65 years old and own a condo in the mountains and have to pinch pennies to be here so I can live the dream I had 40 years ago?

Shayboarder… Life is a journey of experiences, I knew that Colorado could be a mistake or it could be the best thing that ever happened to me.  Thank god it was the latter of the two.  Have fun, enjoy life and try new things.  Experience the world and meet new people.  Moving to a place where people pay to vacation too when you can live there is amazing.  Do it before you have things holding you back and you wish you had tried it.

There you have it, four different accounts all with happy endings. So I guess balls in your court now … just go.

You should already know about Shayboarder and Angrysnowboards sites. Obviously you know about this one because youre here. If you Twitter follow Snowvols and see how his first season in the real mountains pans out.