Downloaded

"Downloaded" is the 2008 video for Stepchild snowboards. "Downloaded" is the sequel to last year's video titled "Child Support." What is best about "Downloaded" is that it is available for free download, which is kind of a bummer at the same time because I like to have a hard copy to pop in the DVD player. The video is short, approximately 12 minutes in length. Stepchild media is one of the best snowboard teams in the business today. Since the last video that Stepchild put out they have added "the don" of snowboarding, JP Walker. I think a lot of the people are curious to see what JP is going to bring to the table. The full line-up of riders consists of Simon Chamberlain, Joe Sexton, Stian Solberg, Markku Koski, Scotty Vine, Chris Wimbles, Fredu Sirvio, Risto Ruokola, E-Man and Brian McClatchy. In my opinion I thought the O.G.'s like Simon and JP held it down. Also young shreds like Joe and Scotty had epic parts. I thought that editing met the norm for Stepchild media, and the riding was just incredible. In conclusion, I would recommend you go out take 15 minutes to download this video and watch it, you will be impressed. I would rate this video 4.75 snowboards out of 5. To download the video check out Stepchild's Media Page.

It's Always Snowing Somewhere

Today I downloaded from iTunes the new Burton snowboard video titled, "It's Always Snowing Somewhere." Burton snowboards is the biggest snowboard company in the world and arguably sponsor all of the best riders in the world (men, women, groms). In this year's video they travel the world in search of the best powder, half-pipes, big mountain lines, park runs and urban features. The riders in the video are Burton heavy hitters such as Shaun White, Terje Haakonsen, Gigi Ruf, JP Solberg, Heikki Sorsa, Nicolas Muller, Tadashi Fuse, Freddy Kalbernatten, Jeremy Jones, Jussi Oksanen, DCP, Mads Jonsson, Trevor Andrew, Keegan Valaika, Kevin Pearce, Danny Davis, Kazuhiro Kokubo, Mikkel Bang and Mike Rencz. This is arguably Burton snowboard's best video yet. Some of my favorite parts were the tree section with Keegan and Jeremey, and also the Northstar village handrail session. It's the first time anyone has attempted these rails and they were set up by the mountain for them to session. Also, I thought the music and editing flowed really well. I think this movie is one of the top five for this year. In conclusion, I would recommend this movie to all snowboarders, and would rate it 4.5 snowboards out of 5. 

Shots N' Goggles

"Shot N' Goggles" is the debut video for Dinobots. Dinobots is an up and coming film crew out of Salt Lake City, UT. The video has no sponsors and was basically produced by a bunch of friends who have wanted to make a video for a few years. Most of the kids are in school so it can be tough to get people together to get shots for a legit video. Lucky for the Dinobot crew they are based out of Salt Lake City where they get plenty of snow so they have plenty of opportunities to film. The riders featured in the video are Clif Reagle, Noah Lohr, Sean Kelly, Brandon Hammid, Chris Brewster, Matt Wild, Travis Anderson, Cole Taylor, Nick Catmur, Jason Heckle and friends. In my opinion these amateur videos are some of my favorites to watch. Usually the footage and tricks are raw which I enjoy. Amateur snowboarding videos without sponsors are about passion. Overall the production of the video wasn't that great and neither where the shots but overall I thought it was pretty good and maybe this year they will put out another video thats bigger and better with sponsors. You can download the video for free at dinosnow.com. I would rate this video 3.5 snowboards out of 5. 

These Days: Director's Cut

Recently on iTunes I purchased a video titled "These Days." "These Days" was produced by Transworld Snowboarding, which is the biggest snowboard magazine in the world. This is the first video that Transworld Snowboarding ever produced. The version of "These Days" that I saw was the director's cut. It is basically a remix of the real movie with some additional footage and director narration. I thought the director's cut was done really well and was very intriguing. They go into talking about why they made the video, how some of the shots came about, and some behind the scenes footage the you wouldn't see in the other version. "These Days" features the newest upcoming riders throwing down all terrain. In the video they absolutely destroy street rails and backcountry booters. The riders featured in the video are Chad Otterstrom, Dustin Craven, Jonas Michilot, Jonas Carlson, Lucas Debari, Louif Paradis, Nick Dirks, Robbie Walker, Tim Eddy and Jed Anderson. In my opinion I thought Jed Anderson had the best part in the director's cut. Jed is a young ripper out of Canada who throws down crazy tricks. His style is unreal. In my opinion I thought the director's cut was put together really well and made me really want to see the real version. In conclusion, I would rate this movie 4.5 snowboards out of 5. 

All Day Every Day

"All Day Every Day" is this year's video from Sandbox productions. Sandbox productions is a film crew out of Canada that is out there to produce movies for everyone to enjoy. This year the Sandbox crew stepped their production up to HD. The last Sandbox video that I saw came out 2 years ago and was titled "Flavor Country" and was filmed entirely in 16 mm. "Flavor Country" was one of the better movies to come out that year. "All Day Every Day" is also one of the better movies that I've seen this year. The movie was shot on location at Whistler/Blackcomb, the BC interior, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Spain. "All Day Every Day" features the riding of Ryan Tiene, Etienne Gilbert, Nash Lejeunsse, Andrew Hardingham, Geoff Brown, Kevin Sansalone, Andrew Geeves, Brendan Keenan, Rube Goldberg, Rusty Ockenden, Ryan Hall, Max Ritchie, Logan Short, Andrew Burns, Jody Wachniak, Dwayne Wiebe, Mikey Pederson, Jake Kuzyk, Kevin Griffin and Steve Cartwright. In my opinion I thought Steve Cartwright had the best part in the video. Some things I liked about the video was the creative filming and editing they used, not to mention it was all filmed in HD. The level of riding was also very good. I thought the music flowed well for all of the parts. In conclsuion, I would recommend checking out "All Day Every Day." I would rate this movie 4.75 snowboards out of 5. 

Forum Or Against 'Em

"Forum Or Against 'Em" is this year's Forum snowboards team video. This is the first full-length movie they've done since 2006 because last year the team underwent a facelift and were only able to produce a not-for-sale download only video.  Forum snowboards is one of the biggest companys in the entire snowboard industry, so they have a big budget to put together a really good video. Last year's video was titled, "First Chair, Last Call" and was very good to say the least. The lineup of riders for "Forum Or Against 'Em" features Nic Sauve, Travis Kennedy, Eddie Wall, Joni Malmi, John Jackson, Jake Welch, Stevie Bell, Peter Line, Jake Blauvelt, and Plymouth local Pat Moore. The team traveled the world in search of the best snow and the best spots to session. After watching the video I thought it was pretty stock. In my opinion I didn't think the filming was bad, nor did i think it was good. I just thought a lot of the shots were very basic and bland. By saying that I am not down talking the riding at all. The riding in the movie is incredible and I thought the music selection was very good as well. One thing I didn't like was Travis Kennedy's gangster act that he puts on. He is in no way, shape, or form a gangster at all. Some stuff he does and says is funny, but the majority of it is a bit played out and overboard. I think he should just ride and not act. In the end I thought the movie was pretty good, and would rate it 4 snowboards out of 5. 

Down With People

Recently I came across a copy of this year's Mack Dog Productions presents "Down With People."Mack Dog Productions is probably the biggest and highest-budgeted film crew today. Everything they film is in HD and they travel the world on what seems like a bottomless budget. "Down With People" is Mack Dog's new movie featuring the People crew. The People crew is their second of two film crews. The other of which produced a movie for this year titled, "Double Decade." The People crew consists of riders such as: Austin Smith, Bryan Fox, Curtis Ciszek, Filippo Kratter, Joe Sexton, Jon Kooley, Jordan Mendenhall, Josh Mills, Louie Fountain, Pat McCarthy, Ryan Thompson, Simon Chamberlin, Shaun McKay, Stephen Duke, and Zac Marben. In my opinion I thought Louie Fountain had the best part in the whole video. I thought the movie flowed really well, and was put together really well. The music featured in the video is perfect for the style of riding that goes on. A lot of the music is classic rock or rock songs. The movie features a lot of incredible shots and tricks on street rails and urban features. Also, the movie had a lot of pole-jams in it. A pole-jam is a usually a metal rod or pipe sticking out of the ground at a 45 degree so you can carry speed into and slide up it and jump off. The movie also didn't lack any back country hammers. In my opinion I feel like "Down With People" is one of the top 5 videos to drop this year and I would definitely pick up a copy of it. I would rate this movie 4.75 snowboards out of 5.

Pony Tale

"Pony Tale," is the first movie produced by Actionhorse Films. Actionhorse films is a Europe based snowboard movie production company that travels the world with some of the best riders to film highly-technical HD movies. The Actionhorse crew is reviving the method of documenting fun in a snowboard video. This movie features some of the most progressive riding to date. The movie features the riding of Hampus Mosesson, Jakob Wilhelmson, Knut Eliassen, Stian Solberg, Halldor Helgason, Markku Koski, Pat Moore, Gulli Gudmundsson, Fredu Sirvio, Kareem El Rafie and Mikkel Bang. The movie was divided up by date and location. Each section of the movie features a location that they were at for a specified length of time. They shred everything from street rails in Europe to backcountry kickers in Utah, and back to Europe for summer shredding. Lastly, I think one of the best things about this movie is that it is free to download. I would recommend that everyone who snowboards check this movie out. This is one the best movies this year and you can see it free of charge. I would rate it 4.5 snowboards out of 5. To watch the full video go to Actionhorsefilms.com. 

A Living Landscape

"A Living Landscape" is the first full-length movie by Happy Tree Films. This is an amateur  movie filmed entirely on the East Coast in the Northeast. The producer of the movie, James Thomas, is a New England local and a student here at Plymouth State University. Happy Tree Films is a PSU based snowboarding crew.  The video features riding by: Jack Karn, Marc Olivieri, Eugene Stancato, James Thomas, Cole Martin, Henry Padden, Charlie Benasich and friends. The quality of filming in this movie is extremely high and it is put together really well. I feel that music flows very well throughout the entire video. It is obvious that the filmers and riders worked closely in getting the best shots possible and producing the best movie they could with what they had. The movie was produced on the budget of broke college kids, and they had no major sponsors, but hopefully that will change for this year. In conclusion, I was very impressed with this movie and thought it was just as good as some of the legit videos that came out this year. I would rate this movie 4.5 snowboards out of a possible 5, and would recommend that everyone check it out. VIEW FULL VIDEO HERE.

Open Season 1

This past weekend Loon Mountain hosted their second snowboard contest of the year. The contest was the first of a three contest series called, "Open Season." This contest was held on the same setup as "Thanksjibbing," featuring a snake run that starts with a drop-in into a wall-ride, into the options of the "lift-tower" jib or a 20' by 3" in round single barrel down-rail, and then you hit the "dog-house" wall-ride. The contest got underway at high-noon on December 6th. Right from the get go the top riders immediately stuck out. The conditions were cold and everything was firm. As the first round went on we saw a variety of tricks. Advancing into the finals were riders like Brendon Rego, Mike Ravelson, Travis Nuehenhouse, Tanner McCarty, and Chris Ferdette. After the take-offs were reworked and the landings chopped-up the finals got underway. During the finals we saw some truly impressive riding. As finals concluded the judges got together to determine the top 3 riders. Taking home 3rd place and 1 point overall was Travis Neuhenhouse. Travis stuck some impressive tricks like a backside 360 backside on 360 off on the "lift tower" jib. Coming in second place, earning 2 points overall and a case of Red Bull, was Mike Ravelson. Mike stuck some very difficult tricks, such as a switch backside 180 on to 360 out on the down-rail. Taking home first place and winning a new Flow snowboard  and earning 3 points overall was Brendon Rego. He did nearly every backside 180 combination you could do on the "lift tower" jib. He definitely earned first place. To check out some of my footage from the contest check out my youtube page: repptheeast. 

The Event Formerly Known As...

"The Event Formerly Known As..." is this year's rendition of Loon Mountain's annual Thanksjibbing contest. Thanksjibbing is Loon Mountain's first event every season. It's called Thanksjibbing because the contest is held every year on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. The Thanksjibbing contest typically follows a rail jam format with 2-3 features to session. This year's contest contest featured two new features, a Red Bull wall-ride, and a recently refurbished doghouse box. The new features consist of a 30' Lift Tower jib, and a new 3" round by 20' long single barrel down rail. The contest was DJ'd by Plymouth State's own DJ Scrumpscious a.k.a. Avert Guldemond. The contest got under way and some serious thrashing went down. The top 3 stood out among the rest of the competition. Taking home first place was Wes Walsh. Some tricks he stuck were Cab 270 to regular, front-blunt 450, and front-blunt switch-up 270 out. Taking home second was Chris Fredette. His second place tricks consisted of front-blunt to switch 50-50 cab 360 out and backlip to switch to half-cab out. Taking home third place was Ian Hart. Ian stuck frontboard to 50-50 to frontside 360 out and switch 50-50 to 180 switch-up to backside 360 out. Overall the contest went extremely well and contest footage can be seen on reelcomp.com. 

FUN: A Parkumentary

Recently I picked up my copy of Loon Mountain's first terrain park video titled, "FUN: A Parkumentary." FUN is a promotional DVD that features the riding of Tanner McCarty, Rob Conners, Chris Carr, Luke Mathison, Andre Beriau, Kevin Bicknell and some other local riders. The movie was filmed entirely at Loon Mountain. The intention for the movie was to be a good way to show everyone what the Loon Mountain Park (LMP) has to offer. Last year, Loon Mountain's Park Staff really stepped it up and was voted, "Best Park on the East" by every major snowboard publication. Loon Mountain features 5 terrain park ranging in ability level, with scattered "secret parks" all over. The movie itself was fairly short, and I didn't think it was put together all that well. One thing I really didn't like was the intro. The intro was about 6 to 10 clips shot on I-93 from Boston, MA to Lincoln, NH. It appeared to be somewhat amature. Also, I thought there should have been more footage of local shreds, and more shots on the numerous setups that Loon had last year. In my opinion I didn't think the video represented "The Best Park on the East"well at all. I thought it looked pretty cheap and half-hearted. In conclusion, I would definitely check out the video, but don't expect too much. I would give this video 2.5 snowboards out of a possible 5.

That's It, That's All

Recently I watched the most highly anticipated snowboard film ever. The film is a Brain Farm Production titled, "That's It, That's All." The movie is sponsored by Quicksilver and Red Bull, and features the riding of Travis Rice, Mark Landvik, Nicolas Muller, Terje Haakonsen, Jeremy Jones, Scotty Lago, John Jackson, Danny Kass and Pat Moore. The movie was filmed over two seasons, which is longer than standard one winter snowboard film. They filmed this movie year round for two years by traveling the globe for the most incredible conditions and scenery. In filming this movie they traveled to New Zealand, Germany, Japan, Canada, and all over the United States. In this movie they did not slide one rail or session any street spots. They filmed in some parks, but mostly just helicopter accessed terrain. At all times in this movie they were flying around and filming with two helicopters. They even went as far doing follow cams of one helicopter with another helicopter. This movie was filmed entirely in HD and will also be release on Blu-Ray. After seeing the movie, one would say it appeared that the camera crew from Discovery-HD's Planet Earth went out and filmed this movie. They have unreal shots of nature and landscape. One thing that is extremely impressive is that the about 90% of all the snowboard shots are of just Travis Rice. He legitimately does every aerial maneuver you could possibly do on a snowboard, and then some. He lands a triple corked spin and rodeo-taps a 50 foot tall tree. I would recommend this movie to everyone. All aspects of the movie are incredible. It is the best snowboard film ever, and I don't think anything will ever compare. In rating this movie, I would give it 5 snowboards out of 5, and then some. 

Familia

Today I watched the Technine team video titled, "Familia." Familia is filmed and edited by Cole Taylor and Jeremy Miller for Finger On Da Trigger(FODT) Productions. Technine, the brand, manufactures snowboards, snowboard bindings and outerwear. The Technine brand takes an urban/hip-hop approach to snowboarding. The outerwear and snowboard designs reflect an urban/hip-hop style. The video features riding by: Jonah Owen, Lucas Magoon, Kyle Cartwright, Dylan Thompson, Dave Munoa, Tommi Ylianttila, Chris Bradshaw, Eric Messier, Jake Devine and Derek Dennison. The filming in this movie is incredible. Everything is filmed in HD with multiple angles and lenses. This movie features a great deal of "rolling dolly shots." Rolling dolly shots are shots captured by a camera resting on a tripod that is fitted on a track to move smoothly to the left or right. This extra motion adds a great deal of flavor to what would normally be a generic shot. In years past, these FODT videos have featured primarily hip-hop and some reggae beats. This year the movie features a variety of music: some classic rock(ELO), some radio-rap(The Game), some hip-hop(Snoop) and even some Barry White. In comparison to years past, I didn't think this movie flowed all that well, and the transitions from part to part were very basic for such a high-budget movie. Also, some parts were extremely short consisting of only a few shots. Another thing I didn't like was the fact that all but a handful of shots had no audio at all. In snowboard videos the audio is often essential. In conclusion, I would say the FODT crew definitely stepped up their filming and editing game, but they need to get back to true hip-hop beats and hammers like years past. I would rate this movie 3.5 snowboards out of 5.

I Ride Park City

Another high profile snowboard video that I recently saw was Park City Mountain Resort's team video titled, "I Ride Park City." This is the sequel to a video released two seasons ago by Park City titled, "City Park City." All of the riding done in this movie is at the Park City resort. There are both inbound park shots and out-of-bound back country shots. This video also features the world's longest terrain park cable cam ever. For the filming of this video they ran a cable cam from the top to the bottom of their park. The cam stretches over a massive 4 jump line, and a variety of 3 rails. This allows the camera crew to get super steady, uncut shots of an entire run through the park. The music in the video consisted of 90's pop, euro-techno, and some rock. The movie features the Park City all-stars: Shawn White, Marc Frank Montoya, Torstein Horgmo, Scotty Arnold, Aaron Bittner, Stevie Bell, Drew Fuller, Erin Comstock, Torah Bright and a few others. I would argue that Torstein Horgmo's part in this video will be the best part of the entire year. I would rate this movie 5 snowboards out of 5 because I don't think it gets any better.

The Eastern Boarder Movie

Anyone who follows snowboarding knows that every major movie filmed from the previous year is released in the fall. Recently released was the Eastern Boarder snowboard team's first video. It was titled, "The Eastern Boarder Movie." Eastern Boarder is a snowboard, skateboard, and bike shop with 5 locations in the Northeast with the original being in Massachusetts. To anyone who doesn't know, Eastern Boarder typically sponsors the majority of the pro snowboarders that come from the East Coast. Anyway, the video features the riding of Chris Carr, Teddy Lavoie, Shane Fortier, Tanner Pendleton, Colleen Quigley, Brandon Reis, Sam Hulbert, Big Mike Gonsalves, and more. A few of the team members are recent alumni of our very own Plymouth State University. The alumni are Chris Carr, Ted Lavoie and Big Mike, all of which have their degrees and are now pursuing a career as professional snowboarders. The movie is filmed all over the U.S. by team member Tanner Pendleton and Matt Roberge. The sponsors of the movie are Forum Snowboards, K2 Snowboarding, Oakley, Red Bull, Ride Snowboards, Waterville Valley and Snowboarder Magazine. In my opinion, I think this movie is one of the best to come out this year and I would rate the movie 4.5 snowboards out of 5.

Halloween

This past Friday a group of us traveled to Bethel, ME to get some early season shredding in at Sunday River. Their orignial opening was supposed to be November 7th, but with it being cold enough to blow snow they were able to open one trail for the die-hard skiier and rider. With it being Halloween and all they were giving free lift tickets to anyone dressed in a costume. Everything from a Mexican bandito to giant bottle of Guinness could be seen carving down the hill. They had one lift and one trail with 3 terrain park features. The 3 features consisted of a 20' down box, a C-rail, and a rainbow rail, all of which were slayed. It was sunny and nearly 60 degrees, one couldn't ask for a better opening day. Footage of opening day can be seen on reelcomp.com.

Guns Out

Today I watched the first full length feature by Variety Pack Productions. The movie is titled, "Guns Out," and features riders such as: Ben Hanisch, Sean Black, Alex Andrews, Trevor Rhoda, Spencer Davis, Drew Fuller, Cameron Pierce, David Kunz, Jonah Owen, JP Tomich, Matt Piasecki, Max Honegger, Alex Sherman, Zane Miller, and friends. The movie is filmed and edited by Tyler McLeod and Eddie Grams, and is filmed primarily in the western United States. This video is a blend of pros and ams that features some of the most technical rail maneuvers, and some serious hammers in the back country. The filming and editing flow perfectly with variety of music they choose to use. In my opinion, I think this is going to be one the most well put together movies to drop this year. I would highly recommend going out and getting you copy of "Guns Out." I would give this movie 4.5 snowboards out of 5. 

No Correct Way

Today I watched the highly anticipated snowboard movie called, "No Correct Way," presented by Rome Snowboards. The movie is a Kids on Shred Production, that features riders such as: Bjorn Leines, Marie France Roy, LNP, Eiki Helgason, Marius Otterstad, Yan Dofin, Max Legend, Jesse Fox, Greg Bokenkamp, John Foy, Casey Neefus and the Am Army. This is the second full length-feature film that Kids on Shred Productions has done. It is the sequel to last years, "Any Means." The Rome snowboard team travels around the world to bring you snowboard progression as seen by the riders themselves. In my opinion, I thought the movie was a bit long. Also, I thought the selection of music could have been a bit better. The movie features a lot of punk and classic rock tracks. In comparison to last years movie, I though the filming and editing was much better. In conclusion, I would definitely sit down and take the time to watch the movie. The movie has a big bag of tricks that will keep your attention throughout. I would give this movie 3.5 out of 5 snowboards.

My First Post

My blog will consist of little snippets of info that I find interesting about snowboarding and skateboarding.