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In February 2007 the Analog snowboard team shot Trouble In Japan as part of their Moving Picture Project. Genially hosted by 18 year old Danny Davis, it documents what the life of a pro snowboarder is really like as the riders compete in Japan's Toyota Big Air and the Nippon Open.
Not only does it include footage from both comps but there's also lots of behind the scenes footage, night and day riding on the slopes of Rusutsu and Furano resorts, and we get to gig with veteran rider Trevor Andrew's band.
It also features a couple of my favourite snowboarders Heikki Sorsa and JP Solberg, as well as Danny, Trevor, Mikkel Bang and Kevin Pearce.
Besides all the wall-rides, car tows and general larking around, there's an excellent soundtrack from Kudu (awesome bass line on their tune), Stiffed and Trevor Andrew aka Trouble.
Not only is this a free movie but its makers positively encourage authorised distribution so BitTorrent it now or visit the offical Analog clothing site and watch it in their video section where there's an iPod friendly version available.
Method.tv to webcast the Burton US Open competition LIVE over the Easter Weekend!
Better than an Easter Egg, Method European snowboard magazine will be webcasting the final of the US Open LIVE from Stratton Vermont.
It all kicks off at 4pm (Central European Time) on Good Friday, March 21st and continues Saturday. So that's about 3pm in the UK by my reckoning. On the other hand I suppose you could always watch Countdown.
Absinthe Films have sent me a teaser video of their Flipside series which takes you behind the scenes of last season's movie Optimistic?
Episodes are now available on iTunes.
Exciting news - Bjorn Leines joins the Absinthe Films rider roster. And Absinthe branch out with a new music label.
Absinthe Films have announced that the title of their movie for next season will be 'Ready' and will include some new additions to their rider line-up - most notably the mighty Bjorn Leines!
I can now finally get over Travis Rice not appearing in last year's movie Optimistic?
Other 'newbies' to the Absinthe roster this year are Kevin Pearce, Scotty Lago, Blair Habenicht, Louie Vito and Markus Keller.
Plus long time Absinthe riders Gigi Rüf, Marc Frank Montoya, Romain de Marchi, Matt Beardmore, Nicolas Müller, Jules Reymond, JP SOLBERG (great to see this fella back) and Mikey LeBlanc will be there.
As well as Annie Boulanger, JEREMY JONES, Chris Coulter, Sylvain Bourbousson and Marco Feichtner.
Absinthe have also started a new label called Absinthe Music and release two albums from Scott Sullivan entitled 'The Great Manifestiny' and 'The Crushwater Symphony'. Both are available to buy from Absinthe-Films.com.
You can now buy the workaholic-movie-makers' second TV series of FLIPSIDE on iTunes.
Dunx at Snowboard Club UK has arranged a great insurance deal for snowboarders, not only amateur riders like me, but there is also cover for pros and riders who enter competitions.
It covers gear up to £1500 (individual items up to £800) which would have covered me when my last insurance company didn't pay out!
Here's some info cut and past from Dunx's site. Clcik on the link to go to SCUK and get the full lowdown.
GET A FREE QUOTE
Email: scuk@tagconnect.co.uk
Call tagconnect: +44 (0)845 408 0583
These days, we all know that Travel insurance is an essential part of our holiday, but how many of us actually know that our cover is appropriate? Not all insurance cover is the same and tagconnect recognise that many travellers are now choosing more adventurous winter holidays with the emphasis on snowboarding and have therefore worked closely with SCUK for 3 years to design a specific winter sports policy. Our policy offers UNIQUE packages tailored to suit all snowboarders’ needs. Peace of mind, should mean, peace of mind!
Plus we provide as STANDARD cover in all policies:
The schedule of cover which sets out the cover provided by TGIC insurance can be seen on the TGIC website when you obtain a quote.
ALL Premiums include Winter Sports Cover (note: be warned many other insurance companies may not include this within advertised prices).
For participation in AMATEUR COMPETITIONS an additional premium at the rate of 50% of the above will be charged.
(Amateur = UK events such as AIM Series and the British Championships. Does not include coverage for those making a living from snowboarding).
For participation in PROFESSIONAL COMPETITIONS an additional premium at the rate of 100% of the above will be charged.
(Professional = International events (FIS, TTR etc and events where the participant is being paid a fee for participating e.g Daily Mail show, Inner City events etc..).
Any of the above can be used as additional policys on top of (Single, Long Stay or Multi Trips) for one off events e.g.
British Championships (5 days competition), SCUK member 1-5 days European cover = £21.15 plus 50% = £31.73
Working abroad as a SNOWBOARD INSTRUCTOR an additonal premium at the rate of 25% of the above will be charged (personal liability cover is excluded, as this should be covered by your employer).
Excess Waiver = £10 per person.
GET A FREE QUOTE
Email: scuk@tagconnect.co.uk
Call tagconnect: +44 (0)845 408 0583
and quote reference number "151005"
To get an online quote and purchase click here. SCUK members need to log in to see the 10% discount link. You can join from just £15
If you are interested in purchasing cover from tagconnect, please call 0845 408 0583 or e-mail our sales team at scuk@tagconnect.co.uk. Please ensure you read your insurance policy carefully.
Travel Snowboard Insurance by TGIC (07/08 Rates) :: Snowboard Club UK :: The Riders' Network
Online TV Channel 'Joost' has gone snowboarding mad today with 10 new shows to watch for free on your PC.
They Include brill snowboard movie Positron which features brothers Bjorn and Erik Leines, British movie Skyrocket from Danny Wheeler, and a film on the Snowbombing festival (always a fave amongst my Radio 1 snowboarding pals).
To watch, just go to the Joost site and install their Beta software if you haven't already.
Don't even get me started on the London Olympics ... where's our snowdome that's what I want to know?!
But I *do* get excited about the Winter Olympics. If you want to support UK snowboarding, get behind Dan Wakeham who reprazents us in the half-pipe competition.
Check out his YouTube channel where you catch his video diary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y12ASIfmC8Y
On January 9th he won 2nd place at the Airwaves Invitational Halfpipe Competition in Tignes, France, pocketing an impressive $5,000 in prize money in the process!
I interviewed a fresh faced (and already incredibly tall) Dan back in 2003 on my old site Stoked On Snowboarding when he was hammering the rails at Board X Winter Festival in London's Alexandra Palace.
Even then he was sponsored by Santa Cruz snowboards and maybe no-one should have been surprised when he turned up in the half-pipe the year Ross Powers won the Winter Olympics in Utah.
For those who missed it, here's that interview from 16 November 2003.
Dan Wakeham is six foot plus, has poster boy looks and despite boarding for 7 years, he only turned 22 a few days ago. You should hate him but the dude's got too much class. For the whole of Board-X he was hitting the rail park with style and by Sunday's informal 'Jib Jam' demo, he was earning hard cash for tricks on demand.
As I recall, he was the only guy to pull a 360 on the Rainbow rail. If Dan isn't Santa Cruz's only UK snowboarder (he skateboards too), he's certainly the only one from Plymouth. Stoked caught up with him at the end of Board-X to find out how he got on...
I come to Board X every year. When they have events in England, it's good to show your face. It's not always the best riding. I don't always get on well with the jump but this year they've got some good rails.
What do you think of the new indoor Grind Rail Park?
The rail park was pretty cool. When I first got here, I wasn't quite sure how it was gonna be. The run out is pretty short. They could do with making that a little bit longer so you've got a chance to stop. Plus they've got a flat bar. You pretty much have to drop in and jump straight on to it. There's not much time to get ready.
I notice you like the Rainbow rail.
I rode the Rainbow a lot because the flat bar wasn't made up well. The jump was a little too small and the landing was really flat. I've got a bit of a weak knee so the flat landing would hurt. So I stuck to the Rainbow, it's nice and smooth. Plus if you stick to one thing, you're going to get good on it and learn some good tricks.
What's it like in the Jib Jam, when everybody's watching and the MCs are throwing in cash for tricks?
Sometimes I don't really feel like it but you start to relax and forget that the crowd are there. Then the guys with the microphones come along and they start flashing around money, so I found myself starting to run back up to the top so I can try and get some. I got a hundred quid for one trick and then I got forty quid for another. If I got paid like that for every trick I did, I'd probably make a lot of money (he he).
You've got some big sponsors. Is there any money in it?
Up to now, I haven't really been making money from snowboarding. It's cost me a lot. Occasionally you get the odd thing free - like free hotels and free travel. But I'm starting to progress now. I competed in some of the big American comps and beat some big names.
This year I'm gonna ride some World and European cup events. If I ride well, there more chance of walking into better sponsorship deals. I might be riding for Oakley for clothing and eye wear. And maybe look for some corporate sponsorship like Red Bull (Dan was drinking Red Bull all day long so they ought to sponsor him) or Orange mobile phones. They've got a lot of money to spend so I wanna be in there and get a bit of it.
When learning tricks, what's the best approach ?
With every trick, you have to be able to visualise yourself doing it. You can't just throw yourself at it because it doesn't work. If you can't see yourself doing it, chances are you probably won't be able to do it. I think about what I'm gonna do and just have a go at it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I have to unstrap my board and give it a rest for a while and maybe come back to it later. If I'm in the right mood, I feel like I can do just about anything. That's the best way to be but it's not always like that unfortunately.
What tricks are you working on at the moment?
In the half pipe, I'm working on a Rodeo 900. It's a pretty hard trick because there's a lot of spinning. It's all inverted. I'm quite a big guy as well so it's not like those little kids who can just spin a 900 a foot out of the half-pipe, I have to go quite a lot higher just to get my board around so many times.
Not many pros ride wear lids. What's your view on protection?
Some people say that wearing a helmet is a distraction but I don't find that it is. I go through phases. This season I was filming and really pushing it. I had two concussions and a knockout. I was riding one of the jumps in Mammoth, it was quite a big jump, I went too fast and cleared the landing. I landed clean on my feet but the impact of hitting the ground knocked me out cold. I was out for about 2 minutes. I got taken away in an ambulance and had to have a cat scan, so I started wearing a helmet after that.
How do you get over an accident like that?
You've got to expect an accident here and there. I haven't had any real bad accidents to date, touch wood. I know some people who have broken their back. For them to come back is really hard. But like a broken bone or something, it's not really that big a deal.
Besides snowboarding, what else do you do?
I do a lot of skateboarding in the summer. We built a ramp down in Plymouth. We spent a lot of time down there just skating, having barbeques and enjoying the heatwave that we had.