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rie202

04-05-2009, 01:43 PM

nate

04-05-2009, 02:34 PM

haha. I'm not really sure what to say about that.

EmptiMind

04-05-2009, 02:49 PM

Wow... Who is this guy?

Nick21861

04-05-2009, 03:15 PM

looks like the R8 team has got competition :D

Plorr

04-05-2009, 03:34 PM

The cork 5 and 7 were nuts!

Mark

04-05-2009, 05:21 PM

they were ok

nate

04-05-2009, 06:24 PM

The cork 5 and 7 were nuts!
more like a 9 and 10?

it was like a flatspin 9 or something
and a cork 10

ElkCloner

04-05-2009, 06:35 PM

I can't see the vid because i'm on my slow connection.

But I'm guessing B-crew?

CrazyBoy-1

04-05-2009, 11:07 PM

No, someone else. Just one guy.

Greco

04-05-2009, 11:30 PM

that is Espen Hofst, he's part of Happypro.net out of Norway which you may remember from this edit....

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2NgILa6ahno&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>

it looks like they have done a new one which i hadn't seen yet...

<embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3116611&server=vimeo.com&sho w_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&ful lscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed>

and yes they are making fun of snowblading

g

SkaFreak

04-06-2009, 03:12 AM

Scribbler

04-06-2009, 04:03 AM

I think I'm with Ska on this one.

It does seem a very odd way to take the p*ss out of a sport - do some genuinely impressive tricks, look like you're having fun, and upload a really well edited video to youtube. The video also showcased some tricks which I'm pretty sure can only be done on skiboards (forward flips over a kicker, moonwalking, etc.), which I don't think I've ever seen in a video before.

I guess the music and the clothes were meant to make it look stupid, but I rather enjoyed it, especially when compared to the painfully 'street' rnb/rap/baggy tall-t attitude that usually seems to accompany snowsports videos of all persuasions (including the rest of their videos, interestingly). It DIDN'T feel like it was trying to compete with NewSchoolers, which either means the joke is on them, or me... I'm not really sure...

Scribbler

mahatma

04-06-2009, 05:12 AM

No one likes being made fun of so when someone takes a dump on you - especially when they are clearly talented it hurts. But, it washes over me because I have no aspirations of ever being paid to skiboard. I think the current way of things is the bigger, the more outrageous the better. I'm not so sure skiboards are the tool for that mentality. I've said it before that in the right hands anything is possible but again I don't think skiboarding is the proper tool for going huge. Our thing is outrageous fun and I believe offers unparalleled freedom of expression. Bigger things like twin tip skis allow one to perform bigger tricks. At least it's a more appropriate platform. From all I can understand skiboarding takes a hit because of the past - not the present. Skiboard innovation appears to be moving at a rapid pace and the attraction to the sport is becoming more widespread. Talented youth will be drawn to skiboarding and who knows what the limits are. Everything builds on everything else. The limits you guys push today will be the baseline for those who come later and then they will push ahead of that. 15 years from now your nastiest trick will be child's play to the new generation. Guaranteed. Why? Because you blazed the trail. You cut down the heavy brush that allowed them to take it to the next level. The same thing will happen to them. Skiboarding is building a base. It has yet to arrive. While the attitude of some - dumping on skiboarding - is nothing I like to see I just chalk it up to youthfulness. We should all be proud and take joy in seeing others redefine the envelope. My guess is many of these types of guys have aspirations to be paid, professional skiers of some sort. At the moment, that just isn't going to happen for them on skiboards. The way around this is to develop our own unique culture, attitudes and skills. No one want to lick the jar and if we try to be skiers that's exactly what we will be promoting. Skiboarding is worth more than that. Innovate, create, build and the jokers will stop joking. Keep trying to do what they do in the way they do it and prepare to be ridiculed for the balance of the time you choose to ignore the unique attributes of your chosen sport and equipment. If you feel dumped on then look in the mirror and ask yourself why? Could it be you're trying to emulate others instead of redefining what is possible with your unique tools? Use that precious gift of fresh insight that God only grants the young. Mold it into something. Redefine. That's your job. Rub all our noses in shit. Prove us all wrong with your strength of conviction, unique skills and love of what you do. Again, that's your damn job. It makes us old shits walk a little lighter when we see you doing your job. So, do your job or get out of the way so someone else can.

Scribbler

04-06-2009, 05:43 AM

Mahatma - I agree completely with everything you've written.

I'm just still not sure how these videos ARE dumping on skiboarding?:confused:

They've made a very particular music choice, and chosen to dress like idiots. I think a lot of snowboarding/NS fashions also make the riders look like idiots, so in that respect I'm still not seeing it.:p

Okay, I know I'm being flippant, but I think it is a fair point - I KNOW these guys are doing it for the wrong reasons, but they ARE doing something different. I guess most people would agree that it's not the right direction, but at least it is a different one.

Feel free to shoot me down - I'm a new skiboarder, I hate the park, and I'll never be a pro, so I may well not have a 'handle' on what the sport is about. However, these videos would probably have convinced me that skiboarding was worth trying more than any of the videos that actually did...

Scribbler

mahatma

04-06-2009, 07:03 AM

Scribbler,

Thank you. I think you put a fine point on what I am saying. What draws you to them? They are being unique. In this case sort of stupid unique but they are expressing themselves differently. You see, I watch videos and I see talent, I see skill but what I often miss is what unique form of expression is being submitted. Doing a trick is kissing ass. Doing it with individual style that highlights an attribute of your tools is kicking ass. I submit as an example of a non-park dude doing it with individualism and style - jjue. You see, Jack is out there expressing himself in his way. Ever searching, ever improving. Doing his thing for himself. Different this, same that, a little twist here a little jump there. Hey, lets strap my boards to my back and give this snowshoe thing a try. Outrageous? No. But, who else do you know snowshoeing the Cali back country and then riding down on KTP's with fixed bindings, a knee brace and poles sticking out of his backpack? The point I'm making is he is being true to himself and highlighting the unique positives of his chosen equipment (when he's not letting them slide down the hill without him of course). We all need to take a page from that book. We all need to let ourselves go, not be afraid to be our perfect, gorgeous, unique selves. I think everyone here should outright stop watching videos of other snow sports and possibly even skiboard videos unless you are checking out yourself or a friend. Want to learn something new? Take a lesson and then once you have the skill down get out there and make it your own. No outside influences needed. No copy catting. Kick ass don't kiss ass.

Greco

04-06-2009, 08:59 AM

I'm probably going to take crap for this, but it is something that I have noticed a lot and am just curious as to others opinions. A lot of the videos have riders throwing some pretty impressive stuff, easily on par with the vast majority of the best skiboarders. Does it give anybody else a bit of a dirty feeling that people making fun of the sport could easily start skiboarding and be among the top riders?

the videos highlighted are made by guys who are practically pros themselves, in skiing. if you search out their sites or search for them on ns.com you'll see. but it is pretty funny they keep revisiting snowblades.... "me thinks thou dost protest too much"

Kirk S

04-06-2009, 09:29 AM

it was kinda obvious to me that the last video basically highlighted everything that we ar doing in our skiboard video's with the toe grabs in mid air, the spread eagles and having races. Soooo are they watching our video's of us making fun of ourselves and then making videos making fun of us.

Its a shame we all don't have the trust funds to go out there and ride all the time because I didn't see anything in that video that hasn't been done on skiboards before

nate

04-06-2009, 11:11 AM

cork 10?
when's the last time you saw that on skiboards, I want to see it.

I'm just saying, face it, pro skier's tricks are at another level than ours at the moment. For whatever reason you want to give, they're throwing bigger and more technical tricks. And they can throw many of the same tricks on skiboards too, whether their intent be to make fun of skiboarding or to rep it. That's not a bad thing per se, but there it is.

SkaFreak

04-06-2009, 02:38 PM

the videos highlighted are made by guys who are practically pros themselves, in skiing. if you search out their sites or search for them on ns.com you'll see. but it is pretty funny they keep revisiting snowblades.... "me thinks thou dost protest too much"

G, I agree that it is kinda entertaining that every spring you skiers out screwing around on them, and that it is a good thing. I guess what bothers me is that many in this sport will often turn a blind eye because they don't want to admit that progression in skiboarding is lagging comparatively. We have some absurd talent in this sport (Ben and Borja being my personal favorites to watch, but also Kirk, Adam, Dave, Mark, etc.) but when compared to what skiers just screwing around on a pair of snowblades can do, it takes everything down a notch.

There is constantly the discussion of "skiing is experiencing more progression than skiboarding" to which the usual response is that you can't compare that two because they are two different sports. Videos like this show that the skiers who are pushing skiing can also push skiboarding up to a similar level without even spending much time on them. To me this is saying that skiboarding is not progressing up to the potential that it could be. Imagine what those guys would be doing if they rode them daily. Just think about the footwork that the guys from Line's Traveling Circus could be throwing if they were on skiboards instead of skis.

I myself know that the reason I am not pushing myself as hard as I could is a general fear of screwing myself up badly enough to not ski anymore, and possibly to take me out of school for longer than I would be able to catch up from. As humans there is usually an aversion to doing things that are likely to seriously injure or kill you. Then we have individuals like Shane McConkey that wasn't afraid to push the boundaries. Unfortunately in his case we saw what happens when something goes wrong while pushing those boundaries.

I personally love the feel of skiboarding, and am not trying to put it down in anyway. It is a different feel from skiing, and there are very distinct differences. It just seems to me that we are often too quick to dismiss this just because we don't want our sport to be overshadowed by the reputation the proceeds it. Many newschoolers belittle skiboarding because they claim it is much easier than skiing. This video is the kind of video that starts to give them credibility. I would love to see someone who can step up and prove otherwise. I truly believe that it is possible, we just have yet to see it since the early days when skiing was on the learning end.

Now as a disclaimer, I have no clue if there might be some footage tucked away just waiting to see the light of day that I have not seen. I know that some of the footage tucked away that I have seen is at least a step in the right direction.

Greco

04-06-2009, 03:24 PM

Mark

04-06-2009, 03:36 PM

Mark

04-06-2009, 03:37 PM

ill take these guys down one by one next season.

and please, tell me i wont.

SkaFreak

04-06-2009, 05:33 PM

Andrew,

The guys you're seeing in these videos are not just "some skiers", they are very good skiers, almost pro level. (the other video by new intelligent group that is similar to these is also done by practically pro level riders) BUT anyone who thinks skiboarding has anywhere near the talent pool or progression of skiing is in denial. We're barely hanging on and they have thousand and thousands of riders all over the world scrapping and climbing to get to the top.

As for the "skiboarding is much easier" comment, it depends. The swing weight of skiboards is much lower then that of skis so comparatively skiboards will spin much much easier BUT skiboards are so much less forgiving when it comes to landing (those guys are falling A LOT) which makes skiboards more difficult to land and if you don't land it really doesn't count.

We shouldn't get into a comparative mentality when it's apples and oranges on so many different levels. not just tools but everything that goes into building, supporting and growing an entire industry/sport.

Oh and let me know who has this tucked away footage, I'd like to check it out.

g

G, very true that we don't have as large of a talent pool, and that does have a large effect on the progression of the sport. This was the kind of discussion that I was looking for, just curious as to everyones view on the subject.

What I'm trying to stress is that I am not comparing apples to oranges here. I am not watching skiing videos and comparing it to skiboarding videos. Those have very separate places in my mind. I am watching videos of people riding skiboards and comparing them to people riding skiboards, and that is what made me really start to think about it. And if anyone does have the mindset where they consider skiing and skiboarding to be the same, just watch videos of Ben on each. He has the same style on both, but the technical side of each is definitely a little different.

As for the footage, I could have sworn some stuff had been left out of the Colorado edits, but looking back most of it is in there (still a few little things missing, but that may have been on Martins camera or possibly just not a particularly good shot). I guess when I watched it right after the trip seeing it all in person overshadowed seeing it on film.

nate

04-06-2009, 10:03 PM

adam does those.
But where's the footage? Not calling you out, I just want to watch it.

SkaFreak

04-06-2009, 10:09 PM

If I remember correctly there is a cork 9 from Adam in the Colorado edit (yes, I know a 9 is not a 10, but still pretty impressive). However, Adam, like Ben, spends a lot of time on skis as well...just something to think about.

I think we all can agree that cross training with both will improve your riding in both.

nate

04-06-2009, 10:21 PM

Thanks. Just re-watched that edit and spotted it. Some other impressive things to be seen there too.

Also, Borja skis. I see a pattern.

I don't know how that should make me feel. Part of me has an allegiance to this idea of 'skiboarding' whatever that means. The idea that it's somehow superior and that I need to defend it from all arguments that skiing is an acceptable alternative, but there's really no way to back up such an extreme position. I think I need to spend some time on twin-tips to get a balanced perspective on this whole thing. Plus I might just like them.

t21

04-06-2009, 11:12 PM

just watched the new vid, and yes they could throw down good tricks but if they are almost pro level ns skiers then its expected. for them doing another vid and supposedly making fun of snowblades i think its on them, they made another vid:D and were they using snowjams? they should try out revel8 boards and they might actually like them, idk. anyways, their level is higher because they have more time and places to practice and are sponsored by big name companies. they have pros that go out on locations or events to compete numerous times than our own riders,so they get better and could really throw down really spectacular tricks. we got good riders but i think except for Ben has much support from other well known sponsors of skiing/snowboarding. i believe that on skiboarding,the landing is much harder and as G said,the landing matters when you do tricks,as i seen on the winter dew comps tours, great trick+ bad landing=low score:( so whoever could throw down well on skiboards could do well on twintips. as for me,my age i know i cannot do those tricks,but G could:) and i'm more into riding glades and such,( hopefully BC with jjue someday) but it does concern me a bit that some of our new/younger riders might switch to twintips and fore go skiboarding because they felt they are not progressing on their tricks. if it does,i guess its their choice and we wish them well. as someone had mentioned, if we have riders that could throw down as good as the ns(PRO) guys,then this topic would be irrelevant. and Mark, "No, you won't" and for us older gentelmen and ladies, we just like to skiboard cuz its a different feeling of freedom riding on snow. the snowblade comments on our boards are changing cuz of what they see on us when we ride our boards. the skiboarder is good,the skiboarder is wise:)

Mark

04-06-2009, 11:21 PM

we'll catch up. and even if we don't. skiboardings talent pool is growing larger by the day.

i have no reservations about our skill set.

Davelynam

04-07-2009, 01:03 AM

i actualy have tried skiing maybe 3 or 4 times in the past two years, and tricks on them just seem much easier, and when i switched from skis to skiboards, i felt like i could incorperate what i felt on skis into the skiboard tricks. I dont know if that makes any sense, but skiboarding and skiing both have specail features that the other cannot provide, but attemting to incorperate both into skiboaridng makes skiboarding a little more flashy. Its like going from riding a crotch rocket, to riding a harly, then going back to riding a crotch rocket.(activate confusion machine) when you ride somthing that isnt as agile, you find ways to make it more agile, then when you return to riding somthing with agility, you incorperate what you learned.

And i appologize for my lack of expansion in skiboarding in the past few years. i have an average of about 14 days of riding per yer for the last 3 years. I just havent found time to advance my skills. and on those days, i wasnt really able to practice at all cause i had somthing else to work on, be it a learning friend, or judging comps, or not riding cause my arm is broken. but im hopping that next year ill get enough practice to get on the same level as Ben and Adam, and hopfuly pass them up. i feel like i have the ability in me..... I just need time.
I hope that not only me, but people like Mark, Kirk, Matt, and Branden can show you how a skiboard only rider can advance to the skill level of a Newschooler.

Im pretty sure its in the outfit... those tall tees must suply them like steroids.....hahaha

CrazyBoy-1

04-07-2009, 05:00 AM

That bike analogy makes a lot of sense to me. The last time my bike needed to be in the shop for a service interval, they provided me with a loaner bike for the weekend. It was a much more relaxed bike with looser handling and softer power. When I got back on my Speed Triple, its feeling of nimbleness and power was very accentuated. I've experienced the same thing on skiboards. After riding my Condors for a while, I rode a pair of 90's and was amazed at how much more maneuverable they felt, so I can imagine that going from skis back to skiboards would feel very different.

Personally, I find the mockery videos pretty funny and at the same time sad. It's funny to me that in every one the riders seem to be having a great time, and it's sad that most likely the only thing keeping them from seeing skiboarding as a legitimate sport is peer pressure from a very elitist ski community.

Considering how small our community is, I'm impressed with the tricks that the top guys can throw. Like G pointed out, there are thousands of twinnies out there trying to be pros, so there's more of a chance for really good riders to emerge. Also, the point about hurting yourself is a good one. I'm not independently wealthy, so if I'm put out of commission trying to throw a trick, I'm in trouble.

nate

04-07-2009, 09:25 AM

people like Mark, Kirk, Matt, and Branden can show you how a skiboard only rider can advance to the skill level of a Newschooler.
Mark skis too. The list dwindles so quickly.

But I understand what you mean about using twins helps appreciate and use the mobility of skiboards. I think it probably works the same way in reverse; someone who's used to skiboards could move to twintips and progress rapidly there, because they've tuned their landings so much on skiboards (where's it's super important to land balanced), that when they get the easy landing platform of twins they are able to move on to bigger and better tricks.