Tag Archive for: scotty arnold

No Bindings No Problem – Snowboard Canada Magazine Feature

, , , ,
Powsurf Chronicles Episode 6 - Canada

A story on bindingless riding just dropped in Canada’s finest snowboard magazine and we were kindly included in the run down of various board options. We are hyped that Snowboard Canada would be willing to work with us and spend a few days in the backcountry gathering images and memories.  We had a blast up there and can’t wait to get back up there for more.

The article gave a run-down of a few board options that exist out there and stated a few characteristics of each brand.  As with any media, things often get confused or missed in communication. We were labelled as the “skate – style” company which we suppose was fair because we make sure that our boards are the least restrictive and are designed to allow the rider to fully take advantage of not having the board attached. They also ollie better and are more agile and controllable  than anything out there and that goes a long way. What was not mentioned is how they handled any and all conditions we threw at them. When all the other boards were either unrideable in the conditions or forcing the rider to grab that dreadful rope for control, our boards were still ruling those conditions. Fully hands free and truly binding free. And that certainly deserved mention. They also produce a unique ride and feel that is much different from your typical snowboard.. much more surf-like (more so than Skate-like) and very agile.. something we are very proud of and something that has taken years of R&D to accomplish. We were a little bummed to be labeled as just the “skater dudes” here, as that is just a small part of what we are about.. but stoked to be included and honored to go powsurfing with Canadian legends that I spent my childhood idolizing.  Watch the video below that was made from the first 4 days of our trip.. and see what our boards are all about!

The Powsurf Chronicles Ep 6 – Canada! from Grassroots Powdersurfing on Vimeo.

Scott Gaffney sending it on his Grassroots Slasher

I hate to be picky.. but the quote used in the article was very misleading..  It was taken from two quotes, and mixed together out of context, missing the entire point I was trying to get across.  I spoke about how I originally started by just taking the bindings off of snowboards to see if it was possible to ride without bindings.   What they left out were my words about how snowboards don’t make good bindingless boards! and they don’t perform well unless it is knee deep blower pow! (this is why so many noboarders use the rope)  This is the whole reason why we started shaping my own and also the reason that our boards look and ride nothing like traditional snowboards. We wanted something that had precision control in varying conditions and allowed the freedom to ollie, spin and flip the board, and have really good control in a variety of conditions.  Snowboard shape and construction did not allow for this and that is why Grassroots powsurfers are built and designed the way they are.

We pride ourselves in offering a variety of shapes to accomodate riders of any size and style. They are so incredibly “surfy” and fun.. much different than a snowboard feel.  We have spent years perfecting them so it’s a bummer when we get labelled so narrowly as simply “the skate style” guys in the article.  All you have to do is watch any of our films and see the boards in action and it’s clear that skate-style riding is only a fraction of what our boards excel at. But on that same note.. skateboarding is the most technically difficult sport on the planet and has progressed leaps and bounds beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.. We hope to do the same for powsurfing.

CHECK THE LINK TO THE STORY ON SNOWBOARD CANADA HERE

Snowboard Canada deserves a HUGE thanks for the article and efforts.  Jeff Patterson and Rob Stevens were instrumental in bringing all these riders together and making these 4 days some of the best days of the season.  Cheers amigos!!  See you again soon.

Our trip to Canada was a blast.. one of the funnest trips of my life.  The film in this article is just 4 days of riding and there is so much more to see!  We will release more footage as time permits from the rest of the trip.

Jeremy Jensen – Mid pillow line.

 

Powsurf Chronicles Episode 6 – Canada!

, , ,
Powsurf Chronicles Episode 6 Canada

The Powsurf Chronicles Ep 6 – Canada! from Grassroots Powdersurfing on Vimeo.

Grassroots riders Jeremy Jensen and Scotty Arnold take a trip up north to powsurf with a handful of Canadian rippers. 4 days of sunshine and dry powder conditions in the Coastal mountains of British Columbia had stoke levels high as ever. Most of our Canadian friends were riding Grassroots Powsurfers for the first time and seeing the stoke and the smiles on their faces at the bottom of every run made the trip that much better.
Riders: DCP, Kevin Sansalone, Alex Warburton, Justin Lamoureux, Rob Stevens, Scott Gaffney, Scotty Arnold, and Jeremy Jensen.

 

CBC TV Interview and Story on Grassroots Powdersurfing

, , ,
CBC TV Interview with Scotty Arnold

Out of nowhere came an email from the Canadian National Television station wanting to do a story on Powsurfing.  They said they couldn’t send a cameraman down to Utah and needed someone in the Whistler area to do the interview.  As luck(?) would have it, Scotty Arnold and I just happened to be in the Whistler area at the time!  I’ve only been to Canada twice in my life and this was a pretty crazy coincidence.  I knew it had to be done so we set aside a day of our trip to do some PR work.

CBC TV with Scotty Arnold

Bob Nixon, Scotty Arnold, and Simon ready for action

Avalanche conditions were high with a fresh couple of feet on top of a deep layer of surface hoar. We weren’t about to take a TV crew deep into the backcountry and put them and ourselves at risk.  We had to settle for some very low angle slopes completely out of harms way.  All the obvious signs of fresh wind slabs breaking everywhere, cracking, collapsing, etc confirmed our decision.  On the approach to a relatively small but steep slope we remotely triggered numerous fresh slides that were a few inches deep, two steps later while crossing a creek the snow cracked loudly, breaking 4 feet deep and sending me into the creek bed below.  One knee and one arm plunged into knee deep icy water. That sealed the deal and we relocated to another zone, very low angle and out of the way of any hang-fire.

CBC TV Interview with Scotty Arnold

The TV crew interviewed myself and Scotty Arnold about the history, the how, and the why.  Really good interviews that kind of ended up butchered in the end, but so goes the mainstream tv world.  The action shots were very mellow due to the sketchy conditions that day. We hiked a couple of short low angle lines and jumped off some small drops for their cameras and called it a day.  Not the most epic day by any means but good for the PR machine. We were just stoked on the opportunity to spread the word about what we love to do and help Grassroots continue to grow.

Luckily we found a couple of little drops out of harms way for the TV crew

Watch the Interview and check the story below:

Interview with Jeremy Jensen about the freedom of powdersurfing:

http://www.cbc.ca/video/watch/News/Canada/BC/ID=2324239337

English Channel Story : “Powder-surfing pioneers seek freedom in a new sport”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/01/09/bc-powder-surfing.html

 

Park City Backcountry Powsurf Sesh with JJ Thomas, Scotty Arnold, and Jeremy Jensen

,
Jeremy Jensen, JJ Thomas, and Scotty Arnold about to surf some powder.

Jeremy Jensen, JJ Thomas, and Scotty Arnold ready for action in the PC neighborhood backcountry

After a few big hammer pow days in the backcountry it was time for a mellow day.  I linked up with Scotty Arnold and JJ Thomas in Park City to check out a rad little surf zone that JJ’s girl had found for us. Beth Anne has a good eye for powsurf zones!  The snow was shallow but we made the most of it and had a killer time slashing the gauntlet for a few runs and seshing the mini catwalk hits.

 

The 6 inch crusty “base” and 5 inches of fluf on top was pretty challenging but that’s all part of the fun of powsurfing.  JJ and I rode the Powder Sluts and Scotty tried out the Bullet 140, a great board for riding shallow pow. We burned a couple quick laps and that pretty much tracked up the skinny guantlet run.  Stoked for that thing to fill in so we can give it a proper slashing another time.

JJ had to roll out and take care of his lady…birthday celebrations the previous night were taking their toll on the poor girl.  She was a trooper, guiding us to the zone and snapping some pics along the way. Big thanks Beth Anne!

Scotty and I poked around for some bumps to pop off of. We found a little catwalk trail that kept us busy for a couple of hours.  Simple pleasures!!

Shuvits were popped, and kickflips were kicked and stomped.

It was so much fun riding with these boys. So rad to see people just pick up powsurfing and start killing it..even in sketchy conditions.  Big smiles and big fun.  Thats what it’s all about.

Kickfliping into shallow tracked up pow is not easy. Somehow I rode away clean on this one.

Scotty finding a deep (relatively) spot!

Turns out JJ snowboards goofy footed and powsurfs regular footed. The man has skills!

Scotty popped a big ollie and stomped a solid pop shuv after just a few tries.  The kickflip was next and he was determined to ride out clean.  He landed bolts numerous times and rode a couple out for a few feet.  Landing on ice and dirt is not easy.  The skills and determination that this guy has are gonna continue to blow minds for years in both snowboarding and powsurfing.  So stoked to have Scotty on board.

This kids’ got pop!