Archive for the ‘PIONEERS’ Category:

Todd Richards

Todd Richards is a snowboarder from Paxton, Massachusetts. In the 1997–98 season, he won five out of the seven halfpipe competitions he entered. Todd pioneered the snowboard trick „the wet cat.“ He won a Silver Medal in 1997 at the Snowboard Halfpipe World Championships at Heavenly Mountain Resort. He was a member of the 1998 US Olympic Halfpipe Team. He also published an autobiography, P3: Parks, Pipes, and Powder in 2003. He started his own snowboard company called O-Matic with Tara Dakides and Andreas Wiig in the 2006-2007 season. He produces a series of webisodes entitled Todcasts for Quiksilver as well as a frequent announcer at snowboard events such as the Winter X Games. He is the subject of a documentary entitled „Me, Myself and I“ released in 2009. Brandt Todd Richards is a legend, straight up. He’s a pioneer, a business owner, a ripping shredder, and he’s one of the gnarliest “would you rather” players in the game. Todd’s been toting board bags around the world as a pillar of the snowboarding community for going on two decades now, and it’s just as fun to him now as it was those twenty years ago. Looking back to his days as a wee lad, Todd claims that he was “destined for lamesness”. Thankfully time has since proved him wrong, as Todd is one of the best shredders and most un-lame people snowboarding has ever known. These days you can find Todd rolling heavily modified Audi’s around Encinitas in and out of the Omatic headquarters, tucking into the green room at the local Richard’s Reef, outshining kids on the Northstar jump line, and tucked away in his basement playing video games that his kids don’t even know dad has.

Chris Wellhausen PhotoTodd’s Breckenridge Home

Me, Myself and I

Interview with Todd:
http://snowboarding.transworld.net/1000093728/featuresobf/me-myself-and-i-todd-richards-interview-and-teaser/

Transworld cover 1993

P: Jon FosterIn 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León went looking for the Fountain of Youth, but the poor sot landed in Florida. Almost 500 years later, Todd Richards, a ‘godfather’ of snowboarding and Encinitas resident, has discovered that great secret which eluded Ponce de León and keeps plastic surgeons in business. Nearing his 40th birthday, Richards has an ambiguously ageless face and a wiry, strong frame. He keeps up with kids less than half his age on the slopes, in the water and on vert ramps. He owns a snowboard manufacturing company in Encinitas called O-Matic, along with partners Jason Kanes and Tara Dakides. Richards is also a commentator for ESPN. Last year, he probably logged as many air miles as P-Diddy. He has a wife, two kids and a second home in Breckenridge, Colorado. http://www.encinitasmag.com/

The Electric Chair Show: Todd Richards Part.1

The Electric Chair Show: Todd Richards Part.2

Mike Ranquet

Mike recently made the move from the North West down to lovely Orange County. Aside from being a rich and famous super pro shredder, Mike is also heading up Electric Visuals Snow and Music Marketing division.

Denver, CO – Pioneer pro rider and all-around badass Mike Ranquet will receive TransWorld SNOWboarding’s Legend Award at the 12th Annual Riders’ Poll Awards Show, joining the ranks of snowboarding’s most influential people. As one of the early pros from the Pacific Northwest, Ranquet’s Mt. Baker-bred, skate-style shredding captured the look and feel of snowboarding’s rapid evolution. Under the tutelage of legend (and former Legend Award winner) Craig Kelly, Ranquet ripped his way into seminal movies and magazines as freestyle riding exploded in the late 1980s. Into the ’90s, Ranquet was influential, pushing the progression of freestyle and freeriding around the world while helping cement the mystique of the Mt. Baker scene. He rode pro model boards for G&S and Lamar and spun tricks in movies like Roadkill and Creatures Of Habit. He is currently the subject of the VBS.TV series Powder & Rails, where riders like Haakonsen and Jamie Lynn declare Mike’s influence. The enigmatic Ranquet has continued riding all through the years yet maintains his infamy by being spotted only at places like Tahoe, Baldface, or Baker. Join us in celebrating Mike Ranquet’s profound radness with this prestigious award. VBS catches up with Mike Ranquet in Chicago after post-hip replacement surgery at Northwestern. Mike’s hip (only age 39) had deteriorated so badly that the doctors were shocked he could walk through the door. Ranquet gets to talking about why snowboard halfpipes sucked so much back in the day: apparently the midgets were to blame. We also find out that Mike, in the early 90’s, had the most significant vert ramp in the Seattle area, coined “The Nature Ramp” due to it’s proximity to the woods and commune-like atmosphere. There, Mike leads a one-man crusade of skateboard snobbery against all whack, non-skate related moves in snowboarding. Ranquet’s old Seattle buddies chime in, saying that teenaged Mike was basically like Bobby Budnick from “Salute Your Shorts”—a relentless troublemaker.

Powder & Rails Mike Ranquet 1/4.

Powder & Rails Mike Ranquet 2/4.

Powder & Rails Mike Ranquet 3/4.

Powder & Rails Mike Ranquet 4/4.

Shawn Farmer

It’s almost impossible to imagine someone like Shawn Farmer arriving on the snowboarding scene today. In the late 1980s and early 90s, characters like Farmer, Dan Donnelly, Damien Sanders and Steve Graham were nothing less than our sport’s original stars, and their antics were the basis of many early snowboard films. They were – without a shadow of a doubt – making it all up as they went along, and to say they were an eclectic bunch is a laughable understatement. While riders of today may have different riding styles and looks, the subtleties are only noticeable for those truly obsessed with the sport. Back then, the top tier of pro riding was a mish-mash of degenerate characters; an x-rated Village People line-up with only a love of snowboarding, a keen sense of mischief and a hatred of skiers to bind them.

Shawn’s life today still revolves around his love for snowboarding. He plays in a band with legends Terry Kidwell and Bob Klein (called Hunks of Metal), he lives full time in Truckee, California – on the edge of Lake Tahoe – and he works for the water company at the Northstar Ski Area. “Life is good,” he says. “I don’t see the old crew like Nick Perata quite so much, but we talk on the phone every now and again. I go riding on every powder day still, and can hook up with lots of people here.” Text: http://whitelines.mpora.com/ Photo by R. Schopper Born in 1964 and raised in the mid-west state of Missouri, he was pushing twenty-seven when – after a few seasons in Colorado – fame beckoned with a part in the newly launched Standard Films’ Totally Board (it would later be known as TB1, and started the TB series). “I just wanted to make a movie,” says Shawn now. “More than anything I just wanted to make films because it was cool to see myself ride.” The next season he moved to Mt Baker, where he famously pulled a topless method over the Baker road gap (on his first attempt) before heading down to Tahoe to shoot with Fall Line Films for a production later titled Critical Condition. Critical Condition opened a lot of doors – mostly to parties – and again, he dug deep. “I was such a heavy partier and drinker,” he says now. “I hindered myself, you know. I probably would have went further. I’m still dealing with issues relating to alcohol, though I haven’t had a drink for about four months now. But god, it was funner than hell.”

Powder and Rails – Season 2 – Shawn Farmer

Shawn Farmer video interview http://whitelines.mpora.com/videos/wltv/shawn-farmer-video-interview.html text taken from
http://whitelines.mpora.com/features/interviews/roots-shawn-farmer.html

Jake Burton Carpenter

Jake Burton Carpenter (born April 29, 1954 in New York City), also known as Jake Burton, is an American snowboarder and founder of Burton Snowboards. He grew up in Cedarhurst, New York.

The founder and owner of the world’s leading snowboarding company, Jake Burton’s name is synonymous with snowboarding. Jake’s influence on the sport of snowboarding is unrivaled. Since 1977, his company has supported the best riders in the world and created snowboarding gear that sets the standards for the rest of the industry. This season, Jake is embarking on a new adventure. He and his family plan to follow winter around the globe for ten months, snowboarding on six continents and testing plenty of Burton products along the way. http://www.wikipedia.org/

Dave Seoane

It’s a rare and beautiful thing when you can take two of your greatest joys in life and combine them to make a living. That’s exactly what professional snowboarder turned professional filmmaker Dave Seoane has managed to do.

Dave Seoane is a professional snowboarder, but he found no matter how much he loved snowboarding, doing the same thing over and over will lead to burn out. Filmmaking was his other passion, and since the development of extreme sports has gone hand in hand with films about them, this was a natural transition for Dave, who founded Cinemaseoane Inc. Snowboarding is a modern and extreme sport, so it makes sense that this sport would go hand in hand with „intense“ films and modern media. A great example of commercialism being used to expand the sport comes from a famous film by Dave Seoane known as „The White Album.“ „The White Album“ by Seoane contains great video of professional riders who are often sponsored by companies. This film is about Shaun White, and not only including cameos of well known extreme athletes (like Tony Hawk). This movie was openly sponsored by Burton Snowboards, Mountain Dew, and Burton Snowboards.Since the beginning, snowboarding films have been used not only to attract new fans, but to show the changing of styles and trends from the sport itself. This is why it made sense to have men like Dave Seoane: professional snowboarders who were also pro filmmakers. Who better than a snowboarder to capture the highs and lows of the sport? Cinemaseoane has been wildly successful because of Dave Seoane’s love for the sports he is covering. In addition to this, he has close personal contacts throughout the snowboarding world because of his status as a professional athlete. Between his experience and the friendships, few people have a better insight into the world of snowboarding than Dave Seoane, and few have been able to capture this world through video so effectively. http://www.snowboard-mountain.com/ by Bud Fawcett – Sugarbowl, CA 1991 Dave Seoane is a solid dude and it can be argued that he is one of the most influential people who has ever slid sideways down a slope. Sure The Garden launched a thousand roadtrips and Subjekt Haakansen will never be matched in the shred biopic realm but his impact is much greater than the sum of two seasons worth of Hi-8 reel. What makes Seoane’s reach so immeasurable is the fact that he has influenced the influencers. Scores of filmmakers have drawn from his cannon and then gone on to create masterworks themselves. Crazy. In part 1 Dave talks about his early years in front of the lens. And in part two he talks about his transition to the other side of the camera. https://www.snowboarder.com/ Dave Seoane interview https://www.snowboarder.com/featured/dave-seoane-first-snowboard-movie/

Powder & Rails

Tom Burt

Grew up in Lake Tahoe skiing since 1968 Started snowboarding in 1982, became professional in 1985 Became a teacher of Mathematics and Physics in 1986 at Sparks High, Nevada. Quit teaching to continue as a Professional Snowboarder in 1987. Design work with snowboards, boots, bindings, and clothing since 1886. Still Snowboard and design professionally today. Known around the world for Snowboarding the Steeps.

http://www.tetongravity.com/ Tom Burt is one of the premier big-mountain snowboarders. A Tahoe local by birth, when he is not out there riding the incredible mountain ranges of the world, he can be found ripping it up at Alpine Meadows (where he has earned the title of Snowboard Ambassador). Because of his vast experience and his easy, straightforward manner, his presence is always a comforting reassurance when the limit is being pushed. So he is a welcome member on any crew. He makes everybody feel balanced. Near the end of my visit, I caught up with him heading back from the Helipad. http://www.snowquest.com/ by Dan Milner

Tom Burt’s 2010 Legend Award Speech.

The North Face Masters

LOWDOWN Riding since 1982, Tom Burt knows how to hold his own. In 1989, Tom Burt received Rider of the Year honors from International Snowboard Magazine, a publication that touted itself as „The First Mag, the Last Word.“ The founder and publisher of snowboarding’s first print medium, Tom Hsieh, immortalized Burt with these words: „ISM would like to honor a snowboarder who, in our opinion, embodies the true spirit of snowboarding. One who will, through his actions, leave a positive and lasting impression.“ Tom has been around for way too long and has contributed immensely to snowboarding and we are honored to have him as the head judge on The North Face Masters tour. http://www.thenorthfacemasters.com/

“Start at the top, end at the bottom. Flow all the way through with energy and excitement without a lot of traversing or stalling. You want people to go “Wow, someone just rode that mountain really well.” – Tom Burt

Tom Burt interview http://www.snowquest.com/crew/burt1.html

Powder and Rails Tom Burt 1

Powder and Rails Tom Burt 2

Damian Sanders

Tom Burt and Damian Sanders were two of the original founding fathers of snowboarding.

While Damian’s freestyle flare and movie debuts drove mainstream acceptance and explosive growth, Tom (and Jim and Bonnie Zellars) fathered the backcountry movement in early media. Damian was FLF Films early poster boy and starred in their earliest snowboard movies which further fueled snowboarding’s popularity into the early nineties. Together, the four were sponsored by Chris and Bev Sanders/Avalanche Snowboards of South Lake Tahoe. Earl Zeller, Damian Sanders, Brandy Sanders,
Chris Sanders. Photo: Beverly Sanders. Copyright 2011 Earl Zeller all
rights reserved.

Damian Sanders interview http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=7933018334&topic=7657

Powder & Rails

Text taken from http://budfawcett.com/?p=304

Terry Kidwell

Terry Kidwell aka ‘The Father of Freestyle’ was a pioneer
and more than responsible for bringing skate style to snowboarding.

He was there when the first snow halfpipe session went down in the Tahoe city pipe – basically a couple one hitters in the city dump. He was the first snowboarder to have a promodel just years earlier and the board was the first to have a round tail – all others being swallow tails. From Jay Irwin Kidwell started riding in 1977. At a time when snowboarding was not widely accepted in big resorts, Kidwell was one of the first among the pioneers of snowboarding who have been kicking in powder at resorts like the the Donner Ski Ranch, allowing snowboarderslike him to develop their raw talent. Kidwell claims to be the brain child of snowboard progression with a skateboard style, unlike a typical surf style technique. He has four halfpipe world championships credited in his name, one of which is the World Championship he won in 1987 in Livigno, Italy. Kidwell was the world champ for four years, from 1984 to 1987, conquering the scene back in the days. At that time, championships meant winning shirts and a couple hundred dollars compared to the hefty amounts up for grabs today. Kidwell was a guy who clearly showed that he was out there to have fun and make it a lifestyle, not to make money out of it. Aside from riding in his favorite places like Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Mt. Baker, Jackson Hole, Northstar and Sierra at Tahoe, Kidwell also stars in a few video credits, including Snow Shredders and This Is Snowboarding. He is also the guitarist of the famous snowboard band Hunk of Metal, together with another pro shredder, Shawn Farmer. He also has a pro model collectible in his name, from Stepchild Snowboards. Names like Kidwell are among the pioneers of the sport that people enjoy today. He, together with other pros in his time, should never be forgotten given their contributions to the snowboarding sport and lifestyle. Stepchild snowboards gave TK a promodel in 2008 which used the graphics from this original board as inspiration. Twenty odd years between pro models is not a bad effort! by Dano Pendygrasse

Long Board Classic

Two epic events took place last week-end: the LongBoard Classic in Stuben, Austria and the Fluo Flash Fun in Les Diablerets, Switzerland.
The LBC is a well established event that celebrated it’s 10th anniversary this year. It’s a great get together of legends that are at the foundation of snowboarding such as Shaun Farmer, Chuck Barfoot,  Terry Kidwell, but also of hundreds of passionate riders who come to celebrate snowboarding the old-school way with a bonzai race. At the opposite, the Fluo Flash Fun is an insane end of season event that brings together a bunch of happy shredders from the Suisse Romande region, who wear neon proudly, are stoked on riding their older brothers or parents monoskis and old-school snowboards, and have a blast stomping suitcases and cross-rockets on a tiny kicker!
Two events and two ways to celebrate snowboarding the best way possible!
Have a look at the LBC pics and the FFF pics. You’ll cry for missing out this time around and will make sure to attend either one of them next winter! http://broblog.snowbroader.eu Numerous snowboard legends have applied for the  10th anniversary: Chuck Barfoot, owner of the correspondent snow-surf- and skate firm and one of the 4 founding fathers of snowboarding.  Terry Kidwell, the „Godfather of Freestyle“, 4 times Freestyle World Champion and all-time Sims team rider as well as  Shawn Farmer, the freerider who showed us in the late 80ies what it is like being a local in Alaska. Terry and Shawn are also going to get the crowd rocking with their band „Hunk of Metal“, which is probably the most legendary snowboard band in the world: Terry Kidwell (guitar), Shawn Farmer (vocals), Bob Klein (drums), Scotty Milburn (bass), Jeff Hackett (lead guitar & vocals). But that’s not all: It will be the ultimate class reunion! Three generations of snowboard heroes from the fields industry, riders and media will celebrate ten years of Longboard Classic together! http://broblog.snowbroader.eu In 2007 SNOWBOARDER Magazine declared that “Kidwell may not have been the first to do an air on a snowboard but he was the first to do it right.” Trevar Cushing and his VBS web series are back for another season and the first episode showcases the uncontested father of freestyle snowboarding Terry Kidwell. From the Wine Rock freefall on a swallowtail to Reagan era overhead McTwists to numerous world titles. Without Kidwell there would be no Shaun White. Fact. Class is now in session. Tardiness or absences won’t be excused. Sit back, push play, and take notes. https://www.snowboarder.com/ Shawn Farmer  & Terry Kidwell interview http://vimeo.com/12614000

Powder & Rails

Signal’s Every Third Thursday With Terry Kidwell Every Third Thursday – Terry Kidwell
text taken from
http://snowboardcollector.com/kidwell
https://www.snowboarder.com/
http://broblog.snowbroader.eu Terry Kidwell Riding at Mt. Hood from Snowboarder Magazine on Vimeo.

Bryan Iguchi

Bryan Iguchi’s snowboarding career has spanned almost two decades evolving
from early park riding in Southern California
to backcountry freestyle snowboarding.

Art has been an integral part of his life and ability to channel creative energy. ?Bryan currently works with Volcom, Electric, Bluebird wax and the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. ?He lives in Jackson Wyoming with his Wife Lily and son Mylo. Bryan’s accomplishments in snowboarding include a second-place win in the World Half Pipe Championships in 1992, X Games bronze medallist in 1997, and numerous segments in widely distributed snowboarding films. http://www.iguchiblog.com/ photos taken from http://www.burton.com/

Fall Line Films – Roadkill Music Soundtrack

24 Minutes of loud music with 4 guys who don’t push each other off cliffs or try to out-carve one another. They ride and attack everything in sight. These nice guys are all about cruizin a ’76 Caddy limo and hooking up with their favorite champs. ROADKILL IS AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME. DON’T MISS THE NEXT STEP.
Starring Snowboarders: Mike Ranquet, Andy Hetzel, Bryan Iguchi, Shaun Palmer, John Cardiel, Terje Haakonsen, Tucker Fransen, Jim Moran, Kurt Wastell, Jeff Brushie, Brian Thien, Nathan Fletcher, Colter Gerber, Steve Graham, Jamie Lynn, Circe Wallace, Jim Rippey
Wakeboarders: Greg Nelson & Shawn Farmer Bryan Iguchi aka „the happy Panda“ is featured in a new Visa ad. When asked, how he got hooked up with the black card ad, he replied „a friend of a friend“. So we left it at that. We did ask what 5 purchases he’d make if he didn’t have to pay it back. Surprisingly not far from the reality of his life. Read Below. by Volcom News http://www.volcom.com/news/article.asp?articleID=3760

Bryan Iguchi interview http://www.snowrev.com/Videos/All/Bryan-Iguchi-Interview

Text taken from
http://www.volcom.com/news/article.asp?articleID=3760

Powder & Rails

Jeff Brushie

From the humble slopes of Bolton Valley, Vermont, to the halfpipe world champion, Jeff Brushie was one of the first snowboard superstars.

With his unmistakable „boned out“ technique(and dreadlocks), Brushie paved the way for a lot of the style that we see today. His first pro model, the 1993 Brushie 157 (the trout board), is one of the most legendary pro models Burton has ever done. Photo by Dano Pendygrasse http://www.danopendygrasse.com The video above is a montage from some of Jeff’s riding in „Chill,“ „Scream of Consciousness,“ „Upping the Ante,“ and „Hollywood“- all pretty awesome. The interview below is one that we did with Jeff about a year ago- also all pretty awesome, so yea, have a read. http://burton.kontain.com/burton/entries/54135/throwback-thursday—jeff-brushie/ Brushie 1993 „the trout board“ Speaking of Metal, here is Jeff Brushie again. I was talking to him in Tahoe and he is always a nice dude. I asked what he was up to and he laughed and said nothing, he is a house dad. For thos of you too young to know, Jeff Brushie was like top 5 in the 90’s and stuff. He was the man for sure. He said he bought two houses with the money he made back in the day and stays home with his kids in Pacific Beach, CA. He also shoots some poker photos with Rob Gracie (an old snowboard photog) in Vegas for money. He also judges contests too from time to time. Anyway, if you ask me the snowboard industry should just have a retiremunt fund for dudes like Brushie becasue they gave so much to the sport. Event info from George Crosland
http://www.snowrev.com/Features/All/Brushie Photo by Dano Pendygrasse http://www.danopendygrasse.com Photo by Dano Pendygrasse http://www.danopendygrasse.com Photo by Dano Pendygrasse http://www.danopendygrasse.com Jeff Brushie interview http://whitelines.mpora.com/features/interviews/roots_jeff_brushie.html

Older Entries