Do want carving in magazines?

[Guest The Snowboard Journalist]

I've hear from a variety of places that the carving world is, although small by comparision, of respectable size and a very passionate group of people. But give me some stats... How many carvers exist in the US? The world?

Whether you know this or not, my name is Jason Ford. I was once a competitive racer and without trying to boast, was quite good. Most of my starts resulted in top 10 finishes, with many top 5's and a few titles thrown in for good measure. So I know that feeling that drives you and I have the skill. I just choose a different path in my riding, and now in life. It's called The Snowboard Journal.

Our magazine has one simple goal - inspire people to go snowboarding more often. Pretty simple really.

In delivering this inspriation, we want to touch on all aspect of snowboarding in a welcoming way. How much we do so is dictated by both the quality of the content and the overall demand. If you want to see a degree of carving in our mag show us your support and become one of our subscribers. When you do, put a message in the comment box telling us what you want to see.

If there's enough reply, we'll deliver the best we can. -jf

www.snowboardjournal.com

[Carp]

I have no idea how many carvers there are in the US. If I were to guess a couple thousand. In Wisconsin I know of about 25. Jason, you were my favorite rider in the early 90's. It's too bad you were injured so much. I was all for signing up for a subscription but wanted to wait to see/hear what the content was like. From the responses on this site as well as others in the carving community not very good. Although I love powder and back country riding I like carving articles and shots too. It seems too many magazines are pipe, park, rails and stuff like that. Although I used to do that stuff when I was younger and much better looking it's getting old really quick. Don't get me wrong I respect the technical aspect of all degrees of snowboarding, but like skateboarding went through a lull I see snowboarding doing the same unless riders are exposed to all forms. When I first heard about your publication I was really excited, but from what I've heard it sounds like every other snowboard magazine, which I didn't think you intended. When I hear there's going to be some carving in it, then I'll get a subscription. I had a subscription to Transworld for 10+ years until it became inundated with the same shots and same type of articles.

Good luck with the mag. I truly hope it gets off with a bang and provides some really diverse articles and shots.

[utahcarver]

Jason,

Short answer is yes, most of us here want to see carving in magazines. Thanks for asking us here about seeing more coverage of carving in magazines.

Your comments suggest that carving and alpine snowboarding coverage in your magazine are to be driven by numbers of riders worldwide and subscribers. Is that correct? I'm sorry, I thought your masthead read Snowboard Journal. That would imply ALL aspects of snowboarding, not just certain niches of the sport.

My frustration with any snowboard publication currently being produced is that the carving niche doesn't even EXIST in their world. I'm guessing, just like you have intimated, that it all comes down to circulation. Money, right?

I like your mag, it's the best one out there. I just don't have any interest in continuing to see no coverage of an aspect of snowboarding that many of us love.

Thanks,

Mark

[Guest The Snowboard Journalist]

I understand the position of all carvers, but we're only 3 issues deep. Six months old if you look at the on sale time. I promise that if you pick up a copy of our mag and take a look, you'll find more than just a park/rail/pipe approach to the sport. You'll also find a shot or two and a story or two that touches you and gets you amped on riding. For the future we do have a carving article in the works, but it's not quite ready for the next issue. If you're more open minded to our magazine you'll see that great stories & photos really do appeal to everyone.

I didn't chart the rumors from the carving world regarding our launch, but if it stated that we were going to be a carvers mag, then everyone was mistaken. We are a snowboard magazine, and in that, yes, carving is included. Just like rails (as much as I think they're a joke). There are so many pockets of snowboarding out there to be discovered and ultimately they'll all be displayed in the pages of our magazine.

Your pocket as well.

[ncermak]

I see where this is going.

Jason want to lure us in to subscribe with promomises of increased coverage. we are all wary of subscribing (at a hefty $40 tag for 4 issues a year) and not getting what we want. The end result is that nobody wins.

Jason-

How about a 1 year subscription discount for BOL members, increasing your numbers and showing your commitment to this end of the sport. This forum is dying for a publication to support, and the fact that you are her talking to us shows that it could and should be Snowboard Journal

Guys-

In return, we subscribe and show some faith in Jason, and maybe even help out with some articles, photos, and honest constructive critique, along with some increased tolerance for Jason's need to appeal to the considerably larger peice of the marketplace.

we all win, as does the sport.

-Noah

[Guest Randy S.]

Jason,

Welcome to Bomber! Thanks so much for the interest.

Re: Snowboard Journal. I've been a subscriber since well before the first issue even arrived on my doorstep. I love it. The pictures are great. There are always fun retro flashbacks (I too have been riding since the mid-80s) and some of the articles are good. Its nice to see stuff written from a perspective above the typical 17 year-old. Keep up the great work. For you skeptics here, buy the mag. Its worth your $, if even just to have a magazine of book quality show up 4x year. There are still some of those ads where you look at it, scratch your head and wonder what product they're advertising, but for every one of those, there's a great powder shot. Also, the Stories behind the picture section is fun. I get TWS for free and pay the full subscription price for SJ. You get what you pay for, as they say. TWS goes in the round file after a quick flip through. I have all three issues of SJ in my reading room (the one with porcelain fixtures) and re-read them routinely.

Personally, I've grown tired of grousing about this subject. I've decided to actually do something about it. As mentioned in another post, I'm going to attempt to write an article for submission. Hopefully my writing skills are up to the task, and I can get sufficient good pictures for a few to be chosen for inclusion. The hard part is making the article interesting for the carving community, while at the same time accessible for everyone else out there. Plus I want to make it sufficiently interesting that folks will read it, and maybe even become interested enough to want to try carving. However, I doubt that carving as such will be central to the theme of the article (we'll see). I've never been to South America, I've only attended one other carving/racing camp, and I've rarely ridden with world-cup athletes, so most of this is new ground for me. I'll be the wide-eyed one in the pictures.

For the rest of you. Quit your belly-aching (actually, quit your carping ;)). Go out and take some great, hi-def photos of guys (or better yet, gals) laying down awesome carves. Then submit them to Jason & Co. and see if they get published. Who knows, if you are good enough, you could even start to write off some of your expenses on your next tax return! Turn your hobby into a tax-deductible business.

Jason, Thanks again for reaching out to our community. The effort is truly appreciated. If you come up north to Tahoe, I'd love to show you around. We've got a good crew at Tahoe Carvers and ride a lot.

[Guest Frappe]

This sounds like a good reason to subscribe, and get a nice camera when the birthday comes around ;)

Seriously though, I love the idea of a (even slight) discount for BOL members, and your interest in covering the carving world is inspiring.

Go look on Burton's site, pioneers of the industry and makers of some pretty great alpine boards for their time. The closest their History section gets to even mentioning Alpine is a brief remark that Chris Klug won an Olympic Bronze. They don't even say it was for Parallel Slalom!

In order to introduce people to the sheer fun and beauty of a multiple-G carved turn on a snowboard, and to keep from being a dying breed of weirdo-snowboarders here in the USA (because this isn't nearly as much the case in Europe), I think that supporting a magazine that wants to publish carving articles would be great.

Maybe in addition to coverage of freestyle/trick events, also keep an up-to-date listing of SL/GS competitions and placings in the magazine? Coverage of Madd's re-emergence into the industry? Just some nice bios of carving pioneers like Coiler, Catek, Prior, and of course our old friends Bomber?

I'll give you pictures, come winter, from the good ol' Ice Coast. Just give us coverage.

As far as riders in the US? I personally know and competed with/against seven. Two of them, that I know of, were BOL folks. If that's any indication of how much BOL's population represents the numbers of carvers as a whole.

[Carp]

It'd be nice to see some of these HD glossy pictures in a book like format. If they're as nice as Randy puts it I'd for sure get a subscription.

[utahcarver]

Jason,

I just subscribed to SJ for one year, in fact, I just did it 5 minutes ago. If all that you've said is true, I don't need a discount just because I don't go into the trauma park often. You've got my money for one year. I hope to read Randy S.'s article in an upcoming issue, too. After reading his (Randy) post I've had a change of heart and want to support ANY effort to get alpine out there.

C'mon, folks! Mr. Ford has come here asking for our support. Let's give'em a year or two. After that, we'll have another look at it.

Thanks,

Mark

[Michelle]

Well, if I can add my two cents.....

The Snowboard Journal is a great magazine. We paid the subscription fees like everyone else, and are glad we did. All 3 issues are sitting on our retired-snowboard desk in our waiting room, and we refer to them often. The articles are actually READABLE, not like some other magazines with photos of kids in the park, how much pot they smoked all 7 days of their paid trip in Europe, or how many times they thew up from all the drinking. I loved the article in the last issue about the old school Summit County, guys who grew up or got their start here and then moved on to become the famous people we all know them as now. Point being, there are some very cool shots of all snowboarding (although I have only seen one carving shot - Victoria Jealous in an older photo) as well as great articles. It's high qualilty stuff. Now, we just have to talk Jason into doing some articles on carving....

Here's an idea: what about a guest columnist every issue that has someone write an article about some aspect of carving, call it like Carver's Corner or something more catchy. Then have some high quality photos and get more people hyped about the sport. Let them know it's not just Euro carves or guys in speed suits. I like the idea of some girls carving, show them that chicks dig guys that carve as well (and we kick ass on the slopes too) !

The Snowboard Journal sent a rep out to the last SES in Aspen. His name was James, and he had some free issues for the raffle, and took lots of photos to write up an article. We have yet to see any articles about the SES, which is one of the biggest carving events every year. If the SBJ wants to incorporate carving into their magazine, they can start by featuring the SES events, as well as the ECES and the European ones too. It's out there, we just need some press to cover it.

As far as how many carvers there are in the good ol' USA, LOTS!!! A lot more than you think! I know this because I fill orders for tons and tons of people throughout the year. I am always amazed at how many new people I have every year say they have never carved before. Also, at the last 2 SES events, we had about 5 new never-evers every day! They came to the demo tent, and gave it a go. They are out there, we just need to promote the sport, which is what we try to do with the SES and if the SBJ could help out, that would be fantastic!

I think a discounted subscription for BOL members is a fantastic idea, and everyone wins.

[Strider]

Hello Jason,

Glad to see you take the time and requests of your readership seriously. I happen to love the magazine. I have found the articles to be well written and the interviews and historical essays very interesting. I love that it is not all about jibbing pipe riding, and just assumed that there would be a carving article or two as time went on.

It makes sense to me that there wouldn't be as many articles about this aspect as there are about freeriding just because the numbers are different, but I wish it could be otherwise. As a rule most of the carvers I know are super passionate about the sport and started riding in the late 80'2-early 90's and now have the money to spend on high-end gear and magazines if there is enough interest. I've also noticed that a lot of the younger kids at my hill have started to get interested in carving as well since there are now about 20 of us out 3-4 times a week at tiny little Tyrol Basin in WI. It seems that each year I get a couple more kids asking me where to get the gear and how to lay that trench instead of sliding all around. Part of that might come from them seeing me ride the pipe in plates and wonder what the hell those bindings are all about,but I would bet with more coverage this aspect of the sport will continue to grow.

Keep up the good work and keep those ads to a minimum like they are now. Also, I loaned my first edition to a buddy and he tossed it after he was done so I was wondering if you sell the back issues, and if so how could I get one? Thanks for the good product, and I hope to see some carving stuff in there one day too.

[Guest Randy S.]

Originally posted by Michelle

chicks dig guys that carve as well

They do? Where? I need one of those!

[Mike T]

Originally posted by Randy S.

They do? Where? I need one of those!

For a while, my wife dug me in *spite* of the fact that I carve. She's coming around though.

[CarvCanada]

YES! and there is plenty plenty plenty of info and pictures already existing that we are MORE than willing to give up!!!!

although there are many many more carvers in Austria, Switzerland Germany and other European countries, there are quite a few in USA and Canada.

Here in Quebec most small shops and even some large chain shops sell a lot of alpine equipment. There are at least 3 medium sized shops mainly focused on alpine equipment in the Bas St-Laurent area and they seem to do very well, so I'd guess there are 1000-2000 hardbooters in Quebec.

[CarvCanada]

hmmm if I had a magazine, each issue would focus on one style and have diferent sections about it, such as Tuning, Photos, Stories, Mountains that are good for the style etc.

oh yeah and I'd like to see Swallowtails action :)

[CarvCanada]

Let's send SES/ECES 2003 and 2002 videos to Jason.

And direct him to watch the video

Windows media player:

http://www.swoard.com/films/2003/wmv/stoked1.wmv

Quicktime:

http://www.swoard.com/films/2003/mov/stoked1.mov

a piece done by Jacques, Patrice and Nils would probably be really good, as well as a good excuse to put up some sweet Eurocarve porn

[Guest The Snowboard Journalist]

The word passioate isn't strong enough.

To all of you supporters, thank you very much. It's that passion and activism that will give us a chance of survival. Keeping the kiddie ads at bay is hard work and to be honest, the industry acts skeptical toward the whole "other" side of the market. Other side referring to an older than 18 demographic. Imagine...

Regarding submissions: We're always open to submissions and look forward to seeing them trickle in from any and all sources. When it comes to images, please do your best to send anything that will accompany your stories and will ultimately create a timeless and compelling peice. If the quality is there.... it's just might run.

And for all you who think this is a plot to take your $40 and run. I've honestly got better things to do. Hell, if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have walked away from the 5 year contract I left on the table. My goal with this post was to see how big a market was, and see if they're interested in being active to help us a) be better and broader editorially, and b) spread the word.

It appears to be doing both.

[Baka Dasai]

Asking about the number of hardbooters is fair enough, but there is another angle that is worth considering.

Many people here are familiar with the way heads turn when a low-to-the-snow carver rides past. It stands out, and people naturally think "WOW". They're interested despite the fact that they ride freestyle gear and have had no previous exposure to hardbooting.

This proves that hardbooting is of interest to the wider snowboarding market. They like to look at us. The question is whether it is possible to translate that "WOW" factor from the slopes to the pages of a magazine.

It's a good challenge, and I hope The Snowboard Journal can pull it off.

[Jon Dahl]

consider it done. I do think that some of us may feel a little overly passionate 'cause the big marketers have thumbed their noses at carving, and therefore, at us. I tend to take it personally when what I do is dissed by corporations, especially when it's my dough that funds the younger generation of snowboarders, at least in my household, that will make up the future for them. And Kent, I'm a better all around rider now because of plates!

[joecarve]

Originally posted by The Snowboard Journalist

If there's enough reply, we'll deliver the best we can. -jf

Y'know, if I were publishing a food magazine, I don't think I'd wait until enough readers mentioned rice noodles before running a piece on Vietnamese food. After all, it's a pretty small country...

The world of alpine riders seems to be filled with very dedicated people who have a strong sense of community, are often way into the technical nuances of gear and setup, and for the most part are pretty rabid about riding. We seem to draw a fair number of stares and questions on the hill and chair. We welcome new carvers with encouragement and a healthy vibe. Oddly enough, given the higher cost of alpine gear and an average rider age somewhere above 30, we're probably in the same demographic of those more likely to pony up $40 for a yearly magazine. Hmm, perhaps there's a story or two in there somewhere...

Steaming hot bowl of pho, anyone? :D

joe...

[Guest Frappe]

BOLer - Get a life. Don't live and die on the plates. Vary up your quiver and become ALL AROUND riders

I rode softboots for the first bit of last season, as I have for as many seasons I've been snowboarding,

and so far plates and hardboots, even if I were to slap them on my freeridey-board, still feel more secure and responsive. live and die on plates? sure. But on an 18cm-waist, extra-long speedboard? no, that's why it's a quiver. Powder's your friend too, you just need to stand on the proper equipment.

Either way, we need snow before we all go insane. whee.

[Mike T]

Originally posted by The Snowboard Journalist

Keeping the kiddie ads at bay is hard work and to be honest, the industry acts skeptical toward the whole "other" side of the market. Other side referring to an older than 18 demographic. Imagine...

One day it will catch up with The Industry. In the meatime, the Bomber, Catek, Donek, Coiler, Madd, Prior, etc of the world (and probably Snowboard Journal too) will be getting my diposable income.

[Jack M]

Greetings from an old fan and a subscriber since issue one. Great mag, the best out there hands down. Of course, it will be even better with some carving. I think we're worth at least a one page article and a couple pictures per issue. The BomberOnline forum enjoys a registered member count of about 1200, and readership beyond. The internet has strengthened alpine, and I would say it is making a bit of a comeback.

People... the man delivered on the race course back in the day. He knows what we're about. And the mag is worth the $40. It is something you will want to put in a binder and save on the bookshelf forever. The old-school material in the first 3 issues has been the best nostalgia trip snowboarding journalism has yet provided.

Keep up the good work, and let's see some (more) alpine! The shot of Melhuse was great - keep it going!

-Jack

[utahcarver]

Does anyone else realize that it's the middle of August and BOL has this much traffic, passion, and ambience? Jeez, even the Classifeds section has picked up since yesterday.

Mr. Ford, you're dealing with men and women who'd go to war, as it were, for you. Our passion is an obsession. A published carving photo in your magazine is fodder for several heated threads here. If this forum were in a bar, g*d forbid, we'd either be singing limericks together, or beating the bejesus outta each other over whatever topic could be discussed with any lucidity.

Kent, it is because I VARIED my quiver that I came to use Evil Empires' of small cash-flow hard plates. Ask Fin, Sean, Chris and Bruce how much they like your idea. I certainly agree with your point. That's why I always keep an old Burton around and ride it once a year, in REAALLY SOFT SNOW, so that it won't matter if it works or not. I can side-slip until I'm in the parking lot on softies.

Mark

[utahcarver]

Thanks, Tim

'nuff said