Do want carving in magazines?

[Brian]

Jason/BOL Members

I would like to thank you for your responses and everyone who has contributed to this thread, this is the reason I asked the question concerning the mag and their latest issue.

From the response, it appears all of us would like to see some carving in the mag in each issue, that would be great.

I hope that Randy can come back from Chile with some good material and photos for Jason to print and those folks out there that have stories and pics let's help out and contact these guys.

SBJ is an excellant mag, has good stories, pictures and is worth the money.

Brian

[NateW]

It's unusual the someone in Jason's position (publisher of a snowboarding mag) actually thinks about hard boots.

More unusual still that he looks at a site where hardbooters hang out.

More unusual still that he signs up and posts.

And yet there's people acting like he's done something wrong, and trying to drive him off? That's stupid.

If you want to see more coverage of alpine riding, the best thing you could do is send pictures and articles.

Also, I have planned a sneak attack: pictures of hardbooters ripping it up in the park and pipe, and moguls, and powder, and whatever. It's stuff softbooters are familiar with, so they'll not be too confused. It could show the world that hard boots and skinny boards are not just about racing, they're about control and style.

[Art]

OK, that's it. My one week old son will have to do without diapers so I can subscribe to the mag. I can throw down 40$ and my son will pee on the floor (just like dad). I've always gone for quality and root for the underdog so this sounds like a good buy. The subscription will sit proudly next to my dirt rag collection. Jason, thanks for the interest. My check will be in the mail as soon as I can embezzle it from the the checking account.

[Guest Ghostrider]

I just wanted to throw in a view to let you know that as a younger hardbooter (21 years old), I definately think the sport is on a bit of a rise and I also see it growing within my College aged group. With the growth of programs like the USCSA including snowboarding and the USASA running regular races, it is slowly trickling down in the age brackets.

I have been skiing since I was 3, snowboarding since I was 12 and hardbooting since I was 18. When I first started hardbooting, the closest rider I knew about was in the typical 30+ age bracket but hadn't ridden in years. Now that I ride regularly and sparked an interest in some younger riders, when I do encounter a hardbooter in the southwest michigan area, it is usually somebody between the ages of 18-25 now and very rarely in the typical demographic.

When I started my university snowboard team, we had 3 racers in the region and I was the only one on an alpine setup. We were one of 4 teams in the region and about 12 in the country. As of last year, we had 13 racers on my team and a regular showing of 30+ racers at each divisional race. At the regional championship, we had close to 40 racers and about 15 were on alpine boards. Our national championships introduced PGS for the first time last year with good success and each year the competition level rises incredibly as well as attendance. As a rep for the USCSA, I also plan to help keep the sport growing as long as I am involved and help promote its future popularity.

I think that if hardbooting could just get a nice regular shot in the spotlight (possibly through a mag ;)) for a season or two, it would show people how it has grown and changed since its attention was lost to freestyle and get some riders to give it a try and inspire some older riders to come out of the woodworks.

[philw]

It's good that SJ is at least considering covering people who can hold an edge.

I'd have thought that there must be enough talent around here to provide some material. The problem I have personally is that I so rarely see anyone else on hard gear that it's difficult to get pictures of them.

I wonder if the way forward with all this isn't to push the gear, or a particular type of [laid out] turn. That approach allows TWS and those kids to write us off as a separate sport. Perhaps a better angle would be to "sell" grace and speed down the mountain. That's what people see when they say "wow, how do you do that" on the hill. I'm thinking that you could sell riding well as something to aspire too, rather than something uncool. It doesn't actually matter how the board's fastened to your feet.

[Guest Frappe]

Ghostrider- Our snow-sports timeline is the same :) I too have been skiing since about 3, on a board since 12, and hardbooting since 18. And I agree that it's growing in the younger generation. Most of the people on raceboards that I know are under 20, and two over 40ish.

[Guest r4ahsam]

Jason,

I have been a fan of yours since the mid-80s. You have done a great job with your magazine and I am a subscriber and plan to continue supporting it. If I remember correctly one of the goals of your magazine was to produce a publication along the same lines of quality as the Surfer's Journal. I would never expect a snowboard magazine meeting the quality of content like the Surfer's Journal to ask a question like do we want to see carving in the magazine. They cover all aspects of the sport and life style. Many of us are waiting for a snowboard version of the Surfer's Journal. I hope the Snowboard Journal is it.

Regards, Ralph

[Guest stoked]

"Let them know it's not just Euro carves or guys in speed suits ..."

I think so too I mean although I like both extremes in the form of close to the fall-line race(ing) style and totally laid out extremecarving.com style I have been riding somewhere in between since 1993 and there are so many options in between those two styles including spectacular moves like jump turns.

All of that is freecarving which can only be achieved like that with alpine setups and freecarving and racing are surely snowboarding and therefore no separate sport huh?

Although I prefer the laid out style for its feeling and think it looks more attractive especially for getting more people interested in alpine riding I don't think promoting only one aspect of alpine riding is a good idea like philw suggested with racing.

In the glory days of alpine riding in Europe in the mid90s alpine snowboarding was about riding and freestyle was about jumping and both hard and softbooters were enjoying powder.

Then the industry following market leader Burton focused on racing equipment and pulled versatile and beginner friendly freecarvboards from the market and stopped marketing any alpine riding to prepare their exit because softboot setups were cheaper in production.

It kinda seems that the industry knows the freestyle only for everyone hype is strangling fun for a lot of riders that don't actually get into freestyle tricks and end up spending most of their time just skidding on groomed slopes.

I don't have statistics about the number of those riders (do you?) but I'd say they represent a potential for alpine riding that is way beyond its market share today.

It seems that most riders that started snowboarding in the last 5 years just don't know but it also seems that the industry won't win the battle against questions like why did nobody tell me that there's equipment also for getting stoked without doing freestyle tricks?

No comment because they don't want to give up their freestyle only for everyone hype but if they wait until they have to they would have to pay me big time for taking a public relations job.

Just my thoughts if you have facts to prove them (wrong) I would be happy to know them and they could be published at stoked.at because like many others I would like to see rumors about alpine riding replaced by facts.

Thanks and best carves to you,

Bernhard

[Dave Winters]

Jason- Great to see you on BOL! I am a long time subscriber to Surfer’s Journal, and of course am tremendously impressed by the quality of both the photography and the writing in it. Steve and Debee do and outstanding job. Each issue is eagerly received and immediately read cover to cover.

I have been sort of boycotting your mag until I saw some coverage of carving. But with your posting here I can see that you have at least made some commitment, and that’s close enough for me. Look for my subscription.

One problem I see is that it’s hard to get photos that can adequately convey the dynamic of the carve. Still photos rarely do justice to the visual aspect of the experience. A great example of this is photos of the Extreme guys, totally laid out, but the still photo just looks like they’re lying down on the snow. But when you see them in person or on video, while it doesn’t do much for me personally, it’s a totally different visual. Having said this, there are plenty of great photos out there, so it’s not impossible to get a good image.

So, hey, give it a shot – and thanks.

[LeeW]

This is cool to see Jason Ford posting this. Dont think you'd remember Bill Loftus, the deaf guy who hangs out at the Burton factory in the old days in Vermont. Went with him to the factory one day and saw you sitting and lurking and we had eye contact. I kinda freaked out knowing who you are. Now a decade later, Im -still- freakin' out seeing you post here. Keep rocking. And yes, I know you were former hardboot racer. Say, Im curious if Craig Kelly ever raced in hardboots ? I know he did with softboots. Figure you'd know. Andy Coghlan, what's up with the mad dog these days? Heard of an insane story of him before one day of racing (partying so hard, and he forgot he had a race, and went racing without helmets, gloves, goggles, and won).

[Baka Dasai]

It <i>would</i> look like they just lying down except for the big spray of snow coming from the edge. Check out these photos - they look like the sort of thing that would grab a magazine reader's attention even if that magazine reader had never carved a turn in their life:

<img src="http://www.extremecarving.com/images/banner.jpg">

<img src="http://www.extremecarving.com/photos/03html/photos03/j01_03.jpg">

<img src="http://www.extremecarving.com/photos/03html/photos03/p03_03.jpg">

[slopetool]

Yea, no doubt the best mag out there. I've loved every issue. I can't wait to see the next issue.

Of course, I would like to see more on carving, longboarding, and profiles on local riders. Keep up the great work.

Thanks Jason and Jon!

[D-Sub]

I gotta say one thing tho...kinda directed to Tim:

not all "softbooters" are disrespectful gangster lookin knuckle draggers

as far as pics of carving..sure..some...definitely, but to me a "good" mag would represent _all_ aspects of snowboarding

Id like to see more well rounded alpine riders too. That EC stuff is only on perfect snow...and we rarely see hardbooters freeriding, attacking all aspects of the mountain.

are things becoming a bit too specialized maybe?

[Mike T]

Originally posted by D-Sub

and we rarely see hardbooters freeriding, attacking all aspects of the mountain

Really?

Most of the hardbooters at Hood seem to do quite a bit of freeriding. Sure, when the groomers are perfect we never leave them. But after a dump, or on a slushy afternoon, we're as likely to be found off-piste as on. It might be more common to locales that get a ton of snow... e.g., OR, WA, UT, Tahoe.

[D-Sub]

that could very well be true, and Im glad to hear it!

I think what I had in mind was the pictures we see. Except for the ones of Bordy hittin rails in UT, I cant think of any!

[revtor]

Hello all, Ive been carving since I learned how to on my 91 air with FLEX 3 strap bindings... then I got a Burton amp6 with next gen flex bindings.. beat on it for almost 10 years and last season got an '01 ALP 163 w/ '01 race plates and some cheapee raichle 413's here from Bomber..

13 yrs, 3 boards, 2 sets of boots and carving the whole time..

It was great to have found this Carving "node" of the WWW last year!!!

Anyway, after reading this post, I subbed to the journal! So should you all! whip out the plastic, give the phone call 858 459 6233 its only 40$ and its pretty painless. Support a high quality publication that supports one of your passions and isn't a mega corporate sellout. TWS and the other mags lost my interest years ago when all the issues started to look the same....

act fast and get the first two back issues for an extra $35 before they're gone! im not affiliated at all, I just believe in spending a bit for a good cause.. And im cheap!

waiting for snow in newjersey,

~Steve M