Old school vid 1983

[nils]

Thought u'd like that:

Its a french news report on guys making their boards in '83 in the pyreneans ( south west france)..Its funny because the riders call it " wintersticking" rather than snowboarding...

Good riding level!

Great vibes ( they are riding in wetsuits ( Sarran was among the top ten euro surfers at the time))..before money took snowboard away from the roots...

Nils

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[kieran]

the hair! the beards!

[softbootsurfer]

Thought u'd like that:

Its a french news report on guys making their boards in '83 in the pyreneans ( south west france)..Its funny because the riders call it " wintersticking" rather than snowboarding...

Good riding level!

Great vibes ( they are riding in wetsuits ( Sarran was among the top ten euro surfers at the time))..before money took snowboard away from the roots...

Nils

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</object><br /><!-- Merci de soutenir notre projet en laissant ce petit lien! --><a href="http://www.zapiks.fr/snowboard-en-1983-dans-les-p.html" title="Snowboard en 1983 dans les Pyrénées">Snowboard en 1983 dans les Pyrénées</a></div>

I think they called it Winterstick because Milovich had been making Sticks called Wintersticks in Utah for almost ten years by 1983...

[softbootsurfer]

Thought u'd like that:

Its a french news report on guys making their boards in '83 in the pyreneans ( south west france)..Its funny because the riders call it " wintersticking" rather than snowboarding...

Good riding level!

Great vibes ( they are riding in wetsuits ( Sarran was among the top ten euro surfers at the time))..before money took snowboard away from the roots...

Nils

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</object><br /><!-- Merci de soutenir notre projet en laissant ce petit lien! --><a href="http://www.zapiks.fr/snowboard-en-1983-dans-les-p.html" title="Snowboard en 1983 dans les Pyrénées">Snowboard en 1983 dans les Pyrénées</a></div>

I think they called it Winterstick because Milovich had been making Sticks called Wintersticks in Utah for almost ten years by 1983...

http://www.winterstick.com/info.php?info=history

[WavesWithin]

Reminds me of backhilling on homemade boards in the early 80s. It's remarkable how so many of us were doing this around the same period of time and thinking that we were the innovators.

[boardguru]

In the winter of 1981 the V.P. of Winterstick (Renee Sessions)three friends and I went to Les Arcs to "introduce wintersticking" to the skiers of France at the request of Alain Gaiumard (sp) who was the mountain manager at the time.We were called the "Winterstick Team" by Dimitri and Renee and also the French press.

So I wonder if the name just carried over for a while until the term snowboarding came about.

Mick

[Buell]

In the winter of 1981 the V.P. of Winterstick (Renee Sessions)three friends and I went to Les Arcs to "introduce wintersticking" to the skiers of France at the request of Alain Gaiumard (sp) who was the mountain manager at the time.We were called the "Winterstick Team" by Dimitri and Renee and also the French press.

So I wonder if the name just carried over for a while until the term snowboarding came about.

Mick

Mick, that is an awesome story!

Welcome to BOL. See you in a couple of months!

Thanks for the video Nils.

[nils]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoO7iGC-f-I

i wonder if u are the guy on this vid?

i also uploaded the follow up...From what I know, they are winterstick team, and it was shot in Utah but year really unknown ( around 80-81?) maybe u can give us more details too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVa3Mo4Yuvk

If u can give us more info on those days it would be greatly appreciated :)

I also have uploaded some extracts from april's footage ( first real snowboard movie from '77 with dimitrije on it)...link is down here

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd8r7_april-sfootage-sample_sport

also: Nat young tries out snowboard in '81 it seems:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1e76d_nat-young-rides-the-winterstick_sport

Nils

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Great Wintersticking footage!! Amazing!! Good to see the boards in action!! Nat is riding a much sought after Black Roundtail (not to mention is has a red bottom) Demetri is the understated brilliant board builder/ rider legend of early snowboarding. Really good to see this footage, a reminder of our roots. Thanks for sharing.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

In the winter of 1981 the V.P. of Winterstick (Renee Sessions)three friends and I went to Les Arcs to "introduce wintersticking" to the skiers of France at the request of Alain Gaiumard (sp) who was the mountain manager at the time.We were called the "Winterstick Team" by Dimitri and Renee and also the French press.

So I wonder if the name just carried over for a while until the term snowboarding came about.

Mick

Mick, welcome to BomberOnline!! It is really an honor to have a rider of your history on the forum. Welcome "Big Time"

Wow "riding since 1976" not many can state that!!

[nils]

Glad to hear you like them Brian :)

Another cool link with what became a french specialty in 82-85 years: the DIY shaping, with a good influence from windsurfing fab. ( at the time, france had the biggest number of shapers and windsurf addicts on the planet)

http://www.vta.asso.fr/spip.php?article119

DEA was a famous maker of early snowboard that helped regis make his first protos...

Nils

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Thanks yet again Nils. What a fun website. Great info, lots of crazy characters and photos. THANKS!!!

Some of the motorcycle ones are too funny!!

[utahcarver]

In the winter of 1981 the V.P. of Winterstick (Renee Sessions)three friends and I went to Les Arcs to "introduce wintersticking" to the skiers of France at the request of Alain Gaiumard (sp) who was the mountain manager at the time.We were called the "Winterstick Team" by Dimitri and Renee and also the French press.

So I wonder if the name just carried over for a while until the term snowboarding came about.

Mick

Good to see you here, Mick. I've been selling Dead Guy Ale by the pallet load here in Logan. Did you have a good bike season? Welcome to BOL and we hope to hear more from you.

You know, I've got a wonderful story about Mick from many years ago that I'll tell later.

Thanks for stopping by,

Mark

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Mark, cool photo!! Proud owner of a sweet new ride!!

Is it black or dark blue? Do you still have it? Very cool.

Looking forward to the stories.

Bryan

[utahcarver]

Bryan: That board ended up dying at Alta. The nose folded and the board delaminated at the shoulders revealing a foam core. Winterstick and Renee (Sessions) ended up replacing it with a new stick. That board now lives in Arizona along with a yellow roundtail.

Mark

[boardguru]

Thanks everyone for the welcome. Sorry I didn't reply sooner as I was in Moab for the week riding mountain bikes.

Nils, that is me in the short video. I'm thinking the timeframe is probably the same winter we went to France or the winter of '82. Since I am in my Mother Karens one piece that was part of my Team gear. Also I was spelling my name in the snow in the other video.(only guys can do that.)

The other people on the trip were, Matt Ryan, Scott Jacobson (Jake), and Paul Loxton (from Australia via Chile.) I hope I spelled your last name right Jake.

We had modified our original strap bindings to a nylon strap toe piece and bungee cord heel with BMX pads for padding. They worked OK for the time, but nothing like my current plates and hardshell boots.

It was truly a great time then, and none of us envisioned what it would eventually become. Now I'm just trying to have FUN and keep a VERY low profile, you know, let everyone else that came after have their glory. I'm just thankful that Dimitri is such a brilliant guy and pretty much invented the sport, Thanks Dim!

[nils]

Thnx, I guessed right :).. got those two clips from an AZ old schooler named Adam Trahan who is an ophtalmologist there, and was also an early Winterstick rider, he came on BOL in around 2000-2001, maybe he is still around.

Dimitrije is indeed a low profile guy, he could claim stuff but he lets others do it, even if they started after he did, he started something different now so doen't have the time or will for that I guess.

What is funny is the amount of thrill your visit to France created in europe: after one winter came the apocalypse movie with Regis Rolland, and at the time, those movies, along with fluo years climbing / surfing / acrobatic ski etc movies were displayed in a yearly touring festival that hit every state, reaching the whole country pretty fast, explaining why during the 83-86 years so many brands or DIY boards came out..Serge Dupraz's Hot brand really came from that background ( DIY windsurf boards > snowboard prototypes). My first snowboard was a handmade 160 that we shaped in a shop that was helping DIY windsurf shapers. ( mold made in a 2m laminated wood beam that was held using climbing ropes and hydraulic jacks)..

Please give us more info on how the team was gathered, how boards were improved etc...we need details from the people that were there :). Thnx

Nils

[WinterGold]

nils wrote - ... movies were displayed in a yearly touring festival that hit every state, reaching the whole country pretty fast ...

Do you mean the "Nuit de la Glisse" (http://www.nuitdelaglisse.com/assets/philosophy.html) tour? As far as I know the tour was started in France in 1979. Later it was also shown in Germany, Austria, etc. These movie presentations were pretty important at that time and presented these "funsports" to a wider public. "Apocalypse Snow" was part of the tour in 1983 if memory serves me right.

And I think it was Thierry Donard, also a camera man for the "Nuit de la Glisse", who asked Henri Nidecker, who owned a wood processing company, to build 3 boards for their movie project.

[nils]

you're totally right :), its the Nuit de la Glisse ( night of the "glide"?)

What has now become a very cash oriented tour, and the name of one multi sports movie each season, was then multi movie with various directors. Donnard is still there too.

The best seasons to my opinion were 87-88 with the canon surf movies: the last of the fun years almost.

As for nid's first boards, there is still one of the first batch ( to be confirmed) in the hall of the nid factory.