POWDERBEARDS
AND
SLUSH HOUNDS
Hey
Slidie Peeps
Well
its been an up and down couple of weeks for me up and down the
hillies mostly but its coming up to the the end of the season, as on
the 15th of April most resorts will be closing down.
Downer. But on the upside the glacier is open all year long.Thumbs
up. More Thumbs up go to Mike Steinhauser from 0910 for getting and
translating this interview with Lions Delajonx.Enjoy.
1.Introduce
yourself
Hello,
Lions is my nick name from Lionel and jonx is my neighborhood in
Geneva Switzerland.
2.How
did you get into snowskating and were you immediately hooked?
I
started 10 years ago when there was the first prototypes and I was
very interested , proof is that I still ride a snowskate.
3.How
did you meet 0910?
6or
7 years I went wakeskating and I met mike and then the brand was born
during the 2009/2010 season.
4.Is
there a big snowskate scene where you are living?
Yes
and no, I know many people who own a snowskate , but I ride most of
the time with Mike Steinhauser and Chris Guyot.
5.Hows
your snowskating? Is there any tricks or skills that need worked on ?
I
ride as much as I can . There is room for improvment in my Ollie (as
Alan Gerlach ), my flips, and airs.
6.What
things need to be done to make the scene grow here in europe?
It
would help if ski resort would make a snowskatepark in a place
accessible by foot without fee and/or if more resort would allow us
to take the lifts.
7.Who
is your favourite rider and who is killing the slopes in europe apart
from yourself?
Chris
Guyot aka Kiki.
8.Are
snowskaters a special breed?And do you need facial hair to be a
proper slush hound?
Yes
like every sport even if you go down the same slope. About my
beard…Yes and no but it's winter and it keeps me warm
9.Whats
your favourite resort or spot for snowskating?
The
Crosets / Champery (www.superpark.ch).
10.What
kind of tunes do you like to listen to on the slopes?
A
bit of everything, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Kid Koala, 2 Many DJs
...
11.If
you could choose a setup(top deck trucks and sub)and a graphic of
your choice what would that be?
Top
deck from Canada (because that s where the best wood comes from), and
the rest done by 0910 snowskate. For the graphic, I would trust the
homegrown artists such as
Ben Té, Szabo Couture, Grotesk, etc. ...
Ben Té, Szabo Couture, Grotesk, etc. ...
12.Do
you have a funny snowskate story to share with us?
In
Japan, the first day of riding at the Lizuna Resort. Shin Biyajima
told us that to take the chair, we needed to strap our front foot to
the snowskate with anything we could find like a rope or a lace to be
allowed the ride the chair. But it was even more challenging and fun
to try to keep it from falling with the rope than without. We did d
only one time and after our first run down they let us ride binding
free up the chair.
Thanks
to 0910, Pulp 68, the table tennis players of la Treuille, my family
and those I have forgotten and to snowskate bavaria.
Well from one beard to another Gergis Maximus is a snowskater and photographer/filmmaker, I thought this interview might never happen but it was well worth the wait. Check it out for yourself.
Well from one beard to another Gergis Maximus is a snowskater and photographer/filmmaker, I thought this interview might never happen but it was well worth the wait. Check it out for yourself.
1.)Introduce yourself
My Name is Greg Mahlik Aka Gergis Maximus born Feb 20th 1981 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin USA
2.)Where does the name Gergis Maximus come from?
Long story..a childhood friend (Ted Huener Rip!!!) gave it to me at a party one night right after I moved here in '99(Seattle)..he just looked over and said "Greg spelled backwards is gerg" "your a Gerg" then came Gergis, gergamon,gergy,gergalicous,
3.)How did you get into snowskating and were you immediately hooked?
Its all Victor Zurns fault I swear! hahahaha and I would say no I was super skeptical since I was just getting into snowboarding in the last year or so when we started riding together but once we started riding in the back country in deep powder and he was riding the same big lines as me I felt kinda stupid for having "training wheels" on!! So now slowly but surely, I am UN-strapping!!
4.)How long have you been documenting snowskating? (taking photographs snowskate weddings and so on)
Ive been taking pictures of snowskating since i believe 2009? i dunno I'm horrible with timeline..i would have to ask spicolli or victor..i assume you speak of wedding pics from Victor and his wife Lyz's wedding from the top of cowboy ridge at Stevens pass our home mountain? that was a radical day and my first time hiking along a super nasty nasty ridge line.
5.)Hows your snowskating Is there any tricks or skills that need worked on?
I think my skating skills are weak!! hahaa but increase every time I get to ride with new people!!...ive never been a big park rider..always been a powder hound!! So for me i just wanna be able to do what i already do on my snowboard but without the straps. so for me dropping nasty chutes, fingers, pillows "big bowls" and ripping tight tree lines is what i plan on shredding with my snowskate.
6.)What things need to be done to make the scene grow?
lots of water and sunshine!! hahaa just kidding. The scene here in washington is pretty sick!! every mountain seems to have at least a couple snowskaters at it now and of course snoqualmie pass has a fairly large group of skaters there. the one thing i wanna see and im sure this goes in alot of places is that when your going out to shred call yer homies and shred with a crew, its funner and seems like everyone learns something or pushes themselves just a little harder and we all become a bigger friendlier "family". I know that when my skateboard pals go to the local skatepark they call there buddys and let peeps know..jus sayings..LETS JUST SKATE, DROP THE HATE.(and of course nasty nasty lines too!!!)
7.)Mark Spicolli is killing the hill at the moment. Who is your favorite rider? Who do you like to go riding with?
Spicolli is prob my favorite dude to watch..hes been killing it the whole time I've known him whether on the streets skateboarding or on the mountain snowskating spico goes friggen HUGE!! My favorite rider..hmm..couldnt say..there are so many explosive riders out there..i really couldn't say. My favorite person to shred with is Victor of course, always willing to help out with any info I need such as ski intel backcountry knowledge all sorts of shit..Vic is the MAN!! RESPECT!!!
8.)Are snowskaters a special breed? And do you need facial hair to be a proper slush hound?
short answer is yes we are!! And facial hair is needed to be a total dirtbag looking mofo like myself but im sure you can be a slush hound without the dirtball look hahaaa
9.)What's your favorite resort or spot for snowskating?
Easy one. STEVENS PASS WASHINGTON!!
10.)We love the video you made featuring Mad Rad „Pleasure Mountain“. What's in your headphones when you go riding at the moment?
Thanks man! that was a great day and thats all I want to show in my videos and pics is that we are all shredding hard and loving every wonderfully fun moment of it all!! and I usually dont ride with headphones but ive noticed that when i do ride i listen to alot more dubsteb for some reason..lol..funny since I grew up listening to punk rock.
11.)If you could choose a setup (top deck, trucks and sub) and a graphic of your choice what would that be?
so far ive mostly ridden a libtech skate but recently finally got to ride the pioneer powder blade and it was exceptional in deep powder!! I couldnt tell ya what I want really besides something thats going to be a real "all mountain" shredder and it would definitely have some of Jakes T's Rocker Trucks on it cause they are the best solid shitz!! I have alot to try out and learn and so very looking forward to it.
12.) Do you have a funny snowskate story to share with the world?
I wouldn't say its funny but I have to say last week when we had the go snowskate Stevenspass day the snow was so deep and so wet an heavy that I was having a really hard time shredding and keeping up with the crews so i had to put my snowboard on to keep up so i could get some footage of the day..i totally made fun of myself the whole time too joking about my bindings and such,anyways thats how I did all the follow cam from that day..soon i will be able to keep up with all the ripping riders out there!!!
From interviews to company talk:
In
the last blog we talked to some of the major companies and asked them
five quick questions. This time it's the turn of Adam from Florida
Powderskates
.
Floridapowderskates
1.How
long have you been snowskating?
12
years
2.Do
you still snowboard?
Yes,
we have been developing some really awesome new snowboard shapes
based on snowskate technology.
3.How
long has your company been on the go?
We
started making powderskates 8 years ago to ride sans bindings on our
favorite mountain which is more powder than groomers.
4.What does the future hold for snowskating/powskating?
Better designs more deep powder performance and fun.
5.What is santa bringing you this Christmas?
Health, Waves and Deep Powder
Is
this Heaven? No but it must be the closest thing to it.
And
now to someone that rides one.. In one of my earlier blogs i joked
that next years compitition prize would be a Heli Snowskate trip
thinking that this was pretty much out of the question until I saw
Benoit Nadeau doing exactlly that . Lets hear what this lucky
Canadian has to say.
Benoit
Nadeau
1.How
long have you been snowskating?
1997
2.Do
you still snowboard?
no
stop in 2006
3.How
long has the Canadian Association been on the go?
2
years i stared that to bring every skater from every
province together. so we can start a national contest tour and leagal
teaching and to keep contact so we can stay in touch ,canada is a big
country..
4.What
does the future hold for snowskating?
Lots, maybe it will change snowboarding forever.
5.Do you have problems at resorts in Canada with your
snowskate?
yes lift straps at some places, east coast still
most of the resorts don't let you ride.
6.Do you prefer to ride the pow on your florida powder
skate or do like to jib about too?
i like every thing jib is like real skateboarding
pow is like surfing. i'm just going with the snow condition..
7.How many Skates do you have? And what is santa
bringing you this chrismas?
around 10 boards.. santa not sure yet
8.I notied in your pictures you have a wee boy now
will he be skipping snowboarding and jumping staight to snowskating?
if he does follow the foot step of is dad for sure..
And
from hairy rail bashing and heli pow slashing its back to the tiddlie
peeps
Spitzingsee
27/03/12 02/04/12
First day for Beanie at Spitzingsee and like my last
day there with Jazzer it was a sun lounger in the sky day. First run
down the back of the hill in the shade was quite firm, scrapy and
steep and Beanie took a wee tumble which dampened her spirt a
little. After this we returned to the top of the hill and decided to
try and find the infamous Burton board park and after I got some
directions in German haha. Well we found it on the back of the hill.
What can I say..ITS MASSIVE no chance Beanie nor I were going to
fly of any of the HUGE gap kickers they had nor manage an ollie onto
any of the rails so that was that. After this we appeared to be
stuck on the back of the hill with no chance of returning to the
main slopes. I took a run which Beanie was convinced was leading us
to the middle of nowhere past a lift that was closed with no one
insight( which worried me a bit ) through an awesome tree run and
then finally to somewhere I recognized from my time with Jazzer
(Phew) There were moments I imagined us both walking a very long way
back up the hill. Anyway after a spot of lunch we got back to the
main runs and back down to the car where I convinced Beanie it was a
snowskate day and she should give the beginner slopes a try. I was
right! After a sweet run and managing the T Bar lift
we hit this run again and then to my amazment Beanie said we should go to the top of the hill in the chair.
Slush puppies on Top of the worldAfter this the day just got better and better and Beanie grew in confidence on the bigger slopes she took a good few bails but as we say no falls no balls. I am so happy for her that she has plucked up the courage to overcome her fears of the big slopes and has earned herself the Howling Mad Slush Hound badge
Beanie Slush Hound
Our
second day at Spitzingsee was just a couple of hours in the afternoon
and again Beanie was having a great time slush hounding it up and I
was dicking about trying to do shove-its and giving switch a go,
also managed a one foot effort up the T bar
03/04/12
Steinplatte
I tried to hit as many features in the
park as possiible and ate shit on a couple of runs but taimed the
nasty snake box thingy that through me off last time I was there.
The rest of the day was super fun and Beanie is really coming on great. I've said it before but Steinplatte really is a brilliant resort and the park is perfect for snowskate action.
The rest of the day was super fun and Beanie is really coming on great. I've said it before but Steinplatte really is a brilliant resort and the park is perfect for snowskate action.
In
general I've had very few problems here in the Alps with my
snowskate, I have no idea what the problem is with resorts not
allowing snowskates its utter bullshit. This was Beanie's second
resort snowskating and she managed to ride of the chair and made it
down the slope better than many snowboarders. Snowskating as Beanie
put it is not Black Magic. Riding a snowskate down the hill is not
the most difficult thing in the world,yes it takes a bit more skill
than being strapped in that's for sure but its the tricks that take a
lot more skill its like skateboarding Vs rollerblading.
Snowskating
is more Black Metal than Black Magic resorts need to realize that
people that ride snowskates are just simply Awesome and Hard ass and
leave us the fuck alone to tear shit up. Or everyone should have to
do a riding test and get a license for the hill.Lets face it no matter what you do up the hills be it skiing snowboarding snowskating or smx its all pretty nuts. We are all responsible for our actions. Im not going to drop my snowskate off the chair are you insane i spent good money on that, its my baby would you drop a child of the chair? No. You wont let snowskaters up the hill but you'll let some little twat strapped to a rocket, Yeah? The main problem is that people need to respect others personal space on the hill if your an arms length away you might get a punch in the chops eh?
STUFF TO CHECK OUT
1.0910 SNOWSKATES 0910 Homepage/ Webzine
2.GERGIS MAXIMUS PHOTOGRAPHY Snowskate Party Mountain check out his entire youtube channel! Snowskate Video
2.GERGIS MAXIMUS PHOTOGRAPHY Snowskate Party Mountain check out his entire youtube channel! Snowskate Video
3.FLORIDAPOWDERSKATES http://www.fpskate.com/HOME.html
4.CANADIAN SNOWSKATE Open 2012 Youtube Video
5. SPITZINGSEE http://www.alpenbahnen-spitzingsee.de/english/news/
6. STEINPLATTE Steinplatte homepage
7.LEISE BRETTER 03 http://www.facebook.com/leise
8.FREE FOOTED FUTURE Youtube Video
Great job, Scott!
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