It might just be the start of a crazy adventure…
We love snowboarding and we were looking for a way to show it and give back.
We believe there is still some space left in the media universe for an independent voice.
We take full advantage of the power of blogs to bring you closer to the European snowboarding action.
But blogging is not about giving, it’s about sharing! Sharing ideas, opinions, information!
So go ahead leave us your comments, send us news about what’s going on in your mountain, and we’ll make sure to post it here on [snow]BrOADER!
Check out [snow]BrOADER, a new virtual project made by Phil and me!
in the mean while check out this cool video from Nico Vaudroz, the second best known rider from Leysin after Tonton Holland(or not?), riding his Dupraz board in last season’s fresh powpow! Oh by the way this video is on Zapiks a great french extreme sports video community. Learn more about it here.
Laneo is the largest and currently the only, worldwide foundation dedicated to the needs of outdoor enthusiasts and the environment they play in. If you love to play outdoors but feel powerless to make a significant impact in environmental protection and restoration, Laneo is the community you have been waiting for. With just small personal contributions of time and finances, outdoor enthusiasts and athletes across the world are joining Laneo and uniting their voice to effect positive, significant change in eco sustainability. And the best part is, they’re having a blast doing it.
Finally managed to recover and upload this video that I edited back in the winter 2004.
It was a little snowboard contest organised in Stari Vrh, a small mountain resort next to Ljubljana.
There was a big air followed by a rail contest. It was freazing cold but it was full good! 
This video was originally shared on blip.tv by dikonaca with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.
The first ever CCrew snowboard movie. From 2002, this movie is whatever!
It was filmed in Leysin and Les Diablerets in nov 2002.
It’s more about having fun with friends than going huge…
This video was originally shared on blip.tv by dikonaca with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.
Here’s Daka with Shauwn White and Hannah Teter from the Burton Team.
We went to see the premiere of the new Burton movie ‘For right or wrong’ in a little theater, with Dave Downing, Nicolas Muller, Trevor Andrew and Keir Dillon. Fun!
broad·er, adj.: Relating to or covering the main facts or the essential points;
Not narrow or conservative in thought, expression, or conduct.
Line rider is a toy created by a slovene design student which is getting huge coverage on the web right now. Just type “line rider” in youtube and you’ll unterstand. Careful this stuff is addictive. Nice way to test build your kickers for this winter!
Phil send us this link about the Grease not Gas tour. A bunch of snowboarders touring around the US in their vegetable oil converted van to promote and show people that it’s easy – and important – to drive for free and without polluting the mountains! It will surely appeal to Vince from oliomobile!
WIDIWICI is a new website, part of the web2.0 french family, co-founded by Benoit, a friend from Lyon, which offers a cool concept of mixing social sports challenges with..fun! Chek it out!
The purpose of the site is to enable its members to increase the stake of their sport games or leisure activity. When you win a game, everybody (almost everybody;)) knows about it so you don’t want to loose ! If you are a serious competitor or just serious about having fun, widiwici is made for you. Be careful, you may get very addicted to it
widiwici also enable its users to meet new partners by a relevant search engine based on the activities they like and their level and also places where they can accept a challenge. (which means where they live and work of course but also where they go on week ends and holidays.)
Internet is changing the way we consume videos. The TV era is on the decline.
Here are two videoblogs – among the millions online allreday – on subjects Dikonaca likes : snowboarding and surfing.
www.shralp.com is a weekly video podcast about snowboard events, contest, sessions, parties, gear and so on. It's supported by the guys from Blankpaper Studio, makers of last year original snowboard movie 91 words for snow.
www.surfsessionreport.com is showing regular spectacular surf sessions from Hawaii. Here is some footage from yesterday's session in backdoor.
Fish, Urban and Luka are my riding buddies from Slovenija.
When I arrived in LJ in the winter of 2003, and tried to hook up with snowboarders, I ended up meeting Špela and all the Snurfclub crew. 2003 was an epic winter with crazy riding days in Nassfeld, Krvavec, Vogel, Cerkno and even les 2 Alps!
This winter, with Martin also, the guys have been quiet busy organising events, like the “Freestyle desant 2006” – a city jib rail tour – or “Explosion of fun” in Kranjska Gora. These guys represent the slovenian snowboard scene since ever! They are all talented riders and I think I improved my level riding with them. I really like going out in the mountain with them because they have a crazy motivation and the expression ‘live to ride’ comes close to the truth with them.
So they deserve their 5 minutes of fame! Check out their mini-interview on Adrenalin (the slovene extreme sport mag).
Since Fish is always the one taking pictures, the picture above is Fish in the Krvavec 2004 pipe. I uploaded all our ’slo’ riding pictures here, in memories of the good ol’times!
Le glacier des Diablerets is just a 20 minute drive away from Leysin. Last saturday, the snow was still fresh and there were very few people. We made it in the first cabin up to enjoy the powpow and then a good soup in the Yeti’s house.
Check out the unfamous road gap on the intro picture.
Just for info, in April, the Demonium crew is organising its Masta Camps on the glacier. The park looks allready great…
The Flowboard is a concept invented by two design students attending the Art Center College of Design in Vevey, Switzerland. Both snowboarders, and surfers they had the idea to build a board that would perform like a snowboard – but on the asphalt. They found that on a skateboard, you could only lean over a few degrees and then the bushings always gave you resistance in a turn. The two inventors sought a solution that would give a rider the ability to execute more extreme angles while carving without resistance, offering fluid transitions edge to edge. They came up with the concept for a two-wheeled board with two curved axles with one wheel on each and springs on either side. The theory was that wheels would slide along the arced axles as you lean the board to carve.
Available in the states since 1999, it is now possible to buy it online in Europe on their brand new website, where you can also check out some videos of the products.
Honestly, it looks a bit weird, and I don't think hardcore skaters will take these boards seriously…but for oldschool cruzers it can be a good riding experience.
Still in my opinion it's a better concept than the freeboard for example.
Filed under: snowboard
Mathieu Crepel is the first TTR world tour champ after his 5th place at the slopestyle in the US Open last week-end.
Here are the final standings after completion of all the major events of the year, including the Nescafe champs in Leysin :
1. Crepel, Mathieu (858.91)
2. Mattila, Risto (853.31)
3. Autti, Antti (790.69)
4. Mueller, Nicolas (776.57)
5. Finch, Andy (761.60)
6. White, Shaun (712.50)
7. Korpi, Janne (709.88)
8. Horgmo, Torstein (708.83)
9. Koski, Markku (700.59)
10. Simmen, Gian (700.51)
It’s cool to support the TTR tour for different reasons : first one of course because in opposition to the FIS events, it’s the real tour by snowboard brands and riders for riders showing the real level of modern snowboarding, then because it’s loyal since 15 years (allready at the time of the ISF) to Leysin.
But snowboarding in my opinion is not about contests, there is so much more space for expression and creativity in the backcountry…
but that’s like uhu my opinion dude…
Filed under: snowboard
If like me you don’t like to wear a helmet when you ride, but still would like some head protection, you should have a look at this cross-over idea from a little swiss company called ribcap : they produce protective beanies which look good!
Filed under: snowboard
Here is a video I edited with all the bits I caught on film during the week-end of the contest. The final result is not great coz I didn’ have time to ‘lick it’ but the riding is awesooome! Click on the thumbnail or the ‘watch the video’ link.
And don’t forget to check the picture slideshow here also!
Filed under: snowboard
The tour stopped in Ljubljana, BTC, mid february so I captured some jumps and I put together this little montage. Enjoy the soundtrack!
Filed under: snowboard
We had a crazy w-e in Leysin again. But this one was special because of the contest. It’s quiet incredible to see some of the hottest riders right now doing their thing on the kickers and in the pipe. These guys are nuts! Throwing reverted airs 3m above the coping of the pipe, and huuuge rotations on the gaps. Much respect!
Etienne and Nadege came to party with us. By the way, the previous post was written by Natty straight from “The place to be”, the party place in the middle of the village where all the evening action was going on. The organisation did quiet a nice job, building a big concert scene, a bar, and some chilling spots with internet access, photo gallery of the last 15 years of contests in Leysin, and a crazy “board wall” with some legendary boards like the Sims Salasnek, the H Street Half pipe, the Daniel Frank K2 whale, and some really oldschool boards.
On saturday night, we went for some Fosters and Winston McAnuff’s concert. The vibes where good!
On sunday with Etienne, we also tried some new 06-07 Ndk boards. I tried the Diablo 57, pure freestyle board, and Etienne “big foot” got himself a Smoke 65. My Diablo was poppy and fun to ride. Also Nidecker bindings are really confortable…and the Gruyere fondue straight in the bread is a killer.
Once again Leysin was the place to be and we had a great time!
You can check all our pictures here! enjoy! and see you next year.
The freestyle stars offered an incredible show in Leysin today during the final and superfinal to the public in Leysin!
12 finalists hit the Slopestyle & Superpipe and soon it was clear that the battle was gonna be Finno-Suisse.
After a 90 minutes session 6 stars got qualified for the Superfinal: Gian Simman, Markus Keller, Pascal Imhof, Janne Korpi Risto Mattila and Horgmo Torstein! Every rider had two runs and the best counted! It was tight between Janne and Risto but Janne was the most technic of all the guys and won the TTR competition. Risto finished 2nd before Gian Simmen. Thanks to his 2nd place Risto is now the leader of the TTR Worldranking! Gian moved from the 11th to the 7th place and Janne from the 15th to the 6th position.
Filed under: snowboard
From today until this sunday, Leysin is definitly the place to be! Check the program of the 15th Leysin Snowboard Champs on the official website of the contest. Plus check the webcam on the Leysin website, coz they have changed the orientation so that the pipe is visible!!!
We are moving our tushees there tomorrow for two days of rock’n'ride! The riding conditions look great, all the best riders are allready up there and the parties are going to be crazy! Cool concert of jamaica man Winston McAnuff saturday night! Alpine rocket in the house!
I’m going to try to report live from the action!
Have a nice WE!
Filed under: snowboard
15 years of snowboarding!
From february 2sd to 5th 2006, Leysin will host the Nescafe Champs Open. Since 1992, Leysin is organising one of the best snowboard contest. All the big names came and still come to Leysin because the vibes are the best, it’s always sunny and usually there is powpow to ride too! Leysin is the only slopestyle contest with a superpipe included in the run. Plus this year the event is the last big freestyle meeting before the Olympic games so all the best freestylers will be here. Check out the official site which also has some cool videos and a contest for winning tickets to ride in Leysin!
In 1992 the resort of Leysin hosted its first international snowboard competition. Back then, the event already encountered a noted success within the snowboard scene, from the region and in the media. 15 years later, Leysin remembers 12 editions affiliated with the ISF (International Snowboard Federation) and 3 editions with the new TTR tour (Ticket To Ride). Leysin hosted giant and dual slaloms, unforgettable boardercross competitions, and a big air but was most renowned for its halfpipe, which was already very impressive back in the day. Since the beginning the best snowboarders on the planet have gathered in the resort and still do so today, promising even more and more astonishing and spectacular competitions.
