All pics are here!

All the pics are here!

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.

Watch the video

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!

Tags: starivrh, slovenia, snowboard

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by dikonaca with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.

Watch the video

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…

Tags: chafouincrew, snowboard

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 Beta tester that are currently logged on the site, show a strong will to catch back the points they lost !

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.)

He he! Good old times. When is the next CCrew gathering planned?

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.

Watch the video

We are back in business! The sun is shining, the sky is clear. So we went to the glacier des Diablerets to end up the season in great conditions. In fact the glacier is the only opened resort left. Leysin, as most of the other local resorts, closed last Monday.

Up on the glacier, the snow conditions are really good. We encountered all lot of different flying “objects” up there : the local eagle cruising around and chasing the choucas, some old-school military chopper and most bizarre three guys experimenting with their WOOPYKITE. This is a new flying wing concept invented by two Swiss guys. The snow woopykite seems to be just one year old. It’s a mixture of flying and gliding on the snow. The guys were having a great time. Check it out for yourself on the video.

Tags: diablerets, woopykite

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!

Watch the video

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…

Tags: snowboard, switzerland, leysin

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.

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…

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!