sea to sky made (part 2) [pique]

7/29/2019 Sea to Sky Made (Part 2) [PIQUE]

1/5

44 | February 2, 2012 | www.piquenewsmagazine.com

STO

R

Y

44Feature

STO

R

Y

44Feature

I

n last weeks

feature, tobias c.

van Veen tracked

down local ski

builders in Whistler and

Pemberton, discussing the

economics of small-scale

production in high-end

sports equipment. Many

builders felt that a

shared industrial space

would allow them to take

their designs to the next

level. In the concluding

installment, tobias talks

to local snowboard and

splitboard makers.

Sea to SkyMade

Part two: our sagacontinues with snowboardmakers & splitters

Story and Photos bytobias c. van Veen


2/5

www.piquenewsmagazine.com | February 2, 2012 | 45

Feature STORY

People in the Valley are good at making

and doing things. Nowhere is this more

apparent than on the fringes of Whistlers

hub; a quick survey of the Pemberton

phonebook reveals a slew of entrepreneurial

types, from landscapers to photographers.While these artisans and trades support

something of the bigger beast of tourism,

most long-term locals are self-starters, setting

up shop, and selling a service or product.

Many workers in the Valley are multi-skilled,

juggling numerous jobs depending on the

season. Nearly everyone around these parts

has figured out a way to work and play in

the Sea to Sky corridor by fulfilling some sort

of niche.

Over the past couple of years, a motley

though dedicated band of local ski and

snowboard makers, have gained momentum

propelled by declining technology prices,

trickle-down mechanical innovations,

and information sharing through social

media, thanks to maker-websites such asskibuilders.com. Yet the desire to craft skis

and boards, to create local, handmade,

artisanal shapes for riding on snow, though

it follows upon similar developments in the

surfing community, can only be understood

if its economics are contextualized within

a thriving snowsports culture that has

embraced a Do-it-Yourself ethos.

Freesking and ski-touring have once

again upended the ski industry, with

innovations in rocker design those crazily

turned-up shapes sweeping across all

styles of ski. Splitboarding, though it has

been around for close to 20 years, is seeing

a strong resurgence, if not renaissance, as

snowboarders strive to keep apace with their

ski-touring cousins. The Sea to Sky is not

alone in this respect; across North America

a wave of smaller-scale ski and snowboard

makers have begun to make inroads into

the broader snowsports industry, redefining

the whole through the diverse sum of their

many parts.

PRIOR all thathas happenedwill happenagain

If there is a Big Bang moment for modern ski

and snowboard construction in the Sea to

Sky, it is Prior. The history of Prior would fill a

tome unto itself. Ever since Chris Prior began

shaping snowboards down in the city over

15 years ago, Prior snowboards (and later

skis) began to be synonymous with superior-

quality, Coast Range oriented design. Prior

is one of Canadas most respected ski

and snowboard makers, bridging the gap

between the major manufacturers and the

smaller, one-man outfits. Simply put, Prioris known for its designs around the frozen

world.

But little known in this storied history

of the Function Junction lynchpin is the

innovative work of pro-rider, ex-racer and

self-described punk rocker kind of guy

James Oda in cutting Priors first splitboard

with founder Chris Prior.

Back in the raving 90s, splitboarding was

not only in its infancy, it was as underground

as snowboarding had been in the late 80s.

The idea of splitting a snowboard in two

for mucking around in the backcountry was

pioneered by Voil, which also developed

the first widely available commercial plate

bindings, skins, and attachments to strap the

board back together again for the descent.

Around 1996, James Oda went to buy

a Voil splitboard, but supply was thin;

James (left) and Chris(right), wondering how

they survived to seePRIORs modern split.


3/5


so he and Chris Prior

set about making a

thicker, heavier board

for splitting in early

1997. It didnt work,

says James. Wefound out that we

really didnt need to

change the snowboard

as dramatically as

we thought we did

with the split down

the centre.

Once they

got over their

misconception that

a split board would

lose all integrity of

the board and

as they realized that

a split board is, in

essence, a pair of

skis they, quicklypressed a (regular)

board, cut it in two,

and James took it to

Chamonix, France,

the next day. Today,

the prototype board

is mounted on

Priors history wall

as you walk up the

stairs of its Function

factory. Along the

side of the board,

providential words are written: Its been a

long skintrack from here to the first PRIOR

splitboard thanks for making dreams

happen. James Oda, 1997. The sidewalls

of the board arent even finished, and thecut is askew and far from perfect; James

was supposed to take a router with him,

but as he says, it never happened.

Never matter. James blessed the boards

in Chamonixs steeps with the likes of Glen

Plake and it immediately opened his

eyes to the possibility of splitboard touring,

even though he was sporting Raichle ski

touring boots and hardboot snowboard

bindings mounted on a freeheeling plate.

I went from post-holing and walking

around in snowshoes, he says, to being

able to travel, and get distance . . . I was

able to do Fissile in half the amount of

time it used to take me to. Yes before

the era of splitboards, James used to walkto and from Fissile on snowshoes, a solid

30 kilometre round trip, in often knee-to-

tits-deep snow. He did the same for the first

snowboard descent of Mt. Fitzsimmons in

1992, which took him two days with four

hours sleep.

That was a big move in those days,

for a snowboarder, recounts James. I was

pretty overwhelmed with the whole thing,

let alone stepping out onto the face, on

a snowboard, of Mt. Fitzsimmons at

that point it was the

biggest, gnarliest face

I had ever seen in my

life, let alone having

the climbing skills to

get there. Here I am

packing a borrowed

ice axe, borrowed

crampons, borrowed

everything. I didnt

own anything for that

trip pretty much.

Once he got the

splitboard, he did

Fitzsimmons in a

day. James would get

yelled at by skiers

in the skintrack,

because everyone

still had skinny

little pinner skis. So

hed have one foot

in the skin track, andone foot outside. I

got called a kook,

he says, but I was

pretty used to that.

Today, all of that has

changed with modern

fat skis and a

growing abundance

of splitboarders.

I went from being

the only splitboarder

in Whistler, to a

couple of friends getting kits, to the point

where we did a traverse of the Spearhead

in one day on a snowboard, says James,

who figures he was probably the first

person to pull it off. Whenever you meta splitboarder, here youve met another

alien, he says. We embraced each other,

like when we first started snowboarding.

In 1997, James built a board that was

split off the bat. This board went up Mt.

Currie and down its north face, as well as

down Mont Blancs infamous chutes of

theAiguille du Midi in Chamonix. Around

1999, Prior made the first production

splitboard. Maybe only 10 boards, says

James, noting that some people are still

riding them today. The graphics were

designed by venerable t-shirt maker

Toad Hall.

Today, Prior is one of the worlds

foremost makers of dedicated, wood-core

splitboards with two layers of Kevlar and

carbon fibre. Yet splitboarding is still a

fringe sport, to some extent, says James.

Snowboarders arent conditioned to the

same level of cost that skiers are. That said,

their numbers are growing, and with cheaper

options like Brad Bethunes services available

see below more snowboarders will find

themselves ski touring on the up to surf on

the way down.

Slicing it up,SupernaturalStyle

Brad Bethune shares his garage space in

Pemberton with ski maker Greg Funk,where the two swap ideas and tools across

their plastic-divided double carport.

Hailing from Kingston, Ontario, Brad has

been doing his thing in Whistler since

1998. Today he splits snowboards into

two, making splitboards; as far as he

knows, he might be the only commercial

board-splitter in Canada.

The procedure is simple enough, at

least for the customer. You send him your

board; hell slice it lengthwise, seal the

cut edges with spar-urethane, drill-press

the thirty-four holes for the uphill and

downhill stances, epoxy the inserts and

plug the bases, attach the binding plate

and the latch kit, and provide pre-cut

skins, all for 470 buckswhich is muchcheaper than the full retail version, which

costs $1,800 (though including a new

splitboard). Snowboard touring bindings

(such as the Sparks) and upgrades (such

as Karakoram clips) are also available at

additional cost.

Splitting old boards has proven to be

a smart business model. While working

at Evolution, on my lunch, I went on

to GoDaddy and bought splitboardz.com

for like 15 bucks, says Brad, who says

The Super Natural man,drilling for pow.


4/5

www.piquenewsmagazine.com | February 2, 2012 | 47

Feature STORY

that Jeanine, Evolutions owner, has been

extremely supportive and super helpful

in understanding the retail side of the

business. But as a shop worker, Brad saw,

in classic Hegelian style, the writing on the

wall before the master capitalists.Two to three years ago the splitboard

thing began showing up on a retail level,

says Brad, which made me notice it.

Without the retail experience I had, I

would never have identified the need for

splitboarding. So he figured out how

to split old boards, set-up accounts with

suppliers, and got his gear together. The

need for it now is insane, he says, with

emails and calls incoming daily for his

splitboard services.

Right from the very first year, it was

popular. I had calls even though I didnt

advertise, I didnt have a webpage, I had no

social media, but through Evolution and

the shopkids community, everybody just

found out, Brad says, gesturing at a halfa dozen completed boards. Everybody

wanted a splitboard, but nobody wanted

to pay off-the-shelf (prices). So Ive been

cutting boards for three years now.

Whil e the income remains

supplemental Brad runs Super Natural

Landscapes as his main business the

demand is growing like B.C. weeds. Hes

looking at upgrading his services to install

metal edges on cut boards, making it

closer to off-the-shelf, he says. With the

website and the Facebook page, hes now

seeing widespread interest from across

Canada and the U.S. And his prices are,

perhaps, even too reasonable; if you come

to Brad with your own kit, hell split your

board for $150.If Im working for an hourly wage,

says Brad, then Im not doing that well.

It probably takes me about 10 hours start

to finish, but it has to be over a three-day

period, because epoxies and urethanes all

need to dry and have several coats.

Like other makers in the Sea to Sky,

Brad is now looking at expanding his

business, weighing the options of a shared

space for smaller makers to stimulate their

sales and share associated costs.

Noboard, NoProblemWhitegolds Gotthe Goods

When I arrive at Kevin Sansalones place in

White Gold that infamous neighbourhood

tucked away between Lost Lake Park and the

99 his face betrays some concern. His

Dutch snowboarder friend who happens

to run Bateleon boards is upstairs with a

concussion, and a clinic visit is imminent.

So I throw Kevin onto his

skateboard for a photo

shoot on his indoor

garage ramp, figuring the

noise will help keep his

friend awake (he turned

out fine).

Unlike the other

makers here, Kevin

doesnt handmake hisown boards, though he

has plenty of experience

in designing them. As

a sponsored rider for

Vanco uver s Option

snowboards since 1998,

he designed various

iterations of his own ride,

the Sansalone, for almost

a decade. After he quit

Option in 2006 (the

board maker folded in

09). he kept toying with

prototypes, working with

Options ex-engineer,

Johnny Q, while

producing and filminghis Sandbox snowboard

flicks. Basically, he

wanted to ride his own

styles, and not somebody elses. I always

had this passion for boards, says Kevin.

Im really picky, Ive always wanted really

good stuff.

This drive led him to design his shapes in

AutoCAD software, coming up with the nose

and tail shape, and the specs for the sidecut,

waist, and radius. He now works with George

Cant, another ex-Option engineer, on the

materials and pressing at the Elan factory in

Austria. I just wanted boards that I liked .

. . so I thought, hey, Ill make a few extras,

and sell them to friends, or people who were

interested in my Option line, says Kevin,

who notes that his signature Option boards,

available for 10 years, sold everywhere from

Australia to Europe. In short, he had an

existing market for small, limited runs of

signature boards available solely online,

without the need for mass advertising

or exposure.

At the same time, his Sandbox Helmet

business has gone crazy the last couple of

years, and the movies were getting really

busy as well, says Kevin. So the boards

were this kind of fun hobby that I just built

slowly. His boards are a different business

model than the Sandbox rasta-graphics

helmets and the fast-paced snowboard

porn of his movies; the graphics are subtle

and minimalist, and materials are top-of-

the-line, featuring race-room quality Ptex

8000 bases.

Kevin has crafted a few different shapes,

though not all are available. He hauls them

out of their cloth board bags, and polishes

the topsheets with care. For the most part,

White Gold offers but one model, available

in three different sizes, and designed as

an all-mountain, all-around freestyle

board, what Kevin calls top-to-bottom

Whistler style.

What is particular to Kevins designs

is what he calls the slamback mount

position, which makes pow riding so much

easier. Riders can move their bindings up

to three inches back from the usual selection

of stances; this turns a regular board into

a fish-style board, and makes a shorter

board a more versatile deep snow tool,

Tongueactionon theSansaloneollie.


5/5


allowing a single ride from park to powder.

This innovation should be emphasized for

enhancing the versatility of a single board

into a Swiss Army knife of snow slaying;

other brands, such as his friends Bataleon,

have already copied it.

For snowboards,

his prices are top

shelf. Future 12/13

prices will range from

$600 to $800, with50 made of each size.

The 152cm will be a

park, freestyle cut, also

suitable for smaller

women; the 157cm

will be tapered for all

mountain freestyle;

and the 162cm

will be a stiffer, big

mountain board.

Beautifully unique

in Kevins line is the

prototype Woodie

noboard, which

may see a future

release. With its huge

bulletnose, the boardis 100 per cent wood

(treated with tea

tree oil) save for the

inserts; with no bases

and edges, it can be mounted with bindings

or with a leash for noboard-style powder

pleasure. Future models might feature a

removable edge. Last but not least on the

wall is the singularGlide 60, a unidirectional,

reverse sidecut, rockered pontoon board.

With only a few models in existence, this

dedicated deep snow machine is suitable

only for heli or catboarding, and at least

for now not for sale.

The Economics ofStorm-Chasing

Dont let me turn you off here, but there is a

contemporary economist, Paulo Virno, who

makes some interesting observations about

the virtuosityof contemporary labour. While

Virno wants to talk about a performance

without an end product such as in the case

of pianists or dancers, or, as is his point, the

political process there is also the idea that

certain objects are endowed with virtuosity.

Like a violin or piano or a mountain

bike or snowboard artisanal objects, such

as skis, are built for the pursuit of human

pleasure through virtuosic movement.Let me translate this another way. Your

skis or splitboard are tools for a performance

a transient, fleeting act of grace and

show on snow (whether under the chair

or far out in the CBC badlands). When

local artisans build such tools, they are also

building an economy that focuses around

virtuousity around chasing activities that

never cease. This is precisely why skiers

and snowboarders will suffer through the

long learning curve of bumps and bruises,

at whatever age, to spin in the pipe, whip

downhill at speed, dodge trees, fly off drops

and rocket through powder. Its an addiction.

An economy focused around feeding thisaddiction, around creating the very tools that

are the apparatus of the powder addict, spreads

this desire, making it grow and infecting

other regions. Local manufacturers are the

powder pushers, from Funk to Sluff, Gary

Wayne to Foon skis, from Prior and White

Gold boards to Supernaturals split services.

They feed the need and provide the tools for

the stage, and unlike the pure definition of

economic virtuosity, they realize that such

intangible experiences can be packaged into

an end product precisely by making the

tools to live and act out that play of chasing

the next storm, the next perfect pipe, into

the horizon.

Feature STORY

end

Sansalone keeping

a tight leashon his prototypenoboard.

sea to sky made (part 2) [pique]

Documents