Like clockwork, Candide Thovex, the French Michael Jordan, has changed ski sponsors. While Candide has remained on Quiksilver for as long as he’s been skiing, the rate at which he changed ski sponsors has continued with such regularity it’s a small industry joke. First Dynastar, then Salomon, then Rossignol, then Coreupt, and now Faction Skis. Candide has done his part to keep the sponsors within the Euro zone, but has changed sponsors as often as Winona Ryder shoplifts, usually leaving the former in his wake with unsold Candide pro models. What do you think?
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It is with great and unsarcastic sadness that we are reporting about the death of legendary women’s freeskier, Sarah Burke. While we love to hate on pipe jocks, Sarah has had an unrelenting hold on the Gold medal at almost every superpipe contest she entered, and we have absolute respect for her for that and for her outspoken efforts to better the inclusion of and participation in women’s freeskiing. As my coach at SMS (now Momentum) camp on the Whistler glacier back in 2001, Sarah was the first pro skier girl in a long line of pro skier girls that I had a huge crush on, and taught me how to ski switch onto rails.
Sarah succumbed to injuries sustained while skiing halfpipe at Park City, in which she ruptured her vertebral artery, causing a severe intracranial hemorrhage and putting Sarah into cardiac arrest. For a more complete report, read this post on Powdermag.com. Our deepest condolences go out to husband Rory Bushfield, the Burke family, and Sarah herself. May she rest in peace and may all of us try and be just a little bit safer this winter.
A new trailer for the Eric Iberg directed Tanner Hall doc “Like a Lion” just came out. It’s a strange and amorphous project that still defies any easy categorization by we of the snark blog persuasion, but things are getting a bit clearer. I’ve already covered my hopes for the project, so I won’t bore you with those details. At this point we can just be glad that Mik D and Candide actually got in front of a camera for interviews about Tanner. I wish Iberg would have lured them with an interview, but tricked them into actually skiing park in front of a camera again. Alas, every dream can’t come true.
I bet they didn’t get the name from this Decemberists song of the same title.
If my calendar serves me correctly, it’s almost trailer season. We’ve still got to wait for some spring park shoots to wrap up, but pretty soon we’ll be feasting our eyes on some carefully edited snapshots into the work of the top thirty to fifty skiers in the world. Some might say that the trailer is overrated, but I’d have to disagree. A really good trailer will grease the gears of the hype machine and get the internet buzzing with anticipation.
I’ve used this example before, but the trailer to WSKI was so banger that the hype probably eclipsed the actual video. There’s obviously lots to be said about editing and the choice of shots that will make the jaws drop, but song choice isn’t to be ignored. You can really make a statement with a song, and setup an image/mood that we’ll carry in our heads until that first premier.
Here are a few of my less-than-serious suggestions for everybody’s favorite film companies:
Meathead Films- Probably the most crucial trailer of year. These guys serve an audience that takes pride in being core to the core, and they took some risks by filming in Japan. The boundaries of the “east” had been stretched slightly to include Michigan, but flying to the other side of the world might be a bit questionable. This trailer will need to say “We’re still core as f*ck. You got a problem, sucka?” What better way, than with some grimy Baltimore hip hop?
Level 1: Refresh may have produced more hype than any ski movie in the last decade. While that’s usually a good thing, I’ll bet Berman wouldn’t mind a year without subpoenas and cease and desist orders. I think they’ll go with a can’t-we-all-get-along track:
Nimbus: I know, I know…they’re not really putting out a traditional trailer this year because it’s all futuristic digital downloads and whatnot. Nonetheless, here’s my completely unsolicited opinion on what they need to make happen with their music: We all love the class rock vibe of Nimbus stuff, and if you don’t…well you’re an ass. However, we’re in the midst of a really damn cool bluesy classic rock-esque music revival right now. There are a shitload of bands making music that sounds both current and straight out of 1971. So in order to narrow it down a bit, just start with anything from the Black Keys. You know Dan Auerbach is one soulful ass whiteboy.
Surface “Walks of Life”: I don’t give a shit what song you use, just release the damn thing.
KC Deane, Scotty Nikkel and crew deliver episode 3 in their series. This one covers Breck and Ruby Hill in CO and some urban shred in lord-knows-where. Straight from the Biggest Little City…enjoy!
BroBomb has been a pretty amazing success. We really can’t believe how quickly it caught on. People around the industry have taken notice of our tastemaker status and we’ve actually gotten a few requests to help with marketing campaigns. That’s not really our realm of expertise, so we’ve turned down most of them, but Granite Peak in Wisconsin asked us to help promote their new “snowboard free” trails. Some causes just touch your heart, so we did our best. Let us know what you think!
Two things unite all east coasters: the belief that “frozen granular” constitutes a skiable surface, and a passionate yearning for that yearly trip “out west.” Last year my brother spent enough time money at Atlantic City blackjack tables to earn four free nights at any Harrah’s casino. We chose Reno.
Reno is an interesting place to fly into because you inevitably have a stopover in Las Vegas. Everyone else on that plane is getting off in Vegas and they will inevitably ask, “What hotel are you staying at?” The answer, “Oh, I’m going on to Reno,” is met with confusion and polite smiles. I had never been to Reno and had no idea why they reacted that way. I mean, a better-traveled friend did tell me, “hold tight to your hopes and dreams,” but he’s a musician so I just figured it was some hyperbolic lyric he was working on. It wasn’t. Reno is scary as shit!
We landed around 10pm, caught the last shuttle to Harrah’s, and settled into our room. The accommodations were nice enough and we even got a balcony with a near limitless view of urban decay. We were welcomed by toothless women on Jazzy Scooters who took a break from playing slots long enough to ridicule us for carrying skis by squawking, “This ain’t Ta-Hoe!” Continue reading this entry »
I’ve noticed a perilous trend in ski movies lately. It’s barely noticeable as the eye is dazzled with backcountry bangers, switch-ups beyond comprehension, and outerwear specifically designed to look confusing on camera. If you listen closely you will notice it, the ubiquitous voice of bro narration. There have always been cheesy voiceovers in ski films, but the whisper has grown to an unavoidable roar as some snow jock over-explains every segment of film. If a rider is trying to do something different, we are told; if some fool battled injury to bring you their banger segment, we ARE told; and rest your ass assured that if Joe Skier decided to take his park tricks to the backcountry this year, we WILL know about it.
We at BroBomb have decided to wage war against “bro narration.” It must be stopped, or at least quieted. So we are going to search the internet for edits (skiing and otherwise) that communicate fun, passion, enjoyment, friendship, and whatever else those dopey voiceovers usually cover – but without ANY narration. You see, we believe in the fine art of cinema, and we believe that a real artist with a camera can SHOW these things, rather than blurt them out through cheap and inorganic monologues.
This week’s edit is “First Snow of the Year” by Ian Welty. It goes above and beyond by not even including a single human being, yet the excitement of a skier watching the first flakes fly is all over it. Enjoy.
If you’ve made (or will make) an edit that meets these criteria, then please send a link to: jon@brobomb.com If anybody decides to buy some ad space on this site and thus provides us with a budget, there might even be a small prize involved eventually (but more likely it’ll just be the satisfaction of getting props from some cool ass dudes!).
Our friend Chris Casula went to Loveland for the first opening day on this continent. More photos and story to follow.
Burry and bro, all smiles at Loveland.
Chris: “Hey there, Burry! What’s it like to be back on snow?”
Burry: ”Actually, I just got back from Argentina. I was in Hood before that.”
Chris: ”Fuck you, Burry.”
“Click to continue” for all the pics from opening day at Loveland.
Jon McMurray is a rapper….and apparently the roof is on fire. What do you think we should do?
“Click to continue” and watch the video for the completely unpredictable answer.
