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When is Walks of Life Dropping?

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Way back in 2008 Surface dropped a trailer to their upcoming team video- Walks of Life. The forums have been buzzing ever since. There’s been plenty of speculation, but no official word from the Surface camp as to when it will be dropping. We’re as eager as any of you, so we cornered Mike Schneider of the Surface/Causwell/JOY empire in his booth as SIA. Matt and Chris stood guard at the entrance, and I snuck up behind Mike with an audio recorder and started firing questions.

BroBomb: When is Walks of Life dropping?

(Mike tries to run away)

Mike: Come to find out, making a movie is harder than we thought. We’re going to continue filming through this winter, and try to put something out this spring that we’re proud of. We have a lot of footage gathered, but we’re not 100% satisfied with it, so we’re going to keep cracking at it and try to put something out this summer.

BB: What’s been the stumbling block so far?

Mike: You know, we need to get a camera first. We need a camera.

Rob: And with new athletes, new talent we want to get them in there.

Mike: That’s true; we’ve got to get a lot of Jeff Kiesel, Banks Gilberti, and some Anthony stuff. Blake’s on the road with the Nimbus guys now and we don’t want to make a movie without those guys. It’s going to take us a little longer to put something together that we’re proud to show the world.

BB: Are you currently filming with your grandmother’s Super 8?

Mike: No, I wish. That would be a treat. We got a nice JVC that we purchased from a friend of ours over at Fifty Fifty BMX, who made us a hell of a deal on it, so we got that. But it broke, it’s not working anymore.

BB: How broke?

Mike: It’s done. I actually threw it away. We need to invest in a camera here pretty soon. We’ve been getting filmers like Hennie. He’s been filming a bunch when he can.

Chris: Can we throw a Surface camera benefit party?

Mike: That would be amazing. Let’s do some sort of fundraiser on BroBomb where we can get a camera. But really, we’re going to get crackin’ on it again.

BB: What are we looking at for a date now?

Mike: E.T.A?

BB: We’ve pushed it back a few times so far, so what are we at?

Mike: Walks of Life E.T.A? I don’t know?

Jason: Two years!

Chris: Teddy Bear Crisis 2 is coming out before Walks?

Mike: Yeah, we wanted to bring Ostness on board…if we can find him. Nah, we’ll do something one day. But we’re going to spend a whole bunch of time up at Hood, so if we don’t have something by spring, it’ll be the middle of the summer.

surface life

This is an ambush.

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So We’re at SIA

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

I landed around two, got a shuttle to a relatively sketchy part of town, and then walked my ass to the Convention Center. It’s my first SIA, so I’m not jaded yet, and it was pretty damn cool. Although, the snowboarding booths attract way more specimens of the female sex.

I know you are only here for the photos, so here they are. I promise more details tomorrow, but for now you’ll have to bask in some pure new product porn (cheap porn at that).

This bear likes the new skis.

This bear likes the new skis.

Icelantic

Icelantic

100_0260

100_0261

Josh Malczyk and the Wacky Waving Arm Inflatable Tube Man.

Josh Malczyk and the Wacky Waving Arm Inflatable Tube Man.

The Stepup..and the Afterbang.

The Stepup..and the Afterbang.

Surface sticks.

Surface sticks.

Fortitude skis. More on that later.

Fortitude skis. More on that later.

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Talking with Anthony Boronowski

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Anthony Boronowski doesn’t need much of an introduction. As one of the founding Armada shreds, Anthony laid it down to “Blue Collar Man” in Session 1242, and has had a cult following ever since. One of the first skiers to spin both ways and the first to take that diversity to the backcountry, Anthony has been pushing the sport from all angles throughout his career. Whether as a backcountry slayer, founder of skiing’s first arthouse brand, Joystick, a practiced painter, film producer, and aficionado of pictures of bicycles, Anthony has always redefined what it means to be a skier.

Thanks to the e-communication powers of the internet, we were able to sit down with Anthony to talk about the big moves he’s been making recently.

boronowski

photo: Jason Eichorst

BroBomb: So you just made the move to Surface.  What prompted that?

Anthony: There were a lot of things which went into this move. I’ve always been a fan of Surface, and at this point everything seemed to fit. Surface is doing great things, what they were doing with their brand and how they approach skiing resonated with me and I wanted to be a part of that.

Was this something you’d been thinking about since the Hot Lunch days?

Not really, when we filmed Hot Lunch I was really content with Armada.

How did you leave it with Armada?

It’s good. I rode for Armada for a long time and we’re all friends. There’s no hard feelings.

What level of involvement are you going to have with Surface?

I’m doing 2 signature design skis for them. They’ll be released at SIA in the end of January, and on the shelves next September. Aside from skiing, I’ll be involved in ski design and direction. At this point I’m just starting with them, and since its a young brand who’s open to new ideas I’m sure I’ll be involved on many levels. I’m just not sure which ones yet.

Will we be seeing as much of your artwork on Surface product as we did at Armada?

I would say more.

Now that you’ve moved to Surface, where do you see them fitting in among the growing number of independent brands?

I don’t really see Surface as fitting in among the other young brands out there. I think they’re making better skis, with a better direction. They have the people to make the brand a major player in the industry, and are putting the pieces in place to do so.

Does the move to Surface feel like changing to a much smaller company after Armada?

Yes and no. Armada is really much smaller than many people envision, there’s a few core people who make things happen and that’s all there with Surface so that feels the same. In terms of recognition of the brand, like people on the hill and such, it feels much smaller. Surface is still gaining recognition with the common skier.

anthony whistler

Outside of Surface and Joystick, who else are you skiing for this year?

Under Armour, Full Tilt Boots, Whistler/Blackcomb, Evo.

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We Want Team Videos

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

brobomb ski blog team

 Team videos have not figured prominently in the ski scene. A couple light attempts have been made in the past few seasons: Atomic’s 44 Days and Skiing is ____,  Voluerz’s Outdoor Graduation, and Joystick’s Hot Lunch (the balls!). Of course, who can forget the Oakley video, perhaps better known by its more unfortunate name- “Session 1242.” It’s one of the best videos ever made, and one of Tanner’s best parts as well. Not to mention Tony shredding a full part to “Blue Collar Man.”

 We’re ripe for another team video- several teams are stacked with talent, and slopes are flush with video nerds pointing cameras at every jump and rail who are willing to slave for pennies on the dollar. Any bro who can do a switch-up now has his own webisode series; companies are out of excuses.  Somebody’s got to drop a proper team video. Here’s a few that I’d like to see: Click to continue »

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Ryan Dunfee’s Crystal Ball

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

brobomb ski gypsyPrediction and prophecy are two occupations better left to Roland Emmerich’s CGI department.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t make a list of what I want to see, and then pass it off as a prediction.  So here are a few predictions for skiing’s evolution in the 2010 season:

1. Poor is the new cool.  This has long been standard fare in skateboarding and surfing, but not so in skiing, where it is much harder given the price of equipment, lift tickets, and heating costs for a 15 X 20 ft. apartment, to really be that poor and still ski.  However, in a protracted recession, the appetite and tolerance for Black Card-stunts like Shaun White’s private halfpipe and heli-filming-Red-Bull-heli-filming-skiers has faded.  Skiers, who have in reality been poor since before the recession, come to terms with their financial situation and embrace it.  Crews like the Traveling Circus, who were poor before it was cool, are vindicated in their efforts with success & fame (but naturally, not money). Beat-up gear, shoe-string belts, and jeans are in.  PBR puts a team together, likely with Mike Gutt as team manager, or maybe a bum from Truckee.  Peter Olenick’s stupid ‘Monster’ monster truck gets egged repeatedly on the streets of Aspen. Click to continue »

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