Blake Nyman is a fixture in the Nimbus videos and webisodes. He recently took some time away from filming all forms of slashes, nose butters, and pow turns with the homies to catch up on his roadbiking and sightseeing in the Big Apple. Twitter tells us he’s headed back to snowy Oregon with Banks Gilberti, but he still found time to recommend some books to expand your tiny minds.

Have you ever read on the ski lift?

Kinda sorta…does my phone count?  Associated Press, NPR, Twitter, etc.  I find myself perusing those types of quick fixes on the lift, but I don’t think I’ve ever consciously pursued a novel.  I think I’m too much of  a wuss to ski by myself most days, so maybe if I toughed it up I could get some solid multitasking in.  Or I could make a sweet little book holder to put on the front of my snowmobile.  I’ve always thought that someone could get a pretty solid education if they used the time on the lift for scholastic endeavors.  There are definitely some skiers that should take that suggestion seriously.

Do you own a Kindle, Nook, or e-reader of any sort?

No, played around with one the other day.  I think I’m on the fence.  As far as gettin’ your read on on the lift, I think they’ve got a ways to go before we’re a target demographic of the e-reader companies.  Can’t beat the ol’ page and ink though– the smell, the feel, the weight, the look.  Nothing against the wave of the future, but I’ve got a solid appreciation for the tried and true methods of the past: books, magazines, photos, paintings, etc.  All the mediums you actually look at and feel in person as opposed to through some digital screen.  But I’m not trying to have that debate about which is better, they all have their place.

Filming with Nimbus seems to involve lots of travel, what are your top 3 travel books, magazines, and/or blogs?

We spend a ton of time in our cars on the road, so I’m starting to stack up a nice collection of books on tape…or mp3, whatever you want to call it.  Went through a couple Malcolm Gladwell books this year; The Tipping Point and Outliers.  I’ve become a pretty big fan of his over the past bit.  His stuff reads like a text book, but that guy has crazy amounts of knowledge and different perspectives, so it keeps me interested.  Also recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy (a lot better than the movie) and my inner hipster always loves some Chuck Palahnuik.  A little nervous to start turning the pages on my next read, Paradise Lost, which was first published in 1667 by John Milton.  I hear it can be a doozy and make the head spin.  As for blogs, I’ve subscribed to too many to list.  I’ll gladly plug my own blog and then you can see a list of my time burglars and take a gander from there: www.blakenyman.com

Who is the resident literary scholar of the Nimbus crew?

I’d have to say Pep.  Don’t know if he quite hits bookworm status, but he’s up there.  Usually has some pretty good info to share from some books he’s read or reading.

I hear you’ve been holed up in New York City for a little while. Give us a top 5 books about New York, or just books you’re planning to read in NY.

Sex and the City!  Hands down.  Supplemented with Vogue and US Weekly.  Quality literature right there.  Jokes, definite jokes, have to clarify.  No, but there are some pretty rad novels that take place in New York– classics like Catcher in the Rye, The Alienist, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Great Gatsby, American Psycho, The Age of Innocence.  Can’t say I’ve read them all, but I’ve tackled a few and definitely plan on eventually making my way through all of them.  People are always reading on the subway, so you come across some pretty funny and interesting titles.  If I come across anymore solid suggestions I’ll definitely make note, but to end this, an all time favorite of mine is Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  A bit under the radar, but find it and read it if you haven’t already.  It only takes about 30 minutes, but it will be 30 minutes you’ll be pumped on.

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.

This is an ambush.

BB: Do we have some edits looking to drop soon?

Mike: Yeah, Hennie talked me into doing some finally.

Chris: Yaaaay.

Mike: With all of our Mount Hood footage from last summer, we’re going to do an edit here in the next few weeks.

BB: The footage is already gathered?

Mike: Yeah it’s done, but Hennie’s been busy. He’s doing a lot of work for The North Face now. They hired him up to do a bunch of stuff. He’s awesome. Hennie’s the man.

BB: He is a good filmer.

Mike: He’s come a long way. He blew his knee out too. So I’ll put an E.T.A down on [Walks of Life] and say July 17th.

BB: Of?

Mike: 2012.

BB: Haha, so now that’s settled. The next question: When is Causwell going to put out a fitted pant for those of us over the age of 25?

Mike: You know what. It’s taken us five years to shake the emo thing. And I think we’ve done it, so we were a little nervous to put out a tight pant this year.

BB: So now it’s time to dive back in?

Mike: It’s G-mo. We’re the G-mo. No, but we’re going to do a fitted pant for sure. We want to do one.

BB: By next year’s line? We’re going to hold you to it.

Mike: No, that’s cool because we want to. We want to do a nice slim pant. We’ll probably put one together in the middle of spring and release it in the fall…something like that.

Thanks to the Surface guys, and for pics and video of their 2011 line check out our Facebook.

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.

Icelantic

Josh Malczyk and the Wacky Waving Arm Inflatable Tube Man.

The Stepup..and the Afterbang.

Surface sticks.

Fortitude skis. More on that later.

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.

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.

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

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

How did you see skiing change last season?

I’d say double corks are the most obvious change in skiing this last season. Seems like it’s the standard for either slope or pipe riders who want to be competitive.

How do you see skiing moving along this season?

Moving along, I guess I see skiing in natural terrain. After watching the Red Bull Linecatcher I’m sure this will be taken to whole new levels this year.

What’s going on in skiing right now that you are most excited about?

Max Hill

Good choice. Anything that you might wish was happening differently?

Not really. I think skiing is in a good place.

What are your plans for this winter?

Shooting with Nimbus, doing some backcountry contests. Really trying to focus on working with Nimbus.

Do you see yourself putting together another film with the Hot Lunch/Joystick crew?

Sure, I would love to. It just depends on a lot of logistics and variables, but it would be something I’m into.

What was the story behind the minivan you guys drove (in Hot Lunch)?

It was actually Blake’s parents van. That’s about it… We needed a van, and it worked out.

How did you find all those guys?  I had never heard of Jordan, Blake, or Paco before Hot Lunch.

Just friends, I wouldn’t really say I found them, just that we came together to do something…

Does Paco speak any English?

A little. More french than I speak.

What was your favorite ski movie that came out this year, and your favorite webisode series?

I liked Contrast, and I like Chug Life. I watch every episode.

Congratulations on the new Joystick site; I thought it came out really well.  How hard was it to teach yourself to make a web site?

It was really tedious. But something I’m glad I learned how to code. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while. It took way longer than I expected.

How are things going with Joystick?

Good. I actually just sold the business to the owners of Surface Skis, so it’s an exciting time for Joystick. Big things in the future.

How does running Joystick fit in with your shred schedule?

It’s a lot of work. The hardest part is trying to find a balance, which is hard. Ultimately, it’s really hard to do both well.

Is there going to be much collaboration between Joystick and Surface?

I’d assume so. Both of the brands are in a similar position, and it would seem natural.

There is a lot of inter-boardsport dating going on in professional skiing right now.  Chris Benchetler is dating Kimmy Fasani, Eric Pollard’s wife Erin is a snowboarder, and you are dating Spencer O’Brien.  What’s it like being intimate with The Other Side?

It’s like any other relationship, except my girl has a great job and we understand what it takes to be a professional athlete.

What’s the Vancouver scene like these days?

Good. I’m not there so much but I think it’s good.

Are the Olympics getting in the way of the pro shred scene up at Whistler at all?

Yeah, it’s hard right now. A lot of snowmobile spots are shut down and the whole area is really busy. I’m not really planning on spending too much time in Whistler this year.

Matt Barber just started a series on BroBomb called Know Your Roots.  When you were on the up and up, who were your favorite skiers to watch?

JP Auclair and Julien Regnier.

 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:

Notable shreds: Banks Gilberti, Phil Casabon, Jaime Puigdengoles, Max Hill, Michelle Parker, Kaya Turski, Will Wesson, Andy Parry, Xavier Bertoni, Taylor Seaton, Matt Margetts, JP Auclair.

 The Orage team has quietly gotten loaded with talent, and is now bubbling at the ears with rippers.  You wouldn’t notice because two seasons ago most of these kids were solid B-team shreds, but now are absolute rippers with their own respective talents.  X Games winners TJ Schiller and Xavier Bertoni. Style leaders like B-Dog and Max Hill. Taylor Seaton, one of the most fun guys to watch ski pipe. The TC crew. Super-cool Spanish head Jaime P.  Female rip-a-lot Michelle Parker, and JP Auclair.  JP was in “13.”  Enough said.  Find a music editor who will go easy on the new reggae & a filmer who knows you can make shit happen without a RED camera and voila, skiing’s “Fully Flared” is in the bag. Easy as that!

 Notable shreds: Tanner Hall, JP Auclair, Anthony Boronowski, Jacob Wester, Phil Casabon, Mike Hornbeck, Riley Leboe, Taylor Seaton, lots of sick Euros, Ian Provo, Kim Lamarre, Zack Davison

 Armada has long had a deep roster, although the pro ranks have thinned slightly as of late with the departure of TJ Schiller and Julien Regnier.  Like Orage, Armada is investing in a lot of young talent, and a lot of young Euro shralpers as well.  There’s a lot of kids on the National teams that probably rip to hell, but I haven’t had the time to watch enough Youtube videos to differentiate them all.  However, Armada will have to beat Orage to the punch, as both houses share a few names such as Taylor, JP, Casabon, & Jaime (if he still skis for them, he might not).  Same goes for film style, although the folks at Armada are closely wedded to the latest and greatest gadgets in video definition, they don’t like to use any audio in their edits.  The fact remains, JP and Tony both need a full part each before they fully hand the reigns over to the next generation.

Notable shreds:  Blake Nyman, Banks Gilberti, Jordan Seldin, Jeff Kiesel, Ian Wade, Erica Durstschi, Krista Giles, Dania Assalia , Eliel Hindert, Josh Bishop, Joel Whalen

 Yes, I know.  Walks of Life is due out any week, day, minute, or second.  I’ve been hoping for big things (Hot Lunch Vol. II) from this project, and the NS rumor mill has put the release date back to New Year’s.  Make it happen, Surface!

 Notable shreds:  Andy Mahre, Seth Morrison, Sean Petit, Michelle Parker, Pep Fujas, PK Hunder, Anna Segal, Charley Ager, Frank Raymond, Matt Margetts

  K2’s got some seriously ripping big mountain skiers on their set, along with some of the best jib heads.  We all know the big names, but Charlie Ager and Frank Raymond deserve more than the combined 20 seconds they’re getting in Poor Boyz flicks.  K2 will have to offer some serious incentives for several of their athletes to step away from their current filming commitments with MSP and Nimbus to make the movie, or maybe they’ll just share.  In any case, while K2’s benches don’t appear as deep as other teams, they might have the highest concentration of standout video skiers out of any team. They also have Seth Morrison. If K2 stepped up there could be straight fiyah coming out of the DVD player by the time you’re ten minutes in, and I have enough confidence in Mike Gutt to believe this project would live up to its potential.

 Notable shreds:  Everybody in a “G” or Magic suit, plus Cody Townsend and Mark Abma.

 I’m not so sure Salomon needs to make a team video.  Between Salomon Freeski TV, Matchstick & Poor Boyz (who are often accused of being Salomon Freeski TV affiliates), these guys have more video coverage of their athletes than any other company. It’s time someone else got to compete. Although Kaya Turski needs a part sometime soon. That chick can slay.

 Notable shreds: Garret Russell, Eric Pollard, Will Wesson, Andy Parry, Ian Compton, Max Hill, Joe Schuster, and LJ Strenio.

  I was really disappointed a few seasons back when Line dropped their whole team except for Eric Pollard.  Then I guess all those kids on the Skier’s Union, who were getting flow from Line, started getting good.  Line has some of the most original rippers on their books, notably- Garret Russell, Pollard, the TC boys, Max Hill, and the new butter-smooth kid from Mt. Snow, Ian Compton. The team edit they dropped last week was just a cruel demonstration of how good this video could be. This is one of those rare moments in time where a team captures lightning in a bottle and it’s damn sure not to last. The tools are there to make an absolute classic- Mr. Malczyk has got to make this happen. For skiing’s sake.

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.

2. The winner of Level 1’s Superunknown is from an East Coast park even farther south than Brogan & Wallisch’s stomps down in PA.  I’m guessing it will be Appalachian Ski Mt., North Carolina.  Level 1’s bonus features includes a debate about style featuring Phil Casabon’s quebecois interpretation of gangsta english, Henrik Harlaut’s Scandinavian interpretation of gangsta english, New-Guy-From-The-South’s southern-drawl-white-guy gangsta english, and Warren Miller.  Warren just keeps repeating “If you don’t learn English this season, you’ll be one year older when you do.”

New hotbed of park talent.

 3. Skiing gets slightly less lilly-white. But NO, you still can’t use the n-word.

4. Rail skiing has an identity crisis.  With no room left to spin, switch-up, or pretzel, (some) skiers, long jealous of snowboarders and their pressing ways, will find the next big thing. Will anyone other than Ian Wade figure out how to do a nose press?  One footers?  More taps?  Only time and Mike Hornbeck’s video footage will tell.

5. Style is in.  For real this time.  I base this only on the reaction to Phil Casabon’s segment from Refresh.  The death knell is sounded on the Octograb (that was a long couple seasons) and any double grabs involving the tip.  Jon Brogan is the one sounding the bell.

6. Surface blows up.  As the only existing antidote to the afterbanging disease, the small but growing number of skiers disenchanted with tall-t’s and neon 4XL pants find their voice in this SLC-heavy crew.  Parks and chutes from Baker to Mt. Snow fill up with Live Life II’s, industry heavies Pep Fujas & Sean Petit join the team, and shop owners trying to peddle balloon-size outerwear are told to fuck off by kids whose jeans fit.  Holden sells out of pants. And Walks of Life drops… in May.

Coolest cat in the room.

 7. Ramped slow-mo will go another season unused by ski film companies.  Hammers will go by unnoticed until people watch the video enough times.  TGR will abuse slow-mo, MSP will spend a lot of money and time on a stupid intro, and Level 1 will have mostly good music.  Rage will still need to change their company name now that angst is out in the ski scene.  Most will claim that “ski porn” is played out, and none will realize they just don’t know really how to do a good job of it.  The Meatheads will find some insane backcountry line hidden behind 50 miles of New England woods, and Erik Olson will still be the only guy who bothers to head that far out to ski something on the East Coast.  God bless ‘em.

8. Nick Martini loses the pants to his G-Suit, and subsequently none of the groms at Breck let him cut the lift line because they don’t recognize him.

9. Grete Eliassen will get hotter still.  Say My Name will drop, and godwilling will have some hammers in it (she seems pretty intent on it in the teaser).  The number of pro skiers chicks who really rip will grow by one, or maybe two this time.  Sarah Burke and Ingrid Backstrom will leave most of the boys behind with their nuts in their stomach, again.

She writes too: GreteEliassen.com

 10. Candide kills it, and we get to see three minutes of it on Candide Kamera. The rest is just hearsay and speculation, and all in French.  Grab your dictionary.

Where's Candide?