Archive for the “ISPO09” Category

When we published our ISPO post featuring our coverage of 2010 outerwear, we mentionned we’d focus on HOLDEN with a dedicated post and an interview with founder and owner: Mikey LeBlanc!
So here it is! No need to introduce Mikey, we all saw him do gnarly bomb drops in lots of videos
Mikey talks about all the exciting things around his brand: the new 2010 collection of course, which offers something different than the other brands in terms of cuts and look, but also the video project he is backing: Videograss.
Videograss will feature some of the most progressive riders out there with the support of some of the freshest brands like Ashbury, Airblaster, or Signal. Stay alert coz teasers should hit the net really really soon. Videograss will surely be a must see next September.
Enough words, click for our interview with Mikey!
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Are you ready for a mega download? Here’s our post featuring the triple B: Boards x Bindings x Boots.
We covered quite a lot of brands during the Snow Avant Premiere. So click as well on our 09/10 collection page if you want some previews from YES, Signal, Artec, APO, Elan and Elan Chicas, Burton, Bataleon, Forum, Salomon, Ride, K2, Nitro, Rome, DC, Nidecker, Drake, Northwave, Vans, Union, Hammer, Santa Cruz, Flow, Nomis, Airblaster, Celtek, IS design, Smith optics, Bern, Dakine, Protec…coz we got that covered. You can also check out our Flickr page for heaps of pictures nicely organised by sets.
So at ISPO we tried to find some stuff we hadn’t seen before. Take the 32 - Stepchild collab featuring a board -above- and a boot for example. Talking about 32 and Stepchild you might want to check the page dubbed UhhSon of their up-coming movie project. The title has not yet been chosen by the way and you can give them your inputs.
Other interesting collabs to mention are the 686 x New Balance boots and the Flux x Elm bindings. In the boards slideshow look out for the Travis Rice promodel at Libtech and the complete collection of Capita that we hadn’t covered previously. Imperium also has a nice collection next year. Our shout out goes to the Stephane “mamar” Lochon signature board which is tribute to Franck Screm and will come with a skate deck. Rossignol has some interesting stuff as well specially in terms of graphic collabs like on the Retox or the Angus. You definitly have to check out the new Jeremy Jones freeride deck as well. Of course there is a lot of hype behind RDM, JPS and DCP coming up with their new board brand YES…
On the binding side, the new Agro binding from GNU is making a total commitment to Fastec Technology which enables smooth and easy “Backdoor” entry. Finally Nitro reveals a new top end binding, the Machine, which features a smaller disc system requiring just 2 screws for extended tuning options…

Check it all out in the slideshows below and ask us if you want any details or HD pics!

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After the 2010 outerwear review from ISPO, it’s time to check out some of the eyewear and accessories. We’ve got a bunch of brands covered for you. Check it all out in the slideshows below. Some highlights maybe: the Ashbury goggles line, the Dragon 2010 signature series from Gigi, Leanne Pelosi and Jamie Lynn, the Banana Hammock goggle from VZ, the inevitable goggle collabs with Skullcandy, a look at Shred optics the new eyewear sponsor from Romain De Marchi, the Landing 2010 signature line, Grenade gloves, Bern helmets, newest Skullcandy headphones…you decide!
Still to come this week, a monster triple B post featuring boards, boots and bindings to round-up our extensive 2009/2010 collection review!

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“Don’t miss the opportunity to talk to Jeremy Jones when it presents itself!”. I guess that’s what Mr. Burrows told Mr. Copsey…hence the extensive two part interview with Mr. Jones on Onboard TV!
Well I told myself the exact same thing and took advantage of the Happy Hour on the O’Neill booth to zip a couple of free Corona’s and meet up with Jeremy Jones! After this damn long interview with Onboard, Jeremy was still kind enough to give me 10 minutes that ended up being way over half an hour! It’s pretty sick to sit down with Jeremy Jones and just listen to him. So many words of wisdom…Seeing Jeremy at ISPO is funny tough. That’s definitively not the kind of environment where you’d expect to hook up with him; I was envisioning places like AK, Jackson Hall… But in fact he is super comfortable with it and takes the opportunity to share his opinion and deliver his messages. It’s the same with the internet. I wouldn’t expect Jeremy to spend much time online. But it’s completely the opposite: Jeremy is maybe one of the only big guns out there having a blog and actually really writing the stuff publiushed there! Also he truly understands the power of social media to make more people aware of what he is doing, what his organization POW wants to achieve, and why freeriding has to be looked up to!
So in our interview, Jeremy talks about his short term agenda which is the Big Mountain Pro, the development of his new Rossignol 2010 board, the ultimate freeride weapon - remember it’s ISPO -, and…that’s when my camera decided to go on strike like the Munich railway. So all the part about POW, and most importantly his film project DEEPER due to hit the screen in Fall 2010, are lost…and that’s when Onboard saves the day.

Stoked we met Mr. Jones. Huge respect! Now watch our video!

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Signal snowboards is THE brand getting the most positive vibes and buzz in the US. I heard that at the SIA in Vegas, their booth was the most crowded and visited. Signal is a young brand getting in it’s 6 year and growing steadily step by step, so much that in 2009/10 Signal will launch a sick outerwear collection created by Chris Miller.
Behind this success story is ex-Lib Tech  prorider Dave Lee. Now is the time for Signal to grow in Europe and we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to meet Dave at ISPO.
So here is our interview with the man! Dave comes back on how he went from employee at Mervin to prorider for Lib and now proud owner of a sick snowboard brand. He also presents the Signal 2010 snowboard line and outerwear that you should be able to find in European shops next fall!
Just seeing how stoked Dave is when he speaks about his products, shows the love and dedication that his crew and me are putting into into Signal!

Click for our video interview!

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After ISP(e)Ople and ISP(r)Oriders posts, it is time for what you are all waiting for: ISP(r)Oducts!
We start with a selection of outerwear pieces from 32, 686, Airblaster, Analog, Bond, Burton, eleven, Grenade, Horsefeather, Nikita, Picture, Sessions, Volcom, Westbeach and Zimtstern. We will cover Holden in detail in our video interview with Mikey LeBlanc in a few days.
We had to make a selection of brands because there is so much to see and to show. And even in this selection we only show some pieces otherwise we would have died of overdose! However we have some PR kits from 32, Burton, Sessions and Grenade and a ton of catalogues so if you are looking for anything special hit us with a mail or leave us a comment on this post. Oh Yeah, and flash news: Neff is also entering the outerwear market with a small collection that is due to grow and get a pro team…
Next year bright, bold colors are still super hot. That’s what we appreciated in particular in the collections from eleven, Bond, Session, Volcom and Airblaster. Plaid, jacquards, herringbones and some dye tie are also dominating the market.
But more than the designs trends it’s the eco trend that is really the unifying factor between all brands in 2009/10! Some call it jumping on the bandwagon but for others it’s simply doing what is needed to protect our Mother Nature! Two new small brands have to be pointed out: the French Picture which is launching it’s first collection in March and Bond from California. Bond recently signed TJ Schneider to its team. Both brands approach is all about sustainability without compromising the tech and the look! We like that! Bond jackets for example feature a water resistant “Waste Management Pocket” for all the crap we carry around when riding (cigarette buds, exploded tube of sunscreen, candy wrapper…). Pretty smart.
Volcom, Protest, Rip curl or 32 are all using PET from recycle plastic bottles in their apparel. A couple of brands like Vans or Billabong have partnerships with Jeremy Jones’ foundation POW, giving all the proceed to the organisation.
Finally specially for the girls, we have some nice pieces from B for Burton and of course Nikita! Sick stuff from Nikita again next year. The Nikita booth was in fact nothing else than a fashion show with walk-off challenges every couple of hours! We liked the wear and the models of course! Chafouincrew rpzt.

Click and enjoy the slideshow!

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ISPO is not only about getting wasted, no it’s about snowboarding! So there was actually some riding involved with a wicked event taking place at the Olympia Park: the Rip Curl Rail Sessions!
Check out the video report of the event which saw Canadian Louif Paradis take first place at the first contest he attented in Europe for his first ever trip to Europe. Stoked kid for sure. Mega ripper Halldor Helgason was second and Alex Tank from Germany took third. This means will see more of Louif at the Champs Open since he won a wild card and we will be there to cover this 5 star TTR event this week!
Click for the video!

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What to say about ISPO? It’s huge, it’s overwhelming, it’s super interesting, it’s fun, it’s wild, it’s a sleepless marathon from which you wake up with foggy memories of meetings, parties, product overdose, high fives, sore feet, all of this with a taste of booze in your mouth.
“Ispo…the hardest thing is: not to get wasted.” AWESOME DUDE!
We want to show you the great people we’ve met and the cool products we have seen during these pasts days. For us ISPO this year was more about the people than the products since we had the opportunity to cover already a lot of 2010 products earlier in January. It was cool to have some time to connect with all the individuals that make up our industry.
So this first post is a photographic attempt to freeze the instant with some of the people we met and who are all bringing their contribution to making our industry what it is!
Just to let you know what you can look forward to in the daze to come: a few video interviews with some heavy players - Jeremy Jones, Dave Lee and Mikey LeBlanc; plus 2010 product bonanza!
Click for our ISP(e)Ople slideshow!

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That’s it! The ISPO, the biggest industry get together in Europe is kicking off this week-end! ISPO is a true ‘gathering of the tribe’ and since its inception it has always provided the perfect arena for industry to get together and get things done. Take the TTR World Tour for example: ISPO was its birthplace back in 2002. It was here that Terje Haakonsen, Drew Stevenson and the rest of the snowboard industry banded together to form the most progressive, respected snowboard tour in the world!

For the third consecutive year (check our 2007 and 2008 ISPO posts), the SnowBroader crew will be at ISPO for your pleasure! Like usual we will cover the event in and out to bring you as many pictures of the new 2010 gear as possible, plus video podcasts with a focus on the innovation brands have been cooking up for all of us!
Of course we have already posted a bunch of 2010 gear previews but with ISPO we plan to go really in depth. That’s if we survive all the partying and hang-overs the ISPO is famous for!

If you cannot make it to ISPO, check back this week-end as we will try to post content as fast as possible. But if you are at ISPO, it would be cool to meet! Leave us a comment on this post, hit us on Facebook (our group, or Nico or Phil), or connect with us on Twitter for some live tweets!
Click below to check some of the places where you can expect to meet us anyway! See you there chicas & bros!

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