Niche Snowboards is one of the new kids on the block (no, not those NKOTB) in the snowboard industry. Based in SLC, Utah and manufactured in Austria they’ve got a full line of eco-friendly snowboards. The Knew is one of their freestyle-oriented boards and I took it out for some hot hot hot closing day laps.

Niche Knew

Size: 156cm
Shape: Twin, mellow flat rocker
Bindings: Ride Delta MVMT
Stance: 24″ regs 15/-15 regs
Stats: I’m 6′ 210 lbs

Conditions: closing day spring slush, a little firm in the morning around 30F but absolute mashed potatoes and 50F by 430pm.

Flex

Felt more medium than soft in my opinion, but it should break in a little bit with a few rides. Slightly stiffer through the tips, and stiffer torsionally than many jib-oriented boards.

Ollie/Pop

Whatever Niche is doing with their Hemp Hop stringers work amazeballs. The Knew really had an insane amount of pop, it really blew me away the first time I went for the rail and was way too high. Consistent front and back, on jumps, rollers and park lips.

Board's eye view of the Timberline terrain park, closing day 2012

Playfulness

The Knew is flat-rocker and that’s usually a fairly playful feel this board was no exception, pretty much hook-free. Again it’s not noodle-soft so don’t expect effortless presses but definitely doable. Bigger guys obviously will get more play out of this board littler guys it will be more of a jump board than a jib board.

Handling 

The pop on this board blew me away but the dampening was a very close second. This board is capable of chewing up the whole mountain and spitting it right back out even in the heavy wet spring slush you’re not going to get bucked by this board. On the firmer side it is also capable of holding longer, drawn out carves without fear of washing out. True twin, so it goes both ways no problemo.

The extruded base is not the fastest but Niche makes up for that with a base dimples that are so top-secret that they don’t even mention them on their website or product catalog. The dimples reduce suction and help you slide a little faster.

Pricing 

No complaints on the pricing $459 is the MSRP for the Niche Knew, check out their dealer locator to find one near you!

Summing it up 

The Niche Knew was a surprisingly serviceable all-around board so don’t pigeonhole it as a “park” only board. Versatile enough for someone who is spending 50%+ of time in the park but still dabbles on the rest of the mountain and is looking for a one board quiver. This board is going to be best for intermediate and advanced riders who spend a good amount of time in the park but are looking for a do-it-all board, but it’s forgiving flat rocker and medium flex would also be something that a beginner could use and grow in to.

As far as ski resorts go, you probably have never heard of Snow King. Nestled in the town of Jackson, WY, it’s overshadowed by its larger, more famous neighbors JHMR and Grand Targhee. But it’s a damn respectable little mountain; people have been skiing there for almost a century and it’s Agnarchy.com approved.

Unfortunately financial trouble may end the King’s reign as the locals hill in Jackson. Even though the rest of the facilities are doing alright, Snow King’s ski operations are bleeding a half a million dollars annually and this season the resort threatened not to open.

Jackson's "Town Hill", Snow King Mountain

What went wrong? 

It’s possible they simply overextended themselves — happens to business all the time — only to find out the hard way that taking on tons more debt doesn’t doesn’t draw enough more customers to service that debt.

Another likely possibility is this: one side effect of the hyper-capitalization of the ski industry is that eventually only the biggest mega corporations will be able to sustain the illusion of “growth” while smaller facilities go out of business.

Can they fix it?

Determined to remain the “Town Hill” for the Jackson area, Snow King is exploring the gamut of extracurricular amenities offered at other resorts, such as zip-lines, alpine slides, and a mountain bike skills park.

Snow King will also seek Forest Service approval to expand some yurt camping and cross-country skiing.  But even if these new activities are massively profitable, the ski operations will still be losing money. It will just be subsidized by the other activities. This may be a good short-term compromise, but I fear that it won’t be enough in the long run.

It is also exceedingly difficult to compete in a Wall Street-dominated industry when you’re financially outgunned, and Wyoming is not a tourist attraction of the same caliber as the I-70 corridor or Whistler/Blackcomb or Lake Tahoe so trying to compete on that business model may be challenging to say the least.

What’s next for Snow King?

Hopefully many more winters, d’uh!

Despite its current financial trouble, Snow King does have a lot to offer, as Managing partner Manuel Lopez highlights:

The location in the center of town, it’s highly visible from everywhere in town. It’s easily accessible by any means of transportation. It has steep and challenging terrain. It’s a ski-racing destination. It’s the community hub. It’s the Town Hill.

The opportunity to be a viable ski resort is there, but it’s not without challenges.

Last season they remained open due in part to a “sizable increase in revenue from an outpouring of community support”, hopefully the community continues to back their “Town Hill” and some new all-season activities help boost their margins for years to come.

The Salomon’s Man’s Board is Bode Merrill’s weapon of choice for high speed all mountain ripping, the topsheet still has that beer-inspired graphic, adorned with blondes, brunettes, and redheads depending on size. She looked good and so did the board, let’s see how it rides.

Salomon Man's Board 159 with some sort of Salomon bindings

Size: 159cm
Shape: Directional Twin, Cross Profile – Camber between rocker in the tips
Bindings: Some sort of Salomon honestly they weren’t matched very well to the board they look like this year’s Rhythms.
Stance: 23.5″ regs 18/-12 degrees
Stats: Dave 6′ 210 lbs / Leo 5’9″ 180lbs

Conditions: hardpack, semi-firm groomers not a patch of ice to be found anywhere, well groomed boarder-x course, beginner park features about 30 degrees.

Flex

Dave: The Man’s Board is a man’s board, a stiff directional board, directional flex, a slightly stiffer tail to really power through those turns. Torsionally it is also pretty stiff. I’d say 8/10. Salomon says 4/5. Your mileage may vary.

Leo:  Stiff all around.  Burly deck for sure.  I’ll say a 9/10ish.  Forget about butters and presses on this thing.

Ollie/Pop

Dave: Between the camber and the stiffer tail this board has a really good amount of pop, you’ll be able to ollie small children with ease.

Leo: Superb.  The pop on the Mans Board was excellent so I was doing effortless ollies at speed.

Playfulness

Dave: If your idea of playful is 3′s off rock drops then OK but otherwise playfulness is not really this board’s strong suit. Between the shape and the flex and the camber it’s just not the best board for pressing, buttering, jibbing, etc.

Leo: As Dave likes to say, “You can jib on this, but I don’t know why you would want to.”

Handling 

Dave: The Man’s Board is stable without question, handles and responds well, rolling quickly from edge to edge, and the camber engages a carve like, well, like you’d expect from camber. Neat shaped nose/tail this board this board really should float well in the deep stuff but the camber underfoot lets you rip groomers with ease, too.

Leo: The camber in between gives that springy feeling out of turns that every camber rider knows and loves.  This feeling is exactly why I will always like camber.  The Mans board held a great edge and was plenty stable and damp.  Honestly, the rocker has to be minimal in this board as I did feel like it was handling like a true camber.  Maybe I would have noticed it more if we had any pow.  Edge to edge transitions do take effort on this guy though so keep that in mind.

Summing it up 

Dave: This board is definitely a strong all-mountain bordering on the slackcountry freeride side. This board is going to work best for someone who wants a fast, stable, predictable cambered board (so yeah I mean old guys over 30) to go fast, hit natural terrain, cliff/rock drops, etc. Upper-intermediate to advanced all-mountain riders only, the Man’s Board is too much board for beginners.

Leo: Although I thoroughly enjoyed this board, it’s a bit much for me.  I’m not tackling big mountains and insane lines.  That’s not to say that someone riding a local hill won’t enjoy it.  If bombing and carving is your thing, you will probably like this stick.  It is very stable and damp and holds an amazing edge.  If someone offered to let me ride this out West, I’d do it in a heartbeat.  Strong intermediate and up all-mountain riders only please.

Admit it: you’ve been there before and you saw that guy in the lift line wearing jeans and skinny skis from 1990 with sunglasses and a baseball hat and you kind of had a little chuckle to yourself, “LOL gaper!”

Even a perfectly executed Texas suitcase will not earn you any points in a game of GNAR.

But were you sure? A person can be a locally clueless, noob, tourist, or beginner, but as long as he’s respectful and aware of his surroundings he’s not really a gaper he’s just made really bad fashion. What  most people forget is that gapers are arrogant poseurs who act like they own the mountain and have little or no regard for anyone else, neon onesies and skinny skis optional.

Here are some tips to help you differentiate between true gapers and harmless tourists. If you find yourself doing any of these things, seek help immediately.

• Taking their kids on a guided tour of the terrain park
• Stopping for no reason, usually around blind corners
• Sitting on/under park features
• Doing wide s-turns on the narrowest cat tracks
• Snowplowing
• Inability to carry skis and/or walk in ski boots.
• Falls while loading/unloading the chairlift
• Complaining about the snow being too deep
• At the bar, bragging about how “epic” today was

Now if you’ve made double-sure that someone really is a gaper, well then heckle away!. Real gapers deserve to be shamed off the slopes. Just make sure you’re not giving the business to a harmless tourist whose fat wallet is subsidizing your season pass.

With all the seriousness out of the way, here’s “Shit Gapers Say” brought to you by some gaper kids from Minnesota.

Earlier today we learned that Adam Yauch, a/k/a the Beastie Boys’ “MCA” has passed away, succumbing to cancer he’d been battling since 2009. Yauch will be missed by fans worldwide.

Because I’ve got the flow where I grab my dick and say ‘OH MY GOD! That’s some funky shit!’

No rhyme or reason I just always loved that line.

The ultimate crossover artists, punk rock jewish kids from the bronx turned hip hop superstars the Beastie Boys’ special blend of punk rock and hip-hop-infused-punk and punk-infused-hippity-jazz or whatever type of music they’ve been making for the last 30 years has been a big part of the snow and skate culture for the last 30 years.

Also, in his younger days MCA loved to ride his stunt stick. Here he is with Craig Kelly:

Craig Kelly and Adam "MCA" Yauch

‘Cause downtown Brooklyn is where I was born but when the snow is falling, then I am gone You might think that I’m a fanatic A call from Utah and I’m throwing a panic

Google turned up this video of Yauch shredding Valdez, AK. The riding starts about 30 seconds in…

And here’s some more choice cuts from the Beastie Boys.

When I was 17 or 18 I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I “grew up” and I sure as shit didn’t know what programs were offered at the University of Montana, or how any of those might fit in to that plan for my life that I didn’t have. I just knew that U Montana was near Big Sky, and that you could snowboard there.

Unfortunately, my parents wouldn’t let me apply to U Montana because they thought I’d skip too many classes and snowboard too much and I’d fail out of school. They were probably half right. I’m pretty sure I would’ve skipped a bunch of classes, but I’m also pretty sure I wouldn’t have failed out of school.

You want more days like this, and fewer days doing anything else.

Instead, I stayed in Michigan and skipped a bunch of classes for reasons far, um, less good for you, than snowboarding and I hardly snowboarded at all for like 5 years. I’ll let you decide which of these would’ve been the more responsible course of action. I probably would’ve been happier taking semesters off, road-tripping and living on Ramen and free Nature Valley bars but as they say hindsight is 20/20. Live and learn, right?

Take semesters off if that’s what you want. Travel and do fun shit. Stop rushing. You can always return to college to finish a degree. But with few exceptions, you can’t take time off from the rat race to finish living your life on your terms.

Live your life NOW. When people say, “Man, I wish I would’ve done things differently…” usually what they mean is: “I want all of the things I have right now AND a bunch of other things…” but of course there’s no telling it would’ve worked out that way even had you done things differently. So don’t dwell on the past.

Hindsight is a useful perspective, but you can’t live your life by it. You also can’t live your life in the future. If you’re not living your life right now, you’re not living your life at all.

“But it’s too late for me…” This is a really common excuse. But it’s a cop-out. It means you gave up. It’s also wrong.

There’s no such thing as “too late” (there is such a thing as an uphill battle, though). You just need to re-evaluate your priorities and what you want out of life. Spend your time and energy pursuing those things and spend less time and energy doing everything else. But if you’re pushing 32 like I am with a mortgage and kid(s) and stuff, there’s no way you’re going to drop everything and do a season in Japan next year, unless you win the lottery, so don’t hold yourself to unattainable goals.

So keep a realistic perspective, do what make you happy, appreciate the little things, strive daily to make positive changes, and everything else won’t matter.

The first ever Biggest Little Rail Jam for Autism is going down May 12 in Reno, NV.

Sponsored by Bulletproof Energy drinks, Shotgun Snowboards, Wi-Me Snowboards, Smokin’ Snowboards, our friends at No Way Snowboards and about a bazillion other companies, the event should be a great one. I know Daniel from Shotgun boards has been brainstorming this jam for like 2 years and he’s been busting his ass the last few months to coordinate all the details in order to make this a successful rail jam and fundraiser for a worthy cause. Daniels says,

I just wanted to do something different than anything ever in this area, and I wanted the community to pull together and then benefit from it for a good cause (proceeds will be donated to Autism Matters). This is already the most media covered rail jam ever here.

HAD to do it NOT in Tahoe.

HAD to have punk bands only. Not reggae, or hip hop, or dub step off a laptop.

This is all about the roots of snowboarding here, kids.

There you have it from the man himself. Here’s some more details, a pic of the proposed set-up and the official event promo flyer for your enjoyment!

Where: Saturday, May 12 at the Corkscroo Bar & Grill in Reno, NV.

Why: To raise money for autism research duh.

The setup:  Stairset with down boxes on either side, one of which is banked, and kinked handrail in the middle. Looks rad!

Admission: is free for spectators to the event and the after-party, registration is $15 for competitors and registration begins at noon.

Entertainment: There will be live music from a bunch of local Reno/Tahoe area punk bands and the event will bleed in to an afterpart with DJ Ryon and live drummer Inkdup.

More info: Peep the event promo flyer below! Vendors, contestants, and those who wish to donate, can contact DanielP@Bulletproofenergy.com or Shannonspringeraconv@yahoo.com

Lobster’s a new company started by the brothers Helgason, but basically the boards are Bataleons with some Helgasons flair. I mounted it up with a pair of noback Switchback bindings to take out out on some Boyne Mountain hardpack.

2013 Lobster Jibboard with Switchback bindings (nobacks)

Flex: the Jibbaord is very soft, Lobster’s scale is an 8/10 but they use some wonky upsidedown scale so that’s really likea 2/10 on everyone else’s scale. Pretty easy to flex, press, or twist torsionally, bust still not the softest board out there so if you’re worried about a ridiculous noodle, you’ve got a little leeway with the Jibbaord.

Pop: I expected good pop from a cambered snowboard and this one definitely delivered in the pop department. For a park/street board you should have no worries about being able to attack those streetstyle railes or bigger features.

Playfulness: Yes. Flexes nice and consistently so you can definitely butter or spin this board around all over the place. It is lively enough under foot that you get good response for that “locked in” feeling on the park features.

Handling: Make no mistake this is definitely a park board and isn’t really designed to rip up the corduroy. It responds decent enough for general shenanigans and was surprisingly stable for me even with noback. I felt it performed well for a park board, but doesn’t do that great on aggressive carves or at higher speeds where it chatters. It is not really going to work for an “all mountain” option but for a pure park/jib board, for someone who likes camber or is down with TBT it’s a nice ride.

Summing it up: the Lobster Jibbaord was a fun little Bataleon one-off. Basically I think it is a Disaster with Helgasons’ graphics. This board is going to work best for the intermediate to advanced park/freestyle riders. With the unconventional shape I always say to “try before you buy” since the TBT seems to be a love/hate thing, but if you’ve previously ridden and liked TBT, and are looking for a new jib board the Lobster Jibbaord might be just what you’re looking for.

If your lame-ass cable TV provider did not show the Red Bull Supernatural two weeks ago (mine didn’t), and you still want to watch it in its entirety, you’re in luck because they’ve provided the full video online.

And if you’ve been living in a cave for the last 3 months here’s a spoiler alert: Travis won.

TR on the podium

Stoking the FIS/Snowboarding/Olympics fire, ESPN asks, “Can a ski judge accurately assess the style and fluidity of tricks that only exist in snowboarding — and vice versa?” in response to news that the FIS  is seeking to dual-purpose some judges for both the ski and snowboard events at the Sochi 2014 games. Halfpipe, as well as slopestyle events for both disciplines could be affected.

On Twitter, Todd Richards quipped that figure skating and curling would now share the same judges. Scotty Lago said also made a figure skating comparison, “It’s like having a figure skating judge on our judging panel.”

Yes, this is just another reason to dislike the FIS but remember, even freeskiers don’t like the FIS; so it’s not like I’m just piling on. OK. Kind of. But this is most definitely not a skiers vs. snowboarders issue; competitors from both sports have voiced concerns over how this would be done and what it means for the integrity of the competition.

Is it possible to share judges across disciplines? Maybe it could be done correctly but it seems pretty clear that this decision really does not have anything to do with promoting the best interests of either sport, or of the athletes, or of the audience.  It’s a simple cost-cutting measure that can’t really be spun any other way except by dressing it up with a little bit of MBA buzz words like “efficiency and economy” rather than calling a spade a spade and admitting they’re just trying to pad the bottom line and appease their corporate overlords.