Tweet
One of the most important interviews that I have seen posted up here on SBOL by way of Brobomb is this recent one by Jason Levinthal . The thread about it up on the general discussion section here a couple of months ago was pretty much without comment and I completely missed it
Roussell and Skafreak posted some comments on the Brobomb site which I enjoyed.
http://brobomb.com/2010/03/know-your...hal/#more-1380
Very interesting comments from Levinthal about merging the idea of skis and snowboards into a new type of ski very different from the skis of the time . and 1/2 the length . So the interviewer tries to get Levinthal to admit that twintippers now are riding just long skiboards. . but Levinthal , likes ,rather to say that the early skiboarders were just riding skis that were 15 years ahead of their time . The original line ultrawide prototype first skiboards were amazingly good as Crazy-boy1 demonstarted by riding them this season some 15 years after they were introduced. As we all know and folks knew in 2000 skiboards are insanely fun many companies produced them , the boards had exposure on X games and ESPN . and then here we are in 2010 with NONE of the major ski companies producing skiboards . If as J Levinthal says skiboards were and are just skis , then why the hell isn't his company , or any other ski company producing twin tips in the 90 cm to 130 cm range for adults to ride anymore ????? Why is there a profusion of twins in the 150 to 180 cm range but aside from the Icelantic Scout none below 150 for adults ?
Come on , is it because folks just won't buy these things ? If anything we know about advertising and culture in 2010 is true .. .if boards like the ALP , Condor , Revolt , BWP , and Spruce longboards were rented in rental shops , taught on in ski schools , ridden by pros in the park , on x game and espn ,
these things would be ubiquitous on the ski slopes , and all the ski companies would have a line of skiboards as well as long skis ... and yes , as , J levinthal says we would all be happy and all call ourselves "Skiers" but look around you and what do you see ... Skiboards despite being around for 15 years are nowhere to be seen in ski shops, ski rental shops , in ski schools , we who ride them are oddballs , freakish "fruitbooters " , with our weird " fruitboot conventions and gatherings " and J . Levinthal who invented a supremely competent 1st crack at the things we ride today , no longer produces them or rides them . WTF gives??? Where does the answer lie ?
The answer was given in the best article every written on the subject . by Morton Lund just as skiboarding was becoming popular
the collapse of skiboarding since that article makes an excellent footnote and proof of Lund's thesis.
http://www.skiinghistory.org/taylor.html
Short skis , Shortees, goon skis , figles, snowblades, skiboards , whatever you call them has been a counter movement to long skis since the very beginning of the modern history of skiing . . They have been easy to learn on , easy to ride and competent all over the mountain .
The answer for me is two pronged 1/ that there has been a historical trend as Lund points out from the very beginning of short skis becoming popular and then being shot down or at best co-opted by the ski establishment . 2/ that visually skiboards link themselves right away to skis and look like kid's skis on big people and skiing in many ways is an ego type sport . we want to look good and feel good and looking like a tyro on kids skis is a hard sell .
It is an uphill battle and one that has been lost many times historically .
Yet the idea , because it is a very powerful one , keeps rising like a phoenix from the ashes .
For me the answer in 2010 is to become our own sport , our own look ., to make a statement every time we are on the slopes. For me , and for many reasons. it is time to no longer Just to say we are skiing on short sticks and what we do is just a part of skiing . but to pave our own way ... yes there are similarities ... but it is the very shortness of our sticks that sets us apart ! Let us for once not have the idea fade away once more but rise and flourish ! As J .Levinthal said it was necessary to create a new word " SKIBOARD " AND a new sport " skiboarding" For Levinthal that was only necessary because at the time skis were so different from what he wanted to do with two sticks that he had to call it something else. I strongly believe that that reason has not died .. now more then ever it is necessary to set us apart ..
yup " proud to be a SKIBOARDER " , no , sorry , I am not a skier .. I am a skiboarder and proud to be one , thank you very much !
BroBomb - Jason Levinthal Interview from BroBomb on Vimeo.
Roussell and Skafreak posted some comments on the Brobomb site which I enjoyed.
http://brobomb.com/2010/03/know-your...hal/#more-1380
Very interesting comments from Levinthal about merging the idea of skis and snowboards into a new type of ski very different from the skis of the time . and 1/2 the length . So the interviewer tries to get Levinthal to admit that twintippers now are riding just long skiboards. . but Levinthal , likes ,rather to say that the early skiboarders were just riding skis that were 15 years ahead of their time . The original line ultrawide prototype first skiboards were amazingly good as Crazy-boy1 demonstarted by riding them this season some 15 years after they were introduced. As we all know and folks knew in 2000 skiboards are insanely fun many companies produced them , the boards had exposure on X games and ESPN . and then here we are in 2010 with NONE of the major ski companies producing skiboards . If as J Levinthal says skiboards were and are just skis , then why the hell isn't his company , or any other ski company producing twin tips in the 90 cm to 130 cm range for adults to ride anymore ????? Why is there a profusion of twins in the 150 to 180 cm range but aside from the Icelantic Scout none below 150 for adults ?
Come on , is it because folks just won't buy these things ? If anything we know about advertising and culture in 2010 is true .. .if boards like the ALP , Condor , Revolt , BWP , and Spruce longboards were rented in rental shops , taught on in ski schools , ridden by pros in the park , on x game and espn ,
these things would be ubiquitous on the ski slopes , and all the ski companies would have a line of skiboards as well as long skis ... and yes , as , J levinthal says we would all be happy and all call ourselves "Skiers" but look around you and what do you see ... Skiboards despite being around for 15 years are nowhere to be seen in ski shops, ski rental shops , in ski schools , we who ride them are oddballs , freakish "fruitbooters " , with our weird " fruitboot conventions and gatherings " and J . Levinthal who invented a supremely competent 1st crack at the things we ride today , no longer produces them or rides them . WTF gives??? Where does the answer lie ?
The answer was given in the best article every written on the subject . by Morton Lund just as skiboarding was becoming popular
the collapse of skiboarding since that article makes an excellent footnote and proof of Lund's thesis.
http://www.skiinghistory.org/taylor.html
Short skis , Shortees, goon skis , figles, snowblades, skiboards , whatever you call them has been a counter movement to long skis since the very beginning of the modern history of skiing . . They have been easy to learn on , easy to ride and competent all over the mountain .
The answer for me is two pronged 1/ that there has been a historical trend as Lund points out from the very beginning of short skis becoming popular and then being shot down or at best co-opted by the ski establishment . 2/ that visually skiboards link themselves right away to skis and look like kid's skis on big people and skiing in many ways is an ego type sport . we want to look good and feel good and looking like a tyro on kids skis is a hard sell .
It is an uphill battle and one that has been lost many times historically .
Yet the idea , because it is a very powerful one , keeps rising like a phoenix from the ashes .
For me the answer in 2010 is to become our own sport , our own look ., to make a statement every time we are on the slopes. For me , and for many reasons. it is time to no longer Just to say we are skiing on short sticks and what we do is just a part of skiing . but to pave our own way ... yes there are similarities ... but it is the very shortness of our sticks that sets us apart ! Let us for once not have the idea fade away once more but rise and flourish ! As J .Levinthal said it was necessary to create a new word " SKIBOARD " AND a new sport " skiboarding" For Levinthal that was only necessary because at the time skis were so different from what he wanted to do with two sticks that he had to call it something else. I strongly believe that that reason has not died .. now more then ever it is necessary to set us apart ..
yup " proud to be a SKIBOARDER " , no , sorry , I am not a skier .. I am a skiboarder and proud to be one , thank you very much !
Comment