tools of the trade

fixer

Miles Hunt, just post Wonderstuff in classic vitriolic form. Vent was made up of Miles, Morgan Nicholls, originally from senseless things and currently keyboard player for Muse, and the drummer from Eat whose name i've forgotten. One brilliant album and they were gone. It remains one of my favorites.

Finally made it back into the water today after a month off( ! ) Surfed just like i hadn't for a long time but it felt good to slide a couple of semi clean peelers. Lighter mornings and evenings are definately well on the way, even if the dawn patrol would have been easier with a foghorn today.

while we're talking snow..

While i'm in a snow coloured mood, one of my other favorite snowboarders is Nicolas Mueller. Thats obviously not my picture by the way.

He's often described as a snowboarder's snowboarder. Prodigiously naturally talented, he has a fluid style that many pro's would kill for and the technical freestyle skills to go with it. What really makes him special though is the way that he reads the mountain, putting big technical spins in the middle of lines, creatively using natural features and mixing it with simple tricks like powder butters, working with the natural terrain in a way that no one else seems to be able to do. His snowboarding always looks smooth and spontaneous, making the difficult look easy and making it all look fun, something that is lacking more and more often in the increasingly big budget "sport" that is modern snowboarding.

His snowboarding is true freeriding and provides a direct link back to it's surfing roots. If you have ten minutes to kill, check out some of nico's footage from the latest absinthe movie here. If you are in any doubt that snowboarding came from surfers originally or that riding powder is a HELL of a lot of fun, the first couple of turns make it certain

If you still have more time, have a look at Nico at home in Laax and see the regard his peers hold him in!

the american road.....

 

 Well just around the corner from it anyway, near a fun but exceedingly fickle spot that i haven't surfed in a few years.

Despite the sunshine, this was a cold morning, so cold that my fingers barely worked to manipulate the camera. The bike, if you missed the previous shots, is my beloved electra deluxe 3i cruiser. Guarunteed to bring a bigger and bigger smile with each revoloution of the pedals.

Whenever i have to endure a long spell without a dip in the local brine, my dvd library gets a fair bit of attention. I'm a great collector of surf films and have spent probably far too much money over the years devouring the latest logging related releases.

Pick of the latest crop, for me anyway, are:

Rip Shred Tear from Mitch Abshere and crew, full on skinny jean, cutting edge logging and really inspirational. It's no frills and the surfing is cut with random excerpts from 50's b-movie horror films. Shot over just a couple of weeks it makes you realise how consistently good the surf is in the OC from a longboarding perspective.

Stoked and Broke from Cyrus Sutton which is just plain fun and reminds me a lot of "bikecar" the travis parker snowboard film from a few years back. It chronicles a no frills trip around the encinitas area by foot. It has it's tongue firmly in it's cheek but there's some good surfing in it. Logs, fishes, guns, handplanes and square styrofoam blocks!

Final choice is 180 degrees south from Chris Malloy which is big budget and not a full on surf film but has some great surfing and climbing footage in it as well as some quality scenic cinematography. The strong enviro message may be a small turn off  and it could be considered a moving patagonia catalogue by some but it's a good film nonetheless. There's a really cool book of photos by Jeff Johnson that goes with it that i would highly reccomend too!

dessication

 

I'm feeling distinctly landlocked and in danger of drying out, a mixture of work and bad timing  keeping me away from the few windows of waves we've had recently. Typically there are frustrating tales of derring do filtering back from those with more luck in their schedules. Hopefully a little swell will linger and the wind will abate soon.

If there is a plus, it's time for my shins to heal properly after their argument with a handrail......... still, i have a quiver feeling lonely and unloved in the board shed!

the jamie lynn method

Anyone who got into snowboarding in the nineties should be aware of the influence of Jamie Lynn. I'm sure i'm not alone in saying he remains my favorite snowboarder ever. He stood out mainly for his smooth style, with spins that looked effortless without the flailing rotataion that was prevalent in snowboarding at the time.

This section is from the 95 mack dawg movie "the meltdown project" and much of the footage, gloveless and stylish, is from the mountain high camp at verbier.

He has the best method, ever............period!

red eye red sky

home again, home again.....

 

Back home, back to work, back to the normal routine and greeted by swell but wind too!

Thanks Norway, it was fun, hope we can do it again sometime.....

the man responsible......

 

Jool's Matthews, owner and shaper at Gulfstream surfboards in  North Devon, the man who was voted best fish shaper in the UK last year.

Jool's just shaped me a frankly lush looking 5'6 x 20 1/2 x 2 3/8 keel fish, it's not quite done yet but pictures and ride report to follow when it's actually in my grubby mitts! Gulfstream is a small operation in the true sense of surfboard manufacture as a cottage industry, but their shapes, finishing and attention to detail is excellent. Each board is a labour of love and craftsmanship and Jools really cares about delivering something he can be proud of. They're a great example of how ordering a custom spec handmade board can be a fantastic experience.

behind the wire

heading north...

Heading north today, towards the snow. Gonna be my first scandinavian experience after a lot of trips to europe and north america in the past. Hopefully it snows and reindeer is tasty!

speed freaks

By the power of youtube, the aforementioned Mike Vallely segment from the 1989 santa cruz video, speed freaks. I remember watching it over and over at a friends and being blown away, then skating SO hard the hours following, amped on this section.

At the time, Vallely had just done the unthinkable and left the bones brigade, the biggest team in skateboarding, joining punk upstarts World industries, which seemed incomprehensible to us. He followed it by releasing the first "double ended" pro model featuring the iconic barnyard graphic. This shape was revoloutionary and it, and the decks that emulated it, had an effect on street skating which cannot be underestimated. The "pill shape" deck is still the industry standard today.

If you want to follow me down memory lane have a look at Mike's website here.

There's a documentary in the works about the Bones Brigade, with Stacy Peralta behind the lens, the man largely responsible for the team originally and one of the originators of the skate video itself, it should be something to look forward to.