The Nixon Art Mosh, a rotating art installation recently made a stop in Vancouver recently and I headed over to check it out with SBC contributor Sara Tollestrup and my friend Alexis Wright. Luckily we got there fairly early so we were actually able to check out the art before the place was so crammed with Know?Show attendees, local artists and pro shreds!  A wide variety of art was featured Pro Surfer, Rob Machado’s photography, Jody Morris Photography, well known Whistler artist Chili Thom, and local artists.  All of Nixon’s pieces form their exclusive LTD collection, featuring a watch made by Tony Hawk’s skateboard and Ozzy Osbourne’s leather jacket.  A fun night of art, drinks, and catching up with friends! 

Alexis, Sara, and Rachel enjoying the evening

Pro Surfer Rob Machado has traveled to many exotic locals to surf and here are some photos from a trip to Costa Rica

Showcases Zoltan and Rome's Jesse Fox were stoked on the art!

The man behind it all, Nixon's Mike Murciano

For more info on Nixon Click Here

By Roberta Rodger

It’s been a crazy mix of weather and conditions in Vancouver. Since mid December we’ve had it all, arctic temperatures, snowfall amounts that the city hasn’t seen since 1971, rain, wind, sun, fog you name it! Either way it went the conditions have been amazing on the North Shore mountains. From almost 10 days of first chair and fresh powder days at Seymour charging Mystery and Brockton chair to escaping the cold and fog in the city for sun and 20 degrees  at Grouse Mountain for some fun spring riding. I did my best to get up there almost everyday with friends and family! Check out my pics for a look at how good it’s been!

First Chair at Seymour Christmas day 63cm of new!

Nothing beats a sunny powder day at Seymour!

A thick ocean of fog blanketed the lower mainland but the resorts were well above it!

We celebrated SBC contributor, Sara Tollestrups B-Day at Grouse in the sun!

Another day at Seymour in the sun this time with my Dad

Father's and Daughter's don't always agree but we definitely agree on how awesome Magna-Banana traction is!

My Stepmom, Barbara recently turned 65 and she still loves to charge it snowboarding, hope I'm still out there when I'm 65!

Roxy Canada's Heather Baker and I went up to Grouse and it got up to 18 dgrees by 11am, perfect spring riding in January!

For more info on Seymour Click here

For  more info on Grouse Click here

Post by: Sara Tollestrup

On Friday January 9th the Fairmont Chateau in Whistler welcomed an unlikely bunch. Yes, Dr. and Mrs. Jones from Albany were checking in as per usual, but they were followed by hundreds of snowboarders, skiers, photographers, industry types and their friends who were there for the 3rd Annual Deep Winter Photo Challenge.

5 pro photographers; Jordan Manley, Dan Carr, Andrew Bradley, Crispin Cannon and Brian Hockenstien spent 3 days shooting photos on and around Whistler with a crew of their choice. They were then asked to put together a slideshow of their best shots for everyone to see. The resulting slideshows were met with thunderous cheering, whistling and people yelling "siiiick."

 The only thing missing from the event? Ladies! In the film Lost in Translation Scarlett Johansson says "Every girl goes through a photography phase...you know like horses...you know take pictures of your feet," and it came to mind as I watched the show. Why are there so few female photographers in snow sports and why were the few who do exist not participating in the photo challenge? Fortunately, SBC contributor, Ashley Barker's roommate, Robin Van Gyn was standing next to me and explained that Ashley was going to do the Challenge until her flash, computer and cell phone all blew up  the week before. Even still none of the featured riders were women.

Despite the lack of female contribution I was blown away by the slideshow, and equally impressed by the judging (when does that ever happen?) Jordan Manley's creativity and talent stood out, which is undoubtedly why he won the Challenge and the award for Best in Show. His most eye catching photo was rider, Dave Short, reflected in an icicle. Crispin Cannon's overall presentation was impressive,  several time lapses interspersed with great action stills. Cannon's day-in-the-life approach was awesome too, and capped off with SBC Editor, Gerhard Gross passed out in a candlelit bath with a beer resting not far from his reach. The photo of Gross was of course, in a room filled with more empty Stella bottles than people, a crowd pleaser. Third place was given to another SBC contributor, Brian Hockenstein. Hockenstein captured the camaraderie of his crew exceptionally well. My favourite shots in his show were the opening and closing black and whites of the crew in a tunnel on the mountain. In the opening shot the guys are lined up side by side, in the closing shot they are each busting an on-the-spot snowboard move. Each of the photographers, including those that weren't awarded prizes, should be proud of their work. To keep a ballroom full of party people silent isn't an easy feat, but they did it with their art.

Post by: Sara Tollestrup

Arctic Blast 2008 hit Vancouver in mid-December and didn't let up until well into the New Year. If you were flying to or from any Canadian destination at that time, then you have probably vowed never to do it again, but traveling into winter storms is what pro snowboarders do. On New Years Day Gabi Viteri and Natazsa Zurek rolled into town to see what they could make of Mount Seymour and the surrounding snow covered city.

Nat and Gabi along with Burton filmer, Aaron Leyland and photographer, Chris Owen spent the first 4 days of the year riding Mount Seymour's 659 centimeters of snow, hiking to some top secret local's spots and jibbing the nights away. Originally the crew had planned to hit park style jumps on Seymour, but with all of the snow that had fallen there were plenty of cliffs to drop and powder turns to capitalize on. After a day of fun on Seymour's Dark Run, Nat and Gabi were stoked to check out a new spot on Seymour that local Snake Bullet shred, Rupert took them to. There was probably more hiking than snowboarding that went on that day, but both Nat and Gabi were stoked on the beautiful scenery, and in all honesty who doesn't need a good hike after December's festivities? 

Nat hiking at Mount Seymour. Owen photo

When the crew wasn't riding Seymour they were either checking out potential jib spots, or hitting them up -always with coffee in hand. With more snow than the city has seen in over two decades there were plenty of  crews out and about. Gabi shared a popular North Vancouver rail with the Sandbox crew, and shortly after who else showed up, but JP Walker, Simon Chamberlain and the Stepchild guys. Needless to say the rail Gabi was going after was no walk in the park, even the guys were having trouble getting their tricks on it, but she did what my mama always told me to do -practice, practice, practice.

Gabi chilling at the rail. Owen photo

The second jib session was a true mission. The crew headed out to hit a wallride some time after dinner, and didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning. The snow turned to rain which intermittently turned to heavier rain. In the middle of the session a loud bang that sounded like a snowboard being dropped flat-based onto pavement rang out. In the pouring rain Owen's flash had exploded. When he unzipped his back pack a cloud of black smoke filled the air. Despite bad weather, low temperatures and explosions the crew pushed on until they got some shots.

Building the jump. Owen photo

The next day the crew packed their bags and headed out, undoubtedly in search of another storm.