Golden Night, By BenJam

So, an exciting month. A great trip to Morocco resulting in some nice photos and a superb trip to Slovakia snowboarding… and in true ‘right place at the right time’ style I think I’ve managed to wangle an expenses paid return trip as a photographer for Propaganda Snowboards.

In light of this I’m now ramping up my efforts in photography in the hope that I can do something new in snowboard photography, or at least not make a total prat of myself. Part of this is establishing my own (small) photography presence. Since I’ve now had this personal blog for a year and I enjoy ranting upon it I shan’t spoil it with imagery, instead I have crafted another page; benjam photography.

Rub your eye-balls all over it here benjamphotography.wordpress.com

Danny Kass, founder of Grenade

Well, it’s lunch and I’m eating and writing at the same time… Since most of this blog is going to be about work related things I thought I’d stick in a little personality and do a roundup of three of the best Snowboard Movies I’ve seen for the start of the season. I’ve linked, ranked and broken down into a few top videos for you to hype up on before you head for high altitude.

#1 Travis Rice, ‘That’s It, That’s All’

Travis is going to be one of the biggest names this year because of this huge budget, two year production. It’s the most beautiful piece of cinematography I’ve sene since Planet Earth, with snowboarding legend Travis Rice (Lib Tech Snowboards) alongside Nikolas Müller (Burton) and Terje Haakonsen (Burton) cutting up some serious backcountry powder… no rails is all good.

Highs: Triple backflips, Snowmobile over Mile Long Lake (Canada), Epic Avalanches, HD

Lows: Not available on iTunes in the UK

Check out the trailer in glorious HD at http://thatsit-thatsall.com

#2 Forum, ‘Forum Or Against ‘Em’

This movie is tough, rull of hard rails and harder slams. Forum is a well recognised but under-financed team in my mind. Nowhere near the budget of ‘That’s It, That’s All’ but does a very god job of putting other, larger brands to shame (Burton’s, ‘It’s Always Snowing Somewhere’ double disc feature is pants). This movie is also shot in HD which goes to show what’s possible when you don’t have much cash.

Highs: Face smashed into floor ‘Gunna hit it again…?’ ‘Yeah’

Lows: Again not available on the UK iTunes store.

Check out the trailer on Forum’s website http://forumsnowboards.com

#3 Rome, ‘No Corrrect Way’

Another medium budget movie in much the same vein as Forum’s offering. Again loads of hard rails and hard slams with a bit more backcountry shots and airs. Loving Joe Sexton’s section with plenty of ‘I’m not strapped in’ bennihanas and stuff… bring back the 80’s! Not shot in HD but still well worth it, particularly for the stunning metal soundtrack.

Highs: Wallride backflip out over the Rome tour bus… first attempt is a face plant (ouch)

Lows: Not shot in HD, if you don’t like metal turn the sound off.

Again you can check out a trailer over of Rome’s website at http://romesnowboards.com

The Rest

Also of note are this years offerings from Grenade (another heavy metal affair) and for those that like two thin snowboards instead of one there’s Claim… which actually looks decent.

Happy viewing!