Brooke Geery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7LEjaEF-Y8 Ken Achenbach is widely known as the father of Canadian snowboarding. He opened the first snowboard shop ever, was instrumental in getting resorts to allow snowboarding, and has been at the helm of Camp of Champions since 1989. More importantly, he still loves it every bit as much as he did the first time he strapped in. This summer, we headed up to COC for the full Whistler experience and I spent Ken’s daily afternoon commute down Whistler, chatting with him about the past, present and future of snowboarding as well as a few of the lessons he’s learned along the way. What was Camp of Champions like in the olden days? We…

In the mid 90’s to early 2000’s, Jason Borgstede was known for his video parts, progressive big air tricks and switch 360 backflip affectionately known as the Borgaerial. The Alaskan, who spent half his time in Tahoe, was a member of the illustrious Burton team and a consistent top finisher in events such as the X Games and Vans Triple Crown. He also filmed Mack Dawg parts as well as producing videos alongside Jesse Burtner as part of JB Deuce. I first met Jason when he was in Killington, Vermont for the Bud Light Boarder Battle – and got the chance to interview him for a fledgling Yobeat (then hosted on the 2mb of free space that came with AOL…

Photo: Tim Zimmerman Matt Cummins has the longest running pro model in snowboarding’s history, 25 years and counting. He has used this opportunity to continually push snowboard designs from the earliest skate influenced twin tip MC Kink to today’s powder hungry Nootka. His designs, priorities and style forever changed the sport and paved the way for generations of pros. “His board was a ground breaking concept. It spear headed twin tip freestyle snowboarding, it created a genre. To have that kind of a brick in the foundation of snowboarding is truly a special thing. Matt deserves and is owed every ounce of that brick and it’s a big one. Matt…

Jerry of the day. Photo @instagarry When Jason Robinson isn’t racing down giant mountains in search of epic and endless pow, he craves adventure in other ways. He’s the kind of person who will meet a hobo on the street, befriend him, and end up bringing him to Oregon before taking a freight train (solo) to the Hobo National convention in Iowa. He’s shunned many modern conveniences to live the life he wants, and as managed to rack up some pretty crazy stories in the process. After hearing some of them third hand from Dakine Marketing maniac Scotty the Body, I figured a phone call was in order to get…

Photo: Joel Fraser Over the past few seasons, Dinosaurs Will Die has seemingly exploded. The boards are popping up in shops, edits and more importantly, under the feet of actual snowboarders everywhere. Building a snowboard brand was never an easy feat, but in a changing world with a changing climate and a dubious economy, it seems impossible. Don’t tell Jeff Keenan that though. The Vancouver-based pro snowboarder turned business man has a plan, a vision, and an army of rats ready to help DWD flourish. We sat him down to find out more. Brooke: We were talking earlier about how we’re sort of at the age where normal people stop…