2008/2009 Snowboard Videos: A Primer

Oregon resorts aren't getting much snow yet, so I'm taking this opportunity to talk about this year's crop of shred vids. If you're waiting out the dry spell like me, nothing keeps you stoked like a little snow porn and the footage this year has money shots a-plenty. First, a bit of business.

This year was status quo for films, but that might end soon. The long and short of it goes a little like this: Mack Dawg isn't making a rider part video next year and one of their big shots, Brad Kremer is filming for Burton. Said corporation went on to say that its riders will only ride in its video(s?). Was that you, Keanu? 'Whoa' is right. Where does that put guys like Nicolas Müller (who has something like a 15-year relationship with Absinthe)? Time will tell, but I guess Kremer might be filming him from here on out. What does that mean for Absinthe? They'll undoubtedly pick up some of MDP's crew. Travis Rice might step in. He filmed with them last time he was in the midst of a two-year Brainfarm mega-movie (more on that later). Had Gigi, JP and Romain left as well, it would have gone from scorpion to avalanche burial in the blink of a shutter. Currently it looks like the latter two (Gigi is with Volcom for sure) will be Burton-free going forward, for better or worse. Hope they didn't get stuck in any adjustable-rate mortgages...

Honestly, I think the crop next year will be just as good as this year. Mack Dawg mentioned a Peter Line documentary that will probably be great. Burton will have a much better video than it has in years past. Dawger's talent will redistribute leaving the top two tiers of videos similar to this year's. Some Euro companies like Isenseven will step up. And, finally, plenty of videos like Thirty Two/Stepchild or Actionhorse will just be available for free download. You know, like this year. Maybe we just file it under 'the more things change, the more things stay the same.' But of course this year's financial and snowfall situations will factor in, too. They exist far beyond my knowledge, control or willingness to predict, therefor; this post is destined to remain incomplete.

Next post will get into specific movies, I promise.