Mount Baker Theater hosted one of this year's standout snowboard films last Friday when Justin Hostynek and the Absinthe crew rolled into town to show Optimistic? Despite a concurrent premiere in Seattle that surely attracted a lot of the local snowboard scene, stoke levels ran high as Justin and riders Matt Beardmore and Romain de Marchi hooked the kids up with plenty of free product.

The movie itself was reason for stoke as well. Wolle Nyvelt's opening part was one of the best of the year, killing big terrain like he was riding the terrain park. Progressive riding from the rest of the crew coupled with some Mikey Leblanc comedy, sled shredding (not snowmobiles but actual sled with bindings, needs to be seen to be believed), and a swallowtail snurfer pow section added some creativity and laughs to backcountry AK shots and a bit of urban flavor.

Afterwards, the party moved to the Calaloo and rolled into the early hours of Sunday morning. The after party was almost as well attended as the premier, ensuring that a good time was had by all.

"Optimistic?" is another solid release from the Absinthe Films crew as they diversify and add a bit of jibbing and a few laughs to the healthy helping of pow that we have come to expect from Hostynek and company. It left us here at frequency TSJ feeling optimistic about the upcoming shred season, which will surely be starting soon.

Downtown Throwdown October 27, 2007 Sea-Town, WA

The last couple months have been filled with snowboard movie premieres teasing us with the prospect of getting on the snow and without much hope of actually doing so before Thanksgiving. A month away. Sigh.

Well bless Snowboy Productions, for bringing some live action satisfaction to a hungry-for-winter Seattle crowd! Downtown Throwdoooooown!!! Krush does it again with an impressive roster of riders: Scott Stevens, Zac Marben, Sammy Luebke, Chris Beresford, Pat Milberry, Jed Hoffman, Ben Bogart, Johnny Miller, Gus Engle, Austin Hironaka... holy proly. Not to mention judges: Sean the Canadian Jon Kooley and Zach Leach! ... and merciless announcer Mr. Burtner.

The Snowboy crew painstakingly built and maintained a beautiful set-up for this rail jam, with one down and one down flat down rail... and matching quarterpipes to boot. "Ohhhh!"s and "wooooo!"s pierced the crowd. More than one jock-o-rama stripped to the tank top layer. The trickiest tricks were treated. Feathers are in? So is turquoise. Air was had. Conversely, heads and limbs slammed into the snow. Demolition-derby-collisions, tandem moves, and glory criss-crossed through the air. As did schwag for the crowd: one had to pay attention so as to avoid getting nailed by the scores of shotgunned wax bricks.

Luckily, the clock wore out about the same time as the riders' energy drinks. The results: Austin Hironaka won the Most Laps award, Bogie got Third, Robin Hood aka Johnny Miller got Second, Tiger Beat cover model Nick Visconti took Best Trick... and would you believe it, but that same guy who won the Backyard Bang -- Jed Anderson, finished First Place? Everyone was a 110er that night. Even the crowd got to 110-it to the afterparty across the thoroughfare for an apres-ride effort. Winnas all.

October 22, 2007 Wasatch Range, UT - First turns of the year for the Nidecker Snowboards crew were had, and in true rebel fashion, they were served up at Alta. Now everyone knows that snowboarders are NOT allowed to ride at Alta resort during normal season operations, but apparently all bets are off when it comes to pre-season shredding. It's nice to see the "Snowbird off-piste" is open season and that some company's ride days extend before and after the regular season. Nice "work" guys!

October 20, 2007 Portland, OR - Stereotypes faced off on Saturday, as Portland, Oregon, hipster mecca of the northwest, hosted the Backyard Bang rail jam. At least one kid with tight jeans was spotted practicing track stands while ogling kids in baggy pants sliding kinked boxes at the southwest intersection of Burnside and Ankeny.

The crowds came out in full force to support regional, national and international rockstars from the world of snowboarding. Although Canadians Leanne Pelosi and Jed Anderson came all the way from the land up north, the rowdy crowds strongly favored locals such as Cory Noble, and other riders who call Mt. Hood their usual stomping grounds. On and off rainstorms and gales hardly dampened spirits. For most, this was clearly the first big snowboarding event of the season, and everybody was hyped. The competition on the women's side almost seemed fiercer than the men's, and both Carrie Galloway and Jed Anderson walked away with $3000. Kirsten Seith and Nick Dirks each won $1250, and Colleen Quigley and Lucas Magoon nabbed a satisfying $750 each.

Thanks to Bonfire, Salomon, and US Outdoor Store for throwing a really fun event! The excitement about snow in the mountains right now is nearly palpable in Portland. Backyard Bang helped to remind us that for every rainy, drizzly northwestern day we endure, snow is slowly piling up on our home mountain, waiting for some surf-style slashers under bluebird mountain skies.

Mt. Baker Theater October 19, 2007 Bellingham, WA - With stark black and white, Super 8, stop motion and no shortage of creative angles, situation comedy, and stellar riding by the likes of Tyler Lepore, Dan Brisse, T.J. Schneider and the corps of the Capita collective, "First Kiss" stoked out the foyer crowd with dreamy Japan sections and flowing pow drops. Up from Sea Town, Capita OG Blue Montgomery, brought swag and stoke for this enthusiastic and moderately emo college crowd.

The main event for the eve was the B-ham premier of Jesse Burtner and Sean Genovese's Think Thank productions "Thanks Brain". And it did not disappoint. With Patrick McCarthy, Lucas Debari, Jesse Burtner, John Laing, 686's Will Redd, photog Mike Yoshida, and the cast of usual suspects on hand, the lights went down.

For 10+ years, Jesse Burtner has been riding a steady wave of his own creation, with early efforts like "110%" highlighting his skate-video approach and his absurd ability to spot and motivate talent in the most unlikely of places. This season's offering "Thanks Brain" is a distillation of this decade of hard work, dedication to original ideas, and fearlessness. Picking up where "Patchwork Patterns" left off - that is, returning snowboarding to its original state of play: hippy hops, one footers, high jumps, shove-its, ie sledding with fancier gear - "Thanks Brain" takes the viewers on a barnstorming tour of the next wave of NW talent and creative riding. From Gus Engle's ridiculous mutli-hippy hops, to Burtner's massive McOne-footers off big booters, to Sean Genovese's schoolyard missions, to Lucas Debari, Matt Edgers and Blair Habenecht's freeride attack, Burtner's films have evolved well beyond the herd of most "snowboring" movies, and is running far in front of the major filmmakers. Thanks Thanks Brain.

With an insanely early Oct. burst of freshness, Mt. Baker received over 20 inches last week, in less than 24 hours, on top of a small base from storms the previous several days. While the sudden midweek slam took most by surprise, a few of the area's finest made it up for first tracks of the 07/08 season -- or the final storm of the 06/07 season, depending upon how you view it. Maple Falls regulator, Mt. Baker avalanche safety instructor Jeff Hambleton and frequency building contractor, snaps a clean slash only two weeks past summer (Oct 5).

It's on.

JG

photo: Pak K

Sept. 22 Seattle, WA: In what has clearly become the NW's biggest snowboarding premier of the season, Think Thank premiered it's newest film, "Thanks Brain" to a sold out home-town crowd at evoseattle. Hundreds waited anxiously outside to get in, while inside Spacecraft Clothing held their legendary sticker release in the Times Art Gallery. Photographers Mike Yoshida and budding talent Steven Brecken exhibited their favorite picks taken during the filming of the movie this past season, a must see in their own right.

The movie included an exclusive "premier edit" along with a special film-short that featured the musical talents of filmmaker Jesse Burtner's brother, Matt and his band "Metasax and Drumthings" (who scored original music for both films). A live soundtrack to a snowboard film was an industry first and added a great performance to all those who managed to make it in to the premier.

Hundreds of pints were consumed in the beer garden, countless high-fives were thrown, and an unknown quantity of stoke was generated which made for an evening of revelry the likes of which have not been seen in Fremont since the 60's! Look for Think Thank's new film "Thanks Brain" at your favorite snowboard shop.