we've worked hard. we've come a long way. we still have a long way to go. but think about all that's been done in a few
short years... thank the pros, thank the filmmakers, thank harvey, and thank each other for bringing skiing back to life, and
with it, the new skiing culture.
we are the new culture. we are the future. we are the only ones who know this.
we are skiers.
not 'freestyle skiers,' 'freeskiers,' not 'newschool skiers.' we are SKIERS. the very mention of skis should imply FREE and
FREEDOM. no other distinctions ought to be made.
when was the last time you heard somebody say 'i'm a freestyle snowboarder'? ever? not likely. because snowboard culture has
advanced to the state where snowboarding IS freestyle. snowboarding is STYLE. on a groomer or off a booter, snowboarding is
snowboarding. pow or park. snowboarding just is.
we will get there.
skiing will be skiing, soon enough. we'll be able to say we are skiers without immediatly having to explain ourselves, because
images of cliff hucks, stylee spins, and railslides will have already come to the person's mind. we will be the skiers, and
the joeys, gapers, seniors, and yuppies on the hill will just be an afterthought. a minor nuisance. unimportant. because we
will define the sport. not them.
we now have guys on the inside...
armada. let them succeed where others have failed... in making skis for skiers. core skiers. the skiers who are going to
make this sport fun and interesting and new. armada will be bringing out products from WITHIN our culture... not the other way
around... not a corporation trying to figure out how to sell us skis. they don't have to figure us out. they are us.
LINE. Line is us too. but LINE is at a crossroads. do we keep making skis for ourselves? or do we try to affect greater
change in skiing by bringing our skis to the masses? we all know what they have chosen. i believe this to be the correct
decision. rather than be seperate from skiing, a faction, we will take over skiing. it's a nice idea anyway. but LINE is
failing. LINE is not bringing out our culture. LINE is giving the masses what they think they want. the non-twin. last
year, the darkside (their best performing, and coolest named ski) became a carver. its once enormous tail shrunk to miniscule
proportions. why? so it carves better? LINE, aparently, does not want people to carve switch. which, for expert skiers, is
about the only way to make carving the blues fun. what happened? why not create a true twin-tip carving ski? sell it to
people who want to carve, and let them discover the freedom to go switch. let the tail give them the courage, or the idea to
try a run in the pipe. besides, a twin gives better float and smoother turns through the occasional pow anyway.
non-twins should be the minority. how often do you see non-twinned snowboards? and no, it's not because all snowboarders ride
park, obviosly. even carving boards have 2 tips. directional geometry, perhaps, but still a twin, still with the option to go
switch. still with the FREEDOM.
but LINE has chosen to go with the non-twin as the ski to fund their future. a carving ski. fine.
which brings me to my main point of this whole long rant....
why does it have to be so fucking ugly?
why would LINE, a company from within our culture, a culture of SKIERS, decide to put mediocre corporate graphics on their new
line of carving skis? why, when all of their other skis have creative and expressive graphics? i know what you are thinking... 'who cares?' right? it's just graphics, who cares what they look like? well, skiing is a sport, but our new skiing culture goes so far beyond. it's a lifestyle. it's music. it's art. it's fashion. it's everything. our equipment, skis, should be a reflection on our culture, whatever their purpose (park, pow, or carving) it doesn't matter. props to K2 for putting out some truly amazing graphics for and by skiers. the PE and the pistol, i think, are some of the most successful graphic concepts ever put on skis. those skis are going to help define our culture. that is the future. creative. raw. expressive.
people will take notice. they will take notice of the skis on the rack, just like they take notice when we throw down in the park. people will notice, and they will be intrigued, and then we will take over. then skiing will be skiing.
who wrote the rule that carving skis can't have dope graphics?
who are the ones telling people that just because they don't ride twins, their sticks have to be lame?
LINE is the one company who had the power to change that. they fucked up. just like every other company.
salomon fucked up. k2 fucked up. rossi fucked up. dynastar fucked up. head fucked up. elan is just fucked. every ski company that puts out ugly corporate boring looking skis is insulting our culture and perpetuating the myth that skiing is lame.
and i bet they don't even know why? because they are carvers? sorry i just don't get it. let's take a look at some carving snowboards. they don't look shitty. why are ski companies so convinced that skiers want but ugly logo covered commercial bullshit graphics? is that what we want? is that what anyone wants?
time to take control of our own culture.
we won't let skiing be lame.
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i didn't come here with pants, and i'm not leaving with pants
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