Gray Thompson blasting that retro steez in 2014. Photo: @tackittphoto Provided by Snowboard Mag
The day before the day has come and here I sit at home in California before a wave of vintage stoke consumes Boreal Mountain Resort on Tahoe’s Donner Summit. It wont be long before K2’s team of rippers join snowboard lovers old and new in the legendary hand dug Donner half pipe to celebrate the roots of freestyle snowboarding which run deep here in Northern California. Inspired by the surf and skate lifestyle, snowboarding in Tahoe took on a personality of its own and this year rather tomorrow, March, 27 2015 we’ll see a glimpse of what started this whole passion we share called snowboarding. Stay tuned for blog updates, social media insights and shenanigans along the way as we pay our respects to the OG and help foster a history we all appreciate so much.
Lookout for your favorite K2 athletes: Jake Kuzyk, Mat Belzile, Tim Eddy, Leanne Pelosi, Johnny Brady, Mark Wilson, Chris Beresford, Alex Rodway, Danika Duffy and a full on K2 legend we’ll keep anonymous for now…
K2 Snowboarding is pumped to announce the addition of versatile rider Jody Wachniak to its Canadian Pro Team. With roots in Whistler, British Columbia, Jody’s flawless style and technique make him a versatile rider who crushes urban riding, as well as park and backcountry shredding.
“I couldn’t be more hyped to have Jody on the team,” said Taylor Ricci, K2 Canadian Team Manager. “The kid is one of the good guys and his positive personality is contagious. Welcome to the family Jody, it’s been a long time coming.”
Photo: Lemay
Hailing from Oakbank, Manitoba, with fellow K2 athlete Jake Kuyzk, Jody and Jake grew up shredding their local hill – Springhill Winter Park – together through high school and ride together as much as they possibly can.
“Jody is one of my oldest friends and we grew up snowboarding together,” said Jake. “As years went on and our snowboarding progressed, we were led in different directions with different sponsors. I’m so hyped to see Jody on K2. We are finally on the same team now.”
Jody and Jake
Graduating early from high school thanks to the extra credits he earned from playing in jazz band, Jody moved straight to Whistler to take his riding to the next level. His versatile skills and charismatic personality make him the perfect addition to the talented K2 Canadian Team.
“I’m so hyped to be part of a company and team that promotes snowboarding as a good time and has been supporting snowboarding for over 25 years,” said Jody. “I’m looking forward to being a part of this family – thanks K2.”
Riding the Fastplant and Lien Bindings, Jody joins the Canadian team that includes: Blair McKinney, Matts Kulisek and Taylor Godber.
The “Freshman” release last year from DeJa Vu was anything but novice. Winning Movie of the year from both Transworld and Snowboarder magazine polls, this crew of French Canadian heavies consisting of Nic Sauve, Frank April, Ben Bilocq, LNP, Will Lavigne, Alex Cantin and Louif Pradis took no time basking in the glory of such an award.
Back to work they went plotting the next attack and one that’ll surely drop jaws… again. Embarking on a two year project historically left to big budget productions such as Brain Farm, the DeJa Vu dudes are set on one upping their previous success and now with the addition of our boy Jake Kuzyk, that next level of precision and technical detail will fully be noticed. Keep an eye out for this one and follow along on instagram @dejavumovie or on the official website.
The opportunity to take runs with your favorite professional snowboarder is a highlight for the campers that flock to summer snowboard camp. This summer, Ride and K2 upped the ante for a group of groms who participated in the second SNOWBOARDER Magazine Summer Games event, Team Sports. With the support of three pro captains from K2 and three from Ride the campers had to land a series of jump and rail tricks in order to claim the ‘W’ for their respective team. In the end, it was Minnesotan Dan Liedahl’s crew that came out on top and earned the first-ever Team Sports title.
Team Sports is part of SNOWBOARDER Summer Games. Stay tuned for more photo and video coverage from each of the Summer Games events. Nexen Tires is the official tire sponsor of the SNOWBOARDER Summer Games.
Shred with us this year in Whistler, BC and witness the filming for “Our Backyard” webseries hosted by Snowboardermag.com!
The mission is Seek & Enjoy so get out and explore your “backyard” and snap a photo of you doing so. We want to see what Seek & Enjoy means to you, the options are unlimited (no nudity or violence) but must include snowboarding in some way. Email your photo to win@k2snowboarding.com. We’ll create a Seek & Enjoy photo album on our Facebook page and add your photos as they come in. Then on February 5, 2013 we’ll have K2 rider Jake Kuzyk personally choose the best photo and email the winner himself.
What happens if you’re better at hyping your photos than actually taking them you might ask…? As a second place prize we’ll be giving away a free pair of K2 Formula bindings to the person who’s photo receives the most likes on our Facebook page, so rally your buddies and make it happen.
You may only win once and winners will be replied to via email and Facebook so be sure to
subscribe to the K2 Snowboarding and the K2 Alliance Facebook pages during the Seek and Enjoy contest. The contest will officially end on February 5, 2013.
As we speak. “Our Backyard” and the majority of the winter climates are starting to see more and more snow so quite watching these videos and get out there it’ll be the best move you make all week.
Snowboarding is passion, snowboarding is inspiring and creative; it’s high fives and powder mustaches. Many of the best days to be had are in white out conditions, in the heart of the storm, yet fully comforted by the solitude of the trees. This is snowboarding in the Pacific Northwest, in our own backyard.
The true beauty of snowboarding, though, is that every person has they’re unique outlook and whether your backyard is Mt. Baker or a golf course in West Virginia we encourage you to explore that territory and reacquaint yourself with the comfort that snowboarding brings. The friendships that it strengthens and the excitement it instills.
Follow along as we portray our season every other Tuesday from now until the start of January. This is “Our Backyard,” where’s yours?
We’ve got two Canadians coming at you hard in this weeks team movie clip. Both of these kids are crushing it in snowboarding these days, be sure to check out Belzile and Kuzyk in Video Grass’ 2012 release, “Enlighten.”
Whistler keeps getting pounded by big snowstorms followed by windows of glorious sunshiny days. These are the conditions that snowboard film crews dream about. We celebrate the bounty with Jake Kuzyk at the Videograss mancamp in Whistler. Just look at all that snow….thumbs up for snow.
